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.
"Great! We may have to stop at a certain hill for the night. It'll be better than sleeping out on the plains -- there's a geyser there that keeps the whole hill warm. Dunno how it works, but I've been there a few times on trade negotiations with my mom," she said, as Ryder walked up next to her, backpack on his back. "If we leave now we might still have some daylight to set up camp with when we get there!" he said, Rose nodding next to him. "Better get moving, then."
Spoiler
hope y'all don't mind the quick skipperoo
As they reached the large hill, the geyser Rose was talking about shot out the ground like a fountain. The hill was large enough for them to sit at the edge of it and not get wet from the geyser. It was a beautiful sight, the setting sun's rays casting a soft orange with the water scattering the light and creating a rainbow beyond itself; the stars beginning to show and the second, moon beginning to rise on the opposite horizon. "Now, to set up camp!"
I'm cool as a cucumber Even if I'm in a pickle
Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.
Zech was a little less than interested in the sunset or the geyser in front of him. Legs aching, throat parched, and body sore, he curled up on the warm ground, still holding his staff. Better to try and sleep and hopefully wake up back home.
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.
Tamika had been keeping quiet and sticking to the back of the group, mostly due to the fact that her scar was burning and she needed time to think over what it could mean. Either Sevy was somehow miraculously in the close vicinity, or he was in danger, or... she didn't want to think of another possibility.
When the group reached the geyser, she took it in and gave in to a small smile. Maybe she should stop worrying about things she couldn't control. Maybe it was best to focus on what was happening currently.
"Ah, is there anything I can do to help?" She edged closer to Rose, a bit surprised at the crack in her voice. She cleared her throat awkwardly and offered a smile.
Now that night had fallen and they were setting up camp, Lorcan suddenly felt very, very miserable. He had never had to spend a night like this stuck in this body. He had always spent nights under open skies as his true self. It felt wrong to be stuck this way, and he didn't even have the comfort of Second and Hero this time around.
Juniper had gone to Tamika's side, and was in the middle of asking if there was anything that she could do to help when Lorcan realized just how useless he was. He had the knife, but that was nothing compared to the sword he was used to fighting with. He bit his lip; blood immediately began to well up around the puncture wounds. Just as he went to absentmindedly wipe it away, he felt a hand suddenly press up against his lip and wipe it off.
He turned to see Maahes investigating his blood. "It smells funny," he informed Lorcan, lifting it up to his nose and taking a large sniff of it. Then he hesitantly licked it, face immediately recoiling in disgust as the taste registered. "Your red-essence is nothing like Odris's!"
Lorcan stared. "...You've done the same thing with other people?"
"Uh-huh!" Maahes agreed with a nod. "Odris says it's rude and kind of creepy, but it's a good way to observe the world." He held up his fingers right up in front of Lorcan's face and rubbed the two bloody ones together. "See? I can do all sorts of stuff to test it!"
Zech shuffled to look at Maahes, saw the blood on his hands, and shuffled away. He didn't want to get caught up in whatever weirdness was going on next to him, much less let his blood be someone's entertainment.
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.
Ryder walked past Maahes. "Never do that again," he mentioned, walking slightly faster. He was busy gathering some fallen branches from a nearby tree to start a fire.
Rose had been unpacking her backpack when she heard Tamika speak. "Hm? Oh, yes, please. If you wouldn't mind helping me get out our sleeping bags and stuff we can at least ready the beds so long. Unless you can help Ryder over there," she pointed at the boy in question, who was currently squatting in front of a bunch of sticks laying on the ground. He was currently scratching his head. "He said he was going to cook something," she finished, looking up at Tamika as she awaited her response.
I'm cool as a cucumber Even if I'm in a pickle
Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.
Ryder stared at the possum lying next to him for about a minute. He then turned to Tamika. "So, I'm trying to make a fire, right? But I have no idea how to set the sticks up so they'll burn nicely. Do you have any ideas on how to do that?" he asked, ignoring the dead possum-like creature next to him.
I'm cool as a cucumber Even if I'm in a pickle
Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.
By the time that Siren returned, Lorcan had gone over to Juniper's side, and Maahes had occupied himself by playing with the blood stuck to his fingertips while simultaneously observing all the people present. Given the fact that he was still using the form of a man in his thirties while having the maturity of a six year old, Lorcan found the sight vaguely disturbing.
Seeing that Siren was back, Maahes made a beeline for both her and the possum. He eagerly crouched down on the ground beside it and started poking the little furry creature's corpse - he had never seen anything like it before!
Lorcan and Juniper exchanged a look before joining Tamika and Ryder. Lorcan overheard the last sentence that had been said, and immediately found himself grateful for having spent so much time in this form while out in the wilderness back on Minecraftia with Hero and Second.
Tamika smiled awkwardly at Siren, in lieu of Ryder's ignoring her. She glanced at the possum as Maahes poked at it and let out a deep sigh.
"Go ahead," she said to Lorcan, not bothering to worry that she didn't know his name yet. "I'll work on... skinning the rodent, I guess."
With a self-pitying frown, she reached down and scooped up the creature. "Excuse me, Maahes. Thank you for the kill, Siren." Gesturing to the merfrog with the body, she worked on looking around for something sharp.
"Nah," Zech mumbled. He could already feel his muscles start to settle; he'd be asleep soon. "I used to have claws, but they took them away."
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.
Siren glowed with happiness at being praised. "Anytime!" she exclaimed brightly.
But then Zech said he'd had his claws removed. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to be missing bits of herself. Siren's mouth crumpled up, and her eyes became wet and glassy.
"That must have hurt so much," she said.
Bad souls have born better sons, better souls born worse ones -St Vincent
Lorcan looked over at Zech with pity in his eyes. That sounded absolutely horrible. Though he had never dealt with something like that before, he had heard stories of other mobs being kept as pets by players - and those players doing all sorts of body-altering things to them.
Juniper suddenly nudged.
He pulled himself away from his reverie and turned to stare at her. "You've got a knife," she reminded him, pointing at the one that he had been given prior to the group reuniting earlier.
He looked down. He had forgotten it was there. Now that it had been pointed out to him again, he walked over to Tamika and handed it to her. "This should help," he said, giving her a smile before he went to work on setting up the fire. Juniper and Maahes both followed him over to where the sticks were. It took him a few tries, but he finally managed to get them to stand up.
A second later, they were suddenly alight.
Lorcan and Juniper both jumped back in surprise, neither having expected the fire to come to life without some sort of prompting. Lorcan looked around wildly for what could have started the fire. His gaze eventually landed on Maahes, who had lost interest in the fire and was now going over to where Zech was.
He had little flames on his fingertips, though they quickly disappeared once Lorcan noticed them.
He hesitated, then said, "Thanks, Maahes."
The youngest of their group nodded as he plopped down right next to Zech.
