What should have been a completely secure trap, that of an electro-reinforced net was completely ripped apart by a stranger. A wanderer that had also taken the full strength of an ancient relic meant to eviscerate opponents, and shrugged it off like nothing. And one who then managed to predict and block another attack of similar strength.
There were three reactions to this. Either complete awe, appalling fear or sheer disbelief. The hunters chose the second and last. Faruzan wisely chose the first one.
"No volunteers? I ask again, who wants to die first?" He seized up each hunter, a grimace of disgust forming on his face. "What's the matter? You tried to kill me. Finish the job. Rather, try to." His eyes landed on his Professor. "You can take a swing at me too, Prof."
"This isn't the time to joke…" She muttered under her breath.
"Alright, let's calm down." The boss of the relic thieves stepped up, cautious but confident. "There's no need to get violent, we can discuss this like rational men."
The fake pleasantry didn't last long, as the Pupil's mood quickly soured at their attempt at diplomacy.
"So you try to kill me and steal what's…" His eyes twitched momentarily. "Kidnap, my Professor. And now we're suddenly all buddies, having a nice conversation. Are you stupid? Oh, that you proved by trying to ambush—"
With lightning speed, the hunters' Boss produced a blade of pure light and tried to stab the Pupil. Though the ancient technology proved to be most efficient against unsuspecting enemies, the Pupil gracefully caught the blade.
"Fine argument, bandit." He held the blade tight and effortlessly snapped it in two. "Let me give you my retort."
Winds surged through his body before launching himself against the boss. A short-lived shield appeared from the man's belt, almost immediately crumbling against the Wanderer's force. He pushed on, tackling the boss against a nearby tree, flying through it against yet another one. And then one more.
Faruzan and the three relic hunters stood up from the sudden air wave, equally dazed by the sudden experience. Faruzan, however, knew her Pupil would do something completely reckless like that. And that meant she had maintained her wits about.
"What the fuck, is he flying?" One of the hunters said.
"Uh, is the boss gonna handle him?" The other one said.
"How about we get the girl and get the hell out of here?" The lanky hunter said and held the crossbow tighter. "The boss'll catch up or something."
They were so focused on the sudden display of power, that Faruzan was quickly able to identify the strange weapon employed by one of the hunters.
The crossbow-like gun was based on Deshret's technology, yes. Faruzan could confirm it now. A wooden handle was attached to its ancient metallic core, which had some sort of crankshaft moving inside it. From it, some sort of rod-like shaft acted as the rail of the crossbow. Very crude. Its core was strained, she could tell by the desynchronization of its pulses. Whatever the core was, it was not designed to shoot energy like that. Then again…
"I vote against that plan," Faruzan answered, gathering everyone's attention. "Didn't you shoot my Pupil?"
"Look, missy—" The lanky man's words were cut off as Faruzan punched his nose, making him lose the grip on his crossbow. She quickly took hold of the ancient gun and pointed it at the lanky hunter.
"It's Madame. Not, missy, or miss, or girl, relic, whatever. You will refer to me with respect." She glanced at the other two hunters, who had suddenly pointed their spears at her. "Don't you get any funny ideas, or I will teach you what one tonne of torque does to the human body."
An explosion rocked in the distance, sending plant matter and splinters all around. Everyone seemed to be at a standstill.
"Come on," The lanky hunter started. "You're not going to shoot anyone. Just put it down and we'll leave you be."
"Hah!" Faruzan raised the crossbow higher, barely feeling its weight. The vision was aiding her currently, ever since the attack started. "Who would believe that? Besides, that's quite a bold assumption. Perhaps I won't shoot to kill but I will shoot you. Do not doubt that for a moment." She took a step back. "Besides, this will only last until my Pupil returns triumphant."
"That's assuming—"
The ground shook as something heavy crashed in the middle of their standoff. Mud filled the air for a brief moment, forcing everyone to shield their eyes. It was then that the lanky hunter tried to overpower Faruzan and snatch the gun away. Aided by the power of her vision, however, the struggle was short-lived as Faruzan shoved him into the ground.
That was when the two spear hunters were right on top of her, leaving her with little reaction time to do anything.
She never needed to.
