Viemera: The Essence of Deceit

The walk back to the group was…awkward, to say the least. Eri studiously kept her eyes focused on the forest ahead, though she barely paid attention to her surroundings. Her mind was still numb and reeling from what had just happened. Her inner mental monologue consisted of half-finished, bewildered questions. ‘What in the…? Why did he…? HUH?’ And poor Arashi had no idea what to say in response. After all, how could he formulate a response when he couldn’t even discern one intelligible thought?

Jake’s words replayed over and over in Eri’s head like a broken record, and each repetition only made the strange hollow ache in her chest grow worse. She had encouraged Jake to keep fighting, offered her help (which was a first), and unknowingly poured out her heart in that one single, telling statement:

“I don’t relish the thought of killing someone important to me…”

“Yeah, we should! Don’t want them thinking that we started some action back here or something!”

“You’re always welcome to take my hand, in case you get lost!”

Just like that, the old Jake was back, as if someone blown on a candle to snuff out the flame. The usual, cocky Jake who cared about no one except himself and loved nothing more than bugging the living daylights out of Eri with his snide remarks. Eri struggled to shove her emotions back behind her mental walls where they belonged, but it was no use. Too many emotions to name struggled for dominance in her mind, refusing to be silenced. All she could do was keep her expression neutral and hope no one noticed.

Luckily, her personal issues received a welcome reprieve as they arrived back at the clearing in time to hear Tsume’s words regarding Raewyn. She had to admit that he made sense, but she had also become a Saturate at the age of 14 and had nearly lost her father in the same day. She had made it through that situation without changing too drastically. Or had she?

The group didn’t travel far before setting up camp for the night. An aura of exhaustion, both physical and mental, hung heavily over everyone. Eri mainly kept to herself for the afternoon, sitting in the branches of a sturdy maple tree that shaded their campsite and eating some of her rations to keep up her strength. By late afternoon, she had regained enough Essence to summon Arashi and send him out to hunt at Tsume’s request.

The two summon creatures returned an hour later bearing the fruits of their labors. Eri swung down from her perch and accepted the pile of pheasants and hares from Arashi’s talons. Sparing a glance to the side, she saw that Alco had just as big of a haul despite his smaller size. Alco may be smaller for now, but he is remarkably quick and an agile hunter, Arashi said in answer to the unspoken question. Genuine respect for his fellow summon colored his words.

Eri spared a small smile for her friend and set to work preparing Arashi’s game. After field dressing the animals, she took the pheasant breasts that were still intact and set them to roasting on sticks by the campfire. She took the remaining pheasant meat that had been marred by Arashi’s talons, as well as all the hare meat, and prepared a simple stew. She brought some food to where Loki was sitting so he could stay off his injured leg and forced a pleasant expression for his benefit. “Your wound should heal quickly as long as you take it easy.” A light smirk played across her lips. “Needless to say, katar practice will have to wait until you’re back up to full speed.”

As the group ate, Arashi perched in the same tree that Eri had occupied and simply watched, though Eri’s unrest beat at his senses. After everyone had eaten his or her fill and Tsume had gone to fetch Raewyn, he offered her the excuse for the solitude she so desperately needed. Mistress, I found a small, clean lake within walking distance of here.

Eri said nothing in response. She didn’t need to. The wave of relief and gratitude that flooded the link communicated better than words. She rummaged around in her pack and dug out the smaller backpack Tsume had provided. She quickly shoved a bar of soap, a cloth, clean undergarments, and a towel into the backpack and stood, swinging the strap onto her shoulder. “I won’t be long,” she said over her shoulder to no one in particular, and then she moved into the forest without another word as Arashi followed from the skies.

With Arashi’s mental leads, she found a gap between the trees that opened up to reveal a pristine, river-fed lake about a half-mile from the campsite. She sighed in relief. Yes, a few minutes of solitude was exactly what she needed. Arashi landed on the ground next to Eri and cocked his head to one side, his crystal blue eyes shining with concern. You are troubled, Mistress. He spoke it as a statement rather than a question.

Instead of answering, Eri simply walked forward and cupped Arashi’s beak in her hands briefly before wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in the warm, soft feathers. Arashi cooed softly and draped his wings around her, offering the comfort she sought while shielding her from any prying eyes. He waited patiently, reading her swirl of jumbled emotions through both their mental link and the physical contact.

‘I am…confused,’ Eri finally admitted. ‘I don’t know how to explain it.’ Her mental tone expressed the helplessness she felt at conveying her confusion.

You don’t need to try to explain it, Eri, Arashi replied, deliberately using her name to try and soothe her. You are starting to experience your emotions again, and sometimes the sensations overwhelm you.

Eri pulled away from Arashi so she could more easily look him in the eye, and he folded his wings neatly at his sides. “Yeah, I guess that’s one way of putting it.” She felt too mentally drained at the moment to even communicate through their link.

