Dorty 'n Crew

Sideblog of @tostitokid for Doritokid, which is more story focused than the shenanigans one he runs.

[dortykid]

Journal #4: Forgot this thing in my closet.

(WARNING: This contains spoilers for PoF (major) and LS4: Daybreak (minor). Read at your own risk if you haven’t played either of those yet!)

It all started with a curse. Sajessia went out for some shopping for our future child, and some I D I O T cursed her with something. Trytamer apparently kicked their butt, hard, and carried Sej back to the place. Everyone was still freaking out when he had an idea to lift the curse, because literally nothing was working: go find some relic called “Glyph of the Firebrand” somewhere in the desert, and he meant the Crystal Desert. Yeah, that one.

Got some help from a friend named Varra, who stowed is away on her krewe’s airship. Also got joined by some norn named... Jo? I think it was Jo. Things started feeling weird when we reached the desert, for me at least.

Took us a while to figure out where to look. Visited some place with ghosts and found the general location of the thing: the Desolation. Yeah, remind me to not go back there again. Along the way, we found some yellow crystals, and yeah I know I’m the one with the yellow crystal hands I realize, but I didn’t make these. Ended up accidentally absorbing a few, found myself with a few new abilities, so that was cool.

T.K got a pet, er, mount to ride, erm... a stingray... thing... called him Drifso. As for me, I think I accidentally imbued some magic into some tunes and made some kind of sand wolf. Rialu’s calling him “Pebbles” for lack of a better name.

Back to the whole thing, we did manage to find it in one of Joko’s hidden vaults (so I guess it’s his), but Balthazar’s guys got to it first. Some “Templar” got away with the thing, and went for Vabbi to help her god with the thing... somehow.

...forgot to mention Jo had left when we first reached the Desolation, since apparently a friend of hers was having a kid. Or did they call them their wife? I dunno, Tyria’s strange.

Ended up sneaking into Vabbi with the old “Two kids in a trenchcoat” trick, which works surprisingly well with asura. Almost got caught in the middle of a fight between Forged and Awakened armies, and managed to catch the Templar before they could do whatever.

You know Kralkatorrik? He was breathing crystals at Balthazar and one so happened to hit the Templar, so she was stuck for a while. I think Balthazar was busy fighting the Pact Commander to take care of us so... T.K threw the bird at him, if you get what I mean. Once in a lifetime opportunity there, and he took it. Best thing I’ve seen in our time there. And then he exploded. No, I mean he died in a big massive magic-storm that unleashed from him. All of us got sucked into a rift that opened up and spat us out in the Highlands.

Thought it was over, yeah right. The crystal the Templar was in was spat out too, and somewhat branded her up. I might have gotten impaled on some massive yellow crystals too, and then...

... next bit was still a little foggy for me. There was literal fog, or mist, or whatever, and there was also a dragon. Called themselves Vlast, said he was dead and asked who I was. I dunno what was going on in reality, but we ended up helping each other in the end. I got changed. My hands are... normal again, fleshy. I feel empowered. My sword got an upgrade too, and kicked that Templar’s butt so hard... erm... okay I stabbed her and twisted the blade and made her explode, that’s basically that. Also I have Vlast in my head now, so that’s alright, he’s cool with it.

We got back at the perfect time too. Rushed back home and gave Sej the Glyph for her to use. It worked, but it didn’t deal with the aftermath of the curse: she’s still weak from all of that, gaining her strength back, but it’s left a permanent mark on her. She’ll recover her strength back, but she won’t be the same as before with her magic. Oh well, at least she’s alive and well now.

Remember how I said perfect timing? She gave birth last weekend. She’s recovering from that now but, I’ve got a kid now. I guess my family line still has time to live for.

His name is Zoppah, and I honestly can’t comprehend how Sej and I got him so cute-looking.

I’m a little concerned though. When Sej used the Glyph, the magic that cleansed her got absorbed by a tiny star within her. I’m guessing Zoppah has some of his mothers celestial powers, which is good, but did he eat the magic held within the thing? What’s that gonna do to him? I guess time will have to tell...

...I mean, Zoppah possibly getting powers from the Glyph isn’t what I’m concerned about. I mean, I was a little thrilled about the thought. Last night though... I had a bad dream. Awakened coming in from Elona, ravaging everything, and worst of all, taking Zoppah. There was also Inquest in it for some reason. I’m... hoping this is just a bad dream, and not a vision of the future. I swear, if anyone so much as places a finger on him, I’m going to slit their throat, grab a flamethrower, and torch the body so they don’t get a burial, or brought back to life by something.

I’m guessing Joko wants it back, but it’s depleted, so what’s the point? I’ll just... enjoy what I can for now. Going to keep my eyes peeled for anything fishy just to be safe. At least we have friends to look out for us, and Vlast in my head, so that helps. Just... I hope all of this turns out okay.

(Varra belongs to Nejjigren, Jo and Rialu belong to Cameron Tarian)

[dortykid]

Short-Story: Magiteched

Been a while, haven't had the urge to write, but here's a new story to quench your thirsts (if you're even thirsty for these). Warning, this one contains a surgical procedure, so if you're not able to handle stuff like that, you don't need to read this.

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A few months had passed since Jukkerbaut's disappearance, shortly after the thing had reached the Ring of Fire. All tracking on him had been shut down, as were all sources of communication or sending messages. Even the vital readings that would have been received and displayed on the screen in the dark lab were offline. Jukkerbaut was completely gone, or at least, completely gone from under control; the metal beast was left to roam the landscape, doing alchemy-knows what.

Although, Zaxaxx knew no better at what had really happened, for he had taken the assumption Dorty had finally eliminated it on the fire isles. In all honesty, he was expecting that to happen in the future anyways; Jukkerbaut was his first creation, after all. A hulking behemoth of a burnt, fleshy charr underneath with a tough, metal exoskeleton on top, surrounding the squishy insides in a protective coating. The mind was wiped of most previous memories, and then imputed with new code and orders to follow, essentially making the charr a loyal servant.

Alas, time was starting to take its toll anyhow. The chip in Jukkerbaut's mind was glitching out, and occasional shut-downs were becoming more and more common. Even after Zaxaxx had made some adjustments himself after such a long while, Jukkerbaut was still loaded with bugs. All he needed was one good push and he would be destroyed, either by the chip being destroyed and shutting down the brain, killing them within, or the armor would be exploited and leave them exposed, easily leaving them open for being killed.

How long was it ago that Jukkerbaut was made? A couple of years, perhaps, or more, but Zaxaxx had improved on his technique since then. He had some practice with working with Scarlet's twisted watchwork, admiring the rather larger one he had acquired, and to which struck his inspiration. After acquiring the corpse of a dead asura, he began working to compress the larger machine down into smaller parts, before cutting up the dead asura and shoving the machinations into them. From there, all he had to do was make some new, more complex coding, and soon Xakat was born, a horrendous watchwork creation cleverly disguised as an asura. Unfortunately, it wasn't the most convincing. While the metal and such inside was almost perfectly hidden, it was rather obvious that this asura was previously dead. He did whatever in his necrotic powers he could do to cover this up, stitching parts back together, a few touch-ups on the face and head, then a cost and other clothes to cover the rest.

Once Xakat was complete and ready, he sent him out to the Wastes to gather intel on the Inquest security development from the local krewe there. For a while it worked, and Xakat had sent back numerous designs for security and such that Zaxaxx could use. Sadly, the krewe leader caught on to some of the issues Xakat was causing, and when he was found out, the watchwork within him sprung into its full form, eradicating anyone it could find in the lab to leave no trace. Sadly, Xakat was destroyed halfway through his rampage, but thankfully the core in the chestpiece that was inside of him was rigged to explode shortly after death, but even that was faulty. In the end, it was another experiment down the drain, but what was learned and earned was going to further aid in this dark research.

Following this, Zaxaxx proceeded to focus more on the same technology used with the Peacemakers armor, throwing in some of the watchwork and golem technology, as well as a few dribbles of the toxic fluids he has developed. These creations that soon came were more focused on single things, rather than balance the usage. Each one he made was more advanced than the next, as he experimented with new ways to gear them, ranging from blades to internal functions.

The next creation he made after Xakat was a norn with their arms and legs sawed off, and replaced with legs like that of a golem dog, if those even existed, and a large turret on their back, which he called the L4Z-Walker. The idea was for them to run around on all fours, while the turret on top shot beams of energy out at targets. The two things worked seperatly, meaning the norn part could focus on one thing while the turret focused on another. A deadly weapon good for laying siege on places, but it had yet to go out into the field for a real test.

After that came what he called the A5A-Leecher. His ideas for this one were more nefarious than before, taking a human female and implanting blades onto their arms, legs, and back, but that wasn't the important part. The important part was the multiple short-ranged mechanical tendrils that were able to puncture into flesh, and suck out blood to power the thing, hence the "Leech" in the name. For good measure and extra terror, one of these replaced the tongue, where as the A5A stabbed into its helpless target, the tendril would come out of the mouth and jab into the victim to speed up the draining process.

Zaxaxx continued to make more of these nightmarish creations for some time, all with watchwork built into them under the surface of the skin, or visible in some areas. All of them had chips implanted into their brains to wipe their memories and replace them with code, if he hadn't removed it himself and just replaced it with pure code, but he found that if a creature can think, they could make decisions and thus be able to deal with targets easier, or escape. After all, a damaged creation dragging itself back to him was better than a destroyed one that was either left dead or stolen.

For the current moment, the A5A and the L4Z were guarding the various doors in the lab, along with the others. His current plan was to make as many of these as he could without being found out, and then send them all out to finally deal with the pathetic asura he always hated. After that would come the attacking of any settlement that wasn't asuran, taking the dead that were taken and making more of these minions for himself, until all that would be left would be the asura race, with no idiotic beings to drag them down. That, however, would be far in the future, should this come to that, and for the moment he was sterilizing tools for his next project.

The dimly-lit green glow from above gave the lab a poisonous look, the light illuminating the center of the lab where his worktable was, or rather his operating table. Strapped down on the thing was a young human girl that, rather than kill, he put to sleep and kidnapped to bring back here. Normally, his creations were revived bodies, but this one was still live, he was curious how this one would differ from the others, and he already had ideas how to make this one. The A5A and L4Z had wandered into the room to examine the being who would soon be their next soldier, sitting above to watch the process.

Done with the cleaning, Zaxaxx set the tools on a rolling table to bring over next to the operating one. Atop it, aside from the tools, were the various pieces of tech he was going to put into her. He wouldn't be able to stick a watchwork endoskeleton into them without killing them, so external and partially internal incisions would have to be done. He had left the sleeping girl in a cooling chamber over the night to reduce their temperature, and minimize blood loss from cuts.

The part of the floor under the asura and the rolling table rose up to a suitable height where the subject was about level with his waist. He looked over their sleeping form, they were almost too innocent to do this to, but he had little to no mercy. Just to prepare for the surgery early, he went ahead and ripped out the left eye while they were still in the cooling chamber, some blood was still visible in the socket where it once was. Zaxaxx grinned, turning to grab a vial off of the roller and uncork it, carefully pouring the contents in a single, straight line across the forearm, close to the girls elbows. The A5A above him tilted its head, and started to climb down from the seat above.

"No, A5A, you may not take the blood directly from the girl." He scowled at it, making it stop for a moment, before he continued. "You may, however, be of assistance and clean up the floor as I work. I believe this will get at least a little bit messy."

Nodding as if in understanding, the A5A crawled down all the way, taking cover under the operating table, the metal tendrils poised to suck up any blood that spilled onto the workspace.

Zaxaxx stood there for a few moments, wondering where else he would pour the fluid, before shrugging and setting it back, picking up a handsaw. He held the tool over the fluid line on one of the arms, bringing it down slowly until it touched the skin. The next moment, he began bringing it back and forth, back and forth, the sound of flesh being ripped through echoing through the chamber, accompanied by the splatters of blood that were gushing out. As he had asked it to, the A5A's tendrils were zipping around frantically to suck up the blood, fueling itself with the life-sustaining cells. The gentle cutting sound was quickly replaced by the grinding sound of bone-against-saw, Zaxaxx hastening the motions and applying more force until it was cut through, and kept going until it hit the metal of the operating table. Lifting the saw back up over his shoulder, he grasped the dismembered arm with his free hand, purposefully dropping it onto the floor beneath him. The sound of metal piercing through flesh rang out from underneath the operating table, Zaxaxx grinning as the A5A punctured the hand and began to viciously suck it dry.

With one forearm off, Zaxaxx leaned over the body and began to do the same with the other one now, just as quickly as the previous one due to the blood oozing out now, cutting through the flesh and bone before dropping the second arm for A5A to consume, though it was still busy with the first one. He set the saw down, picking up two hands, very similar in design to Jukkerbaut's, but different functions. One hand had a hook built into the palm to shoot out to grab someone, while the other had a sword that flipped out from the underside of the arm to use. Green crystals were built into these ones, storing the energy from his latest, unique toxin, that was both deadly and could energize. Rather, it would energize the girl but harm anything else. How he was going to do this however he had already figured out. In the meantime, he stuck the hands over the bleeding stumps, spiked sensors digging into the flesh to pick up nervous signals, allowing the subject to move them around.

Next, he grabbed what seemed to be some kind of scooper, a strange mix between a sharp edge and a double ice-cream scoop. He opened it up, then stuck it down into the skin right above the sternum, and then clamped the two parts together through the flesh, pulling up to remove a spherical chunk from near the top of her chest, perfect in size for the next part of the procedure.

A bright green power crystal was sitting on the roller, which he grabbed, examining it for any imperfections. It was filled with the toxins that were also in the hands, but this had a ring of sockets around it sticking in, just a little off-center. On the very bottom was a single spike of the crystal pultruding out of the almost-perfect spherical shape. Carefully, he lowered the crystal down into the cut he made, the spiked end first, until it was about half-way in and half-way sticking out, just what he had hoped for.

Next, he grabbed two objects for the following part: an eye-visor, as he called those things that work as eye-patches, except they can work like normal eyes and more, and a tiny vacuum. He started with opening the empty eye socket up and using the vacuum to suck out the excess blood that was there, before setting that down. Then, he fastened the eye-visor over the socket, clicking on a single switch on the side just to turn it on. Connecting it to the brain for registering would come later.

Now that most of the risky parts were done, it was time to outfit the subject with some actual clothing so he wasn't seeing them naked. Thankfully for him, he had taken the liberty to scan their form and create a permanent tunic to cover up their torso in. Stepping off of the elevated floor, he waddled over to a control panel that was linked up to a great multi-tool device attached to the ceiling. Normally, he would use this to place watchwork endoskeletons into subjects, but this time it would be used for something else.

A claw reached down and gently grabbed the girl by the sides of their head, lifting them up into the air. Two more claws moved to pick up the metallic tunic Zaxaxx had put together for them, and proceeded to open up the back of it, then placing it over the girls body before folding it around and reattaching it on the back. Another device lowered down to the opening in the tunic that was meant to hold the crystal in, and gently pushed that in place before activating the small coat. Immediately, small plugs extended out of the small holes within the larger hole, and connected into the crystal, pulling the hole around it tightly so as not to leave any gaps.

The two claws from before were already pulling some metallic pants onto their legs, which also had boots connected to the bottom of them, with blades on the heels and knees. They moved away with their job done while the third device started to fasten the clothing into them, making it stay so it wouldn't be able to be taken off, at least not normally.

Now the second to final step of the whole procedure was ready. One final instrument of the large multi-tool, a sharp needle, gently stuck into the back of the girls head, just a little on the left side, inserting the chip that would allow Zaxaxx to program their directives. Meanwhile, one of the claws was attaching a circular device tightly around the needle onto the side of her head, for future fixes if they were needed. The claw holding her up began to lower her back onto the operation table, facedown this time, so the needle could stay in her so this chip could continue to be edited.

Zaxaxx clapped slowly, admiring the newest creation of his. All that was left now was the programming. He stepped away from the controller and over to the larger computer to begin coding. He glanced back at the girl, then back at the computer, starting to type.

>POWER VENOM INSTALLATION:1 >LINK @ E73 >NAME:

He paused here, names were usually difficult to come up with. He tapped his foot impatiently, glancing back at the girl again. A5A and L4Z were looming over her while he was typing. He turned back to the computer, typing in something out of the norm, because this one wasn't his usual creation.

>NAME: L3SSA

He nodded, liking it, then continued to type.

>LINK @ SW-2 >LINK @ GR-2 CHECKING FOR POWER CORE...

Now that everything was linked up, he waited a few moments for the rest of the installation process to go on by itself. One that was done, he could type in directives, and direct her to, of course, kill Dorty. He let out a short laugh, followed by some more hysterical laughter, for this was his finest creation yet.

Suddenly, a red light began to flash on and off above them, his laughter cut short by a grimacing snort as he glared near the main exit. He swung his head to glare at the other two creations, pointing toward the door. They began to scuttle and crawl towards it, while he grabbed one of his saws to bring along with him. Whoever had broken in was going to regret every single little decision they had ever made in their life that led up to this moment.

>POWER CORE DETECTED, INSTALLING ENERGY... >WIPING CURRENT MEMORY... >PREPARING TRACKER INSTALLATION... >ERROR: INSTALLATION INTERRUPTED >PREPARING TRACKER INSTALLATION... >ERROR: INSTALLATION INTERRUPTED

A5A leapt out from behind the corner, metallic tendrils poised, only to be greeted with the closed front door. L4Z and Zaxaxx followed shortly behind to witness the mystery. One of the windows in the door had powered down, and on the floor was a rock.

"This is it?" Zaxaxx huffed, stomping forward to pick it up. "This is what set off the alarm?" He snarled, tossing it aside. He had been hoping some bookah or an asura would be here, but instead whoever it was threw a hard object through his door and ran. If this was their idea of a prank, it was a very poor one.

Zaxaxx slowly turned and walked back toward the two, glaring at L4Z. "Blast the rock." He spoke, turning back toward the central chamber. L4Z's back-cannon took aim, and charged up before releasing a blast that charred the surrounding structure while destroying said rock.

Just outside the door back into the chamber, Zaxaxx looked back at his two creations, wondering just when he should even send them out. The blaring alarm couldn't allow him to think, so for now he just had to go back in and turn it off himself, opening the door.

He stared inside for a few moments, then screamed in rage.

The operation table was empty, the needle broken, the console left on an endless loop of attempts. L3SSA had somehow escaped, but how? Was the rock a distraction? Did they just wake up and walk away?

After some moments thinking, it hit him: the drug he used to capture the girl was a powerful tranquilizer, meant to last for at least a day. It must have run out while she way laying there, giving her the chance to break out and escape.

Even still, Zaxaxx stiffened up in anger, unsure what else to say about the matter. On one hand, at least the procedure worked; he had successfully created a living minion to serve him, one that wasn't resurrected. On the other hand, they had escaped, and now doing something else for all he knew. Or maybe...

Zaxaxx stomped over to the computer, punching a button to turn on all of his devices that were already programmed correctly. He typed in a command:

>SEARCH LAB AND RETRIEVE L3SSA IF HERE

The sounds of mechanical creatures waking up and moving quickly became apparent over the alarm, which was promptly shut off. Zaxaxx sighed, but grinned a little. He could further enhance his future creations with the things he had learned from this one. Already, a new idea was forming, one for specifically dealing with leaders. While his many creations scourged the lab for L3SSA, Zaxaxx began typing in notes for his next creation...

...and all the while, L3SSA was lost, with no memory, in an unfamiliar world.

[dortykid]

Journey of the Celestial: Part 4

When Dorty and Sajessia had agreed to take the submarine back to Lion's Arch, they never expected it to go so quickly, much less smoothly. The ride wasn't the most comfortable, because the space was indeed cramped, but they made no complaints while the charr driving it steered them back to the pirate city.

The first order of business upon returning to mainland was getting Sajessia a new coat, since her last one was left behind where Metaveil and Jukkerbaut found them. Once her new coat was found (which was heavier than her last one), the next thing they needed were more supplies, which the market easily provided.

Once all was good and ready, they set out again, going through Gendarran Fields once again for the second time in their adventure. Going east, they followed the same path they originally took through the region, but once they had reached Wayfarer Foothills, they turned north instead of south. This took them straight into Frostgorge Sound, where temperatures were already dropping, and an increase in dragon minions was apparent.

Twice they were ambushed by Icebrood, before they had even made it halfway through the region. Grawl had also grown aggressive, attacking any and all travelers through the region, but hardly put a scratch on the two asura. Dorty fell down into an icy labyrinth, and was forced to fend off many trolls while Sajessia helped guide him through, whilst blasting the attackers from above with her magic.

The two caught their breath under a Pact turret that had been set up near the outside of the maze, aimed skyward for obvious reasons. The size of it helped cover them from the chilling breeze, and make the creatures who tried to follow them out confused as to where they went.

"Doing alright so far, Sej?" Dorty panted, laying back on the cannon.

Sajessia was visibly shivering, hands inside her coat to keep them warm. "I'm... alright..." She stuttered, breathing out a breath which both of them could see.

"Ya sure? Is that coat working for ya?"

She nodded, tucking her head into the coat for more warmth.

"Well, it's just gonna get colder and colder, so better hope it does work where we're going. Well, wherever we're going, I'm not too keen on all the details."

A faint glow shown out from the neckline of the coat, where inside she had wrapped her wings around herself for extra warmth.

"Here's an idea, how about I carry you around while you're tucked away in there?" He snickered.

"Sure." She replied, poking her head out a little in a smile.

"Uhh-" He looked down at here, mildly surprised. "I was kinda kidding but... okay."

Shrugging, he helped her get the rest of her exposed limbs into the coat. Once she was tucked away inside, he hoisted her up in her arms. The coat obstructed part of his vision, but he could still see where he was going.

He carried her off of the tiny hill the cannon was on over to the path ahead of them, which went east towards some kind of camp, honestly not much concern. What -was- concerning was the number of ice wurms that were next to the trail. Even though they had fought of plenty of enemies in the past, such as White Mantle, Inquest, other dragon minions, and local wildlife to name a few, wurms were a different case here. It didn't matter how big they were, one could still swallow them whole with ease, so rather than travel along the path, he took them further north from the path to the edge of the water, where from there they went east around the path of wurms.

Yet another issue soon became apparent: the water. They had expected to find some kind of bridge or boat they could use to travel across the icy water, but it seemed like the entire direction they needed to go was blocked by a tiny sea of chilling water. Dorty wasn't too concerned about this, since he was already familiar with water that cold, but as for Sajessia...

"Hey uhh, Sej?" He poked the side of the coat he was holding with her inside.

She popped her head out of the neckline, "Hmm?"

"We -might- have a problem. Well, okay, less me and more you." He pointed at the large expanse of water.

Her ears drooped as she turned to look at all of the water ahead of them, as well as the chunks of ice floating along the surface of the water. Sighing, she popped her arms and legs out from inside her coat, rolling out of Dorty's arms onto the snow below them. She sat up, shaking the snow off her wings, then shuffling through the snow over to the water.

"Hope you know how to keep toasty." Dorty exclaimed, walking over with her. "If we need to go north from here, only way to go is across the water."

Sajessia slipped her shoes off, setting them aside in the snow, before scooting over to the very edge of the water. Slowly, she lowered her foot down to dip her toe in the water.

"Meep!"

She jerked back, shaking her foot a little. The water was absolutely freezing, and it was like she had stuck her toe into a pail of ice. "That is... really cold." She stuttered.

"Well, for you, yeah." He nodded his head at her, scooting over to the edge. "Can't say the same about me probably, but one way to find out."

She watched him smile before he slid down entirely into the water, going beneath the surface for a few seconds before resurfacing, spitting some chilled water out to the side from his mouth.

"Yeah, it's a little cold, but not too much for me." He swam up to the edge and pulled himself up out of the water, his clothes weighing him down only a little.

Sajessia laughed a little looking at him, his hair had flopped down and covered part of his face.

"Right, hair..." He rolled his eyes, pushing his hair up out of his face. "Well, ideas?"

"Well, I dunno really, I can't walk on water you know." She looked back down at the freezing water, then back at Dorty, an idea flickering in her mind. "What if you swim on the surface and I ride on top of you?"

"That's-" He raised a finger in protest, but after he actually considered the concept, he nodded. "-could work, maybe. No guarantees, but it's safer for you. Just try not to fall off. I know you weigh nothing, but I can't say the same about your clothes when they're wet."

"Okay, let's try this then." She grabbed her shoes to pull them back on.

Nodding, Dorty slid back into the water, quickly resurfacing close to where she was on the ledge. He backed up to it so when she slid down, she would land on his back.

Carefully, she edged down the tiny slope to the water, placing a foot on his head, then the other on his shoulder. She climbed down until she was about able to hang her legs over his shoulders. "Okay, ready?"

"Don't fall off, okay?" He looked up at her, not so much of a fan of the whole idea now that it was in motion.

"Will try not to." She nodded.

Taking a quick breath, he let go of the edge, kicking off under the surface of the water with his legs. Sajessia fell back a little, the backside of her dipping into the freezing water, as well as her legs, which she quickly pulled out, shivering.

Dorty kept with long strokes through the water, most of his face submerged beneath the surface. He didn't really tell anyone this, but he was able to breath underwater thanks to the draconic powers he had. That being said, he still preferred breathing fresh air. He kept his eyes down in the water, peeled for anything below that might try and mess him up, be it a fish or Icebrood that might be in the water below them.

Meanwhile, Sajessia had wrapped her wings around herself, mostly for the warmth it provided in an attempt to thaw the chill on her spine. She kept a firm grip on his hair, so she wouldn't fall off, at least not backward. However, there was just one flaw to her idea, and that was that part of her was still in the water. She felt the water cling to her pants and shoes, making those parts colder and colder by the minute.

At the very least, it was the best idea she could come up with. Dorty had taken sight of land that led them further north along the water, so once there, they wouldn't have to swim anymore. She lifted an arm to pull her coat up higher up her head, covering her neck.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the best idea at that exact moment. Dorty suddenly turned to the left, and with only one hand on his wet hair, her grip slipped and she fell over to the right into the icy water.

If sticking her toe into the water felt like sticking it into a box of ice, then this was hundreds of times worse. The deathly chill of the water around her felt like it was seeping slowly into her, freezing her from the inside out. She panicked, thrashing around in the water in hopes of grabbing something to pull herself out with, but she was still in the middle of the water, and the nearest chunk of land was dozens of meters away.

A horrid memory came back to her, of being trapped in a cold slumber for over a century. Was this how she was going to die? Trapped in a freezing body of water, or worse, what if she didn't? What if she was frozen and put back to sleep, with nobody to save her? What if this time, she was truly left to rot and die over the painfully slow course of years?

This was all she was thinking of at the moment, as things were getting darker, darker, while she was quickly losing her strength and willpower. She didn't realize Dorty had pulled her away from the Icebrood shark that had swam up to them, causing him to turn in the first place. She didn't see him have to juggle between pushing her up to the surface of the water to breath, and combat the shark at the same time.

A sudden burst of cold suddenly hit her, she felt almost unable to move as she was helplessly dragged down, down, deeper into the water. She closed her eyes, expecting the end of everything she knew over the year of her existence without being in stasis.

...or was she going up, not down?

Just when she had lost hope, light was suddenly in her vision again. She felt the cling of the water upon her slowly let go, but not entirely. She could breath again, but it was in gasps for air as she coughed up water, and it was made only more difficult with the amount of shivering she was doing. She tried to look up, although she already was, but more precisely look up at where she was.

Her stiff neck only managed to catch a glimpse of the dead shark, which had been dragged onto the shore shortly after her. Before she could react, although she couldn't really react much, Dorty pulled her back up to eye-level with him. He looked scared, but that was slowly starting to fade into a smile. She didn't hear what he said, but he hugged her, pushing her up over his shoulder to gently hit her on the back, making her cough up more water out of her. All she felt was the cold, and the incredibly numbed contact with her friend, except for two sources of warmth, the two of them.

Dorty pulled the wet coat off of her, relieving her of much of the weight she was under, slinging it over his other shoulder. Everything he felt was wet in one way or another, so the cold breeze made it even colder. He wasn't concerned for himself, he was concerned for her. If he didn't find warmth for her somewhere soon, be it a bonfire or a den or anything away from the cold, she would probably pass out.

Thankfully, luck was on their side today. Not only by pure chance did an icicle fall onto the shark when they were in the water, but now in the distance, he saw a trail of smoke rising over a small incline. The only issue was there were more Icebrood standing between them and their necessity, but darn it if he had to run over a whole ice flow full of Icebrood to get her to a fire, then so be it.

He broke into a run, throwing the coat back over them both, leaving a hole so he could see where he was running; he didn't want to risk running headfirst into a dragon minion, or fall back into the water with her. Some bits of ice stuck to the coat as he ran them through the small hoard of dragon minions, ice being thrown at them. He threw a crystal share of his own back at the wolf that was pursuing them, which made it give up chase with a well-placed hit to the hind-leg.

Finally, he out-ran the hoard, and his prize was in sight; a tall beacon of sorts which bore a roaring fire on top of it, surrounded by torches with the same fire on them. There was one kodan on duty over the brazier, who so happened to glance their way as he staggered over, finally dropping Sajessia next to the beacon. He tossed the coat to the side, threw his arms up in victory, then proceeded to flop over face-first into the snow, the warmth of the magical fire warming them up.

Slowly, Sajessia felt herself again, with the heat of the fire ridding the chill of the water that was on her. Breathing became easier as she coughed up more water, which soon would be all out of her. The warmth the beacon was providing her was like a little blanket of fire, which slowly spread itself over her, drying her off and restoring her vision, magic seeping into her.

It felt like the magic even had an effect on her soul, which was the source of all her magic. Like a flickering flame becoming a campfire, she felt her strength come back to her, washing over her and urging her to get back on her feet. She curled up, wrapping her wings around herself to get the full dosage of heat within herself.

By now, Dorty had also fully dried off. Sitting back up, he scooted over to Sajessia, patting her on the head. "...you alright?" He whispered to her.

Sajessia's only response was a sound that might have been a "Mhmm", as she kept herself curled up for a little longer, before rolling over to hug Dorty's leg.

Sighing, Dorty leaned over to grab the dry coat from the size of the beacon, pulling it over both of them while he snuggled up next to her. Sajessia moved from hugging his leg to hugging the rest of him, warmth from all sides rejuvenating her.

"Sej, we still need to get going, remember?" He poked her nose to try and wake her up.

"...I don't wanna leave." She whined softly, hugging him tighter, but she did know they did indeed have to go, so she couldn't stay in this state of comfort forever.

Dorty peered up at the kodan who was slowly looming over them, and he frowned a little. "Hey, mind giving us a little space here?"

Nodding, they took a few steps back, but rather than stay there, they picked up one of the torches with the fire in it, offering it to the asura.

"So, what you want us to take this and go north with it?" He asked.

"Yes, it's the most valuable thing to take if you're going north." She spoke in a deep tone. "Koda's warmth will protect you from the frigid cold that lies ahead."

"Good to know your god is looking after everyone and not just yourselves." He lifted the coat off of him and Sajessia, getting up to take the torch, which was pretty tall, requiring both hands to carry it around.

Sajessia finally rolled back up onto her feet, standing up with the coat in hand, pulling it over herself again. "We don't need to go through freezing water again, do we?"

"The only water you will need to worry about, little one, is from cracks in the ice. Other than that, you will be fine." They moved to poke the torch Dorty was now carrying. "Oh, also, that fire is good for more than just warmth. It's a tool, so use it as it should be used."

"Thank you so much." Sajessia shuffled over through the snow to give the bear a hug.

"I with you little ones luck, with whatever it is you want in the north." She subtly moved the leg that was being hugged, in an attempt to get Sajessia to stop hugging them now.

Letting go, Sajessia shuffled back over to Dorty, turning back to give a quick little bow to the kodan. "It's complicated, but it's life-altering for me. Keep doing what you're doing here, please. I'm sure people will want to warm up here after swimming through all that."

"Yeaahhh let's try and stay out of the water from now on in the Shiverpeaks." He gently tapped her on the side.

Sajessia gave Dorty a little push from behind to urge him forward, and so with torch in hand, they continued onward on their quest. They only stopped brevity due to a wall of ice that was in the way, but the magical fire made short work of it. Confidence and strength restored, they marched into the coldest parts of the Shiverpeaks.

Though, they didn't know what was to come, they didn't know what dangers awaited them in this new land.

They didn't see the destroyed caravan on the other side of Frostgorge Sound.

They didn't know of the embellished cart that was demolished.

-and they didn't know that cart was originally loaded with "Triple-Luck Tonics" and a bloodstone shard.

- - -

What was the coldest and windiest parts of the Shiverpeaks that was currently inhabited, Bitterfrost Frontier was a small region north of Frostgorge Sound, but definitely more dangerous than that. The Icebrood and the Sons of Svanir had been struggling to gain a foothold against an alliance between Kodan and Quaggans (who which seemed to be a different breed of Quaggan), who had been holding the area against them for years. The whole place was like a struggle for dominance of the area, Icebrood attacking similar beacons like the one that was back in Frostgorge Sound, and the alliance fighting back to hold their ground.

Even though Dorty and Sajessia had just got there, they could already tell there was much action going on. People from the south were running around fighting the Icebrood with all sorts of weaponry, including the torch Dorty was carrying. Turrets were set up, minions of all kinds were set loose, and whole groups of people were fending off attacks on the beacons across the ice.

That was another thing that quickly became apparent. Dorty quickly slipped and fell on his back from stepping on the ice, while Sajessia kept a firm balance on it like it was anything else. She watched as he tried to keep his balance, but every time he tried to stand up, he would slip again.

"You, uhm, need some help?" She asked, kneeling down next to him.

"Nah, I got this-" He responded, shortly before slipping again. Cursing, he grabbed his sword and held the tip of the blade to the bottom of his boots. He then started to gently carve at different areas of the bottom of one of them, before moving on to the next. Finally, he stood up again, for real this time, the new adjustment helping. "Huh, not sure why I hadn't tried this before." He perked a brow.

"Maybe you just hadn't slipped on enough ice?" She snickered.

"Maybe, but just remember I'm not used to slipping on stuff in general." He kicked at the ice beneath them a few times, making sure his boots had a firm grip.

Sajessia was shivering again, the cold here was definitely worse than Frostgorge. If she fell into the water here for too long, she might end up dying, the cold was that bad.

"Anyways, you know what we're here for." He motioned for her to move. "Lead the way."

"Right, it's almost over." She nodded, taking some steps towards the direction she -felt- was right, like a compass pointing her in the desired direction. "So, it's like what, the homestretch?"

"Yeah, like my sister said." He lowered the torch over next to her, warming her up a little.

Sajessia nuzzled up next to the head of the torch, letting the warmth of the magic it held seep into her again. The effect was lasting, so they wouldn't need to stop and do this much. "Okay, let's go."

The trek across the frozen landscape started out simple as they kept to the beacons for warmth, yet it was slowly getting more difficult as a literal storm was brewing, and after passing the first two beacons, Dorty found himself having to re-light his torch at every beacon they went by.

Additionally, most of the assistance from the larger groups was more at the western side of the region where they came from, so as they went west along the winding line of beacons, less and less people were around to help. There was at least one Kodan at every beacon, so that it would not go out, but that still left it vulnerable to attack.

At the very center of the place was a Kodan sanctuary, built over an underwater Quaggan village. This was essentially the heart of the foothold in the region, so naturally they would want to pass through it. Quaggans and Kodan alike patrolled outside, and kept watch from inside for any threats. The storm was starting to get worse, meanwhile, and was almost rallying the Icebrood to organize attacks around the entire region.

Taking shelter under the sanctuary, they sat down next to a bonfire which some people had put together under the place; it wasn't like it was going to melt it or anything.

"So, are we getting closer?" Dorty asked, picking at the loose bits on his boots he failed to chop off earlier.

"Yeah, we are." Sajessia nodded, pointing north-east. "If we keep going that way... I feel up the mountainside there, we'll be there. It's a bit of a climb though, by the looks of it."

Even though the storm was obstructing most of their vision of what was above them, the mountain was fairly steep, with plenty of edges to walk on, yet also plenty of areas to fall down from. It was almost impossible to see the top, or at least where Sajessia needed to go, but at the very least Dorty could tell it was going to be quite the climb.

"You realize that if the higher up we go, the colder it's gonna get, right?" He perked an ear up.

"Will it?" She asked, shivering still, looking at the coat she had which even now was only a little helpful.

"Probably, if I get altitude and cold right." He shrugged, lowering the ear he had perked up.

"Dorty, if that's the case," She sounded slightly depressed, probably due to knowing the cold would effect her even more. She didn't notice the one Kodan who turned his scarred head over at them. "-keep that torch close to us, okay?"

"Yeah, I will, otherwise we're gonna be ice cubes." He snorted.

"I thought you said you weren't affected by the cold." She questioned.

"I'm not, well, hardly." He stuck the torch in the ground, while the Kodan slowly padded up to them. "That doesn't mean some person or creature can't turn me into a block of ice, though."

"Point taken." She sighed, before suddenly looking up at the Kodan who had approached, perking her ears.

"Who are you two?" He asked, disgruntled.

"Am I obliged to answer? I think-" Dorty started, before a low growl came from the bear, making him smile awkwardly. "-yeah. Dorty."

"Sajessia." She responded, without being asked.

The Kodan looked back and forth between the two asura for a few moments, before padding off up a ramp to the top of the sanctuary.

"Okay, just what was that about?" Dorty asked after moments of awkward silence, clearly confused.

"Honestly, I have no-" Sajessia was about to say, before she saw the same Kodan coming back, holding a box in his hands.

They walked back up to them, setting the box down in front of them, glaring at them for a few moments before turning and leaving yet again.

More silence, apart from the howling wind and the distant fights, then after yet another period of awkward proportions, Dorty scooted over to the box to get a better look at it.

It was left open on the top, and inside were multiple bottles of some kind of elixir that neither was familiar with. There was also a small gyro inside as well, with a slip of parchment wrapped around it neatly. Dorty lifted the little black gyro out from the box, sliding out the paper from it.

"What's IT say?" Sajessia asked, scooting over to look into the box.

Dorty slapped the parchment down on the snow beneath them, so that they could both read it. In the slightly-messy handwriting, it read:

TO: DORTY, SAJESSIA, DYEEAKA, TRYTAMER, ANY OF MY BUDDIES REALLY, AND ME (IF AYEZ COME BACK).

FROM: T.K (YE SHALL NEVER KNOW MY REAL NAME, HA!)

THIS IS E VERY BOX OF E VERY MANY THINGS. OKAY, IT'S TWO THINGS REALLY BUT AYES DUN'T CARE! DRINK THE STUFF AND YE WON'T TURN INTO ICE CUBES. ALSO IF YE WANNA SNEAK, USE THE SNEAK. HAS FUN!

-T.K

P.S: AYEZ DIDN'T LIST RYAGAN CAUSE HE'LL NEVER COME UP HERE!

P.P.S: AYEZ WRITE THIS WHEN EVERYONE JUST STARTED COMING HERE, SO THIS STUFF MIGHT BE HERE FOR WEEKS, AYEZ DUNNO. HEY IF NOBODY ON THE LIST SHOWS UP, BEARS, CAN YEH AT LEAST PUT THE THAW ELIXIRS TO GOOD USE?

"Well..." Dorty snickered, shaking his head in minor disbelief. "Sounds like T.K, writes like T.K, leaves post-scripts like T.K, so I guess it's safe to assume T.K was here."

"Is that 'was' with an 'S' or a 'Z'?" She laughed, taking an elixir out for each of them.

"Heck if I know." He snorted a laugh, taking the elixir from her. "Bottoms up, I guess."

"Ehm, alright, I hope this isn't alcohol." She stuttered, maybe from the cold, before taking a drink of it, Dorty doing the same.

A funny, warm sensation suddenly filled both of them as they drank. It was like someone lit a match inside of them and left it there. Once both of them had downed their bottles, the cold was seemingly starting to go away, at least for them.

"Hey, is it just me, or did it just get warmer?" Dorty asked, rubbing his head.

"I feel warmer too." Sajessia patted her cheeks and her legs, feeling them suddenly warmer than before. "What -is- this stuff?"

"Says 'Thaw Elixir'. Huh." He shrugged, throwing the bottle aside after peeping at the note. "Oh hey, missed the post-post-post-script on this thing: 'Tell the Svanir I walked right up to their leader disguised as one of them and said 'Stuff' and he gave me free stuff.'"

"T.K did that?" She perked her ears again, "How did he get the outfit to look like one of them?"

"Looks? I'm more concerned why the Svanir thought a tiny Svanir was even a norn!"

Sajessia squeaked like she was laughing, falling over and rolling in the snow.

"Yeah, funny." He set the paper back into the box, picking up the lifeless gizmo. "He left us a gyro to get us past everything. Wanna use it?"

"Well, I'm ready, more ready then I'll ever be, so let's go." She stood up, almost valiantly in a way.

"Okay then, little guy, get us through this stupid place." He pulled on a tiny chain on the side of the gyro, and it whirled to life, flying up over their heads by a few feet.

Once it was over them, the bottom of it opened up, and it started spraying out stealth-dust from it, covering up the two asura in a blanket of invisibility. Obviously, the gyro only lasted so long, as did the invisibility, so as soon as they were invisible, they held hands and started running, the gyro following after, keeping the stealth on them. The hand-holding was so they wouldn't lose each other, because they couldn't really see each other either.

Dorty had left the torch by mistake next to the fire, but it wasn't an issue since as soon as they reached the next beacon, he grabbed another one and they kept going. On to the next beacon, and he re-lit the torch so it was still burning strong.

Following the line of beacons, Sajessia led them eastward, until about the eleventh or twelfth beacon, where she suddenly steered them north, towards the bottom of the mountain. Even though there were Icebrood here, none of them took notice of the little whirling helicopter that was flying through their ranks, and the two asura easily slipped by.

Finally, they reached the edge of the wall of the mountain, and in a good time as well; the gyro had just ran out of fuel, falling lifelessly into the snow. It whirled its routers for a few more seconds, before it ceased movement, the little machine falling asleep in the soft blanket that would probably rust itself.

While the gyro had fell, the invisibility did not, so they still had time to get out of sight of the dragon minions. With some quick climbing and a little of Sajessia's magic, they scaled up to a large foothold on the side of the mountain, high enough to stay away from the Icebrood. After a few seconds upon reaching this point, the invisibility fell from them, revealing themselves for all nearby to see, if anyone or anything ever even looked up.

"Up we go?" Dorty asked.

"Yup." Sajessia nodded, still holding his hand.

