27th of Ash, 120
The search for Cojack had begun. It started just the day before that one, where Arkash revisited his old home in Lower Nivenhain to look for clues of Cojack's whereabouts. There, he discovered that someone, presumably the sickly horse, had revisited the home and used the loose wooden plank at the hearth to hide a stack of farthing bills. It was a hiding spot that only he, Cojack, and Liu knew about... with the addition of one of the Thompson brothers. But by process of elimination, it must've been Cojack that left it there. Even if it must have appeared that Arkash abandoned him, he believed that Cojack didn't lose hope. Arkash hadn't, after all.
The fact that Cojack had come back to the city after they'd agreed to meet in the woods led him to believe that Cojack was somewhere in Outer Nivenhain, but getting there was a problem. While Arkash recovered from his coma, the king had declared a new wall to be built to separate the Outer and Lower districts. Arkash was wanted on the count of murder and assault, and he was far too identifiable to sneak by the Overseers, Chevalier, and hollows present at the construction site. Asmodei didn't want to be seen by the argent either, so he opted for another route.
To his dismay, the alternate route into Outer Nivenhain, which he had suggested in jest, was the sewers. The system of tunnels passed under the streets Arkash had walked his entire life, but none of the homes there connected to them. Dignity was not something that the nameless were afforded. But, because the tunnels had to wind under the Lower district to make it out of the city, there were manholes littered about the streets and hidden in alleys for hollows to descend for maintenance. Arkash had seen them all about the place, but they weren't something he ever really took notice of.
But that day, they were going to lead him closer to Cojack. The passageways that drained the frosty streets of its waste and melted snow were going to reunite him with his father.
At his side was Asmodei, the capable, if not squeamish, avialae. He wore his full half-plate armor, as usual, and carried a sizable bag in both hands while he followed behind the dark-scaled rathari. The two walked through the streets while it snowed, and Arkash wrapped his broken, frail body even tighter in the clothes Asmodei had afforded him. Fayeth wasn't with them that day, as she had to sate the hunger of her curse. That was fine, of course; she didn't have to be with them for every venture; it just meant she could be surprised when he brought back Cojack.
The two came to stop before one of the rusted cast-iron grates in a shadowy alley, which glistened from the wetness of the snow that melted upon touchdown with the stony streets. Arkash looked to the avialae expectantly as they stood on opposite sides of the grate, and Asmodei stared back. "What?" he finally asked to break the silence.
"Well..." Arkash looked to his one boney arm and flexed the pointed claws on each of his digits. "I don't think I'm going to be able to lift that, Az," he spoke with a tone of honesty and implication. Indeed, the rusted sheet of metal bars looked heavy, possibly heavier than Arkash was that day.
"Arkash..." Asmodei started with a tone of irritation. "I already told you; I don't want to touch anything down there. It's already asking enough for me to carry this bag for you."
The lizard pouted, which pulled on the grotesque perpetual curl of his lip in a way that appeared uncomfortable. "But I can't lift that, Asmodei. I can barely get out of a squat by myself."
"Well, you should have thought of that before deciding to go through the sewers. I can't just do everything for you."
That was a bother. Arkash didn't want to have to struggle with the grate, but if he acted in a way that was reckless, he might have been able to force Asmodei into action. So, dejectedly, Arkash stared at the floor with his one eye, then dipped to grab the cold metal of the grate with a notable bend to his back. He grunted and tensed his muscles, but didn't actually try to lift it. The aim was to make it look as though he was trying to.
"OKAY STOP!" Called Asmodei, who put down the bag and pulled Arkash from the grate. "Are you trying to throw out your back?! What's wrong with you?!" he spoke with a look of wild fury in his eyes as he stared down at the rathari.
Arkash sniffled through his faux heavy breathing, then wiped his nose with his one claw. "What other choice do I have? This is the only way I'll get to find Cojack..." Though Arkash was indeed as feeble as he acted, he didn't feel that way. He knew Asmodei's inner workings well, and above everything, he wanted what was best for Arkash and Fayeth both. He just needed a little reminder of that sometimes.
Asmodei groaned and reached for his temples with his index finger and thumb. Arkash won. "Alright," he spoke definitively then. "I'll lift the damn thing, just... stop looking at me like that." Arkash smiled a bit, and wiped his good eye into his sleeve with another sniffle, then whispered his gratitude. Asmodei was such a sucker.
As the avialae dipped into a squat to grip the grate with both of his arms, Arkash turned his head sharply to the left to put his good eye on the bag that the avialae had dropped. Just a moment or two into his thoughts, he saw a powerful contraction in his left shoulder rob him of his comfort. His gaze pointed skyward and his left arm tensed with such firmness that it put his stump to his diminished bicep. He breathed raggedly through his nose while he forced the cramped muscles to relax and pulled them apart with his working arm, then huffed and puffed to catch his breath when he was free of his own body's grasp.
"It's not getting any better, is it?" Asked the avialae from his sighted side. Arkash looked at him and shook his head.
"It feels like there are catches in my nerves that set off and tie-up my left side. I had to force that one down, unlike the others," Arkash explained. It was the first time that his muscles had actually cramped painfully on him, the first time he'd had to manually pull apart his seized body. As he looked upon the Avialae's work, however, he found that the grate had been moved aside. Asmodei hadn't even broken a sweat.
"That's actually pretty awful, Ark. I'm sorry." Asmodei watched him carefully while he spoke.
"'Not your fault. I don't know why you're sorry."
Asmodei rolled his eyes, then looked to the darkness of the hole. "Do you need help getting down this ladder or...?"
The dark-scaled lizard paused and stared at the entrance in contemplation. His gaze turned to the street beyond the decrepit darkness of the alley for a moment, then turned back to Asmodei, where he shook his head. "I want to at least try getting down there by myself," he decided with a gentle nod. "But... I won't say no if you wanna go down first and wait to catch me if I fall."
The avialae nodded. "That's a plan. Fetch me the bag?" Arkash looked to the stained hemp bag, then nodded. He wasn't sure he could lift it, given its contents, but he wanted to at least try. With a shaky exhale, Arkash approached the sack, then gripped it by the neck with a slight bend to his legs. He bared his teeth, then drew a deep breath before he tensed his back and forced his legs to straighten... Or at least tried to.
The sack strained at his pull, and Arkash willed his whole bodyweight back to try and budge it. It didn't lift, but it did drag. So, Arkash gripped the smooth cobbled stones of the alleyway floor with his claws and pulled the fabric along the bumpy ground. Asmodei placed a gauntlet-wrapped hand on the rath's shoulder, then bent down to claim the sack. Arkash let it go, then huffed a breath. Just that had left him quite tired.
"Thanks, Ark. I'll wait for you at the bottom," was all the false knight spoke before he descended into the dark of the sewers. Arkash exhaled, then shook off the tension in his arms and shoulders alike. It almost felt as though another twitch crept upon him while he prepared himself for the descent, which left him worried. To be sure, Arkash loosed his shoulder fully and stretched out the joint.
Once he was appropriately loosened up, the budding pull of a twitch receded. A sigh saw him release the tension from his form, and he looked to the hole. Cojack was just a short journey through the tunnels away, it would be over soon.
