Fated (Chapter Sixty-Nine)

[tanadin]

Haha. Sixty-nine.
In which...a lot of concerning stuff happens.

Chapter list: http://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/382.html
Map of the continent: http://tanadin.deviantart.com/art/Fated-map-544073443
Character status spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RKoeOLYhQctmZ5McNHc_kid0tjfb1BxyuD8i95FmFQE/edit?usp=sharing

Chapter Sixty-Nine

Ruins of Dalania, Minecraftia. November 12, year 573. Time instance 483Z.

They had spent most of the day walking, and the sun was beginning to set before Teramelle sped up enough to walk even with Samuel. Tranpar gently tapped Samuel’s shoulder and lowered his voice to a whisper when the older man looked up at him.

“Samuel? Do you think my sister would have been proud of me?”

Samuel blinked in surprise. Tranpar hadn’t really mentioned his sister in a very long time, and this seemed so out of the blue. “Yes. She would have been. Why do you bring this up?”

Tranpar looked away.

“Tranpar…”

He sighed quietly. “Shred reminds me of her.”

Samuel blinked when he realized that Tranpar was right. He glanced over at Shred, playing with Mira as they walked, and nodded slightly to himself. Both Shred and Tranpar’s sister seemed cold and harsh when you first met them, but were very caring once you got to know them. They could take care of themselves, and interestingly enough, they both had a young one dependant on them. Samuel had also l-

Samuel cut that thought off before it progressed any further. Focus, Soares. You can figure out emotions and whatever after you save the world.

He returned attention to Tranpar. “Yeah. They are kinda similar.” He smiled slightly at Tranpar. “But your sister would have been so, so proud of you. You’re a genius, kid, even if you lack common sense. You’ve almost got that working.” He motioned vaguely at the item in Tranpar’s hands. “And you’ve gotten a lot of other things working when they shouldn’t have functioned at all. Iirkolav’s leg, for one. That was a good thing you did.”

Tranpar smiled. “Really?”

“Yeah. You really helped him out. You might have even saved his life, who knows?”

Tranpar nodded. “Yeah. Yeah! Thanks, Samuel.”

Samuel smiled back at him. “You’re a good kid, Tranpar. Just quit running off and getting yourself into trouble, alright?”

“Sorry, comes with the rest. It’s a package deal.”

Samuel snorted in laugher. “I love you, kid.”

“Yay!”

A moment of joy in a day of sorrow.

They walked for several more minutes before Baltbee’s voice called from the back of the group. “Can we slow down? Martin isn’t looking so good.”

Samuel turned around and frowned slightly. Baltbee and Martin were lagging behind, and Martin did indeed look a bit sickly and very, very tired.

Samuel waited for them to catch up before motioning for Martin to climb onto Teramelle, behind Tranpar. “Take a break, okay? Don’t walk yourself to death.”

Martin just nodded gratefully, struggling onto the unicorn’s back and fighting to keep himself awake. The world seemed so heavy all of a sudden…

Five minutes into walking after that, Martin fell off of Teramelle’s back. Baltbee immediately rushed up to check on him, shaking him slightly when he didn’t respond immediately. Samuel stopped again on hearing Baltbee start to freak out. He quickly knelt by Martin’s side to check on him, feeling for a pulse. With a chill, he realized there was none evident.

The descendant of MC had fallen.

A hollow laugh filled the air and the descendants whirled around to meet the glowing eyes of Specterveil. He hovered above them, arms crossed, laughing hysterically at them.

“You didn’t really think freeing one of your own from us would be that easy, did you? We let you have him, you realize.”

Baltbee got to his feet and clenched his fists. “What did you do?!”

“We injected him with a slow-acting poison.” Specterveil shook his head. “I thought that was obvious. Turn back. You’ve lost four of your own in three days. At this rate, you’ll be dead by the time you reach Kaepravah.”

