I almost gave myself a heart-attack when I realized I had chapter 8 saved twice. Opening what was supposed to be chapter 9 and going: "ZOMGWTFOMGOMGOMGBBQ!", not a nice way to end one's evening…
Chapter 9
Lesson
Karst yawned as she set her pack down on one of the small chairs around the dinning room. Outside the winds were picking up, and it had even been difficult to move through the village, with the snow piling up on all sides. She didn't know what time it was, but it didn't seem that important. Moving quietly through the empty house, Karst made herself a small meal of dry bread, butter, and meat. Sitting down in front of the fire, which she topped up, Karst stared at the flames as she ate. Watching the hungry fingers dance across the blackening wood.
The room suddenly filled with blinding light, followed swiftly by a deafening roar of thunder that seemed to shake the build's foundations. Karst was on her feet instantly and went over to the window to look outside. She hadn't known the storm had grown so strong.
"It's just lightning." She muttered to herself, "Agatio would laugh his ass off if he knew I still jumped at storms sometimes." The room filled with the light again, the thunder seemed to come sooner, the storm coming closer. Karst yawned again, trying to ignore the odd prickling sensation on the back of her neck as she strode into the small cooking area, and placed her dishes on the counter, she'd wash them later.
She didn't bother emptying her pack. She simply walked to the back of the house, and strode into the small room that was now hers. Throwing her cloak aside so that it landed on her dresser, Karst pulled off her boots and lay back on her bed with a sigh.
Rolling onto her side, Karst let her mind go blank as she tried to fall asleep, ignoring the sounds of the storm pounding on her house and the rest of the village. Thinking instead of her time training out on the Tundra, and how eventful that had been.
--Flashback--
Over the past two years I had come to despise running. No, I did not like it. Running on my own or to get somewhere was fine. But running in a group, around a mountain, everyday, before lunch… Not okay.
'Where the hell is Felix?' I thought, very annoyed as I kept pace with Agatio, the both of us taking sharp pants of icy wind off of the snow fields stretching for miles around the single mountain which lies dead north of Prox. Thankfully, we'd stopped lagging behind a few months ago, now we were often safely within the pack, or on good days one of us could be up near the lead.
Today Saturos and Menardi were in front of everyone, differing from normal where one would be in front, and the other in the back to catch stragglers and cheaters. But this little difference today could easily be understood; if I had a pissed-off Menardi trying to imbed her scythe in my scalp; I'd run like hell to. But then again, I had plans on using a scythe as well, thus sided with Menardi about punishing our mutual friend for his stupid comments.
Saturos slipped in the snow a ways in front of my sister, who raised her scythe threateningly as she barreled down on our blue-skinned mentor. The other warrior raised his gloved hands in defense and tried to calm her down from where he was half on one knee. As Agatio and I came up on the heels of the pack leaders, I was able to pick up a bit of what he was saying.
"Come on, Menardi, you know I was just joking." He said, a bit jumpy as my sister looked over the edge of her scythe, testing the blade with her finger before glaring at him, clearly not impressed.
"I-I mean, think about it, I'm not stupid enough to-I mean I know that the Scythe is a very challenging weapon the master. And that when it is it is very difficult to counter and-and-and…" Saturos gulped slightly as Menardi cocked an eye-brow at him.
Neither of them looked up as Agatio and the rest of us began passing by. But I couldn't help but smile as Saturos kept trying to convince my sister not to turn him into chum.
"Hey-lookout!" Someone shouted, Agatio and I glanced back just in time to see Felix loose his footing on a ledge jutting out of the face of the mountain, and land hard right next to a surprised Saturos in the snow. The two of us stopped along without about five or six others, the lot of us just staring at him before Agatio and I turned our attention up a little at the ledge that he'd fallen from. Not that big of a drop, but still, the question on everyone's mind seemed to be the same; he was on the mountain? It explained where he'd been vanishing to the past few weeks… I think…
"Uh, hi, Saturos…" Felix said a bit sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head from where he was sitting, "Did I make it in time?" He asked; the entire training party seemed to take a break, rosy cheeked and gasping for breath whilst crowding around Felix, Menardi, and Saturos.
"Ha!" One of the older trainees smirked, his voice a bit breathless still from the run, "You're gonna regret cheating like that, you little wimp!" He laughed to himself, most of the others working up a few jeers and taunts as well.
"Cheating?" Felix repeated blankly. I blinked twice at his reaction, why did he sound confused?
"What's all this about cheating I hear?" The laughter cut off, and I along with most of the other people around me glanced at Saturos. The warrior was still sitting in the snow next to Felix, who was also still on the ground. He had his arms crossed with a placid expression on his face, eyes closed as he seemed to be thinking something over.
"You heard me, what's all this talk of cheating?" He demanded, opening his eyes and firing a hard look at the lot of us. Everyone seemed to go quiet, and Menardi glanced up at the sky as if to judge the time of day.
