James let out a slow sigh, slowly turning his head to make eye contact with Kartiel.
"Just because it doesn't make sense to you doesn't make her any less real." Kartiel could disappear and transport himself to other places at will. That didn't make sense to him. But he wasn't going to harp Kartiel about it. Though perhaps the only difference was that he just didn't care.
He sighed and threw his hands up in defeat. Why had he even tried to argue with him? The man just kept rebutting whatever he said, and he doubted that was going to change in the near future. The fact of the matter was that he had never encountered someone quite like that girl, and it seemed all the more likely that he wouldn't get a clear explanation on what exactly she was.
Just as he was about to teleport back to the other group - because frankly even Lucifer would be better at the moment - a brief flash of light filled the room. He raised a hand to cover his eyes, but the damage had been done. It successfully blinded him for a good several seconds after the initial light died down.
He lowered his arm.
There was a very confused looking man standing in the middle of the cave. In one hand, he held a small circular device with strange writing on it. The other was reaching into his pocket. He looked wildly around the cave at the people present with wide dark brown eyes. In turn, Kartiel stared back at him.
His outfit almost made him look like he had come out of the Matrix or something - it was completely black, with a long leather jacket, tight-fitting shirt and pants, and tall boots. A pair of sunglasses were nestled in his almost windswept black hair, and he had the faintest bit of stubble on his chin.
He looked down at the device, then back up at them.
"Can everybody do this? This whole... appearing and disappearing thing," James muttered, more to himself than anyone else. If any more people materialized into thin air like this, he was going to leave the cave.
The man looked incredibly confused by the question being asked. After a moment of hesitation, he slid the device into his pocket and stared at the person who had just spoken. "That wasn't me," he admitted, though Kartiel couldn't see what else could be responsible for his sudden appearance. "I was exploring an old set of ruins and I suddenly ended up here when I picked up something."
Silence.
He took both of his hands out of his pockets. For someone with such an intimidating appearance, he was a surprisingly nice person. "I'm Leo. It's short for Leonardo Cartwright-" He paused, studying the guy who seemed perpetually angry. "Did I stop by your planet before? You look familiar, but I can't place where we've met."
Kendrik wrapped his arms around his legs. He wasn't sure why he was feeling so chatty all of sudden. Maybe, with Jaron asleep, he didn't have as much to worry about. "'s fine," he said. "I do that a lot. I lo...care about him a lot, y'know? He's a genius who's gone everywhere and done everything. Been through a lot, though. Same with me." He pulled up his shirt sleeve to show the scars running up along his arm. "Don't want him to go through anything more."
A long pause. Jaron fidgeted in his sleep, pushing the canoe side to side. At least the canoe was still -
The water trembled, tiny droplets bouncing out of and back into it. A rumbling rose up from the distance, accompanied by dust falling from the ceiling of the cave. The post the canoe was attached to groaned, peeling away from the rest of the dock. Kendrik cried in alarm as he saw few rocks tumble from the ceiling. One smacked right into the post, spitting the canoe into the waters.
The hound reached back and grabbed the rope, which was still attached to the canoe. He tried to throw it to Reyes, but it had been severed by the rock and couldn't reach far enough. Even though the rumbling had stopped, the two kept on floating in a shaking canoe in the direction of the shadows he'd seen earlier.
Kendrik placed his hands over Jaron's chest, trying to keep them both as still as possible. He could see the oars lying beneath Jaron, but he was too paralyzed to move. His eyes only focused on the tranquil water, which seemed to laugh at him.
He couldn't swim.
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse a persona che mai tornasse al mondo, questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero, senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.
"Thank you." Adeline glanced over at the other person who had spoken.
Knowing that this first one would continue sneaking glances to try and figure her out, which was almost as annoying to her as questions, she decided to throw him a bone.
"I'm one of the last of our species, and we are neither created nor powered by magic. We are born. Granted, we are born under some ideal conditions and don't have parents, but that's all you need to know."
The sudden shaking took Reyes by surprised, but what startled him even more was when the canoe started to drift away. Jaron and Kendrik went crashing into the water along with debris from the ceiling. When the later of the two tried throwing the rope to Reyes, it ultimately fell too short.
He groaned. Where was the mysterious teleporter when he needed him?
He scanned the water for another canoe. With Jaron still asleep and Kendrik looking absolutely petrified - with his luck, Kendrik probably couldn't swim - it seemed like he would have to do things the old fashioned way. He started to make his way to the nearest canoe, but then he came to the horrifying realization that the aforementioned canoe was beginning to slip away from him. Finding another one would take too much time; he doubted he'd be able to bridge the gap growing between them even if he paddled as fast as he possibly could.
Then it happened - there was a little flash of light and a strong warmth coming from the space between his hands, and a weapon that he recognized quite well appeared. He had forgotten how much it had liked to appear when he was desperate.
He threw the blade out to the canoe, giving the chain a sharp tug to reel the canoe back to him. He hopped in the boat, placed the chain-scythe next to him, and started rowing over to Kendrik.
