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Chapter 13

“So Superior?” The female voice questioned to her high command, sultry hips swaying as she moved the silver haired god, “Do I get to slay the pretty kitty’s friends? Pwetty pwease?” The mocking tone of her voice did much to show the unwritten slate of the heart. A brief message of thanks was offered silently by Xemnas as she spoke. No doubt within his mind he should feel annoyance clicking in his nerves, but the hole of the heart made such an emotion unrecognizable.

“If you desire such a front in this coming war, you are welcome to it. However,” his words caught the near skipping vixen. “Do take head for the powers they hold. It was mere luck the heartless swarmed one as Wicked Kindness. It is well to assume knowledge of the dark creatures has spread well in those left to fight.” For a moment, she hesitated to move again. How should she act? Annoyed, guilty, dismissive, they were all good options, yet, none of them seemed right for his words, and hell bound she knew what one felt right. So it became a choice of the wild card.

“To hell with that! I’ll kill them all at once!” She cackled to the sky as lightening rode her home.

“Words of a fool Larxene.” He continued to watch.

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“So how about if we-”

“No”

“Or what if-”

“No”

“Maybe we could-”

“No.”

“You can-”

“No.”

The circled conversation carried as such as the two clung to branch high above the foliage beneath them. One offering meaningless advice, and the other too fear bound and nerve racked to care anymore for the ideas. Yet, the cat insisted so to speak of ideas that held no grounds for success.

For near the past hour, every thought to cross the purple furred feline’s mind involved releasing the branch. Not an idea she was fond of, not even a chance with the level of vertigo she currently had.

“So we could-”

“No!”

“Oh… Then-”

“No! No! A million eons of no!” The raptor was furious. “Unless the next idea you have involves us getting down without letting go of this god forsaken tree, just shut up!” Her labored breathing did well to testify the level her voice had reached. And if the breaths escaped the range of ears, then the sight of Hinote’s face would do as well.

Shrunken back in shamefulness. Her ears hung low, matched by the fallen lips of her face. Feline slit eyes drooped as they looked on into the pink raptor’s own angered gaze.

“Look,” Rose started again, voice far more relaxed and volume dropped, “Everything you’ve said, for what feels like the past decade, has been nothing but jumping down and hoping we land on our feet.”

“It’s what my Mom always told me to do.” Her quite voice defended with small effort. A frustrated sigh left the elongated lips of the raptor.

“I bet, but I’m not a cat, am I?” Hinote actually considered the possibility.

They both did have claws, they both could jump high, they both had fangs, and they both did have long tails. It was possible.

“Well… you could be.” She meekly added, head lopsided as she spoke, almost in an attempt to convince the raptor. It didn’t work.

“No! I’m not! I’m a raptor! There is no connection between me and the feline race,” her voice exasperated. And as the cat hid her frightened face beyond the long strands of her tail, one thought was prevalent in the pink raptor’s mind.

This was idiocy! How could she even look close to a cat? Sure, a mirror wasn’t something she was often peering into, but a cat? She didn’t even have fur! Let alone the lack of ears, purr, or even similar ability to fa-.

Wait…

Her face calmed as the thoughts began to process the idea. Cats falling always land on their feet. But what made that possible? What facet of their being allowed them to have such grace? Most likely a reflex, but even then, it required a muscle’s movement. So what allowed the cat’s to fall with grace? Their ears, fur, muscles, figure…

“Hinote.” Rose gently called to the cat in front of her, hoping to garn the attention of the now shirking figure. When no response came, she knew what had to be done. “Look, I’m sorry I yelled at you, alright? I’m just… a little stressed up here… can you understand?” Please let her answer.

Snail like, the tail slowly rose and receded from the veiling the young feline’s face, showing the nervous eyes that lay beneath. Youthful, yet so unsure of what was to come next. She really was a young one.

“Really?” Too young maybe.

“Yes, really!” Her face hid once more with the risen voice. A silent curse was uttered as the raptor scolded herself for the slight outburst. “Hinote, please listen to me.” Nothing resounded. This was growing more annoying than almost any other act she had ever witnessed before. Yet, no matter what way it spun or fell, the answer to a riddle she needed to solve, if either hoped to truly escape from this tree. “Can you at least shake your head?” The furred ears bobbed up and down in response. At least some ground was being made.

“Hinote, can you always land on your feet?” The ears bobbed once more. If not for her predator like hearing, the meek whisper from the cat would have gone unnoticed. But, Rose heard it, but couldn’t understand it. “What did you say?” There came no response. Perfection at its finest.

“Hinote, please. I’m… I’m really sorry for yelling at you I just…. I just don’t have a whole of patience right now.” She whispered again, but once more, the words were mumbled below the hearing of a timber wolf. “Can you speak louder?” Please let her speak louder. She got more than she had hoped.

The purple furred tail slowly receded from its veil like state, showing the feline once again. Her expression still cowardly, offering nothing but guilt to the Raptor clinging so desperately to the tree. Yet before another apology could be offered, her lips moved once more, offering the word she hid so well.

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?” Please be what I think it is.

“Yes, I can always land of my feet. But… but I hate falling!” She screeched the last part, earning a claw tear into the tree branch’s bark she held so close. Such a scream would do no foul to the raptor, but something else sure did.

The cat’s fire once more danced from her form, licking the dried wood they hung to, soaking it like water. Teeth clenched in a painful mix of anger and fear. This day just seemed to go from bad to worse every passing second.

“Hinote! Please, quick, tell me how you land on your feet!” Though no fear reflected from the cat’s eyes, in spite of the flames around them, confusion surely did. “I mean what allows you to always land upright, regardless of the fall!” The was pure desperation now. A beam of joy hit the cat’s face. Her tail whisked forwards once more meeting the gaze of both sets of eyes, feline and predator.

“My tail!”

‘Thank you God in heaven!’ Whatever happened next, was a mix of the purest luck, and unadulterated fate.

“Hinote, jump!” The words couldn’t help but sound idiotic as they left her tongue, but her thinking was finished. Even if the flames didn’t get her, the cracking branch would.

“But… but you said-”

“Forget what I said before! You were right, I was wrong, we ju-!” Not a moment was wasted.

CRACK!

The resounding clap of a broken branch deafened both. In that moment, the hold of the tree started to fade, and the weight of gravity drag the entire wood down. Time to think any further was lost. She had what she needed, the plan was set, she needed some divine grace to see this through.

Her claws detached from the burning wood, separating her from the pyro cat. Air swept the dark strands of hair as it attempted to scar her scales. Branches, leaves, twigs, all were passing her at uneasy speeds. But this was what she needed. She needed speed, and she needed the air.