I have seen your memories from before you became a Saturate through your mind’s eye, so I know you were not always like this. Tell me, you experienced many emotions as a child, did you not?

“Yeah, I did…” Eri reached back into the deeper recesses of her mind where she rarely tread, where she kept memories of happier times locked away: following her mother in the kitchen, watching her father at his smithy, begging him for sword lessons and jumping up and down in glee when he finally relented, and playing with the children in her village. “I had a happy childhood. My father didn’t make a lot of money as a blacksmith in such a small farming village, but we had what was most important. That was more than enough.” Everything changed when they moved to a city populated by Therians. She remembered the ridicule she experienced for clinging to her Seedist beliefs, the sorrow of loneliness, the nights spend crying in her bed when she thought her parents couldn’t hear. But the single most defining moment of her life came when Therians came out of nowhere and tried to murder her and her father. The memory flowed freely to Arashi, who experienced the event afresh as clearly as the first time. But most importantly, he relived Eri’s emotions, particularly the heart wrenching fear that she would lose her father, the single solid rock in her life, for good.

You were so emotionally injured from nearly losing him that you unknowingly sealed away your feelings even as you trained to master our combined powers, Arashi explained. You didn’t want to feel the pain that Therians had inflicted on you ever again, so you locked away the negative emotions as well as the positive ones.

Eri realized with a shock that Arashi was right. Becoming a Saturate had changed her after all, just like Tsume had said with Raewyn. Now she could understand a little better what the Goddess was experiencing. “I’ll have to apologize. I shouldn’t have said those things to her…” Eri admitted with a weary sigh.

That can wait for now. At the moment I’m more concerned about you.

This time Eri gave a short laugh. “All right, mother hen. I’ll take care of myself so you’ll stop fretting.” She let her backpack drop to the ground, and Arashi flew up to perch on a nearby branch to act as the lookout while Eri undressed. She had no reason to feel embarrassed around Arashi; as an eagle, he had never understood human ideas of clothing and modesty. To him, what humans called nudity was just another part of nature. Flowers never sought further adornment than their petals, and animals wore nothing except their coverings of scales, feathers, or fur. Why should humans be any different? He had finally come to a kind of mental compromise when Eri explained clothing as the human equivalent of birds displaying their colorful plumage. Ah, of course humans would try to imitate the natural, colorful beauty displayed by his winged kin. He had puffed up in an uncharacteristic show of smugness upon making this realization.

Eri slipped into the clear lake water and let out her breath in a soft hiss upon feeling its frigid temperature. However, she quickly acclimated and sighed contentedly as the chilly water eased the soreness in her muscles and washed away the dried blood and dirt. After bathing, she unwound the bandages on her arm to expose and clean the gunshot wound from earlier. Her thoughts strayed unbidden to Jake once again as she remembered how she had received these bandages. Within the past 24 hours, she had received new powers from the Goddess, nearly gotten crushed by a mile’s worth of falling trees, fought against a pack of mercenaries, and taken three lives. However, none of that had impacted her as strongly as Jake’s last words to her. She still couldn’t understand how he could so easily act like nothing had happened, like her words didn’t mean at least a little bit of something. Was it just another of his jokes? If so, it was a cruel, sick joke. ‘I’m not playing along with his games, and I won’t just pretend like nothing happened. I can’t.’

Eri could feel Arashi’s watchful gaze, and she held her breath and sank underwater for a few seconds to try and clear her mind. Her efforts were futile. When she resurfaced, it wasn’t just water that tracked rivulets down her cheeks…

She was gone longer than she had intended, and the sun had set by the time she strode back to the campsite alone. Other than the clean bandages covering her wound, Eri looked much the same. However, she was grateful that the cover of darkness concealed the slight redness in her eyes. She gave a brief nod of acknowledgement to the group, still minus Tsume and Raewyn, and collapsed on her bedroll to await the onslaught of sleep or Tsume's return, whichever came first.

Jake couldn’t help but glimpse back towards Eri every so often. He hated what he had said, he hated who he had to be, and he hated his entire being. Yet, he simply couldn’t become someone else. If he did, people might start to care for him, and he wouldn’t allow that to happen. He had felt what it was like to watch a loved one suffer and die. He knew exactly what it was like to know that there was nothing he could to do in order to help. He knew that the hole in his being would forever be there until he died because of that fateful night. He knew he wasn’t the only one who had had this sort of thing happened, after all, the world was a dangerous place. He, however, vowed to himself not to allow another person feel those feelings when they watched him die. He would simply be another idiot who took on to much, and ended up paying the final price for it.

Watching Eri start to wander away from the camp, he wanted desperately to go explain himself. Why he wouldn’t allow himself to be cared for. Yet his feet refused to move, and he could do nothing but watch as she eventually disappeared. He had fought against mercenaries, soldiers, summoned beasts, and won each. Yet here he was, afraid to go talk to a girl like a ten-year-old coward. He stood alone with his thoughts, one of the things he didn’t want to be. He continued to act like he was watching over the camp, but really, he wasn’t paying attention to the surrounding landscape. His eyes were pointed inwards on himself, picking apart every last little detail that made who he was. Should he change? Could he allow himself to change? Why would he need to change?

