Glade 5th, 4623
With his hand raised, Arkash focused the ether within him to manifest. His eyes shut tightly, and his nose curled as he shook under the weight of his focus and force, just trying to manage the basics of his new mark.
"Come on..." Started Bants, who sat on the edge of his sheet in anticipation. "You can do it..."
Arkash's lip twitched a little at the distraction of his voice, but he was just about there, in the state of mind he found he had to be when he conjured the power of his new mark. The tips of his fingers began to glow malevolent red, and it radiated toward his palm. Once again, Arkash had successfully conjured light. The moment he needed to come up for air, however, he dropped the hold of his Ray and emptied his lungs of the spent oxygen before he filled them again. "Agh!" he called as he bent at the knees and leaned into his thighs, out of breath.
Bants finished writing in his book before he nodded and called "great! That was three seconds longer than last time!"
"...Only three?!" Arkash called, winded. Shaky, he sat back in his seat and straightened his trunk to deepen his breaths. "Gods... It feels like minutes..." he spoke wistfully.
"Not even half a minute," Bants shook his head. "Magic looks tough. Are you sure you're not pushing yourself too hard?"
Arkash grinned and nodded. Unknown to Bants, he was using the ether he'd gained from Exchange, the pinnacle of Blood magic. "I know my limits," Arkash assured. "If I'm ever too tired to practice, I'll let you know."
Bants nodded in agreement before his nose returned to his book and he began to write something unknown to the Rath. "Gotcha," he added with a period, then closed his book and set it on the operating table at the far end of the room, then looked about the lamplit darkness of stark cave walls, and sighed wistfully.
Arkash rose a brow at the small blue man. "That's quite a sigh," he began with an observation. Sighing often meant something was wrong. Naturally, he asked "what's the matter?" To that, Bants shrugged and shook his head. Arkash could see it on his face, something was definitely wrong. "You don't have to tell me-" he started.
"-It's Izzy," he bit. Arkash leaned back in his chair as Bants spoke with purpose. It wasn't a tone the younger man often adopted. "...I don't know, it's not like we were really friends or anything. I'd only known her for two months, talked to her about my mom, and Bosby too... It's not like any of that really meant anything really, you know?"
"You miss her," Arkash surmised.
Bants shook his head at first, then nodded a little as his eyes grew moist. "I do," he began, voice creaky. "But I'm also upset she just left after everything, it was just me and her here when you were away, and she left just like that."
"You know why, right?" Asked the Rath.
Bants nodded. "She hates magic... Because of her family."
"Because of herself." Arkash corrected. "Her parents didn't help, but it was just because she couldn't keep up with her older brother that her life fell apart. She was weak and couldn't stand to admit it, so she killed him and ran." Bants was quiet through Arkash's take on her story, staring with wide eyes. "She can blame magic all she wants but she was the weakest link in that chain."
The half gnome stared; gob smacked. "I-I-" He stammered. Arkash's breath stalled when he took on the half-gnome's expression. Had he said too much? "I... Don't think that's true, Ark." He wiped his cheeks dry.
"...Maybe not," Arkash outwardly agreed, even if that was the way he truly thought. "I'm sorry, Bants," he looked to the floor, hanging his head. "I miss her too, I do... I'm just miffed she said all that about me."
"Do you really think she's weak?" The half-gnome didn't let it go.
"No," Arkash took a step back. "Just unlucky. I failed that same initiation, you know? Nothing I could do about it; I was just blocked with no chance to save." He smiled a little. "I'd be calling myself out if I really thought she was weak, wouldn't I?"
"Yeah, I guess so..."
It appeared to the Rath that Bants wasn't all that convinced in what he said, but it didn't appear that he was at risk of losing the half-gnome over it. With that, he sighed and hung his head again. "I'm gonna have to head out for supplies soon. Do you need anything?" He offered as he stretched.
With that, Bants nodded. "I have a list, actually." He hesitated as he produced the scrap, then appeared to think deeply before he handed it off to the Rath. "...So what's happening with that Sundering Kit now?"
Arkash accepted the scrap and stood up before he shrugged. "Hard to say," he began with a light shrug. "I don't know how we're going to find them without a chariot, and I wouldn't even know the first thing about Sundering without a teacher." He saw the despair in Bants' features when he declared that there was little hope or motivation to find the people responsible for killing his master, then changed his tone. "But I promised you I'd make them pay, so I'll find their camp one way or another," he assured with a smile.
His reassurance seemed to work, as Bants began to smile again. "Alright, thanks Ark."
The Rath offered a friendly smile and a nod before he withdrew to the hallway and began to make his way up the incline to the elevator. He trudged with his head low, lost in his thoughts while he considered Izzy; not all of what he said was a lie. He did miss her more than he let on, but their friendship wasn't in the cards.