‘The tail is mass, mass controls force, enough force alters course.’ The irony of her thinking would be left to laugh at another time from now. Slit eyes teared as the wind swept them dry. The ground couldn’t be far now, but was it time? Should she attempt it now? Didn’t matter, it was, quite literally, now or never. A mighty heave of her chest, and the raptor’s body arched, tail straight and long. Her breath released in a second, whipping her body to the side with all the force she could master. She spun, but far too slow to matter. Then it was time. Her long muscled tail whipped as hard as she could manage, doubtlessly strong enough to shatter one of the many branches they flew by. With her mass sent, the body followed, spinning in a much quicker manner than before.

Fate smiled upon her.

Both arms and legs flattened upon the ground beneath her. The force so great, she near bounced off the ground. A well deserved cry split the air as the true force worked its way into her muscles, blood vessels popping upon the momentum of such a fall. Clawed talons clutched her sides in pain as the fall ended. Every nerve in her arms and legs both cracked and aced, screaming at her with such force, her very teeth clenched in pain. It hurt, it hurt so much. It was as unbearable as the very wait to fall itself!

But she was alive.

Like a lifted veil, the pain subsided at the very thought. She was alive, on the ground, on the dirt, not in the air, not in a tree. Teeth still hardened, Rose’s lips curved into a satisfied grin at the thought. Though despite the glee that followed such a memory, her body still convulsed in the pain the fall brought. Even as the mighty branch she once clung so desperately to fell shattered upon the ground, far away from the plot of land she know suffered in, she knew she was alive. That was something she was happy for.

“Oh sweet ground! I praise thee!” A feminine voice called from behind her. Not even once guess was needed to know he spoke with such ease and glee.

“Oh Rose! You made it too!” Crunching leaves echoed in her ears as the cat moved closer to her. She wasn’t even scratched! The tail may have helped, but she sure didn’t have the right muscle division to take on gravity. “Hey, are you okay?” Oh if only. A white gloved hand gripped her shoulder, attempting to roll her on to the raptor’s back. Rose promptly refused.

“What’s wrong? I saw you land on your feet, you even screamed for joy.” Maybe there were worst fates than death.

“Scream. Yes. Joy. Not at all.” The words struck as swords, each sharp and deliberate in their swipes. “Just need to… rest for a while…”

Yes, that was all she needed. Just a rest. Just a nap. Just some sleep. Her body would heal no doubt. It would all be fine.

“Are you sure? I’d be more than happy to-”

“No, no. That’s okay Hinot-ah!” Rose lurched forward as a fresh wave of agony hit her hard. Every limb begged for attention, but not even one could be given it. She hugged her body as best she could, arms curling and legs flexing into the familiar fetal position. At now she could tell where the pain was.

“You’re not okay.” The cat reminded her unneedingly. “I’ll get help. I promise.” More leaves cracked as the feline figure rose.

“Do you even know where to go?” It hurt just to speak, but whether it was gullibility or innocence, something screamed not to let this youth just wander off. Her pause spoke volumes.

“Just… just make sure I rest easy.” The world grew black for Rose with the final words. Her body laxed as the mind gave, and only labored breathing reside. Hinote could only wait for her to wake. Searching for aid now would only be more difficult. The raptor was right, she had no idea where to go. She didn’t even want to be here, wherever the hell here was. But despite that, she had to wait. Rose was in need. She was a friend, and God forbid she ever leave a friend in a time of need. The very thought made her shiver. Fire blessed hands gently cupped the body they belonged to, warming the fur and soul of the creature whom let the thought of betrayal even slip into her mind. But she was still cold.

So cold… she saw he breath…

“What?” A simple question, with an impossible answer. Trees surrounding them creaked and cried under the rise of the freezing air. Her own ears aced from the very moans they emitted.

“What the hell?” It wasn’t often she swore, but when such words cursed through her breath, some obvious discomfort had to of been known. Not far from where she knelt, pink raptor’s still body beneath her, the once fiery trunk she set ablaze began to windle and fade under the fallen heat. Then before her golden eyes, all at once, it was snuffed out, only the black smoke a testament to the once blazing fire.

Something bad was most surely coming. But be damned if she let the raptor be here alone for it.

-------------------------------------

“Dammit,” The black furred beast cursed under a labored breath. The fox in his arms still weighed heavily upon him. The silver furred creature did little more than rise and lower his chest in perfect unison to the breaths of life he took and left. The night’s guise would soon fall, and with it, their cover from that damn man of ice.

‘What was his name again? Whatever, it doesn’t matter,’ he mentally scoffed. Powerful hind legs propelled him further within the thick branches of the trees. Splinters flew with each push he sent, tree limbs crying under the force he gave. Where it not for the chilling ice that filled the air, it was doubtful such destruction would have ever occurred.

But there was a silver lining within these harsh conditions. Simply by the length his hair rose with freezing air, it was with ease to judge to just what extent the air was being chilled. The farther he moved from the blatantly obvious source, the more his dark fur would fall in gentle relaxation. And as he continued to pounce and climb from ground zero, the rise temperature was more than obvious.

But he would grow tired soon, that much he knew. Having not slept for a near full day, combined with the still chilling cold, and finally coupled with the dead weight he currently carried, all were quickly killing fatigue. The breaths grew deeper and deeper with each passing limb he shattered. Were the guise of night still folded upon the forest, chances might allow a safe haven to hide in. But in the rising sun, a silver fox and black werewolf were as easy to spot as the fresh carcass of a hunter’s trip.

“Hey!” A shout stopped him on a branch, creaking as his weight settled upon it. Golden eyes looked to the creature he held, only to be reassured that sleep still claimed it. But if he did not shout… then who?

“Down here!” It came again, curious eyes looked to the forest floor below, and met with the owner of the voice.

A purple cat.

“Come on! Can you help us?” She called again. Something gripped her voice, but it wasn’t desperation or fear. Urgency perhaps. But then, that would be reasonable, with regard that the body by her was a friend. Another form laid not far from the feline, a foreign object to the natural colors of the woods. Pink and scaled, a long muscled tail stretching from her still form. A raptor, no less, though how he even was able to see one was a pressing matter for a far more distant time.

They needed help, the least he could do was try.

The branches creaked once more as his weight fell from one to the other, large falls and steps to reach the leaf covered ground below. When his mighty paws set upon the soil beneath him, he moved to the two. The feline eyes followed him, glancing at the still form he carried in his arms. A protective claw reached for the raptor upon the ground, an not going unnoticed by the sharp eyes of the werewolf. The two came together rather swiftly.

