[center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/DLGhcA0.png[/img] & [h1]Split-Tooth[/h1] & [h1][color=wheat]Chopstick Eyes (Alpha) [/color][/h1] [/center] [hr] The wastes of Sandravii were surprisingly pleasant to traverse at night. In the daytime, the way ahead was hellish - the ground was scalding, the air choking, and the light reflected from the towering iron monoliths became a blinding maze. Every step over the incandescent sand, or inch flown through the trembling, windless expanse over it, was alone an ordeal. As soon as Heliopolis sank under the horizon, however, it was as though an unseen crushing hand was lifted from over the landscape. The ground was quick to cool, but the inert masses of metal still radiated heat for hours. In the cold of the darkened desert, it became a comfortable warmth. The pale stains of the nocturnal lights formed subdued shimmering patterns on their surfaces. It was in these early hours of nightfall that the two figures, one crawling, spider-like, over the glassy dunes, the other lightly hovering above the grainy soil, moved the fastest. Unimpeded by either heat or the dazzling glare in the sky, they wove their way between jagged pillars and obelisks, nary a crunching step or trace in the sand betraying them to the shadowy silence. In the calm, lifeless quiet of the barrenness, that was their only witness, except for one thing that obstinately hounded them, night by night. “So,” Split-Tooth scratched her jaws together, “you know where we’re going?” [color=ivory]”I thought you did.”[/color] Arya said, looking at Split. [color=ivory]”You mean to tell me, we’ve been wandering about without a plan?”[/color] she said sternly, but she quickly started giggling. Then fell to the ground laughing until tears filled her eyes. She couldn’t believe that she was traveling through the desert again and seemingly nowhere. Something about that just seemed so funny. Split grunted. “All I know is we had to get away from the pits. There’s not much to find there, unless you count something finding us. This looks far enough.” She winced on one side, remembering how high up Narzhak’s eyes must have been, but said nothing. “I don’t have the faintest of what’s further than that.” Arya’s laughter quickly died down as she listened to Split talk. She pulled herself up and walked over to stand next to her. Arya too, only had an inkling of what lay ahead. Jungle and more jungle. Then a river. [color=ivory]”Hmm, I don’t think anything will find us out here. So, I guess I could try something. But I’m not sure how you will react. You see, it might end up summoning a... God… to us.”[/color] she said hesitantly, looking at the Kostral to see how she might react. Then Arya quickly added, [color=ivory]”Or it won’t!”[/color] One of the creature’s hands quickly went to the grip of her axe, but stopped before gripping it. Her fingers began to idly scratch the metallic haft. “You said they’re not all bad, didn’t you?” It was hard to say what her growling voice might be coloured with at any time, but now and again it became especially inscrutable. Now was one such a moment. “If it’s not the one who’s sitting down there,” she pointed to the ground with another hand, “or his kind, it’d be…” She gnawed on air, searching for the best words, before finishing, “a smaller risk. You do know who it could be, do you?” Arya nodded as Split finished, [color=ivory]”Well… I’m not exactly sure. I’ve never met this one but I think her name is Choppy? The one who broadcasted that loud message across the world? She said something about a delivery service. I don’t know what that means, but it sounds like a something that might work.”[/color] Arya said. “She said that?” Split’s features twisted into an odd shape that might have been her way of raising an eyebrow. “If she’s the one who shouted, it means she’s the one that asked for that coffee too.” Her scratching on the axe became, seemingly unknowingly, rhythmical. “Beats me what a service is. Delivery sounds like bringing things somewhere. It’s strange if you think about it. She wants her guards to have something, though. That can’t be so bad.” A third hand rose to scrape something on her neck. She looked like she might have been absorbed in thought, but then twisted her head sideways as if to nod. “It’d be a hand up from what we’ve got now whichever way. If you’re sure of it…” The axe was slung forward, ready to be lifted in a moment. “I’ll watch, just in case.” [color=ivory]”it is strange.”[/color] Arya said, while looking up at the moon. [color=ivory]”But I’m not sure, Split. The way I see it, she never asked how we get them coffee, and for starters, we don’t even know what coffee is. We might as well see what we get, if it even works.”[/color] she finished, looking back down and over to Split. [color=ivory]”Here goes nothing.”[/color] she said before cupping her hands in front of where her mouth would be and shouting, [color=ivory]”Hey Choppy! We need a delivery!”