With a contained flame blazing before him, its light flickering into his face, Kaine sat staring down at his open hands.

[Iron Kusarigama]

Make: Average

Creator: Hel

Material: Iron, Wood, Leather, Glue, Copper

Durability: 100%

Sharpness: 100%

His unorthodox weapon clenched tightly between his fingers, he ran his left hand across the sharp and curved iron blade. Wearing an expression of lost thoughts, Kaine barely noticed Lixiss crouching down beside him.

Done from changing out of her wet underwear and putting back on her dry clothes she hummed a soft tune whilst beside him, neither of them speaking not a word for a long moment, they both stared into the two blades.

Kaine with melancholy as his lips pursed with annoyance, yet eyes narrowed with sorrow.

Lixiss noticed his expression clearly, as she glanced the strange tool over with great curiosity.

Finally breaking the silence herself as she asked the burning question at the tip of her tongue, “What is it?”

Glancing briefly at her, fully conscious of her vicinity, Kaine returned to staring at his weapons before speaking. “Sickles bound to long iron chains, an unconventional weapon I mastered long ago…” He answered, a sigh escaping with his breath right after.

“I know what a sickle is, I know what chains are, that’s not what I meant you buffoon.” She chided, nudging his arm with her elbow, “I meant what is it to you, why are you staring so deeply at it?”

Sighing once more, Kaine’s hands suddenly burst with speed, as he stood up into holding the weapons at a stance.

Chains laying coiled about his wrists, as the rest of them hung down beneath him, he stared into the weapon’s blade as the fire’s light flickered and reflected off it. “My sister, made these for me, even longer ago. As she did for each of my…of our other comrades at the time.”

Lixiss sighed this time as she fully sat down, leaning back to stare up at the cavern’s alit ceiling. “Nope, definitely in the company of a moron.” She mused with a sneer, “Not what it is, not who made it for you. What does that object, mean to you? I can sense it, it means more than just as a weapon or gift to you.” She then said with a coy smirk.

As Kaine lowered his arms, staring down at her he found himself lost in her question.

Stumped by her question.

What does it mean to me?

He thought, unsure how to answer in any other way but one.

As he glanced back down at the two sickles and their chains. “It’s my past, it’s the boy I left behind…Who I was, who I am no longer, who I never will be again.” He mused, his usual calm tone disappearing then.

Replaced, with a shaken voice, as his own hands began to tremble.

It’s back.

He mused, as once more Kaine lost control over his own body, as he dropped the sickles.

Startling Lixiss into sitting straight, she watched as he stared out into the pool of water now.

“What do these mean to me?...Hah, pain, anger, loss…Despair, they mean despair.” Kaine mumbled out, suddenly then kicking the weapons into the water.

Watching as they drowned, he did nothing to recover them. “I’m not desperate enough to use them.”

Lixiss did the same, she watched the iron weapons and chains sink, understanding going through her own expression. “Your sister…she made them for you?”

Silence briefly filled them, “Yeah,” as Kaine then finally answered, snapping out of his daze.

Grasping her legs and hugging them close to her chest, Lixiss rested her chin over her knees as she continued to stare into the water. “Your sister was a blacksmith?”

“More than that,” Kaine mused with a weak chuckle, “Tailor, Jeweler, Enchanter…She could do it all and loved all of it, creativity was her game and this world she-” Stopping himself then, Kaine realized he was about to say too much, if he hadn’t already.

Glancing down at Lixiss then, he studied her expression as it was lost in the fluctuating waters.

“This world?” She then mused, glancing up at him as well.

“No…Not this world,” Kaine corrected his mistake, “She loved life, as it was then, she enjoyed the smallest things about it. Making that weapon for me…making the others their own and then upgraded versions of them at every threshold our strength would reach…She was my sister, she was my smith, and the person I looked up to the most. She was my leader…”

“What happened to her?” Lixiss then asked, going straight to the point.