"You can let go now, by the way, we're not invisible anymore." He snickered.

"It's not because I can't see you I'm still holding your hand." She tilted her head to the side, hair flopping with the tilt.

Dorty practically blushed, turning away from her in minor embarrassment. Looking up, there was another ledge they could reach, with some more climbing of course. "Want me to lead from here, or do you have it?"

"You're more of a climber yourself, so, yeah, I guess lead on. I'll just let you know when we need to change course."

He nodded, still holding the torch in his hands, though he set it down next to her, offering her it. "It's not too heavy, trust me."

"So, what do you want me to do?" She picked it up with one hand, examining it.

"You hold it -and- hold on to my back, and I climb up this excuse of a wall." He thumbed at the rocky surface behind them. "Kind of like a sloth."

Sajessia laughed a little, but nodded in agreement. She scooted over on the ledge with the staff in hand, grabbing Dorty's shoulder with her other hand, and then his other shoulder with the one that was holding the torch.

With a nod of approval, Dorty started the ascent, being careful not to go too fast, lest Sajessia fall off. Sure, she could glide, but the wind of the storm was really starting to pick up, and even though he held his ground, she was much too light to be much resistance to it. She clung to him to keep from sailing off.

With crystalline corruption for hands, it made definitely climbing easier. The tipped claws easily dug into the side of the mountain, as he pulled them up, higher and higher. It wasn't long before they reached the second ledge, which he pulled them up and on to. Still climbing, he looked down from where they were, seeing the tiny Icebrood and not-so-small sanctuary in the distance and below them.

"Sej, do not fall, whatever you do, okay?" He urged her.

"Got it." She nodded, still holding on with relative ease.

While the progress was slow, Sajessia felt them getting closer and closer to their destination. At this rate, by the end of the day, maybe they would make it and be finally done with it all.

One hand over the other, Dorty clambered up, slowly but surely. The snow was getting in his hair and ears, but he didn't care. He had one job right now; getting the asura on his back to a part on the mountain where she needed to go.

Glancing up, Dorty saw a sight for sore eyes, which was a large ledge with tons of room to move around on, enough for more than ten people even, almost as if it was a path. Speaking of path, there appeared to be a small path winding up from that spot, going across the cliff to the east.

"Hey Sej," He had to tell her, his voice echoing from the mountainside.

"Huh?" She looked up at him, still gripping onto his shoulders.

"There's a big cliff up above us, if I can get us there, getting up is gonna be a whole lot easier!"

"Okay, get there!"

Grinning, he hastened his ascent, breaking off a few rocks from the wall in the progress as he clambered up faster. The cliff was definitely close now, and by the looks of things even bigger than he originally thought. He kept climbing up, until he was a few feet under the edge.

"Okay, I'm gonna jump up the rest of the way to it, it's only a foot or two, okay?" He loosened his grip on one of his hands, holding it out to the side whilst keeping the grip in his other hand firm.

"Alright..." She nervously replied.

"Okay, ready? One, two-"

He suddenly jumped up from the wall to the cliffs edge, barely able to grab onto it by just the tips of his fingers. He let out a sigh of relief, then proceeded to swing his other arm up and over the edge onto the ground above, and from there reinforce the grip in the first hand.

"See? Told ya it-"

Dorty suddenly interrupted himself mid-sentence with a cry of pain as something suddenly stabbed him through his arm. Normally, it wouldn't do much other than get his attention, but this case was different, and as they was about to find out, much, much worse.

"Oh, why hello there again you two. Thought the stupid caravan was gonna trick us?!"

Metaveil stood a few feet away from them on the cliffside, slowly looming over them. Bits of bloodstone shards were visible on his garments, and his eyes practicallyglowed a sickening red from it. Sure enough, he threw one of those shards at Dorty, anchoring his arm to the ground there. On his back was a series of shards sticking out, which he had possibly stuck there himself.

"Well?" Metaveil turned to the side, glaring down at Dorty. He didn't see Sajessia firming her grip on Dorty's shoulders. "How do I look? Better than last time?"

"Honestly-" Dorty winced in pain, trying to make a grab for the bloodstone that was lodged in his arm. "-it sucks. I got a question though, how they heck did you get -HIM- up here?"

Looking behind himself, Jukkerbaut leaned casually against the wall of the cliff, the lifeless helmet starring them down.

"Oh trust me you do -not- want to know how I manag-"

Just as Metaveil was turning back around, Sajessia lunged out from behind Dorty to try and smack Metaveil with the torch. Sure, his magical and physical power was much, much stronger, but his reaction time was about the same. He took a blast of fire from the torch as he staggered backwards, brushing off the flames before angrily charging at her.

Sajessia stuck the torch into the ground next to her and Dorty, before whipping out her glaive and taking a defensive stance as Metaveil swung both daggers of his overhead down on the poor asura. She managed to block it, though his physical strength was out-matching hers, and as he slowly managed to push his daggers closer and closer to her, she had to come up with an idea fast.

Thinking of ways to help Dorty out of his current situation, and considering Metaveil's thirst for bloodstone magic, she came up with the only good idea she could come up in the short period of time. She suddenly dodged back a few steps, watching Metaveil stumble forward. Before he knew what was happening, she ducked under him, shoving the pole part of her weapon upward into him, launching him up and over her, and as she had hoped, right onto the shard in Dorty's hand.

Landing on said shard, Metaveil gasped and coughed a few times, before he began absorbing the magic in it without really trying to. The extra strength let him push himself back up, ripping the spend shard out of Dorty's arm. The wound he had, meanwhile, quickly healed itself.

"Oh, you made a poor, poor choice, little girl." He scowled, marching towards her.

Unfortunately, everything from her idea had gone out according to plan. Before Metaveil took more than five steps towards her, Dorty had climbed back up, freed from the shard anchoring him to the ground, and grabbed the sylvari's leg out from under them, making Metaveil fall flat on his face.

"Thanks Sej!" Dorty exclaimed as he pulled back on Metaveil, then swinging overhead, smashing the sylvari into the ground. After that, he spun around once with Metaveil flailing around, before throwing him on a direct course for Jukkerbaut's head.

Metaveil spun madly as he bonked Jukkerbaut exactly where Dorty wanted to throw him, sliding down the large helmet. Now, Jukkerbaut was pretty annoyed by having his 'friend' thrown at him, so naturally he wasn't gonna lug around anymore, waiting for the right moment to attack. Pulling out their greatsword, Jukkerbaut slowly approached the two asura.

"Well, if we keep climbing, Jukkerbaut can't really follow us at least!" Dorty yelled, running for the path that winded upward.

Sajessia grabbed the torch and quickly followed, sensing it was the right path, but once again they were running from Metaveil and Jukkerbaut, and being more focused on out-running them by focusing on the path ahead of them left them more vulnerable from behind.

Jukkerbaut appeared to have learned some new moves, as while the two asura ran up the cliffside, Jukkerbaut grabbed the side of the cliff, slowly heaving themselves up. He was moving at the same pace as Dorty was earlier, but the sheer size of him make it all the more faster for climbing. He quickly caught up on the two asura ascending the cliff, and with one hand anchoring into the cliff-face, he swung his greatsword with the other into the ground ahead of them.

Sajessia stopped quickly enough to only get a blast of rocks and dust in her face as the weight of the greatsword shattered the path ahead of them. Seeing Jukkerbaut pull back to ready another swing, she tried to tackle Dorty out of the way, but her light weight only let her awkwardly glomp him.

Dorty got the idea though, and he quickly dodged to the left towards the wall as Jukkerbaut swung again, shattering the path beneath them. He grabbed the side of the cliff and started climbing, faster than before. He hated the fact the adrenaline boost was from the magic of the bloodstone that stabbed through his arm, because too much of it was either going to kill him or make him crazy, or make him crazy and then kill him.

"Hey, you stupid lug!"

Jukkerbaut glanced down at a shouting Metaveil, shaking his fist at the mechanical charr.

"You forgot me! Climb back down and-"

Jukkerbaut let out a mechanized roar, which probably translated to "Do it yourself, weed!". The roar echoed around the entire upper part of the mountains, causing a minor avalanche which quickly came upon them.

Sajessia quickly tried to manipulate a rock large enough to shelter them from the falling snow over their heads, and while it did block the incoming snow, it weighed down the rock, weakening the grip of her magic on it. Once it got too heavy, though by that time most of the snow had passed, she heaved it at Jukkerbaut. The rock hit Jukkerbaut in the head, scratching the helmet, before falling down more and almost hitting Metaveil as well while he was climbing up after them, before falling down the mountainside, impacts echoing all around.

The storm was suddenly picking up, howling loudly across the landscape. Dorty threw Sajessia up the rest of the way to a massive outcrop on the side of the mountain. She barely managed to grip onto the side of the ledge, anchoring the torch into the ground there to pull herself up. With the weight of the torch no longer weighing him down, Dorty quickly ascended the rest of the climb, using the torch to also pull himself up.

Looking up to the east, Sajessia finally saw the cave that she saw in her vision, though it was frozen over by the ice. "It's up there!" She pointed at it for Dorty to see.

"Huh, need me to throw you up or-" He blurted out, the howl of the storm making it harder to hear things, but before he could finish his sentence, a heavy scraping of metal shattered the rest of the noise, and Jukkerbaut heaved himself up a massive distance with a huge leap, landing on the outcrop. Metaveil shortly launched up after, landing to the side of him.

"Sorry, Dorty, but this is where you both die!" Metaveil laughed menacingly.

Jukkerbaut let out another metallic roar, causing another mini avalanche that missed them this time.

"Do that again, Jukkerbaut." Dorty snickered. "I dare ya."

Jukkerbaut threw his head back again, but this time a more chilling screech came from all around them. It was enough for Dorty's ears to perk and Sajessia's to droop in fear.

"Ooooo, nice one." Metaveil laughed, elbowing the charr.

"Uhh... Metaveil..?" Sajessia whimpered, edging away slowly from them.

"...that... was definitely not Jukkerbaut." Dorty finished her sentence, then turned to bolt with her for the cave, getting the torch from her.

"Hey! Get back he-" Metaveil started stomping towards them, but he only made it so far before a blast of ice showered from overhead, forcing him to turn around.

Dorty was definitely right when he said it wasn't Jukkerbaut; it was a Claw of Jormag that had heard the first roar of the charr, and flew over to attack. Poised to attack again, it reared its head back.

"-nopenopenopeNOPENOPENOPENOPE!" Metaveil actually panicked, fleeing with his arms in the air with Jukkerbaut following shortly after him as the breath of the dragon came down upon them. It missed Metaveil, but it stuck to the back of Jukkerbaut, messing up a few circuits inside him.

Due to the presence of the Claw, Icebrood were suddenly appearing around them, attempting to hunt them down. Unfortunately, the sheer altitude of the cliff made it hard for most of the Icebrood to keep up, if not lethal. The Claw summoned corrupted wolves from above to attack, but they bounced off the cliff to their death. The real threat came from the griffons that it summoned, which flew around them and shot chunks of ice at them.

Most the commotion was against Jukkerbaut and Metaveil, but a few griffons flew after Dorty and Sajessia. Dorty hurled a crystal at one, hitting it spot-on and knocking it out of the sky, while one coming in from ahead dive-bombed them, only to blasted through by Sajessia's magic. A third one flew down from behind however, talons out and open as it dove towards them.

"Sej watch-!" He didn't finish his sentence before it grabbed her by the shoulders, digging claws in her while she cried out in pain, going into her celestial form wouldn't help her here; it didn't protect her from direct contact with creatures. Dorty was quick enough to grab the griffon by one of its rear legs, but he was jerked up into the air with it as it flew.

Sajessia kicked around in hopes she would hit it, but in the end Dorty managed to stab it and save her. She was grabbed around the waist as she was pulled out of the grip of the talons, watching the thing fall lifelessly down the side of the mountain. With some relief, she found that Dorty had managed to land them right outside the cave, the door in sight behind the wall of ice.

"Okay, gimmi a sec, this'll help ya..." Dorty dragged her over to set her down against the wall, then held the torch up to her shoulders. The fire started melting part of the ice behind her, but more importantly it was melting the ice that was in her shoulders, and the magic slowed the bleeding enough to where it was just a tiny dribble of blood. "There, better?"

Sajessia nodded, trying to hug him, but there was no time for that. Still crying from the quickly-fading pain, she scooted over to the side so Dorty could start melting the ice.

Dorty wasn't sure how to melt a wall of ice with the torch, other than holding it up to it, but he needed to get rid of the wall quick before Metaveil and Jukkerbaut caught up, or more Icebrood. After a few moments, he simply jabbed the wall with the torch, getting thrown back from a sudden explosion from the head of the torch as the wall of ice was absolutely obliterated. He slid back a few feet, thankfully stopping before he would have fallen off into the darkness below. The only bad part there, was that the torch had burnt out from the burst, leaving them with little to no source of warmth. It was a good thing they had the Thaw Elixirs, otherwise they would soon become frozen.

Sajessia quickly shuffled over to the door once she saw Dorty was alright. She pulled the medallion out from under her shirt, looking for the imprint that matched it on the door.

"Sej, hurry up and get that thing open, they're getting kinda close!" Dorty yelled over at her.

Sure enough, despite having to deal with a hoard of Icebrood and even a Claw, the two hunters were getting progressively closer to them by the minute. Metaveil glared their way when he had the chance, before cutting down another minion.

Finally finding the imprint in the door, Sajessia pressed the metal part of the medallion up to it. Patterns on the door began to light up from that spot, melting off some ice that Dorty had missed. After a few seconds, the door was starting to slide upwards into the ceiling, and she quickly pulled the medallion out. "Come on, it's open!" She motioned him to follow.

Charging into the cave, Dorty narrowly avoided a blast of bloodstone shards from a Metaveil, who was almost right on top of them. Sajessia pulled a lever once Dorty had got in under the door, and it quickly started to slide shut.

"Oh no you don't!" Metaveil shouted, throwing more shards at the door, one landing below where it was closing. As soon as he reached it, however, it closed, crushing the shards that Metaveil tried to use to prop the door open.

Dorty was practically panting from exhaustion, looking over at Sajessia, who shared a similar look with him. "Heh... uh... hehe..." He laughed a little.

Sajessia nodded back, giggling a little herself. "Well, I guess that's that." She stepped over to him to try and give him a hug.

Gladly accepting said hug, Dorty shook his fist at the door. "Take that, Meta-!"

The cavern shook as bits of rock came off of the door, a small crack now visible on the surface on their side. Stopping the hug was pretty easy as the took a few steps back, glancing at each other.

"Okay, so, you probably know what I'm gonna ask, right?" She nervously nodded her head.

"...oh heck yeah I do." He grumbled, turning towards the door and pulling his sword out. "Just get done with this quick, kay?"

"No guarantees, but, I'll try my best." She ran over to Dorty, giving him one last hug before bolting for the altar.

Outside, Jukkerbaut smashed into the heavy stone door yet again, very slowly but surely breaking it down. Unfortunately, both him and Metaveil were under constant assault from the Claw and its minions. Metaveil threw a few fireballs at the door as well, but they were almost absorbed by a strange force-field, proving to be ineffective, requiring purely Jukkerbaut's brute force to open.

Inside, Dorty's eyes shifted between the breaking door and the asura running up the little stairs on the side of the structure in the middle. He kept his sword pointed at the door, ready for Jukkerbaut to breach the thing.

Sajessia slid to a halt in the very center of the altar, medallion hanging on her neck as she quickly sat down, this time on her knees rather than crossing her legs. It wasn't as comfortable, but she didn't have time to do that anyways, so she quickly went to meditating on the spot she sat at, the last part of her journey she needed to do. She relaxed, despite the pain she was in, her wings went limp and flopping to either side as she started.

Dorty took his gaze off of the door for a moment, watching Sajessia go into meditation. All he needed to do was hold off a bloodstone-crazed sylvari, a mechanical charr, and a hoard of Icebrood with Claw included long enough for her to finish whatever she needed to do, and keep them from touching her. He paced over to the center of the room, ignoring the next bash against the door as he looked around the cavern, admiring it. He looked up at Sajessia, who looked so calm despite what was going on, making him smile a little. Looking back at the door, he narrowed his eyes, grinning a little.

"Alright then, Metaveil, so we're gonna play the corruption game then, huh? Two can play at that game."

Dorty conjured up a few corrupted shards of his own, looking around the cavern, he threw them at the side of the wall close to the entrance, out of initial sight.

- - -

Sajessia found herself standing, rather than floating, on something in space. What she stood on was a faint outline of all of the details and such of the altar she was on in the real world. In her celestial form again, she looked around the place she stood on, unsure what to expect.

After a few moments, a large star came down from above, hovering above the platform. She ran over to the center of the platform, not exactly underneath it, but close enough. The star began to fade, beams of light shooting out from it, until it turned into many wisps of light which flew down in front of her, before combining together, glowing brightly.

She watched the light grow, brighter and brighter, noticing -something- was forming inside it. Two feet, talons included, a pair of wings, tail feathers, and a head were all she needed to see to know it. The light finished glowing with one final bright burst before fading to reveal the thing that was there. It was a bird, only it was made of pure starlight, with miniature stars inside it like a constellation, two for the eyes. They were perhaps a little larger than Trytamer, so they still towered over her, obviously.

"Hai Jii p..." She awkwardly waved at the Phoenix. "So... this is it? The end?"

"Yes, it is the end of your journey." He spoke, pacing over to the side of her. "It is where your fate is determined. Though I don't mean that in a 'I am going to kill you' way."

"I assumed that much." Sajessia bowed before him, looking up at the Celestial. "I'm... going to guess I need to fight you?"

"Yes, you know it wasn't going to be as simple as walking up to me and asking if I could fully restore your powers. Yes, we will fight, but first..."

Hai Jii suddenly spread his wings out, sending out strands of light all around, forming a dome around them. Meanwhile, in the real world, while Dorty was still preparing for Jukkerbaut to breach the door, the same dome (only smaller) appeared, protecting Sajessia from harm.

"There, now there will be no interruptions." Hai looked down at the little asura calmly, taking a battle stance, or at least as much of one as a bird could do.

"Just, one question before we start?" Sajessia held her hands behind her back.

"Anything, child."

"What happens if I lose?"

"Losing is an option here, but it will get you nowhere." Hai looked up at the endless space above them. "If you lose, you may try again, and again, until you finally beat me. Take your time, maybe even another year if need be to prepare. You're free to leave this vision, you know."

"Well, we're a tad short on time, and even if I'm safe in this dome, Dorty isn't." She made a grab for her glaive, only to realize she didn't have it. It was magic-only what they were about to do. "So... I will do my best to win. Just do me a favor when I do, and restore my magic as soon as you can. I'm allowed to ask questions later, yes?"

"Any time you need, I'm there."

"Okay." She took a step back, pacing in the direction opposite the way Hai was pacing before, then stood up straight and conjured up a little star in her hands.

"Time to end this." She declared.

- - -

Dorty took a few steps back from the altar, admiring the work he had done to the place. On the front side, he had scarred corrupted crystals all over, from the wall to the ceiling, to a few parts of the floor, leaving space to maneuver. On the side with the altar and Sajessia, he simply left unchanged to make sure cleaning up afterward was easier.

Another loud crash was heard as a crack now appeared in the door, light shining through as Jukkerbaut delivered another blow. The door was almost down, at least enough for Metaveil and maybe a few dragon minions to fit through. Jukkerbaut, however, was just too massive to fit, so he would be stuck outside with the rest of the minions and the Claw.

Deep down, despite hating both of them much, Dorty felt sorry for Jukkerbaut. It sounded strange, really, but it was easy to tell they weren't in control, they never were when they were like this. He was just a charr who probably had a bad life, then got roasted, and was reanimated by the asura who actually wanted to kill Dorty. So in reality, Jukkerbaut was just mindlessly following orders, unable to retaliate or anything mentally.

One final bash was all that was needed to punch down the door, and Jukkerbaut delivered that punch. The side of the door crumbled, leaving a gap wide enough for Metaveil to finally squeeze though. It took him a few moments to rush over to the entrance, dodging under the mechanical charr. He got between the gap just as Jukkerbaut was pinned down by an icebrood ogre, greatsword out of reach for reasons unknown.

"Hehe, sorry 'friend', but you're on your own." Metaveil laughed as he squeezed the rest of the way in. "Oh don't worry, I'll kill Dorty for you!" He let out one more laugh before trotting inside, leaving the charr for dead to the hands of the Icebrood.

"Finally!" He said as he stepped into the center of the short hallway that was connected to the central chamber. He fired off bloodstone shards into the walls around him, sprouting crystals of bloodstones that, after a few moments, turned into elementals of that kind. He didn't even know he could do that, yet he just did.

Dorty stood at the end of the hallway, right near the center of the place. Looking up, Metaveil could see Sajessia inside some kind of golden dome, eyes closed. Dorty's head was lowered before he got there, and he was staying like that as Metaveil approached.

"So, about time you showed up." He didn't bother looking up, he knew what was there.

"Dorty, Dorty, Dorty. Dirty Dorty? Ahem, whatever. Anyways, you're time has come. I hope you accept death with open arms, cause I'm him!"

Dorty slowly drew his sword out, tapping the tip of it on the cavern floor. "Ey, Meta, I know you're pretty lousy for a baddie, and even still you fail to realize some things."

"Ha! Like what, that you have a trap? You got nothing here, Dort, nothing."

"You forgot the 'Y'."

"I know what I said!"

"Well, listen here, Meta. Like you, I don't know everything you can do." He finally raised his head a little, pulling out a piece of fabric from his pocket.

"So, what's your point, that you're a loser?" Metaveil took a few more steps forward.

Little did he know, that while he himself had bloodstone elementals as minions, he forgot one detail that was the most obvious: Dorty was part-dragon in terms of corruption. Likewise, he had the abilities of a dragon, and as Metaveil had his small group of elementals to fight with him, he didn't see the minions that Dorty had hidden behind the corners while he was waiting, all poised to strike as soon as their master willed it.

"My point is, you don't know everything -I- can do, either." He held up the fabric for the sylvari to see, a glowing emblem on the center of it which Metaveil wasn't familiar with. Dorty swung it around for a few moments, before putting it over his face, tying it behind his head; a blindfold.

Metaveil nearly gagged in laughter, lifting a finger in questioning. "Wh-what? You want to fight me -BLIND-!?" He stuttered, still cracking up.

"Did I stutter like you just did there?" He lowered his brows in unamusement, the emblem on the front, resembling an eye (it was a Revenant symbol, after all), mimicked this action.

Metaveil started cracking up even more, before he realize there was magic at play. He straightened up, and took one more step towards the asura, and at the same time willing his elementals to attack.

That was all Dorty needed to start. With the elementals and Metaveil charging straight at him, he willed his own minions to attack. First, a scorpion lunged at Metaveil, striking him in the leg only to be thrown off in his surprise. Before he could react, the other minions were already on top of his elementals. Fighting his heavy ones were crystalline goliaths and the scorpion, and fighting the flying elementals were some snakes and hawks, all corrupted of course.

"What is this!?" Metaveil demanded, staring down Dorty.

"Eh, well it doesn't seem fair if you bring an army and I don't, so I made my own while you guys were hammering away at the door, so now we're even." He held his sword up at Metaveil, knowing he was there despite not seeing him. "Wanna dance?"

"Wh- I came here to kill you, not get in a dance-off!"

"That's not what I meant." He ducked a little as one of his minions threw a bloodstone elemental over his head.

"Oh. Well, today I learned dance has more than one meaning. Fine then, Dorty, let us quote-on-quote 'dance'.

Metaveil lunged forward, a bit too overconfident in himself as Dorty dodged around to land a swipe on the sylvari's leg. Turning around, he lunged again, going for the side this time rather than the head, but Dorty easily parried it. He quickly retaliated with a kick that aimed for the best place to hit Metaveil, which was right between his legs, based on past evidence.

A metallic 'clang' was only heard as his boot made contact with the pants there, so Dorty didn't have to guess what Metaveil had done.

"Yeah, I got my pants reinforced. Like it?" Metaveil snorted, building up a fireball to throw at him.

"Meh, could be better, that's just iron there." He flicked his wrist and fired out a shard which hit the oncoming fireball, causing an explosion between them. Before the smoke could settle, Dorty was already on top of Metaveil, ready to throw another few blows his way.

Metaveil tried his best, but only managed to block a single blow, Dorty lacerating his arms in the process. The bloodstone shards in him, however, quickly healed them up, leaving him in the same condition, if not just slightly worse than before.

"You do realize you can't kill me, right? I'm invincible, you're not." Metaveil cackled.

"Not really, just hard to kill." He glanced over at Sajessia, the back at the sylvari. "Besides, I just gotta hold off long enough until it's a two-v-one against you."

- - -

While Dorty and Metaveil fought in the real world, and Jukkerbaut was continuously pummeled by the Icebrood, Sajessia and Hai Jii were finally battling it out in the astral realm. Their battle consisted more of throwing the very heavens at each other, as both hurled stars, miniature black holes, and beams of light at each other.

Hai Jii was much bigger than Sajessia, so he was more durable, but also an easier target to hit, while Sajessia herself was physically weak, but her size made her all the more difficult to fight against. Twice already she had rolled under the Phoenix to deliver a blow, but only once during the whole fight up to this point did Hai manage to land a blow against her via talons. Nothing here would carry over to reality, however.

Sajessia charged up another beam of light, which shot out from her palm at Hai Jii, who dodged it and retaliated with his own beam. The Phoenix threw out a spread of feathers in an attack that was difficult to avoid. Sajessia was struck through the torso by one, but she grabbed the rest with her magic, hurling them back through Hai Jii, who staggered back from the blows.

Sajessia panted, though there wasn't much to breath here, she still did anyways. Hai Jii held a wing over his injured form, glaring at her. She glared back, nodding in understanding what came next.

Hai Jii started to concentrate his magic into his wings and tail feathers, which visually glowed brighter as he did so. At the same time, Sajessia did the same thing, only with her hands instead of a tail, because while she did have wings, asura just didn't have tails. She took a deep breath, holding it in, the slowly exhaling as her arms and wings lit up, looking up at Hai Jii, who was poised to make their move. She was also ready, all she was doing was waiting for the perfect moment.

Suddenly, both of them fired out continuous beams of light at each other, Sajessia's slightly brighter, and Hai's more golden in color. Both could practically feel the magic in the other while the beams connected, trying to assert dominance over the others. Three lines of energy, one from each tip of Hai's wings, and one from the tip of his tail, connected in front of them forming his laser. Meanwhile, Sajessia had four strands of magic fueling into the beam coming from her magic, though with almost the same amount of power Hai had.

With less power than Hai, although that was to be expected, she found herself being overpowered by his magic, as his beam was pushing hers back. At the current rate, if she didn't come up with an idea soon, she would get blasted and lose. She had already used most of, if not all of her known abilities, so what was she missing? Did she just need to let go and catch Hai off-guard, or was it something else?

With time being the essence and the opposing beam quickly getting closer, Sajessia looked down while struggling to hold it at bay. While doing this, she got a look at her own soul, which was also a star, which was glowing brighter and brighter as she kept up during the fight. She glanced back up at her opponent, then back down, suddenly having an idea flicker in her head, one that she never tried before, but would it work? It was either she risk letting out against the beam and try to dodge it, possibly getting injured enough to lose, or run out of time to retaliate, leaving her with having to try her plan, since now was the perfect moment to strike back.

She lowered one of her hands down to her torso, weakening her beam further as Hai's grew closer much faster now. She felt the heat of her soul continuing to grow hotter, and she tried to take hold of that. With a magical grasp and a tug, and what might have been a small explosion...

...Sajessia pulled her own soul out of herself, which pulsated powerfully enough for even Hai Jii to feel from his angle. She quickly held it up between her two hands and wings, which not only restored the strength of her beam in time before Hai's would hit her, but also further strengthened it, and now she was pushing his beam back.

All she needed was that last, final push, and she was about to deliver that. Once she had his beam far back enough, she suddenly pulled her arms and wings back, severely weakening her beam, but not for long. Before the Phoenix could get his beam back at her, Sajessia suddenly brought everything she had, arms, legs and wings, forward upon her soul-star, crying out from the powerful sensation that hit her as her beam suddenly grew absolutely massive, obliterating the one Hai Jii was attacking with, and striking him into the wall of the dome, pinning him there during the all-mighty finishing move. She practically felt own strength, memories, and willpower washing over herself in numerous pulses as she finished the fight. Her beam quickly began to shrink, her hold on her beam leaving her as in her vision she suddenly reverted back to her original asuran form, falling to the ground backwards, her soul-star floating down to softly land atop her chest. She closed her eyes as she relaxed in victory.

Hai Jii was bested, and although he was greatly beaten by the attack, he quickly regained all of his strength, mostly due to being a god, after all. He flew over to where Sajessia was laying, watching her pant in exhaustion.

"Sssshhhhhhh... you've done well, you should be proud of yourself." He held the tip of his wing up to her mouth, making her stop panting heavily, breathing through her nose instead. He then moved his wing down, over to the little soul on top of her, brushing over it and infusing it with more of his magic. "When you wake up, you'll be reborn, and you'll be among the many shielding the innocent from the horrors that lay in wait in Tyria, do you understand?"

"...Yes..." She said weakly, but in much understanding. The last move had taken most of the strength out of her, but that would quickly change soon enough.

Once Hai had finished restoring her powers, he gently pressed on her soul until it phased back inside her. All at once, a new warmth was filling her, one she was not familiar with as new magic coursed through her. "-oh..." She winced a little from the sensations all throughout her as she started lighting up in the same, if not similar, glow that Hai Jii was always in.

Back in the real world, after some moments of the medallion around her neck glowing, it would suddenly burst into a dozen of wisps of light, which spread out within the dome. Sajessia herself would slowly start floating upwards a yard or two, before stopping as the wisps of light circled around her. Soon though, the bright floating lights changed their course in unison, gradually approaching the asura to the point where they started fusing with her, spinning her around with them as their light spread across her entire form, until she was completely engulfed in the blinding glows, causing her body to turn a blinding-glowing white. For a brief moment, she remained like that arms outstretched a little to her sides, palms facing outwards from her, shortly before beams of the heavenly light pierced from her very body and flooded the entire room in the magical light!

Too caught up in the fight to see it coming, Metaveil yelled in confusion and pain as the light bounced around under his mask, making it near impossible to see. Dorty could still see the light even through his blindfold, and felt the immense heat coming from her as well. He lifted up his blindfold and turned to look her way, while Metaveil was still dazed and recovering.

When the light faded, or at least enough to the point the chamber was back to its normal brightness almost, Sajessia was left floating in the center, maintaining the same pose she was in when she was floating upwards initially, only now one of her legs hung down while the other was held up a little. That was the least important detail, however, as she had completely changed almost. Her golden, starlight form (much like Hai Jii's) shown brightly all over the chamber, her eyes literal stars when she finally opened them again, beholding the world from a new point of view. On top of all of that, her wings had finally grown to maximum length, sharing the same translucency and glow as the rest of her form, though that would probably change soon enough. Even her hair had grown in length from the transformation.

Dorty was mildly dumbfounded by all of this, though before he had the moment to congratulate her, Metaveil finally broke out of his dazed state, glaring up at Sajessia.

"Oh- come o- what even -is- this?!" Metaveil threw his hands in the air, unsure what to make of the floating asura.

"Well..." Sajessia wondered in a slightly wispy voice that reflected her current form, "...it's a long story, but I was born so many years ago, a lot longer than you have been around, and I already had this magic. I just wasn't trained into using it, so after I woke up again a... has it been a year already? Wow, time flies... hey are you two even listening to me?"

Metaveil had lunged at Dorty and reengaged their previous duel, swinging his daggers at the asura. "Does it look like I care, faker?"

Sajessia raised a brow a little, "Faker?"

"Yeah, you heard me! You're not a god, I am! You think with your wimpy little light-body that you're automatically as good as I am, well you are wrong!" Metaveil leapt back away from Dorty, and threw a fireball at her.

Sajessia didn't even bother getting out of the way; the fireball passed right through her like she wasn't there, which only made Metaveil gap in utter confusion. He fired again, this time for her to roll out of the way through the air, and suddenly retaliate with a thrown star.

As soon as the star hit the ground, it exploded in a brilliant flash, throwing Metaveil back into the opposing wall. It also pushed Dorty back as well, in the opposite direction, but he stuck the landing unlike the sylvari.

Sajessia flew down to hover next to Dorty, smiling at him, and giving him a small wave.

"Yeah, hi." He smiled a little himself. "Uhh, should we leave thanks for later or..?"

"Yeah, maybe later." She flicked her wrist, shooting out a beam of light, purposefully missing just so Metaveil could see the power of it as it burnt a large hole into the wall next to him.

"Oh, you just made me mad." Metaveil held his hands close together as he started to channel up all of his magic into a giant, bloodstone-infused fireball. It started out small between them, but as he extended his arms upward and out, the fireball grew more and more in size until it was about the size of the altar nearby.

"Hey Dorty, wanna see me embarrass him?" Sajessia giggled.

Dorty's eyes shifted between her and the massive fireball being made. "Sure."

Nodding, she stepped over in front of him, poised and ready to retaliate. She spread her wings out to the maximum length, arms to one side as she prepared her next move.

After a few more moments of Metaveil's consistent shouting as he built his attack up, he finally got it as big as he needed it to be, and heaving it back over his head, threw it at the two asura.

Dorty legitimately hid behind Sajessia as the giant fireball rolled towards them through the air in an arc, though it moved rather slowly. Suddenly, at the top of the arc, Sajessia flashed over in front of it... and slapped it. Rather than having it explode in her face, the force of her attack sent it hurling back at Metaveil, whose only response was a weak "What-" before the fireball hit him, exploding in a massive blast that filled the entire other side of the cavern.

While the smoke was clearing, she hovered back down next to Dorty, shrugging at him.

"Sej... wow uhh..." He had no clue what to say, only laughing out loud after a few moments of registering what had just happened.

"Was that cool or what?" She asked, perking her ears, smiling.

"Heck yeah, it was! Hey if you can get the chance to do it again, do it again, I just like watching him freak out."

Metaveil slowly got up, quickly healing as he glared at the two asura, moaning. "...how... in the world did you do that..?"

"Well, okay I'm going to clarify two things, Metaveil." She held up a finger while she talked. "One, you're right about me being a god, because I'm not a god, I'm a deity. It's... kind of a lesser god or something. Speaking of, two, you're not a god or even a deity like myself."

"Oh- just die already!" Metaveil leapt into the air, landing to shatter the ground around him, lifting up the rocks as he was about to hurl them at Sajessia.

"Not happening."

A small, concentration of light suddenly appeared in front of her. Right as Metaveil threw the rocks their way, she pulled off the same massive beam attack she used on Hai Jii, piercing through the rocks and blasting through Metaveil, pinning him against the cavern wall for the whole duration, burning his clothes and part of his skin. It would have normally obliterated him, but she hadn't pumped out -all- of her power into that one attack, so she meant for it to be weaker.

"Okay, forget what I said earlier, -THAT- was way cooler." Dorty whistled, leaning on his sword.

Metaveil was pushed so hard into the wall by the beam that it left an indentation of his pinned form on it. A few moments later, he flopped down onto the floor face-first, moaning in pain that was quickly healing. The beam had burnt off his cloak, hood, and part of his pants, leaving him looking very ragged. His mask was still on his face, though it was visibly burnt to a crisp and almost about to crack apart, and sitting on top of his head, initially hidden under his hood, was the bloodstone crown empowering him.

"Mmm..." Sajessia looked herself over, brushing her arms and wings off from the attack.

"Something wrong?" Dorty tilted his head.

"No, I'm fine. I'm just kind of thinking I spent long enough in this form." She pointed at herself, "I'm gonna turn back, okay?"

"Eh, sure, Metaveil's still a wimp either way." He shrugged, then finger-gunned the sylvari staggering back onto his feet, wobbling off balance still.

With a simple nod, Sajessia hovered back down, until she touched the ground with one of her feet, followed by the other. As soon as she did this, her normal self began to reform back, starting at her feet and going up her form. She didn't even get halfway to changing back before Dorty realized she was already looking different, even like this. Her pants were replaced with part of a light coat that hung down to her knees, which had gold trimmings on the bottom edges. Her shirt was instead something that a battle-mage would wear, which left protection for her shoulders and the rest of her torso, though leaving her belly exposed (which shown her soul-star in a small, space-like area within her, so her belly looked like space). She wasn't wearing shoes now, but had some wrist guards on her arms, the one on her left arm slightly bigger for reasons to soon be unveiled, and white stardust covered her fingertips and the bottom of her feet.

Once her head returned to normal, followed by her wings, she completely changed back, and was still definitely a sight to behold. Unlike the rest of her, the only changes on her head were the bits of stardust that were in her hair, now glowing a golden glow, and her eyes, which also glowed the same way. She wore a simple, ornate mask that sat on her face, though it honestly wasn't much. As for her wings, aside from already reaching as big as they would go, the feathers had mostly, if not all of them, turned golden and translucent, glowing radiantly. The feathers that were white, pink, or purple were left unchanged closest to the ridges of her wings.

She pulled out her glaive, and even that had underwent a transformation as well. The edge and tip of the blade glowed with her magic, and a small space was cut through the blade in line with the pole, so that it was more one flat-backed blade followed by a smaller, actually curved blade behind it. A white star shown in a little chamber in her glaive, maybe for use in attacks. The rest of the glaive had become more ornate than previously, but retained most of its functionality.

"Soooo..." She was pretty much bugging Metaveil now as he got the strength back to glare at them. "Blade-fight?"

"Oh, definitely yes." Metaveil drew out both daggers, holding them out to the side, cracking his neck for a moment to relieve himself of the stress on it.

Dorty stood side-by-side with Sajessia, both pointing their weapons at him, then, he lowered his a little, perking a brow. "...heeeeeeey... what's that bloodstone thingy in your head?"

"Nothin'-!" Metaveil pulled his mask up just a little, to better cover the crown on his head.

"Oh no, it's definitely something." Dorty shook his head, though he let Sajessia attack first.

Teleporting over to the sylvari, she swung with her glaive right through the remains of his mask, watching it crumble under the streak she made, and revealing the crown on his head.

"It's nothing, honestly!" Metaveil pleaded, obviously lying as he kept a hand on his treasure while he tried his best to parry her attacks, yet she had the distance advantage with her pole-arm.

While Metaveil was busy with her, Dorty quietly crept up behind to try and tackle him to the ground, but it was a whole lot less easy than what he assumed. As soon as he clasped onto the sylvari, they started flailing around in an attempt to throw him off, accidentally stabbing himself once.

"GET. OFF. OF. ME." Metaveil shook, punching the asura in the face.

"Huh well then..." Dorty finally took hold of the crown on his head, poking the little lever that was on the side of it. "-nice knowing ya, ya stupid jerk."

Dorty pulled the lever, the bloodstone shards in Metaveil's head retracting back as the asura ripped the thing right off of their head. Golden sap tinged red with the magic of the shards bled out from the sylvari's head as he let out an unholy cry, staggering backward. He desperately grabbed for the holes in his head in an attempt to recover lost magic, but it was no use. He slipped over to the tunnel that led back outside.

Dorty jumped off of him, landing in the center of the chamber, then dashed into Metaveil in a blast of corrupted electricity as he tackled him straight through the door that led them inside in the first place. They rolled over each other a few times, until they were at the very edge of the small outcrop. Dorty grabbed the sylvari by the throat, and pinned him down with his head hanging over the ledge.

"Well wadaya know, this is a change of fate!" Dorty shrugged, before punching him in the face.

Metaveil couldn't retaliate, and he was left at the mercy of the asura on top of him, despite how hard he tried to get up, the loss of magic prevented him from retaliating. "You... suck..."

"Nah, you're the sucker. Hey, you looking for this?" Dorty held up the bloodstone crown in his free hand, keeping it in sight of the sylvari.

"-yes... give it to... me..." He tried to reach up and grab it, but Dorty stood up on him, holding it up just out of reach.

"Lemme make a suggestion that's bound to inspire plenty of people around Tyria -and- be an important life lesson you can relate to." He chuckled, then viciously glared at Metaveil, shortly before a 'crunch' was heard as his grip on the crown strengthened, shattering it. "Don't do bloodstones."

"Dorty dodge!"

Sajessia's warning was heard too late as Jukkerbaut swiped at him with his plated hand, grabbing the asura in his grasp. Try as he might, he wasn't going to wiggle out, and Jukkerbaut brought him up to eye-level.

"...uhmm.... well..." Dorty gave an awkward smile at Jukkerbaut's emotionless head. "...okay, I'll admit, this is the first time this has ever happened."

Dorty wasn't alone, however. As soon as Metaveil struggled back up, and tried to grab for the crown, Jukkerbaut used his other hand to grab around the sylvari. He kicked and thrashed as he was held up next to the asura.

"Hey, let me go! We're friends, remember?" He nervously grinned up at the charr, feeling a sense of guilt. "Eheh, ehm... I was- I was just kidding about leaving you for dead, yaknow?"

That was obviously not going to work. The dagger that was originally stuck in his helmet was gone, and he was dented all over by the assault. In the end, the light from Sajessia's transformation scared the Icebrood off, effectively saving the charr from his demise.

Jukkerbaut turned his head toward the asura; the target, the one he was supposed to kill. In his other hand was the salad; the 'friend' who wanted to kill the asura as well. He shifted his gaze between the two, and suddenly, for the first time since forever had something he hadn't had for a long time: a thought. Sure, Dorty had dealt plenary of blows to him, but it was Zaxaxx who had ordered Jukkerbaut to attack them in the first place. This asura kept going good deeds, and Jukkerbaut's creator was a bad person with little care for life. Then there was the sylvari, who took over control from his creator over Jukkerbaut using the bloodstone shard, and then left him for dead.

With the crown out of Metaveil's head, however, he lost control over Jukkerbaut, which only left one person left: Jukkerbaut himself. The littlest bit of sense left in him was coming back to him, he stared at Dorty, who swallowed in slight nervousness.

Before Jukkerbaut could do anything else, Sajessia fired out another beam of light, which pierced clean through his armored form, missing all of the vital organs, but taking out a lot of decayed flesh with it, leaving a gaping hole straight through him. He staggered one foot to the right, stabilizing himself, then slowly turning to face the other asura.

"Uhh, Sej? I think you made him aannnng-?" Dorty started talking, but suddenly Jukkerbaut lowered the hand holding the asura hostage, and slid him back onto the ground. "...-gry?"

Jukkerbaut stood back up to full height, then shifted his head to stare at Metaveil, who now was struggling even more. "Hey, lemme go lemme go!" He wiggled around in his grasp, unable to escape, his fate essentially sealed.

