Ugh! Sorry this has taken literally so long. I've been super super busy with life. A lot has happened between the last update. I moved, and trying to get adjusted to the new location has been tough.
I created a new blog for information about this story, if anyone ever has any questions. Not that this story is hugely popular or anything.
The blog can be found at prophetstuck . tumblr . com
my personal/main is still solluxbutt . tumblr . com
Thank you for reading!
"The entire town has been demolished. There weren't any survivors. They think the seadweller tenant sent the drones to attack. No one is really sure. Is your friend alright?"
"He'll be fine in due time. Thank you."
"It's my pleasure, your honor."
"Oh that's far too formal. Thank you for everything."
The inn was mostly dark. It was tucked away in a small town hidden in the forest. After the near cave in, Carmine, Rosa, and Dani had carried Pollux to the nearest town. They had walked into the inn looking battered and bruised and the inn keeper, a follower, let them stay for free. They had laid Pollux out on the bed supine, a soft pillow under his head.
Rosa had tended after him for a while, pulling a blanket over him, letting him rest. Carmine paced.
"Rosa, what if he is seriously hurt? Did you see the force of that blast? He could have blown out his brains! What was he thinking!?"
"Carmine, he was protecting us. There is no reason to be upset. His eyes are still there. I checked for damage earlier." She managed to get out before Carmine started ranting again about how he should have been more careful. Dani in the mean time, was curled up on one of the other beds asleep. She had carried most of Pollux's weight. While he was thin, he wasn't exactly light.
"Rosa, he could have been killed…then our rescue mission would have been worthless."
"We rescued him, and he rescued us. He returned the favor, two fold if you will." Carmine sighed as Rosa spoke.
"But mother…" He was interrupted by a grunt and a groan. Pollux slowly opened his eyes.
"What happened?" The psionic groaned, clutching his head. Rosa was right at his side.
"Shh child.." she cooed, "stay still." She calmly explained what had happened. Pollux's mind reeled.
"I dreamed." Pollux whispered, "There wath death everywhere."
"Shh child…" Rosa whispered, smoothing her calloused hand over his forehead. "Rest. We have a long night ahead of us."
The trio rested well before donning their capes and heading out into the night. They didn't want to stay in a place too long. They wanted to get as far inland as possible in a night. The road was tough and they had to stop every now and again to rest and get water. Pollux, despite being able to move and keep up, he was still having issues maintaining the pace of the journey. Soon, they arrived at an impasse.
"We can't go any further." Dani said. "There are high bloods up ahead guarding. This is bad….." she looked over at Carmine, who still looked positive.
"She's right." Rosa sighed and gently nudged Dani. "Go search for shelter. Stay out of sight. We'll camp out for the rest of the night and through the day tomorrow."
"But Rosa…" Carmine looked crushed. "How are we going to make it to the mountains if we keep this up?"
"I know." She said, shaking her head. "But Pollux needs to rest."
"Rotha, i'm fine…" Pollux stammered, but Rosa cut him off.
"We all need to rest. Dani is looking for shelter. In the mean time, let's go off the path and keep out of sight."
The trio headed out off of the path. Pollux shivered, pulling his cloak further around himself. Carmine glanced back at him and gave him a weak smile. He stepped back to help him.
"Are you feeling alright?" he asked. Pollux nodded. He felt alright, just cold. He shivered again and pulled his hood up over his face.
Dani returned after a while pointing out a nearby cave.
"It's nice and dark. Secluded too." Dani grinned, her face smudged with dirt.
"Sounds wonderful." Rosa sighed, gently nudging Carmine. "Lets go ahead and go underground. We'll be safe there."
"There's even a reservoir for fresh water. I checked." Dani looked so proud. She rushed off, leading the others to the reservoir cave. Dani led the others down inside. It grew colder and more damp the further they went. Rosa brightened, her glow helping the decent. Once they reached the bottom, Dani led the way across the reservoir of water. It was shallow, and easy to wade across.
"We'll be safe here. There are crabs to eat and lots of fresh water." Dani said, settling down. "We can build a fire and dry off here."
As Rosa and Dani began building the fire, Pollux and Carmine spoke quietly to one another.
"Have you had any more dreams?" Carmine asked, gently laying out his robe to dry. Pollux followed suit.
"A few." he said, frowning. "Not many. They're getting more and more cryptic." he mumbled, shrugging a little. He sat down on the edge of the damp robe, glancing at the fire. It crackled to life, spreading warmth and light. "All I know ith that there ith a lot of darkneth and fear thoon." Carmine looked worried.
"Well...think of it this way. It gets better in the end. Always."
Night ended and day came. They all slept peacefully curled up on their cloaks. Rosa had gone out earlier in the morning and managed to capture a decent sized hornbeast that she could carry back into the cave. As Night came again, Dani was the first one up. She helped prepare the meat for cooking. Carmine awoke to the sound of Pollux having a daymare.
Carmine shook him gently, brushing his hair from his eyes. They slowly fluttered open. Carmine couldn't tell where he was looking with no pupils like that, but at least he knew Pollux was awake.
"You were dreaming." Carmine said. "Something bad, huh?"
"No, really. Of courthe." Pollux groaned and sat up. "I can hardly ever thleep right anymore. Until the visionth thtarted, I got loth of retht….and now I can't go a day without dreaming." He grumbled and rubbed at his eyes.
"It will get better." Carmine said. "If you want, we can explore deeper in the cave today. It will be fun!" Pollux managed a little smile.