"Barely made it." She commented, Felix looked relieved, but was on his feet soon enough with his shoulders back and spine straight as Menardi gave him a hard look, "Did you get it? Or did you really cheat?" She demanded menacingly, Felix quickly dug around in one of his pockets, tossing the length of his green scarf across his shoulder as well before pulling out a flat stone covered in red paint and handing it to her. I watched as Menardi looked over the small rock before pocketing it.
"Good." She said, smiling slightly, "Now go get the Blue one." Felix's small smile faltered at the order, but he just sighed as he walked towards the small trail leading up into the trees.
"Just the blue one? Or do you want the green one as well?" He asked, pausing to look back over his shoulder. Menardi seemed to consider his question for a moment, giving one of us a chance to speak
"Wait a minute, we're out here running all afternoon, and he's out getting rocks?" The same guy from before shouted, I glanced over and caught a glimpse of him. His skin was a light green colour like the Chief's. His hair was a similar shade and was streaked with red. I'd never really bothered to get his name, I wasn't very social. If I wanted to know I could just ask Agatio, his family ran the inn, they knew everybody.
"What kind of training is that? Is he to weak to run?" He continued. Saturos at last standing and brushing the snow off his pants, before he pointed at the speaker, and gestured to where Felix stood still waiting for Menardi's answer.
"You go with him then." Saturos ordered, "See if you think climbing mountains all day is easy." I couldn't help but laugh a bit, unfortunately that grabbed Saturos's attention. "Karst just volunteered to go as well."
'Damn it.' I thought bitterly.
"That means three are going?" Menardi asked, glancing over at him, Saturos nodded. She bit her bottom lip slightly as she mulled over something for a moment. "Four." She said, grinning as she pointed at Saturos, "You go with them, and make sure they bring back all the stones at the top of the mountain." Saturos glanced over the rest of the training party.
"Does anyone else want to join in?" He said in a very meaningful tone, everyone tensing up again at the sound,
"No, Sir!" They shouted in unison, everyone save myself, Felix, and the other person answering.
"Then get back to the village, you sorry excuse for soldiers! Move your lazy hides!" Menardi hissed, watching as the group started moving- rather quickly I might add- the rest of the way around the mountain and back to the village.
"See yeah, Karst." Agatio said lightly, absently giving me a pat on the back as he ran off, I glared at him as he sped off with everyone else.
"See you all later!" Menardi said with a laugh as she took up position at the back of the group, waving back towards us with a wide grin on her face, clearly rubbing this in our faces, "We'll be sure to save you some scrapes from dinner, if you show up of course!"
I felt like sticking my tongue out at her, but thought it wiser to keep it firmly between my teeth. I glanced over and noticed Saturos's eye-twitch slightly, as well as the dejected look on Felix's face; but this time kept my amusement to myself. This became rather hard to do of course, when I caught a glimpse of my other companion's face.
"At the top of the mountain?" He asked dumbly, "You mean we have to go all the way to the Summit?"
"The Summit is the top of the mountain." Felix replied in a dull monotone; and I had to look at the ground to hide the smile on my face as our third companion seemed to puff up a couple times in indignation. I wasn't happy about having to climb a bloody mountain without lunch,-no, I was rather pissed about that- I was smiling thinking about how badly this other guy was taking the assignment.
"Come on, runt," Saturos said harshly, coming up to where Felix was standing, I followed quickly, leaving the last member of our small party to stand there alone. "It's your exercise; you're the one leading us through it. Not me." Felix nodded at the order, glancing back at the other trainee until Saturos got a little impatient and made a menacing sound.
The scenery was nice enough though; there wasn't as much snow along the sides of the mountain, mainly just in damp shadows at the bases of trees where the sun's rays weren't very strong. The trees were tall pines and cedars, more than not though we could see the white bark of birches, the forest floor covered occasionally with a sudden bunch of ferns all crowded together in more protected areas. A thick blanket of pine needles and wet mulch giving the air a slightly musty smell to my own nose, large growths of moss clearly visible in a variety of colours normally attached to the stumps or living trunks of the various trees.
"So you've been climbing the mountain all day?" I asked, coming up next to him as we started hiking, years of logs falling atop one another and being frozen in winter before completely rotting provide large stair-like areas for us to climb. Felix nodded, Saturos was a ways behind us, making sure that other guy- still couldn't remember his name, didn't sneak back the other way.
"Yeah," He replied with a shrug, "Saturos and Menardi figure I'm not as competent with my Psynergy as I could be. They've pulled me out of a few lessons for ones like this. Don't step on that rock, it'll slide if you do." He commented, the four of us beginning to go up a rather steep rise dotted with the occasional rock or garnered tree root.