The Pupil swooped in out of nowhere, so fast nobody could be properly surprised about his sortie. He grabbed and crushed one of the attacker's wrists, punching him in the gut to completely immobilise him. Then, he seized his throat and threw the man against one of the still-standing trees.
Faruzan staggered from shock, swallowing hard as her Pupil turned towards the remaining hunter. The criminal thrust his spear, only to be broken by an unexpected air blade. The man was barely able to move away, as a sudden anemo explosion launched him away against another tree, knocking him out.
The Pupil landed softly on the ground, turning towards Faruzan and the now terrified lanky man.
"Are you going to shoot or what?" He said, leisurely approaching her and the remaining hunter.
It took a moment for Faruzan to realise that he was talking to her. She glanced at the crossbow and then at the hunter.
"T-The boss will…!" The hunter mumbled with paralysing fear, grasping the mixture of vegetation and substrate laid around the speedy battlefield.
"The boss?" The Pupil answered, feigning surprise. "He'll come down any minute down."
The sound of branches breaking and tearing apart directed everyone's attention towards the canopy above. On cue, the Boss of the hunters fell through most branches. Its fall was stopped at the very last branch, leaving a completely beaten up and unconscious body five metres above the ground. The remaining hunter silently lost his marbles.
"Calm down, I'm not allowed to kill any of you fools. I keep my promises." Finally reaching Faruzan, he peered down at his downed opponent. "That doesn't mean I won't make you wish you were dead. As long as I don't break any important bones, you'll live. The humiliation that will be laid upon you is one you'll never forget."
"O-Okay," Faruzan quickly grabbed his attention. "That's enough. They're not going to attack us anymore."
Something lingered under her Pupil's cocky smile, but nothing Faruzan could make sense of straight away. Right now, his loathsome and callous approach to violence had left her with an overwhelming sense of apprehension. Quickly was she reminded of her previous assessment, that this man was dangerous. Yet danger could not measure up to his current display of complete dominance over the situation.
"Alright, Prof. I aim to please." Nothing about those words struck Faruzan as truthful. "So? You didn't answer my question."
The question was if she was going to shoot. The answer was an immediate no. Or at least, it should have been.
"I can't kill any of you buffoons." The Wanderer placed a hand on Faruzan's shoulder, feeling cold and inert. Faruzan forced her eyes towards the ground. "And my Prof is just too benevolent to actually do it. Or are you?"
"I wasn't… I wasn't going to shoot to kill." Faruzan meekly replied.
"That's good. Someone like you shouldn't do it." Was he disappointed or glad? There seemed to be no emotion in his voice. His hand lingered on her shoulder for a long second before it travelled down to the crossbow. "But this guy tried to kill me, so I'm not letting him get away unscathed."
He tried to take away the crossbow but Faruzan pulled it away on instinct. "What are you doing? It's mine now. I want to inspect it. And stop acting like a creep, I don't like it."
The Pupil seemed like he was to burst out laughing. And then his smile wavered and his eyes narrowed. With a click of his tongue, he covered his eyes as if ashamed and then quickly crossed his arms. "I'm usually far more composed… You're right. Let's get going then."
"Oh, but what about the humiliation part?" Faruzan sheepishly asked.
"The… what?"
"Don't look at me, you said it. It is unfair if he's the only one coming out unscathed. But violence is out of the question." Faruzan was more taken aback by the Wanderer's perturbed expression rather than by the situation itself. "What? Even a century ago, corporal punishments were frowned upon. Mostly. Public humiliation was acceptable though."
"Sorry, I don't care for the history lecture. You're supposed to stop me from doing these things, not enable me." Rather than unhappy, he seemed ill at ease with the premise.
"You just broke the bones of three guys, it's fine!" Faruzan looked back at the lanky hunter and aimed the crossbow at him. "Hey, you! Stand up!"
The hunter wasn't inclined to follow her orders, but he was less inclined to die so he stood up as she said.
"You, uh… Start dancing?" Faruzan's meek demand roused a sceptical stare from her Pupil and the hunter. "What?"
The Pupil simply scoffed at her request, whatever uneasy feelings he had evaporated away. "You need to back up your words. Look."
