09-07-2017, 05:43 AM
Slowly, the weight hanging off of Summer’s back began to feel more like dead weight, as the girl on his back steadily nodded off. Her chin rested on his shoulder, and though she was still talking, asking him about his past, it was barely coherent over the sound of her yawning. It was only thanks to her proximity to his ear that he was able to hear her questions.
Why was there two of him? Why did they share a body?
“It’s a long story...” the storm spirit mumbled half-heartedly, plodding along up the mountain at a steady pace. His head turned up, and he gazed upon the summit, drawing closer but still so far.
“We have time,” Ebony responded sleepily, her grip slowly growing slack. Though the youkai did have a hold of her legs, as he was carrying her in the traditional pickaback style, he was still a bit worried about her passing out. He didn’t need her dashing her head against the ground out here in Nebula Space.
“Well, it was a long time ago...” he began hesitantly, pausing for a short bit while he tried to work out the best way to explain. “I was a bit of a troublemaker back in my youth. Wild and carefree as the wind.”
“Mhmm...” the mage hummed along, barely paying attention.
“I got on the bad side of a magician, not unlike you,” his own tone picked up hints of world-weariness. “It wasn’t much of a fight. I’m a natural when it comes to magic. There aren’t many out there who can stand up against the might of my storms. But she....” his voice trailed off for a moment. “She was a downright prodigy, I’d say. My centuries of practice and research and specialization in weather manipulation paid off as much as it could that day. She couldn’t fight my storms, no matter how she tried, and she couldn’t redirect my lightning, no matter how she willed it. But she didn’t need to, there were plenty more tricks up her sleeve. You still awake?”
“...yes,” Ebony mumbled after a moment, somehow still there.
“Well, she just beat me down with every other trick she had. I haven’t seen a human with that extensive of a mastery over magic since then. She didn’t need a grimoire, a staff, a scroll, nothing. She soundly defeated me with only her will. And when I was down, she cast a spell. Actually, ‘cast’ probably isn’t the right word. She created an entirely new spell then and there, tore my consciousness, and my ability to use magic apart right along the divide between a ‘storm’ and a ‘clear sky.’ Hadn’t seen magic like that before then, haven’t seen anything like it since.” He wasn’t quite sure why he was telling her all this. It wasn’t something he liked thinking about, let alone telling people about. Well, it wasn’t like she would remember most of it, with how out of it she was. Or at least, that’s what he hoped.
“N-nothing like it?”
“Only thing that comes vaguely close is telepathy,” Summer muttered, almost inaudible as he slipped into his own train of thought. “But that fucks up the mind of the user, not the victim. Unless...” Recounting this story brought new thoughts with it, things he hadn’t considered before. And suddenly an epiphany struck, flashing in his mind like lightning. “Unless she was proficient at segmenting minds before she split me! If she split her own mind into a few part and created a temporarily impassable divide somewhere in there...”
“Then she’d have been able to read our mind without succumbing to the amnesia, the insanity, or the organ failure.” Sonny continued where his other half left off. “Which would have allowed her to get a good enough read on me to know where to split.”
“But that doesn’t tell us how she split minds in the first place.”
“It gives us a lead at least.” Though stumbling across a lead like this was cause for celebration, Summer’s voice betrayed a level of annoyance. “Fuck... Using telepathy to deal with mind fuckery... We’re trying to heal ourselves with a bottle of rat pois-ON!” His voice suddenly rose into a shout as the weight on his back slipped backwards. That boring back-and-forth between halves had taken its toll on Ebony, and she’d finally fallen into the sleep she’d been tottering on the verge of. Summer pitched his body forward, shifting all that weight just in time and keeping the girl from smashing against the ground, at a price. Her forehead bounced off the back of his skull, and the two let loose a simultaneous “Ow!”
“Shit!” The storm spirit exclaimed almost immediately after, stumbling forward but somehow keeping his balance. “Sorry! Sorry.”
“I-it’s okay,” the young mage stammered quietly. “It h-happens.”
“You wanna take a small break?” Summer suggested once his stumbling had ceased. Not only would carrying her while she was sleeping be difficult, what with all the treacherous terrain they had yet to cross, but facing the Darkloid while she was nodding off? That was a recipe for disaster. “Get comfy somewhere for a bit?” His gaze slowly shifted across the mountainside as he said that. That had been a dumb suggestion. Where the hell were they gonna get comfy on a rocky mountain in a desolate, volcanic wasteland?
“We d-don’t have... time,” she said tiredly, burying her face into the back of his jacket. “W-what about Morene?”
“You’re in no state to fight the big dude up there,” Summer responded quietly. The only answer to that the girl could muster was a half-hearted and unintelligible mumble into his back. “Come on kiddo, we’re gonna find somewhere to relax.” He set off up the path once again, footsteps echoing dully off the cliffside. His eyes darted all around, taking in their surroundings. Rocks to one side, boulders to the other, gravel all around, ubiquitous stone.... What a friendly and inviting place this was.
After trudging a fair distance, he finally came upon something out of the ordinary. The path veered just slightly away from the nearly vertical mountainside, and nestled right in that crook in the road was a decently-sized divot. Just large enough to give him an idea. Rock may not be comfortable, but water was. Especially hot water. It just washed away all your fatigue.