“Go shove that tree monster up your ass.” Shred told him. “And while you’re at it, go dive in a lava pool.”

“Tempting, if I don’t have to listen to any of you anymore.” Specterveil muttered. “No.” He snapped his claws and his hands flashed purple. “Have fun.”

With that, he howled with laughter and vanished once more into the shadows.

“What the f-”

Before Tarsen could finish his sentence, six shatterbeasts leaped out of seemingly nowhere at them, and a bloody combat began.

Five of the six had a feline-like build and were covered in scales, but the sixth was built more like a bear and had thick plates of armor made of some unidentifiable substance.

Shred and Samuel immediately targeted the same shatterbeast, taking it down relatively quickly. Samuel turned in time to see the bearlike one slam one of its paws into Altren, sending him flying and crashing painfully into the ground some ways away. He slowly sat up, though, so Samuel turned his attention to the creature. He barely noticed a second feline shatterbeast go down as he threw his spear at his target.

The monster swatted his spear out of the air and charged forward, knocking Samuel over and pinning him easily. Shred swung at its front leg, but it knocked her out of the way. It roared and raised its paw, ignoring Samuel’s futile efforts to get out of its grip.

BAM!

The bear’s eyes widened as a small hole appeared in the side of its head, one of its unprotected places. Blood trickled from the wound as it fell limp, falling to its left and freeing Samuel.

Samuel scrambled to his feet and wildly attempted to identify the source of the explosion before his eyes fell on Tranpar, who had jumped off of Teramelle and aimed his weapon at the shatterbeast. This time, it hadn’t exploded. Tranpar’s eyes were wide and he was shaking a little, although from fear or excitement, Samuel couldn’t tell.

He retrieved his spear and finished off the final shatterbeast from where it had been attempting to murder Baltbee before bounding over to Tranpar.

“You did it! It worked! And…” Samuel hesitated. “You saved me.”

Tranpar slowly lowered the weapon, eyes still wide. “Y-yeah. I did.” He paused. “Wait! Yeah! I did!” He seemed to snap out of his trance and bounced excitedly. “It worked! It worked!” He hugged Samuel before bouncing around a bit more, chanting, “It worked! It worked! It worked!” He shoved it into his bag and took Tim’s hands, the two jumping around excitedly.

Samuel smiled to himself before remembering Altren and running over to make sure his teammate was alright.

Altren appeared to be downing a healing potion, and there was also an empty glass vial beside him.

“You okay?”

Altren nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine.” He shoved the two empty vials in his bag before getting to his feet. “Just a bit sore. I need to make some more potions as soon as we’re out of Dalania. I’m running low and there’s nothing here to make them with.”

“You do seem to drink a lot of them.”

Altren shrugged. “I need to. That’s why I learned how to make them, out of practically anything and everything. They’re not that powerful, but they get the job done.” He motioned at his hair. “They just kinda fuck that up, though.”

Samuel nodded, not pressing why Altren had to drink so many potions, and returned to the group to look at Martin’s corpse mournfully.

Baltbee, who normally wasn’t that upset over deaths, seemed bothered about this one. “Can we bury him, at least, before we go?” He asked quietly.

“Of course.”

Samuel looked at Tarsen, and the ex-bandit sighed, opening his bag to retrieve the shovel once more.

-~-

MC didn’t really react when his orb shattered.

He just stared.

No one could have anticipated that. He was numb as it broke in his hands and turned to bronze sand, eyes wide and reactions nonexistent.

Eventually, Aureylian led him out of the room, breaking the silence that had come across the Mindcrackers.

“Well,” Millbee muttered, “that sucked.”

“No shit. That’s eight descendants dead.” Blame grumbled.

“Fantastic. Looks like your prediction is coming true.” Vechs told him.

“It’s not a prediction, it’s a fact. At least Samuel didn’t get his head ripped off.”

Paul nodded, still trying to calm down after almost seeing his descendant die. “That was…really terrifying.”

