Yay the gun can talk now! Although he still doesn't know he can talk so… meh… Also, last chapter I kept referring to it as the Sword of Eons: From now on I'll call it the Sword of Aeons, the real name, sorry bout that!
Chapter Three: A Great Combination
I looked at Sparrow closely, simultaneously listening for the sound of someone talking. Then
I realized we were surrounded by beetles. There were probably three dozen of the bugs and they were on all sides. Not even Sparrow would be able to shoot me fast enough to kill all the beetles before they ripped her apart. "Will!" I exclaimed in panic, and Sparrow instantly focused upon her fists. Within a second she had a small glowing blue ball of lightning in her hands, and she hesitated only a split second before slamming it into the ground. I watched as a wave of blue energy rolled across the ground, electricuting all the beetles that had attempted to get at us on the ground. It passed safely under the flying ones, but Sparrow quickly took care of them using my bullets and, in the case of one particular beetle, her boot. Finally, the beetles were all dead and gone. I heard Sparrow mutter something about being able to make instruments and create a band with all the beetle shells we left in our wake, before looking around. Sparrow found a way down, and began to slowly make her way down the huge hill. Then, she followed the trail and her memory to the gypsy camp. When she reached it, she entered her own home. The place she had lived in for several years, and yet, now, as she entered the small room, she felt an unbearable pain. She instantly knew where it was coming from, what was the cause. Over the years, she had learned to deny the pain, to keep it hidden, but now she had it revealed to her once more. I felt something similar to her, and I felt the power that came from her pain. Now that it was back, my sweet, precious Sparrow could channel it. She had learned that in the Chamber of Fate, as she watched her ancestor fight Jack of Blades. He had so much pain, his mind falling apart, his body nearly destroyed, the pain of every wound he had ever had gathered into a single moment of absolute destruction, too great for even Jack of Blades, the man that had once ruled the world with the Council of Blades, crushing any form of resistance with nothing but a steel fist.
And now, I could feel the pain coursing through her blood. Her blood was boiling, her body was electrified, pressure was breaking the bones of her body, and she had no feeling other than the pure power and pain. Sparrow collapsed on the cot that was her bed, that had been her bed. I could feel it. She copuld feel it. "Everythings different." Someone said. I didn't know who it was that said it, and neither did Sparrow. She didn't seem to care, either. Then, she was asleep. And for once, I didn't simply turn off my mind like usual. Instead, I kept thinking, I replayed the experience we had had. I don't know why I had seen it too; after all, it was Sparrow that had his blood, I was just an upgraded toy. Eventually, I gave up, something also new, and I finally stopped thinking. Then, several hours later, Sparrow was moving again. She was moving fast, and with purpose, and before I could tell what she was even doing, she was firing me. My bullets tore into the skull of some unlucky bandit, and I watched as four more bullets were fired than necessary. I could feel Sparrow's rage, a frozen ball of ice surrounding fire. Every time I was fired, fire balls were launched, burning a hole through the ice, but it always froze again. I could feel my own anger, the clicking joint of a clock stopped by damage, that was allowed another tick with each shot. The bandits head exploded, and Sparrow made a mental whoop for joy. Then, suddenly, we were all surrounded by the thugs. Sparrow barely took notice, and I could feel her concentration on the bandit in front. Suddenly, I could feel the intensity of her fire increase. It became a nova, and a wave of fire left her both emotionally and physically. Every bandit within ten feet was turned to dust and bones, and the only one who still stood was the large bandit: Thag, Sparrows' mind said. And even he had blackened skin, and he looked about ready to collapse. Still, thag stood, and he took a few tentative steps forward. Something close to a sneer crept across his face, and he lifted his arm. In his hand was a gun.