Jake stood like this, frozen in his spot, for the entire time. Every so often he would scratch his arm, or feel his back for his axe to make sure it was still there, but otherwise made no movement. He was unusually quiet, but slowly the old Jake was making his appearance known once more. Eventually, once the sun had settled a bit more, Eri made her way back to camp. Jake’s first instinct was to say something sarcastic, but he held his tongue. There was a difference between being himself, and being an absolute asshole. Suddenly, James got up, and started speaking. The man hadn’t spoken much since joining with the group, and Jake hadn’t spoken much to the man except to yell at him for planning the ambush. As much as he hated ambushes, he had to admit that it worked fairly well.

As the man started talking, Jake turned to pay more attention to what he was saying. Through his entire spiel of the Vikinson’s disease, Jake was walking slightly closer to the center of the group. His arms were crossed in front of his chest, and he still looked serious. His previous mood, while calmed down, was still slightly there. Jake couldn’t say that he knew what Vikinson’s disease really was, but from the way that Jame’s described it, it sounded like it was something that didn’t need to exist. Jake tried to hear his surprise at the confession the man was giving, but probably failed at it horribly. Everyone here seemed to have a hidden history or condition which forced them to be who they were. As James continued, Jake slowly nodded in agreement with him. As he took the bottle from Jame’s hand, he held it in front of him, he spoke. “I know we didn’t get off on the right foot per say, but I won’t tell your family. Chances are I’ll never meet them, and that will make it easier to keep the promise.”

Jake raised the bottle, and nearly said something else, but stopped. Instead, he simply drank a hearty portion of the bottle, and returned the lid to the top. Eri was laying a few feet away, and he doubted Loki really wanted to drink alcohol. So, he tossed the bottle towards Eri, and watched as it fell into her lap. He gave a slight smirk, but inwardly he was hitting himself hard. “Wakey wakey eagle eyes! Give the man some props for his sudden truthfulness!” As he turned and returned to his position away from the group, he was frowning into the forest. His mind wandered back to what he was about to say to the toast.

To Dead Men Walking.

Eri lay quietly on her cot, her head pillowed on her hands while she stared blankly at the sky. She had used the walk back to the campsite to rebuild some of her mental barriers, and thankfully she had regained enough control to at least portray her usual façade. That is, until James started talking. She started to prop up on her elbows to hear him better and then froze wide-eyed at his next words:

“…because in the next 6 days I will plan on fighting a losing battle for our group.”

‘You have got to be kidding me…’ Eri thought as a fist of dread clenched her stomach in its painful, icy grip. Too many thoughts flashed through her mind at once. James had an incurable disease. James was dying. James planned on falling in battle before the illness took him. But in six days?! What else could possibly go wrong today? Her arms quivered uncontrollably beneath her, and she fell back onto her cot, suddenly too numb to process anything. She couldn’t even hear Arashi’s desperate words to try and get a response from his mistress. She actually gave a startled jerk when she felt James’ flask land roughly on her lap.

“Wakey wakey eagle eyes! Give the man some props for his sudden truthfulness!”

That did it. James’ sudden announcement of his disease and plans for a “legacy” had pushed her fragile emotional control to its limits, but that last statement from Jake, from old cocky Jake, ripped the hollow ache in her chest wide open. After everything else that had happened today, this was just too much. She sat up and held the flask in one hand, regarding it with indignation like some alien curiosity. Then her temper suddenly flared white-hot, and she growled under her breath and punched the ground. Hard. Her surge of rage unknowingly triggered her newfound User ability of wind manipulation, shooting currents of air into the ground, creating a dent in the earth around her fist and slicing her knuckles in the process.

Eri rounded on Jake and sent him a dark, half-lidded glare. “You seriously want me to give props for that?” she asked in a dangerous undertone. Eri turned furious, accusing eyes to James. “Sounds to me like you’ve already given up!” she practically shouted, before continuing in a slightly lower, yet no less harsh, tone of voice. “You said you had either gained time manipulation or regeneration, but if you’ve already decided to go off yourself, then the fact that you have hope means absolutely nothing!”

Later, when Eri would look back on this moment in time, she would think she had temporarily lost her mind. Two days ago she never once gave thought to hope or legacy, and here she was, practically shoving those very ideas down a man’s throat. Someone she had only known for a couple of days. “Purposely fighting a losing battle just to escape the pain is no legacy. It’s…it’s cowardice!” Just as suddenly as it had begun, her rage evaporated, leaving behind a hollow, wearying sadness in her voice and expression. She dropped her gaze to the flask in her uninjured hand. “I’m so tired of seeing people running away from their problems or hiding behind masks. Hell, I’ve done more than my fair share of that.” Her gaze flicked upward to Jake almost out of reflex before focusing on James again. Her emotional walls were slowly rebuilding, and she could regard him with her usual serious expression. “I have nothing to toast. But if you’ll stop running and start fighting, then yes, I would drink to that.”