“This was done by another man, I’m just trying to get him out of here.” Her hand receded, but eyes remained still as sharp. “What about her?” He motioned with his head.

“A fall. Big one. Trying to get away from someone.” Her glanced to a bare spot on the ground, darkened despite the growing frost upon the layered soil. Another question for another time.

“What can I do to help?” Any other time, this would have been perfect to learn a bit more of just what happened. But on the run, from a man who ruled frozen souls, and bearer of an empty heart, now was the least appropriate for such small talk.

“I just… need to know how to get out of here.” Her arms motioned to the woods and trees surrounding them both. The visible breath of air she breathed did not go unnoticed. The man was gaining ground, and he was remained still open it.

“Do you know how to leave here?” They had to move, they had to act. The black furred werewolf’s mind flew with speed unfound. Could this cat carry the raptor? Unlikely, at least not while maintaining a superior speed to the King of Ice. Could he carry both bodies? Perhaps, but not at the moment, not on reserve strength and borrowed fatigue. Even now, his eyes drooped in spite of the dire task around him. The last alternative was one he attempted avoid.

Confront the man robed in black.

“Do you?” She questioned again, annoyance laced higher than desperation. It shook him from the thoughts.

“Yeah, but… I don’t think we can get out of here in time.” This earned a rather well placed question from the violet furred cat.

“Away from what?”

“Mot likely…” The whipped Willie around in sound rivaling speeds. “Me.”

He stood there again. The man cloaked in black and grin void. The same blue shield stood tall before himself, blond hair and face bare visible above the chin line. Trees and brushes iced as his presence grew. No longer a gentle frost, but killer freeze now. A shiver crawled upon the wolf’s spine, and visible breath from the cat.

“Is it me you intend to flee, wolf?” Mockingly phrased, and spite laced. His arms unfolded beneath the shield, opened into a betraying welcome. Arms bent, palms open, and just bare enough forward to mimic the awaiting of embrace of another. None would be given now.

“Who are you then?” The cat questioned. Her arms rubbed the fur upon her body, heating the chilled limbs. The man met her confusion with a look of amusement, not only sending the violet cat into further confusion, but disgust as well. His eyes, for all the joy his face seemed to display, there was nothing in his eyes. Nothing but a dark cold plane of vision.

“I am Vexen, member number IV of the Organization XIII. Ruler of Ice, Researcher of Hearts, and bearer of the title, The Chilly Academic. And just to whom might I be speaking to now?” His opened palm reached for the cat, whom knelt still by the fallen body of the Raptor. Her eyes instinctively glanced to the first to approach from this party, and his own eyes met hers.

They screamed to say nothing more.

Yet, such movement did not go unnoticed by black-cloaked Nobody. It filled his mind with the idea of amusement. This game they played, attempting to out due him, of all people. There were faint memories of such times he had mimicked these activities with rats in labs. The only change from then to now, was simply the scale and location. They were still rats, and they still needed to be tested upon.

“Regardless, I do not need your name, just him.” His mighty blue shield motioned to still limb silver fox, hung like dead weight in Willie’s arms. “You see, he is a special case to the beings I have already met on this pathetic excuse for a planet. The humans here freeze quickly, groveling in pathetic seas of regret and sorrow.” His face mocked disgust at the horrific imaginings he was bringing forth. “Yet this fox, this lightening gifted fox, mimics with perfect accuracy the same abilities as a colleague of mine. Electrical outputs focused through the mind forced changing charges of ions.” He spoke as if the words were common placed. “It appears that my cold, for whatever reason, has an adverse affect upon his natural gift, however, as I’m sure your able to recall?” The wolf scoffed at voicing such a thought now. “Regardless, I need him to further observe the negative effects of organic lightening. And when I’m done with that – well…” He let his words hang on a fine threat, smile all the more sadistic as before. Though fear did little to pierce either heart, anger seeped into them as water to the very soil they stood upon.

“You’re a monster.” The purple feline hissed with barred fangs. Her form had already begun to rise, hunched over in the most vivid idea of a pounce. He was the one that wished to do harm. He would do harm. She had to stop him.

“Oh! So now you intend to fight me? Very well.” His shield turned to her, large frame holding place before his vulnerable form. The smile never left his demented face as the cat barred forwards to him. Not even a flinch of his features could be seen when a new trick was set in place by the cat alone.

The ice melted as her claws were set ablaze.

----------------

“You all understand then?” The dead voice, barren of true care. All five nodded, Cheese cooed agreeing to her best friend. “Good then, be off, and do well to avoid the Heartless in your escape.” She spoke once more to the group.

“Wait. Camillia…” The silver hedgehog voiced in a brief instant.

“We’ve said our goodbyes already Silver, now be off. You know what you must do, and who to find.” Her white gloved hand flicked in motion towards the fat man garbed in the red suit. “It’s rather plain that he knows exactly where to go, and I’m rather sure you’ll all find what needs to be done then. Just follow what I told you, and be safe.” They had to leave now. She was close. That damn blonde was only getting closer and closer. Didn’t they realize their lives were in danger?

“Uh…. Fine, but – well…” He stuttered further and further on his words, tripping upon the simple letters more times then steps Sonic had ever taken.

“Out with it, and do hurry.”

“Fine,” he scoffed. “We’ll all miss you.”

She turned to see them one last time, the faces she knew she was meant to yearn to stay with forever, yet was never able to do again. Faces she had loved, but now had love lost. Faces that she very well might, never be able to lay upon again. They were all smiling in their own way.

Tails had his eyes closed, hand scratching in a nervous fashion the hairs upon the back of his neck. An uneasy chuckle vibrated through throat as his lips mimicked a smile to equal intensity. Perhaps he truly did want her to leave. But that was not it, and her mind knew it. He wasn’t nervous for being put upon an unwanted spot. The fibers of his heart were merely stringing his body in the dance of war. Battles he may have seen, but none to the intensity of what was to come.

Cream gave nothing short of the most tear-filled smile all of Mobius had ever witnessed. Her large orbs leaked the salty liquid with no attempt to wipe them away or hide them restraint. Stains marred her once flawlessly young fur and dress, arms clinging together tightly against her chest. Was she afraid for herself? Perhaps, but one as pure as Cream would cry tears for herself. They were tears for one who could no longer shed them. Tears for a friend long lost, and yet so close, that they might twice lose forever. So young, so innocent, and yet, to be thrown into so much. It almost seamed unfair.

