13th of Frost, 4622
He held her in the dark of the derelict's chamber for some time, the palms of her hands were flat to his back as her arms circled his body in turn.
While her head came to rest on his shoulder, his heart throbbed in his chest. Its pulsing was with such weight that he thought there was no way she could have missed it.
Inevitably, he cleared his throat and broke the embrace. She leaned away, and her hands came to hold his arms. "That's what we're gonna do then," she agreed. "Besides, you're in the same situation as I aren't you? Neither of us can use our magic."
He nodded, then rubbed at her shoulders with his thumbs. "Yeah... I'd like to fix it someday. I never asked to be initiated, but I was so much stronger with my magic..."
She frowned a little. "What does it matter how strong you are? You're a Dranoch and walk away from crazy stuff."
He shook his head. "My enemies are strong, too strong. I can't even get close to landing a hit without being obliterated."
She furrowed her brow. "What kinds of enemies are these?"
He exhaled in frustration. "This... Knight. He's got this hammer with a crow's beak, it explodes everything it touches and he can make it fly and make it into many hammers of equal strength. He was going to Sunder me, but I got lucky and escaped."
Izzy went pale at the description. "Sounds like Valentin..."
Arkash nodded. "He's a general of the Halamire or something like that," he dismissed.
"Arkash what the fuck? How did you make enemies with him?"
"It's a really long story..." He sighed. "I didn't even do anything, my ex-master sold me out."
"Ex-master... Entente? You were a slave?"
He nodded. "I wanted to be."
"Ark!" She cried.
"What?!" He looked at her with wide eyes.
"What the Bel are you doing?" She shook her head and closed the distance to hug him again. "Your life is crazy... Literally bonkers." She declared while she held him.
Arkash frowned a bit, exhaled, then smiled as he returned her embrace. "I don't really have a choice; it feels like I'm at war with the whole world sometimes."
"Well," she said as she swung side to side. "Not the whole world; I'm on your side."
Arkash smiled a little at that, and she brought her head to rest on his shoulder again. "Thank you," he spoke softly with closed eyes.
Back in Arkash's self-surgery room, he looked himself over in the mirror while he traced his burns with the scalpel. Izzy set up a lantern for light beside the doorway, lit it, and blew out her starter once she'd closed the door.
His wounds bled shallowly as he severed the dead skin, and only made a moderate mess with the discharge.
"It's kinda weird," Izzy said while the Rath worked. "Knowing where you picked up the habit of cutting yourself open and seeing you do it now."
He cast a glance at her in the mirror and spoke "are you gonna hurl?" through his bared teeth.
She laughed dryly. "No. That was only one time."
He grinned a little at that, shared the smile through his eyes while he watched her, then returned to his work. He let out an exhale as he set the scalpel down; the melted skin was circled completely by a weeping line of red.
"Does it hurt?" She asked.
"Of course," he affirmed. "There aren't as many nerves; they were all burned out in the blast, but it still hurts toward where my skin is healthy and alive... It's just, I know I'll feel better when it's over, I can push through," he explained.
"Makes sense," she nodded, then visibly cringed as Arkash began to peel the deceased flesh from his skull. She appeared to reel, as though she meant to fuse to the wall she leaned against. "God, that's sickening."
All Arkash's attention was on the peel, he didn't want to rip away any of his living flesh if he'd missed a spot in his trimming. Sure enough, the tissue came away and left the beige of his bone exposed, and a curtail of blood that bled down the side of his head. Using Sinew Cloth, he replaced the deeper layers of his skin's tissue, then wove and connected nerves with his grafting needle to bring feeling back to the area, and covered the rest with Sinew Foam, which quickly set as skin and basalt scales. The lumpy shape of the setting was scraped away and adjusted with carving sickles.
He took a breath when he was done, and raised his head to look at himself from multiple angles. "Looking good," said Izzy. "Can't tell anything even happened."
Arkash exhaled. "Thank you," he said. "It honestly helps that I look like myself again - I was losing my mind for a little while there," he laughed uncomfortably.
"Who wouldn't?" She asked with a shrug. "What's next on the list?"
Arkash sighed. "Everything I just did, but on all the other burns..."
"Ugh," she cringed. "Horrific."
"You're telling me," Arkash sighed, claimed his needle, and began to weave a few different bundles of Sinew Cloth with the resulting Sinew Thread. It was all luminescent blue where he piled it.
"There's a lot of ether in that stuff," she said with a bow of her head.
"Hm?" He asked, and looked at her in the mirror. "This stuff?" He asked with a raise of his hand. She nodded. "It's Sinew thread, woven into Sinew Cloth. You can use it to replace bigger areas of skin, muscle, and bone.... Really anything." He exhaled from his nose. "I'd much rather craft it now, before I cut myself open, rather than during or after."