As Kaine lagged behind from answering, his mouth opening yet closing back again twice over before words actually escaped it. “She died, because of our father’s greed, because of my…my…cowardice. She died, and I killed her.”

“Did you stab her?” Lixiss then asked, surprising Kaine.

“No b-” He tried to respond, but she left him no time to.

“Did you pierce her with an arrow then? Cleave her chest open with a sword? Crush her with a hammer or mace? Choke her out? Poison her?” Lixiss barraged him with questions, as her own expression remained calm, still staring into the now similarly still waters.

“No I-” Again Kaine tried to speak, but Lixiss was relentless with her tone.

“Then you didn’t kill her, I don’t know what mistakes you did or what you couldn’t do, but you didn’t kill her.” She stated plainly, standing up to meet his astonished gaze. “Am I wrong? Then tell me I’m wrong.” She said with a challenging tone.

Kaine couldn’t respond, as his own gaze strayed away.

Returned to meeting hers as Lixiss grabbed him by the chin, and kept him there, as she stared into his eyes in silence.

For a long pause, before she suddenly turned away. “Sorry…” She apologized, “I just can’t accept that kind of self-hating attitude, it doesn’t suit you.”

“You don’t know me.” Kaine responded coldly.

“No, but I know pain.” She chuckled, glancing back at him with a weak smile, “I know what it means to suffer, to be alone, to lose.” Fully turning back around to face him then, she closed her eyes.

Lixiss’s form changed, revealing her half Dark-Elf body, she reopened her mismatched eyes.

“I was born, and already I had lost.” She mused, keeping up her frigid smile, “Tsarra was all I had left, and I’m losing her too…” She sighed, her smile fading with those words. “With her rank and standing…Do you know how difficult it is to keep what she keeps? How much better her life would be…without me?”

Another cold, empty chuckle, sorrow now fully filled Lixiss’s expression.

“If you’re a coward for surviving, then so am I. I’m a coward for remaining alive.” Lixiss whispered, as her gaze moved down to her open hands. “I hate it, I hate this way you see the world. I hate your words. Why? Why do you do this to yourself?” Lixiss then asked, returning to staring up at him as her expression hardened.

Resolved eyes which Kaine met with his own dreadfully empty gaze, “Because I deserve it, for running away, for hiding.” He said, turning away from her then, “No one can resist punishing themselves for breaking their own morals or goals.”

“So it’s punishment huh?...” Lixiss mused, walking around him to come standing right in front of Kaine once more, “I don’t see it like that.” She then said.

“And how do you see it then?” Kaine asked with a raised brow.

As she smiled widely, “Why blame myself? Blame the world around me instead. Why punish myself? I’d rather punish everyone else and reap the spoils. Reality is so vast and beautiful, there’s enough of it all even if I take some. Don’t you think so too?” She asked him, as once more Kaine found himself unable to reply.

“I can see it, it’s in your eyes, in your tone and words. You keep it hidden, you hold it back but I see it.” Lixiss said, as she leaned closer, “There’s a rule breaker inside you as well as I, and you know as well as I just how good it feels to…”

Her voice slowing to a crawl, as it lowered into a whisper.

As her lips barely touched his, “To forget everyone else, and just do whatever you wan-”

Her words stopped though, as Kaine stepped away, yet still she continued to smile.

As Kaine’s expression hardened, “Yeah, I know.” He said, “And I’m never going back there again.”

Lixiss giggled at his reply, “So stiff, denial huh?” straightening herself then, Lixiss shrugged. “It’s not good to hold it in, you’re just building it all up inside. Keep it up, and you’ll explode you know.” Chuckling some more before taking a deep breath, Lixiss turned away, “But seriously, that mentality of yours, it’s going to get you killed some day.”

“Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. Guess we won’t know till it happens.” Kaine responded, just as stiffly as before.

Stiffening further as he heard cloth and leaves ruffling behind himself.