He approached the elevator when the whole mechanism jolted and began to rise. Arkash blinked in shock, then sprinted the short distance and threw his body in a leap to roll onto the platform. There was no one there, which meant the mechanism had been activated from the surface. So, Arkash manifested the full wroth of his Cardinal form with extended claws and teeth, all ablaze with frigid black fire, and the quills that extended from his neck and hands. There he waited as he ascended and wrapped his shadow around himself as a layer of armor in anticipation of whoever was due to invade him.
Sure enough, the mechanism clicked into place to herald that he was as high as they would go, and the boulder that acted as a barrier began to descend. Harsh sunlight flooded the chamber, but Arkash's eyes adapted fast to the outline of the invader and beheld... Izzy. Both her hands rested on the handle of her chariot, over which was a bound and gagged human man of long dark hair. Her eye widened when she came face to face with his cardinal visage, and the bound man began to writhe and scream against his binds. "...Hey, Ark," she began informally. "Going out hunting?"
He furrowed his brow. "Not quite, no..." he withdrew his cardinal features, claws shrinking back into his fingers and black flames extinguishing. The bound man fainted. "What are you doing back here?" Arkash interrogated.
"Oh," she returned. "Well, I found this guy; he saw what happened at Shitport." She explained. "It's our first lead in months," she offered with a lean of her head. "Unless you've found any other leads since I left?"
Arkash blinked, she mentioned the event of her departure so easily. "Well, I haven't, but aren't you-?"
She motioned him aside as she wheeled the chariot into the chamber, then put down the kickstand to lean it before she gripped the lever and activated it. The boulder raised and blocked out the light of the outside world before the platform began to descend. Arkash watched her with a side eye before he flicked his forked tongue. The whirr of machinery and clanking gears filled the otherwise awkward silence. Izzy leaned on the handles of her chariot without looking at him before she passed him an almost apologetic smile. "If you don't want it, I can leave," she began, voice quaky with constrained emotion.
"That's not what I said," Arkash began. Izzy wiped her eye with her sleeve. "I'm just confused, that's all."
To that, Izzy shook her head. "Don't know why," she shrugged. "We're making progress. Isn't that good?" She left a pause, as if to let her words sink in before she continued with "I'm sure Bants'll be happy; he was real upset about finding Bosby in that state."
Arkash shook his head. "Yeah... Who wouldn't be?"
When the elevator came to rest, Izzy stepped off the platform immediately and wheeled her chariot down the hall toward the main chamber. Arkash watched her go with concern in his eye. What was going on? Why had Izzy returned? Why was she helping them again? Those thoughts came with Arkash as he stepped off the platform and went off in pursuit of the woman.
With his hand raised, Arkash focused the ether within him to manifest. His eyes shut tightly, and his nose curled as he shook under the weight of his focus and force, just trying to manage the basics of his new mark.
"Come on..." Started Bants, who sat on the edge of his sheet in anticipation. "You can do it..."
Arkash's lip twitched a little at the distraction of his voice, but he was just about there, in the state of mind he found he had to be when he conjured the power of his new mark. The tips of his fingers began to glow malevolent red, and it radiated toward his palm. Once again, Arkash had successfully conjured light. The moment he needed to come up for air, however, he dropped the hold of his Ray and emptied his lungs of the spent oxygen before he filled them again. "Agh!" he called as he bent at the knees and leaned into his thighs, out of breath.
Bants finished writing in his book before he nodded and called "great! That was three seconds longer than last time!"
"...Only three?!" Arkash called, winded. Shaky, he sat back in his seat and straightened his trunk to deepen his breaths. "Gods... It feels like minutes..." he spoke wistfully.
"Not even half a minute," Bants shook his head. "Magic looks tough. Are you sure you're not pushing yourself too hard?"
Arkash grinned and nodded. Unknown to Bants, he was using the ether he'd gained from Exchange, the pinnacle of Blood magic. "I know my limits," Arkash assured. "If I'm ever too tired to practice, I'll let you know."
Bants nodded in agreement before his nose returned to his book and he began to write something unknown to the Rath. "Gotcha," he added with a period, then closed his book and set it on the operating table at the far end of the room, then looked about the lamplit darkness of stark cave walls, and sighed wistfully.
Arkash rose a brow at the small blue man. "That's quite a sigh," he began with an observation. Sighing often meant something was wrong. Naturally, he asked "what's the matter?" To that, Bants shrugged and shook his head. Arkash could see it on his face, something was definitely wrong. "You don't have to tell me-" he started.
"-It's Izzy," he bit. Arkash leaned back in his chair as Bants spoke with purpose. It wasn't a tone the younger man often adopted. "...I don't know, it's not like we were really friends or anything. I'd only known her for two months, talked to her about my mom, and Bosby too... It's not like any of that really meant anything really, you know?"
"You miss her," Arkash surmised.
Bants shook his head at first, then nodded a little as his eyes grew moist. "I do," he began, voice creaky. "But I'm also upset she just left after everything, it was just me and her here when you were away, and she left just like that."
"You know why, right?" Asked the Rath.
Bants nodded. "She hates magic... Because of her family."
