Null Forest Depths

[windskull]

"Mm... That certainly may have helped," Nip agreed. "But you're also here with people you trust, right? That probably helps, too."

"Let's just hope that trust isn't ill-placed..."

Nip shot his shade another look then turned his attention back to Cynthian. "While I can't say I've been anywhere like here before, I do have a memory of a strange place. There was... An empty sky... Water that stretched out across the endless horizon, reflecting back the sky. And a single jill with a withered tree. At the time, I thought it to be just a dream. But after everything that happened here, I wonder if I was on the brink of death back then."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Mm... That certainly may have helped," Nip agreed. "But you're also here with people you trust, right? That probably helps, too."

"Let's just hope that trust isn't ill-placed..."

"What?" Cynthian briefly looked wide eyed shadow Nip, then she lowered her eyes.

"I don't know about that or not." Cynthian fidgeted uncomfortably for a moment, and released a trickle of lemon and honey from her flowers.

"I've... I've never had this many friends before. I only had one... I..." Cynthian cleared her throat. That scent of baked bread came off from her again. "I trust those who are here with me now. They've proven that with their actions. Save for a few among our crew, everyone else has shown me kindness."

"Back at the pines forest, you said you left your home, right? I don't imagine you would have done that if you had those you could trust..." A scent of apples surrounded Cynthian for a moment, then she gasped upon recalling Soda's words. "Ah, sorry! I shouldn't pry if you'd rather not talk about it."

 

[windskull]

Ah, right, he had talked about that some, hadn't he? "More or less," he answered. He turned his head to the side, avoiding meeting Cynthain's eyes, and scratched at the side of his head. "I had one 'mon I could trust. You've already sort of met him: Tempest. But... I was never very close with the rest of my tribe members. Comes with being an outsider, I guess."

"They weren't exactly trustworthy anyways. The lot of them, looking down on us for being small. And an outsider. Not to mention how willing they were to look the other way when-"

"I don't want to hear it," Nip snapped, cutting his shadow off. Then he turned apologetically towards Cynthain. "Sorry about that."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"No, it's fine. I know what it's like to be looked down on for being small, among other things. That's how my budew years were especially." Cynthian made eye contact with Nip, and held a glimmer of sympathy in her eyes.

"It's good that you had Tempest. I haven't spoken to your familiar much. What was Tempest like?"

 

[windskull]

Nip smiled weakly. "Tempest, like myself, was an outsider to the tribe. He joined the tribe some time before I hatched, though I don't know how long ago. He has a bit of a quiet, commanding atmosphere to him, and tends to be pretty private about his past. But he is also kind and wise. He was always doing his best to help me out, and make sure I was in the best position within the tribe I could be. He was my... mentor of sorts, I suppose you could say."

"We had to leave him behind, though," his shadow chimed in. "It hurt, but it was for the best. He's seasons older. And besides. He would have been disappointed in us... At least if he's in the tribe, he's safe from her."

Nip frowned and shifted uncomfortably.

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Safe from her? Who?" Cynthian tilted her head slightly, though her voice carried an edge of worry in it.

 

[windskull]

"No one important," Nip answered quickly. "At least, no one important now."

His shadow opened it's mouth as if to say something, but the glare Nip shot it made it think twice and slink backwards, eyes downcast.

Nip paused, taking a deep breath. " Look, I just have someone very... Unpleasant in my past. But she's not here and she can't be here so it's absolutely fine." As he spoke, he stood up, tail twitching. Despite his assurances that she couldn't be here, his eyes still darted back and forth, as if watching for hidden enemies.

 

[Adamhuarts]

Someone unpleasant in his past? That description held an air of familiarity to it. Cynthian knew why. She too had someone unpleasant like that.

Cynthian moved closer to Nip and looked up at him with the kind of reassuring smile Mama Zahra used to give her.

"Yes, you're right. She's not here now. It's just you and me..." she glanced at Nip's shadow, "and your shadow. We're safe now."

 

[windskull]

"Of course we're safe now." Nip's reply came just a bit too quickly. "Why wouldn't we be? Its not like she can chase me across worlds or anything like that. That would be ridiculous, don't you think?"

His shadow frowned at him, but said nothing.

"Anyways, we should probably head back towards the village, don't you think? Wouldn't want the others to worry, right?"

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Don't worry, she won't. Even if she did, you have friends here who will stand beside you," Cynthian said as she took a few steps ahead of him.

"And yeah, we should probably head back now... though I'm not sure which way I came in from..."

 

[windskull]

Nip shared a glance with his shadow. It was staying silent this time, but Nip could tell what it was thinking. He was thinking it, too. No you wouldn't. Not if you knew everything. But verbally, he did not say as much. Instead, he just said. "...hopefully."