[/color] and her hands fell to her side. Arya looked about, and in every which direction, then back to Split. [color=ivory]”Guess we wait?”[/color] she said shrugging. [hr] Bare feet crinkled the smoothgravel sand of a beach on the south side of Pāṟa. In the nights since she woke up, she had dreamed again. They were fitful dreams, dreams in which she looked up from the corner of Apartment 2B into her own sticks, and saw Daniel’s last moment from his eyes, as she had seen his first. After a few nights of this, Chopstick had resolved not to sleep. To her surprise, it was very soothing. It is the luxury of gods to stand by and watch the world age around them. Chopstick watched the gemstone gardeners arrive on her island, watched them bring their seeds and sow them between the weeds that were spreading from the Feasting Forest. Some of them sang to her, one of them screamed, and she didn’t answer. In time, they regarded her as a statue, and she trees rise and fall and rot away. Over the course of a dozen years, she lifted her hand, saw moss cover her palm; over another dozen, she lowered it, watching the moss change its shape. Sleeping wasn’t necessary. She could wait here a time. [i][color=ivory]Hey Choppy! We need a delivery![/color][/i] ...Or maybe not. [hr] [i]Two weeks later.[/i] Arya and Split waited. Then they waited a bit longer. Then the sun came up, and forced them to move on much to Arya’s displeasure. Surely this Choppy was on her way? But what was taking so long? It was another week before they left the desert behind and Arya realized just how slow waiting for a land-dweller to walk, really was. She didn’t mind though, because they talked along the way, and learned of each other. Well, at least what she could learn from a large, killing machine. Once in the shade of tall trees, Arya tried several more times to call the God, and this time, they did not move. They held up camp in a small clearing, where the two practiced fighting. Arya, in her haste to leave the Jiangzhou, had forgotten her bow and spear. As such, she had to make another one from the teachings of Kalmar. Her spear was but a long wooden shaft with a sharp rock at the end of it, so too did Split fashion a rudimentary wooden stick to spar with her. But it was enlightening, and the lessons she learned from her Kostral friend, showed her just how bad she was at fighting. It was a very worrying thought, but she did not let this stop her, and on she went. Arya put her experience from Kalmar to practice, and picked up much more from Split. They practiced nonstop for a week while they waited to see if Choppy would arrive, only resting when night fell and when Arya could no longer go on. Her body was slightly bruised from the Kostral. Split did not go easy on her. But still they were faced with another choice, to move on or to stay. It had been close to two weeks without a single word from this ‘Choppy’ and Arya was beginning to lose faith. Perhaps not all the Gods cared too much about mortals? It just seemed odd to her that the one who broadcasted herself for this service of hers, was nowhere to be seen! They would have to make a choice soon enough, and as Arya gazed up at the stars, she knew it would be soon. Under the early morning haze, the two sat around a small, well used fire pit, Arya tentatively fiddled with her spear not paying much mind to what the Kostral was doing. Then she spoke out loud, [color=ivory]”We should probably get moving huh? I think my plan failed, do you have any ideas?”[/color] Split looked up from the pile of small bones left over from her last meal, idly arranged into a lopsided circle. Her empty chewing had gotten a little better since she had found something to bite on, but it still showed in moments of absorbed thought. Her jaws began to move again. “That’s what we get for trusting a god to do something,” she grumbled flatly, “You’re right, staying still’s no good. Keep moving that way,” a gnarled finger pointed roughly to the southwest. “I don’t know what’s there for sure, but there’s things I remember. Must be this.” She glanced down to the by now darkened brand on her shoulder. “I couldn’t tell you what, but there’s sure to be something that fits in a cup.” [color=ivory]”Yeah.”[/color] Arya said defeated, [color=ivory]”It was a chance we took, and it didn’t work out. Sorry Split. It’s been fun though, learning and fighting. Guess it’s time to put that to work.”[/color] Arya said standing up. [colour=wheat]“...But I literally [i]just[/i] sat down,”[/colour] said Chopstick, warming her hands on the remnants of the last night’s fire. Arya screamed. In a blink, Split was on four feet, axe held up over the newcomer’s head. It took her a moment of squinting at the diminutive goddess to slowly lower it. “Don’t you walk up to people first? Keep doing this, and you’ll get killed someday.” Saith the Chopstick, [colour=wheat]“Yeah, nah.”