Ril dragged his gaze up the tunnel wall. The lichen snaked across the wall's surface, arcing up and around the alcove in which the cat was lying in. It was resting on its stomach, both its claws sunk deep into the corpse of a black rabbit. It's glowing eyes looked at them imperiously, as if it was a king looking upon peasants defiling its streets.

[No, not particularly bright at all.] the voice resonated in his mind, seeming to worm its way past Ril’s ears and force itself directly upon his psyche.

Ril blinked, coming to his senses. Whatever was happening right now the more pressing concern were the leeches.

He turned away from the strange cat, staring with ferocity at his clone. It vanished in a puff, dropping two leeches that had wormed their way under its clothes where they weren’t visible. The leeches twisted and curled in on themselves, searching desperately for their meal.

Ril turned his gaze to the side and resummoned his clone. It appeared, several feet away from the squirming maggots, and thankfully free of the disgusting creatures. But the clone did not materialize unharmed. Where Ril’s real body was being bitten by the leeches, the clone had open wounds, leaking blood with impunity and staining his clothes silver.

With a shake of his head, Ril dismissed the clone that was still covered in leeches, resummoning it at his side. Now free of the bloodsucking critters, Ril finally turned his attention back to the cat.

[As expected of one who’s become exalted.] A content chuckle reverberated through Ril’s skull.

“Are you making that voice in my head?” Ril asked, directing his query towards the cat, not exactly expecting an answer, but remembering what the voice had said earlier.

A sigh passed through Ril’s mind, [Too bad it’s an idiot.]

Ril narrowed his eyes, “I’ll take that as a yes. Why did you say that we shouldn’t remove the leeches before?”

The cat laughed long and loud. The mental pressure pushed on Ril’s mind eliciting a pained grimace as he struggled to focus through the noise in his skull. When the laughter finally stopped the cat raised itself from its meal and settled itself along the edge of the alcove, looking down upon them with a glint of unrestrained mirth in its eyes.

[My, how the lesser beings contort my noble words. It is unbecoming, but what more can we expect from them.]

“...What?” Zed mumbled, confusion evident in his voice. His lips were turning blue from a combination of the cold and the blood loss.

The cat turned its gaze onto Zed before letting out a visible sigh.

[A wonder how you creatures even manage to survive...]

Ril grimaced, desperately trying to follow the thought process of the cat. So far it hadn’t made a whole lot of sense. If it wasn’t for that single phrase regarding the leeches, Ril would ignore the powder beast in favor of his own solution to the problem. It would probably be faster to chop off the leech with a dagger if pulling didn’t work, but the single phrase had put a seed of doubt in Ril’s mind and he desperately wanted to know what the cat meant when he said that it wouldn’t do that if it was them.

Ril blinked. Maybe that was it. So far the cat had made it seem like it felt that it was above them. Who knows, maybe it was. They certainly couldn’t project their voice into someone else's mind.

Regardless, the cat had said that Ril had contorted its words. That wasn’t his intention, but perhaps.

“Why did you say before that you wouldn’t remove the leeches if you were us?” Ril said, using the cat's exact words. Testing whether the cat was simply messing with them or could actually be relied on for an answer regarding the leeches.

[It learns.] The cat marveled, [Since you’ve displayed such a remarkable demonstration of intelligence that is surely limited to a once a day occurance for you I shall elaborate. You see, if you were to pull those leeches out, their teeth would remain stuck within you, which would hurt immensely and engender an infection in the damaged tissue... Ahh, I forget myself. An infection is when the skin turns all red and puffy--]

“I know what an infection is!” Ril interjected angrily.

The cat shrugged its shoulders, seemingly unconcerned. [You never know with your kind.]

Ril gritted his teeth, but forced his anger down. “Then what would you do in our stead?”

[A venerable being such as I would not debase myself by swimming in a pond full of blood sucking leeches. Only an idiot would do such a thing.] The cat paused, [or a human, I suppose.]

