Okay, first things first... I hate fan characters, hate hate hate. Yet I felt this story needed a certain type of character that none of the other 'maren could take the roll of... So, meet Makoa, he gets a description later, all you know for now is he's blue and has big horns! Real big!
Eh wait I don't think I said that at all.
Had fun with this chapter lol, usual crap quality but hey whatever, kinda made up all the plot on the spot as well... Normally have at least a little bit of a plan...
---
"Watch it." Reala hissed, swatting NiGHTS hands away as she tidied the sheets on him. "I'm trying to sleep."
"Sorry." She gave a sheepish smile, sitting on the silky sheets beside the other 'maren.
With a quick sigh NiGHTS moved something from the drawer beside her side of the bed, catching Realas interest. But his interest was quickly lost as he saw the leather-bound book she held.
The tall 'maren stood ahead of me, smiling warmly as he looked down from his perch in the sky, the others had always warned me not to go near 'maren, saying they were ruthless and barbaric... But not him.
"Books." Reals scoffed, pulling the sheets higher over himself. "Who reads books."
"Me?"
"Why, they're useless."
"No offense Reala, but that's a really stupid thing to say."
He shot a glare over his shoulder, then quickly eyed the book.
"How so."
"Well." The young 'maren tilted her head quickly as she thought, then she opened the cover of the book and traced her finger down the page, dust falling from the paper. "Books are good for a lot of things, I mean, they can teach you facts and the stories written in some are pretty interesting."
"But they're better used to start fires when it comes to Nightmare."
A puff of dust flew upwards as NiGHTS shut the book; she watched the dirt floating in the air before swatting it away.
"So dusty."
"Since no one bothers to move them."
The 'maren simply shrugged as her reply, looking back to the book.
But as I walked forwards to take his outstretched hand, I fell face first in the mud, how elegant of me- The blue jester simply chuckled.
"What's so interesting about that book, anyway?" Reala swiped at it, trying to snatch it away and only succeeding in hurting himself.
"This one was written by a dreamer, but it's about a 'maren."
"A 'maren?" Reala blinked quickly, reaching for the book again. "A dreamer wrote about a 'maren?"
"Yeah, his name's Makoa, a 'maren that didn't like the castle and he started helping dreamers."
"Well what happened to him?"
"Dunno, haven't read it all."
"Is it true? Or just some dreamer making stuff up as usual."
"It's true, I think, it's got references to some 'maren that are still in the castle, I don't think a dreamer could find out that much about the high levels without a 'maren to talk to."
"Nightmaren that are still in the castle? How come I've never heard of 'Makoa' then."
NiGHTS shrugged.
But with a sheepish smile and a self-curse I stood and brushed the dirt off of my pants, Makoa still had his hand out for me to take- And I did.
Despite the urge to read on, the other 'maren peering at the book was rather annoying NiGHTS, so with a quick glance at Reala she set the leather tome on the table again.
"I think I might go for a fly, sleep well precious." She smirked, petting Realas head and almost losing her hand for doing so.
---
Dust gathered in the green leaves as NiGHTS twirled and fly over the leafy forest, occasionally stopping to look at her surroundings, she dropped to the ground, settling in the damp grass and crossing her arms behind her head.
"So tired." She yawned, shutting her eyes slowly.
Just as she'd settled into a comfortable spot she heard something rip through the air above her, gunfire. If she hadn't of recognised the bang she would've stayed to look for the source, instead she'd taken to the air to escape the attack.
She couldn't judge bullets like she could any other attack, so dodging them was just moving from side to side and hoping for the best, somehow she'd made it over some thick shrub of a forest, out of the shooters line of sight and she quickly dived under the canopy, landing in the wet grass with her back to a rocky cliff face.
She waited a moment, there was no noise.
Waited again, then hovered towards an opening lit by the moon.
"Halt!" A strong voice barked at the 'maren, making NiGHTS jump and signalling a group of armed soldiers to move closer to her. She glanced around; biting her lip, there were too many soldiers between her and the opening in the canopy for her to escape, she was screwed.