He raised his hand and provoked an anemo wave that threw the man to the ground. Then, with a much sterner voice, he spoke up. "That's strike one, waste of air. Listen to the Professor. And who told you to sit down? Stand up!"
Much faster than before, the hunter stood up. "L-Look, I'm not even with these guys! I just wanted to research the old ruins an—"
"I don't want any excuses, young man!" Faruzan interjected. She looked back at the Pupil. "Oh, that's right! I forgot I don't have my authority as Scholar and Professor. I need to back up my words with the threat of violence!"
"See, now you get it." He smiled, uncrossing his arms. Then, his eyes widened as he looked at the hunter. "Why the fuck aren't you dancing?"
"I-I don't know…" The hunter's words were shut down as Faruzan unloaded a crossbow bolt on the ground, leaving behind a smoking hole on the ground. Immediately, the hunter made a bunch of desynchronised arm waves as if that constituted dancing.
"See? I can do it too." Faruzan gloated, quite proud of the unfolding dance.
"You're sick in the head, you know that?" The Pupil said, proud of the fact. "And here I thought you were a kind, naïve girl. No wonder schools are fucked."
"I'm a kind, sophisticated woman. Usually, I just tell bad students to write a hundred times on the board. Or make them clean the classroom. I was an angel in comparison in comparison to the other teachers." She glanced back at the hunter. "Come on, move your legs! It's dancing, not hand waving!"
The hunter followed her demands by doing some sort of tap dancing dance.
"Have you tried perhaps not humiliating bad students?" The Pupil, observing the hunter.
"Well, other teachers would complain about the lack of disciplinary measures in my classes. I was a bit self-conscious about that, so I thought that would be appeasing enough… Nowadays, I couldn't care any less about what others think. Punishments mean you are taking your failures and thrusting them upon your students. Most of the time."
Suddenly, the Pupil tensed up and looked away. Something about what she said must have touched on a sensitive topic. Regardless, Faruzan continued.
"Oh, speaking of punishments. We talked about this, remember? When I first woke up. You asked if someone had purposefully trapped me, and which punishment they should receive. Well, even if nobody did it, they should have danced for the rest of the century. That would be quite the punishment, don't you think? Though they'd die from exhaustion, so only 16 hours of dancing. And maybe two hours to eat. So 14 hours." Faruzan was not thinking as she spoke, still running high on adrenaline. "What do you think?"
Her dearest Pupil merely shrugged, suddenly detached from the conversation. To not get an answer out of him was normal, he kept mostly to himself. Now, however, with eyes glassy and wide, it seemed like he had suddenly become afraid of something and he couldn't say what.
"Can I stop already?" The hunter took advantage of the silence and suddenly asked.
"No. And move your hips more!" Faruzan said with a wave of the crossbow, instantly making his erratic moves even more snake-like. "The nerve! After having stalked us for so long you try to ask for favours?"
"C-Come on, Missy! We're not so different from that guy! Just because he got you first…!"
"He didn't get me. And I've told you, it's Madame." Faruzan crossed her arms and pivoted her body away from the hunter. "My Pupil was merely around the area and you believed I was the treasure he was seeking. I'm sorry to disappoint, but while I am quite the treasure, he was not looking for me. His quest involved aetiology, answers! Nothing you lousy cretins would know about. He didn't even know I was there. Isn't that right, Pupil?"
Faruzan was hoping for a quick answer to continue her monologue. But as the seconds passed, her Pupil didn't answer.
"Ehem!" She turned her head towards the silent Wanderer, who had been eerily watching her the entire time. Perhaps daydreaming. "As I was saying. Isn't that right, my dearest Pupil?"
Even now, he didn't answer straight away. He unconsciously caressed his vision, twisted his mouth and answered. "Of course. It was chance."
"I lost track of what I was saying. Pay attention, will you?" She muttered before clearing her throat like nothing had happened. "Getting back on track, my dearest Pupil is not a petty criminal! He's a high-stakes criminal! Tell him how many people you've… uh… killed, Pupil!" Faruzan was making it up, but it was pretty convincing. At least that's what she thought.
The same couldn't be said about her partner. Something was gnawing the Wanderer's mind. He seemed frozen, barely even alive. The Hunter's horrible dance must have affected him on a psychological level. Either that or a deep and unsettling truth had taken hold of his being. Still, he continued to put up his usual nasty front. "More than you can count."