"Because of herself." Arkash corrected. "Her parents didn't help, but it was just because she couldn't keep up with her older brother that her life fell apart. She was weak and couldn't stand to admit it, so she killed him and ran." Bants was quiet through Arkash's take on her story, staring with wide eyes. "She can blame magic all she wants but she was the weakest link in that chain."
The half gnome stared; gob smacked. "I-I-" He stammered. Arkash's breath stalled when he took on the half-gnome's expression. Had he said too much? "I... Don't think that's true, Ark." He wiped his cheeks dry.
"...Maybe not," Arkash outwardly agreed, even if that was the way he truly thought. "I'm sorry, Bants," he looked to the floor, hanging his head. "I miss her too, I do... I'm just miffed she said all that about me."
"Do you really think she's weak?" The half-gnome didn't let it go.
"No," Arkash took a step back. "Just unlucky. I failed that same initiation, you know? Nothing I could do about it; I was just blocked with no chance to save." He smiled a little. "I'd be calling myself out if I really thought she was weak, wouldn't I?"
"Yeah, I guess so..."
It appeared to the Rath that Bants wasn't all that convinced in what he said, but it didn't appear that he was at risk of losing the half-gnome over it. With that, he sighed and hung his head again. "I'm gonna have to head out for supplies soon. Do you need anything?" He offered as he stretched.
With that, Bants nodded. "I have a list, actually." He hesitated as he produced the scrap, then appeared to think deeply before he handed it off to the Rath. "...So what's happening with that Sundering Kit now?"
Arkash accepted the scrap and stood up before he shrugged. "Hard to say," he began with a light shrug. "I don't know how we're going to find them without a chariot, and I wouldn't even know the first thing about Sundering without a teacher." He saw the despair in Bants' features when he declared that there was little hope or motivation to find the people responsible for killing his master, then changed his tone. "But I promised you I'd make them pay, so I'll find their camp one way or another," he assured with a smile.
His reassurance seemed to work, as Bants began to smile again. "Alright, thanks Ark."
The Rath offered a friendly smile and a nod before he withdrew to the hallway and began to make his way up the incline to the elevator. He trudged with his head low, lost in his thoughts while he considered Izzy; not all of what he said was a lie. He did miss her more than he let on, but their friendship wasn't in the cards.
He approached the elevator when the whole mechanism jolted and began to rise. Arkash blinked in shock, then sprinted the short distance and threw his body in a leap to roll onto the platform. There was no one there, which meant the mechanism had been activated from the surface. So, Arkash manifested the full wroth of his Cardinal form with extended claws and teeth, all ablaze with frigid black fire, and the quills that extended from his neck and hands. There he waited as he ascended and wrapped his shadow around himself as a layer of armor in anticipation of whoever was due to invade him.
Sure enough, the mechanism clicked into place to herald that he was as high as they would go, and the boulder that acted as a barrier began to descend. Harsh sunlight flooded the chamber, but Arkash's eyes adapted fast to the outline of the invader and beheld... Izzy. Both her hands rested on the handle of her chariot, over which was a bound and gagged human man of long dark hair. Her eye widened when she came face to face with his cardinal visage, and the bound man began to writhe and scream against his binds. "...Hey, Ark," she began informally. "Going out hunting?"
He furrowed his brow. "Not quite, no..." he withdrew his cardinal features, claws shrinking back into his fingers and black flames extinguishing. The bound man fainted. "What are you doing back here?" Arkash interrogated.
"Oh," she returned. "Well, I found this guy; he saw what happened at Shitport." She explained. "It's our first lead in months," she offered with a lean of her head. "Unless you've found any other leads since I left?"
Arkash blinked, she mentioned the event of her departure so easily. "Well, I haven't, but aren't you-?"
She motioned him aside as she wheeled the chariot into the chamber, then put down the kickstand to lean it before she gripped the lever and activated it. The boulder raised and blocked out the light of the outside world before the platform began to descend. Arkash watched her with a side eye before he flicked his forked tongue. The whirr of machinery and clanking gears filled the otherwise awkward silence. Izzy leaned on the handles of her chariot without looking at him before she passed him an almost apologetic smile. "If you don't want it, I can leave," she began, voice quaky with constrained emotion.
"That's not what I said," Arkash began. Izzy wiped her eye with her sleeve. "I'm just confused, that's all."
To that, Izzy shook her head. "Don't know why," she shrugged. "We're making progress. Isn't that good?" She left a pause, as if to let her words sink in before she continued with "I'm sure Bants'll be happy; he was real upset about finding Bosby in that state."
Arkash shook his head. "Yeah... Who wouldn't be?"
When the elevator came to rest, Izzy stepped off the platform immediately and wheeled her chariot down the hall toward the main chamber. Arkash watched her go with concern in his eye. What was going on? Why had Izzy returned? Why was she helping them again? Those thoughts came with Arkash as he stepped off the platform and went off in pursuit of the woman.
Image source.