Jukkerbaut turned to look off from the edge of the outcrop, down at the calming storm and retreating dots in the distance. He stood like that as Metaveil continued to thrash and curse in his hand, which he held closer to the massive torso he had, unable to feel the life fading away from himself.

After a few more moments, Jukkerbaut turned to glance back at the two asura behind him, looking up at him with curiosity. Lifting his free hand, Jukkerbaut legitimately did the slowest of waves at them, before turning to face off the ledge again.

Peering down at the sylvari and the sheer distance below, Jukkerbaut held their head up high, and then sparked a few times, entering power-saving mode. The lights on his armor dimmed, he sulked down, his whole form went limp as he stood on the ledge, his grasp the only thing not going limp as he powered off.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Metaveil stuttered, glancing around desperately looking for a means of escape, but this was it for them.

Very slowly, gravity took its toll on Jukkerbaut, and he slowly lurched forward, until...

"Jukkerbaut- WAKE UP WAKE UUUAAAAAAAAaaaaa-" Metaveil's scream trailed off as the massive charr holding him tilted off the cliffs edge, throwing them both down to a seemingly guarantee death. Dorty and Sajessia ran up to the ledge to watch them fall, and they watched until they had lost sight of them.

Even still, they kept looking down at where they fell, then slowly looked back up at each other, then back down. "Wow... that was a climatic end for them." Sajessia exclaimed.

"At least they won't be a problem anymore." Dorty sighed, smiling a little.

"Why does it sound like you didn't want this to happen?" She perked a brow.

"Oh, nah I'm totally fine with what just happened." He turned and shuffled away from the cliffs edge. "Just... Jukkerbaut could've easily taken me with them, and he didn't. I guess messing up Metaveil fixed him up as well."

"So... you're happy knowing Jukkerbaut doesn't have to forcefully try and kill us anymore?"

"That's one thing, I guess."

Sajessia skipped over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder, warmth spreading from the touch. "So, now what?"

"Eh, I kinda wanna take a nap, get some well-deserved rest, yaknow?" He smiled a little at her, then looked over to the left of the cave entrance at a small path going along the edge of the mountain. "Random walk because why not?"

"Sure, I guess I need to relax a little too." She kept next to Dorty while he took the first few steps forward on the trail.

They didn't talk much while they walked, simply admiring the view, though Dorty was more admiring Sajessia herself in a way he didn't realize before. The storm had finally cleared up, replaced with a calm breeze as the snowfall stopped. Sajessia heat her hand on his shoulder, leaning on it gently.

At the very end of the path was what might have been the nicest spot in the Shiverpeaks, which was a neatly constructed vista of sorts with rocks set up all around, and two sakura trees, one in the center and another on the edge on the other side. The wind brew the pink petals off of the trees, as they drifted off into the air.

Dorty sat in front of a rock that was right next to the base of the tree in the center, scooting over a few inches so Sajessia could sit next to him, sighing with relief. She wrapped her right wing around him, sighing again as she leaned on him. He leaned back on her a little himself, wrapping an arm around to pull themselves closer together.

"So... this is it, huh? The end of this little journey of ours." Dorty spoke.

"Yeah, it is." She replied, smiling.

"Hey, just so you know, I actually -was- listening earlier, unlike a certain lousy sylvari." He chuckled.

"I was... kind of caught up in the moment there, it's just... wow, I'm still comprehending all of this, just so much to take in..."

"Hmm, not sure if I wanna say something or not now..."

"Huh? You can say it, I'm listening."

"Pf- nah, it- it's stupid." He glanced away, blushing.

"Why did you bring it up then?"

Dorty let out a tired sigh, glancing over at the asura cuddled up with him. "Just... don't kill me when I say it, alright?"

Sajessia's ears drooped, expecting something bad, but she nodded. "Go on..."

Dorty took a long breath, before suddenly blurting out really fast "Okay I think you're really pretty and I may or may not be in love with you okay there I said it-!" He gasped for breath, tensing up a little.

Sajessia's ears perked all the way up, her eyes widening while she registered what he just said. Love? Did he really care for her that much, more than just a friend then? It was quick to comprehend; she realized she also shared this love without really realizing it, for what might have been months, even before starting their trip.

What she did next was enough to confuse Dorty: She turned him around to face her, and completely hugged him, arms and wings holding him close. He slowly relaxed, understanding what she was implying, letting out a breath.

"...I love you too, Dorty." She leaned up and pecked a kiss on his cheek, which make him fluster red in embarrassment, though he was okay with it. He smirked a little from the affection, and Sajessia had a silly smile on her face as she hugged him.

After a few more moments of this exchange, Dorty's expression went more neutral, his ears perking back up while he looked down at his friend, or was it girlfriend now that they had basically confessed love for each other? He carefully put a hand on her shoulder, glancing nervously around, mostly at her though.

Sajessia figured out what he was trying to ask, since the first one hardly did them justice. She scooted up into his lap, putting her hands on his own shoulders and wrapping her wings around his back, so leaning up would be easier.

"...I... never really got to try this before..." Dorty blushed, "Then again, I'm not really worth loving-"

"No, you're perfectly fine, don't listen to what others say about you, I mean, if it's bad." She tilted her head a little to the side, cheeks flustered as well. Almost forgetting, she reached up and pulled her mask off of her face, showing off the rest of her beauty that it hid.

She pulled herself up a little, Dorty leaning down a little himself, and they shared their first kiss with anyone else. Surprised by the feeling, he closed his eyes a little, calmly accepting what was transpiring right now. Sajessia hugged a little tighter, closing her eyes as well, and booped his nose with hers. They kept this up for a few seconds, before finally breaking the kiss.

Scooting back a little, Sajessia loosening her grip around him while they resumed their previous positions sitting next to each other, except now they were both blushing immensely. She leaned back on him, wrapping her wing back around him, and tried to grab his hand.

Dorty already guessed what she was trying to do, so before she could grab his hand, he move it for her, holding hers and entwining his fingers with hers, smiling down at her.

Looking down at the hand-thing they were doing, she looked back up at him, truly happy about everything right now. She rested her head on his shoulder, wiggling her ear a little to pat him with it. "Thank you."

Dorty looked out over the horizon from their little vista point. Everything was so nice, yet sooner or later they would have to go home, but that was the easy part. Watching the petals fall from above, he used his spare hand to pick some off from the ground, and then run said hand through her hair, leaving the petals in it, then just to make it even, threw a few on top of himself.

"Anytime, Sej."

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

[dortykid]

Journey of the Celestial: Part 3

The hylek village proved to be a good place to rest up at, despite the lack of pillows and blankets. Very few krait had made attempts to attack the village while they were there (for Dorty had mostly shattered their forces), which left the two with a mostly peaceful stay. The only mildly annoying part of it was the stench of certain potions the frogs made, which made Sajessia cough and have to hold her nose to block it out.

Most of what they had to eat there was stew and salads, rarely did they get something actually delicious like boar meat. That only came every third day that came. Falling asleep was somehow easier, probably due to the frogs croaking day and night. Dorty's wound healed quickly thanks to the alchemy the hylek used, and it even helped rejuvenate Sajessia.

Overall, the time they spent there wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst either. All they needed was a place to rest up and restock supplies at, and this did a good enough job at that. Once they had outfitted themselves with new packs to carry around, and once they had been filled, they set out a few days later southward towards Orr.

Before Orr, however, was Mount Maelstrom, a region boasting a massive volcano at the eastern side of the region. On the opposite side of the region were Inquest who worked at the Infinite Coil Reactor, but they weren't going that way. They were going to go towards and past the volcano, through a valley that was basically a straight route to Orr. As far as they knew, all there was to worry about were earth elementals, and speckles of Risen near the swamp that led to the Straits of Devastation.

Right now, they had just came into the region and were starting to travel down the trail. Larger trees were definetly more common here than the cold Shiverpeaks, but this was going to be a short comfort before they reached Orr. The ground was more moist here as well, but was going to get wetter as they went.

Of course, nothing was easy in terms of the journey they were on. They had only just walked across a small bridge when a loud growl echoed around them. Both asura perked their ears instinctively to figure out where it came from, but Dorty figured it out first, drawing his sword and pointing it towards the source.

A warg was padding out from the undergrowth, and by the looks of its snarl and its blood-red eyes, it was hungry. They were carnivorous as usual, and if anything was a tasty morsel for a warg, it was a bite-sized asura.

Dorty went from mildly afraid to just plain unamused. "Really?" He sighed, lowering his sword.

After a few more moments of continuous growling, the warg lunged towards him, barring teeth and biting at the air as it rushed Dorty. Right when it reached him however, Dorty punched the giant dog in the snout. It whimpered as it staggered back, then lunged again to bite the asura around the arm.

Dorty just seemed a little awkward as he watched it gnaw on his hand, feeling shards of his hand break of into the beasts mouth. "You know, chewing is just gonna make it worse, right?" He asked, knowing full well it couldn't understand him.

While Sajessia beheld this strange exchange, two more wargs had begun to sneak up behind her, but she quickly took notice. She whipped around with her glaive extending out, but before she could take a swing at them, the first warg went soaring over her head into the second one, making them both tumble away down the hill.

The third warg, distracted by watching the other two roll away, didn't have enough time to react before she lashed out, cutting its leg. She held her weapon so that it was pointing at the beast, and as much as it wanted to lunge at her and rip her throat to shreds, there was no way it was going to go near her while she had that pointy thing that could slice it up. That being noted, it made the only sane choice it could come up with; running away and hoping the two asura would let their guard down and stay around. So with that, it turned and ran after the other two wargs it was with.

Both watched the trio of dogs run off for safety, Dorty shaking his hands out to rid himself of the loose bits of crystal that had come off. Sajessia plucked a few pieces of grass from the ground to clean her blade off with, before retracting it back into the handheld state.

"You know," Dorty began, "if that's stainless steel, I don't think you need to worry too much about getting it dirty, right?"

"I dunno." She shrugged, slipping it back into the little sheath she had on her side. "Trytamer made it, not me, so I don't know what he used. Probably better to keep it clean than see if it gets rusty."

He simply nodded, brushing off the last few bits that were loose on his hands.

After catching their breath, the two proceeded down the trail that cut through the region. They didn't even get a quarter of the way before they came across a sylvari camp that was set up. They took another quick break to grab a snack before progressing once more.

The earth elementals were unusually docile, so they walked right by them further down the path. Once they were past yet another outpost, this time one belonging to the Pact, they were entering territory where risen were local. However, they were right when they assumed the Pact had dealt with most of the dragon minions, as there were almost no risen on the path whatsoever. It was nice to finally walk without interruptions.

"To be honest here," Sajessia spoke, "this place kind of does have its own sense of beauty."

"Maybe," Dorty replied, "but I'm not gonna be here when the volcano blows."

"Will it erupt soon?"

"Heck if I know, but I think it's the most active one on the continent. If anything, it's probably already done that at least fifty times over."

"So, keep moving then?"

"Keep moving and nobody melts in a river of lava." He snickered. "Okay, maybe not nobody, but definitely not you or me."

"Right, good point." She replied, almost going into a skip as they were passing through a forested area. Ahead of them was a bridge that gapped over the swamp, and down below were some risen who patrolled the area, still lusting for carnage even after their masters death.

"This almost feels..." Dorty exclaimed while he perked his ears up, sniffing the air, "...a little too easy. That or it's just me."

"How so?" Sajessia stopped to lean on a pole of the bridge they had just reached.

"The only thing we had to deal with here was a dumb pack of wargs and damp ground. I mean, even when we first got to the Shiverpeaks the cold was more of an issue than anything."

All she replied with was a shrug before they resumed walking to over the structure. She walked close to the side, dragging her wing along the railing, stretching the other one. "Well, it's Orr we're going to, so from here on out it's going to be much harder, so I hope it makes you feel better." She folded her wings around herself, then started fanning them out while they kept moving.

"Not much time to get to actually use those?" He asked, watching her behavior.

"Maybe a little obvious." She replied while she kept stretching, probably relieving sore muscles connected with her wings.

"You could always give your legs a break and try flying all the way, no?"

"Been there, tried it, and unfortunately my wings just aren't big enough. Almost, but not quite."

"You can at least glide though."

"Mhmm..."

"-not to mention you were carrying me while you were doing that, so hey, if you can carry me while gliding, surely you can fly."

Sajessia giggled, "Give me a little more time and maybe I'll try it."

"Just don't fall off a cliff trying to do that."

She rolled her eyes and laughed a little, hopping off the last plank of the bridge onto the ground on the other side.

The path ahead was rather short due to the small Pact outpost that was straight ahead. A few members were on duty keeping it free of risen, and behind the outpost was a tunnel that was essentially the last route they needed to take to reach Orr. The smell of the sea was already noticeable amongst the thick air of the swamp. A few risen and spider corpses lay dead around the outside, one still twitching as if it was killed only recently.

To prevent said corpse from possibly getting back up, Dorty walked up to it and stabbed the head, before slicing the twitching body part off. "Stay down, stupid dead guy." He mumbled.

Sajessia ran up to the nearest person on duty, who glared back at her, or was it her wings they were glaring at? "'Scuse me, may we go through here to get to Orr?" She asked.

The person on duty was a tall, bulky asura, seemingly even taller than her companion. His face was showing a few scars around his cheeks, and one of his eyes covered up with some magitech. "Do asura have wings?" He replied, a bit of sternness in his tone of voice.

Sajessia glanced over to the left at the other Pact members on duty, before answering "No?"

"There's your answer." He said bluntly, "Get lost."

"Wait, was that a trick question?" She asked, fanning her wings out. "Cause if I said yes then that would mean we could go through, and I -do- have wings so-"

"No." He spoke again, same response, same level of bluntness.

"Well you know what?" Dorty suddenly interrupted, "You're basically just a guy whose job is to keep eyes peeled for baddies, so it's not like we're them, am I right?"

Sajessia nodded at him.

"Right, so in that case there, me and my friend will go ahead and waltz on through your little tunnel, okay?"

"How about no?" They replied, now moving to stand between them and their destination. "My job is simple, really. Unless you're a Pact agent I am not allowed to let anything through here."

"Did it say anything about anyone?"

"Well no-"

"Then we might as well get going then, right through here."

"Make me move, I dare you."

Dorty sighed, giving a look of annoyance at the latter. He pulled his sword out from the sheath to show them. "See this? We're armed, we're good to go."

The Pact agent merely snorted, not even fazed by the fact the thing was made of crystals. "Does it look like I care?"

"Oh, you don't care about us?" He asked in a mildly sarcastic tone. "Well then, might as well go right on through. C'mon Sej."

"Nope, you aren't going through here."

Dorty lifted a finger and was about to respond, but sudden cry of annoyance rang through the air as a charr dashed over to the determined asura, punting the poor fellow a dozen or so feet through the air into the other side of the checkpoint.

"I've had it with you, you stupid sharkrat!" They yelled at the asura, grabbing him by his hand and holding him up to eye-level. "All you do is complain, bicker, and smart-talk us all day every day of our shift. Don't you have anything better to do?"

"W-we're risking civilian lives here, look at them, they clearly aren't prepared to-"

"They look armed, they look somewhat dangerous. That's good enough for me." The charr turned to face Dorty and Sajessia, "You two go on through, I'm going to have a long talk with this guy here."

Dorty gave them a thumbs-up, "No offence taken, by the way."

"Hmm?" They snorted.

"Sharkrat. I'm not offended. I've been called worse things, trust me."

Dorty motioned for Sajessia to follow as he started down the tunnel, while she took one last glance back at the two Pact agents arguing before running to catch up to him.

- - -

Surprisingly, Orr was not the first thing they saw when the two asura reached the other side of the tunnel. Then again, they had never even been this far south, so it was a whole new experience for them. A massive fort, guarded by many Pact members and blue and grey brambles, stood before them, probably the 'Fort Trinity' they had heard of. Something about the fort itself felt welcoming, almost as though something were radiating from it.

Unlike the first person who was rude in letting them go through, the rest of the Pact left the doors open for anyone to go through, so they walked right in. Most of everyone there was either resting for the day or planning their next strike on the Risen. The part of the fort they were in was mostly ground or air troops, judging by the conversations they overheard at least.

To the western side of the base were the docks, where most of the Pact's navy was. Most of the boats that should have been there were gone, most likely taken out with troops to assist with the battles on the shoreline. Heavy artillery turrets were set up here, to guard the docks from enemy attacks, because somehow even undead with little to no intelligence could ride in on a boat.

Speaking of boats, there was still one boat left, but it was left untouched by everyone for a reason; it wasn't like anyone was going to use a little, dinky rowboat to reach Or, and yet someone decided to put it there. Despite the fact rowing would be a slow trip to Orr, the boat itself seemed fairly stable and durable, enough to take blows from below without so much as a care in the world. Same with the oars, which might even make a nice makeshift weapon should the opportunity rise.

There was a small group of Pact soldiers crowded around the tiny vessel, who were probably too late in trying to catch one of the larger ships, and were thus left with the last option available, but clearly not wanting to use it.

Seeing no other options to take to reach the shore, Dorty and Sajessia approached the group around the rowboat. A few eyes turned their way, and after a few moments, all eyes were on them as Dorty looked over the small thin that floated casually in the water.

"Are you guys gonna use this?" He asked, looking up at the much taller folk around them.

A few of them looked like they wanted to respond, but were not sure. They just stood there awkwardly with their mouths hanging open slightly. The norn of the group, by the looks of things the leader, spoke up. "We don't need a lousy boat like this, it can hardly fit four of us. You can take the stupid thing."

The squad leader motioned for his group to follow as they headed for the southern gate, leaving the two asura alone and with a boat.

"Woo." Dorty muttered sarcastically, throwing his hands in the air. "Free boat."

Sajessia stepped over to the edge, before hopping into the boat, which wobbled on the water upon landing, throwing off her balance and causing her to face-plant into the middle, proofing stardust out from her upon impact.

"You okay?" He asked, leaning over to check on her.

"Yeah." She mumbled, before flipping back over to sit in the middle.

Dorty hopped down into the boat on the side opposite of her, grabbing the oars and pushing off with his foot from the dock. The boat rocked side-to-side against the small waves splashing against the hull. It took him a moment to position the things correctly into the water before he started rowing, destination being straight ahead. It became easy once he got the hang of it, just repetitive.

After some time had passed while they were rowing, Sajessia finally spoke up. "So..."

"Hmm?" He looked up, he didn't stop rowing, but he slowed down so he could listen instead of straining himself.

"We're gonna just be rowing for a while now, aren't we?"

"Yup." He sighed.

"So, we might as well talk a little, right? Not like we have anything better to do."

"I'm open for that. Don't wanna stop rowing though, the sooner we get to the shore, the better for us."

"Want me to try rowing?"

"You sure?" He wondered, "Ya might hurt your arms doing it."

"Who said I was going to use my arms?"

Dorty blurred out laughing, then nodding midway his laughing stock, walking over to sit next to her.

Sajessia grabbed the oars from a small distance with her magic, taking a moment to just feel how she could move them like this. After flailing the oars around a little, she finally started rowing with them, moving her hand in time with the strokes. Slowly, she began using less and less movement to make them move, until she was just moving her finger around in little circles. "So, somewhere along the coastline here is... something."

"As usual you aren't quite sure what we're looking for, but hey!" He admitted, "At least we don't need to go too far into this stupid un-sunken island! That's good!"

"Mhmm." She nodded. While Dorty slouched over suddenly, she scooted over to him, wrapping a wing around him and pulling herself close.

"This again?" He asked.

"Problem?" She replied.

"Not at all." He sighed again, leaning his head onto hers lightly.

Sajessia made very little attempt in stopping his head from squishing her. All she needed to do was move her head up against his, effectively letting him rest his head on top of hers.

"To be honest here, and this is probably gonna be factual," Dorty explained, "we're probably going to be joking at this when we get back, no?"

She smiled, "Probably."

"Yeah, something kinda has me a little confused though."

"Hmm?"

"I mean, hey, we've been through a lot, all of us. Even though so far this trip has been a pain in the butt, it's felt better than all the other things we've done as a group."

"We've had some fun, you can't deny that."

"Heh, okay maybe a little."

"One way or another." She reached up and booped Dorty on the nose. "Boop."

Dorty's eyes widened as he was booped, the he snickered. "Boop to you too," He retaliated by booping her on the nose, "boop."

Sajessia flapped her wings in response to this exchange.

"I mean though, like," He wasn't sure how to word his sentences, taking his time in saying them, "something about this trip together. I can't come up with a reason I'm enjoying it."

"Now that you mention it, it is kind of unusual." She tucked her knees under her chin. "Might as well figure out what it is."

"Right then." He agreed, taking his head off of hers, taking a quick breath before making his first guess, "The scenery?"

"Mmmm, it's nice, but I just don't feel like that's it. She paused, taking a moment to come up with her own idea, "The fact we're traveling around Tyria to places he haven't been, and looking at different cultures?"

"I've seen one settlement, I've seen them all." He rolled his eyes, leaning on the side of the boat.

"The party we had in Hoelbrak?"

"Nah, what about the random things we've done on this trip?"

Sajessia laughed a little, still twirling her finger to make the boat row towards their destination. At this point they were getting near the shores. "Like when you started talking to a rabbit?"

"Hey, that was a one-time thing, okay? Those lil' guys are overestimated."

"Maybe, but they're soooo cuuuuute!" She squeed, folding her wings inward.

"They don't grant extra luck, though, so don't go around killing any unless you're hungry."

"Maybe it's all the luck we've had for the trip? I mean, getting away from Metaveil and Jukkerbaut had some luck involved."

"-but did we enjoy it? Heck no. If Metaveil wants to try and butcher everyone, he's still a failure and is wasting his time. It's just us yaknow, he could get more satisfaction killing T.K if he was able to, which he isn't."

"Just us?" Her ears started to slowly perk up.

"I mean, hey, we're two asura just trying to get something done together, what's the problem with that?"

Sajessia just kind of stared at him, though it wasn't the annoyed or unamused kind, more like the calm kind of stare when one can't get their eyes off of something.

Dorty exchanged the look with her, unsure if he said something wrong or if something was behind him, though it definitely wasn't the latter. Suddenly his eyes widened in realization of what he said, and his ears perked up too.

Sajessia giggled watching his reaction, mostly from the fact of how long it took. She couldn't help but smile back at him, and watched as he did the same, although more nervously, before averting his gaze away from her. A few moments later, she did the same, simply looking towards the coastline in sight.

"...okay, that just happened..." Dorty muttered, even blushing a little.

"It... kind of makes sense, if you think about it."

"Yeah, I am, and boy does it make sense, but..."

"Hmm?"

"Are you like, okay with this?"

"I'm fine! You're someone I really care about, so..." She paused, coming up with something else to say, then saying the first thing that came to mind, "...I don't think we deserve to see each other sad, or down in any way."

"Here's the hard truth, Sej." He sighed, frowning a little. "It's gonna happen, maybe even a lot, I mean I am kind of a draconic caravan-wreck." After saying that though, he smiled a little, then looked back over at her. "Though, I'll admit this, it feels a lot better when you're around. A lot less bad I mean."

Sajessia was starting to turn a little red, just a little. "I guess I... never really realized we care for each other this much." She laughed a little, then nuzzled him on the cheek.

Dorty made no attempt to stop her, letting her do as she pleased for a few moments. Afterward, he put a hand on the back of her head to tilt it up so they were eye-level with each other, just to admire each other for a little.

He almost felt like trying something he never really truly tried before, but before he fully considered this, a small 'pop' was heard by both of them. They turned towards the source of the sound, looking over the side of the boat. Another pop, just from an air bubble reaching the surface.

After that, they relaxed a little, assuming they were safe. Before they could lay back, however, more bubbles began to come to the surface, and more bubbles, and even more bubbles.

"...uhh, Sej?" He murmured.

"...yes?" She squeaked, about as sure what he was sure about as to what was going on.

"Drive- I mean row, uhm, swim? No don't swim just- oh what the heck I just do not want to be here right now we just gotta get of here!" He made a jump for the oars, getting a good grip on them before furiously attempting to row away from the impending danger.

Sajessia let her magic off of the oars so he could row, and instead focused it on the entire boat, trying to move it in the direction he was trying to go for.

Unfortunately, they weren't fast enough. Before either of them realized what was happening, something absolutely massive breached from the depths below to the surface, right underneath them. If they had the chance to look behind them, they would probably see the front of a giant boat made of the skull of some kind of creature, but that was the least of the issues now as it surged out of the water.

Their boat was suddenly jolted into the air by the mast and 'flag' of the ship, and went sailing into the air with the two asura clinging to the boat for dear life. Once the bone-ship had launched itself almost entirely out of the water straight upward, it lurched forward so that it was able to float on the surface, but as it did, the mast hit their little boat again, this time throwing them towards the shoreline, sailing through the air.

Part of Dorty wished they would hit the water, but then again considering the damage the boat just took, they would probably sink and be left vulnerable from below. Meanwhile, Sajessia tried with all her power to keep what was left of the boat suspended in mid-air as they went soaring. They kept flying for what felt like a full minute, until they realized that at the trajectory the bone-ship launched them, as well as with Sajessia's magic, that they were now going over the coast of Orr. At this time, however, she had become too exhausted to hold it up any longer, and so they plummeted downward towards the ground,

Unfortunately, for a few Risen, they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. As the boat came crashing down from above, it crushed a small group of them whilst bouncing and splintering off the rocks. Both asura were jolted out of it while it fell into a crevice, as they finally hit the ground, rolling and tumbling as they braced themselves for the worst.

Maybe Dorty was right about luck though, as after a few moments, they finally stopped rolling out of control, stopping next to a stair case that led up to a little fountain. Sure, they were badly bruised, who wouldn't when they're thrown out of a boat and going some thirty miles an hour? Other than that, however, they were fine, and most of the Risen assumed they went with the boat.

Sajessia winced as she got up, clutching her abdomen in discomfort. She looked over at her friend, who sat up on his bottom, staring forward for a few moments before throwing his hands in the air.

"Woo!" He cheered. "That was... okay to be honest I don't want to do it again but it was pretty awesome I have to admit. Hey, you alright Sej?"

"...yeah, just let me..." She got back up on her feet, brushing off some sea critters which had long dried up, moaning as she found one that had lightly been lodged in her side, thankfully no deeper than one or two centimeters. She pulled it out with surprisingly little pain inflicted, despite minor bleeding. She simply kept her hand over that spot to slow the bleeding.

Thankfully for her, Dorty didn't realize she was in some pain, at least not yet, so he didn't have to worry about her as far as he knew. "Well uhh, I guess in that case we might as well get going then? Don't wanna be undead brunch."

"Right, because we're asura and not hotdogs for Risen." She took a few breaths to reassure herself, trying her best to keep a straight face from under the discomfort. She tucked her wing under her arm and applied pressure with her wing instead, so she could still use her other arm for other things.

Dorty wandered over to her, picking up her glaive from the ground following the wreck, tossing it back to her. They simply stood there for a few moments before he asked "So, where to now on this forsaken death continent?"

She pointed towards a path close by that went westward along the shoreline, "That way. We don't need to go too far, thankfully."

"Good, the sooner we're finished here, the sooner we can leave. The only good thing I can say about this place-" He took a deep breath, exhaling slowly, "-is the sea smell. Honestly better than the smells of rotting corpses running around, magic fire, blood, and gunpowder." He smiled, thinking about maybe spending more time in Lion’s Arch for the sea faring, though after he took another whiff of the air, he frowned a little, looking over at her suddenly. "Hey wait, are you bleeding?"

"No?" She exclaimed, though she was obviously lying. She sighed and pulled her shirt up so he could see the small wound in her side. "It's just a little, nothing too bad."

Dorty raised an eyebrow at her, then looked down at the wound. It was pretty small, and wasn't very concerning, though seeing how well she was handling it kept him calm. "Eh, alright. Just try and keep that covered up, don't want to get it infected with... something, I dunno."

"I won't turn into a Risen, will I?"

Dorty snorted a few laughs, shaking his head. "Zhaitan's dead, okay? So long as that good-for-nothing undead dragon is dead, no more Risen are coming into existenc, meaning you're gonna be fine. I was more referring to something like, I dunno, fever?"

She nodded, pulling her shirt back down, taking a few steps in the direction they needed to go. "Let's get going then?"

"Yeah, let's get going before any Risen figure out we're not down there with the boat."

Meanwhile, most of the Risen had made it down to the boat, and did indeed figure out the two victims weren't there. Unfortunately for them, by the time they would get back to the top of the crevice, the asura would be long gone from the area, and too far away to have a good idea where they went.

- - -

The part of Orr known as Malchlor's Leap was what might have been used to be a countryside, long before Orr was sunk and resurfaced. It got its name from the sculpture who killed himself after chiseling the perfect image of the human god, Dwayna. Now, the place was just as desolate as the rest of Orr, if not, just a little less. The ruins of homes long destroyed littered the landscape, leaving plenty of rubble for possible use, such as cover.

Before they even got to the first Pact checkpoint in the region, Sajessia steered them north suddenly. Dorty questioned why she was doing this, but decided not to ask before he realized they were going straight for their destination, closer than he could even have an idea for.

They finally stopped at another Pact camp, off the route of the troop movement. Here, it was much more docile, thanks to the defenses set up around the perimeter. The only sounds of fighting came from inside, where two aggravated soldiers kept dueling each other to keep their combat prowlness up. Scattered around the camp were multiple documents, not relating to missions or anything, but rather what appeared to be the history of Orr, which somehow survived getting sunk.

Since they were finally back with allies, Sajessia took the chance to get her wound bandaged up and rest up for a bit. Meanwhile, Dorty sat outside the camp, knowing full well he was allowed to enter, but he was keeping himself preoccupied while he waited for her to return. For that time, all he did was look at the scenery around him, which despite being mostly dead, still had a tinge of beauty left in it.

"Are you alright?" She asked as she found him when she came back outside.

"Just waiting for you, that's all." He looked back to the rest of the environment around them.

"Well, good news, we just go north of here, and then we can leave as soon as possible, just after I do what I need to do." She beamed at him.

"Finally, I'm done with this pla-" He stopped mid-sentence as his eyes widened whilst he looked below them. "Hey, is that a cow?"

Looking down the ledge they sat on, there was indeed what appeared to be a cow, or at least what was left of one, since Zhaitan's magic had warped it into yet another one of its minions. However, unlike the rest of the Risen they had seen so far, this one was doing... traditional cow things. It grazed on the bits of plant life that somehow stuck out from the earth, letting out a snort now and then. Nearby was another Risen, except this one was a farmer, towing away uselessly at the ground in a vain attempt at trying to get it ready for farming.

"That's... kind of sad." She mumbled, watching the Risen fail miserably at what they were trying to do.

"Endlessly toiling away at something that will never work?" Dorty asked.

"Yeah, sad watching this."

"Well, thankfully they're all gonna die out sooner or later, so they won't be left farming forever!" He snickered, shaking his head.

"Well..." She sighed, grabbing for her glaive, extending it out to full length, "...want to, I dunno, end it quickly for them?"

"You're feeling pity for a bunch of mindless zombies?" He asked, implying he didn't really care for them, though shortly after asking, he nodded, grasping his sword. "Yeah, they didn't deserve any of this. Might as well!"

She nodded, and began channeling her magic for a swift end to the things beneath them. Light began concentrating around her arm as she focused it to her palm and fingertips, holding it there while she waited for her friend to make his move.

Dorty slid down the ledge, landing silently a few yards away from the cow, which either hadn't noticed him or just didn't care. He carefully inched towards the creature, which kept grazing on plants around itself. Slowly, he began to bring his sword up and over his head, poised to decapitate it.

He was pretty surprised when it suddenly, but slowly, turned to face him. He froze up, expecting the thing to grunt and charge him at any moment.

"Hi." He smiled awkwardly.

Yet, it did nothing. All it did was stare at him, like he wasn't even there. On the other hand, maybe it did see him there and just didn't care. In reality, it very much wanted to trample him over and over again, but at the same time its hunger was still calling for it, so that needed to be taken care of first. It slowly lumbered over to him, walking to the side of him over to another batch of plants he didn't take much notice of, where it continued to eat.

His sword was still overhead, so after a few moments to relax a little, he stepped forward towards it while it was distracted. Once he was finally close enough, he leapt into the air, up to the height of the cows head, and brought the blade down on its neck, only to find it didn't go all the way through. What was worse was the cow was now very much angry, and turned to face him, but with another chop of his blade the head was off, and the cow was dead, for real this time since technically it was already dead.

The farmer, who had heard the noise, turned to face Dorty, letting out a shrill cry before running at him with the farming tool in tow. They didn't get very far before a beam of light pierced through them, cutting their body in half, the tool they had falling to the side as it finally fell.

The glow from Sajessia's hand quickly began to fade as her magic re-dispersed throughout herself. She spread her wings out, and hopped off the ledge, floating down to her friend, folding her wings back behind herself upon landing. "I guess that's that?"

"Yup." He said bluntly, but then again there wasn't much else to say. "So, let's get going now?"

"Yeah, let's go, and we just need to-" She turned to look northward for a few moments, before smiling and pointing, "-right over there!"

Following her gaze, there was what appeared to be some kind of petrified forest, which glimmered in the light from above, coming from a giant glowing orb floating in the center, high above everything else on the little peninsula. What was better was the lack of Risen that was there, instead being elementals which were formed from the ground around them.

"So, just go over to the big floating star thing and we can get out of here?" He asked.

"Uhhh... sort of." She shrugged, going into a jog towards the strange orb.

Following her up the hill, Dorty noticed that parts of the environment around them shimmered like it was gold, but it definitely wasn't because of the marks left in it not being shiny. He couldn't remember the name of what it was, but it wasn't like he cared at the moment. Once they had got right below the glowing orb, he kept watch while Sajessia centered herself right below it.

"This'll only take a second." She answered, before he had a chance to ask his question.

"How'd you know what I was going to ask?" He tilted his head to the side, puzzled.

"Well, you asked it last time and the time before, no?" She snickered.

"Oh, right." He laughed a little himself, rolling his eyes.

Sajessia pulled out the medallion she had tucked under her shirt, which still hung around her neck by the ribbon. She held it up over her head, standing on her toes just for that little extra height that may or may not have helped, and relaxed, closing her eyes, but not going into a meditation this time.

Bits of light from the orb swirled down in little strands to her, being pulled to the medallion in her hands. Each one that touched it was absorbed into it, lighting it up with a warm, bright glow. After some light was taken in, enough to cover the metal part entirely in light, it began to spread down the ribbon part, a little slower than the first part. She felt the thing changing in her hands, at least in terms of texture and material.

Once it was entirely lit up, she knew she was done with it, but there was still some strands of light left over going into it. Before she realized where it was going, the excess light starting leaking out from the part of the ribbon around her neck, going up onto her head. It felt like she was getting part of her head dipped into a pool that, although wasn't boiling or too hot, was much too warm for comfort. The light that went up to her hair melded with the bits of stardust she always had in it, lighting most of it up in a golden glow, but leaving some specks of purple left.

Two more strands of light danced around on her face, leaving a warm feeling there. She noticed that as they lingered, they were getting ever slightly closer to where her eyes were, at least from the feel of it. For the moment, she kept them closed, and lowered her hands down from over her head, though before long she felt the warmth sitting very close to, if not on top of her eyelids. Taking a breath, she opened her eyes very slowly, at the point to where she was squinting.

She wasn't able to close them in time before the strands of magic light on her eyes went -into- them, blinding her vision. Even though she closed them, she still felt the immense warmth in them, matched only by the brightness in her vision. She winced, trying to keep her eyes closed in a vain attempt to reduce the strain in her eyes, though that suddenly changed as she relaxed again, going into another vision.

A frigid snowstorm battered a mountainside, somewhere in the Shiverpeaks. High up on a mountain, there was a small cave, blocked off by a stone door with an imprint of the same medallion she had in it. Going through, she saw a chamber with crude rocks acting as stairs up to an elevated altar platform, with a hole in the ceiling that let light come down from outside, with some snow falling down and covering it in a white blanket.

Standing in the center of it was a creature of some kind, which although was so translucent it was near invisible, she knew who it was. They looked back at her calmly, almost looking through her with their piercing gaze. They waved a wing across her entire field of vision, and...

...the vision ended. She felt herself back standing in the exact same spot as before. Though she had little idea what was in store for her, she definitely knew she was almost done. Feeling over the medallion, she noticed the metal part had turned golden, real gold, unlike the rest of the environment around them, and the ribbon had morphed into a stronger type.

"-aaaaAAAAAAA!!"

She suddenly opened her eyes just in time to see another asura flying towards her, ducking just in time for them to sail over her head, tumbling down the hill. Looking back at them, she noticed the coloration of their clothes and jumped to a quick but correct conclusion.

A lot had happened in the some thirty seconds in which she was preoccupied with imbuing the trinket. For whatever reason, the Inquest were just as interested in the orb as anyone else was. Seeing her as she seemingly was sapping energy out of it had made them angry and wanting to either stop her in any way necessary, or kill her, or worse; take her hostage. They weren't aware of her friend as he kept guard, and as soon as he caught a glimpse of them, he was already on top of them.

The small group of asura was very little match for Dorty. Within seconds, one of them had already dropped dead, taking all the focus away from Sajessia and onto himself. He parried multiple attacks back at them, waiting to single another out as he kept an eye on her. Once one had started running in fear, he dashed over to them, grabbing them by the foot, and swinging them around before throwing them, accidentally towards Sajessia, but thankfully at that moment she woke up and ducked in time.

At the current moment now, he was engaged against the better fighter of the group, who was armed with twin daggers and a golem arm. Despite having the smaller weapons, she was surprisingly good at blocking his attacks. Judging by the green tips, it was safe to assume they were poisoned, but despite the resistances to venom he had built up, he had no idea what kind this was, so he was better safe than sorry in terms of playing it safe.

Eventually, the female asura got her courage up to try and take him down with a well-placed attack. She swung both her daggers toward him when she was close enough, making him dodge back in response. When he did that, she threw one of her daggers at him through the air, expecting it to stab him with the deadly homemade poison.

Instead, he swung his blade upwards, striking the blade of the dagger mid-flight, briefly spinning stationary in mid-air, but that would only last for a moment. As the owner of the dagger ran towards him, he threw a kick at the spinning dagger to send it flying back at her, only to miss as it went sailing off a short distance.

She swung overhead, and he swung to the side. Both blades locked upon collision with each other, and now both asura were pushing to try and force the weapons into the other.

The struggle was suddenly interrupted by a grunt, a sound of shifting gravel, and a rocky shape suddenly appearing in the edge of their vision. Both stopped fighting for a brief moment to gaze up awkwardly at the pyrite elemental that had walked up to them. Lodged into its torso was the dagger Dorty had kicked a few seconds earlier, which despite missing its initial target, had still managed to hit something. He exchanged a quick, awkward glance with the other asura, before looking back up at the elemental.

"She did it." He quickly exclaimed, pointing at the other asura, who looked back at him, baffled. Before they could retaliate, he gave a swift kick to her abdomen, turning and running away.

"Get back he-" She started after him, but the hand of the elemental was already down on her, grasping her. It held her up level to its head, before winding up and chucking her across the ridge, down into the water below, though she hit a rock on the way down.

Two asura were left, and by the time Dorty had caught up with them, they were already locked in combat with Sajessia. She kept her distance from them with her glaive, close enough to swing at them, but far enough away so they couldn't do the same; it was the advantage of her weapon of choice. One of the attackers bore the rank of a higher-up, wielding a hefty greatsword, although they weren't so fit enough to use it well enough, while the other seemed to just be a recent recruit, keeping back with his mace.

When the higher-up threw another, pitifully slow swing with his blade, Sajessia countered it easily with a swing from her weapon, before jabbing at them. They were -just- out of reach, but they backed away regardless, in fear of being stabbed. A sudden rush of adrenaline let them swing their blade much faster, but that was going to be their downfall, as when she countered it yet again, this time with the blade imbued with her magic, it cut right through the blade of the greatsword, leaving a small chunk of it left, reducing its use down to very clumsy shanking.

They cried out in rage, throwing it aside and charming at her. She lowered her glaive so the blade was level to their chest, expecting them to have the sanity to stop, lest they hurt themselves, but apparently they didn't. He rammed himself into the blade, going down to the base of it, gasping for breath at this point, yet still trying to swing at her with his arms. Mildly grossed out, she swung her blade sideways to throw them off down the hill, where they rolled until they hit a pointed rock, most likely dying.

Only one asura was left now: the recruit. He grasped his mace with both arms, shaking with fear for his life. He didn't care for the other asura in his party, but he just wanted to live. He had no idea why there was what might have been genetically spliced asura here, or what they wanted, but he didn't want to die to them.

When he approached, she swung her glaive back over, so that it was mere inches away from his face. He practically squeaked as he tried to bash the weapon with his mace, which did little to no good. She swung her weapon again to cut off the blunt part of his mace, leaving him near defenseless.

Just to finish off the fight, she turned the glaive around, so the blunt end of it was facing him instead. She thrusted it into his face, making him stagger backward, where Dorty turned him around to punch him. Delivering a kick between their legs (which resulted in more of a squeak than a cry of pain), Dorty pushed them back over to her, where she bonked them with the blunt end again. With them briefly stunned, she smacked him with the blunt end again, pushing him down to the ground with it, before spinning her glaive back around again, bringing the sharp end down towards their throat.

She stopped short just a centimeter away from his flesh. She knew if she cut their throat, they would die, but they didn't want to fight them, so why have him pay for the choices of the other members of his group? She lifted her glaive up just a little, enough to give them some breathing room. She motioned for Dorty to do the honors.

"Hey, can I make a suggestion?" He loomed over the pinned asura, beaming almost, before frowning and raising his fist down to their face. "Leave the Inquest." He delivered a quick punch to their face, knocking them out cold.

Sajessia lightly prodded them with her glaive, just to make sure they were knocked out, before retracting it back to its sword-state, sliding it back to its original location on her.

"Okay, can we get going now?" Dorty asked, giving a little kick to the sleeping asura. "Yaknow, before more of them show up?"

"Yeah, we're done here." She responded, turning to run down the hill from where they came from earlier.

Dorty ran after her, giving one last kick to the asura he threw earlier, who was still alive, but was to preoccupied with the pain they were in to pay attention to where they were going.

Once they had made it back to the Pact camp, they went inside and rested up, just enough so they could calm down. Following the encounter with the Inquest, Dorty's adrenaline was still a little high, so he took a bit longer to calm down than her.

"Okay, since I'm pretty sure you said we're done here..." He stuttered.

"Yeah?" She replied.

