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It was still dark, albeit barely, when a spot of purer blackness opened in the desert. For a moment, Yaxan's heart raced. This was a darkman! He had been so long without their sweetness that his head pounded and his lips were dry and cracked. He was already running for it - already halfway there - when it disappeared and, instead, there was... a yanii!?

The yasoi cast about desperately for his prize, but it was gone. Instead, the interloper whirled to face him. [color=aba000]"Where is it!?"[/color] Yaxan demanded. [color=aba000]"Where'd you make it go!?"[/color] he reached out for the yanii, only to find his hand slapped away with surprising force. [color=aba000]"The... ab-bor-raysin!"[/color] He began to cast about for it. Had his mind been playing tricks on him? No, this yanii was up to something. No, this yanii wasn't real. Yaniis never showed up here. 

[color=FFE4C4]"I can make another. Would you like that?"[/color] he offered, hand still raised in the same position it had slapped Jaxan's away. 

[color=aba000]"It's the least you can do,"[/color] the yasoi grumbled. [color=aba000]"You stole mine, after all."[/color]

[color=FFE4C4]"Ah, yes, I'm sorry about that,"[/color] the yanii replied, and there was the feeling of a great welling of magic about him. Yaxan scarcely noticed. [color=FFE4C4]"Though I don't suppose you could do [i]me[/i] a favour,"[/color] he continued, and the yasoi nodded irritably. If it wasn't too big of a favour and he got his darkman, he hardly minded. Fancy running into some loopy yanii like this out between Carsocal and Ixanya, and such a useful one too! Why, Luumii and Dyron would [i]never[/i] believe him! [color=FFE4C4]"Well, I was wondering if you'd seen any others like me?"[/color] he inquired as the magics built further. Yaxan fidgeted anxiously. He was [i]certainly[/i] not in any hurry to make up for what he'd stolen! [color=FFE4C4]"You know, short, rounded ears, a girl, in the case of this one."[/color] A great black [i]nothing[/i] appeared once more before Yaxan and he reached for it immediately to - [b][i]THE POMPOUS FUCKING YANII SMACKED HIS HAND AWAY!!![/i][/b] - [color=FFE4C4]"That isn't your aberration,"[/color] he explained, [color=FFE4C4]"It [i]comes[/i] from there."[/color]

[color=aba000]"I knew that!"[/color] Yaxan snapped. [color=aba000]"I was just getting ready."[/color]

The yanii did not judge him. He merely watched in expectation as his counterpart indulged greedily in the otherworldly energy. Yaxan knew that many judged him harshly for such habits, but they did not understand the experience and just how divine it could truly be. To outsiders, it lasted a few seconds, for him, it was a joyous eternity, it was other realities experienced, other lives lived, sounds heard, and feelings felt. Surely it would overwhelm their tiny, narrow minds anyhow. Eventually, he came down from his high, eyes bloodshot, nose dripping, and hands shaking. He breathed: in and out. 

Then, he remembered the yanii.

[color=aba000]"How!?"[/color] he demanded. [color=aba000]"How did you do that!?"[/color] He reached out to shake the young man but then thought better of it, having been trained by the last two times he had acted carelessly with his hands. [color=aba000]"Is it some secret magic!?"[/color]

A pair of angelic blue eyes regarded him evenly and he remembered, vaguely, that he'd been asked a question before his voyage. What trivial matters, to [i]find[/i] someone. One person was very much like another, weren't they? [color=aba000]"Oh yes!"[/color] Yaxan chirped, thinking. [color=aba000]"Another yanii,"[/color] he considered, [color=aba000]"Another yanii..."[/color] He tried to think and found it hard to separate this reality from others. [color=FFE4C4]"A girl, about my age, very short."[/color]

Before long, there was only one conclusion: he'd have remembered something so distinct as a yanii in Yarsoc. Why, in his entire twenty-six years of life, Yaxan had seen only perhaps a half-dozen. Regretfully, he shook his head. [color=aba000]"Sorry,"[/color] he replied, with a bit of genuine abashedness, about to come clean, but then it occurred to him: this was a really good deal! This kid could just [i]make[/i] darkmen out of nothing, and [i]he[/i] seemed to be the one desperate for something. [color=aba000]"I'm having some trouble remembering. That's my first ab-bor-raysin in a month. Brain's foggy until I've had a bit more."[/color]

The boy with the Angel Eyes turned and started walking, and Yaxan's heart caught in his throat. [color=aba000]"Wait!"[/color] he hollered, running after him, arms outstretched. [color=aba000]"I know where she is. It's... on the tip of my tongue. I just need -"[/color]

He was met with a savage backhand that laid him clean out. Dimly, the yasoi felt himself hit the dirt. Pain spread down the side of his face and neck and radiated across his shoulders, back, and chest. [color=FFE4C4]"You're lying,"[/color] the yanii said. [color=FFE4C4]"I shall seek my answers elsewhere."[/color] With that, he left.

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