Eri gave one last, weary sigh and held the flask out to Loki’s outstretched hand. She couldn’t bring herself to meet her pupil’s worried gaze. “Here. Maybe you can share some kind of uplifting message. Heaven knows I can’t.” They probably thought she was crazy now. She had just shattered whatever image she had built with them of being the serious, calm, and collected warrior. But for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to care. She didn’t even care about the rivulets of blood trickling from her knuckles to drip off her fingertips and stain the hard-packed earth. She was just…numb.

Jake felt rather than heard the resulting thud of Eri punching the ground. As much as he wanted to explain his actions, tell everyone why he did what he did, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Years of fighting and lying had left their mark and blackened his soul to the truth. Instead, using a different face then the one you were born with was simply the easier of the options. Jake could hear Eri storming after him, and a portion of him actually tensed up, preparing for a fight. He didn’t want to kill Eri, but his survival instinct simply wouldn’t let him lie down and die. Instead though, she simply rounded on him, pure hate in her eyes and barely controlled violence behind her words. The fact was, he had succeeded in doing what he had wanted to do from the moment that he heard her statement in the woods. The feeling was not of victory though.

Her words threw daggers into Jake’s chest, but he simply kept a neutral face and stared out into the forest. It was slightly ironic, considering that Eri was supposed to be the calm and collected warrior and Jake the unpredictable berserker. She stormed on; her words were directed at James but aimed at Jake. Jake could do little more than pretend to ignore everything that was happening. He was afraid that if he got involved, one of two things would happen. He would either confess everything about his life and why he did what he did, which he didn’t want to tell everyone for the sake that they had no reason to know. If he didn’t do that, then he would most likely end up in a berserker rage from the heated exchange, and most likely be killed, or kill everyone here. Neither option was favorable, so Jake held his peace.

Suddenly her voice changed from rage to sadness, and this hit home a lot harder than the violently filled words spilled from her just moments ago. Violence was something Jake knew and understood, but when it came to sadness, he simply didn’t have a clue. He had never been given time for sadness, and had always tried to run from it when he could. His head tilted in her general direction for a moment, a smirk on his face to hide the fact that he was indeed very somber. He wanted to say sorry, for the very first time in his life since the burning, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. One of the many things that made him who he was today prevented him from doing the right thing.

James then tried to explain his actions. In Jake’s opinion, it was a weak argument but again he held his tongue. Last thing anybody needed was his smart ass remarks for the moment. It was about this time that Tsume and Raewyn appeared from out of the forest. An uneasy and unnerving silence filled the clearing with neither side willing to budge or point fingers. As the silence came to the point of insanity-inducing, Raewyn suddenly exploded with an apology.

“I’m sorry!” She seemed to blurt out. This grabbed Jake’s attention to her, and he slowly turned to face her. “I’m sorry. I was afraid, and confused and…I was…I didn’t understand.” Jake didn’t think anything needed to be said, but James must have thought otherwise as his harsh, but equally truthful message went out to meet the apology. He demanded that she never slander her name again, and that forgiveness and truth would come in time. Yeah, not exactly the easiest answer to an apology, but neither was Jake’s axe-swinging antics of absolute rage just a few hours ago either. After that message, Jake didn’t feel the need to say anything. This was mainly due to the fact that she probably hated his guts right now, and wouldn’t spit on him if he was on fire.

Then Loki decided to pipe up, the flask held firmly in his hand. Loki’s toast to the group probably hit Jake the hardest as he coughed slightly at the mention of the family he had wished for. He waved any eyes away as if he simply got something caught in his throat, and returned to his normal posture. When Loki took a swig though, Jake couldn’t help but laugh slightly as the kid almost coughed the fluid up just as fast. Even with the lingering tension among the group, there was still humour and life to be found among them. “Try not to get to into that stuff there kid. It’ll kill ya.” Jake held the same self assured smirk on his face as he said these words, and returned to facing out into the forest.

Among other things.

Eri stood awkwardly in the midst of the group and listened to James’ response to her uncharacteristic outburst. “Maybe you don’t understand my situation. This disease is going to kill me either way and everyone knows I am headed to Hell for the killing I have done. At least with this death I can leave something positive attached to my name. Maybe that is my only hope at changing where I end up. It’s the only hope I have had for the past year.” While the words registered in her mind, her numbed heart couldn’t even begin to internalize them. She didn’t want to hear excuses, especially ones that, to her, barely held water.

