Jade Benz

Jade was bored. They had spent the last two days and nights sneaking around the tower, and she’d had about enough. The autumn hive, as Benjamin had started calling them, weren’t restricted to the day or the night. It looked like there were both day and night monarchs inside, what had he called them? Diurnal and nocturnal or something?

So, since the autumn hive could hunt day or night, they had started scouting both day and night. The pair had moved from building to building, hiding when they heard the thumping of hive wings. She really couldn’t stand these buildings, no symmetry at all. It looked to her like a five-year-old had molded them out of clay, got bored half way through and called it good.

“Ok, Vice. We have walked around the tower now, twice. What’s the plan already?” She asked him at last, having waited as long as she could.

He ignored her, like he did nearly every time she tried talking to him. It was really starting to piss her off. What had she ever done to him anyway? Jade moved over behind where he crouched, staring out the window. Leaning down over his strong back, she trailed her fingernails gently up his neck and behind his ear.

“Stop that,” he snapped. Looking up at her with an uncertain flush on his cheeks.

“Answer me when I talk to you then, Vice.” She said breathily, making sure her lips brushed his ear as she spoke.

He jumped a little, and squirmed under her touch. He really was too easy to play with, she had started messing with him when he started ignoring her. Now, she enjoyed the reaction she got from him nearly as much as she hated being ignored. Weird, how being stuck with someone for days alone made you notice them more than when there were other people around.

Well, that and the fact that Tik and Tok were basically extensions of herself. They made for wonderful yes men, but they couldn’t really hold a stimulating conversation, or talk at all for that matter. The Viking was cute, in an ‘I’m little, yet can go murder crazy with this axe’ kinda way. That pretty much just left Vice here, plus he was the only one who understood earth humor.

“Ok, ok I’m sorry Jade. What was it that you wanted to know?” He asked, cutting off her train of thought.

“I asked you, when you were gunna send for the others? We circled this place twice already, we both agreed that it was the most likely place, based on the hunting parties coming out of there at all hours. The only way to know for sure though is to go in there and look. Unless you wanna wait tell the invaders make it out here?” she said, feeling only a little guilty at horning in on the goblin girlies man.

It’s not like she was seriously interested in him or anything. She was just bored and getting a rise out of him to pass the time. Although, she paused in her thoughts to give his muscular frame a once over. Now that she thought about it…nope, focus girl.

“Your right, I know” he said at last. The goose bumps her lips had left on his bare arms settled down as he spoke. “When we get back to a safe pill bug construct, I’ll write the letter and send the wolves.”

“Good boy,” she said giving his muscular biceps a gentle squeeze, that might have turned into a caress, before he cleared his throat.

Whoops, she hadn’t meant to do that. She winked at him to cover her embarrassment and moved back a little way to sit down. Teasing him was fun, well it kept her from getting too bored at least, but she needed to remember not to push too far. Times like this, she really wished she had a drink.

Of course, that would lead to the awkward wake up. Then the guilt, and having to explain herself to the green girlie…maybe a drink wasn’t such a good idea, man, all this stress really made a girl thirsty…no, damn it. With a sigh she popped into her void space to sit in her meditation chair, the relaxation that gave was way better then booze anyway.

* * *

Grace

The wolves were back, finally. They had been waiting for days, too many long days. Ice and Honor had come in just minutes ago, she had delivered Benjamin’s letter directly to Stomper. That rankled Grace a little bit, she had wanted to get the letter from Benjamin, but she supposed that Stomper was basically in charge when Benjamin was gone.

Grace didn’t mind that, she didn’t want to be in charge. She didn’t even like to be around people for the most part, spending her childhood alone in the woods whenever possible. However, this was a letter from Benjamin, the first news they had from him in nearly a week. She wanted to be the first one to read it, damn it.

She hadn’t sulked for very long, when Honor approached her. He nuzzled her hand and directed it to his armor. Confused, Grace looked, checking the area he had moved her hand to. When she found the letter with her name on it, she almost started crying. Pulling it out, she quickly unfolded it and began to read.

Dear Grace,

We’ve reached the tower I believe the rift is located within. Although I can’t be 100% sure, I don’t think we have the time to wait any longer. I have written a letter to Stomper as well, his has all the tactical ideas I’ve thought up while here. I’m sure he will share it with you, so I won’t bother repeating it all again here.

Although we will be seeing each other again shortly, I still wanted to write you. To let you know that I was thinking of you, and will be happy when our time apart has ended.

Sincerely, Benjamin

P.s, hi green girlie, don’t worry I’ve been taking good care of your man ;)… Love, Jade.

Grace read, and then reread, the letter several times. She was elated at first, until she read Jade’s little add on at the end. Then, she got mad that Jade said ‘love’ and Benjamin didn’t. After that she started to get upset at herself, because she didn’t even know if she loved Benjamin let alone if he should be saying love to her. By the time Stomper came over to confer with her, she had worked herself up into a tizzy.

“Grace? What has you so upset?” he asked her, after having a silent conversation with Ice.

“NOTHING,” she said back calmly. “I was just reading Benjamin’s letter to me…that Jade also read, and wrote in.” She continued more quietly, putting her tree climber cloaks hood up, to hide under the large pointed ears.

“Oh, clan sister.” Stomper smiled at her affectionately. “That’s just Jade’s way, she is a strange one, here look at this…” as he spoke, he picked up the letter Benjamin had written to him and pointed at the bottom.