"You hear that? That's at least one zero! Why, see what he's done to your partners in crime. That was him playing nice! If I wanted, I could have him torture you for hours!" And now Faruzan had officially lost the plot. "To scare an old lady like this should be a crime! In fact, maybe he should!"
"Calm down." The Pupil tugged her arm braces, his voice docile and low. "As amusing as it is seeing you flip out, remember that you're sick. Stasis sickness, was it? Don't overdo it."
Faruzan momentarily raged on behalf of her dress but quickly realised the folly of her actions. "Fine, you're right. I got too angry." They both looked at the dancing Hunter, who was growing quite tired. "You know, this isn't as amusing as I thought it would be."
The Pupil's brows snapped together. "A broken bone would have been faster."
"No violence, dummy. We could tell him to get naked. That will be more embarrassing. And put his underwear on his mouth."
And again, it was the Pupil who seemed to be more well-composed in the situation. "And you were the good kind of teacher? Good idea though. While dancing?"
"Oh! I like how you think! Though, I'm not sure if I want to see a random person naked."
"Being nude is a secondary effect of ruining his psyche. I was once told that the only thing that differentiates humans from animals is their ability to dress and create clothing. To remove that from a person, against their will, is a proclamation that they are lesser than you."
Faruzan pondered on his thorough answer. "That sounds too degrading for my liking. Even if he was the one that shot you, it feels wrong."
"Dancing sounds trivial in comparison. I think he even likes it." The hunter quickly shook his head between his somewhat more polished dance movements. "In contrast, willingly being naked is supposedly an empowering move. I don't see the appeal. The only thing I find empowering is a person's complete submission towards me. The more they believed themselves to be unable to bend down, the better the rush. Not like it applies to this case."
"Odd place and time to admit your peculiar tastes." Faruzan plainly replied as she lacked a proper answer.
"I was wondering if saying the truth is hard. It clearly isn't." Again, the hardy stare of the Wanderer turned soft and out of place.
"Ah, do you think forcing him to confess something could be humiliating? I mean, he's just some random guy. It's not like we know what makes him tick." There was a moment of silence, prompting Faruzan to turn towards the Pupil. It was too many instances of strange reactions. Something was up. "What's wrong, are you hurt?"
"No." He lifted the brim of his hat, getting a better view of Faruzan. "This man probably despises us for what we've done to his friends and him. Yet he didn't hesitate in saying the truth. Why is that me… If I don't hate you, how come my mind is not any more comfortable at the thought of confessing my wrongdoings to you?"
Though Faruzan was quite happy that he didn't quite hate her, she was more concerned about his unhealthy obsession with the truth. Throughout the whole trip, he continuously mentioned to never fall for lies and manipulation. Like a dog beaten with a stick, he seemed fearful at the mere mention of lies… A reminder of what he had been suffering through an unknown amount of time.
Faruzan could only deduce one thing.
He was lying, and he hated it.
Yet, he had lied beforehand. For example, to the Aaru Village Guardian. And to Faruzan herself as well. Why was this time different? Was what he was hiding so awful that even someone as bitter as him was disgusted by it?
"I don't know what goes through your mind. So I can't answer you for certain. But…" She glanced at the dancing hunter. "Does it have to be now? You don't need to rush. Say what you want when you're ready, don't be overwhelmed."
The Pupil shut his eyes and his shoulders drooped in gloom.
"Don't look so forlorn, I know what will cheer you up. Hold this." She handed him the crossbow. "It's something that was quite the hit a century ago." Faruzan ambled towards the dancing hunter and asked him to stop. Tentatively but glad, he did so.
"…Don't get too close, Prof." The Pupil warned her as he watched whatever ploy she had thought of.
"I know what I'm doing." Ignoring his plea, she faced the hunter. "Do any of you know what orchid means?"
Seeing the unwillingness to answer from the Pupil, the lanky hunter answered. "Uh, they're flowers."
"Zero points. I asked what Orchid means, not is." Faruzan stopped a metre away from him. "The shape of some orchids could help in deciphering the name, but I'm not handholding you. Use your brain, and figure this one out. What does orchidometry mean?"