[/colour] After she stopped screaming, Arya promptly lowered herself, remembering Shengshi’s teachings and said, [color=ivory]”Y-Your Holiness! You came!”[/color] she then stood up and looked at Choppy for the first time. Strange, but not that strange in appearance, though, the eyes were bit a weirder than most. For her part, Chopstick jumped, spun round, and looked every direction. [colour=wheat]“Aah! Who? Where?”[/colour] Her forehead hit the ground in a clumsy imitation of Arya’s stance, snapping several of her facial skewers in the process. [colour=wheat]“Ow! I mean, forgive me, your holiness! I, uh… Didn’t...”[/colour] She looked up. Then at Arya. [colour=wheat]“...Dude, there’s literally no one here.”[/colour] Arya watched the display in shock, then she felt embarrassed, then confused. She squinted her eyes as she looked the Goddess up and down, then she said, [color=ivory]”Err… Right, how stupid of me. Uh… okay.”[/color] and she fell silent. It was better to not offend Choppy, or whatever she had just done. Arya would take note of that, perhaps not all Gods enjoyed such etiquette. She looked to Split and shrugged. The kostral’s side eye had been frowning at the scene all the while. She crouched back down, still visibly tense and without letting go of her weapon. “We’ll need to talk about that later,” she almost whispered in a low snarl at Arya. The front of her head then spun to fully face Chopstick. “Took you long enough. I’d not be surprised if your people had starved by now. Or if they’ve been eating lichen.” She rumbled, clearly anything but pleased with the situation. “If you’re actually doing what you said, we’ve got…” some chewing accompanied the choice of a difficult word, “business. You said you’d deliver anything?” [colour=wheat]“Okay, [i]first of all,[/i]”[/colour] said Chopstick Eyes, wagging a finger, [colour=wheat]“I’d like to see you cross a boiling fucking ocean in two weeks. Secondly, I don’t have ‘people’, and if I do for some reason, I guarantee you they’re eating really, really well right now. Thirdly...”[/colour] She bowed, from the waist, lifted herself up, and grinned. [colour=wheat]“Hi! I have chopstick eyes. Wanted deliveries? You’ve come to the right place! How can I help you?”[/colour] Arya quickly scooted herself over to stand beside Split, where she then put a hand upon one of the Kostral’s arms. [color=ivory]”Um, forgive my large friend here, she’s not met many others.”[/color] Arya said quickly, before changing the subject, [color=ivory]”Deliveries! Yes, that’s exactly why we called you. Or, why we came to you! Yeah! So we need some… Coffee.”[/color] Arya said. [colour=wheat]“Oh, that’s it?”[/colour] said Chopstick eyes, pulling a metal flask out of the neck of her dress and handing it to her. [colour=wheat]“This one’s on the house. You sure that’s all I can get you, uh...”[/colour] She looked at Arya for a second. [colour=wheat]“...Inkdrop Eyes?”[/colour] Arya took the metal object within her hand. It felt cold, but if this was what coffee was, who was she to second guess a God? She looked back to Choppy and upon hearing the name, inkdrop eyes, Arya blinked. After a moment, she said [color=ivory]”Uh, thanks. I’m Arya, by the way, and this here is Split-Tooth, but I call her Split.”[/color] she pointed to the Kostral. [color=ivory]”Hmm. What else do you… have in there?”[/color] Arya asked, now pointing to Choppy’s dress. She was highly curious. [colour=wheat]“Oh, you know,”[/colour] the goddess smirked, squeezing her chest with both hands. There wasn’t much of it. [colour=wheat]“All kinds of good things. Like, I’ve got...”[/colour] She reached down again, apparently serious, [colour=wheat]“A knife, a brush, a needle, a thread, a dialysis tube, two rabbits, half a gun, eight bones, they’re all skulls sorry, a book, a book that has pictures, a harmonic drive, and a really crumpled beret.”[/colour] The objects formed a pile as they were pulled out and dumped, some of it scuttling off to nibble the scant grass. [colour=wheat]“And I don’t even keep things in my dress anyway, there’s a lot more in my handbag. So yeah, I can probably get you a lot,”[/colour] she concluded. Arya froze at the sight of the two rabbits, her eyes going wide in disbelief at such an animal. They had large ears and big feet and they looked so silly, but at the same time, so adorable. When Choppy dumped them on the ground, Arya stifled a squeal and abandoned the conversation once Choppy turned to Split. She got on her hands and knees, placing the coffee flask on a log next to her. Cautiously, ever so carefully, Arya then touched the nearest one as it ate. The moment her hand touched the bunny, Arya’s heart melted and she scooped it up into her lap and stroked it. The fur was amazingly soft, it was perhaps the softest thing she had ever felt, and her excitement was apparent. Her inky black eyes were squinted into smiles, as she engrossed herself with the small creature. [colour=wheat]“How about you, Split-Tooth? Hey- you’re one of Narzhak’s, right? I owe him a knife, but I can get you some dental work, if you’d prefer that. Not that you need it, really. You’re already [i]gorgeous.