“You sure you’re gonna be okay, Paul? Scares like that aren’t good for old men like you.”

“Don’t make me come over there, Vechs.” Paul warned, and the room laughed.

At least there was that.

-~-

“Again!” Mokdal told her. “You can do this!”

“I can’t!” Nessy growled. “I just can’t sustain fire that long!”

“You have to! A dragon must be able to use their breath weapon! You can do it, you just have to give it more practice!”

Nessy snarled and opened her jaws once more, aiming at the wall, before purple flames blasted from her mouth and licked the wall before dissipating.

Nia watched this with a certain level of awe. Seeing Nessy practice her draconic abilities was not only fascinating, but a reminder of the things that were possible in this world. She noticed Nessy’s flames begin to falter after about twenty seconds, though, and the half-dragon had to stop to breathe and rest after thirty.

Mokdal nodded approvingly. “That’s a lot better than it was earlier today. Good job, Nessy.”

She looked up and flicked her tail slightly, the meaning of which was lost on Nia.

“I think that’s enough for today. The assault is tomorrow, and you need your rest.”

Nessy nodded and transformed back into her human form. “Thank you for helping me, Mokdal.”

“You’re welcome. Try to stick near me during the battle, okay? I don’t want you getting killed. Not after I’ve put so much time and effort into you.”

Nessy and Nia both laughed, the latter making Nessy jump. “Nia! I forgot you were here!”

“You’ve been distracted. But you’re doing really well! I’m just glad you’re on my side.”

“Trust me, I’m glad I’m on your side too.” She motioned at the bow that was ever-present on Nia’s back.

Mokdal nodded. “Even I wouldn’t want to face that weapon in combat. I’ve seen what it can do. It’s our best weapon against the Hostiles.”

Nia nodded. “I’ve heard that one before.”

Kaen no Mai: an item born of clumsiness in battle, but it would shape the destiny of the world. Unlike Morning Lord, which was created intentionally and only used for sorrow…

Nessy yawned. “I think I’m going to turn in a bit early. Even though stuff takes less energy, I’m still exhausted.”

“Good plan. We should all probably get some sleep. Good night, you two.” Mokdal waved (somewhat awkwardly as he was still unused to his human form) before leaving the room. Nessy left immediately afterwards, leaving Nia seemingly alone in the room.

She turned to the door they had left through and raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Kaen no Mai is pretty powerful, huh? Hostiles and dragons both fear it…”

And the voice, the voice that had been with her for about half a month, spoke to her in response…

Yes. Any who have any sense fear it.

Just as any who have any sense should fear the Davions, specifically the heir to the throne.

If they stand against you, Nia, they should fear you.

Comments

[eclipse3]

WE DIDN'T EVEN GET TO FUCKING KNOW HIM!!!

[tanadin]

THAT WAS THE PURPOSE OF HIS CHARACTER XD

[(Anonymous)]

SO YOU MEAN HE'S JUST A RED SHIRT
-Anon Cami

[tanadin]

Yes.

[(Anonymous)]

That last part . . . Am I seeing the beginning of the standard Davion insanity?
-Anon Cami

[(Anonymous)]

Well, about half a month ago they were in the caves with the creeper people, right? And the stone that Kaltaerion is in is in those caves, right? So it could be insanity, or the rock found a way to get in her head. I haven't really been paying attention to time frames, so correct me if that very rough estimation is wrong.
-Observing Anon

[tanadin]

c:

[(Anonymous)]

You know, I'd say somthing about all of these kids deaths, but that would be really hypocritical for someone that had an evil alien murder eveyone on a distant planet bar a few poeple, then sperad a disease across earth that lowered the population from 7.3 billion to 200, then killed all of the aliens that were trying to save the poeple, and all of the remaining people in a story for school. Tanadin, you are a much better writer than me, and still a lot kinder to your characters. Keep up the great work!
-Observing Anon

[tanadin]

Thank you. ^^ And I doubt I'm that great. I'm sure your writing is good as well ^^

[(Anonymous)]

Well. Martin the redshirt indeed. (I'm totally stealing Anon Cami's description, sorry. I loved it.) I loved the conversation between Samuel and Tranpar at the beginning, but it just made Tranpar seem more like my brother. Especially the comment about the running off coming with the rest of the pack. Totally something my brother would say.

