Residual (Chapter Nine)
Thursday, April 16th, 2015 08:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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mindcrackloveWe get another location we need to go to, some more shipping teasing, and Blame having another bad day.
Chapter list: http://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/382.html
Map of the continent: http://tanadin.deviantart.com/art/Monstrous-Residual-map-526465833
Character status spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yvK6D0XzgjhMNjblFFQaAeJ7JkzdidaLJux1S8qsSUA/edit#gid=1227692709
Chapter Nine
Sunspire, Minecraftia. September 11, year 373. Time instance 483Z.
Blame awoke early in the morning. He figured it was about dawn- this wasn’t unusual. His instincts were hardwired to awake at dawn. Old habits die hard, he supposed. Once again he tried to sit up but found himself incapable. He sighed and then realized that he was not alone.
Vechs was also in the tent-this didn’t surprise Blame too much either. He usually shared a tent with the Davion. After watching him for a moment, Blame decided that he was asleep. Blame slowly, very slowly, tried to sit up, managing it after several minutes and a lot of pain. He glanced at Vechs again to make sure he was asleep before pulling his dark shirt up to look at his bandages.
Blood-soaked, as he’d guessed. He’d need to ask Paul to change them later. He wasn’t sure if the man was awake yet and even the thought of getting up made him feel dizzy. His body was still suffering from the earlier effects of blood loss and he was in a lot of pain.
Nothing he hadn’t experienced before. He lay back down and closed his eyes, but had to open them again to stop the flow of images.
He’d rather not think back to his time in the War of the Shattered Sands. Those were not good times.
War of the Shattered Sands: the war between Variat and Kalt’on beginning about a hundred years ago in year 262, creating the borders now familiar in year 373. The war ended in 278, but Blame’s final experience with it had been in 271, at age thirty-one. Blame had been a worldbuilder for a hundred and two years, making him, in 373, one hundred and thirty-three.
No. He was glad he had avoided going south. Going back into that desert- especially part of the desert within the Kalt’on borders- was not something he was willing to do.
Kalt’on was pretty low on his list of favorite places. He disliked their government, he disliked their fighting styles, and he disliked the memories he associated with them. He had fought against the Kalt’on for two years, and those had been some pretty terrible two years.
He’d prefer to avoid Variat as well, but Kalt’on…
He shuddered, shaking it off and sitting up again. He didn’t want to dwell on that.
He held his head in his hands as the images flashed over his eyes despite his attempts to quell them.
“Blame?”
He looked up, several minutes later, when Vechs’s voice whispered his name, concerned. He didn’t respond other than that.
“Are you okay?”
“…Yes.” He sighed and lowered his hands. “Can you see if Paul is awake? I need my bandages changed.”
“I can do it.”
Blame shook his head, fighting a slight redness threatening to rise in his face. “I’d…rather not. Just. Get Paul. Okay?”
“Why? Blame, are you embarrassed to show me what’s under your shirt?”
“Vechs, shut the hell up and get someone who isn’t a literal five year old.”
Vechs grinned widely but did leave the tent to try and locate Paul.
Blame’s arms were moodily crossed when Paul and Vechs returned to the tent, Paul with fresh bandages. He sat beside Blame but the Skullblade insisted that Vechs leave before he was willing to let Paul help him.
Vechs grumbled and sat outside, arms crossed, as he waited.
He wasn’t left waiting long, however, as Pause walked up to him and tapped his shoulder.
“Vechs? Can I talk to you?”
Vechs nodded and stood up. “Yeah. What’s up?”
“Come on.” Pause set off walking into the burned surroundings. Confused, Vechs followed him.
“What are you going to do with that…thing?” Pause asked.
“Thing?”
“That orb.”
“Oh.” Vechs slipped it out of his toolbelt to look at it. “I don’t know. I want to return it to the Vortex, back where it belongs, but I don’t know how to do that…”
“Don’t let that thing get back into the hands of Specterveil. He could undoubtedly use it badly.”