Ril took in a deep shuddering breath, rubbing his arms roughly along his arms, trying to get some feeling back into his fingers. They had grown numb since his swim in the pool and hadn’t recovered since then.

While he did this he pondered the cat. It seemed almost royal in its behavior; entirely self absorbed and believing that it is superior to them with every fiber of its being. Not at all how Evelyn behaved at all so perhaps more noble than royal, but regardless of the semantics, perhaps this was something that Ril could use.

“Of course a venerable being such as yourself would never find yourself in such a predicament. I was only asking as a hypothetical, should say, one of your subjects would arrive in this conundrum and you desired to rid them of the leeches that were draining them of life.” Ril said, managing to get the entire long winded sentence out in one breath. However flowery and pompous it sounded to Ril’s ears it seemed to work.

The cat’s eyes flashed, a smug purr reverberating across its lithe frame. [Ahh, indeed. That was obvious from the outset. However, it would be the height of foolishness for me to employ such a degenerate as a subject of mine. Wouldn’t it be better if I were to let the lifeforce of such weak links fade in order to strengthen the purity of my remaining followers?]

Ril nodded along, “Truly such subjects are not worth your exalted attention, however what if in this hypothetical situation that we find ourselves in, a grievous enemy of yours captures a faithful and powerful subject of yours and subjects them to the long and painful death of leeching? Before you leave to enact your wrath on any who would dare to touch your subjects, how would you prevent your followers' lifeblood from being leeches away by the disgusting creatures?”

The cat raised its head from its front paws, its hackles rising, a soft hiss escaping from its mouth. [Such a slight would not be tolerated. Any who would dare would be slaughtered for daring. But if my subject still lived through this vile torture and was returned to me, then I would remove the leeches with my teeth. Only then will I hunt the defiler.]

Ril nodded encouragingly gesturing towards Zed, “Would you be willing to demonstrate how you remove a blood sucking leech with your teeth?”

[Ahh, but you see, this here is not your hypothetical that you so magnanimously described, nor are either of you my subjects. I see little reason to help you undertake such a revolting task.] The cat settled back on its front paws, content to just watch them.

“Isn’t it the express duty of greater beings such as yourself to help creatures that you deem lesser better themselves? How can we better ourselves if we die here?” Ril said, grasping at straws at this point and thoroughly sick of referring to himself as a lesser being by this point.

The cat chuckled once more, [Only one of you is in danger of succumbing to the leeches, and if I were to help every lesser being whenever they were in a bind, then how do you expect themselves to find the will to solve their own problems?]

Ril bit his lip, having exhausted his options with the cat. The powder beast didn’t seem to be willing to cooperate, and Ril wasn’t going to waste another second talking to it when he could be helping rip off the leeches from Zed’s body. Worst case, he would drag Zed back to the White Lily and get Siorraid to heal him.

Before he could do anything though, Zed perked up.

“Hey, Ril? The cat’s a powder beast right? Can’t I try to awaken my power with him? Once he is under my control I can just order him to remove the leeches safely.” Zed said, while viscously tightening a leather strap under his armpit to prevent further blood loss to the leech on his arm. His arm was turning blue, but he didn’t seem as shell shocked as he was before.

Ril frowned, “It's worth a shot. Actually you might be a genius, try that. Just get some blood on it, and command it to help you.”

Ril lurched over to Zed and helped him stand. Zed shuffled over to the cats alcove, fat leeches hanging off his frame horrifically as he unwound the ragged bandage on his hand. Clenching his fist to reopen the wound he whipped his hand out towards the cat, causing several drops of his blood to get flung at the powder beast.

The cat had been staring at them curiously throughout their conversation but didn’t react overly much until Zed flung his blood at it.

The cat moved. It dodged the droplets of blood with eye searing speed. Landing on the far fall before leaping forwards such that its body was perfectly balanced on the edge of the ledge. Then with a frightening hiss, it stretched out its neck and bit down on Zeds hand.