[/i]”[/colour] By the way she was drinking in the Kostral’s anatomy (it was evident in her pose, if not in her pupils), she meant it. Split’s eyes had been wandering over the heap of eclectic travelling articles, lingering dangerously over the rabbits in particular. Hearing herself addressed, three of them swivelled towards Chopstick. “He can keep his knife,” she growled dismissively, before her voice softened, if that was at all possible. “My teeth are fine… thanks?” Instinctively, she splayed her middle arms, scraping her nails against each other. Her already bulky frame stretched wide, ribcage poking up under scabby skin. Chopstick wolf-whistled. Split seemed to take a better view of the goddess, squinting a few times, and deflated partways, though her arms remained open. “You don’t look bad either. Just a bit skinny. Do you get to eat properly?” [colour=wheat]“Yeah, of course. What do you think the rabbits were for?”[/colour] She gestured generally to where Arya was fawning over the animals. Arya looked up at this comment, her eyes full of horror at the thought anyone could eat such fluffy things. The Kostral nodded. “They look tasty.” Arya immediately shot Split a dirty look. Then as if realising she had gone a fair bit off the track of coffee and delivery, Split waved an upper hand. “Yeah, about eating. Where do we have to bring this?” She tapped a claw on the flask. “You got something that shows which way in that bag?” [colour=wheat]“I… what?”[/colour] for the first time, the goddess seemed genuinely bewildered. [colour=wheat]“Bring… the coffee? Was it for someone else?”[/colour] A pause. [colour=wheat]“Who?”[/colour] “You mean…” Split started, then broke into a muttered “Right, god,” with a slightly disappointed look. “I caught you saying that your-” she chewed emptily, recalling the exact word, “security could’ve used some of that. Two weeks back. We thought we’d do it, so we got the coffee.” She scraped at her tooth with a finger. “That, or it was somebody that sounded a lot like you. Does the same things too, by the looks of it. You run these deliveries with anyone else?” Chopstick stared for a second with her mouth unclosed and her sticks shuffling one way and the other before something clicked, very audibly, inside her skull, and she made a long [i]oooooooohhhh.[/i] She sighed, lowering her head and rubbing the sides of her skull. Split blinked and questioningly rotated her head sideways. [colour=wheat]“Alright, so. Okay. I have a...”[/colour] She recalled Split’s difficulty with terms. [colour=wheat]“A clone, which is a twin sister, except we’re also each other’s mother. There was one of us, and now there are two of us. Two of me. And we each split off to go see the world and do certain things. And, well, we haven’t really kept in touch since then.”[/colour] She reached into her handbag and removed her purse. [colour=wheat]“As far as I know, I don’t employ any real security other than a floating hat with a cudgel. And I have no way of talking to her right now. But we’re incorporated, so I’m just going to, real quickly, check our account...”[/colour] She tipped the purse upside down. Out fell a single slip of paper with a big red X painted on it. Her expression morphed, first slowly and then with rock-dropping speed, into horror. She pulled her hands down her face as if to compose herself and raised a single finger: [colour=wheat]“Excuse me.”[/colour] She turned around. A fancy glove was pulled out of her bag, snapped on. She formed a beaky little mouth with fingers and thumb and crossed her other two arms, ‘speaking’ into her own ear. [colour=wheat]“Skraghnaphgh speaking. Mhm. Mhmm. Yeah, just give me everything big over the last, uh, last financial century, anything that could really dent my wallet. Okay. O… kay. I mean that’s fair, there needs to be some way in. Haze Men? Okay… Good… O- hang on, what? What the FUCK is a ‘knife portfolio’? I- Mm… Yeah, okay, I guess that does sound pretty cool. Alright. Thanks. Bye,”[/colour] and she took off the glove. [colour=wheat]“...Alright, so, you know how I can basically deliver anything?”[/colour] She was facing them again. [colour=wheat]“Well, turns out I can’t. Not anything really huge, anyway. I’m kind of… super broke. The only thing I can really do for ya is big animals, they’re deep in the red for some reason and super cheap.”[/colour] She slapped her hands on her hips and a big stupid smile on her face. [colour=wheat]“Most important thing is I know what you’re talking about now and also I’m going to beat the fucking teeth out of my clone real soon.”