Before Loki could make his toast, her ears picked up the sound of approaching footsteps, and she turned to see Tsume and Raewyn reappear. Finally, something had gone right today. Her inner turmoil of emotions faded temporarily at seeing the timid and, yes, repentatant look on Raewyn’s face. A tense silence hung over the clearing as no one moved to speak or even acknowledge the duo’s return. “I’m sorry!” Raewyn exclaimed. She cleared her throat and repeated, “I’m sorry.” She continued with her eyes downcast. “I was afraid and confused and… I was…I didn’t understand.”

Eri’s rage and sorrow started to melt at that declaration. Yes, Raewyn was finally beginning to understand what was at stake. Hopefully her little epiphany would ensure that Marinik and his allies would not make her question her loyalties again. However, it was Loki’s little speech that finally got through Eri’s numbness. "To the family I had wished for since my mother was forced out of my life. Though we're not perfect, the fact remains that we still look out for one another despite the risk. To a sense of belonging that has been missing for far too long."

Eri’s eyes actually widened a bit as she tried to process the implications of Loki’s words. Family? She hadn’t had any family other than her parents, and she hadn’t seen them in years. Not perfect? Yeah, he got that right. Look out for one another? Did they? They had only known each other for a few days, yet Loki could see the redeeming qualities in them that she couldn’t even see in herself. Sense of belonging? Eri had a brief flashback to her encounter in the forest with Jake. She had mentioned “belonging” to something then as well. Maybe it was finally starting to become a reality. Loki took a big gulp of the liquor and promptly choked as the liquid burned his throat. That was the other reason Eri didn’t drink that stuff. “Try not to get into that stuff there kid. It’ll kill ya.” She ignored Jake this time. She wouldn’t let him get under her skin yet again.

However, James once again grated on her nerves with his harsh words toward Raewyn. She could understand his irritation, but she was still too annoyed with him to think rationally this time. And besides, after everything Raewyn had gone through, the least someone could do here was offer a kind word. Eri turned to Loki first, since he was closer, and ruffled his hair affectionately with her uninjured hand. “You’re right, Loki. That’s probably the wisest statement I’ve heard all night.” She stepped away from James, Jake, and Loki and stood before Tsume and Raewyn. She nodded once in acknowledgement to Tsume before turning her attention to the young Goddess. She forced her earlier emotions behind a calm façade. No need to allude to the earlier tension now. Raewyn would probably find out on her own soon enough. “We all make mistakes, Raewyn,” Eri spoke in what she hoped was a reassuring tone. “It’s how we learn and respond to those mistakes that makes us stronger.” She paused for composure before continuing in a softer tone. “I’m sorry for earlier. I spoke out of anger and without thinking.”

Eri suddenly felt very awkward, bouncing from one emotion to the next like that. Part of her wanted to just run away or disappear, but unless a hole suddenly opened in the ground, that wasn’t happening. Instead, she settled for gingerly picking her way back to her bedroll. Her hand was starting to sting from where the air had cut it, and her mind was finally registering the pain. She reached for a roll of bandages in her pack and quickly bound her hand while waiting for someone, anyone to say or do something.

Over the next four days, a semblance of normality returned to the group as the tedium of foot travel established a routine. After Raewyn’s return, a good night’s sleep greatly helped Eri stabilize her tumultuous emotions. While she was starting to open up more, she still tended to remain silent unless someone addressed her first. However, the others quickly learned that her silence was not overt coldness like it had been at the beginning. She spoke mostly with Raewyn, Loki, and Tsume when she actually talked, Raewyn so she could have a female companion, Loki so she could instruct him, and Tsume so she could learn some of his summoning techniques. She managed to glean some meditation techniques from watching him meditate with Alco in the evenings and tried to practice those with Arashi during her night watches.

However, she couldn’t seem to get past the tension that had built between her and Jake. She and James still didn’t see eye-to-eye regarding his legacy, but they maintained civil discussion and could put aside their differences to work together. Jake, on the other hand, she did her best to avoid. Luckily, Eri could invent numerous excuses to keep her distance, primarily so she could focus on Loki’s training. He practiced flying during the day so he could stay off his healing leg, and Eri often sent Arashi into the sky under the pretence of acting as a scout. While that part was true, she mainly wanted to avoid a repeat of a random enemy shooting the boy out of the sky. She rode on Arashi’s back sometimes during the afternoons, the duo keeping to the cover of the cloud banks to conceal their presence, but they always kept a watchful eye over Eri’s pupil. She and Loki also spent the evenings practicing by the campfire after the group set up camp for the night.