Ps, hey big guy, I’ve been getting bored over here with just tall fanged and broody for company. Oh, the chiefs nice enough and all but, he can’t swing an axe like you can ;), Love Jade

“See,” he said after she had read the note the blonde had left for Stomper. “She is just playful; I doubt she means any real harm.”

Grace started to cheer back up after that, he was right. The leather clad human soul was strange. Of course, Benjamin was strange too…but she tried not to hold it against him, he wasn’t a Lord Erlking creation after all. A tentative smile started to spread across her face. Until Stompers next words chewed it away, like the Hive chewed on a carcass.

“Besides, Lord Benjamin is our chief now. Remember our old chief? He had like, seven wives. Even if the chief likes Jade, you would only have to share him with one other woman! Not too bad right?” He said reassuringly, with a pat on her head.

* * *

Benjamin Vryce

Benjamin sat cross-legged in one of the pill bugs houses. He held the aged copper acorn in both hands. He also sat in his meditation chair located in his void space, looking inside the acorn from outside of reality. Or, maybe just a different prospective on reality, he honestly didn’t know how it worked.

The acorn fascinated him however. Since he sent the wolves back with his letters, he had been sitting here exploring it. There was a…pattern…inside the acorn. As he continued to pour his essence into it, it grew clearer and clearer. He wasn’t even working on his own cultivation anymore, beyond keeping his core compressed and spinning. He also kept the fractions of his mind working on his body, the rest of his focus though, had gone into solving the puzzle of this acorn.

Benjamin had partitioned a section of his mind, to funnel nearly all of his incoming essence to feed the acorn. Feed seemed to be the right word too, once he had overcome the initial barriers in place, it seemed to drink his essence. The pattern was massive, like a miniature world. Slowly forming around the core, that core looked more and more like the sun in an inside out world. He didn’t understand it at all; but he wanted to, needed to. It was just a feeling, an odd sensation inside himself he couldn’t place, but he knew that this acorn would be of vital importance. Soon, he thought he would have enough. Once the battle started inside the tower, he would be flooded with essence. He would finally know what the acorn was.

His meditation was interrupted when he felt the hands on his face. He knew it was Jade, messing with him again. She normally didn’t get quite that touchy though. When she had done it before she would just trail her fingers down his neck or blow on his ear. Now, she had both hands on his cheeks. He did his best to ignore the touch, and to ignore the stirrings that touch caused within him.

He wasn’t able to maintain his calm however, once her lips met his. She kissed him, she had actually kissed him, and he was shocked. His mind blacked out of the acorns growing world, back to the void space. The meditation chair was helping him maintain his calm. However, when he felt the sensation of something soft and warm press between his lips, he couldn’t hold back any more.

“Damn it, J…” he started to say as he snapped his eyes open. He trailed off, when he saw the pale green face and yellow eyes looking at him from barely an inch away.

The goblin girl stared at him, apprehension in her eyes. She had recoiled at his words, and looked on the verge of bolting away. He reached out and encircled her in his arms, kissing her back. They held the pose for long moments, both moving gently around the sharpened canines of the other, before pulling back slightly.

“Grace didn’t mean to intrude on you,” she said breathily. “She was just so excited to see you after so long apart…and she didn’t want you to forget her.” She finished, barely above a whisper.

Benjamin looked deeply into her yellow eyes, so reminiscent of a hunting cat’s. her dark hair had fallen to cover one of them while they had kissed. He reached out and lowered the hood of her squirrel cloak, to brush it back. A faint smile once again played over his lips, at the thought of animal girls from anime back home.

“I could never forget about you Grace,” he said as his claw tipped fingers gently brushed the hair from her face. “I missed you, every second that you were gone.”

Her face lit up at his words, the already darkening green of her face grew even darker as blood flushed to her cheeks. Their lips met again in a long kiss, hands beginning to play over each other eagerly. Benjamin paused for a moment to ask.

“The others…” He hadn’t lost himself to the point of not wanting to be disturbed.

“Grace asked Jade to take Stomper and the others on a round of the tower. She suspects they will be gone all night.” She replied with a wicked smile on her slightly swollen lips. He grinned back at her, adding an evil chuckle of his own.

They lost themselves then, neither new exactly how long they held each other. They both knew however, when the sun rose the following day and the others returned. That it wasn’t nearly long enough.

* * *

Arbiter

The Arbiter was overseeing the fighting on the borders of the Erlking’s territory. Erlking and Morrigan had changed their tactics, since the revelation he had delivered to the World Lord some time ago. He was desperately trying to hold onto what he had now. Fighting Illyria and the court of seven and the corruption that threatened his worlds, with a fervor few of the others displayed.

The Arbiter couldn’t help but be impressed with the Erlking. He also had to admit that he was equally as infuriated with the court of seven’s recent actions. They hadn’t quite crossed the line that he was allowed to intervene, as yet. He was watching however, and when they did…

His attention was suddenly pulled to his vault. With a wave he pulled his teleportation door into reality, and stepped through it without a glance. The vault wasn’t easily broken into, he didn’t think the World Lords had the ability as they were now. Who else could it be though, the only other entity in this universe was…no…that one was in self-imposed isolation since the rending.

When he arrived in the vault, he looked around quickly. Hands firmly holding the pistol that represented his power while in this avatar. It didn’t take him long to spot what had caused the alarm. One of the clear cases that housed the most precious items in this universe, were empty.

Looking through the recent past brought him the sight of what had happened. He was for the first time in an eon, completely amazed. He watched the actions of the couple for some time, and found the exact point in time when the case’s contents had vanished. All he could do was stare, mouth agape; he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Eventually, he whispered words he never thought to say again.

“Perhaps, there is hope for us after all.”