“I won’t. Believe me. I’ll look after it.”
Pause nodded. “Good.”
“Why couldn’t we discuss this in camp?”
“We could. This wasn’t what I wanted to talk about- it was cover.”
“Cover?”
“Yeah. Tell me, Vechs. When are you planning on informing Aureylian that you like her?”
Wow. Personal.
“Wh-what?!”
Pause crossed his arms. “Paul and Blame have a bet going.”
“Wh...I…I don’t…”
“Well?”
“Wh… Pause, what the hell!”
Pause was grinning, clearly just trying to mess with him.
“I…I…I am not answering this question!”
“Okay, then. Paul is currently more likely to win.” He shrugged.
“Why are you asking me this?!”
“I wanted to know who would win ahead of time, so I would know which way to bet.”
“Fuck off, Pause! I…I don’t…”
“You totally do like her.”
Pause laughed at him and led the way back to camp, Vechs fuming and red-faced.
“Hey, Vechs!”
Vechs only turned redder when Aureylian bounded up to them Pause was grinning, trying not to laugh.
Aureylian frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing!”
She looked at Pause and glared suspiciously. “What did you do to him?”
“I didn’t do anything!” he protested.
“I…I…I think I’ll be back.” Vechs fled from the situation.
He didn’t stop sprinting until he was out of visual distance, and then sank down to a sitting position. He took a few deep breaths to calm down and get the blood out of his face. Damn Pause. Leave it to him to do something like that.
That was embarrassing.
And also…did he like Aureylian?
No. No way. They were friends, is all. Right?
Right?
An interesting thought.
Aureylian plopped down next to him a couple of minutes later. His mind had wandered and he found himself looking at the orb again when he was yanked out of his thoughts by her presence.
“Vechs, you doing okay?”
He looked up and nodded. “Yeah. I’m okay.”
“Why’d you run away like that?”
“Pause was being a dick.”
“So he did do something.”
“…Yeah. Kinda.”
Aureylian’s eyes narrowed as Vechs tried to fight the slight reddening of his face. “What did he do?”
“N-nothing! He didn’t do anything! He asked some, uh, awkward questions.”
“What kind of questions?”
“Questions I don’t know the answer to and…and…dammit Relly I don’t want to talk about this!”
She laughed at his flustered expression and nudged him gently. “Alright, fine. I’ll figure it out eventually though.”
“When you do, beat up Pause for me.”
Aureylian nodded and smiled. Vechs felt a flutter run through him and he mentally sighed.
Pause was right, wasn’t he?
~~~
Blame shuddered as Paul moved to leave, feeling something like a shadow pass over him.
Paul turned and frowned. “Are you okay?”
Blame closed his eyes. “Something’s up. Something’s going to happen.”
“Happen? What do you mean? Something bad?”
“I don’t know.” Blame shuddered again. “I don’t know.” He paused. “I have to get to Ashwatch.”
Paul blinked. “What?”
“I need to return to Ashwatch.”
“Why?!”
“I don’t know, but I have to return!”
“You are in no state to go anywhere! I thought we were going to the Wilds after this?”
“We need to make a detour.”
“Blame, you can’t just-“
“You don’t understand. I have to go.” He shifted, not feeling the pain in his torso, as an ancestral memory stirred.
“A valk’vanor. It’s hatching.”
“What?”
Blame closed his eyes. “No. Not yet. A child of Vallor’roth. One of the eggs will be stirring in about a week’s time, when the Bloodshadow first touches the sky. I have to be in Ashwatch when that happens. All Ashenhorns must stand in Ashwatch when the Bloodshadow touches the sky.”
Paul frowned further. “What are you talking about?”
Blame opened his eyes and looked into Paul’s. “It’s very, very important to me that I am in Ashwatch when the Bloodshadow- one of the things that Vallor’roth left on this world- touches the sky. The Bloodshadow marks that one of the valk’vanor- one of Vallor’roth’s children- will be hatching. It appears the night that the egg awakens, and where it appears in the sky shows how long it will take to cover the moon. When the Bloodshadow obscures the moon, turning it red, the egg will hatch.”