Flashback – The First Evening

Eri waited until the group had finished dinner and cleaned the dishes before getting Loki’s attention. His leg had healed enough that they could work on basic stances and movements, but she would save sparring for later to give him more time to recover. She and Loki moved to an open spot on the outskirts of the campsite. Eri ignored the curious gazes of the others and focused on the boy in front of her. “Since this is your first lesson and your leg is still healing, we’ll start with some basic stances and move slowly.” She drew her father’s sword and also summoned Gale Cleaver so she could duel-wield like Loki. “When you find yourself facing either one enemy or a group, here is a basic defensive stance that will also give you room to counterattack.” She demonstrated the stance, though she had to reverse it since she was left-handed and Loki was right-handed. Loki quickly tried to mirror her stance. “Hold still,” she said, straightening and circling him to inspect his stance. “Widen your stance just a bit more. Otherwise you’ll get off-balance.” She nudged his feet with the toe of her boot so that one foot was slightly ahead of the other. “Turn more to the side, and don’t ever charge straight ahead in close combat. You’ll just expose your torso to the enemy.” She placed her hands on his shoulders and gently turned him into the desired position. “One last thing…” She moved his arms so he held his katars closer to his body to better protect his chest and head.

Eri nodded in satisfaction. “Good.” She moved back around to face him while he practiced holding the stance and drew her weapons again. “Now, you should think of your katars as extensions of your arms, as parts of your body. Your strikes should draw strength from your center,” she gestured to just below her stomach, “not just your arms. Close combat with weapons, like you already observed, is about finesse and redirecting your opponent’s blows rather than brute strength.” Once she was satisfied that he understood, she went through several more stances and basic movement patterns, strikes, and parries before calling it a night.

End Flashback

During the next three nights, Eri gradually eased Loki into sparring. She started off with using sticks instead of their real weapons so they wouldn’t accidently hurt each other. At first, they went through the movements at half speed, giving Loki a chance to practice his strikes and counters in slow motion while going easy on his leg. To Eri’s immense satisfaction, Loki proved a quick study, and by the fourth night they were sparring lightly at full speed with the training sticks. He still had much to learn, particularly with circling and striked at angles rather than head-on, but Eri had no doubt he would improve quickly.

The days spent in training also allowed Eri to practice with her new powers. While she worked on patterns to teach Loki during lunch, she also worked on her new User ability of air manipulation. She practiced control so her emotions wouldn’t accidently trigger blades of air that would cut her again. As it turned out, her air manipulation was much different from Marinik’s in that it was connected more with her sword fighting rather than brutal air pushes and drowning techniques. She learned to concentrate currents of slicing wind around Gale Cleaver’s blade to add extra cutting power to her strikes. The air around the blade could also create mini-gusts to knock an opponent off-balance when the sword connected. She could also swing her sword to send blade-shaped gusts of air as projectiles to slice through objects. That ability took a lot more Essence, and she still needed to practice her aim. Luckily, her new powers had the beneficial side effect of increasing the amount of Essence she could safely use. As a result, she could now summon Gale Cleaver and also morph the blade of her father’s sword to match. Practicing with Loki meant she improved her duel-wielding skills, which she had learned from her last battle could save her life.

As Alco regained his former size and strength, Eri noticed Arashi developing a friendly rivalry with the griffin. Arashi tried to catch more game for their meals than Alco and seemed uncharacteristically smug the few times he succeeded. However, Eri sensed that her partner was much happier than she had seen him in a long time. Alco was the first summon creature Arashi had ever met for longer than a fleeting encounter and was possibly his only friend other than his mistress.

And so the days passed, until dwindling supplies forced the group to stop in Janik to restock. When Tsume first mentioned their Therian culture, Eri had bristled until learning that they were much more tolerant of Seedist beliefs. And while she could plainly see that the people were friendly, she couldn’t completely drop her guard. Old habits die hard, afterall.

“There’s no need to all crowd the small store when we already know what we need," Tsume announced as he addressed the group. "Eri and Jake, would you please join me in making sure I get everything we need since you two are the most experienced with travelling in the backcountry?”

‘Oh no. You’ve got to be kidding. Absolutely not. No way. NO,’ Eri thought in disbelief, but her mouth betrayed her by deadpanning, “As you wish.” She did not want to be stuck with Jake with only Tsume as an intermediary, no matter how short a timespan. She had barely spoken to him since nearly picking a fight with him four days ago. If he tried any of his sarcastic jabs now, she doubted even Tsume would be able to restrain her from drawing her blade on him.

Eri kept her martyred expression carefully hidden as she followed the two men to the store. After the storeowner greeted them, Eri moved off toward the stock of medical supplies in the next room to gather more bandages, salves, and medicinal herbs. As she helped with restocking the group’s food, the displays of fresh vegetables caught her eye. They had been eating mostly wild game lately and would probably jump at the chance to have fresh produce. She dipped into her personal funds and bought a few fresh carrots, potatoes, and onions for their next meal. And they were in luck. Apples were in season, so she picked out a choice red apple for each person. Now laden with supplies, she waited near the door for Tsume and Jake to finish shopping.