Amy clung to Silver with the intensity of an ox as he spoke. The veins pulsing with flexed arms as she clung to his quills. Her face hidden from the pink cat’s slit eyes as the features buried itself within the hedgehog’s form. Clear as the coming darkness, she was unable to meet her once joyous friend’s face, yet the reason was unclear. With chance, it may be the still shallow anger she held for the cat had become. Heartless. A Nobody. But then, it may as well have been fear. Holding the one person she cared so dear for, afraid of what may happen should they separate. Her mind begged to have such feeling, but nothing could respond to the distress.

Silver did little more than stare, face as blank as the pink feline she eyed. There was no doubt to what swirled within his mind as he thought. Confusion, anger, sorrow, rage, pity, even doubt. To decide among them was impossible, to choose how to act at this passing. So nothing showed, as his mind deemed fit. Realizing such irony would earn in the least a scoff from any being. All Camillia could only document in the confines of her mind, a note for a later occasion, she it be appropriate.

Even Robotnick had a face to read as well. Orange mustache down cast, curving at each ends to stare upon the metallic ground all stood upon. Lights gleamed well off of the fine glass of his spectacles. They did not face her, though were his sight lay was uncertain. It may be the far wall of his head faced, or her, pupils hidden behind the glasses he wore. It was a begrudging respect he played. Countless battles he had fought with all of these lives before. Though all had ended his in inevitable defeat, the admiration for their will must have done wonders upon his own. Not respect for their power, but determination. To chance losing one of them now, in separation as they were, or in the great escape they were to commit. He would do his part to see this war, not simply battle, won, lest he lost them all.

They hall had so much to live for, to do, to see, to have, and still experience. Paths fate has seen fit to cross with a river, to allow only those with the strength to cross continue on in their own treks. To dive into that ripping tide, and hope that they had the strength to defy the forces that wished to sway their course. So many had failed to cross the very river they now hoped to face, and her very fate proof of what had become of it. This was all their war.

But this was her battle.

“I know.”

With those words, they departed, by the very metallic sphere the doctor had arrived in. The city now a memory as it gazed up to the five in their departure. The swirling darkness already in claim to many who dared to stay beneath it. Tears were shed, tears for fears, and tears for lost. But not all was lost yet. And in this stand she would make, perhaps no more would. No more sorrow for those with the curse to feel it, but only joy for those gifted to embrace it.

BANG

The door crunched as a massive weight hit it. Metal twisting under the force delivered to it. Not an eye batted with the now solely occupied room. Simple the empty stare, blank of emotion or care, looking back upon the door, awaiting the force from beyond it.

BANG

What would it be? Perhaps simply an endless line from the swarm of heartless, or one great heart cursed into endless pit, come to take the hollow body.

BANG

With chance, a fellow Nobody may march through the now ripping door. Shards of metal flung and flew as the mysterious force continued to berate the poor object. All it would take now would be one more great blow, no lesser or greater than the last. The force would come, and she would meet it.

CRASH

The metal door bounced upon the ground, sliding and sparking as it did. Resting now in the corner of the room, it would be the only witness the confrontation now to come. The pink cat, garbed in the silk of white, facing the now seen force with not a mask of emotion upon her. And the force looked back upon the creature, grinning a wicked smile as it did.

“Hello Pretty Kitty!”

“Hello to you as well, Larxene.”

Neither hesitated to attack.

--------------------------

“Ah, my friend, must you leave now?” A faceless creature reached an disappointed paw to leaving form.

“I do, but not for an absence of joy in here.” The form returned with assurance. His blue hair swaying upon one of his eyes as he did. Blue orbs gave more focus retraining the collars of his sleeves then the fellow eyes of his friend.

“So am I to assume you have acquired a new path to journey on?” His cloak did little to sway as the head lifted to garner further details. A faint pop from the fire between them earned a pause from the leaving life, allowing an answer to follow.

“A path? Yes, that is what I am to trek upon, but not for selfish gain now.” A hand trailed to the tips of his head, splitting the fine hairs above, the fibers who refused to mat down upon the rest of his head. A another tall tale weaver once spoke that it was his reflex of his mind to stare to the heavens even as he looked upon the bowels of hell. The idea never left him.

“Well hold for a minute then.” The same figure rose from the soiled ground, bones acing as he did. Age had done well to hold him from any new journeys to view, only to wait and speak to those on treks he never had, and those he now wishes to join. The nameless form waited with the patience of a saint as the robed withered figure shuffled and stepped towards him, making good on avoiding the grasping flames. When the distance was closed, he spoke once more.

“Much you have shown me in reflection and admittance. Both to yourself, and as of me.” An unseen tongue traced dried lips beneath the hood, thoughts churning in unison with the liquid. “Your past is a slate many see their future to be. Unwritten, untold, and unseen. For many, sin filled and lust overridden, it is a state they desire with great want to have. Yet, you have come across this in a curse, rather than gift.” The crystalline orbs shut as a breath was taken. Told of what one was is never a task to take in light. It reflects the water of life, and shows the drains to avoid.

“What, wise man, may I ask is the final point to this cryptic message?” He desired to leave, yet not in a rude stance. A farewell must always be given in terms of light heart. Dark fates follow dark words, and to spoil a light heart made forgiveness a trek to find.

“Take care to know the future, for you, is as unknown as the path you come from. Do not allow your desires to shape an idea you cannot have.” Words smashed like hammers, but they met a stone wall. “This is all I can offer you in wisdom, as an ally, and as a teller of tales. Be well on your path, and do well to avoid the dark lingering of your heart.” A frail finger poked the dark sash strapped upon the leaving figure’s chest, a light clang resonating as it met the buckle. The single in view eye glanced upon the bony appendage, before a simple gesture was given in return.

His dark furred hand grasped the layered shoulder of the frail figure, a strong vice met to an otherwise once great arm. Though the face was hidden, the smile within was plain to even the blind. A gentle smile graced his lips in their silence. Words were spoken, and final reflection had, but the path beckoned, and he was not one to ignore. Heavy boots stomped the earth below as he moved from the ground they were upon, leaving the fire and old man to wait again for another to come.

“Be safe in your path.” The final call came, though more was sure to follow. “For not all lights follow a path to divinity.” No response was given, as the blue furred figure moved further into the woods. No further could the old figure see as the trees claimed the passing traveler as their own. Much would be shed by such a creature, but not even to the wisest of men was it known on which side the war would be fought.

“You do much to confuse the Gods, Negotium.”

The fire was dozed, and the man gone.