“How do you know this?”
“It’s taught to us.” Blame said this as if it was obvious. “All Skullblades learn this, particularly Ashenhorns. I may not have grown up entirely with the clan, but I learned a lot.”
“How do you know this is happening? How long will it be until the egg of this thing hatches?”
“How long? I don’t know. I’d have to see the Bloodshadow and even then…” Blame sighed. “Even then I wouldn’t know. I never learned how to tell how long it would be. Probably not for several years, at the very least. And how I know…I don’t know. I don’t. Some kind of ancestral memory. Maybe Vallor’roth himself tells the Ashenhorns.”
“Who is Vallor’roth?”
Blame shook his head. “If I’m telling you, I’m telling you all at once. And it’s best to explain in Ashwatch itself. The catacombs explain better than I ever could.”
“The catacombs?”
“Please…just tell them that that’s where I need to go.” The pain was back and he needed to lie down. “It’s important. I know Vechs needs to go to the Vicious Wilds, but this only happens every few hundred years. I have to be there when the Bloodshadow touches the sky.”
Paul hesitated, and then nodded.
“I’ll tell them. And even if they won’t go, I will. I’ll make sure you get to Ashwatch if it’s that important to you.”
Blame stared for a moment, and then smiled.
“Thank you. Thank you so much, Paul.”
“You’re welcome. I don’t want you dying on the way.”
Blame lay down and let Paul leave the tent before closing his eyes.
The shadow shifted across his mind again, and he received the impression of a dragon, a massive black dragon with scales translucent in such a way that they looked like shadow except where they went over the bones, where they let the bones show through, creating the illusion of the dragon being nothing but a skeleton moving in shadow…
But then it was gone, and Blame was alone in his thoughts.
Chapter list: http://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/382.html
Map of the continent: http://tanadin.deviantart.com/art/Monstrous-Residual-map-526465833
Character status spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yvK6D0XzgjhMNjblFFQaAeJ7JkzdidaLJux1S8qsSUA/edit#gid=1227692709
Chapter Nine
Sunspire, Minecraftia. September 11, year 373. Time instance 483Z.
Blame awoke early in the morning. He figured it was about dawn- this wasn’t unusual. His instincts were hardwired to awake at dawn. Old habits die hard, he supposed. Once again he tried to sit up but found himself incapable. He sighed and then realized that he was not alone.
Vechs was also in the tent-this didn’t surprise Blame too much either. He usually shared a tent with the Davion. After watching him for a moment, Blame decided that he was asleep. Blame slowly, very slowly, tried to sit up, managing it after several minutes and a lot of pain. He glanced at Vechs again to make sure he was asleep before pulling his dark shirt up to look at his bandages.
Blood-soaked, as he’d guessed. He’d need to ask Paul to change them later. He wasn’t sure if the man was awake yet and even the thought of getting up made him feel dizzy. His body was still suffering from the earlier effects of blood loss and he was in a lot of pain.
Nothing he hadn’t experienced before. He lay back down and closed his eyes, but had to open them again to stop the flow of images.
He’d rather not think back to his time in the War of the Shattered Sands. Those were not good times.
War of the Shattered Sands: the war between Variat and Kalt’on beginning about a hundred years ago in year 262, creating the borders now familiar in year 373. The war ended in 278, but Blame’s final experience with it had been in 271, at age thirty-one. Blame had been a worldbuilder for a hundred and two years, making him, in 373, one hundred and thirty-three.
No. He was glad he had avoided going south. Going back into that desert- especially part of the desert within the Kalt’on borders- was not something he was willing to do.
Kalt’on was pretty low on his list of favorite places. He disliked their government, he disliked their fighting styles, and he disliked the memories he associated with them. He had fought against the Kalt’on for two years, and those had been some pretty terrible two years.
