[center][h1]Interlude -Collab Between Pezz570 and JerkChicken- [color=00aeef]Chres Sansus[/color] DB, (A.K.A. [color=aec957]Jen Gibre[/color])[/h1][/center] [@Jerkchicken] [hr] [hider=View Post]Year 4256 3nd day of the month of Olfaccium Evening Chres sat outside, sitting on the ground and staring at the distortion's strange night sky. After hearing the news from Karina's squad, he needed to get some air to think. The Nation of Touch's Army was about to march seeking revenge for the Emperor's sister. He took a sip of flavored water from his flask and shook his head. What was the world coming to? A series of footsteps could be heard approaching Chres. It was the man that everyone had been referring to as DB. He had been wandering around and decided to pay Chres a visit once he saw Chres. He’d squat down next to Chres and look at him. He’d ask, “Hey. So what’s your drink of choice in that flask? As for me, I managed to grab myself a bottle of some wine and refilled my gourds with it.” [color=00aeef]“Hmm?”[/color] Chres hummed. He blinked twice and paid a glance at his company. DB sat beside him. The man without a name. [color=00aeef][i]Drink of choice?[/i][/color] Chres wondered to himself, only to realize DB must have been referring to the flask in his hand. [color=00aeef][i]Oh right.[/i][/color] [color=00aeef]“Ale.”[/color] He said, with an amused smile. Chres was curious to see if the man would catch on. “Ale? That’s a terrible lie, or I met some sort of pervert. I can’t imagine anyone without anything wrong with them liking flat beer.” The man would reply as he pulled the cork off the gourd which then dangled from a string. [color=00aeef]“At least it’s cheap.”[/color] He said. [color=00aeef]“Sometimes, I go a little crazy and add a bit of lemon juice to spice things up.”[/color] He smiled to himself, amused with the facade. Chres took a sip from his flask and winced. [color=00aeef]“Aaah,”[/color] He exhaled. [color=00aeef]“Deliciously flat.”[/color] He looked over the man’s gourd. [color=00aeef]“Where’d you get the wine from?”[/color] He asked. “As for me, I’ve stolen some drinks from the cultists and our generous ‘friends’ here.” Chres chuckled softly. Then with a sigh he stared up at the distorted night sky. “Things are about to heat up. I can’t imagine this town not getting destroyed in the battle that’s about to happen. It’s a shame that the people will be scattered, and this branch of the cult won’t be completely crushed.” Chres nodded, his smile fading. He had hoped Karina would be their way out of this mess. He had hoped they wouldn’t need to fight. It had been a fool’s hope. War was coming to them. Running away was not an option. At least for now... [color=00aeef]“That might not happen if we win… The scattering of the people, that is. The people here are a resource to the Nation of Touch. If we succeed in killing the seed... if we succeed in driving out the Cult, the Nation of Touch will be here to pick up the pieces. Things will return to normal eventually… or rather a new normal.”[/color] The man would take a swig of the wine. He mulled over what Chres had said. “Perhaps… That’s if we can kill the seed before the army starts torching things. There are multiple layers to these cultists. The lowest are those who have been convinced to join the cult and the magic is now corrupting and controlling them beyond indoctrination. Then we have the ones who might be lost due to more corruption. And at top we have those sightless who are either deeply warped by the corruption of this distortion or are spawned from it. “I feel sorry for the recent converts. Their mistake will be punished harshly as despite being the most salvageable of the group, they’re also gonna be the most expendable. How many do you think they’ll send to stop or stall us from killing the seed, the same seed that will render them useless. I see the more elite of them being used to add power, but ultimately the important ones will try and escape. “I simply wish to have these people freed without clogging the streets with their bodies on the way to it. As well as keeping from too many of their higher ups from escaping here. And I’ve been thinking about it since we left the clocktower.” [color=00aeef]”A man of the people?”[/color] Chres said. He followed his words with another swig. [color=00aeef]”You surprise me. I can honestly say I didn’t have you pinned as such… Well, you’re a better man than me then.[/color] [color=00aeef]”I’ve been doing my damnedest to decouple myself from this town’s plight, else I fear it will lock a shackle around my wrist.”[/color] Chres frowned, his gaze lowering towards the flask. [color=00aeef]”I’m no hero.”[/color] He said, an itch crawling up his neck. [color=00aeef]”Nor do I want to be a hero... To be honest, I’m not even sure what I want anymore.”[/color] Did he deserve to be punished? Did he deserve death? What did Chres deserve? He didn’t know. He couldn’t know. Not until he found out why. [color=00aeef]”DB. Short for Dirty Bastard, I believe The Being said. It is a curious title, that.”[/color] Chres eyed the man they called ‘DB’. Eyebrow arched and accompanied by a subtle smirk. “I guess you could say that. I didn’t come for what you’d call a fancy background. So I can see myself in them and falling prey to the cult’s shining words. And it also doesn’t sit right with me to treat them like they’re nobodies.” He said as he drank. “As for my ‘name’ it’s not even a title so much as what others have yelled at me as an insult. I guess it’s his joke; getting everyone to call me DB, which is such a nonsense name. But I guess with everything that’s been happening no one’s gotten around to asking my real name. It’s Jen Gibre, by the way.” He’d say continuing from where he left off. [color=00aeef]”Jen Gibre, huh? Well now… Definitely a better name than Dirty Bastard if I do say so myself.”