[/colour] Split’s head had turned almost completely upside down as she tried to figure her way through there being another Chopstick who was the mother but also the twin of the one she was looking at. It slowly rotated back into its usual place, distractedly tipping a little the other way before she propped it up with two fingers. “Should’ve done that at the start, but you can’t know if they’ll turn out dumb.” All the movement in her body was concentrated in her top hand, which scraped and cupped around her jaw. “Too bad you had to go over that ocean. We don’t need any big animals, though I get hungry sometimes.” [colour=wheat]“Lots of little animals are fine, I can do that too,”[/colour] Chopstick shrugged. Arya seemed to shriek at the sound of this, and rose, still grabbing the bunny tightly against her chest. In a flash, she was in front of Choppy with eyes that seemed to be the size of apples. [color=ivory]”A bunny! A giant, fluffy bunny! I need one! Please, please, please!”[/color] she asked joyously. “What’d you need that for?” Split narrowed a side eye at her. “I’ve never even seen you eat.” [color=ivory]”Eat! No! Never! It wouldn’t be for food, but so I…”[/color] she suddenly seemed to shrink at the idea, her voice going soft, trickling with embarrassment, [color=ivory]”Could ride it…”[/color] Chopstick Eyes thought idly back to the cauldron of jackalope soup and said, [colour=wheat]“Sure. With or without horns?”[/colour] Once again Arya’s eyes went wide, [color=ivory]”They can have horns?”[/color] she said teary eyed, [color=ivory]”Oh my goodness. Please!”[/color] she looked to Split with pleading eyes. The Kostral sat up from her crouch with a grunt. “If you’re doing this, take one that can walk straight. Those just waddle around.” She turned back to Chopstick, who was taking diligent notes on a clipboard. “D’you mind finding one you can bite off a piece sometimes? If it’s got to be big, it’d better be good for more things than one.” [colour=wheat]“Roger roger,”[/colour] said Chopstick. [color=ivory]”Split!”[/color] Arya said horrified, [color=ivory]”We don’t eat things we can ride! That would defeat the purpose, if it’s not…”[/color] she thought for a moment, trying to put the term in something the Kostral would understand, [color=ivory]”If it’s not well… when we fight! We wouldn’t want a pe- a creature that dies because it’s being eaten alive before a battle. Surely you can understand that?”[/color] she said incredulously. “I didn’t say it’s got to be one that dies,” Split looked at her sideways with an eye now fully open, “One you can eat on the go, but it keeps walking. There’s things like that where I come from. You take off a piece, they just keep going. Sometimes grow it right back. We get one like them, we don’t need to worry about walking or eating either.” The front-eyes facing the goddess blinked. “You got something like that?” Arya seemed to let out a rather annoyed sigh, but said nothing else. Chopstick nodded, turning her clipboard around to reveal a doodle of some vaguely quadrupedal blob with two stick figures on top of it. One of them had four limbs, while the other had six, and an open mouth with an arrow drawn to the ‘jackalope’s’ rump. [colour=wheat]“Something like this? I can do this.”[/colour] She pulled out the scribble and handed it to them. [colour=wheat]“So, how were you intending to pay for it?”[/colour] [Color=ivory]”Pay? What's that? [/color] Arya asked. Choppy inhaled but did not drop her smile. [colour=wheat]“If I give you this eatable jackalope, or edibunny if you will, what are you going to give me in return?”[/colour] “Afraid we don’t have much to offer right now,” Split interjected, weighing her weapon in her hands, “All we’ve got is this axe, and I need it, or-” she pointed at the shimmering ring on Arya’s finger, “that shiny thing, and it doesn’t do anything. But we can do it like this. Next time you go see Narzhak about that knife, you take the pay from him. He’ll have all kinds of things down there.” Her eyes glistened with vicious amusement. “That look good to you?” [colour=wheat]“Well, I’m not sure if I can trust you to speak for Narzhak, but…”[/colour] She craned her neck, just slightly. The red fist shone on the kostral’s shoulder. [colour=wheat]“You [i]do[/i] have his trademark. I’ll pay you what I owe him, and that’ll do for your half of the bunny. As for [i]you…[/i]”[/colour] She turned to Arya. [colour=wheat]“I happen to disagree with your friend about that ring. It does do something. It glows! I love glowy things, and I can make a lantern out of it. If it doesn’t have any other use to you, I’d be more than happy to take it off your hands for the jackalope.”[/colour] She shrugged. [colour=wheat]“Whaddya say?”