Ducky here :)
I'm definitely procrastinating from studying for my exams tomorrow by posting this, rip.
Enjoy!
Chapter 8
A flash of green cut through the darkness, a familiar, warm burst of colour that he clung to as he was pulled to his senses.
"Raven!"
He looked around; they were no longer in the field and somehow had found their way back to the camp.
"There you are!"
Rena smiled down at him as her blurry figure leaned over him, silhouetted against the blank canvas of the tent roof. She extended a hand. "Easy does it."
With a grunt he took it and she drew her arm back, bringing his torso off of the ground and towards her so he could sit up. Close enough so that they could see every detail each other's faces. Rena's eyes widened as she took her hand out of his. "Wow...I never noticed this before."
"Noticed what?"
"It changed!"
"What do you mean?"
In confusion, he looked towards Rena, whose gaze was fixated on his hair. He was too caught up in marvelling at how her eyes were such a clear, bright green that he didn't hear her reply.
"W-what happened?"
"Let me show you."
She grabbed a hand mirror from beside her sleeping bag and brought it over. A patch above his forehead that had once been ebony black was now white, and it was clearly distinguishable from the rest of his dark mane. Rena's delicate fingers sorted through the stray strands of snowy hair until they began to form a wide, neat tuft.
"I think it happened from you using the arm a lot lately," she said, "It's definitely had some kind of effect on you."
Looking down to the newly modified Nasod claw, the white highlights, and even his new clothes, Raven almost felt like a different person - as if he had evolved. "Funny how you didn't try to attack me. I don't remember you doing that last time I played with your fur," she teased.
The man snorted.
Before she could continue, the sound of a gong rang through the camp and a certain commander's distinctive voice cut through the conversation; "DINNER!"
"Perfect timing, I could feel my stomach beginning to rumble," Rena giggled as she opened the tent flap, motioning for him to follow her.
Both could hear the scuffle of soldiers' feet outside, hurrying to their favourite meal after a long day of training under Lowe's tightening command. They could see him attempting to control the ravenous troops, though all in vain. Rena shook her head and laughed in her melodious, fluty way, skipping out towards the others though Raven had only just stood up, one hand on his dizzy temple. With a shake of his head, he moved out of the opening, surprised to see shades of purple, grey, and blue spread across the sky.
"I was out longer than I thought," he mused to himself.
Rena's unique hair colour made it much easier to spot her in the crowd of soldiers. Several men and women were tearing away at huge chunks of meat which had been roasting on a stick above the fire, much to her distaste. However, having heard the elf's rants about vegetarianism one too many times, they had set up a small dish beside the spitroast. It was filled to the brim with plants and vegetables the soldiers had foraged for themselves after applying their skills learnt from Rena's teachings days earlier. She clapped her hands in excitement, scooping out her own portion before moving to sit beside Lowe. One by one, the remainder of the group began to join the slowly forming circle. When they heard the familiar sound of Raven's heavy steps coming towards them, all scrambled to make a space right next to the elf, and so he moved towards the spot and sat down. Vision still unclear, it was difficult to see the faces of those near him but he had no trouble hearing them even over the background noise of other conversations.
"...it's a mess. The damage, it's worse than we previously thought."
"Worse?"
"Yes, those in the city have tried to rebuild the damaged areas, but at a much slower rate than promised. It seems that the only work being funded are the restoration of the properties belonging to nobility, which is strange because they were hardly touched. More has to be done, more has to be done faster…"
"But this is a temporary camp," interjected another soldier, "We are only meant to stay temporarily!"
Shaking his head, Lowe sighed. "If you looked to the buildings, you'd see only shambles and wreckage there. Not only damaged, but uncared for. Cracks run through the walls as if the earth
opened yesterday, and all is so hectic that it is difficult for even our own messengers to report to us. Yes, it will take much much longer than just 'temporarily'." His gaze dropped to his half-uneaten food.
The words from Lowe's rant haunted Raven's thoughts, flashing through his mind over and over. "Wreckage...damaged...shambles", with each word his anger rose.
"What can be done, Lowe?" Rena asked in a concerned tone.
"Very little, I'm afraid. Ruben is being choked out by nearby bigger cities like Elder because they think they have the right to force us into their fiefdom just because we're a small, traditional village and rely on farming. That's why we desperately need the money Velder is offering for us to protect against whatever monster did this, so we have to stay until they regain some kind of stability and pay up. Except the damage is far too great, so there's nothing we can do but wait." His voice stopped again, this time with more resignation than anger.
"Alex; it must be his fault, all of it."
Raven could hardly concentrate on the conversation that followed with the uncomfortable murmur that passed through the group, the many soldiers becoming more frustrated as they thought about having to stay away from their homes and their families. The grumbling of low voices, the hissing of the fire, and the muttering of an exasperated Lowe only contributed to his growing resentment for the man whom he believed had caused it all. Alex.