"What ro—woah!" Felix grabbed my arm to keep me from slipping back down the slight rise we were on. The stone I'd placed my foot on was rolling down the hill, carrying smaller rocks with it along with a few clods of earth.
"That rock." Felix said, chuckling slightly as I regained my footing. He met my glare with a shrug.
"At least we know its finally working." Saturos said coming up behind us. We both glanced back at him, but Saturos was focused on Felix. "Is this as slow as you walk when you're alone?" He asked, Felix gulped and shook his head. Saturos's expression only darkened, "Then you're going this slow now, because…?" Felix laughed sheepishly, and the both of us quickened our pace up the mountain.
Despite how one would think having those steps laid out would make the climb easier, it wasn't. Not ten minutes in I was finding it even harder to breath than running had been, my legs aching in different places which made me want to sit down when I considered that I should have already worked every muscle enough by now.
I think the best parts for me were the sudden tangles of roots and rocks where old land-slides had taken place in the past; where you actually had to think about where your next foot was going to go instead of how damn hard it was to move up. Thankfully, there were no shortage of these areas, or the sudden sheer faces of old weathered rock which went from around three to seven feet in height on occasion.
"So, he has to go climbing the mountain? What kind of help is that?" The other guy asked after a while, I was somewhat pleased to hear a similar amount of labour in his own voice. Felix had basically remained in the lead the entire time; I was behind him, closely followed by our third companion, with Saturos now in the back to keep an eye on the three of us. Felix glanced back as we kept hiking at a steady upward angle.
"Somehow being on the mountain like this helps me get in touch with my Element. Dunno how exactly, but it does." He said, looking away we continued on up, "Kind of hard to explain, I doubt you'd understand." I saw him shrug as he hoisted himself up over a pile of fallen logs and stone. He waited momentarily for me to pull myself up, and I was glad he didn't try to help me.
"Seems like a waste of time to me." The other boy commented dryly. "I'll bet you just go half way up, and then skitter around the Summit." Felix glanced back and laughed slightly, giving him a knowing smirk before replying.
"This mountain's not that tall." He said lightly, "It's actually just as easy to go over, if you can find the right trail. Besides," I saw his eyes dart to Saturos momentarily. "I'm not stupid enough to do something like that. Menardi would be able to tell if I was just going around."
"How?" I asked, looking between him and Saturos as if they would tell me via sign language or something.
"I came up here and placed a few painted rocks up at the Summit." Saturos said flatly as he brought himself up the same rise we'd just cleared. "Menardi tells me which ones are where, and if she doesn't trust you, she makes me come up here and check for them at night. So far we haven't caught you cheating. So far." he added a bit of force to the repetition, and I noticed how Felix tensed slightly.
I don't think I ever really figured out why Felix was always so jumpy around Saturos and my sister. He just couldn't seem to relax when they were around, or at least not when their attention was on him, which it was most of the time. Something about the both of them just seemed to smother him. Agatio and I both noticed it, and Menardi had as well. I wasn't sure about Saturos though, I never spoke to him about it.
"So training for you is running around finding rocks. Oh joy." The other boy said sarcastically. Felix just shrugged again, I always marveled at his patients with some people. It was possibly the reason so many of the villagers acted all high-and-mighty around him; they just wanted to see what it would take to get him mad.
My mind drifted momentarily to a night better left forgotten. I'd seen Felix mad before, perhaps not in a rage, but I'd seen him upset. It wasn't pleasant to see some one so bottled up when they were almost ready and willing to attack.
"Hey, you blow stuff up, I learn terrain; Simple as that." Felix was saying; his tone more blunt than he would normally allow, but I still saw him smile slightly as he glanced back, "If you hold onto that branch it'll snap." He warned; an air of knowing in his voice as he made the comment. I glanced back at the other two; Saturos was a couple yards away, looking over the scenery it seemed, and the other guy was still only a short ways behind us. Another one of those short drops just behind him as he leaned against a tree for a moment, one hand half-out to hold onto what looked like a fairly strong branch.
"Bite me." He spat, before he reached out and yanked the small branch. Just to spite Felix, and show him it was perfectly fine. So when it snapped instantly, he was caught totally off-guard and tumbled down the rise. Even Felix had to laugh at that.
"That's not funny!" He hollered, his head-reappearing over the edge along with both his arms as he tried hoisting himself up again. His pride hurting the most as he scrambled back up to where we were standing, Saturos and I were chuckling anyways.
"Yes it is." The warrior said lightly, shaking his head, 'tisk'ing. "He went out of his way to warn you, and you let your pride get in the way. You deserve to fall flat on your ass." I couldn't help but laugh a little more. I glanced over my shoulder again to see Felix's reaction, but was surprised when I found he wasn't standing there. Instead, he was almost out of sight a good ways in front of us. I started up the rise, missing the dark glare shot past me, until the two of us were walking side-by-side. I looked around and noticed the trees thinning out slightly.