"-where to now?"

Sajessia shrugged her shoulders, taking a few breaths before answering, "Back to the Shiverpeaks. I hope we can get another coat for me when we go."

"Oh, and just when I thought we were done with the cold." He sighed, slouching over.

"Well, it's going to be a lot colder where we're going, so maybe even you will need something better to wear."

"Nah, I'll be fine. Pretty sure dragon-corrupted minions can't really feel extreme temperatures."

"Explain why they freak out then when they get lit on fire."

"Point taken."

"Hey, excuse me?" She got up and jogged over to a charr who had just got there a few minutes ago. "What's the quickest way off Orr right now?"

"I just got here from LA, squirt." He replied as he was placing boxes down. "All I want for my birthday is a boat, not some stupid submarine."

"-the heck is a submarine?" Dorty asked, once he too ran over to them.

"Wouldn't -YOU- know?" He growled.

"Ehhh... ironically not."

"Well, think of an airship, only instead of flying through the air it flies through the water."

"Oh, that's uhh.... huh..." Dorty went silent for a moment just to process that information, before asking "-and you came from Lion's Arch in one?"

"Yup, and I'll be going back in one, and repeat until either the Pact is done here or I die." He grumbled.

"...would it be a problem if we hitched a ride in yours, you know, back to LA?" Sajessia asked.

The charr grumbled again, leaning over to get a better look at the two asura. "Normally, I'd say no, but you two look small enough to cram into the back. I'll allow it, just don't complain about getting wet."

"Yadayada, we won't." Dorty spoke.

"Good, cause if you complain I'm kicking you out of the sub, even if we're in the middle of the water, under the surface. I leave in the morning, so you better be up by then, else you're stuck here until I'm back, got it?"

"Mmhmm!" Sajessia nodded.

With that, the charr turned around and left, probably to get back to the submarine to finish unpacking supplies.

"Alright then." Dorty clasped his hands together, taking a breath. "Might as well get sleeping."

Sajessia watched him trod over to the corner of the camp, behind some of the pillars of the stone house the camp was build next to. He kicked the ground a few times to clear away the rocks and such that were there.

"Nighty." He shrugged, before flopping over on his side with a thud, instantly snoring.

She wasn't going to fall for it though, she could tell he was faking it. She snuck over to where he was resting, standing up to the side of him. After a moment, she hopped upwards and down on Dorty, glomping him.

Dorty jolted upright as soon as she landed on him. Sure, she weighed almost nothing, but the sudden contact startled him. He looked over to see her cuddling up on top of him. "Really?"

"Yup!" She squeaked, getting comfortable. Her legs hung off to his side, both wings covering both of them up, and her arms over her head on his torso. "Nighty." She laughed quietly, then closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep.

"Okay, you know what?" He threw his arms up in the air. "Fine, see if I care if you sleep on me or not. I can take it. Not like it's annoying me or messing up my nap."

He looked down again to see her already fast asleep on top of him. Either all of that meditation she did helped her fall asleep near instantaneously, or she was way too tired.

Sighing, he put a hand up on the back of her head, rubbing it gently. He had absolutely nothing against any of this, so why bother complaining? He laid back on the ground, putting a hand behind his own head as a pillow, or at least the best pillow he could get. Sighing, he closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep with his friend sleeping on top of him.

[dortykid]

Journey of the Celestial: Part 2

One week seemed like too much time to rest in the lodges, though neither of the two asura cared. The warmth within the massive structures was more than enough to convince them to stay for a good while. What more seemed to keep them around was the delicious food that seemed to never end, as there was usually at least one moot going on somewhere around the city.

Finally, after stuffing themselves full of food (and taking some for the road), a good nights rest, and a quick bath afterward, Dorty and Sajessia were finally ready to head out again. There was no need to say goodbye to anyone, because nobody they knew was around. They made sure all of their things were packed before continuing their quest.

Going south was simple enough, sticking to the main road seemed like the best choice, but after a few ambushes from local dredge, they decided to take a detour across the uncharted wilderness to the east, at least on their maps. While they were met with almost no enemies, trouble arose when they suddenly found themselves lower on food than they had expected. They pressed onward, taking breaks when snowstorms hit, then resting up under cover before continuing.

As for the food problem, Dorty had it covered. Whenever they were low on food again, he would head out and find something for them, either herbs, a wild animal, or if they were really lucky, find a lodge for them to stay in. Most of what he found though was mostly meat, because he wasn't familiar with most of the plant life, and the area they were in seemed to have much less lodges than elsewhere in the region. At least they were met with no dredge or Icebrood, which was welcome for them.

At the current moment in time, daytime was breaking over the horizon, and the two had holed themselves up in an abandoned cave, both fast asleep. Their belongings were somewhat scattered around the cavern floor, and in the center was a little crackling fire that had almost burnt out, as well as a dead lizard Dorty had killed and stuck on a stick to cook over the fire as a snack, though by now it was too cold to have the rest eaten.

A low growl slowly woke Dorty up, just a little bit. Without moving, he looked around the cave for the source of the growl, but once he heard it again, he sighed and looked down. His stomach was growling, so obviously he was hungry, as well as Sajessia, if not less.

He also realized she had wrapped her wings around him while they were sleeping, and he was bound by the softness and magical warmth that radiated from them. Meanwhile, she had also wrapped her arms around him under his own arms, so aside from using force, he was pretty much stuck.

"Uhh... Sej, can you let me go?" He asked, trying to slowly squirm out from her hold.

Looking over at her, Sajessia actually looked rather peaceful, a little smile on her face, still half asleep. One ear was perked up, so she probably heard him, but instead of letting him go, she held onto him just slightly tighter.

To be honest, he wasn't against this entirely. On the contrary, Dorty was actually enjoying the affection he got so little of in his life. If neither of them were hungry right now, he could probably imagine the two of them spending the entire morning cuddled up like this.

Unfortunately, that wasn't going to be the case. Once again he made an attempt to scoot out from her, but she still clung to him dearly, almost like someone would if their life depended on it.

At this point he was suddenly having some serious deja vu of the time they first met. Down in Rata Novus, Trytamer hit a button and incidentally released her from her long slumber. Being the only asura in the vicinity, Sajessia clung to him in hopes he knew how to fix everything that had happened there. Unfortunately for her, what was in the past couldn't be changed, and the most they could do was take their new friend out of that forsaken city.

That was all before she even had wings, which was, to be honest, the least surprising thing. When she came back to their home one day with little wings coming out from her back, T.K went hyper and almost threw her trying to see if she could fly with them. Over time, her wings did actually grow, and the more her magic developed, the bigger they became. At this point, each wing was almost as big as she was, and the feathers that grew down from the bottom ridges of her wings went from a glowing white, to pink, to purple along the length of her wings. As they went down, they went from those colors to a translucent golden glow, effectively eye catching for anyone passing by. He wasn't even sure what they would look like once they were done with this journey.

"Sej, can you pleeease let me go?" He tried asking again, "I'm gonna get some food for us."

Sajessia sighed and kept herself clung to him.

"Sej... you're hungry too, right?"

She sighed once more, opening her sleepy eyes, both looking at each other for a few moments, before she finally gave in, folding her wings back from around him and loosening her grip from him.

"Hey, I'll admit that was starting to feel nice, but first food, okay?"

"Mhmm..." She nodded.

"Stay here, I'll grab something."

He rolled over away from her before pushing himself up on his feet, grabbing his sword and using it to steady himself, for his legs had fallen asleep while he was resting. He picked up the lizard on a stick, giving it a lick before spitting out the little bits his tongue had picked up from the bad flavor the snack had developed overnight.

The chilling air hit Dorty as he stepped outside into the snow. The area they were in was a small valley which, while boasting many trees and other plants, had an unusual lack of wildlife for the most part. He remembered spotting a few deer off in the distance the night before, so the place wasn't completely barren.

Behind the hill housing the cave they were staying in was a stream he hadn't noticed until now. Sure enough, the deer he had seen were drinking from the flow of water, but the bloated corpse of a dolyak nearby gave Dorty the idea that the animals didn't know what they were getting themselves into, and for good reason.

A long, white fin slowly began to come out from the water, moving towards the deer that was the closest to it in the stream. The poor animals had no clue what was coming their way, and before they had time to react, an ice drake had breached the surface of the water and grabbed its target, dragging it down the stream. Despite the efforts the prey made, the venom of the drake was starting to get to it. Dorty knew after a minute or two, the deer would be too cold to fight on, and give in to death.

"Hopefully you leave some for us!" He shouted across the water, though he didn't care if the drake heard him or not, it couldn't even understand him.

While it was busy chowing down on breakfast, Dorty sneaked across the water after the rest of the herd. They were most likely going to be tired from escaping, leaving Dorty for an easy kill. The snow made it more than easy to follow them, and soon he spotted them in a small clearing, grazing on some tall grass that was sprouting out from the deep snow.

"Welp," He thought to himself, "time to see what it's like being a dredge."

He started digging down into the snow, being careful not to make too much noise, lest the herd might be alerted. Once he was under the surface of the snow, he began digging his way through the snow over to the herd, slowing down once he was close. If he was lucky, maybe the deer would think he was just a small mouse, or a squirrel looking for nuts. He stopped as soon as he could hear the munching of grass right in front of him, staying motionless for a minute, waiting for the perfect moment.

As soon as he thought it was distracted, he lunged out of the snow, swinging his blade at the legs. While the rest of the herd ran off in terror, the one he struck he incapacitated, because it's rather hard to run when your lower front legs are cut off. Dorty swung again, this time killing it by decapitating the head.

Slumping down next to his kill, Dorty took the moment to warm himself up after digging through the snow. Blood trickled out from the carcass, staining the white snow into a red color.

"Alright," He thought, admiring the area around him now that he had the chance to take a break, "now how am I supposed to get this back to the cave?"

While the front lets Dorty had cut clean off, the back legs were still intact. Therefor, he started dragging the dead deer back to the cave by them. Dragging a dead animal around was hard enough, but even harder through snow. Even though the drake was still distracted with his meal, getting the animal through the stream started to log it with water, making it even heavier, and thus even more difficult to pull along with him. He did consider cutting off a large chunk of flesh from it and take that back instead, but then if he were to come back for more, some other predator might have already found it.

He finally made it back to the hill that the cave was dug into. Even though he wasn't back at the cave itself, it was close enough to be easy to reach. He let go of the legs and sat on top of the kill, tired from all the dragging he was doing.

"Maybe I should cut a chunk out, seems safe now."

Flicking his sword out again, he jabbed it into the hide of the deer, then started carving out a nice square chunk of meat, at least enough to split between him and Sajessia. Once he had finished cutting a square in it, he changed the angle and began cutting beneath the flesh until the part he was cutting popped out just a little. From here, he simply grabbed the hide and tore the chunk out, some more blood leaking out, though not as much due to the temperature.

Before turning to go back to the cave, he took one last moment to scan for anything else in the vicinity. Nothing in sight, to his relief. He carried the chunk of meat in one hand, sword in the other as he jumped the rest of the way back, for the snow was extra deep on the side he came around on.

"Hey Sej, I'm back." Dorty declared as he stepped back inside. "Got us some deer meat, all I could find."

Sajessia had been meditating since he had left, and stopped as soon as he called out for her. "Oh, alright, I guess anything works." She scooted over towards the pile of sticks that was used for their fire, but it had burned out completely.

"Alright, fire's out. Not too big of a problem, just gotta re-light it." Dorty set the chunk down next to the pile and went for his bag, digging through it in hopes he could find the small blowtorch T.K gave him, but to his surprise, it wasn't there. It wasn't even on the cavern floor. "Uhh, Sej, you got the blowtorch?"

She shook her head, "Never touched it, but maybe you put it in my bag by mistake, lemme see..." She started pulling things out of her backpack, including the coat, which she promptly put on, a small crystal, a little asuran device with a speaker on it, and most importantly her glaive, which was modified to compress like a telescope from the hilt of the blade to the little hilt at the bottom of her polearm, but yet no blowtorch.

"Great, don't tell me we lost it." Dorty face-palmed himself. "How are we supposed to cook this now?"

"It's alright," She scooted over to the pile of sticks, "I can try lighting it."

"It won't blow us up, will it?"

"I don't think fire works that way."

Sajessia knelt in front of the fire pit, and began channeling her magic, glowing faintly. The intensity of the glow began to grow around her arms, fading from the rest of her. She normally did this when she was about to shoot a column of light from her hands, but this time she extended a hand into the pile, a thin string of light floating up from her hand. It touched one of the sticks and began wrapping around it, lighting it up with a similar glow. She had control over how warm it would be now, and she made the entire part of the stick that was wrapped up burst into flames, the little thread of light returning to her.

Dorty just stared at the fire she just lit, then back up to her, then down at the fire, then back to her again. "How long were you able to do that?"

"Ever since we passed through Wayfarer." She replied, the thread of light passing through her palm back into her where it came from.

"So, I guess we did need the blowtorch up to that point."

"Yup." She giggled.

The two watched the little flames dance up the pile of sticks until the whole thing was ablaze. Sajessia cut off the hide part that was still on the meat, then extended her glaive to sick the food on it like a marshmallow, holding it over the fire and turning it slowly.

"Okay okay," Dorty held a finger up, "now ya got me thinking."

"Hmm?" Sajessia perked her ears up, looking at him.

"If you can light the fire like that, couldn't you just, I dunno, cook the meat with your magic too?"

"That was the first time I did something like that, so I'm not sure." She checked the meat to see how it was cooking. "How about after we eat, you get some more and I can try it?"

"Yeah, sure. Still got plenty of meat outside. Hey, is that done yet? It looks like it to me."

Sajessia took a whiff of their meal, "Yeah, I think so. Here, hold your sword up."

Holding his sword up, Dorty watched her hold the cooked meat over it, then thrust upward and pulled back quick enough to make the morsel fly off of the blade. She swung it in the same moment through the meat to cut it in half, one piece falling onto his sword, the other she caught on the flat side of her glaive. "Nice one." He smiled.

"I thank the lessons you gave me. Really, you're a great teacher. You can do something like that and get a better reputation, no?" She licked her slice to taste the flavor, before biting a small chunk off, nibbling it.

"I'll just... keep to myself for now. Recognition isn't really in my favor most of the time." Dorty just ate off the meat like it was a part of a chicken leg.

"So, no to being a teacher then." She continued nibbling away at her meal.

"Yeah, pretty much." He bit off another chunk, "Is this why you wanted me to come along? Apart from all the foraging and stuff I mean."

"Hmm?" She looked up at him while she was still nibbling on her food.

"If I wasn't around, you'd be bored out of your mind, wouldn't ya? Dorty snickered.

Sajessia went quiet for a few moments, just chewing, then nodded. "Okay, maybe that is a big reason."

"Heh, don't deny it Sej, it is." He laughed, barely keeping himself from choking on his food.

"You're just..." She was almost done with her meal, taking another bite and swallowing before continuing, "...someone I really trust, a lot. On levels I can't even begin to describe."

"Well hey, I'm a friend who's got your back. If you need someone to run to for cover, I'm your guy." He smiled, biting off the last of his meat and tucking his sword back into the sheath.

"Mhmm, thank you." She returned the smile, perking her ears up as well. "So, wanna try and cook the meat by itself, with just my magic?"

"Why the heck not?? I'll go cut some more off, be right back."

He stepped outside back into the frigid landscape once more, edging along the steep side of the hill away from the deep end of the snow. To his disappointment though, the drake had found the dead deer and had ravaged it, leaving most of it a blood-bath of a corpse. The good news was that it had left some meat left over, which was all that was needed.

Standing on top of the dead deer again, Dorty stabbed his sword into a small chunk of flesh hanging loose from the rest of the meat. Though it was mostly fat this was, he dragged his blade forwards to carve the rest of this piece off.

Something caught his attention while he was midway into cutting it. A glimmer that just felt out of place in a animal like this. A small, shiny object, no, dozens of extremely tiny objects, shimmered in the flesh of the deer. They blended in almost perfectly, and were almost unnoticeable.

Snap

Dorty's ears perked up. If there was one thing that always got him alert, it was hearing the sound of nature being trodden upon. He kept alert, but went back to examining the meat. Little tiny crystals had been dumped in the gaping wound, matching the same color almost. Whoever did this had ruined any future meals from this animal, and the one to blame was definitely not the drake.

He leaned down to get a better look at them, but didn't even get close to start putting things together before a swinging sound and the sound of rock-against-rock flew over his head, striking the hill in front of him. He looked up in surprise at the crystal lodged in the side of the earth, equally red.

This wasn't an ordinary crystal. This was a bloodstone shard.

"WHY DID YOU DUCK, DANG IT!?!?"

Dorty swung around to look at his attacker, a person wearing a dark, metallic cloak, his gauntlets fused together by some kind of solid flames, and below the mask under his hood, two blood-red eyes could be seen, staring angrily at him.

Rather than pick up his sword, Dorty just started laughing, as if it was a joke. The sylvari who had just tried to kill him had failed horribly, and was now probably vulnurable to be attacked.

"Seriously?" He snorted. "You want to kill me so bad, and yet this is your worst failure yet, Metaveil!"

"I do want you dead!" He shouted, stomping through the snow towards him, rolling up a sleeve, "Besides, I was just getting warmed up!"

"Oooo, warming up? I'm soooooo scared! What'll it be, a warm wave of heat to the face or a cold, hard rock?" Dorty spat back at Metaveil, who he assumed was going to yet again be an easy match.

"How about you try something different on the menu this time?" Metaveil said as he fished out a slip of paper from under him garments. "How does a nice, cool batch of bloodstone crystals to the face sound!?" He swung his arm through the air, firing out multiple shards of bloodstone from it.

That was one of the last things Dorty was expecting, but also the worst at the same time. He quickly took cover behind the carcass while the sylvari, formerly terrible at being a bad guy, now too good at it, bombarded the hillside and body with crystals. It wasn't Metaveil himself he was afraid of, it was those cursed bloodstone shards he was throwing at him. Even if he did survive, and maybe even gain some power from getting hit by a bunch, the risks of losing himself to his own corruption would be even greater then if he was starting to get hit by these.

"Well, huh, two can play at that game!" Dorty flicked his wrist and shot out a few corrupted crystals back at Metaveil. Sure, they were less deadly than his, but it was the most he could get at the moment.

He had no clue what to do at this point. Metaveil had him stuck behind a dead animal, which was decaying faster due to the constant amount of crystals getting stuck into it, he himself was not sure how to fight back against these new abilities Metaveil somehow got, and what about Sajessia? She was in danger from Metaveil as well, so even if he had to risk getting hit by a shard, he still had to-

"DORTY!" She shrieked from the other side of the hill, followed by a massive, and all-too familiar heavy clang of metal hitting the ground.

Dorty clenched his fists, praying she was still alive, which she was by the flash of light that emitted from around the corner, but she was also in trouble, if not more than he was. Risks needed to be taken.

A quick breath was all he needed before he bolted out from his hiding place, a stream of crystals being shot at him from the side, following him as he made it to the corner and around. Thankfully, Metaveil didn't know what trajectory was, or he would have easily tracked the asura's movement and pelted him with a lethal dose of magic.

Sajessia was hiding behind a large rock, and on the other side what just what Dorty had feared. A hulking behemoth of a charr stood up at least fifteen feet high, plated head to toe in golem parts. In its hands was a greatsword, which it momentarily brought down upon Sajessia's hiding spot, missing her just barely, but splitting the rock in half. She ran for her friend, while he did the same, scooping her up before purposefully sliding forward to avoid the arcing swing of Jukkerbaut's massive weapon. He caught a glimpse of something in his helmet, but that was the least of his troubles right now. Both of them needed to get out of there, and quickly.

He pushed himself back up to his feet after the slide, and turned to run in the direction of the more densely packed forest area. Even if it was hard to move there, Jukkerbaut would certainly have a hard time getting through, but Metaveil...

"Wait!" Sajessia looked over Dorty's shoulder as he carried her, back at the cave. "Our stuff is still in there, shouldn't we-"

"Sej, there is one thing that is certain right now, and that's life is greater than stuff!"

"Point made..." She whined, clinging on tight.

Tree roots and branches were his main obstacle at the moment, and while it wasn't the main threat, getting stuck or slowed on them could be their downfall, so he tried his best to avoid unnecessary impact with them. Now nature was working against them, the wind was blowing in their faces, and the slope began to grow steeper as he ran.

Once they reached the top of the incline, Dorty made a right turn only a little, before sharply turning to the left. A few fallen trees covered by snow was the perfect hiding spot for them, and he slid underneath for the temporary safety.

He set Sajessia down beside him while they waited for the danger to pass, which would be a while most likely. "You alright?" He asked.

Sajessia was shuddering a little, partially from shock, partially from the cold, though she stopped at soon as she looked up at him. "Uhh... Dorty?"

"What- grr..!" He growled, a stinging pain coursing through his leg. Looking down, he saw a bloodstone shard lodged in his calf, which he hadn't quite noticed until now. "Just... great..."

Sajessia tried her best to soothe him while he was in pain. "Shhh... easy, we need to be quiet..."

"I'll be alright... just a little..." He shook his head, vision starting to grow red from the magic. "...this'll definitely affect me for a bit, but I'll live sane." He moaned in pain, with minor aggression from the influence of the shards in him.

Sajessia covered his mouth to keep him quiet, both of them growing still as they hid from their pursuers. While she used one hand to keep him quiet, she used the other to try and remove the shard from his leg, removing the energies keeping it existing and taking it in herself. She was only able to get only a little before it was starting to hurt her as well, but she had caused the part of the shard under his skin to mostly vanish, so he could get it out easier with less damage.

No sound was made by them for the moment while Metaveil and Jukkerbaut were around. The sound from Jukkerbaut's heavy feat crushing the snow beneath him grew louder and louder as he grew closer and closer to their hiding spot. Dorty tensed up when the heavy thump rattled the branches over them, then relaxed as they started to grow fainter, but only a little. Metaveil paced around the area, looking with his eyes for footprints, or maybe a dropped belonging.

"Have you tried looking for your damage?" The sylvari said to himself, in a more twisted voice. He closed his eyes, sensing his magic, and finally finding a shard he launched himself.

"There we are."

He threw a bloodstone-infused fireball from his hand to the bunch of fallen wood, an explosion searing the blast radius with crystals and petrifying the wood. The bonus affect being the best one of this, another shriek followed by both targets rushing out away from the spot. "Jukkerbaut, you big brute! You're oblivious, after them!"

Now it was Sajessia's turn to support Dorty while they ran from the duo. Arm slung over her shoulder, she kept him from falling over while he hobbled alongside her. Another fireball flew past them, striking the cliff face to their left, making them dart away from it up the slope. Metaveil's next projectile he aimed in front of them too far, which while blowing up in front of them, they ran through after the explosion itself was gone.

The weather itself was starting to get more extreme as time went on. Another blizzard was forming, and snow rained down from the heavens, pelting everything with cold, white flakes. The wind blew in a tailwind as they all ascended the mountain, which was only good for Metaveil as his fireballs flew further and faster, forcing the two asura to constantly dodge about.

The top of the mountain was barren, but hosted a marvelous view of the land south of it: Timberline Falls. If there wasn't a blizzard, or if nobody was in danger, one could sit here and enjoy the view. Unfortunately, a good view also meant a dead end for Dorty and Sajessia in the form of a sharp cliff that spiraled downwards. Normally, Dorty wasn't afraid of cliffs, but most cliffs he came across usually had water at the bottom of them, and this wasn't the case. He screeched to a halt just in time for Sajessia to also stop, knocking some rocks off of the ledge down into the valley below them.

"Oh... great this is even worse..." Dorty growled again, checking behind them, only to see Metaveil and Jukkerbaut finally caught up with them.

Dorty exchanged a few looks between Jukkerbaut and Metaveil. Metaveil only seemed slightly different somehow, aside from the obvious magic, but Jukkerbaut had changed much since the last time they met. His usual yellow and black color scheme was revered over by the same bloodstone shards Metaveil was using, and in the mechanical charr's head was a dagger of some kind. He had no idea why Jukkerbaut didn't just take it out.

"Hey, fatso," Dorty shouted at him, "ya got something in your head!"

Jukkerbaut didn't even respond.

Sajessia looked down from the cliff at the landscape below, then back behind her at their pursuers. Their only normal way out of this situation was to fight, but Dorty wasn't in good shape for that due to the shard in his leg, and Sajessia had never fought either of the two before...

...leaving her with only one good, but rather crazy idea.

"Dorty..." She muttered.

"What?" He looked back at her, eyes slightly strained from the snow and bloodstone magic hurting him.

"Turn around..."

Dorty stayed quiet, keeping himself fixated on the other two, while Metaveil began to prepare a massive fireball behind his back.

"...trust me..."

Something about the way she spoke there somehow calmed him, if not fully then enough to get him able to reason again. Taking a slow breath he slowly turned his back to the sylvari and charr, so they were now looking across the landscape.

Sajessia, meanwhile, slipped her coat off, unfolding her wings from underneath, while Metaveil was just finishing up his attacked. Looking at them with determination, he spoke aloud, "Any last words?", to which she replied, "These aren't my last words."

Before Dorty was able to react, Sajessia had suddenly tackled him and herself off the ledge, where up on top a massive explosion lit up, which they thankfully avoided just in time, but that wouldn't help, because now they were falling to their supposed doom.

"Sej, what the heck!?" Dorty yelled.

"Hold still, I'll get us out of this!" She climbed onto his back and wrapped her arms around his chest, and her legs around his torso. She spread her wings out as they kept falling, stopping themselves from spinning around as they fell.

Then, the fall began to slow, and the ground was starting to come up to them slower and slower, until it stopped, then beginning to get further away. Dorty tried his best to look over his shoulders to see what in the world she was doing, seeing her cling to him as she carried them aloft in the air, gliding with her wings. Meanwhile, she was having a difficult time holding onto him, straining herself not to let go. Now they were close to the height of the cliff they were on just moments ago, and soaring further and further away by the minute. Dorty looked back at the cliffside they were on, seeing Metaveil and Jukkerbaut in the distance, turning to leave down the mountainside.

Now that they were out of the clear, Dorty took the current moment just to enjoy the view, soaring through the air like a bird would.

"So this is what it's like to be a bird..." He sighed, smiling.

Sajessia tried her best to smile as well, equally amazed, but the strain was becoming too much. "Dorty, I need to land, I can't hold onto you for much longer."

"If it's gonna be a crash landing, at least make it hit the water, would ya?" He pointed down at the river beneath them that they were now flying over.

"Mmmm-kay-!" She said, swooping straight down almost now.

Sajessia kept her hold on Dorty as they plummeted into the water, fish scattering, and riverside critters looking up in surprise at the splash. She struggled to hold her breath from the impact, and just as she was about to burst, Dorty kicked through the water with her, breaking the surface. Sajessia coughed out water in need of fresh air that wasn't freezing, and a few moments later blacked out.

- - -

The fire in the cave was now merely flickering, almost out, by the time Metaveil and Jukkerbaut made it back. Most of the belongings the two asura brought along had been left scattered around the cave, leaving it all ripe for the picking for anyone who came in, in this case the villainous duo. Jukkerbaut went over to Dorty's stuff, but simply looked the pack over before motioning for Metaveil to come over.

"Alright, alright, give me a moment, I'm enjoying a morsel." He replied, eating Sajessia's unfinished deer meat.

Once Metaveil was done with that, he walked over to the backpack Jukkerbaut needed to look at, and flipped it upside down. The contents spilled out over the surface of the cave, various tools and uneaten snacks. There was also an asuran gizmo, a journal, and some yellow corrupted crystals.

Jukkerbaut carefully picked up the device, scanning it with a light beam that moved up and down the surface of the thing, which came from a little node that poked out of his helmet, gathering data on the object. Once he had fully analyzed it, he began registering the data he was getting. It was a communication device, but despite being in Dorty's pack, it was last used by the 'secondary target'. Next he grabbed the journal, which clearly belonged to Dorty, and scanned the light over the open book while he flipped quickly through the pages, recording all of the words.

"What's with the light?" Metaveil asked as he curiously touched the node that poked out from Jukkerbaut's helmet.

"SCANNING-ITEMS." He replied. "OBTAINING-USEFUL-DATA-FOR-FUTURE-USES."

"Oh really?" Metaveil glared at the journal in the metallic clutches, "What sort of uses?"

"CLASSIFIED."

"Care to tell me?"

"CLASSIFIED."

"Come on, spit it out."

Jukkerbaut didn't say anything, merely moved his hand down to flick Metaveil in the head. Normally, such an act would merely annoy someone, but in the case of a giant charr, especially a mechanical one, the action knocked the sylvari off balance, making him tumble onto the ground.

"Oh, real funny." He said sarcastically. "Are you underestimating my power again? Don't you remember how we met on the Ring of Fire?"

Jukkerbaut sparked a little in the neck, before suddenly shutting off, hunching over as the lights on his armor one by one flickered off.

Metaveil snorted, getting up to walk over to the giant in the chamber, before pushing on him hard enough to make him slowly fall over. The impact shook the whole cavern, making a few loose rocks fall from the ceiling. "There." He spat at the fallen beast, "Now we're even. Again."

He swooped over back to the cracking embers of the dead fire, grabbing Sajessia's dinner, only to find it was already eaten, by himself of course. Metaveil sat down with his legs crossed, slouching over and grumbling to himself, annoyed how he didn't kill Dorty right then and there. Despite the power flowing through himself, he still failed to destroy him even with his barrages. At the very least now it would be easier to track him, for the one bloodstone shard that hit was all Metaveil needed to feel where the two asura were. All he needed to do was keep up with them, lest they get out of range of his senses.

Now, however, Metaveil was having a hard time staying awake. His eyes drooped every now and then, only for him to quickly shake himself back to awareness. The sleepiness soon made it harder to keep his footing, so he was swaying back and forth as he was seated next to the pile of sticks. The area began to grow darker, and darker, and darker, until he finally succumbed to sleep, flopping backwards as he snoozed off.

- - -

Quiet.

Calm.

Those were at least two things that were summing up Sajessia at the moment. She felt her heart beat and pulse silently every second while she floated in space. Nothing else was around for her, just herself and the lit void. She sighed from comfort of just having the moment for herself.

Yet, something was missing.

Sure, she was dreaming, she knew that much. If she wasn't, she would be much colder, and not breathing, but still alive. Thoughts went in and out of her mind, some her own, others given to her to help her when she woke up.

Still, something was bothering her. It wasn't the usual environment she dreamt with that was the problem, nor the thoughts she was having. It wasn't Hai either, because she knew where in her dream he was, but that wasn't the thing bothering her either. No, it was the absence of something that had her wondering, but what it was was left a mystery for now.

A slight tightness began growing in her chest, which concentrated somewhere there, no, two places. The tightness then began to travel upward through her, as she breathed out, making it quickly harder to breath. Her breaths began to hasten, until the sensation came to her throat, and then...

...she jolted upright, coughing out water that she had swallowed by mistake, each cough also getting some stardust out from there as well, but how that itself got in her lungs was a mystery. Her breathing slowed, a few more coughs coming out, until she felt the sensations subside. One more, deep breath was what she needed to reassure herself, the cool mountainous air tickling her nose, making her sneeze and cause a small explosion of stardust around herself, as well as clearing her nose of any water that was there.

Apart from the water going down the wrong way, she was pretty fine. Her clothes were logged with water, and anything she had stored away in her pockets was probably washed away. A few bandages were put over a few wounds she got when she was jumped by Jukkerbaut back at the cave.

It reminded her of a wound she got when the White Mantle had attacked their home a couple months back, one across her belly. The wound itself had healed, but although no magic was involved with the weapon, her own magic was affecting the spot where the wound had been dealt. It had covered up the wound with a sort of window into space, at least in terms of looks, filled with many little stars in the background, and one larger yellow star in the center, which from what she found out was her own representation of her soul. The whole thing was nothing more really than an illusion, but she couldn't help but keep a close eye on it all the while. She pulled her shirt up to see that it had grown from below her rib cage to above her pelvis, though it was like that a couple of weeks ago as well. Maybe it had stopped growing?

"Sup."

Sajessia looked up to see Dorty sitting over a couple yards away on a small ledge, looking over his shoulder back over to her. "Feeling better?" He asked.

"Oh, uhm..." She rubbed the back of her head out of minor discomfort, before trying to get up. She wobbled a little on her legs, still a little dazed from the impact on the water. "...fine, I think. What about you?"

Dorty pushed himself away from the ledge and scooted over to her, a makeshift bandage wrapped around his leg where the bloodstone shards had hit him. "Doing better, gotta give thanks to your magic for making it easier for me to just rip the shard out."

"Didn't it hurt??" Her ears perked in surprise.

"Ya think? It hurt terribly, yeah, but thanks to whatever you did, there wasn't much to take out since you did most of the work."

"What about the shard itself? Metaveil's probably using it to follow us, I mean, how else would he know where we were hiding back there?"

"I would say it was a random lucky guess, but that doesn't matter now. I might have gotten rid of the shard, and killed two birds with a stone at the same time." He snickered.

"How'd you do that?"

"A while ago, me and T.K were clearing stuff out in some centaur infested region, and we came across some lady who was selling some so called 'Triple-Luck Tonics'. You can guess what happened."

"Fake?"

"Yup, T.K beat up the mesmer pretty good, but she got away. I ran into her again an hour ago, only get this, she disguised herself as a quaggan. Same scheme, different presentation."

"How does this relate to the shard exactly?"

"I sold the shard to her for like fifty copper. She also said she was going to go north to Lornar's Pass. So if I gave her the shard, not only will Metaveil and Jukkerbaut follow her thinking it's us, but also-"

"Right, I guess if she's been scamming people for a while now, she deserves it." She looked up at the sky above them, rather foggy. "How long was I out for?"

"Ehhh... at least a few hours. Glad to see you aren't dead."

"Where are we exactly? I know it's Timberline but-"

"Some little island in the middle of the river, loaded with crabs. Don't ask, I have no idea why it's got so many."

"Oh, not so bad I guess." She stood up and scanned the tiny island. Sure enough, there were crabs, lots of them, as well as a quaggan (not the mesmer), but the least to say was that they were safe on this little rock. A small waterfall rolled over the cliff face some dozens of yards away, not the source of the river obviously, but a small contribution.

Apart from the ground and the cool air, Sajessia felt... something. Some minor pull, as if someone was gently tugging on her shirt, either trying to get her attention or lead her. It was the same feeling she had when they were in Wayfarer, like a magnet pulling her to her destination. This time, it was close, very close, almost as if it was right behind her.

She turned around to peer up a rocky formation in the center of the island, nothing more than something to jump around on, at least in terms of looks. Something about it was what she needed. Something was there that she needed to get.

"I guess out of all the places you could have taken me while I was unconscious," She started walking around the small formation to the other side, Dorty following her, "you  took me to where I needed to go basically." The other side of the formation was easy to walk right up, and a nice little flat surface was there. She looked back to him, "Thanks. How did you know anyways?"

"Wild guess?" He shrugged, "Does that count as an answer?"

Sajessia giggled, sitting down and crossing her legs one over the other. "Keep watch?" She asked.

"Eh, not like I have anything better to do." He gazed up the river where the water was coming from. "Don't you need some kinda rock or whatever? Like the last time?"

"No, it was just that one time." She explained, closing her eyes and relaxing. "I won't need anything like that this time." Her breath slowed a little, humming very quietly to herself.

After a few moments, she once again felt herself whisked away in her mind. It felt cold, strangely, unlike the warmth from before. She was definitely floating again, and there was nothing she was touching, so she was definitely in the astral realm, again. Once she was confident, she opened her eyes, in her vision, not in reality.

Nothing.

Instead of seeing stars or, well, anything relating to space, there was nothing. All she was greeted with was a cold, heartless, dark void that took up the expanse of space she was in. Pitch black, nothing to see almost.

For a moment, she started to panic, horrible memories she put behind long ago resurfacing. She almost had the urge to cry out for help, but then she realized that unlike when she was left in stasis, she was still able to move freely, and even more so, she could look at herself, which soothed her fear. Her celestial form was a reflection of space around her, but since there was pretty much nothing to reflect, all she looked like was a thin, wispy outline of herself. The only light that was in the abyss was her little soul-star in herself, gleaming brightly.

"What am I supposed to do?" She thought to herself.

The big issue here was vision, which the darkness effectively prevented. It was hard to see where exactly she was, her being the only source of light.

"Maybe I need to light this up myself..?"

She took some stardust from her wings and clasped it between her hands, squeezing until she felt it pop, turning into a tiny star. She casually tossed it upward, where it continued to fly for a distance before stopping. It wasn't enough to do much help, but it was a start. She flew up to position herself next to it, getting minor warmth, but not enough to make her comfortable.

She was starting to get more worried about staying warm then what she was supposed to do. Considering the only star she had wasn't giving her enough warmth, maybe she could make it bigger? She let some strands of light leave her and imbue the star, expecting it to grow bigger, and make it warmer, but instead it swelled up, then exploded, throwing her back some and scattering stardust all over.

Sajessia looked up from her briefly-dazed state to see one of the light strands touch some of the stardust, and watched as it almost sucked up the stardust, before turning into another star, different color this time. Still, now she had more stardust to work with...

The answer quickly hit home for her. She flew back over to the stardust the old star made, then sent out more strands of light to make more stars. Once she used all of the stardust up, she imbued those new stars and flew back away from the blast radius. It wasn't like they hurt her, but they still dazed her at point-blank range. Once those stars exploded, there was even more stardust than before, and it was warmer and brighter, but she wasn't letting up yet. She kept repeating the process again and again, until she was essentially surrounded by stars, which as that number grew, her form lit up more with reflections of them.

In the middle of the black void, Sajessia had made new light in the darkness. She wasn't going to stop though, until all of it was filled. She relaxed, then slowly started spinning around, just a slow rotation, closing her eyes and outstretching her arms. As she spun, she let out a steady stream of light strands from her hands, which all found their way to either the stars or stardust.

A few moments later, the void was lit up greatly by the masses of stars forming and dying again and again, and this cascade of light continued to grow, filling the emptiness and cold that was previously there. It went onward, further through the darkness, until after what might have been merely a few minutes, Sajessia felt as though the empty spot in space that she was in was completely filled, by her magic and willpower alone.

She sighed and admired her handiwork, hundreds upon hundreds of little stars, lighting up what used to be nothing, an it all started with just one. She basked in the immense warmed that radiated not just around her, but within as well. What she had done was like filling a gap in her life that she feared for a long time, and would no longer have to worry about.

Right when she thought her work was done, however, a slight shimmer caught her attention. It was off in the distance, and if it was not for the many stars that she made, the light would have never revealed whatever this was. Tired from the exhaustion of using that much magic, she slowly flew towards the object, taking her sweet time to soak up any light she had used to rejuvenate herself.

She was preoccupied with this enough that it took her by surprise when she bumped into the small object. It's shimmer was caused by all of the stars around her, and as far as looks, it was a round object with something coming off of it. Slowly, she reached out and grabbed it, and suddenly, uncontrollably started pouring some of her magic into it, the mesmer portion of her magic, rather than the celestial side. Her surprise began to quickly fade as she watched her magic reveal the thing, or was it bringing it into existence? An iron surface with some intricate writing, and a creature of some kind was printed on both sides of the thing as it began to form from her magic, and once it was done, began to reveal a ribbon that had both sides attached, a medallion of some kind.

She examined it closer, looking at the small details upon its surface. The creature on it was, without much surprise to her, a phoenix, and the text was written in Canthan script, which read something along the lines of "Light of the night sky". It looked rather old, and radiated with some celestial magic, but that was probably there for a reason.

She held it close to her, practically hugging it, and wrapping her wings around herself. In the real world, she mimicked the same actions, but there wasn't a medallion she was holding, in fact, nothing was really in her hands, for the moment. She began to glow faintly both in and outside of reality, which grew in intensity until she flashed brightly, like when one of those stars exploded. The next instant, she was fully back in reality, now clutching the medallion, which she somehow brought from her vision.

Dorty had definitely taken attention of this, and shuffled over to her from behind, looking over her to get a glimpse of the item she was now in possession on. Sajessia looked up at him at the same time, then held up the medallion for him to see.

"So now you've got a not-so-shiny trinket?" He asked, poking it.

"Yup," She held it close to herself again, "and I'm going to make it shiny... somehow..."

"Lemme guess, more traveling?"

"Obviously, yes!" She giggled. "We're still going south from here, but to the west as well."

"Wanna rest up first, or..?"

"Didn't we already get enough rest?"

"There was something called 'two baddies teamed up' and that was pretty exhausting for the both of us."

"It's not like there's a settlement anywhere nearby, is there?"

"Well, if you're okay with frogs, there's hylek over that ridge. They're friendly, trust me."

"I guess, but, will we be safe there?" She got up from her sitting position, turning to face him, spying a tall, rugged wood structure sticking out from the water. "Is... is that a krait tower?"

"Oh, that?" He thumbed in the general direction of the construction.

"Y-yeah, that."

"Eh, don't worry, while I left you here for the quaggan to keep an eye on, I uhhh..." He snorted a laugh, "I -might- have swam over there and murdered a ton of them. Doubt they'll attack the quaggans or the hylek any time soon."

Sajessia sighed with relief, they were already attacked once, she didn't want to be attacked again while they were resting. "Yeah, I guess in that case we should take another break."

"So, where exactly are we going next, lemme see..." He had a small case with a strap slung around his back, where he kept a map he was using for reference. The cap was closed over, so when he pulled it out, he was thankful the map wasn't ruined by the water. He unfolded it and found where they were, in the southern area of Timberline Falls.

"Okay so, little bit south..." He traced his finger down from where they were, past a big volcano on the map, "...and then some ways to the weeee..." He trailed off after his finger went over a very certain landmass on the map.

Sajessia perked her ears, "Something wrong?"

Dorty looked up at her, then down at the map, then back up to her again. "Uhh... you -do- realize where we're going, right?"

She shook her head, "Not exactly."

He let out a sigh similar to what he did when he was unamused, and showed her the map. His finger was on the coastline of the Straits of Devastation, which in other words, meant they were heading to the home turf of the elder dragon Zhaitan, Orr.

Sajessia's ears drooped upon realizing this, looking down at the medallion in her hands.

"Well, least we can look at the bright side of all this." Dorty explained as he paced around. "Sure, we're going to a forsaken land that was underwater for years, and now overrun by masses of undead monsters..."

"That doesn't sound like a good thing..."

"Well of course it's not! The good thing is though, is that, well, Zhaitan is very, very dead. No big bad dragon to keep making zombies means less zombies, right?"

"Well, how less are we talking about here?"