"Surrender yourself Nightmaren." The leader of this pack stepped forwards, holding his gun pointed at NiGHTS the same as his group was. "Either you surrender and we take you in for research, or you die now."
She was considering the first option, but she'd heard what The Protectors did to 'maren, and from the stories she'd gathered that maybe death was the better one.
The soldiers were itching for something to happen, glancing from the 'maren to their commander, then the commander barked another command.
"Open fire!"
They did.
NiGHTS braced, 'marens and bullets don't go together well. The bangs started and as her defence she raised her arms in front of her face as a shield.
What happened next she did not expect.
Not a single bullet hit her, they were all accurate shots, but some sort of orb had encased the 'maren, glowing a bright white and littered with sparkles. The soldiers, in a panic, were firing non-stop but their bullets were simply bouncing off of the orb.
She reached forwards slowly, the tips of her slender fingers touching the light and as she did it set off in a giant nova, light spreading into the distance until it could no longer be seen. And all the soldiers taken by it, their bodies fell where they had been standing.
"Well." She blinked, half-surprised half-terrified. "That's new."
---
"Master!"
The quiet darkness was disturbed as NiGHTS charged in, startling Wizeman slightly.
"First level. You know you are not welcome within my lair unless I have summoned yo-"
"Master you should've seen it! I'd never even heard of any other 'maren doing anything like it!"
"What are you rambling on about?" Wizeman growled, two of his hands moving to inspect NiGHTS.
"I was attacked by some dreamers, and I summoned some... Like... Shield thing! It was a huge white orb!"
"A shield?"
"Yeah!"
"Describe it."
She rubbed her temple. "Just... Like a white ball. Like this..."
She paused, shutting her eyes and trying to cast the shield again. There was a strange pulsing noise, and when the 'maren opened her eyes the shield was encasing her.
"Like this!" She smirked, darting around Wizeman with the orb surrounding her.
"Interesting."
"Huh?"
Two of Wizemans hands carefully touched the ends of NiGHTS shield, a third trying to reach into it to get the 'maren but a giant spark jumped from the orb and zapped the stone gauntlet.
Wizeman grunted, all his hands retreating.
"That is raw energy, NiGHTS. You have learnt to draw the dust from within the air and from your own blood and turn it to a powerful force."
"Neat." She blinked.
"This power, first level, is what you need to use in order to create life."
"Oh." She looked at the orb. "How?"
"The dust within in your blood is a requirement for you to live, the energy is that dust in a very powerful, raw form, you must use and shape it to create a form from this dust... The energy it holds grants life, the dust grants the form."
"Can you teach me?" She darted up to his stone face, despite the fact there was no eyes there.
Wizeman thought for a moment.
"Can you? Please?"
"Perhaps I can teach you the basics..."
NiGHTS squealed happily, her orb retreating until it was gone.
"Concentrate, first-level, calm your mind or else you risk hurting yourself."
The 'marens smile faded and she nodded slowly, hovering back to her usual spot in front of Wizeman.
"Shut your eyes. Now carefully... Draw the energy to the tips of your fingers, this is a tedious task and a dangerous one... It may take some time to master but don't ru-"
NiGHTS blinked, looking at the golden ball of energy in her hand.
"...Very good."
The 'maren smirked.
"Grasp the energy in both hands, picture what you are wanting to create and utilise the energy..."
"What do I want to create?" NiGHTS sighed, moving the orb from one hand to the other.
"Recreate a low level, and be careful with that energy, it is raw power and does not take well to being..." One of his hands hovered closer, watching NiGHTS juggling the orb. "...Thrown around."
"Huh?"
"...Never mind, continue."
The 'maren nodded and shut her eyes again, concentrating carefully as she felt energy streaming from her body and into the palms of her hands, then in a bright flash a rather confused looking Gao appeared in her hands and the poor 'maren took a sudden dive for the abyss beneath her, Wizeman quickly catching her.
"Woozy." She smiled weakly, having her energy sapped by the creation.
"It takes a lot of ones own energy in order to create other life, to be truthful I should've taught you to manage the energy before allowing you to create anything..."
