Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

"That's a bar of pure darkness, too. You should be able to manipulate it with your rings on to turn it into stuff like a sword, or a dagger, or a mug. Basically anything it has enough mass to create." I say, taking the bar out of the skull and changing it into a sharp looking sword, then into the shape of a book before returning it to it's normal form and handing it to you.

A letter falls out the mouth of the skull, landing at your feet.

 

"Neat."
I put the bar to the side, opting to read the letter.

 

"She trespassed our territory and burned some of our fur. So the others didn't really like her."

 

"Huh, how'd that get here?" I ask, trying to look at the letter.

The letter seems to have 'My friend' written on the front, and unfolding it, it reads:

"To my friend on his birthday,

First of all, happy birthday! I hope you're having a great day so far. The amount of time I have to write this is short, so I'll try to make this short too.

As much as I don't have a physical gift to give you right now, I would like to thank you for...what you've done for my friends, shall I say. I know this seems like a crude method of communication right now compared to alternatives, but I feel it would be best communicate through it nonetheless. From the time Shadow Aj left what feels like years ago to the time he entered the portal to your own slice of reality, I'd like to thank you for allowing him, and his many friends, to stay. I understand welcoming who you'd find to be the powerful king of shadows and his friends into yours or any reality isn't exactly the easiest task, nor allowing him to bring people of that reality back to his own, but I thank you for allowing him to despite this.

It was definitely a fun experience to meet up with them after being kidnapped, shoved into a cardboard box and sent to them, too.

I have the deepest gratitude for what you've done both for me and my friends. It means more than you might think, and I really value the fact I can call you one of my friends despite everything that's happened between us, especially regarding the residents of Shadow Aj's reality.

Thank you, thank you ever so much.
-Aj"

 

"Quite the troublemaker. You pelt her yet?"

I smile, handing you the letter.
"Meta-speak. Isn't it fun?"
Pause.
"Well, we gotta start somewhere. Gifts first, then my end of this bargain. Who else?"

 

"No, like I said we ran into her today."
Pause.
"So we chased her and she led us to a forest fire that was happening. We gather around and tried to control it... It's slowly dying now, but a few of us got a bit burned, but nothing dangerous I believe."

 

"Meta speak?" I ask, confused, skimming over the letter.

Artemis walks over with a wooden box, a slight golden glow leaking through the cracks.

"I hope you like my gift." Artemis says, smiling kindly as she offers you the box.

 

I ignore you, turning to Artemis.
"Thank you." I say, opening the box. "You know, I always wanted to meet you. You're nearly as nice as Ihra, and those kinds of people are rare."

________________________________

"So, you killed her after that?"

 

"No, I didn't. Why does everyone expect me to kill her?!"

 

"Aw, that's really nice of you to say," Artemis says happily, "I'm glad we've managed to finally meet, then."

Inside the box is what looks like a shining golden apple, a small stem protruding from the side of the box keeping it fresh.

"That fruit is incredibly rare and incredibly hard to grow. It's been a sort of secret project of mine for a long while now, and I thought I'd share one of the few fruits I managed to harvest with you. Eating it has a pretty wide range of benefits. It extends your lifespan, cures and gives you immunity to a lot of deadly diseases, makes you stronger, improves your senses and a lot more. The entire range of it's benefits isn't actually too well known just due to how rare and how hard the fruit is to grow." Artemis explains cheerily.

 

"What else do you do with trespassers?"

"Awesome! Can I save it for a few days, or should I eat it sooner over later?"

 

"It's probably the human side of me that doesn't kill everything in sight."
Pause.
"But anyway. After the fire, I met that kitsune again. She cured my wounds and I'm doing better, just a bit tired."

 

"As long as you don't pick it, it should be fine. I'd eat it soon after you do, though. One of the reasons they're so rare is because they're so hard to get fertile seeds from, since they begin to rot quite quickly." Artemis says happily.

 

"Are you in love?" He grunts.

"Alright. Maybe I'll just pick it with my mouth." I chuckle. "Me shoving my face in a box won't surprise anyone, anyways."

 

Artemis laughs, amused.

"I guess that's one way of getting fresh fruit!" Artemis says happily, still laughing slightly.

 

I smile, closing the box.
"Thanks."

 

Artemis gives you a light hug before moving aside as Shadow Stephanie approaches with her present.

"Here, happy birthday." Shadow Stephanie says, giving you a present with black wrapping and red eyes patterned on it.

 

"This isn't more alcohol, is it?" I ask half-jokingly as I open it.

 

"No, but the offer is still there." Shadow Stephanie says, taking out her hip flask.

Inside there seems to be an assortment of gifts: A dark red backpack, a pair of black boots, an odd looking uncut key. Strangely, there's also what looks to be an ordinary pen and a plain looking flashlight, as well as a simple metal thermos.

"That backpack is tied to a pocket dimension, meaning that you can store basically any amount of anything in it, even yourself if you wanted to look around inside. The boots will make you completely silent, the key is actually a skeleton key, and will let you unlock anything, and the pen, flashlight and thermos work together."

 

"That's what happened. We talked for a while, had a good time and then it happened. Love."