If I Had a Heart

Nodding, Nikolai kept his gaze on it. Potion. It was great to be multilingual, but it was becoming more and more clear that English wasn’t his first language. Maybe he’d had to learn it in a short time, instead of being raised with it from childhood. Sighing, he blinked, realizing that he was still staring at the potion. He might have picked it up to examine it more closely, but something told him that Raptor wouldn’t like that too much.

He’d already proven himself to be a little clumsy a few times. Even the old man had seen that, when he’d bumped into Raptor as they’d entered the room. Better not to pick up a glass bottle full of a mystery potion only to drop it and have it shatter. He doubted that would be too good for them.

“It looks... pretty powerful, whatever it is,” he said quietly. He glanced back up at Raptor with a questioning look. “Speaking of which, what does it do? Is it something that might be useful here?”

Raptor froze.

He didn't know what to answer with. He knew exactly what the potion's effects were. He knew exactly how long they were supposed to last. But those effects varied depending on the user; he had learned that the hard way after Mist's demon had stabbed him in the eye with that arrow.

"It's...useful," he hesitantly said. "Only to me. It's a...specially tailored healing potion. It only works on the person that it was made for. If anyone else uses it, it'll hurt them."

He was glad that Nikolai couldn't see his face right now. It wasn't a complete lie. He was telling the truth about what it did. But the reason was completely different than what he had said, and he was sure that Nikolai would have been able to pick up on that if he saw his face. May had always said his expressions gave him away.

...Even if he didn't have normal expressions anymore.

When Raptor had finished speaking, there was a silence that lasted for about three heartbeats. Nikolai could hear his pulse, which was unusually loud. It made the moment feel strangely tense.

"Ah," he said finally, nodding slowly. "Right. I see."

There was something strange about that. If it was intended to only work for Raptor, that was one thing, but why make it harmful to anyone else? Is it a safeguard, so that no one tries to steal it? That didn't make much sense, because then Raptor wouldn't be able to heal anyone else if he wasn't the one hurt.

Maybe he normally traveled alone. Maybe there wasn't usually someone else accompanying him on his journeys. That thought made him sad.

It could always be something else entirely— and Nikolai had a lot more questions to ask. But he just nodded again, appearing to be deep in thought. He glanced back at the old man, sighing. He wondered how one said 'Sorry' in his language.

The old man, seeing that they had nothing that he could eat, had sighed and curled up into a little heap again. It was obvious he was quite weak and wouldn't be able to lead them anywhere just yet.

Ainsley smiled and shrugged on the plain robe. It wasn't as miraculous as the others, but he didn't mind too much. He secured the tie around his waist then adjusted his satchel, careful not to drop it and spill its contents onto the ground.

His feet began to ache as the group carried on through the cavern. Ainsley had remained barefoot thus far, and while he was used to making long treks without shoes, the dry, rocky terrain was a change. At home, the ground was blanketed with soft green grass and sandy beaches littered with small shells and stones.

However, Ainsley didn't want to stop the group just to throw on the old, beaten sandals he had with him. He already felt like a hindrance to his companions, and he wanted to do what he could to prove to be an asset as they searched for the heart. That being said, he cast the pain to the back of his mind and focused his attention on the map.

The path they were on was fairly straightforward with no major twists or turns, but it did get a bit more narrow about halfway through their journey before splitting off into another fork. Hopefully the team would be able to catch a break before their next challenge.

Raptor started to put his belongings back in his bag.

Nikolai had barely said anything after his explanation. Raptor knew that he should have been happy about that; the less questions asked, the better. But he still felt an ache in his chest that he couldn't push away no matter how hard he tried to.

He looked around the room again.

Nikolai didn't have food. Raptor didn't have food. The room didn't have any food. The old man must have been starving at his point. Food wouldn't cure his sickness - Raptor knew enough about medicine to understand that - but it would hopefully make it a little easier to fight it.

Raptor got to his feet and slipped his bag over his shoulder.

"We should go," he said. "Waiting here isn't going to help any of us. We need to find the other things the old-he drew. If we're lucky, we'll find the other group along the way and tell them how dangerous it is to return the heart."

Not that he actually expected them to believe him.

He leaned down and picked up the axe from the ground. Resting it on his shoulder, he looked back at the man and Nikolai.

Nikolai nodded after a short hesitation. It was some kind of plan, but he wished there was more certainty about how things would work out. What if these caves were endless? How would they find their way then?

The old man— which he realized he didn’t know what else to call him— seemed to think there was an exit, though, and that gave him some faith. Just enough faith to hope and hold on.