"We're almost half-way up." He said abruptly, and I felt my eye-brows creep up slightly.
"Already?" I asked him, Felix paused and glanced at me, then at the sky, returning his gaze to me once more.
"We've been hiking for nearly an hour, Karst; didn't you realize how long it was taking?" He asked. I blinked and felt my cheeks colour slightly as I shook my head. Only now realizing the soreness in my limbs having come back full force, I seemed to have forgotten about it for a time, my arms and shoulders ached now as well, instead of just my legs from all the stepping and uneven ground.
He simply shrugged again as Saturos and that green-haired guy came up, and we started out again. Only a short while later, well, it might not have been short, but it didn't take long for me, we came to another rock face that led straight up, larger than others we'd passed before. Felix grimaced as we came up to it, looking over the weathered rock. He removed his gloves and placed his hands against it, eyes closed for a few moments. But, that was a few moments to long for some one.
"Are you daft? This thing's full of holes." The other Adept said sharply as he walked up to the rock face and gave Felix a flat look. I noticed him glancing over his shoulder to look at me, but I was fairly sure he was just showing off to Saturos.
"You put your hand in one hole, and your foot in another, and then you climb up." He explained, using a tone reserved for three year olds along with hand gestures to represent first climbing and then lifting up. Again, Felix didn't get mad, he lifted his hands slightly in submission and moved from the wall.
"After you then; oh Master of the Mountain." He replied said in a dry, tone. I met his eyes and saw something sparkling in their dark depths as he moved away though, for some reason he seemed in a good mood about this.
"Tch." The other guy, damn it I'd have to get Agatio to tell me his name this was getting annoying, sneered as he choose two larger ledges to grab a hold of. He hoisted himself up about a foot off the ground, and I moved to stand next to Felix.
"What's got you so happy?" I asked quietly, noticing he still had one gloveless hand against the rock. Felix just smirked slightly.
"Give it a minute." He replied, glancing up at where the other apprentice was about half-way up. "Not that one." Felix called. I glanced up and saw him hanging onto the stone, one hand reaching up for the next hold. Above him there were two possibilities, one ledge that looked wide and rather sturdy, and another, less prominent sticking out of the rock. I wasn't at all surprised when he looked down at Felix with a dangerous look in his eyes, but I was a bit taken aback when the sturdy looking hold gave, and he fell down roughly six feet to the ground.
"Told you so." Felix said lightly with a smile, patting the stone slightly and giving a rather wide grin. "You're right; this rock is filled with holes. It's brittle and lined with faults." He explained. I was almost positive I could here the other guy's teeth grinding, but I noticed that instead of being about ready to fall into hysterics, Saturos was simply standing there with what you could call an appraising look in his eyes. It was a mixture of what might have been slight traces of pride, but more so the look someone has when they're watching the pieces of a puzzle falling neatly into place for the first time.
"Well then, if you know so much about this mountain," Our other companion spat, anger coming off him in waves. "Then you lead us!" He stood and advanced on Felix until he was right up in his face. I almost sighed slightly as my friend couldn't keep that same level of calm this time, and took an inadvertent step back. A rather harsh mistake as the other guy grinned in contempt; Felix having basically shown he wasn't as strong as he appeared.
He sneered and walked away from Felix, coming over in my general direction and leaning against a nearby tree. His eyes darting over to me every now and then, making me damn uncomfortable, and wearing away at my patience.
'Okay,' I thought to myself, feeling a bit sour again, 'I know I saw him wink that time.'
"If you hadn't noticed earlier," Felix was saying, once again in a rather dry tone, I glanced over at where he was standing next to the rock again, looking ready to start climbing, "I'm pretty sure Saturos said that was what I was supposed to be doing."
"If you keep grinding your teeth like that," I commented vaguely as Felix focused on the stone, "Then soon there won't be anything to grind." Okay, that uncomfortable gaze wasn't going away now. He looked over at me, still leaning against the tree, and smiled slightly.
"You know, you've got a lot of spunk for some one so young." He said slyly, something in his voice rubbing me the wrong way. Who did this jerk think he was?
"Young?" I repeated testily, glancing at him, "Somehow I'm willing to bet I'm more mature than you can ever hope to be." He cocked an eye-brow at me, seemingly interested. Damn it, he was getting more annoying by the minute, and it took me to long to realize he was now that much closer to me!
"All grown up, eh?" He replied, still with that low, casual tone of voice. "Well, I think I'd like to know just how much of a woman you think you are." I wondered vaguely if I could get away with driving a couple pine-cones up his ass if he didn't shut up. Then again, I think I'd have rather not been in that position, probably pour some sour goat's milk down his throat instead and watch him squirm…
"I sure hope you two saw which way you're supposed to go to get up here." Startled, well, he was startled and I was relieved, we both looked up and saw Saturos and Felix standing up above us waiting. I sent a silent thank you to whoever had made them distract Mr. 'High and Mighty'.