[/colour] Arya shuffled awkwardly, looking down at the band of starlight, suddenly wishing that the Kostral had not said anything about her ring. Without looking at Choppy, she said, [color=ivory]”I… don’t know. It was a gift, from my father. It…”[/color] her voice fell silent. They were right, she didn’t even know what the ring did, furthermore, she didn’t even know why she cared so much for it. It had caused her so much grief already. The ring had made her angry in the face of Shengshi and Kalmar, it had ruined their view of her, for no other reason then what the meaning behind it was. Still, maybe it meant that her Father cared about her… Or maybe he felt guilty, and ashamed of her and this ring simply alleviated his guilty conscience. If he had truly cared, Orvus would have spoken to her. And then when he gave this ring to her, it would have meant so much more. Now… Now it was just a reminder that she just wasn’t wanted. The ring’s beauty was a lie, and one she had fallen for. Arya’s eyes snapped up to Choppy, as she took the ring off. She outstretched her hand to Choppy, the ring cool in her hand. [color=ivory]”Here. Take it.”[/color] she said impassively, before sighing again, [color=ivory]”Just… I don’t want this jackalope to feel pain when… when someone wants to eat it.”[/color] she said, giving Split a cold side glance. Arya shouldn’t have felt so upset over something so minor, but it did bother her greatly. But could she really blame the Kostral? It was just in Split’s nature… and would perhaps be of some familiarity in the strange world she found herself in. Something of [i]home.[/i] Arya’s expression softened, and she looked back at Choppy expectantly. The wild god clasped Arya’s hands in all three of her own, warming it. When Chopstick withdrew, the ring was on one of her own fingers, and a little bell rested in Arya’s palm. Like the ring, it was of some material dark, perhaps black, but with faint glitters of white- bright impurities in an Orvite surface. [colour=wheat]“Sleep on it,”[/colour] she advised. [colour=wheat]“I’ll spend the night around here. If you haven’t changed your mind by morning, the jackalope will come. I’ll be gone before dawn.”[/colour] She paused, then added, [colour=wheat]“Oh, and one last thing, Split-tooth: if you see my clone, punch her. That’s part of the deal. Kapische?”[/colour] “Got it.” The kostral’s narrow mouth stretched in imitation of a smile. It was a rather unnerving sight to anyone who might care about the wholeness of their body. “But don’t get mad if I can’t tell you apart and smack you instead. If you sound the same, you’re going to look awful similar too. Daughter and twin, that’s two times you’re like each other.” [colour=wheat]“I’ll burn that bridge when I come to it,”[/colour] she shrugged. [color=ivory]”Thank you, Choppy. But- Oh! What about the Coffee? Where do we take it?”[/color] Arya asked, looking up from the small bell in her hand. She had almost forgotten about the reason they had summoned the God in the first place, all because of a bunny. Split nodded in agreement with the question. [colour=wheat]“Oh, yeah. Just ride the rabbit,”[/colour] she shrugged. [colour=wheat]“It knows its way around, you’ll pick up the Route soon enough. I wouldn’t sell you a mount that couldn’t get you to where you were going, now, would I-”[/colour] A pause. [colour=wheat]“I... [i]am not[/i] selling you a mount that can’t get you to where you are going.”[/colour] Arya gave a nod, then said, [color=ivory]”That’s good to hear.”[/color] she then clenched her fist over the small bell, the metal cold, before saying, [color=ivory]”Um, you can stay with us here, tonight, if you want. We’d be happy to have you. No need to be a stranger, the fire can keep many warm.”[/color] her eyes seemed to smile softly, before Arya, with bunny and bell in hand, went over to sit on a log before the smoldering flames. She had a lot on her mind, and a decision to make- one that had already been made, in fact. Split started to stand up on four legs to follow, but stopped midway. “Or stay here, the cold’s not bad either. Unless you want to cook that other rabbit.” The discovery that things could be held over a fire to make them taste better had kept her cheerful for the best part of the last two weeks. Her idea of cooked and better-tasting as charred outside, raw inside was not everyone’s, if Arya’s reaction was anything to go by, but Choppy looked kostral-like enough that she might share it. Like the others in the Pit. She would have to show them sometime. “Or sleep, that feels better over there.” [colour=wheat]“I don’t sleep any more. But I’ll take you up on the fire and the roast,”[/colour] she nodded, pulling a throwing knife from her hair and ending the spare rabbit with nary a squeak. [colour=wheat]“Want me to cook?”[/colour] Arya had heard the squeak, and instinctively shut her eyes as she clutched the other bunny tighter. After a moment, she opened them and continued to stroke the now, partnerless bunny. “Sure.” The novelty of raw-and-charred had worn thin in the latest few days. Trying something else would not hurt, especially from someone who was maybe not seeing a rabbit for the first time. Split-Tooth crawled towards the fire, motioning for the goddess to follow. Settling down almost dangerously close to the flame, she turned an eye to Arya. “We’re making dinner. Want some?” She picked up a half-blackened bone, looked at it and tossed it away, adding “I’m not doing the cooking.” The small girl looked at Split and shook her head, [color=ivory]”No, I’m not very hungry. Go ahead and eat.”