Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

My eyes go wide.
"Yes. Very clear."

 

"Does she not get to kill stuff often?" I ask, curiously watching Arie.


The water guardians pay Fenira no mind, the waters becoming warmer as she leaves the frozen area.

 

“I don’t see anyone else, old tech.”

 

“In the eyes of an edge beast, big things are threats. The bigger it is, the more threatening they think it is. Conversely, small things aren’t threats, so their logic is to mash threatening things into a non-threatening size.” Arkclal explains, Arie doing the same with the other half of the corpse. “Unfortunately, that also means that they’re instinctively scared of the high gods in their larger forms... sans Xlentia.”


She continues on, a bit annoyed with herself but otherwise maintaining a neutral expression to onlookers.

“The mountains used to stretch out to where you walked last night. It was dragon territory, like these mountains, and it was where the elders lived. Furthest from the humans, back when they declared war on us.” Rema explains.
“The forest still belonged to the wildlife, but the humans would use it to cover their movements in the night. One day, they offered a diplomat to negotiate peace... theoretically. What actually happened was that they chained our ancient leader and blew out the entire mountain range from below. Everything collapsed, and now it’s the beach we’ve vowed not to touch.”
Rema seems hurt by the recollection.
“Rumors have it that the ancient still waits, mortally wounded but vengeful. As for everyone else there... we lost every member of the elder’s council that day.”

 

“Yet, you were clearly talking to someone else. Unless you were talking to yourself, which is a bit lonely for what you seem to be doing.”

 

The serpent looks a bit embarrassed, glancing aside.
“...Shut up.”

 

“Hey, it’s alright. Not every job is for one person.”

 

"I did see some eyes poke out from a pile of rocks and rumble. Could it be this ancient you speak of? And how dangerous is this ancient?"

 

“What do you even think my job is?”

“Extremely. The humans couldn’t shoot them down, no dragon dared challenge their authority, and even the shifters wouldn’t try to trick them. I’d be willing to bet the ancient stared you down.”

 

"But what is it? Is it a dragon?"

 

"Well, I suppose here is one of the best places to apply that logic." I say, sheathing Shadow Katana.


Few water guardians make themselves visible to Fenira, most swimming around her or seemingly avoiding her by swimming deeper. The ocean becomes warmer still, Fenira finding a small island covered in trees after swimming for a while.

 

“Yes, they are. Most people here think they’re dead, too, considering how long ago that... incident... was.”
Rema paces around a bit.
“You know, you’re the first one in a while to go out there and not go missing.”

“Lady Emerald contained her form into a more... compact... body, but Arie still has access to all of her full-size appendages. That tangent aside, things get messy when two edge beasts stumble across each other.”


Fenira pulls herself up onto the island, letting her heads rest on the shoreline as she takes a moment to choose her next course of action.

 

“My best guess is just a guess. Care to enlighten me?”

 

“Datamining, surveilance, not wishing I could strangle Scurn for needing to reload a backup every week.”

“...I’m right here, if you feel like going for a second one today.” Scurn calls.

The serpent rolls its eyes.
“Emphasis on number three.”

 

“Well, now, why would you be doing that?”

 

"Well.. I didn't have a particular thing is was looking for there. Maybe I got lucky."

 

"I suppose they can't recognise one another?" I ask.


Birds and wildlife chime in the trees, small bugs jumping about the sandy shore. The island feels warm and inviting, and seems quite a bit larger up close.

 

"Simple. Jerks can't fight wars if their shit don't work. I don't care how angry those people get, better vent at a hologram than a victim."

"I'd say you got very lucky. Remember, not a word of this gets out. Don't tell anyone else you went over there, alright?"

"They seldom meet at all. Most beasts don't know that there's more than one of their kin, and thus messes occur. Arie is one of the few to be exposed to more than one, and Emerald did have to wrestle her away from the other beast."
Arie soon catches back up with the carriage.


Fenira opts not to move until the tide comes in and makes her, opening a portal to a wasteland and heading through.
She doesn't close the portal until she glances back at the view longingly, shaking her head as she leaves.

 

"Yes. Not a word."

"So... I found out the truth about me and Anne..."

 

"I assume because it was already dead?" I ask, smirking.

The carriage picks up speed again, the horse beasts feeling more confident without a threat present.