"Master?"
"Yes?"
"I want to recreate another 'maren."
Wizemans eyes blinked. "You are unprepared for something like that, in time maybe you will be able to create a Nightmaren, but certainly not now."
"When I'm able to, I want to bring a 'maren back."
"Bring a 'maren back? Just whom, may I ask, are you referring to?"
"Well. I've been reading a book about a 'maren, and it seems true... His name was Makoa."
"Ah." Wizemans hands retreated, letting NiGHTS float in the air again. "Makoa, dubbed himself 'Macky'... Terrible name... He affiliated with the dreamers and that was what caused his death."
"What do you mean? The other 'maren killed him?"
"No, his supposed friends were his killers."
"Oh..." NiGHTS glanced at the oddly coloured Gao hovering in place, staring at her and trying to determine whether or not she was its mother. "Master?"
"Yes?"
"Can I keep it?"
"What are you referring to?"
"The Gao."
"Ah. Perhaps, I have little use for another low-level."
NiGHTS gave another smile and darted to the little creature, scooping it up and cradling it in her arms.
"First-level, I must warn you not to tell any other Nightmaren of your powers or of the Gaos creation, they have known to despise something different to themselves…"
--
The first thing the static ball of fur did was launch at the sheets of NiGHTS bed, and the first thing Reala did as a reaction was smack it hard off the blankets again.
"Reala! Leave it alone!"
"The hell is it doing here?" He hissed, watching the Gao creep back onto the sheets, with a low growl from Reala the lion yelped and rolled of the bed in one go, falling to the floor with a thump. NiGHTS winced and gently lifted it up again, cradling the furry form in her arms.
"He is my pet, so he gets to sleep in the bed."
"Pet?" Reala sighed, rubbing the black markings on his eyelids. "That's a human thing."
"Yeah and so is training them to use for battle, like you did with that group of Snips."
Reala chuckled to himself evilly, his claws against his lips as he thought. "That was a terrific idea... I'd never seen so many claws digging into one target..."
"Charming." NiGHTS rolled her eyes, setting the Gao onto the bed. "I reckon it would've worked better with Shleep, I mean how embarrassing would it be to lose to an army of shleep..."
"True." He smirked again. "I'll remember that."
NiGHTS was rummaging through the contents of a dressing table across the room, as always Reala was watching her, finding a slight interest in the odd objects she came across and telling the objects story, like where she had found it, when Jackle had eaten it, she came up with some really weird tales.
But what she found he had no interest in, so he gave the Gao another shove and pulled the sheets up, smirking as he heard its loud yip.
NiGHTS huffed and picked the lion up again, sitting it on the bed once more and using the large brush she'd just gotten she began to tidy the Gaos mad mane. No matter how soft or silky NiGHTS hair was, she still needed a relatively large brush to comb through it all, and the Gao wasn't keen on this treatment either.
"He needs a name." She stroked its fur, looking at its fiery red mane. "Any ideas?"
The Gao made a 'mew' noise and tilted its head.
"Reala?" She glanced over, seeing the 'maren already fast asleep. She bit her lip quickly and threw the sheets over the Gaos head.
"Stay there, I can't have you squealing." She smirked.
Then very, very carefully she lifted the blankets on Reala and moved them to his waist, wanting to see the one thing that had sparked her interest in the 'maren in the first place.
With a shaky breath she touched the tips of her fingers against the firm muscles on his shoulders, gently tracing along them. He wasn't wearing his vest, he'd taken it off at some point when she wasn't around, and was rather regretting not being in the room at the time.
Her hands slid across his chest, licking her lips quickly as she felt his cool skin, and slowly moved down to his abs, and then, a little bit lower, stopping her hands just above the sheets.
Was she game enough to go further? She shouldn't even be doing this at all, not even thinking about it, Reala would absolutely slaughter her if he found out- but at the same time, maybe it was worth it? Just to ease her curiosity and her lust for him?
It took a lengthy mental battle for NiGHTS to sum up the courage to move her hand again, and slowly she slipped the very tips of her fingers under the sheets...