"I don't know about you." I said sharply, getting away from him about as quickly as I could without making it seem like I was running. "But I have no problem with you loosing a few fingers if you try touching me again." I moved stiffly towards the rock face, not hesitating as I started climbing up. Praying I didn't grab one of those weak holds and fall flat on my face.
Felix helped me up the last little ways, grabbing my hand when one of the stones came loose under one of my feet.
"Thanks." I said quietly as I brushed myself off, Felix shrugged. As we started moving again, I was getting severely freaked out whenever I glanced back and saw that guy grinning like a cat. I wasn't all that psyched about having him at all close to me, so I walked about as far from him as I could. This, co-incidentally, meant walking next to Felix.
Which wasn't all that bad really. As we continued up the mountain the terrain became much rockier, as well as much steeper, so we didn't talk much. As we climbed I noticed something about him. Ever since he'd arrived in Prox, he'd always been rather held back, seemingly jumpy around most people. Never showing much enthusiasm in whatever he was doing, and unable to take the harsh climate.
But out here he seemed a bit different. I'd always known he'd had a deep connection with the world, but I don't think I'd ever seen any real proof of that until now. His dark eyes seemed to light up the more we moved, I noticed how even Saturos slipped and fell more than Felix did on the rocks as we made our way up. He didn't seem the slightest bit tired even as I was close to falling over. The pace he was setting for himself was fine for Saturos, but it was killing me and that air-headed dolt with us.
"Please tell me you've been healing yourself." Saturos said sarcastically, pausing a bit when the Summit came in sight. We'd been hiking steadily for almost another hour, I was praying the descent would be easier that the climb. "You didn't have this kind of energy a few weeks ago." Saturos continued, I took my chance and collapsed onto a nearby rock, trying to get my heart out of my ears, and to figure out if I'd be able to walk straight again. Not listening to what Saturos and Felix were saying. My rest was cut short of course, as 'You-Know-Who' started eyeing the seat next to me.
I stood up and walked to where Felix and Saturos were, not wanting anything to do with that smiling pretty-boy. As I came up I saw Felix shaking his head, Saturos grinned.
"Good. You'll need that kind of endurance for when we fire those Lighthouses." Saturos clapped one hand on Felix's shoulder and walked away, saying something about a quick rest before we started out again. I glanced at Felix and noticed the sick look on his face, the reminder of the Lighthouses pushing away most of his earlier hype.
"Don't worry about it." I said reassuringly, placing on hand on his arm to comfort my friend. It didn't really work through, glancing to me Felix looked about ready to throw himself off a cliff.
'Did I just hear a growl?'
Felix and I both glanced over at where Pretty-Boy was sitting on a small boulder half covered with pine-needles from the surrounding trees, fuming over something as he scrubbed his gloved hands together as if cold. I shrugged and simply turned back to Felix, a small smile on my face.
"Relax, let's just get over this mountain and get back home." I said, "I'm not sure if Menardi'll hold true to her promise of saving us food." Felix chuckled a bit, but he still seemed uneasy. He frowned slightly and looked at me,
"You're exhausted aren't you?" He asked; I blinked twice at the question. Damn it, did I look that bad that he could tell at a glance?
"I'm a little tired, yeah." I admitted, not liking to voice it. He smiled and raised one hand up, placing it over mine where it still rested on his arm.
"Would you like it if I took the edge off?" he asked, still smiling slightly. I was a bit taken aback at the offer, and then I heard that other guy give a short laugh. Saturos seemed to have wandered off somewhere.
"Ha, if she wasn't even interested in me, some half-pint like you isn't going to get very far." He sneered. Still sour, but poking fun at Felix seemed to improve his mood. I felt my anger spark a bit, who the hell did this guy think he was anyways? Felix seemed a bit fed up as well.
"I wasn't coming onto her or paying more attention to her legs than her condition." Felix said harshly. I felt my eye-brows climb up slightly, so there were a few, less drastic, ways of making him mad. I smirked slightly, but what did he mean by condition? Everyone seemed to see Felix as some weakling following his parents around. At least Agatio and I knew there was some fire in him, even if he kept it bundled tight under all those stony masks.
"I'm a bit sore, I wouldn't mind it if you helped a bit." I said, keeping an ear out for the other guy's reaction, smiling slightly as I heard him suck in a sharp, angry, breath. "If you're offering that is." I said, keeping my eyes on Felix's face, he smirked before closing his eyes slightly.
I was able to savor the warmth this time. The last time he'd use his Psynergy on me, I hadn't been in any condition to take in everything. I felt how his gloved hand over mine became suddenly warmer, and I felt that slight heat seep into my skin, and gently flow through me.