Description
Chapter 13

“So Superior?” The female voice questioned to her high command, sultry hips swaying as she moved the silver haired god, “Do I get to slay the pretty kitty’s friends? Pwetty pwease?” The mocking tone of her voice did much to show the unwritten slate of the heart. A brief message of thanks was offered silently by Xemnas as she spoke. No doubt within his mind he should feel annoyance clicking in his nerves, but the hole of the heart made such an emotion unrecognizable.

“If you desire such a front in this coming war, you are welcome to it. However,” his words caught the near skipping vixen. “Do take head for the powers they hold. It was mere luck the heartless swarmed one as Wicked Kindness. It is well to assume knowledge of the dark creatures has spread well in those left to fight.” For a moment, she hesitated to move again. How should she act? Annoyed, guilty, dismissive, they were all good options, yet, none of them seemed right for his words, and hell bound she knew what one felt right. So it became a choice of the wild card.

“To hell with that! I’ll kill them all at once!” She cackled to the sky as lightening rode her home.

“Words of a fool Larxene.” He continued to watch.

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“So how about if we-”

“No”

“Or what if-”

“No”

“Maybe we could-”

“No.”

“You can-”

“No.”

The circled conversation carried as such as the two clung to branch high above the foliage beneath them. One offering meaningless advice, and the other too fear bound and nerve racked to care anymore for the ideas. Yet, the cat insisted so to speak of ideas that held no grounds for success.

For near the past hour, every thought to cross the purple furred feline’s mind involved releasing the branch. Not an idea she was fond of, not even a chance with the level of vertigo she currently had.

“So we could-”

“No!”

“Oh… Then-”

“No! No! A million eons of no!” The raptor was furious. “Unless the next idea you have involves us getting down without letting go of this god forsaken tree, just shut up!” Her labored breathing did well to testify the level her voice had reached. And if the breaths escaped the range of ears, then the sight of Hinote’s face would do as well.

Shrunken back in shamefulness. Her ears hung low, matched by the fallen lips of her face. Feline slit eyes drooped as they looked on into the pink raptor’s own angered gaze.

“Look,” Rose started again, voice far more relaxed and volume dropped, “Everything you’ve said, for what feels like the past decade, has been nothing but jumping down and hoping we land on our feet.”

“It’s what my Mom always told me to do.” Her quite voice defended with small effort. A frustrated sigh left the elongated lips of the raptor.

“I bet, but I’m not a cat, am I?” Hinote actually considered the possibility.

They both did have claws, they both could jump high, they both had fangs, and they both did have long tails. It was possible.

“Well… you could be.” She meekly added, head lopsided as she spoke, almost in an attempt to convince the raptor. It didn’t work.

“No! I’m not! I’m a raptor! There is no connection between me and the feline race,” her voice exasperated. And as the cat hid her frightened face beyond the long strands of her tail, one thought was prevalent in the pink raptor’s mind.

This was idiocy! How could she even look close to a cat? Sure, a mirror wasn’t something she was often peering into, but a cat? She didn’t even have fur! Let alone the lack of ears, purr, or even similar ability to fa-.

Wait…

Her face calmed as the thoughts began to process the idea. Cats falling always land on their feet. But what made that possible? What facet of their being allowed them to have such grace? Most likely a reflex, but even then, it required a muscle’s movement. So what allowed the cat’s to fall with grace? Their ears, fur, muscles, figure…

“Hinote.” Rose gently called to the cat in front of her, hoping to garn the attention of the now shirking figure. When no response came, she knew what had to be done. “Look, I’m sorry I yelled at you, alright? I’m just… a little stressed up here… can you understand?” Please let her answer.

Snail like, the tail slowly rose and receded from the veiling the young feline’s face, showing the nervous eyes that lay beneath. Youthful, yet so unsure of what was to come next. She really was a young one.

“Really?” Too young maybe.

“Yes, really!” Her face hid once more with the risen voice. A silent curse was uttered as the raptor scolded herself for the slight outburst. “Hinote, please listen to me.” Nothing resounded. This was growing more annoying than almost any other act she had ever witnessed before. Yet, no matter what way it spun or fell, the answer to a riddle she needed to solve, if either hoped to truly escape from this tree. “Can you at least shake your head?” The furred ears bobbed up and down in response. At least some ground was being made.

“Hinote, can you always land on your feet?” The ears bobbed once more. If not for her predator like hearing, the meek whisper from the cat would have gone unnoticed. But, Rose heard it, but couldn’t understand it. “What did you say?” There came no response. Perfection at its finest.

“Hinote, please. I’m… I’m really sorry for yelling at you I just…. I just don’t have a whole of patience right now.” She whispered again, but once more, the words were mumbled below the hearing of a timber wolf. “Can you speak louder?” Please let her speak louder. She got more than she had hoped.

The purple furred tail slowly receded from its veil like state, showing the feline once again. Her expression still cowardly, offering nothing but guilt to the Raptor clinging so desperately to the tree. Yet before another apology could be offered, her lips moved once more, offering the word she hid so well.

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?” Please be what I think it is.

“Yes, I can always land of my feet. But… but I hate falling!” She screeched the last part, earning a claw tear into the tree branch’s bark she held so close. Such a scream would do no foul to the raptor, but something else sure did.

The cat’s fire once more danced from her form, licking the dried wood they hung to, soaking it like water. Teeth clenched in a painful mix of anger and fear. This day just seemed to go from bad to worse every passing second.

“Hinote! Please, quick, tell me how you land on your feet!” Though no fear reflected from the cat’s eyes, in spite of the flames around them, confusion surely did. “I mean what allows you to always land upright, regardless of the fall!” The was pure desperation now. A beam of joy hit the cat’s face. Her tail whisked forwards once more meeting the gaze of both sets of eyes, feline and predator.

“My tail!”

‘Thank you God in heaven!’ Whatever happened next, was a mix of the purest luck, and unadulterated fate.

“Hinote, jump!” The words couldn’t help but sound idiotic as they left her tongue, but her thinking was finished. Even if the flames didn’t get her, the cracking branch would.

“But… but you said-”

“Forget what I said before! You were right, I was wrong, we ju-!” Not a moment was wasted.

CRACK!

The resounding clap of a broken branch deafened both. In that moment, the hold of the tree started to fade, and the weight of gravity drag the entire wood down. Time to think any further was lost. She had what she needed, the plan was set, she needed some divine grace to see this through.

Her claws detached from the burning wood, separating her from the pyro cat. Air swept the dark strands of hair as it attempted to scar her scales. Branches, leaves, twigs, all were passing her at uneasy speeds. But this was what she needed. She needed speed, and she needed the air.