Without giving Cynthian a chance to argue, he tilted his head up and sniffed at the air. "I think the town is back this way."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Alright. Lead the way and I'll follow," Cynthian said. She trailed behind Nip while surveying her environment. For the first time, the creepiness of the forest began to settle in.

<><><>>><

 

[Namohysip]

Null Forest was very quiet. It was, in a way, calming for Owen, who was still trying to come to terms with his overactive Perceive. It was stronger than ever, probably what Wishkeeper constantly had, and every little movement and every subtle gesture that those around him made were known to him. He had to ease his breathing, calm his nerves, and stay away from as many of them as possible. He didn't want to be set off, and maybe Wishkeeper was right that he had to be alone.

Was that what Wishkeeper had been trying to warn him about? That he was going to evolve, to hurt people? Was he... really right this whole time?

Owen shuddered. The Shadow was the truth...

For some reason, Owen's mind wandered to Bahamut. That dream he'd shared on accident, that horrible landscape, those warped Legends... Bahamut had to endure those demons and then some. He had countless inner demons, too, just from... what he could glean from how he carried himself. Had Bahamut been brought here, would those inner demons consume him, or would he withstand them like he'd handled everything else?

He wondered how they were all doing. He had to see them again. And to do that, they had to survive here. Diyem could help them... but he seemed busy trying to gather his strength. If they died here, if they were careless, what would happen to them? Would he lose himself to the shadows and become one of them?

He had to keep it together. Glancing at Wishkeeper, who didn't stray more than a few paces away, Owen said, "Stand guard for any Void Shadows that might attack us, or something. And if any of my friends come along, let them through. Okay?"

"You don't have friends."

"Don't make this a thing," Owen said with a sigh.

Wishkeeper snorted, turning ahead. "Fine."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave followed warily after Owen after noticing him quietly wandering off towards the forest with Wishkeeper in tow. The other Charizard might not be about to literally try to kill him again, but Dave had some questions for him anyway.

"Hey, Owen," he said as he approached. He seemed fine, at least - just still, contemplative.

"So, uh, what was that earlier? Didn't seem like Blacklight corruption. This about your child soldiering background, or whatever the fuck?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Not child," Owen said, because of course that would be the first thing he would object to. "...It... yeah. It is. Sorry, give me a second..." Dave's movements meant he was slightly guarded, so if he wanted to attack him, he'd need to be either more careful or much more forceful to break his stance. Owen couldn't get that thought out of his head. He had them fleetingly in the past, but now that he was fully evolved, they weren't going away.

"My body was changed when it's fully evolved," he explained to Dave, slowly. "I could 'switch' between... a state of mind where all I do is fight whatever I'm commanded to target. It's powerful, and I needed it to... to do something, to take down someone who would take advantage of any hesitation. And, then there's... how you saw me before. Mostly, normal. Something went wrong, and... I can't 'switch.' I'm stuck with both, and if I'm not careful, you know..."

He shuddered. "Even right now... a-all I can think about is how to break your guard."

"Which is why it's safer for everyone if you stayed away," Wishkeeper said. "Owen is a killer. That is his chemistry. It doesn't matter how gentle he acts. In the end, deep down, that's what he is."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave shuddered. He glanced at Shadow, who shivered, shrinking under his gaze.

"But you're fine. Right? You can control it. You can think about how you'd attack me but that doesn't mean you're going to."

The Poochyena brain told him to step back, and he stepped forward instead just to spite it.

"Why'd your body change? Did somebody do something to you to make you this way?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Y... yeah, I changed to this so I'd be more equipped to take on a really powerful foe," he explained. "At least, things went that way for a while, and things were looking up until, you know, things went wrong and... and I became unstable."

"They tried to play God, and Owen paid the price. His mind is forever scarred with bloodlust."

"Well, we had some gods helping us out," Owen said irritably, "so I thought maybe we'd've been, you know, in a better position."

"Clearly, that went well."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave rolled his eyes almost automatically. “Play God. Right.” Still, it did sound like some pretty dodgy business. “So you... agreed to become this to beat this thing? Why didn’t the gods just handle it?”

 

[Namohysip]

Owen shifted his weight nervously. "Well, um..."

"That's what we were going against," Wishkeeper replied for Owen.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Are y'sayin' you were caught up in a conflict betwixt the gods?" asked Brisa, prowling up from behind Dave.

The sooner everyone was back at the village and safe as was practical, the sooner Brisa would be— Well. Not happy. Less stressed, perhaps.

Who're you kiddin'? You'll be stressed out every goddamn day until ya die permanently.

"The crisis on Cibus must not feel all that different, I guess," she added, ignoring the shadows.