With his axe at the ready, Raptor looked just as fierce as before. Strong, powerful, prepared. Like a knight who was just waiting for battle. And yet Nikolai was starting to see another side of him than his first impression. Not someone who wore armor for a fight like a warrior would, but someone who wore it to stay safe, stay protected. To hide away.

“Okay,” he agreed, checking his own bag. He’d placed the notebook back inside, along with the pencil and rubles. Deciding to check how many of the blue orbs there were, Nikolai counted them. He wasn’t sure what they were for, but they were giving off some light. Perhaps they could be used to find their way around in case their ribbons ever stopped working.

There were ten in the bag total, not counting the three he’d passed over to Raptor to let him see them too.

Thirteen. It was strange to have that number of anything. Maybe there were some missing.

“So...” Nikolai glanced around the stone room. “Where do we go from here?”

Raptor thought for a moment.

They could go back and search the tunnels they had glossed over for food and other things that they needed to escape. They could get lost, but he had chalk to mark the paths that they had taken.

But there was nothing to say that there was anything there. For all that Raptor knew, the objects that they needed were up ahead. They had found the old man by going forward. If they were lucky, maybe they would other things, too.

"I think we should go through that tunnel," he said, pointing ahead of him. He glanced back at Nikolai. He hoped Nikolai would agree; he wasn't sure what to do if he didn't.

But then he caught a glimpse of the old man huddled up against the wall.

...The old man wasn't going to be able to walk for too long. He wouldn't have been able to make the walk they had already done, and Raptor was sure that was just the beginning.

Raptor got a sinking feeling in his gut. Nikolai probably could have carried him, but he didn't want to tire him out. Raptor didn't get tired in the same way that he did before all of this. He could probably handle carrying around the axe and the old man.

Not that he wanted to.

Sighing, he crouched down in front of the old man with his back facing him. Raptor gestured at his back. He hoped that he wouldn't have to explain what he was offering - this was bad enough.

The old man peered at Raptor in confusion, then let out a wheezing chuckle as he understood what was being asked of him. He sat up slowly, supporting himself on stick-thin arms, then reached out and clasped Raptor's shoulder with one trembling, filthy hand. He had a very weak grip, but he positioned himself as best he could, looking faint from even that small effort.

Mel shrugged when Elias turned down her suggestion for a robe. "Suit yourself," she said, and then slung the bag across her shoulder again.

The four of them continued to walk in awkward silence for too many seconds, and Mel cleared her throat to dispel the silence.

"Soooo..." she began, drawing out the word. She looked up at Aumrauth. "So you're probably not human, huh? Since different worlds and all. And purple skin."

She usually wasn't this blunt to people she didn't know that well, but it wasn't her fault they were bad conversationalists.

Aumrauth laughed wrly.

"First of all. It's grey, thank you very much. For someone with light magic, you must be colorblind. And yes, I'm an elf, not a human. I thought the pointy ears would give it away."

Mel scrunched her nose. "Well, I actually am, so..." she mumbled, mostly to herself. It was ironic, yes, but it didn't mean she didn't know her reds from greens, especially since she hadn't always been colorblind. It was just hard to differentiate certain shades of hues in the dark.

She looked back up at Aumrauth, staring at his ears.

"So all elves have gray skin and pointy ears then?" she asked.

Raptor wasn't entirely sure he was carrying the old man right, but the man didn't fall off when Raptor straightened. After a moment of hesitation, he moved his free hand back to support the old man. He wouldn't be able to make the paths with one hand supporting the man and the other holding the axe, but hopefully they would only be moving forward.

He looked to Nikolai again.

"Pointy ears, yes," Aumrauth answered, sounding a little bored and annoyed. "But the grey skin was a gift with my immortality. I used to have a more lively complexion and darker hair if you can dare to believe it. But I must say, I do find my new look to suit me better, and I think it makes more of a statement, don't you think?"

He didn't wait for her to answer.

"Not that I would expect you to have a well-informed opinion on color schemes as someone who's color-blind, but we're not all born perfect like me, I suppose."

Ainsley cracked a smile at Mel's attempt at conversation. Sure, Aumrauth's replies weren't the friendliest out there, but the interaction seemed to lighten the mood a little in Ainsley's mind.

"What about you, Mel?" He asked, figuring they could take some time to get to know each other a bit. Maybe they would become a more cohesive group, in terms of battling whatever other monsters lurked in the depths of the caverns. "Have you always been able to control light?"