Its razor sharp teeth sunk deep into Zed’s hand, the chilling sound of bone grinding on teeth could be heard as Zed flinched back, but was unable to tear his hand away from the cat's deathgrip.

[How dare you sully my mane with your disgusting effusions!]

In desperation Zed cried, “Get off!”

Ril felt it. When Zed said those words, it was as if the sound was larger than life. The sound echoed unnaturally in the space and caused each of them to tremble slightly at the power behind the words. It was the same sound that Ril had heard himself emit back in the tunnel leading out of Anduin. The same sound that he hadn't had to resort to since he had arrived in Sela.

Now that it wasn’t Ril speaking, he felt the power in the words. They pulled at him, urging him to Get off. Get off what, he had no idea, but the words demanded it.

Ril shrugged off the feeling easily, his gaze focused on the cat which had borne the brunt of Zed’s will.

A wave passed over the cat, turning its smoldering orange veins blue. A battle seemed to take place as on the very next heartbeat, the veins reverted back to being orange.

Then blue.

Then orange.

The veins oscillated several times between the two colors before settling back onto the glowing orange that all powder beasts shared.

A dark chuckle emanated from the cat. It opened its jaws slowly, a predatory glint in its eyes.

[Interesting, but altogether futile. A sad effort made by a sad, WEAK creature.]

A wave of power spread out from the cat.

Ril found himself on his knees, his hands clasped uselessly in his lap. His very soul felt drained, like he was under the influence of a powerful Empyrean. Yet, the effect was more powerful than an Empyrean’s fire, for his mind also felt disconnected, struggling to piece together disparate thoughts. Weak.

Vaguely, with a small part of his mind, he noticed that his skin was recovering nicely from the freezing water. It was no longer blue, returning to the healthy shade of brown that he had yet to lose from spending so much time indoors. In fact, the only part of his hands that were blue were the steadily pulsing veins that smoldered with an inner fire.

Where have I seen those veins before? Ril asked himself, pushing angrily, instinctively, against the fog that had invaded his mind.

Ba-dum

His heart beat like thunder in his ears. Each beat accentuated by a pulse of light from his exposed arms, the light dimmer near the spot where the leech was still happily draining him.

The leech. Right. It’s killing me.

Ba-dum

For some reason, Ril couldn’t bring himself to care. Every part of his being wanted to rest. Lay down on the soft stone and let his weariness take over.

He heard a thump, and with an effort of will he stared blankly at Zed’s body that had slumped to the side, the veins on his body glowing a bright blue.

Ba-dum

Ril slumped further his eyes staring back at his hands.

Wait.

What would Siorraid say, if they didn't come back?

Ba-dum

The veins on his hands pulsed orange, before returning to blue.

Eren and Hauke would struggle to support themselves in this city without his help.

Ba-dum

The veins on his hands pulsed orange, before returning to blue.

And what about Evelyn? He had left her on bad terms. If he died he wouldn’t ever be able to see her again.

Ba-dum

Ril narrowed his eyes. Something was wrong. His veins weren’t supposed to be blue. They were supposed to be orange.

Ba-dum

With a roar, Ril surged to his feet. The blue fading entirely from his veins. The familiar dull orange returning in full force, pulsing reassuringly in the dark of the tunnel.

“You will Stop!” Ril roared.

His power emanated out from him. The Awakened Blood of the Chromagnum unleashing a far more potent wave of commanding force than the paltry power that Zed had mustered.

The wave collided with the cat, its entire frame bending under the force of the command. Its fur flattened across its back, and its tail froze.

The orange veins on its body flashed a solid blue, before fading. They didn’t pulse. The cat's heartbeat frozen by Ril’s command.

A moment passed. Then another. When finally a shudder raced across the cat's fur. The glowing blue veins flashed once, before returning to their usual orange.

[You dare command me?]

“I dare!” Ril seethed, his teeth bared and spittle collecting at the sides of his mouth. Rage boiled over, but was tempered by the knot of fear and uncertainty in his core. He had almost died. The cat had nearly killed him.