“Don’t turn around now…” Lixiss said as she fully redressed, feeling something hit his back then Kaine grabbed hold of his own dry underwear.

“Probably should go back now…” Lixiss mused, “Come’on, getting out of here is a lot harder than getting in.” She added as Kaine turned around to see her grip onto a dangling vine which reached all the way up to the cavern’s top.

“I can see that…” He mumbled out.

-

Back at the Western Border Outpost

-

Jedd took in a worn-out breath as she sat down upon the wooden floor, the tree’s bark to her back as the rest of her companions surrounded her, mostly also sitting down other than the two strangers. Sinclair and Dark Hour having joined this interesting regrouping, they instead chose to remain standing.

“We all here?” Jedd asked, glancing around then. “Not, where’s Jor?”

“Dunno,” mused Farvo, “Last seen jumping off a bridge after Elf-girl.” He answered with a smirk.

“Huh?” The entire group was taken aback with that reply.

“W-Wait what?” Rey stuttered as she suddenly straightened.

“Say again?” Sinclair as well now fully joining the conversation as she previously stood back with Dark.

“Farv, is he…alive?” Roy mused with a raised brow, Dark leaning in to listen in then.

“Oh yeah, they ran off fuck-knows somewhere, didn’t try to follow.” Farvo answered with a shrug.

“Bah, he’ll be back.” Dark sighed, sounding disappointed.

“Right…guess we’ll get started without him.” Jedd then said, “I’ll begin then, although I don’t have much to add to what we already know.”

“Anything is better than nothing.” Lara mumbled as she lay beside Jedd.

“Yeah, still not all of it is good.” Jedd added, “First, we’ve got this kingdom’s society. Somewhat post medieval, not entirely industrial though. Politically speaking, it’s a mess. The ruling over law is divided between the Elven royalty, the Army, and the Elder’s Coven who act as a sort of religious cult/council for the Elves, who also currently hold and have held most of the power for the past several centuries.”

“Not good, I’m guessing.” Rey said.

“No, the Coven is very strict with tradition.” Jedd continued, “Any deviation from tradition is met with immediate consequences, be it through fines, property, rank or even punishment.”

“And the Military does nothing about it?” Roy asked.

Jedd shook her head, “The army only reacts to outside threats, while within the city itself…The Coven rules with their own policing armed force of warriors known as the Covenant. Four ranks in total dictate a Covenant member’s power, using the same ranks as the Coven itself. Going from Squire then Knight, to Paladin then Sovereign, the latter being a singular person who rules over the rest. The Coven then simply adds ‘Elder’ before each rank, so the Cover’s greatest leaders are called ‘Elder Sovereigns’ and that is plural.”

“As in, there’s multiple and not one person.” Roy mused.

Jedd nodded, “Yeap.”

“So what kind of laws are we facing then?” Farvo asked.

“Oh, I got those.” Lara literally almost jumped from her sitting posture, excited to add to the serious conversation. “The basic laws are…well, basic. Any crime we can think of, is banned by law, other than cyber as…well.”

“Yeah, yeah, what else?” Rey urged on.

“Ah-T-The Coven then d-dictates that, any non-Elven creature within the city walls must be registered.” Lara stuttered, disheartened by the ever-growing bored Rey. “As the Coven’s scriptures state that, all beings are beneath Alf, and as such they shouldn’t be raised to an even standard with Alf’s freedom.”

“Great, racism!” Rey mused with faked enthusiasm, “Ughh…”

Trying to ignore Rey’s self-amusement techniques, Lara continued on. “Only three races fit within the category Alf too, Wood Elves, Lunar Elves and Sun Elves. Dark Elves…aren’t even mentioned until the very last scripture.”

“And what’s that?” Sinclair asked.

“Ah…It’s, n-not good.” Lara said followed by a brief awkward pause.