"I don't know?"
Faruzan sighed and feigned moving away. And then she drove one of her heels into the ground and kicked the lanky hunter right on his crotch. The force of the kick was already enough to launch anyone back several metres and to do so on the hunter's weakest point was already the cherry on top. Or down.
As the hunter transcended to the ethereal plane, the Pupil walked right beside Faruzan. "What in Buer's name, Faruzan? You've truly gone haywire!" He clapped a few times, not hiding a welcomed surprise. "Do you hate people not understanding your shitty weird words that much?"
" Of course not! Orchid means testicle. And orchidometry means to measure said testicles. I measured them with a kick. It was a language joke that… I might have gone overboard with." Faruzan gawked at the squirming mess of a hunter. "Do you think he'll recover?"
"Hopefully not." Perhaps he wasn't back to a hundred percent, but the slight smile was enough for her.
Sneakily taking hold of his hand, Faruzan continued. "Are you better now?"
"It was quite amusing, that I must say. What was it? Not to violence? I'm not sure if I should be offended by you thinking violence would cheer me up. You're lucky it did this time." He glanced at the ancient crossbow and dispelled it into his inventory. Then, he noticed Faruzan's hand. "What did I say?"
"Oh, uh, sorry…" Faruzan bashfully retracted her hand, not quite sure if it had been a conscious or unconscious move. "I just… like the warmth."
The Pupil didn't acknowledge her comment, like usual. And after peering down at every defeated relic hunter, he added: "I won't be so merciful next time." Then, he calmly started to walk away. Faruzan followed him, somewhat dejected until he spoke up.
"You can walk in front if you want." He offered as if it was the hardest thing in the world, stopping as he did.
"Don't you remember? I told you this is an equal partnership." She reminded him.
"Er… yes. That's why you can now walk in front. We can take turns."
Faruzan snickered at his suggestion and followed it up by walking next to him. "This is not about being in front or behind, I want to be beside you. Not everything has to be a power display, you know? I'm quite sure you can beat up anyone who approaches us, regardless of position."
"Fine. Let's not dawdle anymore." He waited for Faruzan to start moving and followed her speed. "Stop resonating your vision."
"Oh! Right. I am feeling quite exhausted, that rest was for nothing." Without even looking, she dispelled the consent to resonate between the visions. "Now that we're not being interrupted, what was it you wanted to tell me before? When you got all handsy on me."
"Nothing. I just felt like groping you."
A bald-faced lie and they both knew it.
"Was it about this truth you want to tell me? Could it be connected to your above-average resilience and strength?"
"No, but it was related to that." He disclosed with no trouble, though withholding some negativity. "Let's not talk about it. I just want this day to be over… Though I mostly did not enjoy injuring them, I did like the feeling of protecting someone. Regardless, I am not supposed to be so violent, my Guardian will be disappointed."
It had t taken a lot of effort, but it seemed her Pupil was now willing to reveal how he felt like!
"If that's the case," Faruzan casually held up her hand as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "You can make it up by being nice for a while."
"A normal person would ask; who is your guardian? But I see you just have one goal in mind."
She physically pushed her hand against his face. "Take my hand already!"
He snatched her hand and held it tightly. He stole a glance at Faruzan, who didn't seem to mind his strength at all. So he loosened his grasp slightly and continued walking through the patchy rainforest.
"See? Isn't this so much better? Now I can't get lost." She made up a reason to save face, though they both knew the truth wasn't so farfetched.
"Right, lost. I was mostly joking when I mentioned you becoming more touchy. Are you so desperate to sleep with me again?"
"Who's loosened up now? Let me remind you that I am sick! I am relearning basic human functions! So while I am quite… touch deprived, it doesn't mean I will take kindly to your insinuations!"
Enjoying her embarrassed reaction, he pushed on. "Alright then, no more handholding."
He was ready to let go of her but Faruzan held onto his arm. "You're an awful person. An awful, power-hungry person. I'm sleeping on the bedroll tonight, you're grounded."
The Pupil cackled an answer, mostly because of her completely predictable reaction.