They glared at each other for a moment, then the cat settled itself, licking its paws contentedly.

[So the kitten has a bite. Very well, since you asked, I shall release your companion.]

Zed gasped, as suddenly his veins turned orange.

“W-wh-what was th-that?” Zed said weakly. Powerful shudders racked his frame, and he looked utterly exhausted.

“I don’t know,” Ril muttered, still glaring daggers at the cat, “did you awaken the Blood?”

“I did. Saw th-that warped menu that you described before. We-welcomed me.” Zed murmured, his eyelids fluttering. “I’m cold Ril.”

Ril glanced in alarm at Zed. The shivers had stopped, being replaced by a stillness.

[Who was your mentor kitten.] The cat purred.

Ril ignored the cat’s inane ramblings, “You!” he roared at the cat, “Remove the leeches. Help Him!”

The cat shuddered as blue and orange lights played over its powdery skin. When the orange won out, it glared at Ril.

[No. Answer the question!]

Ril shuddered, but forced Evelyn’s smiling face to the forefront of his mind. The forest glade and Gemma’s cottage in the background completing the happy image, as he rode out the desire to Answer.

Ril snarled at the cat, then turned away from the useless creature.

A waste of time.

He shuffled over to Zed, fumbling through their pack and retrieving the healing potion that they had brought with them. He ripped the cork off with his teeth and shoved the glass bottle into Zed’s mouth. At least half of the precious liquid ran down Zed’s chin, but some of the potion managed to travel past his throat.

The effect was immediate, some color returning to Zed’s skin as his eyes fluttered open.

“Ril?” Zed murmured, confused.

Ril drew his dagger. Fully intending to stab the leech until it died. Damn the consequences. Siorraid would make them go away regardless.

[If you vow to tell me who was your mentor I will remove the leeches safely from your friend.] The cat said from its perch.

Ril glared at the cat. He so wanted to spit on the proud creature and just fam his knife into the leeches, but common sense won out.

“Fine, but if you don’t do it in the next ten seconds I am going to start stabbing leeches and you will learn nothing.” Ril growled.

[Done.]

The cat jumped from its perch and padded over to Zed. With careful grace it encircled the first leech with its jaws, then with agonizing slowness, it compressed its jaws. The cat's teeth sunk slowly into the leech.

The leech didn’t seem to notice, still happily worrying away at Zeds flesh when suddenly, the leech fell limp, its jaws releasing Zed. The cat spit out the leech before moving onto the next one.

Over the next couple minutes, the cat removed the rest of the leeches from Zed. When the last leech fell limp to the tunnel floor, the cat turned expectantly to Ril.

[So? Who was your mentor?]

Ril checked Zed over quickly, before beginning the long process of bandaging the deep puncture wounds.

Ril shrugged, “I learned from a human named Gemma. I doubt you know of her.”

The cat narrowed its eyes, [Impossible, you wield the might of the mighty Displacer Beast. No human could pass on such power to you.]

“What might?” Ril asked, genuinely curious.

[Your reflection, your clone. It walks behind you, but is independent of you. That is not the might of some feeble human mind. Only the exalted Displacer Beast wields such might. And only the Displacer beast is capable of teaching others of the fabled technique.]

Ril paused in his ministrations for a moment, but then continued with another shrug, slightly uncomfortable at the topic of conversation. “It's the truth. I learned in a forest glade from her. She was very wise.”

The cat remained silent, staring at him while he worked. Before it could get to awkward Ril spoke up.

“So, uh. Do you have a name, or should I just think of you as the cat in my head?”

The cat narrowed its glowing eyes. [Yes, I have a name.]

Ril looked at the enigmatic creature. “Could you tell me your name, or is that also something that I’ll have to pry out of you? My name is Ril, and this is Zed by the way.”

[Ril,] the cat said, tasting the word, [interesting. You may call me Sin, killer.]

“Ahh,” Ril gulped, keeping his gaze focused on Zed, “A lovely name.”