He pulled the trigger, and before even I could tell what had happened, Sparrow had ducked, jetted forward, and her sword was just a millimeter from going through Thag's neck. Thag, who had just been fried to a crisp and grinned, suddenly fell backwards. His head made a sick crack on the wooden steps behind him, and Sparrow just continued forwards. But suddenly, I felt something change in Sparrow. She jumped back, and her sword dropped to the ground. "I'm… I'm…" I heard her say. I couldn't tell what was going through her head, even less than she could herself. Then, her head jerked up. She was looking at Thag. Thag himself was simply staring at the sky, his blackened skin barely moving as he struggled to breath. It was more than I had ever thought a normal human could withstand. Sparrow glared at Thag, looking for all the world like she was going to take me and fire a million bullets into him. Then, she did something even I, the one object in the world in tune with her very mind, did not expect. She grabbed all the healing potions she had and started shoving the liquid within them in to Thag's throat. He could barely get them down, but she forced each drop of the healing liquid in, no matter how hard he coughed or screamed. With every second Thag looked better, and I could feel something different in the potions. Now, Sparrow wasn't killing him to destroy her pain, she was forcing him to live. And she wanted him to live no matter what. I could feel her very need for him to live change the potion, forcing it to be better, to heal Thag. By the time she was done, Thag seemed half dead, his skin was healed but still an unnatural black, and he was completely passed out. Sparrow then took the sword back, and as she approached the caged people, and sheathed her sword and took me out. She pointed me directly at the two and spoke in a cold tone of voice, laden with nothing but hate and truth. "Tell anyone Thag is still alive, and I'll personally skin you alive." She said, and I felt a disturbing truth to her words. This was something I hadn't seen in Sparrow before, and it made me fear what she might do with that new attitude. Nonetheless, she burnt the lock with her newfound fire, and the two ran off, alternating between thanks of gratitude and complaints of her threats. Then, Sparrow took hold of Thag by his head, and began to drag him into the small cottage. She set him on his own bed, and started going through the cabin. She found a bag of gold, as well as a chest containing bad jerky and an old journal with one entry. She read that entry quickly, and by the time she finished deciphering it and making corrections in the actual journal, it made much more sense. And I could feel the boil that started from it.
Grabbed some more traders today, they were a bunch of sorry weaklings, but Lucien doesn't seem to mind that. As long as he keeps paying, what do i care? Been a while since he sent his boys round though. He better hurry up with that cash!
She took a deep breath, and then she looked at the passed out Thag. She pulled a piece of actually edible jerky from her pocket, and she held it under Thag's nose. He mumbled something in his sleep. "You stupid idiot, trying to fight me! Hehe…" I wondered exactly what he was dreaming about, but I couldn't think of anything that made sense. It wasn't until several hours later that Thag awoke. And he awoke angrily. Sparrow had me trained on him as he sat up, and he instantly froze. "Why am I still alive?" He asked, blinking his eyes wide. Sparrow answered simply, still holding me. "I wanted you alive." He blinked again, and stared at her. "Your writing skills are really horrible. Read this corrected version." Sparrow handed him his journal, and he read through it. "This is the right way?" Sparrow nodded. "So why does this matter?" Sparrow shrugged. Even now, I couldn't tell what Sparrow was trying to do. Thag spoke once again. "When are you going to kill me?" Sparrow once again shrugged. Thag laughed. It was a short, barking laugh, and I felt the sound grating. "So. What do you know?" Sparrow shrugged again, but this time she spoke. "I know that you're alive, and that you probably won't be able to properly move for a month. What with the body-wide scar , the loss of weight that'll happen, and the healing, you're probably going to be unrecognizable as Thag when that months over. And once it is, I plan on making sure you don't do anything I'd have to kill you for. So, choose your new name." Thag glared at Sparrow, as if he hated her more than anything in the world. Then, he shrugged in the same way Sparrow did. "What's your name?" He asked. "Sparrow. I'm the little sparrow." Thag laughed, once again his laugh was grating. "Then people can call me Crow. How's that sound?" Sparrow grinned. "Sounds good, Crow. Just remember, I'll be making sure you don't do anything I'd have to kill you for." And with that, Sparrow stood up. Then, she walked over to the newly named Crow, and held out her hand. "Deal?" Crow looked at her hand, as if he was wondering what the 'deal' was, but then he took her hand, and I saw him wince at the pain. "Deal." He said.