[/color] she said somberly. And it was true, she had no appetite for what she had come to adore, it made her sad to see it eaten, but Arya knew it served a purpose that way. She gazed back into the fire, letting the flames dictate her thoughts. [colour=wheat]“Alright,”[/colour] said Chopstick, picking up the rabbit by the feet and briskly opening its hide around the belly as her hair produced a bundle of small vegetables, [colour=wheat]“I’m just gonna crisp this one up with some oil and garlic, real simple. Here, Split-tooth, build up that fire just a little bit more...”[/colour] Chopstick cooked, and they ate. [hr] The jackalope arrived early the next morning. Branches cracked beneath its padless feet, silencing what scant locusts dared chirp in the scrub of the Sandravii. Aye, the locusts fell quiet, and fell quiet far and wide, for those branches were logs, or had been a long time ago, when perhaps the oases had not yet dried up; and now they were splinters. The jackalope crushed them almost to dust. It sniffed the air, as rabbits do. Giant, fluffy, and straight of stride: all things promised, delivered. There was no waddling for this behemoth. Its legs were long and powerful, like those of an eland. Its back bore a cloth of shimmering silk, wide enough for three men to lay at their ease. As it was, Split-tooth and her largest mate could have ridden spaciously on the beast, with room for much luggage beside. It bent its great head to the form of the demigoddess. Its antlers were more than vast enough to make up for the shattered firewood-tree, and were no less wooden, dry, and leafless. The fruits that hung from them leaned forwards, the whole rack creaking slightly, as it snuffled around Arya’s frame, searching for something. Arya was immediately struck by the grandeur and the sheer beauty of the jackalope. Once again, she had never seen a creature like it before and was taken aback at how truly incredible it was. The small girl was a dwarf compared to it, and Arya could no longer contain her giddy excitement as it approached her. She jumped up and down with joy, her eyes expressing the most profound sense of joy that there could ever be. Having said goodbye to her own bunny early in the morning, and away from prying eyes of hungry friends, Arya clutched the small bell in her hand and when the Jackalope came before her, she knew, somehow, that the bell was required. She then outstretched her hand to show the bell to the Jackalope. It nudged the bell, drawing a distant, hollow [i]clink[/i], and its ears perked up. It clinked the bell again, nuzzling her hand in visible pleasure. A clawed hand emerged from behind the creature, followed by a many-limbed shape hauling itself onto its back. Split prodded the silken draping, sniffed the jackalope’s fur and tentatively scraped its neck. When the placid beast did not try to shake her off, she clambered over to its horns, stretching her arms to feel its hide in various spots. “Looks like you were on to something.” She turned her head downwards to peek at Arya from behind the branching horns. “This-” some chewing motions, “-edilope feels useful. The only part I don’t get is which piece is safe to eat. You think it’s this one?” She lightly nibbled one of the jackalope’s impressive ears, making it stir. “Or this?” A quick tasting of the flank drew a similarly irked response. Only then did the kostral’s glance fall on the dangling fruits. In a single movement, one was plucked from its horn and disappeared into a toothy maw. Some munching, and Split was already reaching for a second. It tasted queer, but perhaps not so queer to her as it would to Arya. It was remarkably meaty, for such a sweet and colourful fruit. She stopped with a hand ready to snap it off and looked down again. “Want one?” Arya had a hard time paying attention to Split’s words, for she was engrossed with hugging the jackalope’s head and relaxing in the warm, soft fur. After a moment of this, she looked up at Split and then floated up to take the fruit from Split. Hesitantly. She opened her mouth and took a bite, the fruit was savory and sweet. Arya nodded and then said, [color=ivory]”Oh isn’t she wonderful Split? She’s everything we both wanted!”[/color] Arya flew around Split laughing and giggling before landing on the silk blanket. She outstretched herself, amazed at all the space there was. She lifted her head up at Split and said, [color=ivory]”Penelope! That’s what her name should be! What do you think?”