‘The tail is mass, mass controls force, enough force alters course.’ The irony of her thinking would be left to laugh at another time from now. Slit eyes teared as the wind swept them dry. The ground couldn’t be far now, but was it time? Should she attempt it now? Didn’t matter, it was, quite literally, now or never. A mighty heave of her chest, and the raptor’s body arched, tail straight and long. Her breath released in a second, whipping her body to the side with all the force she could master. She spun, but far too slow to matter. Then it was time. Her long muscled tail whipped as hard as she could manage, doubtlessly strong enough to shatter one of the many branches they flew by. With her mass sent, the body followed, spinning in a much quicker manner than before.

Fate smiled upon her.

Both arms and legs flattened upon the ground beneath her. The force so great, she near bounced off the ground. A well deserved cry split the air as the true force worked its way into her muscles, blood vessels popping upon the momentum of such a fall. Clawed talons clutched her sides in pain as the fall ended. Every nerve in her arms and legs both cracked and aced, screaming at her with such force, her very teeth clenched in pain. It hurt, it hurt so much. It was as unbearable as the very wait to fall itself!

But she was alive.

Like a lifted veil, the pain subsided at the very thought. She was alive, on the ground, on the dirt, not in the air, not in a tree. Teeth still hardened, Rose’s lips curved into a satisfied grin at the thought. Though despite the glee that followed such a memory, her body still convulsed in the pain the fall brought. Even as the mighty branch she once clung so desperately to fell shattered upon the ground, far away from the plot of land she know suffered in, she knew she was alive. That was something she was happy for.

“Oh sweet ground! I praise thee!” A feminine voice called from behind her. Not even once guess was needed to know he spoke with such ease and glee.

“Oh Rose! You made it too!” Crunching leaves echoed in her ears as the cat moved closer to her. She wasn’t even scratched! The tail may have helped, but she sure didn’t have the right muscle division to take on gravity. “Hey, are you okay?” Oh if only. A white gloved hand gripped her shoulder, attempting to roll her on to the raptor’s back. Rose promptly refused.

“What’s wrong? I saw you land on your feet, you even screamed for joy.” Maybe there were worst fates than death.

“Scream. Yes. Joy. Not at all.” The words struck as swords, each sharp and deliberate in their swipes. “Just need to… rest for a while…”

Yes, that was all she needed. Just a rest. Just a nap. Just some sleep. Her body would heal no doubt. It would all be fine.

“Are you sure? I’d be more than happy to-”

“No, no. That’s okay Hinot-ah!” Rose lurched forward as a fresh wave of agony hit her hard. Every limb begged for attention, but not even one could be given it. She hugged her body as best she could, arms curling and legs flexing into the familiar fetal position. At now she could tell where the pain was.

“You’re not okay.” The cat reminded her unneedingly. “I’ll get help. I promise.” More leaves cracked as the feline figure rose.

“Do you even know where to go?” It hurt just to speak, but whether it was gullibility or innocence, something screamed not to let this youth just wander off. Her pause spoke volumes.

“Just… just make sure I rest easy.” The world grew black for Rose with the final words. Her body laxed as the mind gave, and only labored breathing reside. Hinote could only wait for her to wake. Searching for aid now would only be more difficult. The raptor was right, she had no idea where to go. She didn’t even want to be here, wherever the hell here was. But despite that, she had to wait. Rose was in need. She was a friend, and God forbid she ever leave a friend in a time of need. The very thought made her shiver. Fire blessed hands gently cupped the body they belonged to, warming the fur and soul of the creature whom let the thought of betrayal even slip into her mind. But she was still cold.

So cold… she saw he breath…

“What?” A simple question, with an impossible answer. Trees surrounding them creaked and cried under the rise of the freezing air. Her own ears aced from the very moans they emitted.

“What the hell?” It wasn’t often she swore, but when such words cursed through her breath, some obvious discomfort had to of been known. Not far from where she knelt, pink raptor’s still body beneath her, the once fiery trunk she set ablaze began to windle and fade under the fallen heat. Then before her golden eyes, all at once, it was snuffed out, only the black smoke a testament to the once blazing fire.

Something bad was most surely coming. But be damned if she let the raptor be here alone for it.

-------------------------------------

“Dammit,” The black furred beast cursed under a labored breath. The fox in his arms still weighed heavily upon him. The silver furred creature did little more than rise and lower his chest in perfect unison to the breaths of life he took and left. The night’s guise would soon fall, and with it, their cover from that damn man of ice.

‘What was his name again? Whatever, it doesn’t matter,’ he mentally scoffed. Powerful hind legs propelled him further within the thick branches of the trees. Splinters flew with each push he sent, tree limbs crying under the force he gave. Where it not for the chilling ice that filled the air, it was doubtful such destruction would have ever occurred.

But there was a silver lining within these harsh conditions. Simply by the length his hair rose with freezing air, it was with ease to judge to just what extent the air was being chilled. The farther he moved from the blatantly obvious source, the more his dark fur would fall in gentle relaxation. And as he continued to pounce and climb from ground zero, the rise temperature was more than obvious.

But he would grow tired soon, that much he knew. Having not slept for a near full day, combined with the still chilling cold, and finally coupled with the dead weight he currently carried, all were quickly killing fatigue. The breaths grew deeper and deeper with each passing limb he shattered. Were the guise of night still folded upon the forest, chances might allow a safe haven to hide in. But in the rising sun, a silver fox and black werewolf were as easy to spot as the fresh carcass of a hunter’s trip.

“Hey!” A shout stopped him on a branch, creaking as his weight settled upon it. Golden eyes looked to the creature he held, only to be reassured that sleep still claimed it. But if he did not shout… then who?

“Down here!” It came again, curious eyes looked to the forest floor below, and met with the owner of the voice.

A purple cat.

“Come on! Can you help us?” She called again. Something gripped her voice, but it wasn’t desperation or fear. Urgency perhaps. But then, that would be reasonable, with regard that the body by her was a friend. Another form laid not far from the feline, a foreign object to the natural colors of the woods. Pink and scaled, a long muscled tail stretching from her still form. A raptor, no less, though how he even was able to see one was a pressing matter for a far more distant time.

They needed help, the least he could do was try.

The branches creaked once more as his weight fell from one to the other, large falls and steps to reach the leaf covered ground below. When his mighty paws set upon the soil beneath him, he moved to the two. The feline eyes followed him, glancing at the still form he carried in his arms. A protective claw reached for the raptor upon the ground, an not going unnoticed by the sharp eyes of the werewolf. The two came together rather swiftly.