Jake couldn’t say that the tension between him and Eri had lessened in any manner. He could tell she was avoiding him, but throughout the years, he had become used to that feeling. Knowing that someone wanted nothing to do with you, and there was next to nothing you could, or would do to fix that. So, during the four days that they had traveled together, Jake kept up the act. He threw in his usual sarcastic banter to show the group he hadn’t changed one bit. His jabs were now aimed at everyone else but Eri though, as he could sense that she was on the verge of actually lashing out. Personally, he didn’t want to defend himself against such an assault, but instinctually he knew that his body would act out of reflex and possibly kill her before he had a chance to realize what he was doing. Every once in awhile, he would spend a few minutes bugging her to throw off any suspicion about them two, but he kept it to a bare minimum.

During their travels, he had managed to mess with his new armor ability, and found some interesting things about it. For starters, he could summon his armor on a certain section of his body if he chose. An example would be covering his arm in earth, but nothing else and using his arm as a club. Second, his armor could change shape and size if he chose to. The first armor that he had already used was basically what he labeled as his ‘Berserker’ armor. That was the thickest and biggest he had managed to make himself. Other than that though, he had managed to make a very thin layer of armor that retained his natural speed, and he could also transform his arms into giant spikes. Considering he liked using his fists mainly in a fight, the spikes would definitely come in handy. Those were the two main advancements, but he could also summon the armor twice as quickly now, and could also don it while on the move. With these in mind, Jake’s confidence soared. He was already a beast on the field of battle. With the armor and spikes, he would be next to unstoppable. At least, he would be unstoppable once he was able to focus.

Second Night

It had been a slow day, with conversations being little to none. Jake had been quiet the entire day, and explained to the others that he was concentrating on controlling his new ability. Truthfully though, he couldn’t find anything funny about their current situation. It was dull, drab, and completely void of excitement. The longest he had gone without a fight since he started his whole new life had been three days. The only reason for that being that it took three days to reach the next pub, where he proceeded to insult some guy’s manhood, and beat him and several of his friends to a pulp before being thrown out of the building by security. As the day came to a close, and everyone started settling down to rest from the long day of travel, Jake felt his eyes starting to get heavy. He hadn’t been sleeping really well, since he had deemed himself sort of the night guard. He would often be awake long after everyone was asleep, and was always the first one up. This was much to the surprise of everyone else in the group, who deemed him irresponsible, but he simply shrugged and said he didn’t sleep much anyways.

As soon as the group managed to make their camp for the night, Jake instantly settled down. He downed his meal with the same enthusiasm as always, and made a few sarcastic remarks towards everyone, and then settled in for the night. He needed to get a few good hours of sleep; otherwise his ability in a fight would start to be hampered. Maybe someone would attack tomorrow, and then Jake would have something to impress the others with. His armor ability was coming along nicely, and he was dripping with anticipation to try it out on some poor soul who thought he could take the mighty Jake. His head rested against the ground, and he tried to grab some sleep.

A large bang from somewhere bolted him upright instantly, and he looked around for the others. To his surprise, they were nowhere in sight. The camp was as it was when they had settled in, but their bodies were missing. Standing slowly and grabbing his axe, he made his way to the tree line. Something must have happened to make them all bolt so quickly, but why had they not bothered to even inform him? Maybe whatever had attacked them had taken them all by so much surprise, that they couldn’t have even managed a warning. Jake’s mind was filled with reasons and excuses of why the others would simply abandon him. His thoughts were brought to a sudden halt when light could be seen in the distance. Without concern for himself, he rushed forward. Sound started filing his ears, but it wasn’t until he had exited the forest that he figured out exactly what it was.

It was fire.

Buildings were burning all around him, and the flames seemed to lick the sky. Screams could be heard all around him as he charged forward. Men leveling heavy weaponry such as battle axes and war hammers turned to meet him. A simple yell and a few slices left the men in shreds as Jake’s run continued with no momentum lost. Each corner he turned, more men came to meet him, and he continued slashing them until they were unrecognizable. It wasn’t until he came upon the town square, that he found the source of the screaming.

People were being tossed into fires. Men, women, and children were all fuel for the soul devouring scene of destruction. As Jake was stricken by the sight, reminded of his own home town to easily, a large group of men moved to intercept him. They were large, and more heavily built then Jake. A few of them were even duel wielding battle axes, and swung them between their fingers with practiced precision. Jake didn’t snap out of his reverie until the first hammer was swung. It was then that he entered a lopsided battle with him just barely able to hold back the wave of men. Suddenly, the entire group of men backed away, leaving Jake in the middle, confused and bloodied. The sound of clapping hands could be heard over the roar of the fire. Sweat beaded down his face and back as he desperately looked for the bearer of the sound.

“You fight like you have nothing to lose Jake.”

That voice…

“Truly, what is a man worth if he fights for nothing, hmm?”

No, not now…

“Yes, now. You have learned the truth, yet you can not save yourself. You, sir, are a pathetic piece of human machinery.”