"Makes sense..." She spoke with a lighter tone. "I just wanted to know."
"That's fine," he assured as he drew the Mortar and pestle closer. With his own tissue samples, he began to craft Activators for the Sinew Cloth and looked up at her partway through the process. "I'd be willing to teach you, you know. If it interests you."
She looked up from the floor, snapping from her trance. "...You would?" She asked. "For real?"
"Sure, it's easy enough to use the tools, just a bit tricky to get the biology and the anatomy down when you're actually making something." He finished up with the Activators and set the pestle down. "I mean like..." he began while he leaned into the table. "It's easy to mold flesh, but arranging it in the right order with all the blood vessels and nerves and all that," he explained further.
"Do the tools make it easier?" She asked as she leaned forward. "In Sundering, we have mercies; protective equipment that make it easier to channel the magithermal entropy without making ourselves sick. Do you need anything like that?"
Arkash shook his head after a moment of thought. "No... We don't really deal in magithermal entropy in Necromancy... You use it in Sundering?"
"Mhm, oh yes," she affirmed. "It's how we stricken; bind the magic of the Sunderscrap to the object." She caught the stars in Arkash's eye while she spoke, and smiled a little as he diverted his gaze to the gauzes of blue. "You're interested in Sundering?" She asked.
Arkash met her gaze again and nodded hesitantly.
"Well, I can teach you for sure. I'm not really sure if Biology and Anatomy are up my alley, but I could always use a hand with Strickening," she smiled.
"Really?" His eyes were alight.
She laughed. "Don't thank me yet; you're going to get sick, don't get me wrong. It's impossible to avoid Mageblight in this kind of work, even with the mercies."
Arkash exhaled. "Mageblight... I've dealt with it before, I know my limits," he assured.
"Hmmm," She hummed discerningly. "I don't know if you do, Ark. You did go and blow up your gun, lose your arm, and blind yourself not too long ago." She trailed on as she approached him from behind.
Arkash rose his brows with a tilt of his head; that was a fair assessment. "Mostly," he excused, then looked back as her hands came to rest on his shoulders.
"It's late, you've been working all day," she excused. "We can finish the rest tomorrow, what d'ya say?"
There was something undeniably comforting about her touch, something mystical that drained the energy from his bones and coaxed him toward sleep.
With a deep exhale, he shut his eyes and nodded, and with that, the pair retreated with all his tools still splayed on the table.
He held her in the dark of the derelict's chamber for some time, the palms of her hands were flat to his back as her arms circled his body in turn.
While her head came to rest on his shoulder, his heart throbbed in his chest. Its pulsing was with such weight that he thought there was no way she could have missed it.
Inevitably, he cleared his throat and broke the embrace. She leaned away, and her hands came to hold his arms. "That's what we're gonna do then," she agreed. "Besides, you're in the same situation as I aren't you? Neither of us can use our magic."
He nodded, then rubbed at her shoulders with his thumbs. "Yeah... I'd like to fix it someday. I never asked to be initiated, but I was so much stronger with my magic..."
She frowned a little. "What does it matter how strong you are? You're a Dranoch and walk away from crazy stuff."
He shook his head. "My enemies are strong, too strong. I can't even get close to landing a hit without being obliterated."
She furrowed her brow. "What kinds of enemies are these?"
He exhaled in frustration. "This... Knight. He's got this hammer with a crow's beak, it explodes everything it touches and he can make it fly and make it into many hammers of equal strength. He was going to Sunder me, but I got lucky and escaped."
Izzy went pale at the description. "Sounds like Valentin..."
Arkash nodded. "He's a general of the Halamire or something like that," he dismissed.
"Arkash what the fuck? How did you make enemies with him?"
"It's a really long story..." He sighed. "I didn't even do anything, my ex-master sold me out."
"Ex-master... Entente? You were a slave?"
He nodded. "I wanted to be."
"Ark!" She cried.
"What?!" He looked at her with wide eyes.
"What the Bel are you doing?" She shook her head and closed the distance to hug him again. "Your life is crazy... Literally bonkers." She declared while she held him.
Arkash frowned a bit, exhaled, then smiled as he returned her embrace. "I don't really have a choice; it feels like I'm at war with the whole world sometimes."
"Well," she said as she swung side to side. "Not the whole world; I'm on your side."
Arkash smiled a little at that, and she brought her head to rest on his shoulder again. "Thank you," he spoke softly with closed eyes.
Back in Arkash's self-surgery room, he looked himself over in the mirror while he traced his burns with the scalpel. Izzy set up a lantern for light beside the doorway, lit it, and blew out her starter once she'd closed the door.
His wounds bled shallowly as he severed the dead skin, and only made a moderate mess with the discharge.