"I dunno, how many risen do you think the Pact there have killed since four years ago?"

"A lot."

"Yup, my guess too. So let's just say we'll find ourselves with a lot less enemies to deal with than if we were doing this while Zhaitan was still alive."

Sajessia took a slow breath, "I guess it'll be easier then, hopefully."

"Yeah, hopefully." He looked towards the hylek village that was some distance away, "So, wanna go take a nap over there?"

"Sure, but let's not stay as long as we did in Hoelbrak."

"Right, I mean, I did kind of throw Metaveil and Jukkerbaut off course of us, so we need this time. I have no idea how much ground they can cover in how much tim, so better safe than sorry." He slid the map back into the case and closed the lid, motioning for Sajessia to follow with a simple tilt of his head.

She followed after him all right, but once she was close enough, she hopped up and held onto his back, hitching a little ride. Luckily for him, she weighed almost nothing, quite literally, but that didn't mean he didn't take notice.

"Sej, what are you doing..?"

She didn't say anything, she just kept holding onto his back like a sloth, nuzzling the back of his neck.

"Welp, I guess I'll carry you around then, over to the village." He rolled his eyes, but snickered to himself from how cute this was. The medallion swung around a little from him walking, Sajessia still holding onto it.

Somehow, just being around her made happier, he wasn't sure why though. Her mood? Her magic? He had no idea. All he wanted to do right now was walk them to the village, and if he was going to have to carry her all the way while she was napping, clung to his back, then so be it, it wasn't like he had anything against it. All they really needed right now was a good nights sleep.

[dortykid]

Journey of the Celestial: Part 1

For months, Sajessia had been adjusting to her new environment in modern Tyria, learning to defend herself from the dangers, and unlocking the secrets that lay within herself: her magic. Now the time has come for the life-changing adventure to unfold before her, but the quest for her full potential is difficult, and only more so when unexpected troubles loom from the shadows…

It had been a couple months since the incident in the region that shattered the peacefulness of the valley. The inquest base that was formerly existing was replaced with a large, smoking crater that over the course of time became a pit of devourer nests and tumbleweeds. The murders that happened during the incident had almost completely faded, and the White Mantle had been driven out of the region, restoring the town to the state it was in before everything occurred.

The only official differences aside from the scenery were occasional explosions coming from the sheriff’s house (though that was to be expected, for T.K was the kind of demolitionist), the alarms set up in the event the town was attacked, and the fact that the asura who used to be a part of the destroyed lab now lived with her brother in the house. Dorty didn’t mind, honestly, but Ryagan was annoyed how there was another person to keep an eye on.

Dyeeaka spent her days there working in T.K’s workshop, mixing multiple concoctions together with some of the many spare parts scattered around to make a few new weapons that T.K was more than happy to test out. Her devices got good attention with the folk of the town, and she began assisting the town with issues involving outside threats. Recently, she had finally found a rather unique but also possibly dangerous job looking after a particular asura, though she seemed to be enjoying it.

Inside the house, Trytamer was sitting on the couch, rubbing Drakus’ belly like he would a dog, and Dorty simply lay on the other side quite lazily, unsure of what to do. It was an entire month now with him having nothing to do that was at least a little entertaining, and as the days grew on, he was getting more and more bored by it. He stretched his arms upward and yawned loudly, unintentionally irritating Ryagan.

Surprisingly, Sajessia was keeping to herself in the household, staying in her room. Dor was unsure why she was acting like that, but he assumed it had to do with some recent events he hadn’t heard of. Every now and then he would barely hear the sound of what he could only describe as a burst of light coming from her room, though he never thought of actually looking.

“Okay screw it I’m gonna see what she’s up to.”

Dorty rolled off the couch, falling on his face out of his tiredness, before pushing himself back up and heading to the stairs, getting a look from Trytamer and Drakus of slight confusion. Up the stairs he went to the bedrooms and bathroom they had. The first door on the right was his own room, which he now shared with his sister ever since she moved him. The second door was Trytamer’s, with an obvious smell of beer and meat, like he had a miniature moot going on in there for twenty-four hours a day. The final door on the right was Sajessia’s, which as Dorty approached seemed to have a soft purple glow emitting out from under the crack on the bottom of the door. The door on the very end of the corridor was T.K’s, positioned over his workshop so he could slide down, though Ryagan put it there to discourage T.K from blowing up the place, as if he blew it up, his room would go with it.

For whatever reason, Dorty hesitated on knocking on Sej’s door, maybe if she was doing something she wanted to keep private, like maybe a diary or something. On the other hand, when he put his ear up to the door, the only thing he heard was the sound of her humming a strange tune he couldn’t exactly recognize anywhere, and just that. He heard no pencils or quick hand movements inside, so with slight relief he knocked on the door a few times.

Sajessia stopped humming after the second knock, and became silent for a few moments.

“Hey uhh, Sej?” Dorty called from the other side of the door. “Are you alright in there?”

He waited for an answer, though for about a minute he got no response, but just as he was about to turn away she replied.

“Can we talk?”

“About what?” He wasn’t quite sure what to make of her comment.

“Just… come on in here… I’ll explain.”

He only just realized something sounded different about her, a slight echo to her voice that wasn’t quite normal. He shrugged to himself, pushing the door open and walking inside…

…only to suddenly begin floating without gravity affecting him, yelping in a little surprise. Sajessia’s room had somehow taken the look of space, and not just the walls, but the other things in her room as well, her bed, her table and floor, even the mirror. After a moment of floating helplessly head over heels he finally made contact with the opposite wall from the door, grabbing onto what he assumed was her bed, turning to look around the room. It was hard to spot here at first, but even though she was in her celestial form, her glowing eyes and outline made her stand out in an enviroment she would normally be nigh invisible in. She was floating over in the other corner of the room, a few tiny stars orbiting around her, and from what Dorty could assume she was being serious about something.

Sajessia reached out with her magic and grabbed Dorty with it, psychically moving him over to the center of the room, which she floated over too shortly after. Her outline flickered, and a few moments later the starry surface of her had faded to reveal the good old girl Dorty was most familiar with.

“So uhh… how’s it going?” Dorty snickered.

“It’s… complicated.”

“Can’t be too complicated, can it?”

“It is, trust me.”

“Magic related?”

Sajessia nodded, turning to the side a little so Dorty was still within sight of her, but she wasn’t making eye contact with him for the moment. “I’ve been meaning to ask for a little while now, though I didn’t exactly want the others knowing at the same time.” Dorty perked an ear, “What’s up?”

“The sky, duh!”

Both of them broke out laughing and only harder, even to the point of Sej crying from her own joke as they kept adding on things like “The birds” or “The ceiling”, or even “The harpy that pooped on Zaxaxx” which made Dorty crack up. After the moment was over, Sej resumed the slightly serious tone she had.

“What I wanted to ask was… I’ve known you all since I was awakened from that dead city. Out of all of us, you’ve been there most of the time to help me, when I was sad, when I needed help with something, when you opted for helping me learn how to actually fight and defend myself with an actual weapon and not just my magic,” She pulled her glaive out and spun it around a little, before letting it float over to the side of the room. “and what I’m saying is, while you’re not the one who’s helped me unlock most of my magic, which lets be honest, it was either me on accident or help from one of my friends in the Reach… you’re still the one, out of everyone I know in this world, that I would trust my life to.”

Dorty couldn’t help but blush a little from what might have been the nicest compliment he had ever received. “Uhm… th-thanks.”

Sajessia giggled from the way he responded.

“So, what’s your point here?” He asked.

“My point is… I’m almost done.” She replied.

“Done? With what?”

Sajessia gently grasped one of the stars circling around her, before flicking it upward to the top of the room, which exploded in a harmless shower of beams of line, or more like strands. The light suddenly began to move around and take the shape of symbols, icons, and a few other things. It only took about a few seconds for Dorty to realize this was a map he couldn’t read that he was looking at.

“My magical potential is almost at its greatest. All I need to do in order to finally uncover my truth is to go out on an adventure and unlock it through multiple tasks. Some easy, some hard, but overall it’s not just a life-changing event in my life,” she held a finger up, “it’s -the- life-changing event in my life.”

The way she said it made Dorty snort a laugh in amusement, before she continued,

“…and… I want to share this adventure…”

Suddenly realizing what she was implying, Dorty vainly tried to swim through the air over to her, though since there was no gravity in her room for the moment it wasn’t quite possible. “So, you want me to join you?”

Sajessia slowly nodded.

“Would it be wrong to say I would be honored?”

“Wh- of course not, Dorty!” She laughed.

“Well, in that case, yeah, why the heck not? This is just what I need to do, something to occupy me for a good while. A trek across… uhh, where exactly are we going?” “All over central Tyria.”

“Even better.”

Sajessia purposefully levitated her close friend over to her, and just as she assumed he would do, hugged her. She returned the hug with her own, wings included as she wrapped the two of them in her warm embrace. “I guess you want to get down from here now?”

“Yes, please.”

She nodded, and after a few moments the space that was the room suddenly began to pull inwards back into Sej, until her room was fully restored, gravity returning to normal, though she made sure to hold them both up with her magic before gently setting themselves down.

“So, any planned date you want to start?”

“After Halloween’s over, I think.”

“So, a few weeks? I can live with that.”

“Let’s wait a few days before we tell the others, alright?”

Dorty snickered, “Guess we don’t need T.K going hyper right now at the wrong time.”

“So, yeah, wait a few days, then tell the others, and start packing stuff we’ll need. Sound like a plan?”

“Gotcha, Sej.”

Suddenly, Dorty leaned over and kissed Sej on the cheek, before reeling back in surprise, turning red on the cheeks and ears. “Uhhhhhhhhhhhh-why did I do that?” Sajessia was equally surprised, but shrugged it off and returned the kiss only making him blush harder than he already was.

After a little more discussion, exchanged hugs, and unexplainable inside jokes, they finally returned to whatever they were doing beforehand, readying themselves for the journey ahead.

- - -

Dorty was right when he said T.K would go hyper when he was told the news, and for the next few weeks they all pitched in with preparing the two asura get their things together for the long trek. Both of them received extra-padded coats from Trytamer that provided more warmth, should they need it, as well as some extra snacks and a lighter. Food and water were both packed as well, with a few traps stuffed inside the packs for hunting. Sej was also bringing along a device that would let them talk to the others at home, or anywhere in that manner.

On this final day of packing things up for the road, Dyeeaka approached her brother one last time before they set out, hugging her only sibling she had, and asked a simple but slightly important question.

“Who’s taking over here while you’re gone?”

Dorty was a little confused, unsure how to respond exactly. Before he could say the first thing that came to his mind, Dyeeaka added,

“Not me please, I’m not a leader.”

Now he was left with three options, and they were Ryagan, Trytamer, and T.K. Trytamer was no good with being a leader even in small groups, so he was off the table, leaving Ryagan and T.K as choices. Normally he would choose the former, though for whatever reasons going on, Ryagan seemed more and more quirky and unstable. Putting him in charge of the house while they were gone would result in him throwing all of them into a cell, for he was the sheriff after all, and more recently easier to anger.

“Well…” Dorty shrugged and padded over to T.K, who was choking down on some charr dish of sorts, which smelled good. “Ey T.K, question.”

“Yaaah?” He spun around, still chewing and swallowing, preoccupied with the meal enough to not be quite sure what his friend wanted.

Dorty gave him a light punch to the shoulder, in a friendly way, before saying “You’re in charge while we’re gone, alright?”

If there were reasons watching T.K’s reaction of being surprised was hilarious to watch, nobody could name any despite the obvious. He stood all ridged for a moment, staring down at Dorty like he’d seen a wyvern. He slowly leaned over Dorty, close to his face, though neither budged from that point, before asking “Are ye serious?”

“Yup.”

T.K viciously hugged Dorty like he was a plush backpack from the Black Lion Trading Company, without hurting him too bad, all while chanting “Thank yeh!” over and over again, before letting go and running around the house, hands in the air in victory that he was able to take charge. All the while, Ryagan put a hand up to his face in bewilderment, unable to comprehend why Dorty would choose T.K to watch over things rather than him.

After some more running around aimlessly throughout the house some more, T.K swooped down and picked up both Dorty and Sajessia, hugging them both. “Ayeeeeez gonna miss ye both… a lot. Like, a lotta-lot.”

“Awww…” Sajessia tried her best to hug T.K back with her wings, though her being held in this position made it difficult.

T.K dropped them both down onto the floor carefully, before almost saluting Dorty, “Ayez make sure no Moontle n’ ‘quists smash stuff here, promise! Actually, no promises, stuff might get smashed, but not everythin’!”

“Hehe, thanks man.” Dorty tried his best to reach up and pat T.K on the head, then turning to Sajessia, “So, you ready? I know I am.”

“Uhuh! Ready to go!”

“Ayez got the door!” T.K shouted as he sidestepped over to the front door, before activating the boosters on his shoe and kicking the door off its hinges across the barren front yard, splintering a little with every bounce until it fell flat onto the floor.

Dorty shook his head in disapproval, but couldn’t help laughing with everyone else (except Ryagan, who was fuming at this point). “So, why did you kick the door across the yard?”

“Ayez gonna call it new tradition. If we gotta go places, we kick it across da yard before we go where no-go-before-o!”

“Ha, you can’t be serious!”

“AYEZ SERIOUS, MOIT!”

More laughter was exchanged, before Dorty and Sajessia stepped outside, looking away across the valley, then back at their friends.

“Well… this is it guys.” Dorty shrugged at the rest of the gang. “Me and Sej are going now. Any last words or forever hold your peace before we go?”

“Kick this guy out of command.” Ryagan pointed at T.K.

“Nope.” Dorty snickered.

Trytamer gave a fair wave for them both, while Dyeeaka stepped out between the others, reaching her brother to give him a farewell hug.

“Stay safe brother, alright?”

“Sis you do realize I’m kind of nigh impossible to kill, right?”

“Kind of, that doesn’t mean completely.”

“Good point.”

A sound like silverware clattering all over the floor inside the house gained everyone’s attention, and T.K rushed back inside. “OI, BLOOP NO, BAD BLOOPER!”

Dorty sighed, shaking his head. “Alright, guess that’s all. See ya guys in a while!”

“Be sure to wriii-uhhhhh….” Trytamer started saying, but trailed off.

“We will, don’t worry guys, just hope the bird can actually reach us!” Sajessia giggled. The two turned around to set off, only to find themselves face-to-face with another asura, probably the reason Trytamer had stopped mid-sentence. He didn’t seem like anyone important in particular, but judging by the blue and gold color scheme his clothes bore, he was most likely Consortium.

“Hello.” They said calmly, despite how quickly the faces of the people before him went from excited to downright unamused. “We heard you were going on a sort of adventure to unlock magic. The Consortium is willing to assist you with this, if you would like. We’ll provide you will all sorts of conveniences that wi-”

“SCREW YOU CONSORTY!” T.K yelled, pulling something out from behind the door and throwing it at the uninvited guest.

The asura was struck by a grey, gloopy substance that hit him square in the head, before it began to bounce all across them, while the Consortium asura began to freak out. “What is this thing!? Get it off me!”

“Sic 'em Bloop! Left hook! Left hook!” T.K chanted from the doorway. Clearly he had thrown the pet ooze he had at the poor asura, and they were now at the mercy of the ooze that did nothing more than harmlessly cover them in wet gloop.

While the unexpected (and more certainly questionable) visitor was left distracted, Dorty and Sajessia quietly gave some last waves to their friends before stepping away behind the house, starting their long journey across the continent.

- - -

Neither Sajessia or Dorty had gone beyond Kryta in terms of previous travels, and that wasn’t counting Sajessia’s brief visit to the Shiverpeaks. A good shortcut they took was going through Divinities Reach, using the asura gate to reach Lions Arch, then heading northeast through Gendarren Fields. Sticking to the main road allowed them to avoid the troubles of local pirates, as well as a clear route into the Shiverpeaks.

“It’s already starting to get colder…” Sajessia muttered, as they were passing through the cave route which led into the mountains.

“Well, we’re in a cave, that explain enough?” Dorty replied.

“Yeah, but it’s getting colder the further we go through here.”

“Well, you know, other side of this thing is the Shiverpeaks.”

“Our first stop is somewhere in this region, somewhere, not sure exactly where, but I know the general direction.”

“'Cause of that map thing you’ve got on ya?”

“Yeah, I don’t even have to pull it out, and I know precisely where we are on it.”

“Because it’s all in your head.”

“Yup.”

A sudden gust of cold air blew through the cave from the direction they were going, and she wrapped her wings around herself like a cloak while Dorty only flinched slightly. “Should probably break out the coat Trytamer made ya.” He said, noticing her shiver from the cold despite her natural technique of coping with low temperatures.

Sajessia nodded, dropping her pack down on the cavern floor, before scourging through it before pulling out a heavy coat lined with cloth on the inside, and some kind of animal fur on the outside. Multiple pockets were attached near the bottom of it, which seemed to give off the smell of meat, though nothing was in them at the moment.

“I think Trytamer was using these pockets before he put them on here.” She sniffed the pockets just to make sure.

“I dunno, maybe he was. Why does he even carry steak in those anyways? Aside from giving Drakus a quick snack, I mean.” Dorty couldn’t help but also get a little whiff of the pockets aroma.

“Now that I think about it… maybe he uses it for his name.”

“Wadaya mean? How does keeping meat in your pockets give you a name.”

“I mean what he does with it, his name -is- Trytamer. Maybe if he wants to avoid something he can feed it and it’ll leave him alone. Makes sense if you think about it that way, right?”

“In that case,” he took another whiff of the coat, “might wanna throw some herbs and stuff in there too. Minotaurs don’t eat meat yaknow.”

Sajessia shrugged and pulled the coat over the rest of her clothes, wrapping her wings around herself underneath, for added warmth. Sticking her arms through the sleeves she finally pulled the hood over her head, maximum cover all over herself.

“Fit alright?”

“It’s snug, I guess. My wings are a little cramped under here though.” She poofed the coat up a few times with her wings underneath. “It’s strangely comfortable though.”

“Like, that false sense of security comfortable?” He perked an ear.

“Yeah, that. I guess this is what T.K feels like.”

“Well you’re missing the bandanna, so he’s got a better feeling of it than you do.”

Sajessia swung her pack back around her, pulling her arms through to wear it. “Well, off we go I guess, into the mountains.”

“Yup, better get going before night falls, supposed to be colder at that time.”

It only took a minute for them to walk the rest of the way, until they made it out on the Shiverpeaks side of the cavern. Like any other range of mountains covered in a blanket of snow and rock, temperatures were cold enough that unless one had the proper clothes and gear, which thankfully the two asura had, one would have greatly increased chances of freezing to death. The side they came out on was less cold than the rest of the mountains, mostly due to the fact this side was right next to Kryta, and thus conflicted with the warmer temperatures.

“So, where do we go from here?” Dorty scanned the peaks for any sort of clue as to which way went where, but everything looked the same to him here. “Sej?”

Her unusual silence grabbed his attention, though she seemed alright. She stood balanced on one leg, eyes closed, and hands clasped together with pointer fingers forward out, flicking this way and they as if trying to find something more clear. A few more moments of this passed before she pointed in a direction, and opened her eyes to see this choice. “This way.” She said, getting back on her two feet and heading in the direction she pointed out.

“I’m not even gonna ask how you figured that out.” He laughed. “Actually, I’m starting to consider adding you to my list of people I don’t question.”

“Oh, come on do you even -have- a list?” Sajessia laughed.

“Nope. It’s all in my head, and T.K’s lonely in it.”

“Aww, give him someone to hang out with, that’ll cheer him up!”

“Hey, hard to pair that kid with anyone in general!”

“Oh come on, he’s… well… now that you mention it he is kinda hard to be friends with at first.”

“Eh, ya just gotta ignore his jokes and stuff when you’re not in the mood.”

“Let’s just keep going, alright?”

“Right, sorry for the hold-up.”

Sajessia kept following her route while Dorty blindly followed her from behind. He just assumed she knew where she was going through the mountains. Continuing through Snowden Drifts was strangely difficult due to the rise in abundance of icebrood. On top of that, the only places where they could catch their breath were at the townstead in one corner and the hunting post in the other. All in-between was free game for anything going on, be it icebrood, centaurs, or even pirates, originally assuming they had left them behind in Kryta.

Wayfarer Foothills was much calmer, and thankfully enough it was one of the places Sajessia had visited before only on a recent trip before this one. What made the place calmer though was most likely the Sons of Svanir who lay dead on the sides of the road, and one could assume someone or a whole group had wiped the roads clean of the dragon-worshippers.

One of the popular landmarks in the area was the quiet hot springs where one could relax, though there was no time for that. Regardless, it made for an easy shortcut in the direction they were going.

“So, you think it’s true?” Dorty asked, trying to start up another conversation from boredom.

“Hmm? What’s true?” Sajessia turned her head.

“Part rabbit, part deer. Come on, how would that even happen?”

“You mean the jackalope?”

“Yeah, does it even exist? I mean, I’m no scientist or whatever, but I doubt a buck would be able to make babies with a rabbit.”

Sajessia burst out laughing, shaking her head a few times. “Well, I guess it’s a mystery nobody will ever find out!”

“Good, because I don’t want to imagine how it would go down.”

More laughter came from the two of them as they began to pass through the hot springs. While Dorty took the high route out of the water, Sajessia trodded through the shallow parts, humming to herself.

“Remember when I told you about all of this?” She suddenly spoke aloud.

“What, the journey and going out across Tyria, or the hot springs?”

“The former, and… well, this was where I figured out I could affect gravity with my magic.”

“Mmkay, uhh hey, question.”

“Yeah?”

“What’s that tune you keep humming? I’ve heard you do it a few times and thought it was different songs at first, but now it all sounds the same. What’s the importance?”

“I’m not quite sure myself, but I know it originated somewhere in Cantha. Read it in a book and now I’ve got the tune stuck in my head.”

“Right, going back to not questioning things now.”

“We’re almost here by the way, just over this hill.”

“Wait what? Already? What are we even doing over here?”

“Didn’t you just say you weren’t going to question me anymore?”

“Uhh… I… forget everything I’ve said in the last minute!”

“Pffheehe!” She giggled. “It’s alright, it’s not complicated for what I can get you to help do. It’s more difficult for me though. I just need you to make sure nothing interrupts.”

“So, no interruptions? Of any kind?”

“Yep.”

“So, no butterflies or jackalopes then going around you and landing on your wings?”

“Wel-” She snorted a laugh and continued across the area.

Their destination was an abandoned Jotun settlement, from first glance. Nothing more than a few huts, some crops, and of course a few massive runestones lying around. Sajessia went over to the hut that had a strange glow inside it, and once she pulled off the straw hiding the source of it, both of them beheld multiple runestones, still flowing with some kind of magic.

“Okay so, just keep your eyes peeled for trouble. I’ll do the rest.” Sajessia started to pick up the stones one after the other.

“Easy enough, let me know if you need any help though, alright Sej?”

She nodded back to him, then began to set up two sets of three using the stones, made in two straight lines next to each other that would connect if she added one more in the middle, but instead she sat there once she had finished positioning them. Pulling off her coat she set it aside, fanning out her cramped wings in the frigid air, then held them back behind herself before covering up the runestones under them, holding them close to her as she drew her wings around herself as best as she could while also keeping the stones on the ground. She already started to feel the magic seeping out from them, though that was not what she was after; she came to commune here by using their almost unnoticeable vibrations and matching it with her own humming, while meditating. Hopefully it would yield the results she was half-expecting.

“You good?” Dorty asked.

“…yeah…” She softly replied. “…remember, no interruptions…”

She closed her eyes and started humming to herself again, this time in sync with the runestones. In her mind, she felt the world around herself begin to change, the cold going away as she was whisked away from reality into her mix of reality and her dreamscape. She felt herself change as well, though that was normal at this point to fall into her celestial form while she was meditating. Usually she found herself in a part of space when she was doing this, and this was no exception, finding herself in a sort of nebula amongst the millions of stars.

This nebula, while she recognized it as being a birthplace for new stars, was sort of like a maze to her, requiring not just horizontal but also vertical movement to escape. Thin walls of stardust composed the maze, making it all translucent and looking the same throughout.

Overall, she was expecting more of a challenge, but then again this was her first task, a maze shouldn’t be too hard. She flew forward, then a left turn, then down, then up upon seeing down was a dead end, then turning around and going backwards. Strangely, she felt she had to do something else here, there was no way getting through a maze alone would suffice.

She was suddenly aware of the concentrations of stardust that seemed scattered around the maze, put in dead ends of course. Did she have to do something with them? She maneuvered through the maze to one of the concentrations, sanding out by a shimmer that made self quite obvious.

She passes her hand through the bundle of stardust a few times. There was so much magic in it, but unable to do anything unless it was refined. A thought flickered in her mind, and she scooted up close to it before trying to clasp it all between her hands. Despite her efforts, there was just too much, there was no way she could hold it all in such a small space.

“Come on… think…” She thought to herself.

A good idea finally popped into her head. She reached around the bundle again, but this time using her wings to help hold it close to her. Once she had it all held close to her chest, she felt it pulsate ever so slightly. All she had to do now was channel her magic into it, and she would have a new little star made, bigger than ones she made before due to the extra amount of stardust she was using. The pulses grew more and more powerful as she concentrated her magic around her, until she felt it pop like a fireball, feeling the heat radiating from it. She let the newborn star go, positioning it back in the spot it was in before.

“You can figure out the rest.”

Sajessia didn’t bother asking who the calm, echoed voice belonged to, she knew perfectly well who it was. Now that she thought of it though, she should have known who it was since she was born, but then there was the stasis incident, and her magic being taken from her, but that was all in the past now. The Celestial that granted her these powers helped see her through every trouble she endured. She was more than thankful for all of it.

At this point, she was flying through the maze, both metaphorically and literally. Feeling herself drawn to the concentrations of stardust basically allowed herself to be directed for her. It soon became much less of a maze and more of her darting through a series of sparkling archways as she brought new stars into existence from the residue of old ones. She lost count of how many stars she formed, ten? Twenty? Only after the last concentration was transformed did she realize just how much work she had done.

After this realization, the maze around her quickly dissipated, leaving her in the center of the large group of stars she had made. She took a breath, half-expecting herself to suddenly be whisked back to reality, assuming she was done, but she kept floating in the abyss around her. She was left with herself, and the stars she made to work with. “What was the reason you decided to take this journey?”

“Well… to unlock the rest of my magic.” She replied. “Oh! Wait!”

Floating over to the very center of the system, she outstretched her arms over her head, slowly waving them around to find the best place to grab the light coming from all around her. Once she found it, she gently grasped at the area, and the light she touched quickly lit up with visibility. She crossed her arms across her torso, and started drawing in the light from around her. This was how she usually recovered spent magic, but never this close to the source. Before long she quickly reached her current limit of magic she could handle, but she knew she couldn’t let up yet.

“…just gotta… hold it in…”

She kept herself focused on keeping all of the excess magic in her, despite how much it started to hurt. She was even starting to light up herself from all of the light she was holding within.

“…all…in…my…head…” She reassured herself, almost close to bursting.

A few moments later she suddenly stopped receiving light from the other stars, despite them being there still. This was quickly followed up by her form lighting up completely for a moment, even though she still held all of the light in. Now, her eyes still glowed like stars, but the rest of herself was no longer the same space around herself, rather it was glowing like the many stars around herself too, a bright pink beacon. Now, she found it easy to hold all the light inside, only overwhelmed by the immense warmth it gave her. It was almost enough for her to just keep it all in, basking in an eternal glow, but what was done was done, and it was time to bring herself back to reality.

“…thanks Hai…”

She released all of the light she had taken in at once, lighting up everything, at least in her vision, feeling the warmth leave her, but also changing her at the same time. It was nothing major, though she wouldn’t tell the difference until she was back. The chilling air began to flow around herself again, the smell of the hay, here perception of reality taking back control as she finally found herself back under the hut she was sitting under, the runestones she had no longer vibrating with magic, though it was still there. Dorty sat a few yards away, ears perked up as he was trying to keep himself occupied by trying to talk to a rabbit that had hopped over to them. At the moment it was nibbling away at a small carrot that was planted in the garden.

“So you’re telling me, that your feet -don’t- bring good luck?” He laughed. “Yeah, sorry, but I already knew that. Good luck telling others though, not sure they’ll say the same thing.”

Sajessia carefully lifted herself up from her spot, then picking up the runestones to set them back down where they were before. Strangely, the cold wasn’t as intense as it was earlier, despite the winds not dying down at all. Perhaps she had just got warm just by bundling up under her wings as she was meditating, but in reality it was most likely an influence from her recent experience. She snuck over to where Dorty was, and feeling just a little mischief that needed to get out, quickly gave the most gentle of pushes while shouting “Boo!”

The reaction was priceless. Dorty yelped in surprise, shooting upwards before crashing down into a snow bank. Normally he would be pissed off, but once he realized who it was, only laughed as he got his head unstuck from the snow.

“Wow, okay you got me there, was expecting more of a warning when you woke up but, I guess not.” He flicked some of Sajessia’s hair a little, which made her laugh some herself. “Did you take a trip to LA while I wasn’t looking? Because I don’t remember your hair glowing that way.”

“Hmm?” Slightly confused at first, she fished into her sack to pull out a handheld mirror she found thrown away somewhere, flipping it open to look at herself. Sure enough, some of the colored streaks in her hair had turn from purple to golden, and as Dorty had said, glowed a little as well. “Hmm… hope no skritt try and shave my hair off.” She laughed, closing the mirror and putting it away.

“So, that was it? For here at least?” He looked back at the runestones left in the hut.

“Yup. That was it for here. First task is done, three to go.” She clapped her hands together and walked over to the slope, admiring the view.

“Alright then, where to now?”

“South, I can say that much.”

“Shortcut through Hoelbrak?”

“How about we rest there for a bit, then keep going?”

“Well, we gotta get there first of all.”

“Wanna race?”

“No race, no race please. Might not look like it but I’m tired from all the walking.”

“So, just walk to Hoelbrak then?”

“Yup. Let’s go I guess.”

Dorty spun around, heading towards a rope bridge that had been set up by the norn, motioning for Sajessia to follow. As they walked across, they got the nicest view of the region around them.

“Hey Sej, one more thing.” Dorty said.

“Yeah?” She looked back at him.

“Dibs on the first Son of Svanir that isn’t in Hoelbrak that we run into.”

“Mmkay, you do that.” She giggled.

Walking the rest of the way to the norn city, a good dinner with hearing in on some storytellers was just what they needed for some downtime. Resting up for the rest of the journey would be simple enough, but from here on out, both knew things were only going to get harder.

Neither knew just how much harder it would get though.

Editors note: You may or may not have realized the lack of italics in this with the dialogue. That's because highlighting suddenly has the most absurd issues. Just to keep things consistent, all 4 chapters won't have italics in their dialogue.

[tostitokid]

Prelude: Battle on the Brimstone

Keep reading

[dortykid]

Prelude: The Metal Juggernaut

>INITIALIZING.

>SCANNING FOR UPDATES... >UPDATE 2.6 FOUND, DOWNLOADING...

Zaxaxx watched as a percentage bar appeared below that last line, slowly filling up, rubbing his hands menacingly. This new update would solve many problems with his creation, such as the power blades folding inward to allow movement through tighter area, or the improved hand-bow on the gauntlet. Perhaps though the greatest addition was the support of magical enhancements. He had allowed things such as his necrotic magic, or better yet, the currently popular magic held in shards of bloodstones, to be placed inside by it to further strengthen it.

>DOWNLOAD COMPLETE, INSTALLING...

The bar shot forward to full as he was about to enjoy some coffee.

>UPDATE INSTALLED, INITIALIZING START-UP, DETACHING...

Multiple cords detached from the hulking beast that stood in the corner of the chamber, as tiles began lighting up on the mechanical exoskeleton. After a few more cords detached, followed by a low pitched beep, the thing stepped forward, looking down at its creator.

"Jukkerbaut, version two-point-six."

"YES?" It replied, in a cold, metallic tone that sounded like metal scratching against metal.

"I have given you the ability to adapt. I was quite hesitant on this for multiple reasons, but I believe it is for your best. If you would, please open the new compartment I put in your chest plate."

Jukkerbaut looked down to its torso, at least as best as it could, then pushed an outlined panel offset from the middle, and it opened up to reveal a small space with a few extractors inside it.

"Good, good, now, hold still for a moment..."

Zaxaxx stepped forward and stuck his hand into the opening, channeling his dark magic into his arm, which the extractors began sucking up and distributing throughout the organic systems.

"There, I have used my magic to enhance your strength and resistances. You should find it much easier now to crush pesky bookahs."

Jukkerbaut opened and closed its fingers a few times, then punched through a pillar next to them, causing the machinery behind them to collapse.

"Tsk tsk... I never really liked that pole anyway."

"QUESTION."

"Hmm? Yes, Jukkerbaut?"

"WHAT-HAS-BECOME-OF-PROJECT-XAKAT?

"Ah, him? I'm afraid the attempt at turning the Inquest at Twilight Falls against that miserable excuse of an asura has unfortunately failed. All of the krewe there were destroyed in Xakat's self-destruct."

"WOULD-YOU-LET-ME-GO-AFTER-AND-ANNAHILATE-DORTY?"

"Normally, I would say yes, but your new gear needs testing before I can allow you to engage pursue. For now, I will let you patrol around the city and try to solve these... issues arising. I do believe myself, that it has something to do with that... boy... with the flaming hat."

"QUEORY: WHAT-IS-TO-BE-DONE?"

"Simple. For the moment, neutralize any disturbances caused by power outages."

"AFFIRMATIVE." Jukkerbaut began to lumber towards the door.

"Oh, and I have a communicator installed as well. I will update you on anything going on."

Jukkerbaut nodded and walked out through the doors.

- - -

Getting around Rata Sum was one of two things, either quick and easy, or slow and hard. For Jukkerbaut, it was an unusual mix of slow and easy. Slow because despite the upgrades to their systems, they were still only able to walk so fast. Easy because the hulking size warded crowds to scatter calmly away from it. Jukkerbaut came across some Inquest and peacemakers close to a fight, but slamming the length of the greatsword between the two factions like a barrier, they quickly ceased arguing and fled.

On the other side of the area was an asura who's golem had gone rogue, and he was running from the imbued creation. Jukkerbaut lurched forward until it was close enough to land a hit, and then it swung the greatsword over it's head and through the golem.

What happened next was a red explosion of magic erupting from the golem. It caused several surges of magic to power down numerous machines, but the most fatal damage it did was to Jukkerbaut. The machines powering the beast started shorting out, it was visually sparking all over. Thankfully, thanks to the new update it had, the magic was absorbed and processed, but just as it had occurred in the past, the thing happened again.

The glowing lights of Jukkerbaut dimmed until they were almost completely out, and it slouched over, unconscious, a bug that Zaxaxx could, no matter how hard he tried, not patch out. It was just natural for it to occur, at least it was what he assumed. Jukkerbaut stood there for a bit, unable to function, and yet...

- - -

"Daddy?"

...

"Daddy? What's that?"

"...a devourer."

"And that?"

"A deer. Watch, the devourer's gonna try to kill and eat it."

"Kay!"

...

...

"Pretty cool, 'eh?"

"Yah! I wanna be a devourer! Double-sting!"

"Heh... keep dreaming, cub. Keep on dreaming."

- - -

Jukkerbaut powered back up, staggering around for a few moments before stabilizing. Something echoed in his mind while he was offline, but now that he was powered back up, the normal overlay of his vision and mind had returned. Whenever that happened, Jukkerbaut was told to wipe the additions to the memory bank within the timespan of turning off and back on.

One asura was trying to vigorously open the plate on his leg, and the only response made was punting the poor person across the plaza.

>INCOMING MESSAGE.

>ZAXAXX: >>IT APPEARS AS THOUGH THE KID IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE OUTAGES, RATHER A MAN WHO IS DRESSED UP LIKE HE IS SOME KIND OF DARK OVERLORD. FIND AND SHOW HIM HE IS NOT WELCOME HERE.

>REPLY: AFFIRMATIVE.

Jukkerbaut's new task was to find someone who wasn't an asura or a charr, so he began his patrolling around the city. First he checked the lower floors, followed by the crafting stations, then the central plaza. After that, it was on to the asura gates. There was no sign of any suspicious figures in the Idea Incubation lab, nor in any other populated areas of the city. When Jukkerbaut stuck it's head through the gate into the Arcane Councils area, he was only greeted with a golem smacking his head, which he returned with a punch that sent the golem flying away.

It was just the docks now that needed to be checked out. Jukkerbaut proceeded through the portal to the north end of the port and examined the various cargo. Some of it contained parts for asura gates, others golem parts, or food.

The north end was clear, so it was on to the south end. Jukkerbaut proceeded up the staircase to the enclosed area where the Inquest were working. He got a few glares as he passed through, heading towards the doors on the other side.

"-you don't suppose that thing is a charr, do you?"

"At least they aren't part of that silly Molten Alliance, that thing died years ago."

"Pfft, dredge and Flame Legion, how would that ever work!?"

Jukkerbaut suddenly stopped right as he was about to step through, and once again shorted out, sparking, and temporarily going offline yet again.

- - -

"Dad, the bui-"

"Hide."

. . .

"Hehe... prepare to BURN!"

- - -

Jukkerbaut snapped back online again, just as one of the researchers tried to open up the new compartment added on him, which as a result caused Jukkerbaut to slap the poor asura away into a wall with the force of an explosion. It even sounded like one, but yet there was no smoke, unless...

His sound registers were picking up an explosion all right, but this was not where he was, it was behind him at the docks. He turned to see a distant figure sailing off into the distance, and a cloud of embers and ashes from a large explosion that probably killed them, at least from what he could process.

Though Jukkerbaut was not focused on the flying figure, no, he was focused on the man down at the docks who was holding an asura at knife point. They matched the description he was given, and so he started lumbering down there. He watched as they boarded one of the ships. He got closer, a bell was heard, closer, a plank was pulled up, closer, now the ship was setting off, leaving Jukkerbaut to stand on the edge of the docks staring at it as it began to sail away.

Another boat, a smaller one, was commanded by what seemed to be a few humans, but Jukkerbaut took a scan of them, and it revealed to him mysterious energies coming from their pockets. He approached what seemed to be the captain of the vessel, who in turn looked up and laughed.

"Heh, what do you want ya stupid charr?"

Jukkerbaut just thrust a hand towards the ship that was leaving.

"What, ya want to get on that ship?"

A nod came from the head.

"Gonna cost ya for a chase, at lea-"

Jukkerbaut suddenly grasped the captain by the throat, and lumbered over to the ship with him gasping and choking for breath, before smashing them through the floorboards, leaving them dazed there. He then walked over to a side of the ship that wasn't accused, and sat down there, as the now-recently-convinced crew quickly prepared to set off after the ship leaving port.

Everyone was deadly silent as the ship set sail. The only sounds came from the splashes of water on the sides of the ship, the occasional seagull, and of course the heavy metallic 'breathing' coming from their new passenger, not to mention the groans of the captain, who was still stuck in the floorboards from earlier.

Jukkerbaut was not willing to risk getting wet, as that would short him out, so a battle at sea would spell doom for him. Following the ship to land and initiating combat there was the smarter choice. As night began to come down over the sea, Jukkerbaut entered a power saving mode, and would be ready to go after his target by the time they reached their mysterious destination.

[dortykid]

Prelude: Power Spike

The first part of a prelude story to an upcoming adventure. Metaveil, annoyed by constant losses, embarrassing defeats, and a poor reputation, goes to the dangerous Bloodstone Fen to try and uncover a dangerous artifact.

An extended moment of peace had unfolded over Kryta, a calm interlude of a lack of problems. Seraph took the time to recover after their battle with Mordremoth, bandits were taking a break for an unknown reason, and the White Mantle was not making any movements... yet. Until that last point was fulfilled, the people of Kryta took the time to enjoy the lack of conflict and settle down for a well-deserved rest, while simultaneously preparing for the upcoming holiday: Halloween.

One sylvari, however, was determined to break that peace. One clad in an outfit of iron and cloth, draped in red and black, his favorite colors, and his gauntlets ever burning brightly. He was a vain man, most of his 'evil' actions resulted in either nothing occurring or worse, him being dragged out by a guard and thrown out into the streets, or into a lamp post legs first. He really needed to work on something to protect his privates more.

Metaveil cursed himself for these continuous defeats. He was strong, he easily wiped out a 'powerful' Mesmer, however, now that he thought about it, it was merely a small norn wanting recognition like he did. He looked down on this norn with a little pity, knowing this man knew not how to be truly evil. At least Metaveil knew how to be somewhat more evil, but that was not the issue here. For now, he sat in a dark corner of the Salma District, plotting another attempt at causing a disturbance.

"...maybe if I...."

He drew a crude map out of crayons and charcoal of the area he was in. Now he was drawing a few arrows pointing to where he would go, and wrote what he would do.

"...yes, then I go here, and-" he looked up at the target he was planning to electrocute, "-shock this fool. After that, if the Sereph come along, I'll throw a fireball at them, and make a getaway with lightning. Yes, this seams like a good plan..."

He rolled up the map, shoving it into his pocket, and began following his instructions. First thing that had to be done was to sneak into the Coin, and drop a single flame into either the bar table or the basement, either one has precious drinks people wanted, and sabotaging that would surely being about a ruckus.

Getting inside would be the easy part. He walked down the alleyway behind the bar, catching a glimpse of a few cats having a fight over some kind of toy. He was not one to care for such a measly event, but he found a little enjoyment watching the two felines duke it out, mostly out of how they did it. He reminded himself of the task at hand, and continued to the part of the alley where most things were dumped off the upper ledge, where trash would be tossed from the bar above.

Two people were in a fight back here, both unarmed, and were locked with fists only. One of them swung at the others arm, but the target was a charr, and like it was expected for any charr, they grabbed the fist mid-swing and just held it there, making an awkward silence between the two, as the human attempted to pull his hand away. The charr just bared down at them with her piercing gaze, growling a little.

"Remind me to try grabbing a fist sometime, would you?" Metaveil spoke as he walked by the two, slapping the human in the side of the head, before flashing up onto the ledge above them. Now he was behind the Coin, in that little crevice where people would converse in private. He carefully walked close to the wall of the Coin, over to the entrance door. He peered inside, looking for a good moment to walk in. He watched the lime-asura bartender serving drinks, hopefully he could piss her off and cause even more trouble. With a few breaths of preparedness, he swooped inside...

...only to be blocked by a large, female norn. He stumbled back, dazed, and looked up at the obstacle, and winced. It was the same norn who had thrown him into the lamp post the other day. She glared down at him with what might have been the most unamused face he had seen.