Broken by Roy as he then spoke, “It states that…Creatures of the dark, bring forth a plague of chaos upon Alf, therefore they should be dissected like the parasite that they are. Any harboring, assistance of, or leniency towards said dark creatures is met with capital punishment. Any obstruction of capture, failure to divulge information of, or inaction at the excuse of ignorance is met with the same, capital punishment.”

Farvo whistled, “So, Nazi Elves? Anyone?” He mused with a dissipating smirk.

“Are we sure…there aren’t any other…you know, civilizations around these parts?” Rey asked, her expression having paled.

“You wanna go live with the goblins?” Jedd asked pointedly, to which Rey shook her head. “Then we’re stuck with what we’ve got. Anything else?”

“Heh, some numbers to drop into the mix.” Farvo sighed, “The city’s damn big, about half a million inhabitants within, not counting the many outposts all over the ravine nor the villages in between. Which is quite a few, guy I talked to mentioned about four villages in between here and the main city.”

“Good lord, how big is this ravine?” Roy mused.

“Big,” Rey mumbled out in between chewing her lunch, “Bigger than the jungle from what I heard.”

“Took us days to cross that…” Lara added with a groan, “How far is it?”

“The city? Six days by foot, four by mount. They don’t have mounts here…” Farvo replied with a similar groan.

“The closest village will,” Roy then said, “but the path to and from the outposts is only known by its inhabitants. I was suggested not to roam off alone…”

“So again, we’re left with no choice but to trust them eh?” Dark mused with a grimace.

“Least we got someone to trust,” Jedd chided.

“Hah, sure.” Dark mumbled out, stepping away from them then.

“But we should remain cautious,” Roy added, “They’re NPCs after all.”

“Right…” Lara sighed, her expression dropping to the floor before suddenly rising back as her eyes narrowed. “Guys…what, is that?” She asked, pointing off to another platform as they all stood up.

Following Larakrell’s gesture, they each saw it then.

A bright ember light, like a flame it burst brightly alit, yet somehow hovered midair.

The light, like sparks at first, began to move. Carving an oval shape and leaving it blazing in its path before completing it, a thin layer of a white bubble-like substance then forming within the shape.

As from within, stepped out several figures.

Realization dawning on the group then, this was a portal.

As half a dozen armed white-plated Elves stepped out of the portal, followed by a well-dressed, noble-like Elf with short yet sleekly held back black hair and a well-endowed and perfectly kept black beard. The Elf glanced around, his eyes pausing on their group briefly before returning to the outpost at large.

An air of superiority hovered around the man, as his expression showed nothing less than disgust at his surroundings.

“Captain Reylee!” He suddenly exclaimed, his voice echoing out into the ravine below and back up before the sound of crashing and tumbling followed.

As Tsarra stumbled out of her office, “Y-Y-Yes?” She answered, straightening herself before fully exiting. “S-Sir Tallow? But…you’re early?”

Rolling his eyes, Tallow turned to face the agitated captain, “With the report you sent through? I’m more so late, but discrepancies aside…” He not so slyly gestured at Jedd’s group, “Is that them?”

Tsarra nodded, before having a retake as she glanced at them one more, noticing one missing.

“Hm,” Tallow hummed out as he turned to face the players, starting to walk towards them, the soldiers followed and so did Tsarra moments after as she snapped out of her panicking thoughts.

Walking elegantly over the wooden bridge Tallow approached them, almost tripping midway over, yet just as elegantly continuing on till he reached several feet away from them.

The Elf scanned their rag-tag group, his expression ever changing with each individual, being mostly taken aback by Lara’s strange appearance.

Finally, he then spoke. “Well, not much for summoned heroes, are you now?”

“Fucking excuse you?” Sinclair said with a raised brow and insulted tone as she turned to now glare the Elf down. Tallow’s eyes also widened at her tone and words.

And as Dark tried very hard not to laugh, seeing the white-plated knights straighten their held weapons, Lara shrunk behind Jedd.

Wishing she was literally anywhere else.