“This was done by another man, I’m just trying to get him out of here.” Her hand receded, but eyes remained still as sharp. “What about her?” He motioned with his head.

“A fall. Big one. Trying to get away from someone.” Her glanced to a bare spot on the ground, darkened despite the growing frost upon the layered soil. Another question for another time.

“What can I do to help?” Any other time, this would have been perfect to learn a bit more of just what happened. But on the run, from a man who ruled frozen souls, and bearer of an empty heart, now was the least appropriate for such small talk.

“I just… need to know how to get out of here.” Her arms motioned to the woods and trees surrounding them both. The visible breath of air she breathed did not go unnoticed. The man was gaining ground, and he was remained still open it.

“Do you know how to leave here?” They had to move, they had to act. The black furred werewolf’s mind flew with speed unfound. Could this cat carry the raptor? Unlikely, at least not while maintaining a superior speed to the King of Ice. Could he carry both bodies? Perhaps, but not at the moment, not on reserve strength and borrowed fatigue. Even now, his eyes drooped in spite of the dire task around him. The last alternative was one he attempted avoid.

Confront the man robed in black.

“Do you?” She questioned again, annoyance laced higher than desperation. It shook him from the thoughts.

“Yeah, but… I don’t think we can get out of here in time.” This earned a rather well placed question from the violet furred cat.

“Away from what?”

“Mot likely…” The whipped Willie around in sound rivaling speeds. “Me.”

He stood there again. The man cloaked in black and grin void. The same blue shield stood tall before himself, blond hair and face bare visible above the chin line. Trees and brushes iced as his presence grew. No longer a gentle frost, but killer freeze now. A shiver crawled upon the wolf’s spine, and visible breath from the cat.

“Is it me you intend to flee, wolf?” Mockingly phrased, and spite laced. His arms unfolded beneath the shield, opened into a betraying welcome. Arms bent, palms open, and just bare enough forward to mimic the awaiting of embrace of another. None would be given now.

“Who are you then?” The cat questioned. Her arms rubbed the fur upon her body, heating the chilled limbs. The man met her confusion with a look of amusement, not only sending the violet cat into further confusion, but disgust as well. His eyes, for all the joy his face seemed to display, there was nothing in his eyes. Nothing but a dark cold plane of vision.

“I am Vexen, member number IV of the Organization XIII. Ruler of Ice, Researcher of Hearts, and bearer of the title, The Chilly Academic. And just to whom might I be speaking to now?” His opened palm reached for the cat, whom knelt still by the fallen body of the Raptor. Her eyes instinctively glanced to the first to approach from this party, and his own eyes met hers.

They screamed to say nothing more.

Yet, such movement did not go unnoticed by black-cloaked Nobody. It filled his mind with the idea of amusement. This game they played, attempting to out due him, of all people. There were faint memories of such times he had mimicked these activities with rats in labs. The only change from then to now, was simply the scale and location. They were still rats, and they still needed to be tested upon.

“Regardless, I do not need your name, just him.” His mighty blue shield motioned to still limb silver fox, hung like dead weight in Willie’s arms. “You see, he is a special case to the beings I have already met on this pathetic excuse for a planet. The humans here freeze quickly, groveling in pathetic seas of regret and sorrow.” His face mocked disgust at the horrific imaginings he was bringing forth. “Yet this fox, this lightening gifted fox, mimics with perfect accuracy the same abilities as a colleague of mine. Electrical outputs focused through the mind forced changing charges of ions.” He spoke as if the words were common placed. “It appears that my cold, for whatever reason, has an adverse affect upon his natural gift, however, as I’m sure your able to recall?” The wolf scoffed at voicing such a thought now. “Regardless, I need him to further observe the negative effects of organic lightening. And when I’m done with that – well…” He let his words hang on a fine threat, smile all the more sadistic as before. Though fear did little to pierce either heart, anger seeped into them as water to the very soil they stood upon.

“You’re a monster.” The purple feline hissed with barred fangs. Her form had already begun to rise, hunched over in the most vivid idea of a pounce. He was the one that wished to do harm. He would do harm. She had to stop him.

“Oh! So now you intend to fight me? Very well.” His shield turned to her, large frame holding place before his vulnerable form. The smile never left his demented face as the cat barred forwards to him. Not even a flinch of his features could be seen when a new trick was set in place by the cat alone.

The ice melted as her claws were set ablaze.

----------------

“You all understand then?” The dead voice, barren of true care. All five nodded, Cheese cooed agreeing to her best friend. “Good then, be off, and do well to avoid the Heartless in your escape.” She spoke once more to the group.

“Wait. Camillia…” The silver hedgehog voiced in a brief instant.

“We’ve said our goodbyes already Silver, now be off. You know what you must do, and who to find.” Her white gloved hand flicked in motion towards the fat man garbed in the red suit. “It’s rather plain that he knows exactly where to go, and I’m rather sure you’ll all find what needs to be done then. Just follow what I told you, and be safe.” They had to leave now. She was close. That damn blonde was only getting closer and closer. Didn’t they realize their lives were in danger?

“Uh…. Fine, but – well…” He stuttered further and further on his words, tripping upon the simple letters more times then steps Sonic had ever taken.

“Out with it, and do hurry.”

“Fine,” he scoffed. “We’ll all miss you.”

She turned to see them one last time, the faces she knew she was meant to yearn to stay with forever, yet was never able to do again. Faces she had loved, but now had love lost. Faces that she very well might, never be able to lay upon again. They were all smiling in their own way.

Tails had his eyes closed, hand scratching in a nervous fashion the hairs upon the back of his neck. An uneasy chuckle vibrated through throat as his lips mimicked a smile to equal intensity. Perhaps he truly did want her to leave. But that was not it, and her mind knew it. He wasn’t nervous for being put upon an unwanted spot. The fibers of his heart were merely stringing his body in the dance of war. Battles he may have seen, but none to the intensity of what was to come.

Cream gave nothing short of the most tear-filled smile all of Mobius had ever witnessed. Her large orbs leaked the salty liquid with no attempt to wipe them away or hide them restraint. Stains marred her once flawlessly young fur and dress, arms clinging together tightly against her chest. Was she afraid for herself? Perhaps, but one as pure as Cream would cry tears for herself. They were tears for one who could no longer shed them. Tears for a friend long lost, and yet so close, that they might twice lose forever. So young, so innocent, and yet, to be thrown into so much. It almost seamed unfair.