I smiled at the comforting warmth. It was different from what Menardi used every now and then. That felt like fire. Hot and quick, restoring energy instantly and leaving the person hyped up and ready for a fight. I supposed it had something to do with his Element that changed the feel of it. Making it seem calming and warm. I felt a tinge of regret as that warmth started to fade, Felix stopping the flow.
"Thanks." I said as Felix removed his hand from mine, allowing me to let go of his arm. I smirked as I heard 'Pretty Boy' snarling under his breath. His pride sure was taking a beating today.
The three of us gave a start as a fierce screeching filled the air. I clapped my hands over my ears as Felix spun to face the bushes. His hand flew to the training sword he wore at his waste. But he didn't draw as he scanned the area, searching for the sound.
The screeching cut out suddenly, leaving everything deathly still. Felix and I glanced around; trying to find what had made that noise. Something in the back of my mind thought it might be Saturos playing some kind of joke on us. But that thought was cast aside as my eyes caught a flash of blue speeding towards the both of us.
"There!" I shouted, throwing one hand at whatever, it was. Felix didn't have enough time to get his sword out before whatever it was rammed into him, the force of which sent him flying back against a large boulder. His head snapped back and must have connected with the hard granite block, because he didn't get back up.
"You're mine!" I glanced back at where the small demon was, finally able to tell what kind it was. It looked like a raccoon with three-tails, large claws on its front feet looking ready to tear a chunk out of anyone who came close. I spotted our other party member charging at it, sword drawn. He slashed down at it only a moment to late before it darted away, letting out another ear-ringing screech as it charged at me.
Without thinking, I flung my hand out at it, the world's colours changed again, but I was able to ignore it as I felt fire running through my veins.
"Get away!" I shouted. A long cylinder of fire shot out from my palm, moving just as fast as the insane creature running at me. It let out another enraged screech, falling to the ground, maimed, but still very much alive. One of its front legs was nothing more than a brunt stump, its fur along one side seared off from the heat of the attack.
Its back legs were fine though, something it proved by propelling itself forwards again. It was frothing red around the mouth as its black eyes were wide with a feral rage.
"Karst! Get down!" I could barely comprehend the order before I felt a weight at my back as Felix forced me to the ground. He was on top of me, but I still managed to glance up. I saw the small demon going over the both of us, and I almost screamed as it was impaled, by a large, jagged spire of stone. Blood spattered over us both as the creature screamed in pain, dimly I thought I felt a flash of Psynergy as another spire shot out from the ground, stabbing the demon again.
The scream cut off as the small being seized up, fur, skin, and char all going a sooty grey and falling to dust, a yellow glitter resting in the center as two chunks of stone fell lifelessly to the ground.
Felix was breathing hard as he pushed himself up and off of me, staying on the ground as he coughed violently. I regretted loosing his warmth again, at least, until I realized I regretted it and stopped. I placed my forehead on the ground, trying to get my heart-beat back under control and breathing in the sent of pine-needles and the forest.
I glanced around and spotted 'Pretty Boy' staring at Felix, not doing anything like an idiot. I also glanced back at the boulder my friend had been thrown against. My throat went dry as I saw a large amount of tears in the pale face of the rock, a gaping whole in the middle, showing where that spire had come from.
"What the hell happened to you three?" I looked up surprised, a little ways up the path, Saturos had returned from wherever he had disappeared to. He was glancing between the three of us and eyeing the other guy suspiciously.
"It was a small attack." Felix said, his voice was a little hoarse and he didn't seem like he could stand. "One of those raccoon-like demons caught us off-guard."
"Caught you off guard is more like it." the other guy sneered, sticking his nose in the air. My eye twitched slightly, but I couldn't help but feel a bit of concern over Felix as he seemed to be having a harder time recovering.
"I didn't see you pulling any heroics." I stated clearly. "One swing with your sword and you stopped helping." He balked, no matter that he had been trying to impress me before, now he really was trying for Saturos's approval.
"That's a lie." He said, striking a pose and trying to make it look natural, "I got the both of you away from that thing, and even got it tired enough that you could hit it in the end! I drove my sword through that thing's guts. All Felix did was get Karst out of the way of my—Saturos, what are you--?" Saturos had un-clipped the short sword the other guy wore, and had the blade out to inspect.
"No fur, no blood, no notches to show a hit… A lot of dust and dirt though, at least it hit the ground." Saturos pointed along a line across the same general level around us, the tops of the occasional boulder looking blackened, as well as a few branches and trunks from the scattered trees smoking gently. I noticed what he was pointing out but not so much the importance behind it as I made my way over to Felix. "Care to explain why I saw a 'Beam' Psynergy, when out of you all, Karst is the only one who can use it?"