"...ahh.... hello there..?" He said, a hint of fear in his voice.

They knew what he was here for, and they weren't about to let him get away with it. She grabbed him by the collar of his coat, and walked outside practically choking him before throwing him across the street. He bounced a few times before rolling to a stop under one of the carts, moaning in pain. Perhaps his one weakness, was his lack of tolerance for pain. If he was hurt, it would sting so much it would be hard to focus on anything else. Unfortunately for the elementalist, he lacked the experience with water magic, the least he could do was sling a harmless mist at someone, hardly a weapon or a tool.

He rolled over onto his stomach, pushing himself up a little to try and think of an alternative way to wreck havoc, twiddling his thumbs all the while. Before he had time to truly get in the zone of thought, he started to overhear two people to his right from under the cart. What they were talking about seemed urgent, and he leaned out a little from under the cart to listen in.

"-troops need more supplies in the Fen, yaknow? Hard to keep people sane there when that bloody bloodstone magic is everywhere."

"Yeah, have you seen those people who got it on them? The bloodstone? They're not themselves, but they're stronger, faster, deadlier. Can't tell friend from foe though, and the only cure is putting them down."

"Seriously though, some people are finding ways to harness this stuff. I still think it's dangerous, but hey, ya never know, could be a boon..."

Bloodstone? What was this Bloodstone? What sort of powerful power did it hold? Metaveil was more than curious, he wanted power, and this seemed like a good opportunity to get ideas. Carefully he poked his head out until he was in sight of the two converses, before asking "Excuse me, may I ask where this so called 'Fen' is?"

The reaction was priceless. The girl talking immediately smacked the sylvari's head with a bag of lemons they were holding out of shock, and was about to deliver another swing before her lover stopped her.

"Terribly sorry, my love is a loose-cannon at times. What was your question?"

"...grr...." Metaveil moaned from getting hit on the head by lemons. "...where is this... 'Fen' place..?"

"Oh, Bloodstone Fen? It's in the jungle, north of Verdant Brink, but I warn you, it's extremely dangerous."

"...thanks..." He sighed, pulling himself out from under the cart, brushing himself off. He knew where to look, he would head west, and find his solution to all his problems, but first...

He made one last attempt at annoyance, and got payback on the girl by slapping her across the face before bolting for an escape.

"HEY! GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE-"

Metaveil was thankfully good at running away. As he reached the fence that separates the district from the rest of the city, he flashed through it while his chaser smashed into it, unable to continue his pursue. He ran through the city, stealing a poor child's rising broom to use as a vehicle for transportation, and flew through the city streets out of the main gate and down into the county side, burning a few flowers in the process.

- - -

He spent a few weeks traveling across the countryside, making his way south first before cutting across Brisbane Wildlands. At this point, the broom he had stolen was busted from overuse (and as a weapon), and the rest of his journey was on foot. The swamp region was strangely abundant with ghosts, more so than before, but it was the gully that was the harder obstacle, with fleshreavers patrolling it for unknown reasons. Once he was through that, he casually walked through the abandoned fort, brushing a hand along a dried up Mordrem vine as he strolled. Camp Resolve was filled with the Pact Soldiers, but he dared not anger them or he would be ripped to shreds. Walking across the Silverwastes was no small task, as everything was trying to kill him, even a random devourer hatching wanted in on attacking the sylvari.

Finally, he passed into Verdant Brink, and was a little shocked in awe of the destruction wrought by Mordremoth upon the fleet of airships. The sky was littered with hung vessels, winged beasts that were nothing he recognized gliding amongst the wreckage, and below it was a seemingly bottomless abyss, and going down there seemed like the worst possible idea, but as he saw people gliding out from the darkness, he assumed something down there was worth taking.

He continued his trek going north, following the trail up along the cliffside. He walked into a hylek village, with perhaps some of the strangest frogs he had ever seen, in terms of understanding them, for alas, he could not understand their language. Going more west up a steep incline he found another, more normal hylek camp, though it was being attacked by one of the winged creatures.

For a moment, he lost himself in respect for this creature, how it buffeted its foes away with strong gusts of wing, how it seared the ground with massive patches of fire, it smacking away hapless victims with its strong tail. In a way, it almost reminded Metaveil of himself, and in a stuck sort of trance, walked up to touch the beast.

It went as well as anyone thought it would. It swung around to breath at the large group while simultaneously smacking Metaveil with the tail. He went soaring across the sky, yelling out in surprise and pain, until he landed on an outcrop north of where he originally was. He slowly got up, brushing himself off, clenching his gut from getting swiped there.

Metaveil looked to the north, and saw an ominous red glow, like a dark sunset, extending upwards to the sky. Perhaps he was here, he had made it to this 'Fen', and indeed he had. He collected his thoughts for a few moments, as well as his sanity and well-being, before hiking to the region.

- - -

When the person said that Bloodstone Fen was a dangerous place, Metaveil has overestimated himself, and yet, that seemed like an understatement compared to what lay before him. The landscape itself gave way to a smoking crater in the center of the region, and chunks of what had probably been there before floated in the air high above, possibly suspended by the red crystals that grew in the undersides of these islands. Elementals that he assumed were attuned to this 'Bloodstone' lingered on the islands, as rifts spat out innocent creatures from across the continent. Down below, he was greeted with a familiar sight: the White Mantle, whom as usual were not happy with anything that wasn't human. As he expected, they attacked him, but he fought back, nothing a few lightning bolts and fireballs couldn't solve, yet there was something about them that the region even further influenced. Their eyes were glowing crimson with this magic that flooded the region, and he felt this ancient power crawling all over him, sending chills down his spine.

So this was bloodstone magic, crystals of what he assumed where blood infused with magic, truly something powerful. If he could harness this, he could become unstoppable, nigh unkillable. Yet, he remembered what was also said, those who were corrupted with its power lost themselves. He needed a way to enhance himself with this stuff without turning into a mindless abomination.

He searched around the area, more angry spirits attempted to subdue him, which he promptly took out, strangely. The area itself seemed to be strengthening his abilities, making him stronger by the minute. Of course, it would probably wear out as soon as he left the region, but he might as well enjoy it for now.

Crystals grew in the crevices of the landscape, and he harvested a few of these. He was no researcher, but he was sure these would be the key to his problems. Soon, he was at the crater, which dropped down to immense depths, and yet even deeper. Yet there were more bloodstone crystals to be harvested, and he still had no glider of his own, so he was left to do it the old fashion way: a hook and a rope.

Fastening the grappling hook on the constantly sloped edge of the drop, he gripped the rope and started his descent. Here and there he would grab a few crystals or dust from the walls, and when a glider came along to laugh at his method of transport, he cursed at them and continued downward. It soon became hard to go down, as soon the elementals were trying to attack him, and he was slowly losing his grip, growing desperate for a place to rest. What was worse was he was near the end of his rope.

As he made another hop downward, his grip failed him and he started falling. He gripped for the rope, but it was too late when he realized he had reached the end. Now he fell helplessly downward, spiraling a little as the wind rushed past him. He was pretty much tired at this point and closed his eyes, accepting his fate.

Only that did not happen. He expected to come in contact with the hard rock ground, or worse a spiked crystal of bloodstone, but instead what he landed on was a sort of cushion of some kind. It was still a rough landing, but it deflated as he landed on it and sunk down into it. It was strangely rough, leathery-like, and parts of it started to pop a little.

Looking down from his throne, he saw an asura researcher looking up at him with a few crystals in his hands. There was an awkward silence between them, before the asura said "You do realize what you're sitting on, right?"

"No, I do not know what I'm sitting on, please tell me, I want a ton of these!"

"It's a bouncing mushroom."

"-and WHY is it called a..." His eyes widened beneath his mask, and he slowly looked down at the mushroom. "...bouncing..." Another pop was heard. "...mushroom..."

A moment later, the mushroom suddenly quickly re-inflated, launching MetaVeil skyward. The researcher laughed as the sylvari reached the hight of his arc, before falling back down and landing at an angle on the same mushroom, this time sending him soaring down the cavern, landing on a floating Ley-rock. The laughing researcher just made the event all the more embarrassing, and to redeem himself he threw a fireball his way, accidentally missing, but it got the message clear he was not to be messed with, especially in terms of laughing.

At this point, he was considering different ways to rid himself of the dust on his clothing. That thought was interrupted when he saw before him, down at the bottom of the cavern, an absolutely massive, yet broken Bloodstone, -the- Bloodstone.

Leaping off his vantage point, he explored around the cavern housing this massive, magical rock. Just a few scraps of cloth, crystals, and some kind of jade were all he could find. He tried punching a few elementals that were not bloodstone, yet still exploded in his face. He even tried climbing up onto the structure surrounding the broken gem, only to be greeted by a few Mantle, who he took out quickly with some unexpected help from above: a norn with a glider, as usual. This was something he was really considering getting his hands on sometime.

Metaveil retreated to a dark corner in the chamber to examine his rewards. Bloodstone crystals, jade, Leystone, none of which seemed to impress him. How could he harness the powers held inside? He was no genius, but he knew it didn't involve breaking it into worthless dust, which he did out of anger. He sat and slouched in his corner, thinking. He felt as though he was sitting right on top of the answer, and he didn't realize it. He scanned the rest of the cavern around him in search for answers.

"...wait..."

Sitting on top of the answer. He was sitting atop a large bloodstone shard, which by itself was not of interest, but as he looked at it closely, he saw something inside it. What it was he had no clue, but something told him it was what he needed. He began to try and chip away at the crystal, with no avail using his dagger, and after a few minutes of no progress, resorted to jabbing it with rocks from the earth around him. This was proving useful, as cracks began to show along the surface, and beneath the many layers of it. Once he had rendered the gem unstable enough to break open, he simply manifested a fireball in his hand, and tossed it upward over the gem, turning away.

If there was one thing he knew, it was that according to that annoying T.K, not facing explosions was a key to looking intimidating. If anyone was there at the time, they would have agreed, as when the fireball made contact with the bloodstone shard, it exploded and caused the crystal to erupt with magic, scattering shrapnel all around the little area it was in.

He turned to admire his handiwork, looking over the ground singed with magic. As he walked to where it was, he was able to get a clearer look at what had sat inside it. It was a small crown of sorts, perhaps a tiara, or some kind of headwear, fashioned entirely out of some kind of metal, with bloodstone shards stuck into it, which stuck inward on some kind of mechanism. He picked it up and looked it over curiously, then seeing a small lever, gave it a little flick, causing the small shards attached to jab inward into where ones head would be. He laughed, not sure who would make a crown build for suicide, but realized soon that they wouldn't go far in enough to cause lethal damage, if anything, just some bleeding, and yet...

He prepared to make a risk he hoped would pay off. Looking around to make sure nobody was watching, he pulled his metal visor off from his face, and pulled his hood off. He then flicked the lever again to bring the gems back to their previous position, before carefully placing the crown around his head. He felt like royalty for a few moments, then put a finger on the trigger lever. He hesitated to pull it, not sure how it would affect him, but he pulled it regardless.

Yelling out in pain as the shards pierced his skin, and thankfully not his mind, he collapsed onto the ground as he felt magic like none he had felt before coursing through him. For a moment the flames leaking from his gauntlets turned the same blood-red color as the crystals around him, and soon, the pain was nullified. He lay there catching his breath from the sudden jolt of energy in him, that now only seemed to slowly grow stronger. What's more, he began seeing things, glows coming from all around him he did not notice before, the auras of magic flowing out all around him.

Another minute passed, and he suddenly jolted upright, rubbing his head, before returning to his feet, pulling the hood back over and fastening the mask back into place. Did this do anything other than make him see things? Otherwise, it seemed like a complete waste of pain he went through just to-

He was interrupted in thought by yet another member of the White Mantle, hungry for magic. His first reflex was to throw a fireball into their face, but what came out instead was a blood-red, burning orb. As it hit the cultist, it's explosion scarred the radius with crystals, and left the massive wound of the victim jabbed with them as well.

Even Metaveil was startled by his strength now. He simply stared at this dead person now, then down at his hands. These hands, which before held the power of just the elements, had yet failed to take a single life in that idiotic district. Now, they were coursing with immense magic that sent his powers through the roof, could probably level a building with a single blow. What came out next was a slow laugh, like one from someone who heard a joke that made no sense, and tried to make it sound like they understood. That laughter soon turned maniacal, and echoed around the cavern as he triumphantly declared his dominance over any lessers. It bounced throughout the cavern and out the crater at the surface, making spines chill at what horror might have just been unleashed.

- - -

Metaveil had managed to use his powers for the evil intentions he always had, but had never managed to pull off. He started by searing a small sylvari home, followed by burning multiple crops to fine crisps, then made his way into Metrica Providence to sabotage the many inventions of asura. He snuck into Rata Sum and brought down a few barriers to make both peacemakers and Inquest rage, bringing them into a few arguments. He was, at this point, finally good at his self-proclaimed job, as a super villain.

He now lay resting in a corner of the harbor to the south of the city, in satisfaction for a temporary timespan. He was tinkering with his abilities, and for the moment was creating a bloodstone crystal that looked like a bomb, because that was what it was, a bomb. He brushed more magic across the surface of the device, but just as he was about to put the finishing touches onto it, a horrid, high pitched, and all too familiar voice rang from the distance, grabbing the attention of some workers.

"Ayeooooo!"

Metaveil shot upright, slowly turning menacingly towards the source of the voice, which came from an outcrop on the other side of the harbor. A person in yellow and red was there, waving, and behind him was a cannon which was loaded with explosives. Normally Metaveil would not care the most for anyone with that tone of voice, but his hat decorated with a flaming feather, the annoying red bandanna, and those annoyingly but strangely innocent eyes, T.K was not easy to confuse with anybody else.

"Behold, as ayez launch meselfies, to, da, Ring, of Fiyaaah!"

People were just completely distracted by this event unfolding, as T.K started climbing into the cannon. Metaveil, meanwhile, shook his fists at him from his side of the water. One lit match and a lit fuse later, T.K yelled from the cannon "Hasta la vista!" before an ear rattling explosion came from the cannon, blowing it to shreds. Metaveil, for a moment, watched the explosion with hope T.K had finally blown himself up, but unfortunately that was not the case, as he caught a glimpse of the kid sailing off through the sky southward.

"The Ring of Fire, hmm?" Metaveil told himself. He walked across the docks to one of the ships loading up for a trip, finding the asura captain on deck.

"Excuse me, where is this ship heading?"

"We're shipping these supplies to Orr," they replied, "for the Pact troops still clearing out undead."

"Well... listen here little captain," Metaveil drew his dagger and pointed it at them, "would you mind taking a detour for me, through the Ring of Fire? There's a kid I need to catch up to."

His dagger was met with a very uneasy gaze from the captain, "Well, uh... sure, why not but... it will cost you."

Metaveil gently poked him with the tip of the dagger, which was all the payment needed to convince the captain to take the detour.

Packing up the ship and taking their new passenger aboard, the ship began to sail out from the port, in the same direction T.K had went flying. Metaveil watched as the port slowly grew smaller and distant as they sailed, and once it was far enough away, he turned his attention to a following ship. He assumed there were too many supplies on board to carry on a single ship, and so he shrugged off the suspicion of being followed, retreating to sleeping quarters below.

Little did he know, however, that someone, or rather more like something, was following him...

[dortykid]

Journal Entree #3: I was wondering where this went!

Huh, was curious as to where this went off to! Why did Ryagan have it stashed in his safe? And I probably ever go to Rata Sum anymore, mostly Divinities Reach so…

Eh, either way the good news is the house and town are effectively Inquest-proof! Ha, suck on that ya tomato colored midgets! Yes I just called myself a midget, and I am not offended.

Bad news: it’s not so much White Mantle proof. A few days ago Trytamer casually opens the door only I be greeted by a ton of them. With that, it’s the five of us (and Drakus, can’t forget him) versus the Mantle.

We won, thankfully, but with some injuries as normal. T.K got the usual bonks to the head, and I honestly think it just makes him more crazy. Trytamer being the hulking norn he is, took the most of the beating, which isn’t that much for him just saying. Ryagan got like, a cut on his cheek. If anything, all it did was make him more bad***.

Then we got Sej and I. I’m honestly kinda amazed how well she did with these guys, despite that one cut she got on her torso. That one somehow got covered up in her magic so now we can kinda see it in her celestial form look for… I dunno how long. Point aside, she shoots lasers out of her hands. SHE SHOOTS LASERS OUT OF HER FREAKING HANDS! And I thought Ryagan was the cool one! She took out like, 3? Still decent! She even suddenly has a... pet bird... thing... named... Maia, I think it was? I hope she gets better after this, I’m concidering giving her sparring lessons, might help in the future. Also wondering why her cut is seeped in her magic…

As for me, the only damage I got was an adjusted hand, and by that I mean I got it cut off, then stuck it back on not in the exact position so now it’s a little wonky. My hands are crystals, even if you cut them off it’s not gonna matter I can just fuse the dang things back on.

That pretty much sums up that. Where to put this thing…

[dortykid]

Unhappy Reunions: Mega-Post

Here are all three chapters of the story, all finely compressed into a single post! 

Share it with your friends, or do something else with it, go crazy!

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

[dortykid]

Unhappy Reuinions: Part 3

Ryagan held a single asuran data crystal between his pointer finger and his thumb, rotating it ever so slightly as he gazed at it. He looked down at Sajessia, who was shuddering a little, but that was normal at the moment while she was still crippled by the arrow wound. Dorty sat next to her, also eyeing the data crystal she had got, before turning to her.

"So, let me get this straight." He said. "You're saying that from the stuff you got on this crystal here, you found out the source of your powers is some Celestial Essence within you?"

Sajessia nodded and shuddered a little more, clearly bothered a little by this. "I can't tell if I'm an asura anymore or something else because of this, I just can't." She sobbed a little, suddenly assuming her celestial form and hugging her legs. Curled up like that, all she looked like was a bundle of space and stardust, which just needed a little love.

Dorty sighed and scooted over to wrap an arm around her starry form, "Hey, listen, what you are is who you want to be. You wanna be an asura? Say your an asura then, nobody will know the difference. Say you're some kinda star child, and people will also understand, gotcha?" He started scratching her behind the ears to cheer her up a little.

Ryagan stuffed the data crystal in his pockets and retreated to his office, shutting the door behind him before heading over to the bookshelf. It was pretty known by now that walls and bookshelves alike both were key places for hiding things, and Ryagan knew this was just another case. He moved the classic human children's books out of the way to reveal a safe, which he put the code in to open it, revealing some of the things he wanted to keep out of the wrong hands. He promptly placed the crystal into the safe, shutting it and moving the books back before retiring to the relaxation of his chair.

Sajessia just relaxed, lying in Dorty's lap. Lots of things were stressing her out, and this was one of the few ways she could just forget all of that and rest easy. "I hope nothing else happens, we've already had enough troubles lately." She sighed in an voice that echoed around the room.

"If I'm right, it's probably gonna get worse, then better, then... I dunno what will happen after that." Dorty hugged her lightly as he said this.

"Nnmmmhh... I just want everything to be better now. I don't want to sit around while we and other people are in danger."

Dorty was about to reply saying they would stop whoever threatened anyone when the front door was kicked off its hinges, flying across the room. As far as anybody knew, only two people were capable of such a kick, Trytamer and T.K. Seeing as Trytamer was on the couch when the door was sent flying, which hit him in the stomach and bounced off to the wall behind him, while he yelped at the sudden gut-pain he had, there was only one answer for who it was.

Sure enough, it was T.K. Rocket boots on let him kick down doors better than anybody his age. He stormed into the center of the house where everybody could see him, standing there for a few moments before striking a pose and shouting "I WAS RIGHT, MOITS!!!"

Ryagan quickly stepped in after he heard the door go flying, fists balled up as he romped over to him. "...okay T.K that's it what the heck is this all about!?"

"Ayez right, duh!" He laughed, then shuffled over to where Dorty and Sajessia sat, turning to them. "Ye think ayez cray-cray about da relations, but turns out ayez right! Ha!"

"I-s-sorry, what??" Dorty stuttered, unable to get what T.K was hinting at.

"Daawwwhhhh... Ye be wondering what ayez mean, well!" He pulled out an asuran holopad he had grabbed and transferred some data onto, shoving it into Dorty's face. "Read it and see! EET NUTS!!!"

Dorty was reluctant at first to grab it, since T.K was the person who also liked giving out false information. However, his eyes got glued to the little screen when he read the name of his mother on it, quickly grabbing it and started reading the whole thing.

"Nononononoooo, just read this part!" He swiped a finger to scroll down the list, down to a few things on his mother.

Dorty quickly eyed the "CHILDREN" list and his jaw dropped. He smacked himself a few times to make sure he was reading it right, then he blurted out "DYEEAKA IS MY SISTER!?!?" He dropped the holopad in disbelief, unable to register it, but as thoughts raced through his head, it suddenly made more sense than he realized at first. Meanwhile, everybody except T.K looked at him in shock and disbelief. Sajessia picked up the device and read it herself, passing it to Ryagan, who then tossed it to Trytamer, still in pain on the couch.

Dorty was basically stuttering at this point, "I... Wha... How... When did... Uhh..."

"Well," Ryagan finally spoke up from his own surprise, "this was unexpected. After years of thinking you're an only child, we're suddenly informed you have a sister who's part of the Inquest who live just on the other side of the canyon. Huh." He paced around for a bit before turning and asking, "How do ya propose we go about telling her this? I'm sure she wouldn't want her krewe knowing."

"I... Uhm..." Dorty sighed, giving in to the truth, before straightening himself up, "You're right about that. I'll wait for her to come around here again, then tell her myself, with the thingy here to back it up."

"Uh, hello?" Trytamer said during his fit of cramps, "Are we gonna let her live here, since she's related?"

It was at this moment where everybody except Trytamer all shouted "NO!!!" at the same time.

"Eh, alright, I'm not in the mood for more housework, anyway. Making rooms is hard!"

"Okay, it's settled then." Ryagan exclaimed, "We'll find her and tell her."

"Question!" T.K said, raising his hand.

"Guh, yes T.K what's your question?"

"Where da 'yeeaka at?"

"You think I know where she's at?"

"Nup! She go poof a while ago!"

Dorty leapt up from his seat upon hearing this, grabbing his sword off of the mantle and heading for the open doorway. "She better not be dead like those other people are who went missing, she might be Inquest, but if she's family then gosh dang it I'm not letting anything poke her."

"Search mode? Search mooooode!" T.K yelled, grabbing his hammer and other weaponry as he and the others bolted for the door.

"Wait!" Sajessia groaned, limping towards the couch, "What about me? I can't keep up with you guys."

"Hey Drakus, do that thing, would ya?" Dorty beckoned.

Drakus darted out from behind the couch and knocked the girl up into the air, landing on his back a moment later. He panted excitedly as he waddled after his best friend, with his little white friend on his back. Leaving her home alone wasn't a good idea with the murderer still about, taking her along with protection this time was the better choice. They made it to the northern outskirts of the town before parting ways to cover more ground, while Drakus and Sajessia followed Trytamer as night began to fall over the desolate landscape.

- - -

Dyeeaka had taken refuge in the smallest cave she could possibly find, thankfully close to the oasis so she could get food. Her fear of being found lead her to changing her internal clock, spending the day resting and the night to do her new routines. Getting fresh water was perhaps the easiest part, as all she needed was the clay jug she had to fill up with water via the lake. Getting food was another priority, but with enough effort she had constructed a fishing rod out of some of the materials, and sat out under the palm tree in an attempt to catch something to eat.

Different fish were more active at different times she learned, and thankfully for her the bigger fish were more active at night. All she required was two of them and that would suffice. She threw her line out into the water and laid back against the tree. After some time passed, she was happily greeted by a bite on her hook, which she reeled in to obtain one of the two fish she would consume. Throwing her line back out, she waited for the next one to bite.

She still couldn't shake the fact that she had a brother, one who was a known killer, mercenary, and all around deadly swordsman. Why had her parents never told her? What else were they hiding? She drifted off in thought, not even bothering with the most recent bite, her bobber breaking off as her hook sank below the water.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to her, was she perhaps the older sibling, the big sister? If so, she could probably boss him around, get him to take care of annoying problems she had and what not. She quickly pushed this rather dumb thought aside, as she knew he was tougher than she was imagining him as. Instead, she looked at him being the younger brother as a boon. Maybe she could teach him some actually useful stuff so he wouldn't be as dumb. Then she remembered that her parents had gone missing so many years ago. Perhaps he was born rather soon before it happened, and they didn't have time to inform her of his existence. If this was the case, and she began perking her ears in realization of this, then he would know where they were. Perhaps she would go tomorrow to the town she had been avoiding, tell him everything, and then ask. If she died knowing what had happened to her... their parents, she'd die a happy asura.

For now though she was still a fish short, so grabbing another bobber and bait, she grabbed her fishing rod and started to reel in the hook, or at least she tried to, for it had snagged on something under the water. A spare hook was something she didn't have, and she needed more of. Careful not to break the only hook she had, she carefully struggled to reel in her hook, it was stuck on something! She took a few steps forward to gain leverage in her reeling as she continued to get her hook back. Finally, she had got the hook and whatever it was stuck on out of the water and dropped the fishing rod for a quick breath.

That breath wasn't even nearly a second long before she shrieked in terror and fell backwards on her previous catch. Attached to the hook of the fishing rod was the bloated corpse of her charr salesman who had sold her krewe their supplies. A thick gash was inflicted on his face, and holes were what appeared to be drilled in his torso. Dyeeaka almost lost her lunch as this sight, but she had to investigate farther. Hoping he wouldn't turn into an undead charr suddenly and attack her, she shot him in the head for good measures before examining what was on him.

A rusted blade, followed by some gears, a few bolts, and some gold (which she took, it wasn't like he was going to use it) was all she could find at first on him. Then she forced herself to look twice at the drill holes on his chest, and she realized what it was. The killer had taken the time to effectively carve out the Inquest logo on the poor charr, which at this point she puked from upon realizing. Only the Inquest or someone else crazy could possibly do something to disgusting, but who?

She suddenly stiffened up, there was only one person who could have done it. It wasn't someone she knew, not personally at least, and they were new to the Inquest.

-and they were the one who took her place in her krewe.

Dyeeaka's rage at this point and determination for her friends safety took over her as she case everything aside, grabbing her gun and the fish she caught. She stormed off back south, primal instinct took over as she gnawed on the raw fish to tell herself she -was- tough, she could do this, she could show this actual serial killer who the slap-happy Inquest she was, was.

- - -

Kiajjar paced around his office, glaring at all of his krewes equipment they had made over the years. On the right wall was a series of golems that had been build to serve here, one of them a cleaning golem that allowed quick cleaning times, the other, smaller golem being the infamously so-called Boot-Golem, made by Dyeeaka. Its mere purpose was to kick out unwanted guests in the lab, which he found very amusing. Likewise, he was afraid it was about time he used it to rid himself of a new problem, should it not fix itself.

Walking over to it and speaking into the receiver, the golem flashed to life, taking stand and following him to the center of the room. He stood in front of his desk, facing the door, waiting for his newest krewe member to show up. He casually poured himself a drink of water and slowly sipped it as he stood there patiently.

Finally, the doors opened and Xakat walked in, still as pale and blister-filled as before. He started to walk forward until Kiajjar told him to halt with a simple hand motion, in that case he stopped to hear what his krewe leader had to say.

"Xakat," he began, circling around the recruit, "I must admit, you've helped us with a lot of things around the lab, and you have also effectively made the area around the place tumbleweed free, which does honestly make me rather impressed. I have, however, received a few complaints about your... questionable actions."

Xakat didn't even blink when he heard this, he had nothing to fear. "So then, what does my krewe say about me?" He said in his slightly robotic voice.

"A few things really," Kiajjar went as he moved to actually pet the Boot-Golem, "firstly, you seem to be a person who strikes fear into people, and a few of the people here cannot work in your presence. Secondly, people have said they've seen some... rather disturbing things regarding you, such as "Your flesh is literally falling off from below your shirt!" and "Sticking a birds head on a stick and placing it on the floor." and a few others. As good as you are productive, I'm afraid you need to step up your support for the others, and not be such a, hmm, distraction."

Xakat didn't even move while he heard that, was he even alive? He took a step closer towards him and the golem, "Anything else?"

"Yes, see this golem? This is my former krewemates golem, nefarious for its ability to rid us of unwanted guests in the most comedic fashion possible. Should you not start fixing up yourself, I'm afraid I might just have to sic it on you, and by that I mean it will kick you out of the front door."

Xakat snorted, staring at the little thing, "Completely harmless, this pile of rubbish is." He twitched a little when he said this, and when he did he very briefly glowed a faint green around certain parts of his body.

Kiajjar took no notice of the quick glow, proceeding to his final statement, "Also, one of the krewemates suspect foul play in you getting in here, in the krewe I mean. They have made claims saying you have been killing some people in the town to the west, including those who supply us with materials. A rather absurd claim, but for all we know it could be possible."

Xakat's breath began to grow ragged, his eyes also began to glow a little, "If there is one person who deserves to die, it's that draconic asura, Dorty."

"Ah, really now? If I remember correctly, we've made a simple treaty with his sylvari friend stating they wouldn't attack us if we didn't attack the town or them, so as long as the lab can be threatened by him, I would like to keep on his good side and not have us killed."

"He must die."

"He should die indeed, but we lack the firepower and skills to do so. In fact, it is quite nicer knowing he won't attack us so long as-"

"He must die."

"Uhm, yes, I already said that he should die, but not by our hands."

"He." Xakat suddenly began to glow immensely green, as he suddenly began to grow, before parts of his limbs suddenly broke away to reveal clocks or parts underneath, which extended outward around the room. "Must." His chest split open to reveal more clockwork parts underneath, which waved about in a horrifying fashion. "Die," Finally his neck extended and two blades stuck out of his skull, his eyes a deathly green. He was a makeshift Twisted Nightmare, probably inspired by Scarlet Briars work, only more horrifying than her actual designs. "-and this little krewe will not get in my way."

"I- is this a threat!?" Kiajjar stumbled backwards in surprise, trapped by his desk. "Golem, kick him out!"

The golem revved up and shot a spring-mounted norn boot out of its chassis at Xakat, but it did nothing against the monstrosity. His hand suddenly became a drill, and he shot it at the golem, shredding it to bits before returning to him. He looked down at his krewe "leader" and grasped him by the throat. He gasped for air, now begging for help, sure that the rest of the krewe would hear, which they did.

"You are nothing before me." With that, Xakat briefly stabbed Kiajjar with the drill, hearing him scream before throwing him into the corner of the room, where an unstable golem was. As soon as he smashed into it, it exploded, blowing the roof off of the part of the lab. Kiajjar sat all the way through it before turning his head behind to look at the horrified krewe, grasping their weapons.

"Who would like to join your leader next?"

- - -

'Yeeakaaaa! 'Yeeaka 'yeeaka 'yeeakaaaa!" T.K kept shouting in a vain attempt to find the Inquest girl. They had been searching for hours now, and so far nothing from any of them.

"T.K, shut up would ya?" Ryagan said, they had all regrouped on the plateau in the center of the canyon, hoping from here they could somehow spot her.

"I... do not know what to do now." Trytamer said in a quiet voice for once. "We have searched everywhere, the oasis, the ruins, that one place even where for some reason a lot of tumbleweeds gather in staggering numbers. She is in none of those places.

"We have to keep looking." Dorty paced around the group, worried look on his face. "I'm not gonna find out she's my sister and then find out she's dead, alright!? We will find her, and if she's in danger, kick dangers butt!"

They all stood in silence for a few minutes. T.K kept fiddling with his fingers a little, and Sajessia kept looking straight up at the night sky, the only time she felt at peace. Trytamer took the moment to rub Drakus' belly a little, "There there little buddy, everything's gonna be okay."

"Wish I could say the same about her, Dyeeaka I mean. If she's in trouble, we need to find her, and soon.

Sajessia wasn't paying attention to the conversation, but quickly became fixated on the Inquest lab in the distance, a green glow coming from it. She looked at it for a little bit, not knowing what it could be, before suddenly she jumped a little, wide eyed in surprise as if someone just entered her mind and told her something. "Uhm, guys!?"

Everybody looked her way, and then at the lab she pointed at. Moments later, there was an explosion. The roof of the room it came from flying into the sky, landing in the oasis. Surprised looks were exchanged before Dorty shouted "C'mon!" as they all began running to the lab. Sajessia struggled to hold onto Drakus as he bounded after the gang, but Trytamer grabbed her and stuffed her into his open pouch, big enough to hold her.

Tumbleweeds, devourers, wurms, and other native creatures were all that stood between the rushing group. Dodging a few of them and hacking through the rest, they soon made their way up the path to the lab. It was moments before another explosion occurred, on top of the lab this time. Debris fell down over everyone as they hurried themselves for the door. Unexpectedly, quickly trying to open the locked door was Dyeeaka, an all urgency panic mode she was in as she punched in the code again and again, but to no avail.

"Okay, move aside, I got this." Dorty pulled his startled sister aside and readied himself to smack the door down.

"Wh-huh!?" Dyeeaka looked in shock even more at the group who had suddenly joined her. "What are you all doing here!?"

"Helping, duh!" Dorty gave the door a firm punch, which quickly crystallized the door from where he hit. With a snap of his fingers, the door shattered and opened the way inside for the group.

"Why. Why are you helping me?" Dyeeaka was actually begging to know. "I'm just a stupid Inquest!"

Dorty hesitated before he walked in, setting a hand on her shoulder. "You might be a stupid Inquest, but you're not a bad one. What's going on in there anyway?"

"I dunno! I was kicked out and replaced by some -jerk-! I bet you he's the one behind this!"

They quickly rushed inside to behold the damage done. Weapons, equipment, and other bits and gadgets were all that was scattered around the main room. One of Dyeeaka's former krewemates sat dead with their own sword stuck through their chest. The rest of the room was empty, but soon another screech ricocheted through the lab, and was quickly silenced.

They rushed to the bottom of the stairs before they witnessed Xakat, or whatever he was, darting across the top into Dyeeaka's room. There was another yell for help but as soon as they reached the top of the stairs the caller had already been culled. Dyeeaka leapt into her room and stared at Xakat, who stalked her closet and cabinets, looking for one more victim. She soon realized that would be Korrapt is she didn't act now.

"HEY COG-FACE!" She yelled, throwing a gear at Xakat, who was inches away from finding her friend.

Xakat slowly turned to face her, standing up straight and lumbering toward her, clicking and hissing at the same time.

"You picked the wrong krewe to join, Xakat."

Xakat lunged at her, but she dodged toward the door where the group was. As soon as Xakat looked her way, he stopped and stared at them.

"Looking for me?" Said Dorty. He leaned on his sword in a rather lazy fashion, all the more to make the thing angry. "I'm sure you just want me to die, is that it?"

Xakat shot his drill hand at the group, but they scattered around him and truly began the fight. Trytamer shot arrow after arrow at him, lodging a few between the limbs. Ryagan kept shooting the legs as well, in an attempt to cripple the thing for an easy kill. T.K was perhaps the most annoying for Xakat, as he kept dodging his attacks, and when he did manage to land a hit, T.K would "reward" him with a couple jolts to the everything. Dorty focused more on protecting his friends from the incoming projectiles, slashing them up before they reached them. Dyeeaka resorted to pulling out the experimental flamethrower she had been secretly working on when she wasn't doing anything else, and unleashed a fiery torment of hellfire upon the thing.

In Xakat's current state, he lost track of who was Dorty and who was Dyeeaka. Finally he pointed his drill hand at Dyeeaka, thinking she was Dorty, and lunged at her. Falling backwards as the drill smashed into the floor inches from her she crawled backward as  it advanced upon her, reeling back for a killing blow. As he thrust his appendage forward though, Dorty was faster and sliced the drill hand clean off, the drill bit landing a few feet away as the limb stopped about a foot from her upon realization, leaking out some gas. It got in her and she began gasping and chocking from it, crawling away as quickly as she could. Another second of exposure would have killed her.

Seeing his sister in distress drove Dorty into throwing all caution to the wind, going full offensive against the thing now. He slashed at the feet to make him tumble forward into Trytamer, who grabbed him and pushed forward to make him fall the other way while Sajessia yelped in fear. T.K had quickly placed a nice explosive under its footing, and when it exploded it blew Xakat off his feet, tumbling backward into the wall. Once that had happened, Dorty lunged onto its chest and began ferociously slashing at it, bolts and sparks flying everywhere before he was thrown off, blasting it with a wave of crystals as he landed.

Xakat was tired now, he wanted this asura dead, and he was going to kill him no matter what. A flamethrower appeared on his other hand, and positioning it with the dismembered limb, made a massive arc of fire targeted at them. Everybody but T.K saw it coming, and while they dodged out of the way, T.K took the full blast of melting heat. Xakat laughed a mechanical way as he torched the kid, keeping the flamethrower on him until it ran out of fuel. He moved to see the handiwork he had now done.

It was of a rather mind blowing surprise that when the smoke cleared, T.K just stood there unharmed, his clothes covered in ash. He shook himself a little to shake the soot off of him, before bursting into a fit of laughter. “AYEEEZ T.K!!! AAYYYEEEEEEEZ DA SMART!!! AYEEEEEZ DA BEST!!!”

Xakat just stood there, staring at him, before he was suddenly electrocuted by a blast of Drakus' breath. Drakus breathed some more electricity in a dazzling display of carnage upon him, while Trytamer moved in with his greatsword, hacking at the arms. Ryagan shot at the head and neck a few times as well to keep it stunned. Xakat wasn't going down like this, he lunged at Trytamer and slashed at him, cutting him a little and cutting the bangs clean off of Sajessia's head. Trytamer bounded back, ignoring the pain before he was pinned down by Xakat.

Xakat threw Trytamer across the room as he smashed into Korrapt's hiding place, while Sajessia flew out of his pocket and hit the window. She fell down to the floor and moaned, sparking with magic suddenly, whilst Trytamer got up again and, with a mighty heave, threw the whole greatsword at the monstrosity. It pierced and lodged in his chest, but Xakat ignored the fact it was there and leapt upon Trytamer again, this time readying the flamethrower. Trytamer grabbed it right before it blasted flames out of it, and the two struggled for dominance over the weapon.

What happened next was all a blur. As Trytamer pushed Xakat off him, who turned in an attempt to torch Trytamer, a sparkling beam of light pierced through the room, shooting through Xakat's skull, and through the roof to the sky above. Xakat wavered there for a few moments, mechanical head completely decapitated from the rest of the body, and then he fell over onto the floor. The rest of his mechanical form twitched for a few seconds, and then stood still, dead.

Everybody looked at where the beam came from, over by the window. Sajessia grasped her wrist as the glow of her palm quickly faded and her breath returned to normal. She slouched downward and laid there for a bit while everybody else took the moment to catch their breath.

"Is... Is everybody okay?" Dorty asked, rushing over to his sister. "Dyeeaka?"

Dyeeaka had propped herself up on the wall, coughing and still gasping for air, but very much alive. "That... gas... It burnt me... my throat is-" she coughed and wheezed a few times before throwing up over the ledge of the broken window.

"Gosh, I..." Dorty just watched his sister in agony, not knowing what to do for her. He grabbed her and hugged her from behind, trying to make her feel better. "I'm sorry this happened. At least we killed that idiot before he got you."

"...bookah, at least... we got him before... he got -him-" she pointed over to where Trytamer sat, next to him Korrapt peeked out from the broken cabinet at the group, gaping quietly, afraid to come out, yet they had saved him, and Dyeeaka risked her life too rescuing him.

T.K waltz over to the corpse of Xakat, picking off a few chunks of metal that were lodged, including one with a suspicious symbol on it, which he stuffed away in his pockets. "Shuxa." He said, giving the corpse a firm kick to the leg.

Before T.K realized it, the dead Xakat sparked again, and everybody turned to face it. It began to twitch horribly around, and light started beaming out from the chest. At this point, T.K was freaking out in realization, "EETS GONNA GO BOOM!!!"

Everybody started panicking, grabbing their belongings quickly, but the way out was sealed up, with no way out. Sajessia, surprisingly, got up and limped over to where Dyeeaka and Dorty stood.

"Guys, listen." She spoke, but she sounded different, a slightly deeper voice with an echo that bounced around the room. She suddenly waved her hand around, and a rift split open in the center of the room. "Get in there, now!" She teleported over to the rift, taking a leap of faith inside.

Everybody else wanted to live, and so with T.K and Ryagan swiftly hopping in, and Trytamer punting Korrapt inside, as he and Drakus jumped, Dorty bride-carried his sister and leapt inside. The rift closed, and after a few more seconds, Xakat exploded. The entire lab was consumed by a green inferno as the whole sky was lit up by the destruction, an armageddon that could be seen all the way from Divinities Reach, and reached upward to the heavens.

- - -

Ryagan looked around in the place they ended up in. Pink, purple, white, and yellow energies lit up the black abyss they all floated in. He watched the others try in vain to move around, but were stuck floating aimlessly in one spot. Scattered around were a few books, a brownie, a broken golem, and a blanket, all floating around the same way they were. Sajessia floated around, somehow the only one who could control where she went here, as she checked her friends to make sure they were okay.

"Sej, would you mind telling us where we are?" Ryagan calmly said.

Sajessia flew back to the center of where they were, "It's my pocket rift. I've figured out how to get people inside it, so, I figured this was the safest place to be." She reached out with her magic and grabbed everybody else with it, pulling everybody closer together and not so far apart. Her loose hair waved about with no gravity affecting it.

"Alright, so how do we get out then?"

"Same way we got in, but we should wait. The explosion might still be going on, so we should stay here for a bit. I'm sorry guys, really. If I didn't do this we'd all be dead."

Dorty beckoned for her to come over to him, so she did. He took her by the hand and hugged her lightly. "You pretty much just saved us. Don't feel sorry, I don't care how long we stay here, so long as we're fine in the long run."

Sajessia kept herself in the hug, wrapping her arms and her leg around him as she spoke in a weak, soft voice that everybody could hear, "...thank you..."

Dyeeaka's coughing broke the silence, moaning in pain. Korrapt reached out and pulled himself closer to her. She opened her mouth for him to see burn marks and a blister at the back of her throat, likely a cause of the exposure to the gas. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a modified filtration device, offering it to her. "Take it, I was saving it for emergencies, but you need it more than I do now."

Dyeeaka carefully took hold of the thing, looking at it before putting it on her face over her mouth. She took a few, deep breaths that made a wheezing sound through the filter, but she breathed normally again. "Thanks Korrapt, I owe you one."