Amy clung to Silver with the intensity of an ox as he spoke. The veins pulsing with flexed arms as she clung to his quills. Her face hidden from the pink cat’s slit eyes as the features buried itself within the hedgehog’s form. Clear as the coming darkness, she was unable to meet her once joyous friend’s face, yet the reason was unclear. With chance, it may be the still shallow anger she held for the cat had become. Heartless. A Nobody. But then, it may as well have been fear. Holding the one person she cared so dear for, afraid of what may happen should they separate. Her mind begged to have such feeling, but nothing could respond to the distress.

Silver did little more than stare, face as blank as the pink feline she eyed. There was no doubt to what swirled within his mind as he thought. Confusion, anger, sorrow, rage, pity, even doubt. To decide among them was impossible, to choose how to act at this passing. So nothing showed, as his mind deemed fit. Realizing such irony would earn in the least a scoff from any being. All Camillia could only document in the confines of her mind, a note for a later occasion, she it be appropriate.

Even Robotnick had a face to read as well. Orange mustache down cast, curving at each ends to stare upon the metallic ground all stood upon. Lights gleamed well off of the fine glass of his spectacles. They did not face her, though were his sight lay was uncertain. It may be the far wall of his head faced, or her, pupils hidden behind the glasses he wore. It was a begrudging respect he played. Countless battles he had fought with all of these lives before. Though all had ended his in inevitable defeat, the admiration for their will must have done wonders upon his own. Not respect for their power, but determination. To chance losing one of them now, in separation as they were, or in the great escape they were to commit. He would do his part to see this war, not simply battle, won, lest he lost them all.

They hall had so much to live for, to do, to see, to have, and still experience. Paths fate has seen fit to cross with a river, to allow only those with the strength to cross continue on in their own treks. To dive into that ripping tide, and hope that they had the strength to defy the forces that wished to sway their course. So many had failed to cross the very river they now hoped to face, and her very fate proof of what had become of it. This was all their war.

But this was her battle.

“I know.”

With those words, they departed, by the very metallic sphere the doctor had arrived in. The city now a memory as it gazed up to the five in their departure. The swirling darkness already in claim to many who dared to stay beneath it. Tears were shed, tears for fears, and tears for lost. But not all was lost yet. And in this stand she would make, perhaps no more would. No more sorrow for those with the curse to feel it, but only joy for those gifted to embrace it.

BANG

The door crunched as a massive weight hit it. Metal twisting under the force delivered to it. Not an eye batted with the now solely occupied room. Simple the empty stare, blank of emotion or care, looking back upon the door, awaiting the force from beyond it.

BANG

What would it be? Perhaps simply an endless line from the swarm of heartless, or one great heart cursed into endless pit, come to take the hollow body.

BANG

With chance, a fellow Nobody may march through the now ripping door. Shards of metal flung and flew as the mysterious force continued to berate the poor object. All it would take now would be one more great blow, no lesser or greater than the last. The force would come, and she would meet it.

CRASH

The metal door bounced upon the ground, sliding and sparking as it did. Resting now in the corner of the room, it would be the only witness the confrontation now to come. The pink cat, garbed in the silk of white, facing the now seen force with not a mask of emotion upon her. And the force looked back upon the creature, grinning a wicked smile as it did.

“Hello Pretty Kitty!”

“Hello to you as well, Larxene.”

Neither hesitated to attack.

--------------------------

“Ah, my friend, must you leave now?” A faceless creature reached an disappointed paw to leaving form.

“I do, but not for an absence of joy in here.” The form returned with assurance. His blue hair swaying upon one of his eyes as he did. Blue orbs gave more focus retraining the collars of his sleeves then the fellow eyes of his friend.

“So am I to assume you have acquired a new path to journey on?” His cloak did little to sway as the head lifted to garner further details. A faint pop from the fire between them earned a pause from the leaving life, allowing an answer to follow.

“A path? Yes, that is what I am to trek upon, but not for selfish gain now.” A hand trailed to the tips of his head, splitting the fine hairs above, the fibers who refused to mat down upon the rest of his head. A another tall tale weaver once spoke that it was his reflex of his mind to stare to the heavens even as he looked upon the bowels of hell. The idea never left him.

“Well hold for a minute then.” The same figure rose from the soiled ground, bones acing as he did. Age had done well to hold him from any new journeys to view, only to wait and speak to those on treks he never had, and those he now wishes to join. The nameless form waited with the patience of a saint as the robed withered figure shuffled and stepped towards him, making good on avoiding the grasping flames. When the distance was closed, he spoke once more.

“Much you have shown me in reflection and admittance. Both to yourself, and as of me.” An unseen tongue traced dried lips beneath the hood, thoughts churning in unison with the liquid. “Your past is a slate many see their future to be. Unwritten, untold, and unseen. For many, sin filled and lust overridden, it is a state they desire with great want to have. Yet, you have come across this in a curse, rather than gift.” The crystalline orbs shut as a breath was taken. Told of what one was is never a task to take in light. It reflects the water of life, and shows the drains to avoid.

“What, wise man, may I ask is the final point to this cryptic message?” He desired to leave, yet not in a rude stance. A farewell must always be given in terms of light heart. Dark fates follow dark words, and to spoil a light heart made forgiveness a trek to find.

“Take care to know the future, for you, is as unknown as the path you come from. Do not allow your desires to shape an idea you cannot have.” Words smashed like hammers, but they met a stone wall. “This is all I can offer you in wisdom, as an ally, and as a teller of tales. Be well on your path, and do well to avoid the dark lingering of your heart.” A frail finger poked the dark sash strapped upon the leaving figure’s chest, a light clang resonating as it met the buckle. The single in view eye glanced upon the bony appendage, before a simple gesture was given in return.

His dark furred hand grasped the layered shoulder of the frail figure, a strong vice met to an otherwise once great arm. Though the face was hidden, the smile within was plain to even the blind. A gentle smile graced his lips in their silence. Words were spoken, and final reflection had, but the path beckoned, and he was not one to ignore. Heavy boots stomped the earth below as he moved from the ground they were upon, leaving the fire and old man to wait again for another to come.

“Be safe in your path.” The final call came, though more was sure to follow. “For not all lights follow a path to divinity.” No response was given, as the blue furred figure moved further into the woods. No further could the old figure see as the trees claimed the passing traveler as their own. Much would be shed by such a creature, but not even to the wisest of men was it known on which side the war would be fought.

“You do much to confuse the Gods, Negotium.”

The fire was dozed, and the man gone.