"Thure why not."
"Not until after breakfast." Rosa said, bringing them a bowl of hot, cooked meat.
"Rosa this smells amazing! What is it?" Carmine asked, using the wooden utensil Rosa had given him to shove a bite of food into his mouth. He gasped and fanned his face. "Oh ih hohh!" Pollux chuckled.
"Of course it's hot, dear. It's hornbeast I found last morning. Dani helped me roast it over the fire this evening. Eat up dears. You can explore the cave after you eat."
Once everyone had a full belly and was in good spirits, Carmine and Pollux crept deeper into the cave. Dani and Rosa stayed behind to clean up and also to gather food for later that night.
"Wow what's that?" Carmine went leaping across a couple of flat rocks to look at a bioluminescent bug.
"Carmine be careful!" Pollux hissed, using his psionics to light the way. "There could have been a cliff there and you would have fallen and died."
"Oh dont be such a worry bug, Pollux! I'm fine. Besides, I'm sure you would have caught me with your cool powers anyway." He stuck his red tongue out at him and laughed.
"I dont even know if I could lift another troll into the air. I've never tried." He shrugged.
"Oh! You should try! Try right now!" Carmine beamed and closed his eyes tightly. "Come on! Lift me up!"
"Carmine you'd hit your head on the theiling."
"Then do it like an inch or something off the ground! Come on!" He bounced a little bit in anticipation.
"Then open your eyeth, thtupid. You don't have to clothe them." He rolled his eyes and stuck his hands out. His eyes sparked to life, surrounding Carmine in a faint red and blue aura. He then was lifted a few inches from the ground and set right back down. "Ta-da."
Carmine gasped and grinned widely. "That was amazing! I felt like I was flying!"
"Becauthe you were."
"Do it again! do it again!" Carmine chanted. Pollux shooshed him.
"Not tho loud! What if there ith thomeone elthe in thith cave bethideth uth?" The psionic sighed and grasped the edge of his cloak.
"Pollux, I honestly doubt that there is anyone else in this cave. Dani checked it out remember?" He ruffled Pollux's hair. "Sometimes I think you need a good friend to keep you in check."
Pollux's face flushed a little bit. "Carmine are you waxing pale for me?" he asked, looking at him.
"What? No. I don't believe in the quadrants. They're unnecessarily difficult and complicated. I belive in friendship and love. None of this caliginous love or ashen. It's not for me." Pollux just kind of nodded. It didn't make sense to him hardly at all. All he knew was that he felt a bit fuzzy.
"Letth keep going." He mumbled, using his eyes to light the way deeper into the cave.
The cave bottomed out at a large deep mass of water. It seemed to go on for ages, and even Pollux's psionics couldnt reach the bottom.
"Maybe it's a bottomleth pit. I've heard of them when my old mathter told me he'd throw me into one." Pollux shrugged. "I can't thwim tho i'd rather thtay away from it." He took a couple of steps backward, sitting down on the rock behind him.
"Well your master was an asshole." Carmine laughed and shook his head. "C'mon. I wanna swim. I could teach you."
"W-What?! No! I-I mean Carmine there could be theadwellerth down there!" Pollux stammered, sparking nervously.
"Oh come on where is your sense of adventure?" Carmine shrugged off his cloak. He shimmied his leggings off. Pollux always thought that the leggings that came up all the way to his chest looked incredibly stupid, but who was he to complain? He wore poofy asshole pants and a weird shirt that had stupid flowing sleeves. At least it was better than that stupid jump suit he had to wear before Dualscar bought him. He was glad to be rid of that. Carmine grinned at him before he stepped down into the water.
"Shit it's cold!" he hissed, holding onto the edge. "Come on Pollux. It's not bad I promise. I'll hold you up and I can help you if you start to panic."
"Carmine, I told you I don't feel comfortable around water…" he mumbled, rubbing his arms.
"Fine then." Carmine ducked under water to swim, holding his breath. He couldn't swim very well, but he knew the basics from what Rosa and Dani had taught him. He resurfaced again after a few moments, spitting water and shaking his head. "It feels so nice, Pollux. Please try it at least once...for me?"
Pollux felt his face flush gradually. He slid his cloak off, laying it gently on the rocks behind him. He shrugged off the top with flowing sleeves and removed the poofy asshole pants. He stood in the dark, scarred, scared, and naked. He shivered from exposure, creeping closer to the edge of the rocks. The water was dark and deep below him. Carmine held onto the rocks on the other side. He squatted, and peered into the water. He slowly extended one foot into the water, and pushed himself in. He clung to the side of the wall tightly, not even considering letting go. Carmine swam back over to him, grinning like a fool.
"See? I told you you could do it!" he beamed, giving him a pat on the shoulder. "It's not that bad once you're actually in. Now come on!" He grabbed Pollux's arm and tugged. Pollux gasped and flailed, closing his eyes tightly as his head dipped under water for a moment. Carmine pulled him back up and supported him gently, holding onto the wall with one arm. "Easy, easy." He patted Pollux's back as he spluttered. The cave had been plunged into darkness.
As Pollux opened his eyes again, the cave was gently lit. The water around them glowed a faint blue and red, reflecting off of the surface. Even Carmine was bathed in a faint red and blue light. He felt his heart flutter. Carmine grinned at him, his hair sticking to his face and neck. Pollux couldn't help but grin back, that toothy grin of his. Laughter echoed around the chamber, grins not leaving their lips.