Korrapt smiled and gave her head a rub, "You already did, remember?"

Dyeeaka chucked, turning to Dorty, a sad expression showing up on her face. She looked between them both for a few moments, before sighing and letting go of both of them. "Guys, there's something I need to say to both of you."

"Whatever it is, I'm all ears." Korrapt said, wiggling his.

"I can probably guess, but I don't want to spoil it." Dorty laughed a little, getting a glare from Korrapt.

"Listen, all of you." Dyeeaka got every bodies attention before she continued. "I only found out this recently, and it's thanks to my friend Korrapt here, and I am just as shocked as all of you are about to be." She turned to Dorty, taking a deep breath before saying "Dorty, I'm your sister, you're my brother. We have the same parents."

"-what!?" Korrapt gasped, cupping his mouth in surprise, looking between the two, before exclaiming, "Huh, I guess you two do look alike..."

"We already knew, sis. I'd say just as recently as you found out too." Dorty sighed. "I'm still a little surprised myself, but hey, blame our parents for bringing us both into this world."

"Wait, you found out too? How??"

"T.K went to Rata Sum, found some files on our mom. How about you?"

"Dads journal, he left it behind in his home."

"Huh, I was wondering why he left it there."

"Hey, speaking of, I really need to ask something." She reached out and grabbed his arm, careful not to touch his hands. "Where are mom and dad? You're the one who last saw them, weren't you?"

Dorty perked his ears up in surprise, then they dropped down as he sighed. He turned the other way without responding. Everybody else grew quiet, not like they weren't already.

"Dorty, where are mom and dad?" She repeated.

He sighed and spoke quietly, "After we got kicked out of Rata Sum, we went west into the heart of the jungle. We didn't get far before..." He stopped, tear floating off from his eyes. "...before Mordremoth killed them."

Dyeeaka's eyes widened in shock. Dorty being her brother was surprising enough, but her parents death? She sniffled, then broke out in tears and hugged her brother, who returned with wrapping an arm around her in support. "Now what are we going to do???"

"I lived in the jungle for years, then left, made some good friends, then returned and killed Mordremoth, met Sej, and settled down here. I'd say we're good ourselves, but I think the better question is what are you and your friend gonna do now?"

Dyeeaka and Korrapt exchanged looks before she turned and said "I'm going to leave the Inquest. They'll assume we're dead, so they won't bother looking for us. You with me buddy?"

Korrapt was still in shock himself, but upon hearing those words he nodded, "A new chance at life is just what we need."

Dyeeaka smiled under her filter, letting go of her brother before pulling Korrapt over to her, touching foreheads because a kiss to the cheek wouldn't work.

Everybody sat in silence for the next few minutes before T.K finally blurted out, "Soooo... when we leave?"

"I think it's been long enough, let me check." Sajessia did the same hand motion she did before, and the rift opened again. There was no green glow or anything destructive out on the other side, so she grabbed the others with her magic again and pulled them back through with her. "It's safe, let's go."

- - -

Sajessia was first to leave her pocket rift, and pulled everybody else out with her before closing it back up. The area around them, the entire lab and the part of the canyon it resided in, was now a smoking hole in the ground. Even though the heat of the explosion was gone, bits and pieces of the lab still came tumbling out from the sky. T.K ran about trying to see what he could uncover or keep as a trophy amongst the wreckage. Everybody else stood around, finally getting the chance to breath fresh air.

"Oi!" T.K shouted from over a broken wall. He had found the drill hand that had been used by Xakat, the tip blown off. "Can we keep it?"

"No T.K, we're not keeping it." Ryagan shouted back to him. "Do you have any idea how much blood has been spilled using that thing?"

"Nup! Ayez don't care, ayes keeping it! Besides, eet beroken anyway."

Dyeeaka kept leaning on Dorty's shoulder for a bit before she stepped away over to the cliffside, just to appreciate the view. The lab might have been gone, but that didn't ruin the rest of the scenery, merely her slightly more comfortable vantage point.

"So," Dorty stepped over to her to also admire the landscape, "watcha gonna do now?"

"I dunno, join a new krewe? Found a new one? Just do whatever the heck I want? Whatever it is I do, I have one thing for certain that will be done." Dyeeaka turned over to T.K, who was running around with the drill hand, "Hey T.K, that's it right? You got any orange paint?"

"Uhhhhh... Back at the house, yeh!"

"Gimmi it so I can get the red off me. I like red, but red and black is Inquest colors. Orange will have to do. I'm leaving."

"Leaving, huh?" Ryagan stepped forward, baring those eyes of his back down on her.p, before smiling. "I guess we could cover for you and your friend here, said you all got wiped out in the explosion, wadaya say?"

"That would be most appreciated. Oh, by the way, if you find a way to get these burns and blisters out of my mouth without permanent damage, let me know okay?"

"Eh, we probably won't, since research isn't our thing sis." Dorty chucked, "I'll be sure to write though, or contact you somehow, or... ah what the heck I'll pop up on your doorstep that good enough?"

"Nononooo, no need. I'll be much more fine without you being around, just write to me okay? If the Inquest find out we're related we're gonna be in a tumbleweed."

"Eehhhhh, I see what you did there!" He gave her a light punch to the side, she returned with a slap to his face. "Okay, no side jabs then? Ah alright."

"Well, I guess we should get going. To town first though, I gotta change this outfit to something slightly less Inquesty."

"Heh, well then, let's get outta here guys. I gotta get some rest, I mean really." He let out a deep yawn and stretched a little.

"Ya think? We're all probably tired. You mind if me and Korrapt crash at your place for the night?"

"Not at all. Just stay out of Sej's room, she's still a little paranoid and likes to be left alone."

Ryagan motioned for everybody to leave. Trytamer gave Drakus a good, firm belly rub before they followed, and T.K tried revving up the drill, which surprisingly was still working, just not as functional. The path and road was clear of any tumbleweeds after the explosion, so getting to town would be unhindered. Everybody else walked down the trail, but Dorty stopped and looked behind to see Sajessia sitting there quietly.

"Sej, c'mon, we're getting out of here, you're tired, right?"

Sajessia just nodded and slowly got up. A soft peachy aura glowed around her as she stumbled over to him. He chucked and picked her up, carrying her along to catch up to the others. She felt warm, more than normally, and her wings also glowed this peachy color.

"Sej, you alright?"

She opened her eyes to look up at Dorty. Some little lights resembling stars flickered in her pupils. "I feel funny, in a nice way I mean."

"Heh, if you're gonna fall asleep might as well do it now, I'll tuck you in when we get back."

Comfortable enough, she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him, falling asleep. A little trail of stardust was left behind as they walked, and quickly dissipated. As she slept, she heard someone talk, but it wasn't any of the people she was with, it was a voice in her head. It calmed her, her breathing slowed, smiling a little. It spoke one more time before going silent:

"Your time will come. Be patient, child."

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

[dortykid]

Unhappy Reunions: Part 2

Days had past since the first encounter, and both groups stayed on their toes in case of an attack. Dorty's group had quickly taken Dyeeaka running in fear as a hopeful sign that they were to not be messed with by this specific group, and so they rubbed it in by making jokes about baddies running from them just by looking at them. The Inquest group however buffed up their defenses and now sent only Dyeeaka to get supplies, assuming she had the knowledge on how to survive another encounter. She refused, but was threatened to be kicked out and had no other choice. Now she took daily trips to the town, keeping to the corners in an attempt to stay hidden, from Dorty's group at least.

All the while this was going on, the effects of Mordremoths death began to become apparent. Ley energy was out of control at this point, popping up anywhere almost and attracting an all manner of creatures, especially hungry dragon minions. Anomalies began to form from the excess magic as well, leading to some damage to the environment. The biggest issue however was the effects of the overloading magic on the people, as some quickly learned of. Some people had been supercharged by it and took advantage of the sudden buff they had. Others, like Dorty and Sajessia, had issues arise. With magic overloading in them it was hard to get things done without venting magic in one way or another, becoming a hassle to put up with.

Dorty had kept brushing crystals that newly formed on him off, leaving quite the mess of dragon crystals everywhere. Ley energy was causing his draconic instincts to take hold, and the urges to just feast on some magic continued to rise, but he persisted and endured. T.K was running all around the place, not affected at all almost by the increase, trying to get something out of the absurd quantities of magic. Trytamer and Ryagan were also affected, but the most they got out it was more fighting power.

Sajessia had it the worst out of them. Unlike Dorty, she wasn't quite as able to vent magic so easily, so she was regularly overloading with it. Going up to her room and looking inside to see stardust everywhere wasn't unusual now, and her moans of discomfort were also something that we're hard to get rid of, as well as the sparks of magic that leapt from her torso, making her jump, twitch, or jerk in some way. She was wearing a null-collar around her chest, instead of her neck as it was intended, to ease the insane levels of magic within her. Rather than shut down her magic completely like it was meant for, all it did for her was keep her from yelling in discomfort and possibly pain as her magic would overload again and again. So long as she wore it, everything was for the most part okay.

A possible solution to the recent magic overloads was being researched by the Priory, but nothing was developed yet, so the group hung tight and kept together. Keeping themselves alright was one thing, but another thing had the town in an uproar: the White Mantle conspiracy. With the supposed return of the White Mantle, people were preparing for the worst, making preparations for a possible attack, since west of the region was the Forsaken Thicket, which was what turned out to be the home of a large White Mantle fortification. Therefore, if they pushed east to the town, the town would at least be somewhat prepared.

Dorty had packed up the jewelry he was selling at his market stall, and now headed towards The Heated Palm, the bar in the town. His throat parched, he needed a drink from a place that didn't serve just water. On a windy day one would expect people to stay indoors due to the sand, but thankfully enough the sand here wasn't picked up so easily, at most gaining a foot in hight, so crowds still persisted. He weaved through the groups of people, eyes set on the sandstone bar a few buildings down. As he made a dash for it, he punched to the side with his hand to deflect a tumbleweed back in the direction it came from, catching a few unlucky chickens in it before returning to its usual course, now with a chicken payload. Dorty finally made it to the bar, pushing the double doors open and taking cover behind the wall to catch his breath.

Nobody batted an eye his way, as most people came in already tuckered out from the effort it took to simply get inside. The bar itself was cozy enough to relax in, but at the same time held enough space to fit at least a tenth of the towns population. Apart from the bar counter itself, the place had circular tables with chairs, a dart board, a cellar where most of the drinks that weren't water were kept, and a second floor with a view down, doubling as another place to enjoy drinks. There was even a designated spot in the bar for people who lost their lunch, placed in the corner and designed to vent the stench outside away from most noses. At the moment there was not many people inside, a few humans, a sylvari, a charr, and of course the bartender who earned the nickname "Mc. Chuckles" due to his bar jokes and making people crack up. A certain asura was already seated at the bar, enjoying a drink...

Dorty quickly realized it was the same asura who had been trying to avoid him the last few days. Despite what she was probably assuming, he noticed her presence every time, so at this point he wasn't bothered. It was actually rather funny seeing her try her best to stay out of his gaze. Enough was enough though, he had the chance to find out about the local Inquest here and he wasn't going to ignore it. He stepped up to the bar and took a seat next to her, too busy drinking to notice him. He silently asked Chuckles for some water, who brought it over as quietly as Dorty was right now, then decided to make things more interesting, saying "Well, I recon I better enjoy a drink myself, you two get along now, kay?"

That got Dyeeaka's attention, a confused look on her face before looking to her left at Dorty, who shrugged. Watching her yelp and nearly fall off the stool got a snicker out of him, but he quickly shook his head and took a drink himself.

"Wh-what are -you- doing here!?" She stammered, leaning back as far as she could go without falling.

"Well, you aren't as sneaky as you think you are, yaknow?" He said calmly.

"Why haven't you come for me yet then?? I'm probably tastier than I look!"

"Okay, now I know you're afraid of me, but cannibalism is not something I do, that's just too far right there for my stuff."

"Wha-... You -are- going to try and kill me in my sleep, right?"

"Please, I have two conditions for that to happen, okay?"

"Oh, and what would those be!?"

"Simpler than you think. If you mess with me too much, if you get what I mean, or if you hurt my friends, then I will come for you. In all honesty I haven't seen you make an attempt on anybody here, plus everybody kinda... knows you as nice so..."

Dyeeaka at this point was dumbfounded. She was Inquest, naturally someone like her would be a common target for any bounty hunter or vigilante, and here was the guy who everyone was afraid of for obvious reasons, talking to her like she was any other person in the bar. "Why are you..." She started to say, before cutting herself off with another drink, "-being so nice to me? You want something from me, is that it!?"

"Well, now that you mention it," he slid his glass aside and turned to face her, one arm on the counter, crystallized hand completely visible, "I am curious what you guys do here. We only moved here recently, and taking into account the past encounters we've had, well, you guys might want to think twice before attacking us, but seriously, what does your krewe do?"

Dyeeaka shook her head, not answering for a few minutes. The awkward silence combined with him sipping his drink finally got to her, and she confessed. "We mostly work on defense systems for the Inquest bases, but so far, SOMEONE," she leaned in towards him with an aggressive look, which he only chucked at, "has kept destroying the bases where our shipments have gone."

"Choose better then, or maybe choose nicer folk to send them to." He turned to face the front of the room where the entrance lay, checking outside for the crowd. "By the way, I didn't catch your name, but hey, I'm pretty certain you know mine by now, am I right?"

"Ehm, yes actually." She leaned back again away from him, enjoying the rest of her drink, "I am Dyeeaka, chemist and engineer, -and- the master of slapping."

Dorty spat his drink out laughing, turning to her in surprise, "The master of slapping? Oh, this has got to be good!"

"Oh, you wanna go? You wanna go, huh!?" She lost control of herself and threw a few hard slaps at his face, landing all of them, before reeling back and realizing what she just did.

Dorty rubbed the spots she hit him, which actually stung quite a bit, then laughed a little. "Okay, as impressive as that is, I don't think it's a very good weapon."

"...I'm dead now, aren't I?" She started curling up on the top of the stool, a scared look on her face as her eyes got watery and her ears drooped.

"Nooooope, you got a while, and you probably won't die from me unless you ask for it, one way or another." He finished off his water, paying before hopping off the stool. "I gotta get going, and you should probably leave soon too."

"Why, so you can ambush me on my way back to the lab?"

"Nope, back home, because happy hour."

"...wha-?" Her ears perked.

"Happy hour." He repeated, "The whole town likes to come here at this time, so chances are you die by something else or by getting squished in the crowds, your choice!" He calmly walked out of the bar and into the alleyway across the street, before jumping onto the building and began his short trek back home.

Dyeeaka just sat there, unable to register what just happened. To see if he was really talking sense, she payed for her drink and walked outside and stood out in the open. Sure enough, a large portion of the residents close by had already flooded the bar, and she sighed with relief that she was not in there.

Said relief did not last long, as suddenly a tumbleweed came bounding down from the street ahead of her, landing on her perfectly enough for her to get stuck in it as she was helplessly shook around as it went where wherever tumbleweeds go. Kicking and cursing, she was carried out of the town in the most embarrassing fashion possible back to the lab.

- - -

The krewe was enjoying their lunch when she got back, rolling in through the door caught in a tumbleweed. After some careful cutting of her prison, she was finally released and joined her krewe for mealtime, while Korrapt finished and took the tumbleweed up to his quarters for investigation. Much converse was going on concerning future projects and such, as well as rumor that a new member would join them soon enough. Where they would stay, nobody knew, unless a bed was shared or an entirely new room was made for them. Kiajjar wasn't talking about it, but he was being more observant of everyone lately, especially project-wise.

Lunch was quickly over and everybody once again went their separate ways. Dyeeaka, rather than return to her dorm, went to Korrapt's quarters to catch up with him on things. Mostly, however, she wanted to see what he got out of the tumbleweed that had grabbed her. As soon as she entered she could already see him with the remains of it scattered over his desk, as he examined each individual piece of it.

"So, what have you learned about my "captor"?" She said before giggling.

"Well, I found out it's mostly dead, and tumbles around to spread seeds so that more may grow." He explained.

"What about them running into us? They aren't carnivorous?"

"As far as I'm concerned, any asura or object that gets caught in one of these was merely at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Hmph, so avoid open areas, got it." She laughed, tumbleweeds were so simple and yet so strange to them. "I got myself dragged around today as well, not by our little friend here I mean. I mean I got caught up in a conversation with... You know... Him."

Korrapt looked up in surprise, but smiled knowing she was okay, "What did he say?"

"He said as long as we don't mess with anybody in the town that he will not attack us. I can't guarantee that, but-"

"Oh," his ears drooped a little, "I hope he doesn't think it was us."

"Say what now? What happened, Kor?? What did we do!?"

"It wasn't us but..." He sighed and looked off toward the town in the distance, "apparently shortly after you left, his friend dragged herself back from Brisbane..."

"What did SHE do? She's a little asura with pigtails and looks nice. She wouldn't do anything."

"I'm not saying that. I dunno what happened but... there was definitely a scene. The sylvari scooped her up and took her back home, something definitely happened, and I hope we don't get the blame."

"Oh boy..." She said weakly, that fear she had from before suddenly returning to her. "In all honesty, I just want to leave..."

"Where would you go? We don't have anywhere to go, so we would be homeless if we left. I don't like it here either, but at least it's something."

"I don't care, anywhere is better than here, and not dying is better than dying because -someone- stuck the blame on us!" She quickly calmed herself down, looking back at the mysterious device Korrapt had been working on out of her sight, shaking her head.

"Your birthday is in a few days." He said.

"I realize that. I just hope I live long enough to reach it, and even better, live long enough to finish translating you know what."

He nodded and blew the bits of tumbleweed off the desk, clearing it and plunking some paperwork on it. "I hope whatever's going down out here, that we get through."

"Neuuuhgh... I hope so too." She leaned in and patted him on the head, playfully pinching his ears before turning and leaving.

As she returned to her dorm, she didn't notice her krewe leader standing outside Korrapt's quarters. Had she payed more attention, she would have seen the clipboard and pencil, and had she been aware of what he was doing, she would have not said as much to her friend, not like it would matter soon...

- - -

"Trytamer, easy on the bandages," Ryagan spoke in a calm but serious tone, "Sej, I know it hurts can you just-"

"Nnmmhhhh!!!" She moaned in pain.

Sajessia was returning from another trip to Divinities Reach when a member of the Inquest had jumped her and attempted to kidnap her. Barely escaping and somehow hurting her attacker, she now lay out on a mat while Trytamer tended to the arrow wound she had in her leg, one that was only made worse by having the arrow ripped back out by her attacker. Kicking and squirming around was all she could do, apart from the obvious moaning, about the state of pain she was in not just from the arrow, but from the overload of magic inside her, making it even worse as she couldn't remain calm. Dorty, T.K and Ryagan just watched as Trytamer patched up what he could of her.

"Alright, this is the best I can do here." He spoke, rising to examine his handy work. A rather messy but trusty batch of bandages wrapped entirely around her leg below the knee was the best he could do with her.

Sajessia slowly stopped squirming around and looked at where her leg was wrapped up, then after a few moments, burst out crying. Even her magic reacted from her sobbing, as it was overloaded by the ley energy overcharge.

"Sej, I'm sorry this happen to you, but trust me when I say we -will- get to the bottom of this." Ryagan said abruptly.

Dorty had no words to say or even describe what was going on right now. All we was doing was washing dirty clothes when Ryagan came running up the hill with her bleeding. Now here he was standing over her while she wept in pain. Going into an emotional fit himself he fell down to his knees and gently hugged her, not caring about magic overloading at all at this point. "Sej..." He spoke softly, "I dunno who did this to you... but I guarantee they'll be sleeping with one eye open for the rest of their life."

"Can ayez go where no go before-o, and find da 'quist who did it?" T.K said in a more absurd dialect then what he normally spoke in.

"No, not now. Later, maybe." He carefully stuffed his arms under his friend, mindful of the sharp bits of his hands. Sajessia wiggled over until they were completely under her, then he lifted her up and carried her. "C'mon Sej, you need some rest..." He said softly and in a sad manner.

Sajessia didn't oblige, her room was where she wanted to be, where she wanted to stay, to hide, to forget this horrible event. Still sparking with her magic, she wrapped her arms around him as he carried her up the stairs to her room, mindful of the door that needed to be opened, and stepped inside her room. Thanks to some genius asuras invention, a one-way skylight was installed so she could enjoy the sky even inside her room.

Dorty walked over to her bed, and ever so gently set her down, then propped her leg up with a pillow. He tried pulling the covers over her, but she wouldn't let go of him, so he stood in this awkward position with him kneeling on the floor with her arms wrapped around him.

"Sej, I know you need help, but can you please..."

"Nuuuhhh!" She pouted, grasping him tighter. Her teary eyes looked up at him, "...s-stay with me... please..?"

Dorty wasn't sure what to say. As much as he wanted to rip her attacker limb from limb, Sej's comfort meant more for him right now. He sighed and climbed into her bed, getting her into a better hug. Despite her sparking with magic every few seconds and twitching from each one, he was unaffected by it.

"...It's gonna be okay.... You'll be okay..." He moved his hand to brush it against her wings, trying to make her feel better, but avoid tickling her. "...Everything's gonna be alright.... You just watch..."

Sajessia lay still, or as still as she could be with pain and magic overloading her senses. A wing rub was something she liked getting, and tried her best to enjoy it while she could in her current situation. There was quite few people who cared for her, not safety wise, but actually making her feel better in times when she felt broken, hurt, or just sad in general. She wanted to thank him for staying with her, and leaned in to land a kiss on his nose, but then her magic sparked again, she flinched, and the kiss went from his nose to his lips on accident.

Both of them reeled back in surprise, staring at each other for a few seconds, startled by what just happened. She kept shaking her head at him, thinking he was getting the wrong idea, "...I... didn't mean... to...." She was crying already from the pain and discomfort, now she was tearing up even more thinking she messed up big time.

"Hey hey, wait, don't cry..." He urged her, but was already sobbing even more. He sighed, pulling her closer and hugging her just slightly tighter. He moved his hand from her wings to her head, tilting it up before giving her the kiss on the nose that was intended for him. She went wide eyed suddenly, staring at him, her breathing slowed, and she mostly stopped crying now. The only thing left now that was denying her of comfort was her magic overloading. She pulled herself all the way up to him and hugged him as tightly as she could. He sighed and wrapped his arm around her while using the other to gently stroke through her hair.

It came to surprise then when she suddenly moved her own hand to the back of her head, and then tugging out the hair bands that held her pigtails up. He watched her natural hair fall down to her shoulders, and moved his hand to get that part of her hair too while she resumed hugging him back.

"...thank you... for everything..." She whispered.

"It's alright, just... stay here for a while. Rest up and eat something."

Ryagan knocked on the door to her room, and Dorty turned his head towards it, "Yeah?"

"Good news Dorty, Sej, we've got proper treatment on hand, and with that I'd say we'll have her better in a week."

"A... week..?" Sajessia asked softly. She even smiled ever so slightly, but Dorty didn't see it.

"That's good, see? You'll be alright in no time. Well, not literally but, you know." He chuckled.

Sajessia laughed a little before another spark jolted through her, making her jump in surprise.

"Yeah, uhm..." He reached out and put his hand on the side of her head, "We might need to get you venting some magic sooner or later, I don't like seeing you in this state."

She nodded, then loosened the hug, and closed her eyes, trying her best to sleep. Dorty held her gently enough and placed her head under his chin, the he closed his eyes too, sharing the nap they were having. They slept until dinner, then when night fell and the time for bed had arrived, he gave her one last hug and nose-kiss before they parted for sleep.

- - -

Dyeeaka had decided to take a casual trip to the town the next day, since it was a day off for everybody. She planned the simple trip for a few things, to get a few drinks, to browse the market, and of course to find out why her charr friend had stopped selling the precious scraps of metal that her krewe needed. It was noon, the worst time to be outside because tumbleweeds were for some reason even more common at this time than others. She kept to the sidelines to avoid the crowds and the tumbleweeds bouncing between them and on top of them.

She made it to the bar where she proceeded to play a few games of darts and grab a few drinks. She was also introduced to a game that involved putting money on the line, which she gave a try and found as a fun little thing to get into, but not too much as if she were to keep losing she would blow her savings to shreds. She enjoyed a few more drinks before she started her way to the door, but before she got there it busted open and a figure walked inside. All heads turned to them as they took a few steps in, eyes on the bar, but then they looked down at her, and she realized it was the sylvari who lived with Dorty.

"Hey Ryagan," Chuckles spoke to him from across the bar, "while you're gonna do whatever you're gonna do, how about I prepare a drink for ya?"

"Just some water please, my throat's parched." He replied, but then looked down at Dyeeaka again, kneeling until he was about a head above her. She trembled wondering what all this was about. “What exactly were you doing yesterday?" He asked.

Dyeeaka realized what he was asking her, then replied, "I was in this bar conversing with your draconic friend before I left, got caught in a tumbleweed, and rolled all the way back to my krewe lab." She said as confidently as she could.

Ryagan then leaned in a little, eyes locked on hers, she was starting to get a little nervous about what was going to happen now, before he stood back up and whisked himself to the bar, "Alright, go on ahead and do what you were doing, and that's leaving I assume?"

Dyeeaka didn't hesitate, she darted through the doors and back outside. In a minute she was at the marketplace again, looking over some of the things there was to buy. Some of the things included were a few cows, a seraph flag, lucky centaur shoes, and even the "Do-It-Yourself Bleachers Bluff kit". After some more weaving through the crowds, she finally reached the stall where the charr should have been. All that metal was just lying there for someone to take, but it was so much nobody would try to take it without breaking their back.

She looked around for any sign of him, and then looked over at the stall next to his, the one she saw the other day, and realized who was the owner of it. Dorty was selling gemstones and jewelry to people for money, and T.K, at least she thought it was his name, was suggesting which ones to buy for what occasion. Most of the customers were girls, give or take a few guys there, and ironically enough no skritt were in sight trying to take them. Looking over between the charts stall and Dorty's, she decided to go see what he had for sale, and more importantly ask about the charr.

"-and this one goes awesomely with fancy dance stuffs!" T.K was telling one human while holding up a shimmering earring, easily reflecting the light.

Dyeeaka stepped between the two conversing and stepped up to the stand. Dorty's head snapped around in surprise at her presence, but he quickly resumed some of his handiwork making more things to sell. She watched him easily carve the jewelry into existence, but noticed he had a sad look on his face. Whatever had happened yesterday had got him down in the dumps, as some would say. Regardless, his jewel crafting skills were unhindered by this and he continued to make stuff for the selling.

"So," she finally spoke up, "what happened yesterday after I left?"

"I don't wanna talk about it..." He said softly.

"Well, it must be bad, if you aren't as happy as you used to be."

He sighed and finished another piece of jewelry before talking to her, "Some -jerk- decided it was a good idea to ambush Sej on her way home, and stuck a stupid arrow in her leg, darn Inquest..."

Dyeeaka's ears perked up, then drooped. Nobody in her krewe had experience with a bow, and even if they did, bows required big, bulky arrows to carry around. Guns however required little bullets that could inflict just as much damage and quicker. "Well, I'm sorry that happened, is she okay?"

"She'll be fine in a week, but we need to be more careful now, and I don't mean just us."

"Whoever be da shootah is gonna sleep with one eye open fer the rest of their little life! Ha!" T.K blurted out.

"You do realize who you are, right?" She said to Dorty, "You could easily just find who did this and-"

"I -do- realize who I am, but I'm not psychic okay? Have you ever been a powerful person with a lot of responsibilities and what-not to deal with? Exactly, you haven't, try thinking about it."

Dyeeaka was about to reply, but then she did try thinking what it was like to be him. He had powers that nobody else had, and he could probably murder all of Rata Sum if he wanted, but yet there was always some people who got away from him, who he let get away from him. Then he also had those friends to look after, and this "Sej" too, who now was suffering from an arrow wound. He didn't mind being in danger himself, it was his friends he was worried about, not him. Realizing that hit her into realizing maybe Korrapt was right about him being a nice guy, if given the chance.

While she was pondering this, T.K's eyes darted between her and Dorty, brows raising and lowering, then raising again, then he narrowed them. Clearly he was thinking something up, and after a few moments of both of them looking his way, he finally said "Ya two looki alike."

"Say wha-?" Dorty said in surprise, now his ears were perked up.

"Wh- we do not!" She said.

"Yeh, ya do!" T.K said, leaning in and pushing Dyeeaka closer to the stall, "Looki each other! Looki!"

They did, and both quickly became aware he had a point. Both had a brownish-orange hair, grey skin, and orange eyes. A careful enough eye could even see they had the same skin markings.

Dyeeaka turned to the kid and shook her head at him, "Are you suggesting we're related!?"

T.K narrowed his eyes even more, leaning in ever slowly more, before straightening up so fast he wobbled around like a spring, "YEH!"

Both of them started laughing, related? There was no way she could be related to this crazy dumb asura, and there was no way he was related to an Inquest agent. Dyeeaka quickly snapped out of her laughing spree and asked, "Aside from this, do you know what has become of the charr who sets up right next to you?"

Dorty shook his head, "I dunno, he was here a few days ago, then poof!"

"Ayez think he dead." Said T.K, "Very, very dead."

Both looked at him in surprise, "-and what makes you say that?" Dyeeaka said.

"I dunno!" He laughed.

"Well, I'm going to leave before -you- start to try and see in vain if we are related." She gave him a slap to the knee before walking off away from the stall. Dorty and T.K exchanged looks and T.K started doing his infamous brow-wiggling in the usual "You know It's gonna happen." fashion.

"T.K, I know she's Inquest but we're not kidnapping her."

"Aye dun't need to!" He said, and after giving away a free doughnut he got and didn't eat, he bounded off towards the exit to the town, turning for Brisbane Wildlands.

Dorty just dropped his head on the stall and left it there for a few moments, before resuming selling his stock. After everything was sold out, he retired to his home and comforted Sajessia before having dinner. Whatever was about to go down out here was going to affect everyone.

- - -

"I call upon you all for this simple meeting, may I say."

Kiajjar's voice boomed through the conference room, everybody was waiting to see what their krewe leader had in store for them, what sort of project was their next thing, or if they were finally going to do something about the towns residents. He paced around on the front while everybody sat at the main table, at their respected seats with their names on them. After a few minutes, he spoke up again, "I am glad to announce, as you all have theorized and rumored, that we do indeed have a new krewe member."

Everybody clapped, waiting for them to come out, Kiajjar paced around a little more before continuing, "He will allow us to greatly improve our golemancy, and our security nevertheless! Xakat, you may come out now."

The clapping quickly faded once the new asura walked out, he looked very pale, with some blisters on his skin and in general a very creepy person. When he spoke up, his voice sounded like a mix between an old asura and a golem, despite his appearence. "Thank you -all- for the welcoming of me. I simply cannot wait to improve what this humble krewe has, but first," He looked straight forward across the table at the krewe members who sat there, "I am afraid that your krewe leader has to let one of you go, to, ah, make room for me. Too much to add a room, you know?"

That got everybody nervous and sweating, a few already began clutching their weapons in the case that "let go" meant "kill". Kiajjar stepped forward and clarified things up.

"I do mean we will simply kick one of you out of the krewe, not forcefully, we will give you time, but we will not be killing you." He began walking on the right side of the table, looking over people before stopping, "Therefore I have decided that the least effective person would be to go, and that would be," he turned to his right, "you."

Every bodies ears perked up in surprise, a few laughed, but Dyeeaka firmly stood up, fuming, "WHAT!? Why me!?"

"I'm afraid you haven't been able to get our supplies lately, and your projects are all very overdue, so I must ask that you pack your belongings and get lost."

Dyeeaka's rage turned to sadness as she began pouting, making her way to the exit, some people lowering their heads, they were gonna miss her.

"I will give you forty-eight hours to leave, after that we will kick you out forcefully via the boot golem you came up with, very amusing that one."

Dyeeaka didn't care how she was leaving, but deep down there was a little happiness in her that she was finally getting out, but who the heck was this Xakat? Putting someone in her place without consulting her was suspicious, how would he know to trust this new person? She was still red with anger as she closed the door to her dorm, locking it up and plopping into the hammock she was so accustomed to by now, picking up the unfinished journal of her father's. She lay there, for how long staring upward she didn't know, then after what felt like hours, a knock on her door snapped her out of this trance, and she went to answer it.

"Who the heck is it?" She asked firmly.

"Korrapt, c'mon girl, it's twelve already!" He muffled through the closed door.

"Why are you here and not sleeping?" She asked, confused.

"Come with me, something I gotta show ya." He replied.

Dyeeaka just punched the lock on the door, opening it and following Korrapt to his quarters, still clutching the journal. They headed over to the machine under the sheet Korrapt had been secretly working on, which he promptly revealed. It looked like a printing press, but with a more obvious asuran influence to it.

"May I see your journal?" He asked.

"What? No, this is my dads, I'm not letting it out of my sight."

"Trust me on this, this is something you will thank me so much for."

Dyeeaka sighed and handed the journal to him, which he placed in a squared-out area on the device. He then typed in a few commands on the holographic console, and the machine suddenly went to work. It flipped through the pages at a lightning speed before turning to the last page she had got to, then began stamping through the pages at a slightly slower rate. "Wh-what are you doing!?" She was worried that it was going to be ruined beyond translating for her, but he shook his head and smiled as it finished and retracted.

Grabbing the journal, Korrapt offered it back to her, "Happy Birthday." he said calmly, a big grin on his face.

Dyeeaka was confused at first, but realizing this machine was meant for her this day made her feel a little better. She flipped to the page she last translated and nearly dropped the book when she saw that the machine had translated the rest of the thing for her into asuran script, which she could easily read. She nearly teared up, and threw herself at her friend in a hug.

"BEST, BIRTHDAY, GIFT, EVER." She sobbed, tightening the hug.

"Go enjoy it then, I gotta get some shut-eye." He said as he wiggled out of the hug over to his bed.

"Thank you, Korrapt." She spoke, "I dunno if we'll run into each other again, but you helped me solve one of my life mysteries, don't forget that."

Watching Korrapt smile as he dozed off made her smile as well. She turned for the exit and returned to her dorm, soon to be Xakat's. Still holding the journal she held it to her chest and pulled herself up on her hammock with her blankets as she too went to sleep.

Morning came and Dyeeaka was already packed up with the essentials. She planned to crash at the town for the duration, but decided to go north and explore there. Giving her former krewe one last wave, and Korrapt one last hug, and that one annoying tumbleweed one more punch into the door, she set off towards the oasis that supplied them with fresh water for drinking. She passed by a few caves, some local Skritt who were attracted by her gun, and the drake pit before finally reaching the cool breeze of the oasis.

She settled down under the tree that was closest to the water, unpacking some of her belongings before choosing down on some food she packed. After this little brunch she nabbed the translated journal out from her pack and stuffed her nose into it, eager to read it more than anything else. She blazed through the pages as she searched for answers, skimming over the unimportant details and taking in the juicy chunks of information.

"...so far we have been lucky with keeping a job for us. So few jobs are comfortable with us, but they are good enough and provide decent income. Dockworkers are easy to be as all we have to do is load and unload crates. Sure, it's something a golem could do so much easier, but we don't glitch out like they do, nothing we or our son can't handle, it's interesting how..."

Wait, did she read that right? She read the last sentence again, and again, and again, and a few more times just for it to sink in. A son? She had a younger brother? Who was he, and where? Then again, she was sent away with another asura at a younger age, so perhaps he was born shortly after. She flipped back a couple pages and read from there.

"...finally came around after the doctor busted in. Dear was holding our new son in her arms. He had her markings and my eyes, just like our daughter. We didn't know what to call him at first, but after some debate on asura and human names, we decided to try a mix of the two cultures, so in the end we called him Dorty. Nice name I have to admit, can't think of..."

"WHAAAAAAAT!?!?" Dyeeaka nearly screamed, dropping the book in surprise. She shook her head and smacked herself in the face a few times before reading again. This couldn't be the truth, could it!? She eventually couldn't handle the shock anymore and quickly stuffed the book back into her bag, the urge to throw it into the pond almost too much.

She ran off further into the desert, mumbling something to herself and sobbing all the way. This had to stay away from everyone, if anybody found out, she would be more than toast. She had to get away, had to stay away from that town, since that was where he was. She didn't want him finding out, least have a clue what would happen if he did. Finding the closest abandoned cave she ducked into it, refusing to leave and go back to the town again.

- - -

Rata Sum was a bustling cube of inventions, breakthroughs, and of course asura. Golems and peacemakers patrolled the streets for any troublemakers as citizens bustled through it. A person with an orange hat stood out though, as he casually and energetically hopped over the civilians. T.K juked his way to the central platform just under the council level and looked around for his target, taking a moment to just admire the Super Adventure Box that gave him so many memories of watching people fall to their doom several times and get mad about it while he cracked up. He turned southward, and made his way towards the blue side of the cube, which represented one of the collages, probably Dynamics.

Now that the area was more open he weaved freely though the open spaces, dodging golems and making it to the back, where a large database lay waiting to be used. The asura guarding it looked at him suspiciously, and moved to stand in his way.

"Halt," he said, "what does a human like yourself want with some data, especially a kid?"

T.K completely ignored him at first, leaning over him and typing some stuff into the console he was guarding.

"He-HEY!" The asura was angry he wasn't being told anything.

"Ayez looking up someone! A 'quist, kayz?" He stared down at the little guard before resuming his search.

"A... quip?" He scratched his head, then got beyond confused by such a simple answer, for his old ears had a hard time hearing.

"Lez see heres, ayes put da E, the A, the K, and another A, and BA- wai, was it two E's?" T.K smacked the keyboard a few more times before hitting the big "search" button. Lights flickered and after a moment a profile was pulled up showing Dyeeaka's information.

"Ha! Here we goes!" He scanned over the writing on her, she was a chemist, Inquest, nicer than most of her krewe, won many a slapping-fest? T.K had to get in touch with this one, nobody outwitted him in a friendly game of slap-fighting, no one! He scrolled down the page, until he reached the family section, clicking the name of her mom. He looked over her information before scrolling down, and then he saw exactly what he was looking for.

CHILDREN: DYEEAKA: AGE 8 DORTY: AGE 2

"AYEZ CALLED EET, AYEZ FIRKIN' CALLED IT, MOITS!!!" He shouted in vain and he slapped the "close all" button, making a dash for the nearest asura gate out of the crazy city. He punched through a golem boxing match and blew up some fireworks as he plowed his way quickly back to the gate, yelling mostly gibberish at this point as he went hyper over confirming his random realization.

[dortykid]

Unhappy Reunions: Part 1

A new home, an Inquest lab, and a crazy shock are all that happens when the team moves in at the town north of Brisbane Wildlands, as one researcher in particular works at uncovering her family secrets.

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

"T.K. let go of that!"

"NUP! It's mine! MINE!"

T.K and Trytamer were fighting over one of the massive teeth Mordremoth had for different reasons. Trytamer wanted to put it on display for all who came to awe at, so he could brag how he and his group defeated the elder dragon. T.K, however, wanted to see how resilient the tooth was, and use it to make some extremely durable light-weight armor. Unfortunately, there was no way to share it without ruining the others plans, so it became a tug-of-war to see who would get it.

Ryagan had just about enough of this, he stepped in and thwacked the massive tooth away from them, both exchanged surprised looks before turning to Ryagan, who was also at this point fuming with anger. "Can't you two just split it fifty-fifty or something!?"

"How da heckie we shupposed to split a CURVED TOOTH IN HALF!?" T.K shouted.

"T.K, you don't use a big tooth for some science experiment, you use it for FAME, FORTUNE, GLORY!" Trytamer shouted at him.

"Buuuut just imagine yeselfies in a sweet indestructible coat made of da tooth! Am I righties!?"

"HOW could I brag about us slaying Mordremoth then if I don't have the tooth to prove it!?"

"YE ARE THE TOOTH IF YE WEAR DA TOOTH, RIGHT!?!?"

"Oh," Trytamer hadn't thought of that. If T.K made a tooth into a coat, it would still LOOK like a tooth, and he could say T.K had turned the original into a powerful coat, "I suppose that could work. . . But I still think we should put it on display!"

"Trytamer," Ryagan stepped in again, "why didn't you just get BOTH teeth then, so T.K could have one and you could have the other?"

"Because the tooth itself is so big, it would be impossible to carry BOTH!"

"How about this then," Ryagan said before slapping them both in the faces, "home first, decorating later. Questions?"

"Yeh," T.K said rubbing the spot Ryagan slapped him, "we ran outta wood."

"Uhuh," Trytamer confirmed, "and there isn't really much around to harvest, and wood is expensive as of late. . ."

"Fellas," Ryagan tilted his head to the right, "look to your left, if you would."

They turned their heads to Ryagan's left.

"The OTHER left."

They turned again, in front of them was the large collection of gold they had accumulated over the months of raiding Mordrem territory and bandit hideouts. "You do realize we have enough money to last us at least a few years, right?"

"Yaaaaa?" T.K mumbled.

"Well then we can use said money to buy ourselves enough wood to finish this new home of ours. I don't expect money to be an issue here, am I right?"

"Finez, FINEZ!" T.K said snatching a bag and walking through the doorway that would in the future house a door, "C'mon Trytamah, I can'tz carry da wood by myselfies!" As they closed the door behind them, Ryagan let out a sigh of relief and picked up a glass of coconut milk, sitting down on the massive norn-sized couch they bought to fit all of them.

- - -

"This meeting is now closed, thank you all for joining us in deciding on our next project."

The whole krewe stood up and slowly scattered from the discussion chamber at the heart of the lab, returning to resume working on whatever it was they were doing beforehand. Jhikka returned to her research on oozes as a form of coolant for her Super-Torcherer 4000, made for the soul purpose of exterminating any idiots who tried to cause harm to the lab or anybody in it, while Korrapt resumed his peaceful work on his "Water-Bot", but only one krewe member knew what he was really doing: tending to his little garden on the roof of the lab, Dyeeaka knew that on so easily. They were close friends who joined for different reasons, she joined for the whole "Jack-of-All-Trades" idea, while he joined to find some more reasonable people to do his projects with. Both had soon begun to regret joining, killing wasn't something they enjoyed. As much as Dyeeaka was good in terms of combat, she was mostly trying to solve problems without violence being necessary.

At the current moment, she has retreated to her dorm in the lab to resume her most and least important project: translating her fathers diary. She had recovered it from their formal house, which was left up for grabs after their disappearance. The diary was the only possible thing that held the answers to her questions. Unfortunately, despite her fathers lower-than-average intellect, he had somehow known Old Krytan well enough to write the entire thing in it. Now she had tasked herself with translating it to put these questions to rest.