"You want to use a bedroll in the jungle? Are you so eager to be filled with bedbugs and lice? Even if they can't bite me, it's not pleasant to have them in my body. I would rather not burn my clothes either."
"But sleeping outdoors will… Wait, what happened to mosquitos and horseflies? Did they go extinct? Tell me that's the truth, I haven't seen a single mosquito in this whole trip."
"It only took you almost three days to notice, congratulations. And no, they're not extinct. If bugs aren't draining you dry is because I'm making air swirl around us. Nothing smaller than a coin can approach us so I hope you like beetles, roaches and dragonflies."
"I actually do like dragonflies. They're a perfect flying machine. I worked alongside an Amurta Scholar to properly study their flying patterns and mobility." She handwaved those thoughts away. "Anyways! What I was getting at… How am I going to sleep?"
"On your own."
Faruzan nudged his arm, a slight smirk on her lips. "That's what you said last time."
"We're not… You're not sleeping in a room tonight. It'll be in the open, where you have no issues. I am not needed." He scoffed, settling the conversation by retrieving his arm from Faruzan and crossing them. And then he must have thought something because he unfolded them and picked one of Faruzan's twintails as if it were disgusting. "Maybe when you stop smelling like a rotten book we'll sleep together. Ever heard of hygiene? After that, maybe I'll consider it. If you ask for it properly, of course."
"Ugh, you're a sick little man, aren't you?" Faruzan pushed his hand away from her hair. "I'm not going to ask you for favours. You're my Pupil, you'll do it because you want to."
"Maybe I've decided to stop playing along? This is just like with that hunter. You have no leverage over me."
"Oh, you think I don't hold any power over you? Observe." Faruzan stepped away from him and hastened her pace.
"What? You can't outrun me." He easily caught up but Faruzan avoided looking at him. "Really? Do you think ignoring me will work? I prefer having your mouth shut anyways, you're doing me a favour."
She showed no reaction, so he ignored her as well. He believed it was just a quick tantrum. But minutes passed and Faruzan continued to ignore him completely.
"I can continue silent for ages." The Pupil said. "I'm just giving you a heads up, I have no issues with this."
Faruzan made no signs of even hearing him, so he continued his silence. For about five minutes.
"Is this really how you're going to spend the next day? I'm going to get angry if you don't show any reaction. Do you want some broken bones as well? It'll be easier than tearing apart a sheet of paper." His provocation landed on the ground about ten metres back. Faruzan didn't react once again. "You can't keep your mouth shut for more than ten minutes, we've already tested that."
And ten minutes passed. Yet still nothing.
"Professors are in reality psychopaths. You're incredibly unhinged… Fine, you have some power over me, but merely because I choose so."
"Oh, were you talking to me?" Faruzan expressed mild surprise. "I have not heard you call me my proper name, so I guessed you were talking to someone else." She walked next to him, holding his arm again. "And do it properly."
"…No."
"Hm? Who are you talking to? It's almost like you don't know me. Because I don't know if you've noticed, but I think you like me more than you realise. The truth is you love having my entire attention dedicated to you, don't you deny it. So? Who are you talking to?"
Grumbling and mumbling, he managed to mutter an answer. "My… Professor."
"Which professor?"
"You're the third worst person I've ever met. Professor, Madame or whatever delusion you want to be called." Faruzan completely ignored his rightful rant, so he seemingly broke. "…Madame Faruzan."
"Aww! My sweetest Pupil!" She snuggled his arm, rubbing her face against his shoulder. He was temporarily stunned by the sudden affection. "So nice, he's growing up! You're so smart! Smarter every day! I can almost forget you beat up three people half to death! In fact, I already forgot it!"
Unable to do anything but to try to pry Faruzan off her arm, the Pupil tried to put up a defence. "Stop denying my crimes! You have issues! Go fuck off and die in a ditch!" In his attempt to make her latch off, Faruzan had now properly hugged him and was now hermetically locked around him. "…Just get it out of your system."
Glancing up at him, Faruzan fluttered her eyelashes. "I'm tired. Carry me?"
"A literal child, that's what you are. Are you so willing to die? I'll get angry if you keep this up."
He carried her for the next hour.
After all, whatever the truth was, it couldn't be more important than some quick affection.