[/color] Chres smiled to Jen. [color=00aeef]”So Jen, is this a habit of yours? Going around helping the people you see falling victim to the powerful?”[/color] [color=aec957]“Truthfully, I’m more of a wanderer. It just happens that my current affairs concerns the cult. So doing anything to weaken them isn’t really me going out of my way to do something. In fact it behooves both me and the rest of you guys. And what about you? What were you supposed to be doing before getting pulled into this?” [/color] Jen would respond. Chres raised his brow as Jen’s explanation seemed to clicked. A grudge against the cult might explain why Jen had always been eager to pick a fight with the cult in the past. [color=00aeef]”Me?”[/color] Chres asked as he stared down at his drink. [color=00aeef]”You mean aside from search for mundane ways to end my life?”[/color] Lowering his drink, Chres sighed. [color=00aeef]”You know… I honestly don’t know...”[/color] He looked to the stars and frowned. [color=00aeef]”I’ve spent the last year beating myself up over the death of someone I held dear… but now I’m beginning to wonder if all that self hatred was even deserved… You see, things didn’t end between us on the best of terms. Vows were broken. Trust forsaken… It is a side to this that I’ve been ignoring for quite some. Now, I wonder if it is something worth looking into...”[/color] Chres blinked, and shook his head. He looked Jen and smiled. [color=00aeef]”I’m sorry. You got me rambling.”[/color] He said. [color=00aeef]“Must be from all the crazy that’s been happening… or maybe just the ale going to my head.”[/color] [color=aec957]”That’s fine. Not surprised you’re troubled by something. With what the being said and the look in your eyes is more than enough to suggest something.”[/color] He’d say. Chres nodded. [color=00aeef]“So,”[/color] He said, trying to change the topic, [color=00aeef]“what sort of ‘current affairs’ has a wanderer like you going after the cult?”[/color] [color=aec957] “It’s a story, but one better told with more company and drinks. For now I’ll keep it simple. I’m taking care of some loose ends and doing a repayment of sorts. Although… I don’t think I’ll be as easily free as I think I will.” [/color]Jen would answer. Chres raised his brow, curious. [color=00aeef]”Sounds more vague than simple.”[/color] Looking ahead, he took a sip from his flask and said, [color=00aeef]”Stories best told with company and drinks are either adventurous, hilarious or...”[/color] Chres eyed the man beside him. [color=00aeef]”...depressing.”[/color] [color=aec957] “Don’t know if I’d call it depressing, but it’s still not a happy one.” [/color] He’d reply as he ruminated on the emphasis Chres put on depressing. It wasn’t exactly the most subtle of hints. He wondered if whatever he was feeling was pushing him to drop these hints in finally sharing his secret. He was going to try his luck and inquire. He figured if they were all gonna be traveling together for however long it might not be a bad thing to open up to each other? Besides, he had some morbid curiosity about what exactly what this man was hinting at. [color=aec957] “So, would you mind sharing what went wrong with this person you cared for?” [/color] Chres’s back stiffened at Jen’s question. [color=00aeef]”I-”[/color] He stuttered. [color=00aeef]”she-”[/color] Looking down at the flask in his hand, Chres stared wide eyed into his past. With a swallow, he offered his flask over to Jen. He no longer was in the mood for another sip. [color=00aeef]”She… she had been sleeping with another man...”[/color] Chres said at last. [color=00aeef]”I... I found out and then… then I...”[/color] The words got caught in his throat. They stayed there, threatening to strangle him. He lowered his head and shut his eyes. A battle raged on inside him. Emotions so powerful, they nearly overwhelmed him. Then finally, released in quiet exhale, Chres spoke weakly. [color=00aeef]”And then... I killed her...”[/color] Jen felt shock rumble through his body at this revelation. His eyes narrowed as he spoke, [color=aec957] ”You know somehow I’m not surprised by this given how you’ve been hinting at something horrible. And yet, I’m still shocked…”[/color] Chres opened his eyes and stared blankly at the ground. Familiar emotions swelled inside him. Regret and remorse... though, something was different this time. Something new from having heard the words from his own lips. From having told someone else who he had put in effort to know. Shame… that was new… [color=00aeef]”I should go...”[/color] He whispered. He rose from his seat, not bothering to retrieve his flask. [color=00aeef]”Thank you, Jen…”[/color] He said. [color=00aeef]”For the company, that is.”[/color] [color=aec957]“No problem? Well that’s one hell of way of putting my own problem in perspective. Anyway it’s been-”[/color] Jen stopped speaking. Chres had already begun to leave. He must not have been looking for a response. Jen stayed a while longer as he became engrossed with his own past memories. Still, he’d have his own fill of solace and would rise to leave. Before he left, he’d notice the flask left behind by Chres. He figured that man might want it back after leaving it behind. Out of curiosity however, he’d undo the lid and inspect it. Just as he thought, it wasn’t any type of booze at all. Which meant that confession was done sober. Jen would leave in thought at what happened. In the distance, cool wind picked up and wove throughout the sleeping town. Its howl, a song of sorrow.[/hider]