"Obtus- no, obtain. . ." She spoke to herself, translating was hard, but she was getting the swing of things with it. The only issue was it was such a slow process, having to look back and forth between a piece of paper with the translations and the journal multiple times just to translate a single letter, and at the rate she was doing this it would take weeks to finish, maybe even months.

She set down the translation paper and took the journal back into her hands, walking over to the automatic door into the hallway, she ascended the stairs up to Korrapt's quarters and stepped inside. His dorm consisted of a skylight, a few machines, a sleeping bag (because he preferred it over a bed or a hammock), and a massive porch consisting mostly of plants he kept alive. It was much more nature-like than her high-tech equipment, but that didn't mean it wasn't as nice.

Korrapt was tinkering with a sprinkler he had, trying to make it shoot water in a heart shape, when she came over, laying down next to him. "So, any progress on the stuff you have? Actually, the better question is "Any progress on one thing without jumping between multiple things?"."

Dyeeaka's sudden appearance took him by surprise, but he chucked and resumed his current work, "You know me, I work on one thing, lose focus and motivation, then start working on something else until I get the encourage to keep working."

"Anything you've made that is actually useful for something other than nature?" She said eying around the room, it looked like the usual, until she noticed a large object covered up by a sheet. "Say, whatever that is over there?"

Korrapt was surprised she noticed, he quickly made his way over to the device and straightened the covers over it, "I'm afraid I shouldn't say, but yes, this one isn't nature related in any way whatsoever."

Dyeeaka straightened herself up and walked towards him, glaring at the machine he had hidden, no bigger than the average assault golem, but too blocky to be related to a golem of any kind. "How about when it's done you show me what this thing can do?"

Korrapt smiled and nodded, "I was planning that, in fact I was going to show you first what it does."

"That either means you're a good friend who wants to surprise his friend or a murderer who plans to have this device inflict its first casualty on me, but there's no way you'll do that!"

They both laughed for a minute before Korrapt regained his confidence, "I can easily assure you, this thing here is not dangerous in any way, why it has nothing to do with living things whatsoever!"

"So then, when will it be ready?"

"When the time comes, I actually have this on my schedule."

Dyeeaka grinned, he had a tight schedule he was keeping, but coming up in the future was her birthday, so most likely it was a gift for her. She would play along until then and leave him to his work. "Well now, I myself am also busy, but should the time come," she winked at him to show she knew, "I'll be around to see what it does."

Korrapt just stared at her for a minute and blushed, getting a laugh from her in return.

"Pfft! Your funny, I like you, not just cause you're funny though."

With that she turned toward the door back into the main lab, made her way downstairs into the central chamber, and stepped outside to gaze out at the desert landscape surrounding their lab. To the north was an oasis where they could catch creatures for experimentation, and to the west was a town where, if they were sneaky enough, they could trade for some exclusive materials they couldn't get elsewhere. In that direction too was a landmark the locals called Twilight Falls, where there was a massive cavern filled with geodes, and of course the massive waterfall visible from the lab. This was her time off zone where she could relax and enjoy the view the desolate region had.

She quickly became apparent of a difference in the scenery: about a dozen or so yards from the cliffside where the waterfall was, there was a house being built. It wasn't an unpleasant house, as it was fitting the scenery nicely enough, but it was strange, seeing someone make a house there. Who would be living there was a mystery, but tomorrow it would be her turn to go to town and gather supplies, so she could use that time to check out the new locals.

Assuming half of the day wouldn't require her for anything, she went back into the lab and retreated to her room, stretching a little before resuming her boring but important goal.

- - -

Ryagan sat in his office looking over the compiled documents he had on some of the people in Tyria. The open window provided a cooling breeze to swirl around in the room, but it made keeping the papers he had more difficult to keep on the desk. A single candle sat in the corner of his desk, with a quill placed right next to it, along with a jar of ink, and the rest of the thing filled with files he had. He glanced over some of them that he kept a few sparked his interest or that he knew himself.

"MAI TRIN"

"NOTORIOUS AETHERBLADE CAPTAIN, RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ASSASSINATION OF THEO ASHFORD"

"STATUS: UNKNOWN."

Following the destruction of Lions Arch, nobody had a clue what happened to the pirate captain. Some assumed she went down with Scarlet, others thought she had escaped and was at a new Aetherblade site. There was also a file on Horrik, her second hand, who had also been reported missing. He took the fires and put them back in his "Wanted Fugitives" drawer and glanced at some he made for his friends. On Trytamer's he put that he was a norn hunter with a pet drake named "Drakus Rockcake" and the tag team was a great, if annoying, pair to have with you on any occasion. Dorty's was hardly much about his side, mostly it was reports people had made that involved him. A few Inquest audio logs and a wanted poster, as well as Ryagan and T.K's opinions on him were all it consisted of. Sajessias many documents Ryagan made for her were all in the trash can, since every time something new happened to her he would have to scrap the last document and start all over with a new one. At this point he was considering giving up and not even bother making one for her, since change was something that happened to her too much. Wings formed from celestial magic? That was it with making a document, he threw all the ones with her name on it away and settled down in his chair.

There was only one document he had nigh nothing filled out on, at least nothing regarding past events. He swept some papers aside to view the one at the bottom with the too-familiar face on it:

"T.K. (True name unknown)"

"YOUNG TEEN, ENJOYS DESTRUCTION AND HUGS."

That was all he could think of writing down concerning T.K in general, his initials he went by and things he enjoyed. Hardly enough to be considered a document, but someday, someday he would fill it to the brim with information regarding that kid.

Ryagan glanced through the open door to his office into the living room, where at the moment Dorty tried to rest over the hammering noise of Trytamer finishing the roof. It had taken weeks, but they had finally finished. All that was left was a roof over Dorty's room, which Trytamer was taking care of. He turned to look through the window at the glistening waterfall outside. He leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on his desk. Finally the hammering stopped and he heard feet go up the stairs, he closed his eyes knowing the house was finally done.

Unfortunately for him, he had no time to take a nap before Trytamer busted in through the front door, yelling how the house was finally done. He and T.K were now partying the night away with cookies, steak, and stupid things in general.

Ryagan sighed and closed his eyes again, but some shuffling of feet woke him up. He looked down across his desk at the little head peeping over from the edge, two white ponytails and specks of purple in her hair, as well as a fluttering sound coming from behind her. "Evening Sej." He smiled.

"Can I stay in here while they, um, do whatever they're doing?"

Ryagan nodded, "Stay as long as you need, but please," he looked at Sajessia as she climbed up onto the desk, those tiny wings of hers flapping to boost her up, "don't use my desk as a launch ramp."

Sajessia crawled over the desk until she got to the documents, then flopped down on top of them facedown and fell asleep. Ryagan just stared at her sleeping on his desk for a minute, before resuming leaning back and trying to catch a snooze.

- - -

Dyeeaka strode into the town with a golem at side and a bag of money in her hands. The stone buildings would be no match for her golems punches, but why would she sic the thing on a friendly settlement? She only had two things needed to be done today, buy more supplies for the lab and check out the new structure on the cliffside. Her presence earned her some friendly waves from people who knew her, as well as some other people reaching for their weapons, likely those who didn't know her. The locals had mixed feeling for her here, but thankfully more positive than negative, enough so for her to have free passage into the town without need of a disguise.

In the marketplace there was a stall that had the metal and other things her krewe needed, apart from other necessities like food and water. Weaving her way through the crowds wasn't an issue, but her bulky golem was having a harder time getting though the large amount of people. She scooted past the stall selling snacks in the form of insects, that one homeless dude who was always trying to make a home from sand (he didn't realize he was supposed to be using sandstone), and the nicely placed bar, The Parched Palms, to reach her usual seller on the other side of the marketplace, a shady charr with equally shady sunglasses.

"Hello again, 'sura." The charr said as she approached, her golem still trying to squeeze through the crowds to them, "What is it you want this time?"

"It's Dyeeaka, and I need some scrap metal and steel to work with back at the lab."

"Ya got the money, tomato?"

Dyeeaka fumed at that nickname the charr gave her, but kept her cool. "Yes, this tomato has the what some folk call "Dough"." She dropped the sack of gold on the stall, opening it to show its contents.

"How much ya need?"

"Give me a third of what you have total."

"Ain't that a bit much for you?"

"I said I have the dough right here in front of you."

The charr snorted, "I mean for you to carry, isn't that a bit much?"

Dyeeaka pointed at the golem that had finally caught up with them, and was now awaiting her orders. Now she pointed at the heaps of metal next to the charr, "Golem, take a third of that scrap with us, would you?"

The golem beeped a little before it began taking chunks of the metal and compressing them into squares for transport, stacking up said squares until the third it was ordered to collect was taken.

"That'll be thirty gold, tomato." The charr smirked.

Dyeeaka just swiped the bag and dumped the money on the stall, taking the change back before the charr could potentially swipe it himself. She leaned against the shop whilst gazing around the market, thinking of anything that could pass the time whilst her golem did the work. She looked down a few of the stalls and noticed one that stood out among the rest. It consisted of a big block of wood with two palm tree logs propped up on the sides of it, which she then realized were planted there already and were full, healthy trees, not just cut up and put there for show. A yellow sign was strung in between the trees above the stall, which read:

"CLOSED"

"Gemstones, Jewelry, and Shinies!"

The "Closed" sign was, if she was correct in her assumptions, covering up the name of the stall owner, but that needn't matter for her, she had other things to tend to then buying some skritt bait.

"Hey miss, your golems done I think."

She turned around to see the golem standing behind her with a large cube, composed of all of the smaller scrap cubes it had collected. Smiling, she gave the charr a farewell wave, but as she turned away and began heading out of the market, she shook her head in anger, "Tomato, pfft! I'm not a salad..."

She followed the path up the cliffside to the house stationed there she saw the other day. It had a large first floor with a slanted roof holding the second floor in place, with the second roof at an even stranger slant, both roofs however had one thing in common, they were both made out of palm leaves, since that was the cheapest roofing material in the region.

Dyeeaka stood yards away from the house, turning to her golem, she issued a command to stay put while she checked out the residents. Making her way to the front door, she was suddenly apparent of a large drake sunbathing just feet from the door, which was now stirring and looking at her with a single eye. She wasn't sure if it was her own mind or reality, but she could hear a low growl coming from somewhere, most likely the drake. Dyeeaka darted to the side of the house quick enough for comfort, but not too fast as to look suspicious, before shimmying over to the front door. The drake turned and propped it's head on the doorstep, looking up at her, still growling, but ever so slightly less. Finally she stood in front of the door, a mere foot from the lizard that could probably eat her in one bite. She took up her courage and knocked on the wooden door.

- - -

Trytamer looked up from his glass of milk towards the knocking, knowing Drakus was there, and he had managed to make the door manageable for Drakus to push open, but for some reason he wasn't, or he was at least delaying. "Drakus," he spoke towards the front door, more knocking occurring, "open the door would ya buddy?" He then became apparent of the growling coming from the door, obviously something was up. He raised himself from his seat and lumbered over to the front door, waiting one more extra moment before finally opening the door.

Looking down, he could see why Drakus delayed opening, just a foot away from him was a red asura, who was now on the crevice between the inside and outside of the house where the door would rest. Flat on her back he could make out the pair of glasses and hair band she wore. The most apparent thing on her however was the red and black colors of her armor, the signature colors of the Inquest. Drakus was probably freaking the asura out, but aside from the dinky pistol she was armed with, it looked as if she would cause no threat to him.

"Hello, lil-'sura!" He said, "what brings you to our humble abode?"

"Uhh, I uhh, I've come to, erm, say hi and see who lives here. I guess it's just you so-"

"Just me? Ha!" He pulled the asura up on her feet and set her down in the living room, Drakus following her in closely. "I'll have you know we've got one big, er, uhh, small happy family here! Lemme show ya around, but first! What's your name?"

"I-it's Dyeeaka fool, I am, if you haven't realized, a member of the-"

"Yadayada Inquest blah blah blah alright come on in guys!" He ducked through the door to Ryagan's office to get him in the living room.

Dyeeaka was sweating a little now, nervous that something might happen to her within these walls. Looking around, there was a kitchen with a whole matter of cooking tools, the living room she was in, a staircase that went upstairs, and a small office that probably was meant for work in some fashion. She suddenly became aware of the other asura in the room, who was peeping out from behind the kitchen counter, a faint sound that seemed to resemble wings was also coming from them. Finally, the norn came back in with a sylvari right behind him, and at the same time someone else came tumbling down the stairs into the room, rolling over a few times before sitting up straight and staring at her.

"Why is there a 'quist?" He asked. Dyeeaka tried to hold back a smirk from the way his voice sounded.

"Well, she poses no harm to us," Trytamer said, "also she wanted to meet the residents of this place, aka us!"

The sylvari just kept staring her down, unblinking, unflinching, Dyeeaka reeled back a little in a vain attempt to avoid his gaze. "This is Ryagan by the way, he does that to a lot of people. Over there," Trytamer pointed towards the counter, and the asura hiding behind it quickly retracted her head, "that's Sajessia, but we just prefer calling her Sej for short, and finally," he knelt down and picked the human in the hat up, "this is T.K, say hi little fella!"

T.K just spat his tongue at her, "Twppwt!"

"T.K, really?"

"Yeh."

Suddenly there was some more thumping coming from the stairs as another asura with a towel in his face came down. Anything above his waist was hidden from view by it. He was still putting his clothes on, aside from the loincloth he wore instead of traditional underwear. "Did someone say inquest?" He asked.

"Yeh!" T.K said, "Trytamer let a 'quist in, she righties here, but she can't really keil us with anythin'. All she gots is a little pistol ye can probably sloice up, eh Dorty?"

"That. . . makes it a little better, I guess, and yes I probably could do that." He finished drying off his face and threw the towel aside, or at least more so into Trytamers own face.

Dyeeaka almost screamed out loud and stiffened up. She knew who this was, not personally, but from the stories she was told he was an inquest murderer. Aside from his facial features that made him recognizable, the most obvious feature was the crystals for hands, draconic energies radiating off of them. She finally broke and started yelling before making a mad dash for the door, slamming into it, but it refused to budge, making her scream even more in fear. Everyone else just looked at each other in confusion, before Trytamer stepped forward.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME, I DID NOTHING WRONG!" She gasped during her freak out.

Trytamer shook his head, and grabbed the door handle, pulling slightly and opening the door.

Dyeeaka just stopped for a moment, looking between the open door and the norn who opened it, and Dorty, if that was the freaks name. She ripped the door open and resumed her screaming as she went running down the path. "GOLEM, FOLLOW MODE, RUNNING PLEASE!" She shouted before resuming her screaming, the golem now running after her. "Affirmative. Initiating-run-for-your-life-mode." The golem said before it began vocalizing its own scream, which was a more boring sounding "aaaaaaaaaaa!"

Everybody watched in confusion as she left town, screaming all the way until finally the distant shouting stopped. Staring at each other for a few moments, T.K was the first to burst out laughing, followed by everybody else. Even Sajessia was giggling a little, and Ryagan was caught between a small laugh and a snort.

"Okay, that right there," Dorty said, "was a really good example of any inquest who is really afraid of me."

"Ye said it, moit!" T.K explained.

After a few more minutes of discussing whatever just happened, everybody returned inside to eat lunch, while Dyeeaka and her golem finally returned, out of breath, to the lab out east.

- - -

Dyeeaka rushed through the open entrance of the lab with her golem at her side before slamming her fist into the door controls, shutting it firmly behind her. She gasped for air after her desperate run from town, which had most of the krewe looking at her in funny ways. Korrapt was the first to step forward, but before he could ask the krewe leader, Kiajjar, held him back by the shoulder and walked towards her. She only assumed he got the name due to his likeness of wild cats, she even imagined him as a charr sometimes, which was honestly worse than he already was.

"Dyeeaka," he spoke in a low raspy voice, "I see you got the supplies?"

She nodded quickly before walking over and lying down on the holo-bench next to the workplace.

"-and nobody followed you?"

Bolting upright she realized what he was asking. Her shocked look spread to the others for a few moments before a slow exhale was released, letting them know she wasn't.

"Who was it who freaked you out this time, some charr with a gun?" He demanded.

"N-no," she muttered, "much worse than a charr."

"Oh? What could be worse than that exactly?"

"W-well," she went on to talk about the house and who lived inside of it. She made up how she was dragged in by the norn and almost killed by a psycho with a brick. Above all though she mentioned Dorty's presence in the house.

Everybody stood looking at her in shock, thinking she was traumatized by the event. She was, but much less than anyone thought. Kiajjar simply smiled and offered his hand to help her off the bench. "So," he said, "the asura who most of the Inquest wants dead is merely a mile or so away from the lab?"

Dyeeaka nodded, he grinned in the sort of evil fashion of grins and turned to the rest of the krewe. "Krewe, we have a new task to put up on out list of things to be done," he said, before taking Dyeeakas pistol briefly and firing it in the air, "KILL this so called "Inquest Bane"."

"Uhm..." Korrapt spoke in a soft voice loud enough to be heard, "I don't recall anybody calling him that."

"Eh, people have called him by so many names, it doesn't matter what anybody calls him anymore." He chucked, "We could call him something so vaguely inappropriate that everybody would agree to add that to the list!"

The krewe parted back to their respected dorms after the discussion and Dyeeaka returned to Korrapt's quarters to tell him what truly happened. He listened with curiosity and horror at the same time, but mostly curiosity, at what happened at the house.

"So, he didn't attack you?"

"Nope."

"Nor did any of the others there?"

"His mere presence is attacking me enough!"

"Dyeeaka, just listen for a moment, we could be having this all wrong, uh, okay mostly wrong, he might not be as all bad as we make him to be."

Dyeeaka looked at him with a scared look, "Honestly, I don't want him doing anything to me, or you."

"Then why not sit back then? Unless he attacks us we can just sit in the lab and not worry too much about him or his friends."

She smiled a little, she wouldn't mind a few krewe-mates being picked off by him, "-but I've got this week with getting supplies. No doubt I'll run into him or his bozos again."

Korrapt sighed and leaned against her, "In that case, well, I know this might sound crazy, but try being nice to him, you'll never know, he can be so much different then we think."

"If it's my best chances of surviving, then so be it." She pulled herself away from him and waddled off toward her room, "Don't tell the others of this by the way."

Korrapt replied silently, doing a series of hand motions, including fingering an "X" over his chest. Dyeeaka looked at him in confusion, ears perked.

"It's a human thing some kids do," he explained, "cross my heart, hope to die, stick a... What was that last one..? in my eye."

"How about a tumbleweed?" She joked, making them both laugh, "I'm serious, those things are dangerous, they keep destroying our outside experiments!"

"You can't deny its funny though!"

"Haha, yessir!" She laughed. Turning to the door, she made her way back into her room where her golem, still in panic mode, lay waiting. The journal and translation sheet lay next to her hammock she slept in. Taking off her clothes and slipping into her pajamas, she hopped into bed and grabbed the materials off the table, turning on her lamp and taking pencil at hand. "Now then, dad," she spoke to herself before her quick glancing between book and paper began again, "where were we?"

[mixologistmoxi-blog]

Dorty stumbles in through the door to the bar and makes his way over, pulling himself onto the bar-table to rest after accidentally depleting most of his magic in a fight, rendering him very tired. He closes his eyes and tries to fall asleep, some of his magic still leaking out of his left eye, the usual.

It was a quiet night at the Coin, thank the Alchemy for that. As Dorty made his way over and flopped, she watched him from the counter. Being the only staff on, she shrugged and tossed the cleaning cloth over her shoulder. Moving towards the table, she tapped lightly on it. “Tables are better for food and drink… Can I get you either of those, or would a bed be better suited?”

[tostitokid]

“Mmrrrrr… bed please…” Dorty mummered, too exausted to budge on his own. “…I went overboard on some… Bandits… and used up almost all my magic. Got any, ehhh… Anything magic restoriiing or something too, thaaaaat’ll help, thanks…”

[mixologistmoxi-blog]

Moxi scratched at the back of her neck. “Magic restoring something or other.. well, I don’t have any of that. But I do have some juices to give you a little energy. Non alcoholic. Those’ll just drain you more.” Reaching out, she nudged his shoulder. “C’mon, lets get you up to a bed.”

[tostitokid]

Dorty reaches out and grabs Moxi’s hand and lets her tug him off the bar table, letting her lead him upstairs, “…Any… comfy beds for a guy like meeee. . ? Also… I’ll ehh… take the juice…”

[mixologistmoxi-blog]

“Alright. We’ll get you settled, first.” Drawing him to her side, Moxi maneuvered carefully and lead him upstairs. Down the hall, and to the room on the right. Nudging the door open, she guided him to the first bed, before turning to help him ease down to it. “Any flavors you like? Like, fruit wise.”

[tostitokid]

“"As long as it’s not pineapple… or pear, I’m good on anythin’… really.” Dorty pulled the blanked covers over him and relished the warmth they had. “… although I do prefer mango, if you have any…”

[mixologistmoxi-blog]

“I got mango. Alright. Hang tight, I’ll be right back.” Making sure he was tucked in comfortably, she descended to the bar and fetched up a  glass of mango juice. And then back up she hurried, stepping into the room quietly once more.

[dortykid]

Dorty took the drink out of her hands and started sipping it, he liked mango for a reason, it just tasted good. Satisfied he pulled the covers over his head and dozed off, and almost instantly began snoring in a deep sleep.

[augustheart]

You know what? Fuck it. Everyone who reblogs this by… Hmm… June 6th gets a hand-drawn dragon head based off of what I think of you.just by looking at your blog.

[nonasuch]

I mean, I like dragons. I’m in.

[we-are-runecaster]

I am certainly intrigued

[addy-ooc]

@bluefirevaldyr

This seems important

[augssanctuary-deactivated201812]

This is relevant to my draconic interests! :D Hai!

[venix-logs]

hell YEAH

[the-noxxi]

AW YISS DWAGONS

[dortykid]

Reblogging here because I wanna see what others think Dorty looks like as a dragon.

[dortykid]

Deep Within the Box

T.K convinces Dorty, Trytamer and Sajessia to try the Super Adventure Box now that it's returned. Things go as well as one would expect them to, until some issues in the coding arise. . .

T.K waited impatiently at the top of the cliff face above the poisonous water below, where his friends continued to try and reach his location. The trek to where he stood was riddled with turtles, alligators, that one annoying pixelated frog, and of corse a whole host of enviromental obstacles. He had already shown them a few times how to reach the chest containing the valuable baubles, but the annoyance of the monkeys projectiles prevented them from reaching him, despite how easy they were to dodge.

Trytamer had gone to continue poking the alligator with his stick to make a platform to stand up on, looking around for any other sort of footing he could get in without touching the water below him. Dorty had just ran desperately across the water, getting back to higher ground via the hollowed log, but costing him some of his hearts. Sajessia was having a hard enough time trying to get on the alligators, dying twice already and respawning at the checkpoint they had grabbed, now only having zero lives left.

"Why are ye guys taking so longs!?" T.K shouted from the ledge.

"Maybe it's because it's so hard to reach that mushroom?" Dorty said, missing the jump to it again and falling into the water, losing the last of his health. With a poof he reappeared at the checkpoint, now also down to zero lives.

Trytamer finally found an alternative route up that works for him and he gleefully join T.K in waiting for the other two. "Hey T.K," he spoke, "what exactly DOES happen when you die?"

"Ya respawnies, dats what happens."

"I mean, when you don't have any more lives."

"Oh, umm. . ." He took a moment to think about how to describe what getting a "Game Over" was like.

"Trytamer's got a point T.K," Dorty shouted from across the area, "what happens when your health hits zero and you have no lives?"

T.K straightened himself up and shouted back to him, "Ya get put in dis Game Over room with a swooshing guillotine, spikeh walls, and lit bombs, but it's all cosmetic stuffs! Ya get tied to dis pole thing and if you don't give the blurting Moto thingy a continue coin thing here," he pulled out a small coin with Moto's face on it, "den ya get thrown back into the hub lobby and unable to come back in."

Sajessia shuddered at this thought of being trapped in a room full of sharp objects and explosives moving in on her, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized it was better than being trapped in a box freezing cold for two centuries. She and Dorty had finally made it to the ledge with the checkpoint on it. All four of them stepped onto it and with a flutter of musical notes it activated, opening the passage to the next area.

"Akay, lez go!" T.K said as he began running along the leaves to the next shop, the only place they could stock up on more lives.

Trytamer was fine on lives so he took the lower path on the water surface, which by now he had mastered movement-wise. Dorty and Sajessia followed behind T.K, letting the higher health person take care of the enemies.

They stopped on a leaf below a chest and let T.K deal with the monkeys that were throwing coconuts at him, which he lazily slapped back to them with his "Push Glove" he stole in a later level.

"I don't get why T.K enjoys this thing so much. . ." Dorty muttered.

"He's still young I guess," Sajessia replied, "still has a wild imagination perhaps with all of this going on."

"He really wants those glowing pixelated weapons Moto is offering at the shop, doesn't he?"

"I suppose so in tha- wah!"

The leaf they were standing on suddenly gave way under them, causing them to plummet to the rock in the center of the water. Struggling to balance themselves on their only refuge, the only way to get back up becoming the turtle that was too far away to jump onto.

"Uhh, T.K?" Sajessia stammered.

"We got a big problem down here, man." Dorty yelled.

T.K took a break reflecting coconuts to realize both of his friends had sat on the leaf he always mistook in the past as a safe spot. Now they were trapped on the infamous rock in the middle of the pond.

"Oh, dat rock!" he yelped in surprise, "Just run acrossies de lake! Keep jumping over through da water to da root there!" He pointed at a square tree root a dozen yards away, or whatever measurement system this crazy world used.

"T.K, I don't think either one of us can make it." Dorty said.

"And why naw?

"We both have only one heart left here. That water will kill us before we reach it."

"Oh, uhm, well. . ."

"Actually," Sajessia said, "I have half of one, I guess I have it worse here."

"WeeeeEEEEEELP," T.K tensed up when he said this, "dis can only end in one way now."

"Lemme guess. . ." Dorty sighed.

"Well heyz, neither o ya wanted in on dis run, so go ahead and kill yourselves to get outta here den!" He pointed at the green water lapping at the sides of the bolder. "You can go wait for us in da lobby while we keil the giant frog."

Dorty face-palmed himself in defeat from this stupid game and Sajessia twiddled her fingers impatiently hoping for some way to escape the rock without dying again.

"C'mon Sej," Dorty took her hand, "let's just get this over with, we don't have any of those coins anyway, so the quicker we get out of here the better, right?"

Sajessia looked over to him with a nervous look forming on her face, "You, you sure we can't just-"

"Sej, we already tried that in the forest zone from before, out magic is completely disabled here."

This was true though, and nobody could deny that. Normally in Tyria Dorty could concentrate his draconic powers to leap up to great heights or even teleport in a flash of crystalline lightning, and Sajessia could, with enough effort and luck, also teleport to higher areas. Here however their magic would probably interfere with the Super Adventure Box and whatever else was inside, so Moto most likely put some form of magic inhibitor in it, to prevent such things from happening.

"Oh, alright then," she finally spoke, "I don't like this place anyway, even the Sunny Glade area wasn't nice for me, I just want to get out of here now."

"Well, let's go then with the help of this water we now formerly hated, right?" Dorty snickered.

Sajessia nodded and laughed a little herself.

"Well alrighties then fellas," T.K spoke from above, "We'll keil da frog and catch up with ya soon, kayz?"

"Kayz T.K- I mean alright!" Dorty stammered, "Gosh dang it now you got me talking like that!"

Sajessia broke into laughter, losing here balance and falling into the green water, pulling Dorty in with her, the last of their lives vanishing as they poofed out of the stage.

The next thing they knew they were in the room T.K had described not too long ago, spiked walls on both sides closing in on them with a pixelated guillotine swooshing lower and lower above them. Both were tied onto a pole on opposite sides while flashing bombs surrounded them. In front of Dorty was the big pixelized Moto with the giant mouth asking for any continue coins, the large timer behind him on the wall counting down from one minute, it had now reached forty seconds until they would be back in the Super Adventure Boxes lobby.

Sajessia couldn't help but try and get out from the pixelized ropes binding both of them, but tugging on them did absolutely nothing for anyone or anything in the room, it only drove her into more panic.

"Sej, calm down, those walls won't reach us in time!"

"Wh-what?" She gasped.

"Calm down already, those walls are moving way to slow to reach us when the timer reaches zero. They'll be close but not enough to even touch us. Just wait a few more seconds."

The timer was now twenty-five seconds left until they would be out, but suddenly the whole room began to flicker, the traps closing in on them suddenly stopped, as did the timer, and the loud Moto exploded in a digital blast. The whole room suddenly grew dark, the torches extinguishing and falling into the lava below.

Everything was suddenly quiet in the room, the only noises were Sajessias panicked breathing and Dortys surprised yelp. The only light now in the room was the soft glow of the lava below them and the red flashing of the bombs around them.

"This, this isn't supposed to happen, is it!?" Sajessia cried.

"Nope. It's not supposed to happen, just great!" Dorty grunted.

A sharp noise filled the entire room, and the rest of the Box as well, as a voice suddenly spoke up. It was Moto, only not the pixelated version of himself he put inside the Box, rather just him himself.

"Ahem," he cleared his throat, "sincere apologies friends and players, but I believe a sudden new bug popped up in the Game Over room, so I have to disable them for a few minutes. If you are in there right now waiting to leave, then I'm sorry, you will have to be patient while I figure this out, but don't fret! It's only a small bug, I should have it squashed like those spiders in Dark Forest in no time!"

The speakers silenced and the room was quiet once again, both asura let out a sigh of relief knowing they wouldn't be stuck here forever.

"Well then," Dorty was the first to break the silence, "I guess we're gonna have to just sit back and wait then, eh?"

Sajessia slid downward in the bonds holding them until they were both sitting on the platform, neither knew what to do or anything except wait.

"Hey, knock knock." Dorty joked.

Sajessia perked her ears up not knowing how to respond. "Knock knock?"

"Who's there?"

"Umm, me?"

"Me who?"

"Come on, you know who I am, Dorty!"

Both of them laughed at this for a full minute.

"Alright then," Dorty whispered, "so you don't know what a knock knock joke is, might as well tell a regular one then. What do you call a sylvari tailor?"

"Umm," Sajessia took a moment to think, the answer would be something abnormal as far as she knew, "a pine blossom?"

"No, salad dressing."

Sajessia burst out laughing and snorting out of control from this joke, recovering after a few moments. "Got any others?"

"Unfortunately, no. I'm all out now."

"Well, I suppose we may be out of jokes, but we're not out of this room yet."

"Yep, how long is it gonna take to fix something in here, I mean really!"

They continued to sit back to back on the pole as time continued to pass by, both growing more and more impatient, urging to get out.

"I'm bored." Sajessia finally spoke.

"Yep, same here." Dorty replied.

"You, you umm, wanna talk?"

"About what?"

She shrugged.

"Well, I dunno either now, we've been stuck to this pole for I don't know how long." He tried thinking of anything that would be a good subject to talk about on, but nothing came to mind until he considered the girl behind him. As far as any of them knew, both were mysteries to the other in terms of what went down in the past. He decided now would be a good time to crack that open.

"Hey Sej."

"Hmm?"

"I'll make a deal, okay?"

She hesitated in replying, a deal? What sort of deal was he talking about now? A secret he didn't want to tell anybody else or just something completely different?

"Look," he continued, "I don't know a lot about you, and you don't know a lot about me, right?"

"I-I think maybe I do?"

He turned around in surprise to this response, "Huh?"

"I mean, I know what happened to you to get those things on your hands and such, how you got your abilities."

"That's not what I mean Sej. What I mean is we don't know much about each others childhood."

"Uhh, oh." She stammered, she hadn't told anybody what life was like back in her time, for her at least, more so she gave a general idea of what happened. She never went into details. "Can, can you go first then?" She said cautiously.

He cleared his throat, "Well, if you insist, then alright."

Dorty went on to tell her about his early life while he still lived in Rata Sum, about his parents, what he had to deal with growing up before their exodus, and of course the idiot responsible for it. Sajessia listened with open ears at every little detail he threw out.

". . .there's something strange though the day before we left. . ." Dorty continued.

"Hmm?"

"My dad had this diary he always wrote in, but instead of taking it with us he left it in his secret workshop."

"Maybe if someone were to attack you guys and try to take it?"

"Naw, we had a good reputation with a lot of people. No hitmen or anything were after us. Dad purposefully left it in there for some other reason."

"Do you have it on you now?"

"No, I finally went back there a week ago, and I checked the place he left it in, and it was just gone."

"Somebody stole it?"

"Yeah, recently too."

Sajessia shivered at this for some reason.

"Are you okay?"

"Hmm? Yeah, sorry, just thinking."

"Anyway, I thankfully have a few ideas as to who took it."

"Really? Who do you think took it?"

"Well, it had to be somebody who knew us well enough to know the existence of the workshop and its location AND the passcode on it. They also had to be friends of dad or-"

"Do you have any siblings?"

"What?" Dorty looked up in surprise, why would anybody ask him that? "I don't have any, I'm an only child."

"Are you completely sure? It could be possible you might have some kind of relative you haven't heard of."

Sajessia had a point, Dorty only knew his parents well and not anybody who they hanged out with a lot, but while it could have been possible he had some kind of relative, the thought of a brother or a sister was pushed to the back of his mind. It just seemed too absurd, even if he did have one, he would have known about it somehow.

"Positive about this, Sej." He replied, "If I did have any I would have known, even if they were way older than me. Speaking of, enough about me, what was your childhood like?"

"Oh! Umm. . ." She went silent for a few moments before muttering something to herself.

"Hey, you do realize there's only two people here tied to a post, right?" Dorty asked, "You and me, meaning nobody else in the area, meaning everything you say's only gonna be heard by the two of us."

A few more moments passed before she finally spoke up, "I was part of a nice family within our city underground, we were also some of the few who dared to explore the surface."

"So, what was your first time up here like?"

"It was dark, but not as dark as the caverns below, and the whole sky was lit up above us, my mother tried to find out more about what was up here, but we didn't have enough time before daylight came and we retreated back below."

"Still wasn't used to a light that bright?"

"Mmhmm, I just sat in the grass looking up above to the stars. I just sort of feel a kind of peace in me whenever I do so."

"So you aren't just addicted to stargazing then?" Dorty snickered.

"H-hey!" She laughed in response.

"Alright alright, so they were nice to you then?"

"Yeah, they were, the only problem was trying to understand me, you know what I mean?"

"Had a problem with your magic then too?"

"Mhmm, they tried getting me some mentors to help me gain control, but nothing was helping, then someone offered an alternate use for my magic. . ."

"Lemme guess. . . That stupid sleep chamber thing."

"Yeah. . . My parents didn't know better, they didn't know what they were putting me into, I didn't have any time before. . ."

"Well, think of it this way, people make sacrifices every day whether they know it or not. Assuming Chak came and wiped out everybody they could after you were trapped in there," Dorty paused at this moment, "imagine what would have happened if you hadn't been there."

"I. . . Would be dead. . . Wouldn't I?"

"Yup, dead because Chak. Lots of them."

"This is. . . Well. . ."

"Probably still a lot to take in even though it's been a few months now?"

"Mmhmmm-wait, hold on. . ." Sajessia started shaking and the pole they were bound to shook with her, before toppling over onto the platform they sat on and turning into planks of pixelized wood.

The two quickly unbound their bindings and got up, looking around for a possible exit, but there was none in sight, the only way out would have been the annoying Moto NPC in front of them if it was still there.

"Well, shux." Dorty said, shaking his head, "Still no way out almost."

"Are the walls breakable?" Sej asked.

"I dunno, can you think of anything that could break them?"

Sajessia merely pointed up at the stationary axe-pendulum thing above their heads. A large thing like that could have easily decapitated someone if it was real, but in the case of this virtual reality, it would have to do some serious damage to the enviroment.

"Huh, good idea," he crouched down in front of her and held his hands out, "need a boost up?"

"Uhm, I don't know about this. . ." She said nervously.

"Well if you can unhinge that axe, I could hit the walls, maybe one of them might lead somewhere out of here."

"Oh, alright. . ." She hopped onto his hands and he tossed her up, she clung to the axe for a moment before pulling herself onto it, noticing it had a bolt on it that might have been able to be loosened.

"Think you got it?"

"Uhuh, just have to unscrew this. . ."

She unscrewed the bolt and the moment she did the whole thing fell down onto the platform, which she fell onto, before it fell into one of the walls behind them, putting a crack into it but not destroying it, before falling into the lava below.

"Oh, umm. . ."

"Well. . ." Dorty said, "at least we found a way out." Light shown in from the crack but it would take more to actually open it up for them to pass through. He scanned around hoping to find anything else that would work, and set his sights on the bombs that had been sitting right next to them. "Well then. . ." He explained, picking up two of them, "I might not be T.K, but if he can chuck these things around, then so can I!"

With what reduced strength he had in this world he threw them both simultaneously at the wall, and as he assumed would happen explode on contact, blasting open a hole in the wall and a way out.

"Huh, that was easier than I thought. Shall we?"

"Um, are you sure that that's the way out of here?"

"Well are we just gonna sit here for a longer time then?"

"No, I don't want to wait here anymore, it creeps me out. . ."

With that they leapt through the hole out of the Game Over room, only to find themselves in an even stranger area. Pixels floated around in a completely flat landscape, but the floor was a metallic grey with a reddish-purple sky. It was safe to assume this was a future zone still in development, possibly the last one due to its evil looks. To the right of them was an object that looked like a portal, which they then realized was a portal back to the hub world.

"Oh! There we are! That's out way out of here, isn't it?"

"I guess so, not sure why it's there but fine, lets take it and-"

He stopped his sentence abruptly when he heard a repeating sound effect coming from behind the cube structure behind them, which could only be from one of those shop keepers or talking characters in general. Unfortunately it was impossible to tell what it was saying because all you could hear was gibberish, the only way you could understand what it was saying was to read the text box that would appear above their head, only since he could see neither, he was stumped. The only thing he could tell was this was probably a baddie, maybe the Lord Vanquish person, but hit voice was a clanking of metal every "word", this one was sounding more. . . demonic sounding.

"Umm, Dorty?" Sej tapped him on the shoulder, backing away in front of him slowly.

He turned around to be greeted with the big guy himself, Vanquish staring blankly down at them, sword in hand and princess in the other. All he did was sit there and stare at them. Carefully, Dorty reached out and poked him, he didn't budge at all.

"Eh, don't worry, he's probably still being developed, he's just standing there like the little idiot he is." He turned away toward the portal, but shot a glance around toward the voice anyway. All he could make out was a figure who was definitely part of the world and a cluster of some swirling object. They definitely had something wrapped on top of their head. "We. . . Should probably get going now."

"Yeah, I am really being creeped out by this place. The sooner we leave this world the better."

With that they stepped onto the portal device, and within moments were whisked back to the familiar and welcoming hub world. The smiling sun in the background, the firework cannons in the clouds, and people somehow getting shot out of the fountain in the center up into the sky. T.K and Trytamer were waiting at the entrance for them and had resorted to seeing who could make the craziest face to pass the waiting time.

"Nuuup!" T.K said with his tongue sticking out and crossing his eyes, "Dis is da carazy face herez!"

"Ha, as if!" Trytamer shouted, he pulled his goggles far out, put them sideways on his face, and stuffed part of his scarf in his mouth, "THITH ith a crahay fois."

Dorty and Sej calmly walked up to them, "Sorry Trytamer," Dorty said to the norn, "I think T.K still reigns supreme in this area."

"Fine, but the next time we clash in this sort of way, I will emerge victorious!" Trytamer bellowed for all to hear.

"Kayz, but really nowz, what took ye so longs!?" T.K asked the two asura.

"We. . . Had some issues appear in the GameOver room." Sajessia said

"Oh." T.K said, he remembered hearing the announcement about it, but he kinda quickly forgot what it meant until now, "Wai, if it stillz bugged up, how ye get outz!?"

"Well T.K, some things are just MEANT to be broken, am I right?" Dorty smirked and gave him a playful punch in the side.

T.K just stared blankly at him for a moment, before squinting, a little smile forming under his bandanna, "Now DAT I gotta tries!".

"I prefer NOT doing this thing ever again, alright?"

"Finez with me, ye at least tried it, but LOOKI THIS!" T.K pulled out. . . Nothing. . . from his pocket. "Dang eet! Forgot we were stillz in herez! Lez go, I'll show ya'll outsidez!"

They turned toward the exit portal that lead back to the reality of Rata Sum, people were still crowding both inside and outside the Super Adventure Box in a last-minute attempt to cram in as much fun as they could. It was only a few hours now until it closed down for maintenance until next year. Moto had figured it would be more hyped for if it became a yearly occasion, at least as long as it was still under development.

As soon as they managed to get away from the massive crowds, T.K dropped his pack and started throwing stuff out before them, trying to find whatever it was he wanted to show off.

"I gotz eet here somewherez, I know it! Probablies under all this stu- aHAZ!" He pulled out two things, a pixelated object like one from the Super Adventure Box, which actually looked like a flail of some kind. The other was some strange device with a yellow chervil all over it. "Guess what DESE ARE!"

"Some kinda flail and. . ." Dorty looked at the other object he had, "I dunno."

T.K pushed a button on it and it immediately began blasting the same 8-bit music from the Super Adventure Box, thankfully not as loud. "Boom Boxy! Now aye can haz de tunes EVERYWHERE!"

"Uhh, grats!" Dorty exclaimed, "Sure I guess you'll enjoy. . ." He stopped when he noticed a small silver ooze on the ground, sliding towards them, "umm, T.K?"

"Wha?" He didn't notice the ooze hop onto his backpack, which he picked up and placed back on him.

"There's a, umm. . ." Sej whispered."

"A wha?" The ooze now leapt from the backpack onto T.K's hat. It was only then he realized what they were talking about. "Oh."

The ooze slowly slid down to the front-rim of his hat, dripping a little down in front of T.K so he could see. "Bloop."

"Bloop?" Dorty asked.

"Bloop. . ."

"Are you serious?" He couldn't believe this.

"Aye has a pet blooper now and his name is Bloop, DON'T ASK QUESTIONS."

Bloop retreated down to the open pouch in T.K's coat, which he closed as soon as it entered.

"Fine," Dorty said, "I won't ask, I'll just ponder it until some day I find out WHY you decided to get a pet ooze!" He followed the others out to the exit gate from the city, "I'm just glad I won't be going back into that Box for at LEAST a year! There's some pretty weird stuff in there that Moto's gotta fix!"