And then, a sudden, loud noise sounded from near the 'maren and scared the living daylights out of her, Gao had fallen off the bed, again.
NiGHTS breathing had turned to short gasps from the fright, and she was shaking slightly all over, with a sigh she rubbed her eyes and collapsed back onto the bed, giggling quickly as she pulled the sheets up over herself and watching the Gao settling on the bed before she decided to sleep.
Though she hadn't noticed the fiendish smirk on Realas lips.
--
"A healer?" Reala hissed, watching the floating crystals. NiGHTS smiled and nodded quickly.
"Yeah, I was speaking to Wizeman and he'd agreed to let you see a healer, 'caus you're better now."
"I see. But I hate these things."
The healers crystal arms crossed, the little diamond shards sparkling as it glared at Reala.
"We all do, but I know how much you hate me so this'll get you out of my bed."
The 'maren stretched, yawning. "I guess so."
He gave a fiendish smirk to NiGHTS, who just gave a confused look back.
The female turned to the floating crystals, its hollow orbs staring back at her, then the healer nodded and moved to Reala.
"I guess I'll leave you be, eh Reala? Don't need me here." She smiled, moving to the door just as Reala tried to smack the healer away. The healers eyes narrowed and its hands took on a brighter glow.
"NiGHTS!"
She turned back quickly, seeing Reala trying to shove the healer away from him with a dark snarl on his face.
"No mind control!"
With a sigh she hovered towards the healer, resting a hand on its crystal shoulder, mind control from a healer was not the slightest bit pleasant for a 'maren, but for some it was needed. When needing help, most 'maren began to get rather violent and the first thing they hit is the healer, so for the healers sake, mind control was a vitality.
But it was an awful feeling, making the 'maren feel useless and vulnerable. And years ago, there was a war between the 'maren and Healers due to the fact that, well, the 'maren treat healers like dirt, and still do. Their tactic was to mind control the 'maren and it worked rather well, the war was only ended when Wizeman stepped in, punishing the healers but ignoring the 'maren.
"No mind control."
With the same dirty look the healer turned to her. "For the enraged, violent Nightmaren, mind control is needed for both my safety and that of others."
"He won't be a problem, no mind control."
Reala laughed, getting a sharp glare from NiGHTS. "Behave yourself, you!"
He nodded slowly, surprising the other 'maren with his obedience.
By the time the healer had finished most of its crystals had lost colour from using its energy, and it hovered from the room, shoving NiGHTS roughly as it passed.
"I hate healers." Reala hissed.
"We all do. Are you feeling any better?"
He hovered from the bed and landed besides NiGHTS, crossing his arms and straightening up. "Much better."
"Good." She smiled, crossing her arms to match Realas pose.
They stood in silence, Realas smirk starting to creep his fellow 'maren out slightly.
"I should go." He sighed, looking at the door.
"Okay."
"listen." He smirked, turning back to her. "This doesn't happen often so listen well; I want to thank you... I was in a pretty bad state to begin with and you were kind enough to take care of me, even if I was quite a jerk."
"Yeah I'm fairly used to the 'jerk' part."
He chuckled. "Whatever, I'll try to be nicer now."
She smiled lightly and nodded, watching Reala hover to the door. Just as he was about to leave he decided to throw in one last statement...
"Oh and, that little 'pat' yesterday, rather enjoyed that." He smirked slyly, stunning NiGHTS as he shut the door behind him. With a groan she grabbed her horns, blushing madly.
"He could've let me know that he was awake!"
--
The 'maren was pacing around the library, Jackle watching her going back and forth.
"Keep pacing, it's good cardio."
She shot a glare at him.
"Sorry." Came his reply, with a big toothy grin to accompany it.
"I can't believe it." She sighed, hovering to one of the broken decorations along the roof and sitting on it, her legs crossed and her face buried in her hands. "How could I do something so stupid?"
"I could tell you if you told me just what it was you did!"
"I can't!"
He pouted. "But we tell each other everything!"