"We won't be able to leave for a long time, longer than we anticipated," the commander repeated to himself, "I'm worried about Ruben's safety even though we left half the troops over there. That Alex better stick to his end of the deal when this is all over."
Rena's centuries of experience with controlling her reactions was the only thing keeping her from yelling out that name in surprise. "Alex?"
"He's some high-up guy who has been paying troops from all over Elrios to defend from a possible second attack. He seems really freaked out, but then again, who wouldn't be?" a bearded soldier answered.
"He's the Captain of the Crow Mercenaries, right?"
"Yeah, and one of the wealthiest aristocrats in Velder."
"Strangely he never said who the perpetrator was. He could have deployed troops to help catch him!"
The troops nodded amongst themselves in agreement, but then jumped as Raven stood up all of a sudden. "Those nobles are nothing but scum," he spat, "They deserve to die."
With that, he tossed his uneaten dinner into the fire and stormed off, armoured shoes clanking in time with his metal limb.
He found himself whiling away the night perched at the edge of a rocky outcrop far from the camp. It was high enough to overlook the feebly twinkling lights of Velder but nowhere close enough for him to see the buildings, or what remained of them. No voices could be heard; there was only the wind peacefully rustling through the trees that stood undeterred and steadfast upon the lifeless cliff edge.
It was well past midnight when Raven returned to the campsite, trudging past the snuffed-out fire and the colourless, fabric tents that stood fluttering in the moonless dark like ghosts. Only one was lit, a small glow emanating from its interior. "With him in the camp, everyone's in danger."
Raven froze where he stood, noticing Lowe's distinct voice immediately..
"How do you know?" asked one of the nearby troops.
"He almost killed us on day one, and since then where has he been disappearing to every day?"
"Did you see his arm though?" another piped in, "It's changed."
"Enhanced no doubt, there's no telling what he could do now," Lowe answered, matter-of-factly.
"But he's been nice enough to us, a good guest."
"Maybe, but a friend? You saw how he reacted just then."
"I wonder why…"
"Something personal, no doubt."
Lowe wasted no time in replying to them both. "Exactly why we can't trust him, who knows what kind of ulterior motive he has?"
Raven clenched his fists and his Nasod claw curled up with a sharp screech.
The voices stopped.
He cursed under his breath and prepared to make a run for it.
"That was a weird owl."
Shaking his head, the man returned to his tent before any other mishaps could occur. Besides, the voices had told him all he needed to know.
Much to his disappointment, Rena wasn't in the tent, which both relieved him and worried him. He didn't want to face her now, yet on the other hand, what if she didn't want to see him either? What if his sudden outburst made her change her mind, what if she heard what the soldiers said and agreed with them too? She already knew he was a monster and heard of the unforgivable crimes he had committed. If anything, her kindness and beautiful smile would be all of out of pity, not understanding or pardon. That must've been it, there was no alternative otherwise.
"Raven, you're back!" the subject of his thoughts exclaimed as she drifted gracefully into their tent, "I'm glad you are, I was beginning to get worried."
"I highly doubt you were."
"Of course I was!" she replied, moving to stand right in front of him. "I still am."
He turned away, refusing to look at her. "You don't need to lie any more, I can see right through you."
She laughed. "The hundreds of years I lived through taught me how to hide a lot of my thoughts and emotions so I doubt you do."
"No, Rena, I know," he sighed, "Just stop that act. I'm sick of it."
"There is no act."
"And there is no reason for you to continue pretending to treat me like I'm not a monster."
The elf didn't reply. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his waist from behind and leaned her head on his shoulder.
"D-don't-"
"I wouldn't hug a monster, would I now? I like you for the strength you have, not only the one outside but the one inside. You're intense and that makes every moment interesting with you. We can relate to each other in the way that we both have an unwavering sense of determination and virtue. Beneath that tough exterior I see a man capable of laughing, trusting and being affectionate. You're human and I have never been fake to you for a single second, so why can't you see that already?"
He shrugged her off roughly and glared. "I already told you I was sick of your lies. Don't talk to me again." Raven crawled into his bed and turned away, signalling the end of the conversation. Sometime after that, the elf dozed off and didn't even manage to get one hour of sleep before she woke up with a sinking feeling in her stomach.
Rena opened her eyes with a start; something was wrong, yet nothing in her immediate line of sight seemed misplaced or unusual. In the darkness her eyes could make out the bare roof of the tent and the shadowy outline of almost everything else. The corner of the tent flap had been hastily secured and the fabric flapped back and forward in the wind. The nighttime breeze was stronger, colder, and more present than she had felt in a while. She opened her eyes even wider, denying to herself that it had happened, and yet looking around, it had.
The space next to her, where Raven should have been, was empty. He was gone.
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