[/color] she asked with wide eyes. The kostral paused, fruit held inches from an open mouth. “It’s long, but it says she’s a ‘lope. That makes sense.” She settled down upon the cover in a sprawl, one arm rested on the closest horn bough. Another hand scratched the back of the jackalope’s neck, such as it was. “Now hold on to the fur. I don’t know how fast it is to go to that place, but if it’s like coming up here from down below, it’s going to be a blaze of a ride.” With no better means at hand, poking was the one way she could think of to make the newly named Penelope budge. “Let’s move, down there. We’re going to make a delivery.” [hr] [i]Earlier.[/i] High into the heavens she stared, into the black heart of Veradax, but her mind was elsewhere. Her thumb turned the ring on her finger, slowly, around and around, around and around. Without looking away, she raised her hand, brought her knuckles to her mouth. She wet her lips, and whispered. [i][colour=wheat]“C’mon, baby,”[/colour][/i] said Chopstick Eyes. [i][colour=wheat]“Talk to me.”[/colour][/i] The ring started to burn, radiating something that was not heat. She snarled, clenched her fist, as a black miasma whirled around it, ragged and flickering and gone as soon as it had come. She cooled the burnt finger in her mouth and she withdrew it. Black like charcoal, with that same curious gleam. Her fingers were scorched, like meat in fire. She could see a white hint of bone beneath the ring. [colour=wheat][i]She doesn’t know.[/i][/colour] Chopstick smiled in the dark. [colour=wheat]“Orvus...”[/colour] [hider=Summarino] Arya and Split-Tooth travel across the Sandravii aimlessly until they both figure out that neither of them nowhere they are going. Arya then calls for Chopstick Eyes, and they wait awhile longer in the desert for disembarking to a more pleasant climate. A week of traveling goes by, then followed by a week of improvised training. During this time, Choppy has been traveling to them as well. On a bright morning, the two heroes having given up on Choppy’s delivery service. Choppy then appears, scaring Arya terribly. The two heroes then ask about Coffee, and Choppy gives them a flask for free without even knowing about the quest. Arya then asks what else Choppy can do. Choppy then begins to pull things out of her dress, two of which are bunnies. Arya instantly stops listening and becomes amazed with the small creatures. She gets ahold of one and behinds to pet it, marveling at how soft it is. This prompts Split to ask about the Coffee Quest, much to Choppy’s confusion. Choppy then has a ‘phone’ call with someone, and gets up to date with what the other Choppy has been doing. Once this is done, Choppy asks if they need anything else, stating she can really only do animals at the time. Split says they don’t really need an animal, but Arya interjects and asks for a giant bunny as a mount. Choppy says she can do it, but needs some payment. Split is good, doesn’t need to pay, but Arya does- and ashe only as her ring. After much thought, she hands over the ring and the transaction is complete. The Jackalope will arrive in the morning. Kinda sad, Arya takes her bunny pal and sits down by the fire they have. She invites Choppy to stay with them for the night, and she does. Split and Choppy then butcher the other rabbit and eat it. They all then go to sleep. The next morning, Choppy is gone and as promised, the giant Jackalope arrives and Arya’s heart melts. The two heroes then set off to finish their quest. [/hider] [hider=Prestige & Might] Split-Tooth: +5 Prestige Starting +1 For Minor Role +1 For Major Role +1 For Jolly Collaboration +1 For Following a Quest = +9 Prestige Ending Arya: +9 Prestige Starting -6 to enhance her fighting abilities. -2 to Claim the Title ‘The Learner’ +1 For Minor Role +1 For Major Role +1 For Jolly Collaboration +1 For Following a Quest = +5 Prestige Ending [b]Chopstick Eyes -2 FP spent on jackalopes, an extraordinary species. 3 Might (Native) 1 Might (Age of Monsters) Markets | Knives Kites (4/5) Lanterns (1/5) Cuisine (4/5)[/b] [/hider] [hider=Wabbit] JACKALOPE Adult weight: ~five tonnes Height at the shoulder: ~easily three meters Features: wooden antlers that shed to provide tool material and firewood, and grow brightly coloured fruit Reproduction: sexual in normal, harsh desert environment, asexual via fruit seeds in times of great abundance. Gestation: one year, one kit (baby bunny) per birth Lifespan: ~90 years, matures at about 20 Ecology: Due to the great energy they spend producing the fruit and antlers, jackalopes reproduce very slowly. Like horses, they’re poorly adapted for the humidity and insect-bourne diseases of wet climates, but can handle deserts and tundras quite well. Their numbers tend to slowly decline in normal conditions, only to bounce back in anomalous years when the desert receives rain and thousands of tiny bunny-sprouts will pop out of the ground. A few of these will make it to adulthood. [/hider]