Ah, wait, that was the reason he found the need to point out the fire damage. I couldn't help but smile a bit as I listened, but my mirth faded a bit as I knelt down next to Felix. His breathing was a bit labored as I placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you okay?" I asked; he turned his head to look at me, and he looked like he had a fever. The skin around his eyes was drawn, and his face in general looked pale. He was sweating for some reason, and all in all he looked drained. If he felt as bad as he looked, I wasn't to sure he'd be able to go the whole way over the mountain. But he still just nodded at the question.
"I'm fine." He said; his voice still hoarse, "I just need a few minutes… Until the world stops spinning…"
"You've never done that before, have you?" I asked, recognizing the symptoms, whenever some one learned a new Psynergy, they almost instantly fell ill. Normally just a fever that broke the next day, but seeing as how we were still a lengthy walk from Prox…
"And I suppose now you're gonna tell me you're some kind of cross-breed Adept!" Saturos shouted, giving our other companion a firm tongue-lashing. "Some one who can use both the power of Mars and Venus? Cause according to your story, Bucko, you can summon spires of stone to shoot out of the god-damn planet to strike your opponent! Is that really what you're trying to tell me here?" I glanced over and Saturos looked about ready to explode, Pretty-Boy looked about ready to wet himself.
"Great timing for this, eh?" Felix mumbled under his breath. I smiled and rubbed my hand on his back. I may not have been strong enough to heal, but it didn't mean I couldn't at least try to make him feel better.
"When we get back to the village, I'm gonna work you like a dog, do you hear me? You're gonna wish you were a dog when I get through with you! You think I'm stupid enough not to know when you're lying to me? Next time, I don't care if you lie; just put a little more thought into it so that a FIVE YEAR-OLD can't see through your plot!" I smirked as I continued to listen, I'm pretty sure I heard Felix chuckling as well. Listening to this guy getting chewed out by Saturos was quickly becoming the best part of the day.
"I'll work you so damn hard, all you're gonna wanna do is go home and learn to knit with your mother! Now you keep your ass right there for a moment! If I see you so much as scratch an itch you'll WISH Menardi was here instead of me!" I could tell Saturos probably wasn't as mad as he was acting, seeing as how he didn't seem all that enraged as he came up and crouched down next to Felix.
"I… just need a few more minutes, Saturos…" Felix said quietly, looking up at the warrior. Saturos raised an eye-brow, and then nodded towards the boulder, those ugly rents in it not going away anytime in the near future.
"You didn't tell me you could do something like that." he said.
"I didn't know I could." Felix replied; trying to sit up, he held his head with one hand as his world seemed to spin. I reached out and grabbed his wrist as he started to topple back-wards. "I'm alright…" he muttered, I gave him a flat look, Saturos as well.
"I've had about enough climbing for one day. I don't give a damn what Menardi said, this exercise is over." Saturos stated clearly, getting to his feet, he didn't try to help Felix at all, but he seemed to do alright on his own.
At least up until the point he almost fainted…
"Can you get us off this rock, Felix?" Saturos asked; I glanced up at him. Saturos just shrugged, "Does he look like he can climb to you?" Saturos asked flatly, but I still didn't understand what that had to do with anything. Did Saturos expect Felix to carry us down or something…? Saturos didn't pay my confusion much mind though, turning his attention back to Felix,
"I ought to." He stuttered, he seemed to be having a hard time standing straight, and Saturos had to keep a firm grip on his shoulder. Our tutor nodded before glancing back over his shoulder.
"HEY!" He called, "Mr. I-take-credit-for-other-people's-work-cause-I'm-to-lazy-to-do-it-myself', get your ass over here! We're going back the short way." 'Pretty-Boy' covered the distance between where he had been standing, and where the rest of us were rather quickly. As he stumbled up Saturos didn't lessen up on him.
"And if I hear one more wise-crack outta you, I'll make sure you climb this mountain ten times a DAY for a month. That is of course, if I don't tell Menardi you were giving her sister some, clearly un-wanted, attention. If I do that you won't be able to MOVE let alone climb."
I smirked at how pale he went as Saturos finished the threat, even though I was a little bitter about that remark about Menardi. Did people really think I relied on her for everything?
I was able to put those thoughts aside as Felix's hand unexpectedly grasped mine and I suddenly felt a surprising amount of energy coming from him. What felt like a whirl-wind blew up around us, somehow making the world spin rapidly around till the point where I felt I was going to be sick. I let out a small yelp as the ground vanished beneath us, I held onto Felix's hand as if it were a lifeline as colours flooded my vision, blurring together as the world seemed to shift around us.
The world broke apart around us, or maybe we were the ones who shattered into a thousand tiny shards of colour. There were lines between the edges of each puzzle-piece, lines of complete darkness, and of blinding white. It felt almost like my mind were being pulled away from my body, both parts of what were really me separating as one left the other behind and then met up again as if having been traveling in opposite directions around a circle. Each part had been going at a different speed though, so when I found myself as me again, I wasn't in the same place.