Kendrik felt every tremor and movement of the canoe beneath his feet. He bit his lip hard enough to send blood trickling down his chin, and his eyes shot around as the mist ahead gradually gave way to what appeared to be some kind of brown coast. It was still too far away. He could've sworn he heard splashing behind him, but he was too petrified to check.
This was the worst time for Jaron to wake up. So, of course, that's what happened.
Jaron blinked, stretching his arms out and yawning. Kendrik almost flew off the canoe when he heard the noise. He was startled enough to let go of Jaron, which allowed the fox to pull himself up and look around. He blinked and rubbed his head.
"No!" Kendrik said, as Jaron pushed himself to the edge of the canoe and looked down into the water. "No!"
The canoe immediately tipped into the water.
The hound felt like all of his blood had been replaced with ice. Numbness instantly stretched up through his body, accompanied by a thousand pinpricks of pain. His breath froze his lungs. A dull roar echoed in his ears. His eyes caught the receding ceiling of the cave and surface of the water. He reached a hand up.
And caught Jaron's prosthetic arm.
Kendrik watched as the water's surface drew nearer and nearer. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Jaron. Or, what he was reasonably sure was Jaron. His fur looked gray instead of white, and he was wearing a different outfit. Still, he couldn't mistake that arm.
When the hound broke through the water and stuck his hands against the side of the overturned canoe, he barked and shivered. He looked to his right and, sure enough, there was Jaron. Jaron, teeth clattering, pushed himself onto the flipped canoe and sat on it. Reaching a hand out, he pulled up Kendrik.
They sat in silence and watched as Reyes approached.
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse a persona che mai tornasse al mondo, questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero, senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.
James had planned on completely ignoring the others again, since he wasn't getting anywhere with Kartiel. But then the new arrival addressed him, so he looked at the man with tired eyes.
"I've never seen you before in my life," he told Leo.
His canoe came to a stop as it pulled up beside Kendrik and Jaron's. He tried to hide his weapon underneath to avoid causing alarm, but he doubted the attempt was going to be successful. He looked the two of them to make sure he's alright. Then he blinked and rubbed his eyes, because he could have sworn that Jaron had different color fur and a different outfit. He glanced down at the waters. It wouldn't explain the outfit, but maybe something in the water had dyed his fur a different color?
He looked back up. Of course he was the one who apparently had to bring this up, even though Kendrik had undoubtedly noticed the changes. "Hey, Jaron? I think something must have happened to you in the water." He paused, unsure of how to continue. "You-you look different. It's not a bad thing. You just don't look the same as I remember seeing you a few minutes ago."
xXx
He had always been good at putting names to faces. There were only a few times that he could easily recall that not being the case, and those times had some interesting things attached to them. Despite visiting countless worlds, this had held for all of them.
So how could he not remember this man's name? He knew they had met, despite the man's assurances that they hadn't. He was too familiar. It was almost like something out of a dream, if he had been able to have them in the first place. He just had to figure out who this man was. It was especially irritating when he started to get the oddest feeling of déjà vu. Not only was he certain that he had met before; he was certain that he had gone through this same thing. That meant they had met twice, and something had made him forget that time, too-
He stared.
No way.
It had been so long that it was hard to remember exactly what he had looked like, but he was certain that he had figured out the identity of the mysterious man. He had never met Leonardo Cartwright. But he had met Aen and Ramses, and that was he could recall him even now - especially after what had happened when he had tried using the later name.
He perked up. This was great! He hadn't seen him in an incredibly long time, and his past experiences with him had always been pleasant. It was also just a tad bit embarrassing, since he had met him when he was a kid and then during his time with Ra, but the joy of running into an old friend overruled the embarrassment.
"You're James, aren't you?" he asked, taking a step towards him.
As soon as the strange said his name, James was on his feet, and he backed away as he advanced. He stared at Leo with an intense gaze, trying to figure out who he was, and what game he was playing at. He was being very forward, and even almost seemed friendly, but he had run into too many people who played the same strategy to try and get his guard down.
He began to back up to the entrance of the cave, already feeling the rush of panic and adrenaline beginning to course through his veins. He didn't want to - because he was already exhausted - but he was preparing to run. Back out into the rain, no less. But despite his inward panic, on the outside he still appeared just as calm and perpetually disappointed in everything as he had before.
"I said it before, and I'll say it again. I don't know you. I have never met you before. You must have me mistaken with someone else."
Just as the words were leaving his mouth, realization set in. He glanced down at himself, then back up at the man who was undoubtedly feeling threatened by this whole encounter. He had forgotten how different he had looked the last two times. It had been so long ago that he doubted he could easily replicate those appearances. And, seeing that they were surrounded by other people, revealing his true identity and nature probably wasn't the best idea.
"Hey, James?" he asked. "Maybe we should go talk about this out there?"
He pointed at the rain. It really wasn't the best place to talk about something like this, but nowhere else was private enough.
James looked at Leo with a blank face, briefly looking at the others in the cave before nodding. If Leo wanted a confrontation, or a fight, it was best to do it away from people who weren't involved. He stepped back into the opening of the cave, letting the rain hit his back.
"Fine," he said, as he climbed down onto the narrow pathway of rock outside.