“Hey Ebony, you’re pretty talented. You know how to summon up water?”
Why was there two of him? Why did they share a body?
“It’s a long story...” the storm spirit mumbled half-heartedly, plodding along up the mountain at a steady pace. His head turned up, and he gazed upon the summit, drawing closer but still so far.
“We have time,” Ebony responded sleepily, her grip slowly growing slack. Though the youkai did have a hold of her legs, as he was carrying her in the traditional pickaback style, he was still a bit worried about her passing out. He didn’t need her dashing her head against the ground out here in Nebula Space.
“Well, it was a long time ago...” he began hesitantly, pausing for a short bit while he tried to work out the best way to explain. “I was a bit of a troublemaker back in my youth. Wild and carefree as the wind.”
“Mhmm...” the mage hummed along, barely paying attention.
“I got on the bad side of a magician, not unlike you,” his own tone picked up hints of world-weariness. “It wasn’t much of a fight. I’m a natural when it comes to magic. There aren’t many out there who can stand up against the might of my storms. But she....” his voice trailed off for a moment. “She was a downright prodigy, I’d say. My centuries of practice and research and specialization in weather manipulation paid off as much as it could that day. She couldn’t fight my storms, no matter how she tried, and she couldn’t redirect my lightning, no matter how she willed it. But she didn’t need to, there were plenty more tricks up her sleeve. You still awake?”
“...yes,” Ebony mumbled after a moment, somehow still there.
“Well, she just beat me down with every other trick she had. I haven’t seen a human with that extensive of a mastery over magic since then. She didn’t need a grimoire, a staff, a scroll, nothing. She soundly defeated me with only her will. And when I was down, she cast a spell. Actually, ‘cast’ probably isn’t the right word. She created an entirely new spell then and there, tore my consciousness, and my ability to use magic apart right along the divide between a ‘storm’ and a ‘clear sky.’ Hadn’t seen magic like that before then, haven’t seen anything like it since.” He wasn’t quite sure why he was telling her all this. It wasn’t something he liked thinking about, let alone telling people about. Well, it wasn’t like she would remember most of it, with how out of it she was. Or at least, that’s what he hoped.
“N-nothing like it?”
“Only thing that comes vaguely close is telepathy,” Summer muttered, almost inaudible as he slipped into his own train of thought. “But that fucks up the mind of the user, not the victim. Unless...” Recounting this story brought new thoughts with it, things he hadn’t considered before. And suddenly an epiphany struck, flashing in his mind like lightning. “Unless she was proficient at segmenting minds before she split me! If she split her own mind into a few part and created a temporarily impassable divide somewhere in there...”
“Then she’d have been able to read our mind without succumbing to the amnesia, the insanity, or the organ failure.” Sonny continued where his other half left off. “Which would have allowed her to get a good enough read on me to know where to split.”
“But that doesn’t tell us how she split minds in the first place.”
“It gives us a lead at least.” Though stumbling across a lead like this was cause for celebration, Summer’s voice betrayed a level of annoyance. “Fuck... Using telepathy to deal with mind fuckery... We’re trying to heal ourselves with a bottle of rat pois-ON!” His voice suddenly rose into a shout as the weight on his back slipped backwards. That boring back-and-forth between halves had taken its toll on Ebony, and she’d finally fallen into the sleep she’d been tottering on the verge of. Summer pitched his body forward, shifting all that weight just in time and keeping the girl from smashing against the ground, at a price. Her forehead bounced off the back of his skull, and the two let loose a simultaneous “Ow!”
“Shit!” The storm spirit exclaimed almost immediately after, stumbling forward but somehow keeping his balance. “Sorry! Sorry.”
“I-it’s okay,” the young mage stammered quietly. “It h-happens.”
“You wanna take a small break?” Summer suggested once his stumbling had ceased. Not only would carrying her while she was sleeping be difficult, what with all the treacherous terrain they had yet to cross, but facing the Darkloid while she was nodding off? That was a recipe for disaster. “Get comfy somewhere for a bit?” His gaze slowly shifted across the mountainside as he said that. That had been a dumb suggestion. Where the hell were they gonna get comfy on a rocky mountain in a desolate, volcanic wasteland?
“We d-don’t have... time,” she said tiredly, burying her face into the back of his jacket. “W-what about Morene?”
“You’re in no state to fight the big dude up there,” Summer responded quietly. The only answer to that the girl could muster was a half-hearted and unintelligible mumble into his back. “Come on kiddo, we’re gonna find somewhere to relax.” He set off up the path once again, footsteps echoing dully off the cliffside. His eyes darted all around, taking in their surroundings. Rocks to one side, boulders to the other, gravel all around, ubiquitous stone.... What a friendly and inviting place this was.
After trudging a fair distance, he finally came upon something out of the ordinary. The path veered just slightly away from the nearly vertical mountainside, and nestled right in that crook in the road was a decently-sized divot. Just large enough to give him an idea. Rock may not be comfortable, but water was. Especially hot water. It just washed away all your fatigue.
“Hey Ebony, you’re pretty talented. You know how to summon up water?”
Quote:1076 words.
where doing this man where MAKING THIS HAPEN
![[Image: ZpWQiiu.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/ZpWQiiu.gif)