"Not this." She groaned, rubbing her eyes. "This is bad."
"What!"
"I..." She sighed. "Got a bit friendly with Reala."
Jackles maniac expression faded. "What do you mean? Did you tell him?"
"No! I... Was touching him."
"Oh." Jackle sighed.
"He... Hasn't really said anything about it yet, but what if he does? What if the master finds out?"
"Then you're screwed. You know you shouldn't have done something like that!"
"I know I know." With another sigh she dropped from the rafters, standing in front of Jackle with her arms crossed.
"What am I to do now?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Not a thing, don't try to fix it don't try to make it any worse, just hope."
She nodded, watching the sun setting through one of the shattered windows.
"I need to think, I'm going for a fly."
"You have classes today."
"Eh whatever, those low-levels aren't my priority, I've got more to worry about."
"True." The toothy grin returned and Jackle stood. "Don't get to upset, purple, things will be fine."
She giggled quickly as his large hands grabbed her and pulled her small form into a hug, which she returned as well as she could.
"I'm here for you NiGHTS, don't forget."
"I won't." She smiled, flying out the doorway and disappearing down the hall, sparkles floating behind her.
Jackle sighed, pulling his cape closed in the middle and he frowned.
"I'm here for you." He repeated. "I care for you NiGHTS... I really do."
--
Frozen Bell at night, this was how she wanted to spend the free time she'd wasted on that fruitless hunt with Reala, and as she stood on a ledge overlooking a sparkling lake she'd really regretted not coming earlier.
It was snowing all around her, little glittery dots floating down and gathering on NiGHTS sleeves, she inspected each one closely, despite being ice, they didn't melt against her skin, a 'marens body warmth simply isn't enough for that.
The sky was clear above her, when she looked up she couldn't tell what was snowflakes and what was a star, but as ever the full moon stared down at her, reflecting in the surface of the lake.
But with a quick sigh she forgot the beauty of this landscape, her thoughts instead turned to her new problem.
Reala knew now, what could she do? She could heed Jackles warning and do nothing, but she wasn't that type of person- she had to do something. She could talk to Reala and explain it was a one-off thing and that he should forget it, yeah that'd work, and keep Wizeman happy.
But the safe choice wasn't the one that she wanted, was it?
Maybe she should just tell him? Write a message and slip it into his hand? Take him to one of the empty halls and confess to his face? Or even just scream it at the top of her lungs in the main hall?
She concluded they all ended the same, bad, but the more she thought, the more appealing it became to her, Trish loved to tell the 'maren of her lover, and truthfully NiGHTS was rather envious, like she was to most aspect of the human lifestyle, but if she was caught she'd be killed, was she too scared of death?
No, she'd never been afraid of death, she'd even welcomed it a few times but was always saved before she met the reaper, she could handle death and pain.
But what about Reala? Was she afraid of him? Certainly, he terrified her, not because he's frightening or because he's strong, but because of how he might react. Would he be surprised? Excited? Angry? Would he judge her? Accept her? Or even hurt her?
The thoughts were enough to upset her stomach and she groaned, shaking her heads and trying to change her mental topic, noticing that there were now icicles building on her horns.
--
Reala had no one close to speak to, he didn't make friends. He made enemies. And that's how he liked it.
But now he wanted another opinion, but there was no one he could trust.
He'd never liked NiGHTS, ever since he knew her he had known her to be obnoxious, loud, rude, his list goes on. But he'd found he had quite a primal interest in her, he knew the rules, but it didn't concern him. Wizeman was going to let him die anyway, so there was no real consequence.
But then he caused himself to think of her, he cared little for her feelings, but at the same time he didn't want to hurt her. She was precious in an aspect, but how? She wasn't important, but at the same time she was, why?
He couldn't answer any questions, instead he ended up with more of them, he was curious as to what it'd be like to have a lover, but it didn't seem simply physical, there was more to it, but he couldn't name the feeling.
With a sigh he glanced at his reflection in one of the stained windows, his gloomy face staring back, red thanks to the colour of the glass.
"Humans have some name for this condition, don't they?"