He’d prefer to avoid Variat as well, but Kalt’on…
He shuddered, shaking it off and sitting up again. He didn’t want to dwell on that.
He held his head in his hands as the images flashed over his eyes despite his attempts to quell them.
“Blame?”
He looked up, several minutes later, when Vechs’s voice whispered his name, concerned. He didn’t respond other than that.
“Are you okay?”
“…Yes.” He sighed and lowered his hands. “Can you see if Paul is awake? I need my bandages changed.”
“I can do it.”
Blame shook his head, fighting a slight redness threatening to rise in his face. “I’d…rather not. Just. Get Paul. Okay?”
“Why? Blame, are you embarrassed to show me what’s under your shirt?”
“Vechs, shut the hell up and get someone who isn’t a literal five year old.”
Vechs grinned widely but did leave the tent to try and locate Paul.
Blame’s arms were moodily crossed when Paul and Vechs returned to the tent, Paul with fresh bandages. He sat beside Blame but the Skullblade insisted that Vechs leave before he was willing to let Paul help him.
Vechs grumbled and sat outside, arms crossed, as he waited.
He wasn’t left waiting long, however, as Pause walked up to him and tapped his shoulder.
“Vechs? Can I talk to you?”
Vechs nodded and stood up. “Yeah. What’s up?”
“Come on.” Pause set off walking into the burned surroundings. Confused, Vechs followed him.
“What are you going to do with that…thing?” Pause asked.
“Thing?”
“That orb.”
“Oh.” Vechs slipped it out of his toolbelt to look at it. “I don’t know. I want to return it to the Vortex, back where it belongs, but I don’t know how to do that…”
“Don’t let that thing get back into the hands of Specterveil. He could undoubtedly use it badly.”
“I won’t. Believe me. I’ll look after it.”
Pause nodded. “Good.”
“Why couldn’t we discuss this in camp?”
“We could. This wasn’t what I wanted to talk about- it was cover.”
“Cover?”
“Yeah. Tell me, Vechs. When are you planning on informing Aureylian that you like her?”
Wow. Personal.
“Wh-what?!”
Pause crossed his arms. “Paul and Blame have a bet going.”
“Wh...I…I don’t…”
“Well?”
“Wh… Pause, what the hell!”
Pause was grinning, clearly just trying to mess with him.
“I…I…I am not answering this question!”
“Okay, then. Paul is currently more likely to win.” He shrugged.
“Why are you asking me this?!”
“I wanted to know who would win ahead of time, so I would know which way to bet.”
“Fuck off, Pause! I…I don’t…”
“You totally do like her.”
Pause laughed at him and led the way back to camp, Vechs fuming and red-faced.
“Hey, Vechs!”
Vechs only turned redder when Aureylian bounded up to them Pause was grinning, trying not to laugh.
Aureylian frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing!”
She looked at Pause and glared suspiciously. “What did you do to him?”
“I didn’t do anything!” he protested.
“I…I…I think I’ll be back.” Vechs fled from the situation.
He didn’t stop sprinting until he was out of visual distance, and then sank down to a sitting position. He took a few deep breaths to calm down and get the blood out of his face. Damn Pause. Leave it to him to do something like that.
That was embarrassing.
And also…did he like Aureylian?
No. No way. They were friends, is all. Right?
Right?
An interesting thought.
Aureylian plopped down next to him a couple of minutes later. His mind had wandered and he found himself looking at the orb again when he was yanked out of his thoughts by her presence.
“Vechs, you doing okay?”
He looked up and nodded. “Yeah. I’m okay.”
“Why’d you run away like that?”
“Pause was being a dick.”
“So he did do something.”
“…Yeah. Kinda.”
Aureylian’s eyes narrowed as Vechs tried to fight the slight reddening of his face. “What did he do?”
“N-nothing! He didn’t do anything! He asked some, uh, awkward questions.”
“What kind of questions?”