The shadowy figure appeared near the large bonfire, his hands still coming together to form the ever oppressive clapping. The smile widened, but it was with malicious intent rather than happiness. His red eyes bore back into Jake, just like the time in the clearing.

“I stopped you! I killed you!” Jake yelled out at his primal side, which was only answered with a laugh.

“Boy, you cannot kill me unless you kill yourself. I am you! Without me, you are nothing. Your so called ‘indestructibility’ is all in due to me.”

“I don’t need you! I never have!”

“On the contrary Jake, you needed me a little too much. Every insult! Every fist thrown! Every life taken! That was me Jake! I did that, and you enjoyed every single bloody minute of it!”

“No more! I control my life, not you!”

“So you think you can stop me Jake? Hah, let’s put you to the test then, hmm?”

A wooden podium appeared behind the Primal Jake, and Jake’s mouth dropped as he saw who was on there. Tsume, Loki, James, Raewyn, and Eri were all unconscious and tied to a pole upon the podium. The fire licked at their feet, and Jake completely lost it. A yell escaped his mouth as he literally shoulder charged one of the brutes into the fire. A swing of his axe brought another one down to the ground, and a frenzy enhanced punch broke another man’s neck. The entire time, the Primal Jake was laughing.

“See, we’ve switched places Jake.”

Jake stopped and looked. The Primal Jake was no longer shrouded in darkness, and instead, was a mirror copy of him. A flare from the fire forced him to bring his hand to cover his eyes, and he got a good look at his hand.

It was covered in shadows.

Jake looked down to see his entire body was encompassed in the foul blackness that his Primal Side was. He tried to tear it off, to no avail. As he continually got frantic, and tried harder and harder to claw the shadows off, they seemed to grow in power. Poisonous laughter filled the space once more, and Jake stopped long enough to look at his other self.

“I am you. The sooner you learn that, the sooner you will understand, and embrace me.” A snap of his fingers, and the group was engulfed in flames.

“N…” Jake sat ramrod straight with a hand covering his mouth. His chest heaved with the effort of breathing, and sweat was pouring from his body. Looking around, he found himself back in the camp. The others were resting nearby, and everyone was enjoying the sleep that they were getting. Jake’s hand fell from his mouth, and a couple minutes of staring into nothingness brought his heart back to its normal pace. The dream had been so real that he hadn’t even realized he had dozed off. He was losing control in more ways than one, and he wondered whether his grip on reality would suddenly loosen and drown him in his own primal urges.

Looking at the others, he realized he had to keep this a secret. If they knew he was about to lose his sanity, they would no doubt leave him behind. He couldn’t, wouldn’t allow that. This was the first group that had, more or less, accepted him for who he was. For the first time, he felt a sense of belonging, and he wasn’t about to give that up. He quietly stood up from his position, and moved to the outer-most reaches of the group, and leaned against a tree. The sun could be seen on the horizon, and the cold sweat that had drenched him in his sleep had nearly dried completely.

It would be time to move soon.

The sound of civilization brought Jake out of his memory, and back into the present time. His hands clenched and flexed without any visible effort or acknowledgement. Four days had passed since Jake had gotten into a fight, a new record for the man. He flexed his shoulders, and did his best to suppress his grumpy mood as he entered the town. Sure, they were Therians, but they were also modernists. Part of him wished they were traditionalists just so he could get into a battle with someone. However, the polite smiles and nods erased any such hope, and he tried his best to not insult some big blacksmith into a fist fight.

As they entered the town, Tsume called upon Jake and Eri to help him in gathering supplies. Upon hearing Eri’s cool response, Jake couldn’t help but add a jab in there. “Don’t sound so thrilled.” His tone was a bit harsher than what it usually was, but anyone could tell he was not in a good mood. In this sort of condition, he was more likely to hit someone first, and ask questions later. Although that was his usual style of doing things, he was simply more likely to do it in his current state.

Jake wandered through the store, and watched as Eri picked up the medical and food supplies. Taking that information into account, Jake gathered what he deemed important that she didn’t grab. He picked up some flint, a few sheets, and even a portable tent that could hold two. At least the kids can use this if it rains Jake thought to himself as he grabbed it. A bit of rope, a compass, and a water bucket complete with mesh netting to keep out the bugs. Rainwater was a traveler’s savior, granted that it did rain. Grabbing a few smaller things, Jake paid for the rest of the equipment, and went to the main door. There, Eri stood waiting for them at the entrance. Her eyes seemed to follow him as he made his way forward, and he could feel holes start to burn into his head. As he stood beside her, his jab was meant more as a warning than an actual playful saying. “I know I’m sexy and all, but if you don’t stop burning holes in my chest, we’re going to have problems. You watch my back in a fight, and I’ll watch yours. Other than that, you can have your precious me-time.” Jake continued to look through the store, searching for Tsume, but his tone left no argument. He was grumpy, and to argue with him right now would most likely end up in a very bad situation for everyone.