"It's kinda weird," Izzy said while the Rath worked. "Knowing where you picked up the habit of cutting yourself open and seeing you do it now."
He cast a glance at her in the mirror and spoke "are you gonna hurl?" through his bared teeth.
She laughed dryly. "No. That was only one time."
He grinned a little at that, shared the smile through his eyes while he watched her, then returned to his work. He let out an exhale as he set the scalpel down; the melted skin was circled completely by a weeping line of red.
"Does it hurt?" She asked.
"Of course," he affirmed. "There aren't as many nerves; they were all burned out in the blast, but it still hurts toward where my skin is healthy and alive... It's just, I know I'll feel better when it's over, I can push through," he explained.
"Makes sense," she nodded, then visibly cringed as Arkash began to peel the deceased flesh from his skull. She appeared to reel, as though she meant to fuse to the wall she leaned against. "God, that's sickening."
All Arkash's attention was on the peel, he didn't want to rip away any of his living flesh if he'd missed a spot in his trimming. Sure enough, the tissue came away and left the beige of his bone exposed, and a curtail of blood that bled down the side of his head. Using Sinew Cloth, he replaced the deeper layers of his skin's tissue, then wove and connected nerves with his grafting needle to bring feeling back to the area, and covered the rest with Sinew Foam, which quickly set as skin and basalt scales. The lumpy shape of the setting was scraped away and adjusted with carving sickles.
He took a breath when he was done, and raised his head to look at himself from multiple angles. "Looking good," said Izzy. "Can't tell anything even happened."
Arkash exhaled. "Thank you," he said. "It honestly helps that I look like myself again - I was losing my mind for a little while there," he laughed uncomfortably.
"Who wouldn't?" She asked with a shrug. "What's next on the list?"
Arkash sighed. "Everything I just did, but on all the other burns..."
"Ugh," she cringed. "Horrific."
"You're telling me," Arkash sighed, claimed his needle, and began to weave a few different bundles of Sinew Cloth with the resulting Sinew Thread. It was all luminescent blue where he piled it.
"There's a lot of ether in that stuff," she said with a bow of her head.
"Hm?" He asked, and looked at her in the mirror. "This stuff?" He asked with a raise of his hand. She nodded. "It's Sinew thread, woven into Sinew Cloth. You can use it to replace bigger areas of skin, muscle, and bone.... Really anything." He exhaled from his nose. "I'd much rather craft it now, before I cut myself open, rather than during or after."
"Makes sense..." She spoke with a lighter tone. "I just wanted to know."
"That's fine," he assured as he drew the Mortar and pestle closer. With his own tissue samples, he began to craft Activators for the Sinew Cloth and looked up at her partway through the process. "I'd be willing to teach you, you know. If it interests you."
She looked up from the floor, snapping from her trance. "...You would?" She asked. "For real?"
"Sure, it's easy enough to use the tools, just a bit tricky to get the biology and the anatomy down when you're actually making something." He finished up with the Activators and set the pestle down. "I mean like..." he began while he leaned into the table. "It's easy to mold flesh, but arranging it in the right order with all the blood vessels and nerves and all that," he explained further.
"Do the tools make it easier?" She asked as she leaned forward. "In Sundering, we have mercies; protective equipment that make it easier to channel the magithermal entropy without making ourselves sick. Do you need anything like that?"
Arkash shook his head after a moment of thought. "No... We don't really deal in magithermal entropy in Necromancy... You use it in Sundering?"
"Mhm, oh yes," she affirmed. "It's how we stricken; bind the magic of the Sunderscrap to the object." She caught the stars in Arkash's eye while she spoke, and smiled a little as he diverted his gaze to the gauzes of blue. "You're interested in Sundering?" She asked.
Arkash met her gaze again and nodded hesitantly.
"Well, I can teach you for sure. I'm not really sure if Biology and Anatomy are up my alley, but I could always use a hand with Strickening," she smiled.
"Really?" His eyes were alight.
She laughed. "Don't thank me yet; you're going to get sick, don't get me wrong. It's impossible to avoid Mageblight in this kind of work, even with the mercies."
Arkash exhaled. "Mageblight... I've dealt with it before, I know my limits," he assured.
"Hmmm," She hummed discerningly. "I don't know if you do, Ark. You did go and blow up your gun, lose your arm, and blind yourself not too long ago." She trailed on as she approached him from behind.
Arkash rose his brows with a tilt of his head; that was a fair assessment. "Mostly," he excused, then looked back as her hands came to rest on his shoulders.
"It's late, you've been working all day," she excused. "We can finish the rest tomorrow, what d'ya say?"
There was something undeniably comforting about her touch, something mystical that drained the energy from his bones and coaxed him toward sleep.
With a deep exhale, he shut his eyes and nodded, and with that, the pair retreated with all his tools still splayed on the table.
Image source.