I'm scared at the end for Nia. I do not want something bad to happen to her, especially not something that would make her a danger to the rest of the group. Very, very scared. I'm really glad I'm not one of these people. I don't want to spend my time with the possibility of me dying or one of my friends dying any time. Including the next few minutes.

Please give a cookie to all surviving members of the group. You can keep two for yourself. (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::)

-the lurkiest lurker

[the_mysterious_m]

Kaen no Mai: an item born of clumsiness in battle, but it would shape the destiny of the world.

Remind me of how it was born.

[tdscott8]

Vechs had his bow and like, dropped it in some enchanted water in those dangerous woods or something, and then boom magic bow

[tanadin]

That's exactly what happened.

[(Anonymous)]

That description is awesome and 100% accurate.

[the_mysterious_m]

Cool story.

[(Anonymous)]

And then, possibly the most powerful weapon in Minecraftia was born.
-Anon Cami

[the_mysterious_m]

Oh, and Nia's probably going insane. So there's that.

[(Anonymous)]

Or there's some weird power (cough cough Kaltaerion cough cough) that got into her head, which I don't think is a particularly better option. Or maybe that's just her talking to herself. That would be nice.

-the lurkiest lurker

[tdscott8]

If Kaltaerion's insane, and is inside her head, and she also goes insane, that'd be she's like... Double insane. I want this.

[(Anonymous)]

-_- You're terrible.

Or just not as attached to the characters as some of us. I, for one, do not want Nia to go insane, let alone double insane.

-the lurkiest lurker

[(Anonymous)]

There is the fact that Kaen No Mai is supposed to deliver the final blow to the hostiles and Nia's the only Davion around who can even hold it . . . I don't think a crazed teen who has likely killed all her friends would be stable enough to realise 'I have to shoot Specterviel' but then there is Kal who's managing to manipulate people (as a stone!) So . . .

[tanadin]

Kaltaerion is an interesting case.
He was a horrible person even before he went off his fucking rocker.

[tanadin]

That, my dear anonymous friend, is where you are wrong.
I am just as, if not more, attached to these characters than most of you are.
I CREATED them. They exist because I created them, I spent hours and days and weeks working out every detail so that I could write them, so I could send them off to a war that I knew many of them wouldn't survive, and the worst part was, I knew the fates of some and others I don't know whether or not they'll die until I'm halfway through a chapter and I realize that someone has to die and there's only one that could possibly fit the bill.

I cause their death. I cause their life. I cause their pain and their joy and everything they will ever experience.
And that is why I will fucking fight you if you misinterpret my characters.

But am I terrible?
Yeah. Yeah I am. Woops. ^^;

[(Anonymous)]

I was actually talking about Scott. I completely understand being attached to your own characters, as a writer myself. :)

-the lurkiest lurker

[tanadin]

Oh, Scott? Yeah he doesn't give a fuck. XD

[(Anonymous)]

I just thought of something. Stones can be used for arrow heads. With Nia's history of pulling the original arrow instead of the duped one I won't be surprised if she made more.
(My theory has no standing seeing as Tanadin didn't mention making arrows in the tunnels to my memory. *sighs* oh well . . .)
-Anon Cami

[tanadin]

SHES ONLY DONE IT ONCE
...I THINK
PROBABLY
OKAY MAYBE TWICE, SHE IS VECHS' DESCENDANT AFTER ALL

[jiminee]

Welp, it was nice knowing Intern Martin.