“Questions I don’t know the answer to and…and…dammit Relly I don’t want to talk about this!”
She laughed at his flustered expression and nudged him gently. “Alright, fine. I’ll figure it out eventually though.”
“When you do, beat up Pause for me.”
Aureylian nodded and smiled. Vechs felt a flutter run through him and he mentally sighed.
Pause was right, wasn’t he?
~~~
Blame shuddered as Paul moved to leave, feeling something like a shadow pass over him.
Paul turned and frowned. “Are you okay?”
Blame closed his eyes. “Something’s up. Something’s going to happen.”
“Happen? What do you mean? Something bad?”
“I don’t know.” Blame shuddered again. “I don’t know.” He paused. “I have to get to Ashwatch.”
Paul blinked. “What?”
“I need to return to Ashwatch.”
“Why?!”
“I don’t know, but I have to return!”
“You are in no state to go anywhere! I thought we were going to the Wilds after this?”
“We need to make a detour.”
“Blame, you can’t just-“
“You don’t understand. I have to go.” He shifted, not feeling the pain in his torso, as an ancestral memory stirred.
“A valk’vanor. It’s hatching.”
“What?”
Blame closed his eyes. “No. Not yet. A child of Vallor’roth. One of the eggs will be stirring in about a week’s time, when the Bloodshadow first touches the sky. I have to be in Ashwatch when that happens. All Ashenhorns must stand in Ashwatch when the Bloodshadow touches the sky.”
Paul frowned further. “What are you talking about?”
Blame opened his eyes and looked into Paul’s. “It’s very, very important to me that I am in Ashwatch when the Bloodshadow- one of the things that Vallor’roth left on this world- touches the sky. The Bloodshadow marks that one of the valk’vanor- one of Vallor’roth’s children- will be hatching. It appears the night that the egg awakens, and where it appears in the sky shows how long it will take to cover the moon. When the Bloodshadow obscures the moon, turning it red, the egg will hatch.”
“How do you know this?”
“It’s taught to us.” Blame said this as if it was obvious. “All Skullblades learn this, particularly Ashenhorns. I may not have grown up entirely with the clan, but I learned a lot.”
“How do you know this is happening? How long will it be until the egg of this thing hatches?”
“How long? I don’t know. I’d have to see the Bloodshadow and even then…” Blame sighed. “Even then I wouldn’t know. I never learned how to tell how long it would be. Probably not for several years, at the very least. And how I know…I don’t know. I don’t. Some kind of ancestral memory. Maybe Vallor’roth himself tells the Ashenhorns.”
“Who is Vallor’roth?”
Blame shook his head. “If I’m telling you, I’m telling you all at once. And it’s best to explain in Ashwatch itself. The catacombs explain better than I ever could.”
“The catacombs?”
“Please…just tell them that that’s where I need to go.” The pain was back and he needed to lie down. “It’s important. I know Vechs needs to go to the Vicious Wilds, but this only happens every few hundred years. I have to be there when the Bloodshadow touches the sky.”
Paul hesitated, and then nodded.
“I’ll tell them. And even if they won’t go, I will. I’ll make sure you get to Ashwatch if it’s that important to you.”
Blame stared for a moment, and then smiled.
“Thank you. Thank you so much, Paul.”
“You’re welcome. I don’t want you dying on the way.”
Blame lay down and let Paul leave the tent before closing his eyes.
The shadow shifted across his mind again, and he received the impression of a dragon, a massive black dragon with scales translucent in such a way that they looked like shadow except where they went over the bones, where they let the bones show through, creating the illusion of the dragon being nothing but a skeleton moving in shadow…
But then it was gone, and Blame was alone in his thoughts.
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Date: Friday, April 17th, 2015 10:58 am (UTC)Pause in this chapter was great!
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Date: Friday, April 17th, 2015 10:01 pm (UTC)~Anon
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Date: Saturday, April 18th, 2015 03:05 am (UTC)G.C. (::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)
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