With a jolt I felt the ground beneath my feet, and I cracked one eye open to see where we were. Feeling a bit disoriented as I noticed we were back at the base of the mountain. The trampled snow had blown itself over to almost cover the tracks made by our party earlier while running, now it was little more than a slightly uneven line across the endless white.
"Karst, he's gonna fall over if you don't let go soon." Saturos said dryly. I didn't know what he meant by that statement at first though, pulling my forehead away from Felix's shoulder to get a good look at hi—Shit.
My ears burned the rest of the way back to Prox, having been clinging to Felix's arm so hard he'd been about ready to collapse like Saturos had said. Doing whatever he had done to move us from the top of the mountain back to the bottom having drained him even more so after originally defeating the beast that had attacked us. And having to deal with my weight had almost brought him down completely. I don't know how hard it must have been to lock his knees against having his face meet the snow.
In general we had to take it slow going back to Prox, it didn't seem to bug anyone that much. We were all tired from half-climbing up the mountain. I still didn't know how Felix had been able to climb that thing as many as three times daily. At least that was the number Saturos gave me anyways.
Felix turned towards the Elder's home as soon as we trudged into the village after about an hour. We exchanged good-byes and the three of us continued down along the lane. Saturos and that other guy turned off towards the Inn, and I stumbled the rest of the way home.
As I pushed the heavy door open, I saw Menardi sitting there waiting patiently. A steaming mug of what I would assume to have been ale or tea in her grasp as she'd been waiting patiently with a plate of food set out for me. Her blond hair had been let down around her shoulders, the red marks along her eyes framing the firey red of her iris's and glowing in the half-light of the fire. She'd teased me a bit as I was actually quite slow to finish the meat stew she'd kept warm for me. Once I was finished I had a hot bath in the back washroom and collapsed exhausted into bed.
By the time my sister came in to ask a bit more about the hike up the mountain. I was dead asleep.
--End Flashback--
Karst shook her head slightly, trying now to forget the hike up the mountain. Or rather, the memory of Felix's warmth on top of her like that, it had been brief, not something to really focus on, but the memory had stuck for some reason. And it was not the sort of images she needed when trying to sleep. Instead, she took in the soft warmth of the covers beneath her, and the gentle glow of the small fire in the corner.
Her mind got away from her then, and she almost felt an added warmth at her back. And her ears almost picked up the, soft, re-assuring sound of a heart-beat next to her. And one strong arm around her holding her close against that warmth. She relaxed against that feeling, imagining that warm aura surrounding her, keeping her safe. She wished she could just roll over, and gently feel his lips against hers, letting him softly caress—
'WO, back up!' Karst thought suddenly, eyes snapping open as she startled herself from her own fantasy. Startling herself so badly that, in fact, she fell off the bed. 'Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts! No more of those! Wake up, Karst!' she berated, scrambling to her feet to glare at the cramped bed, as if it were a living thing, and had done that on purpose.
"MEN!" Karst snarled angrily, shaking herself trying to rid herself of that warmth, pleasant as it had been. "Damn you, Felix; get the hell out of my head!" she shouted, thoroughly annoyed that the idea of him had been driving her insane all day, and night, for the past few months.
Making a low noise, one that would probably have most men about ready to soil themselves had it been targeted at them, Karst grabbed one of the covers from the bed, and stomped out of her room to sleep out on the low bench.
'I'll get through this, I'll get over this. I'll put this whole affection thing behind me!' Karst snarled as she moved her travel pack from where it had been resting on the worn piece of furnature and punched her pillow a few times, both to soften it, and to work off a bit of anger, before she let herself down. Tucking one arm under her pillow, Karst firmly pushed all thoughts of him from her head, trying to be supportive of herself.
Trying, and failing miserably of course.
'I don't need to think about him. I can stop thinking about him. I don't need to think about Felix at all because no matter what I may think I'm feeling he isn't going to come back here from wherever he is.' Karst thought with a quick nod as she closed her eyes again. 'Yes, Felix is on the other side of the world, probably with all of his little friends… Somewhere where people are praising them as heroes, dancing, music. Things like that. They are heroes after all, probably being invited into noble houses, sharing meals with doe-eyed daughters..!'
Karst sat up-right seething, completely and utterly unable to get him off her mind for even a moment so that she could sleep. The old saying 'If you can't beat em, join em' came to mind, but she crushed the notion. She was not going to give in to this.
'It's not like I love him.' she said to herself, not sounding all that convinced as her sudden anger melted away. 'Even if I did, not that I do, I… I almost to killed him… twice...' Karst forgot about sleep and stood. Striding over to the window, she leaned against the wall to glance out at the storm, still raging outside. Her arms folded just under her chest as her shoulder rested against the aged wood, one ankle hooked back around the other for a moment before her head began to lower just slightly.
'Something like that puts an end to almost any relationship…'
Le fini. Eh, for the chapter at least.