RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes

Naunet · **02-14-2015, 10:52 PM**

A voice from behind the cover of nearby rocks complained, "Dammit, Phil! You promised you weren't going to miss this time!" There was a movement of yellow and red, the colors of the Immortal Flames.

The girl on the ground didn't have the presence of mind to pretend to be dead. She tried to push herself up. From the arrow lodged in her back, fire began to spread over her skin, burning away even the tattered remnants of her dress.

Thal spun, moving his body over the girl's on instinct, body wound up and defensive. Then he saw the fire and, after a moment's flash of worry, pressed her back down into the dirt. "Don't move. Smother it!" As he said this, his head shot up, ears swiveling, eyes darting around before locking on the flash of color between rock and shrub. "Don't fire! We have nothing!" He didn't expect them to obey, but he could maybe buy some time to figure out what to do...

A voice could be heard over the rocks. "I'm sorry! I just got scared! They're zombies, doncha know that?"

"Exactly!" A large- shoulder man jumped from behind the rocks, his yellow-and-orange smock blowing out around his dark-armored body, his cascading hair and bronzen skin shining in the desert light. Her presented himself with the strength and certainty of a hunter, knocking back another arrow. He sneered. "But they die just the same as anyone."

"Actually they don't." The other peeked over the stone. "See, look."

"Wait, what?" The man squinted at the green-haired girl, watching her try to get up and then get pushed back down. "Oh, that's... Huh. Oh, wait, yeah. That's what the fire's for!" He took a flint from his pocket and began to scrape it against his arrowhead. "Come on, Phil!"

"But the man in black said they don't feel any pain. And they haven't stopped to eat or drink or rest or anything. And look that guy is mad now. He's going to use dark magic."

As they had this exchange, the green-haired girl shifted on the ground, trying to grab the arrow from her back. When she couldn't reach it and she could still feel the fire burning, she called quietly, "The arrow! Get it!"

Thal grimaced, hands dropping to feel between the girl's shoulders without dropping his gaze from the uniformed man. Blue eyes narrowed as he wrapped his fingers around the arrow shaft, set his other hand on her back, and pulled hard. The arrow slid free with a sick squelch that he determinedly ignored. He rose then, solidly between the girl and the soldiers. "I don't wanna hurt you," he called out. "Just leave us alone."

As soon as the arrow was free, the girl rolled onto her back to smother the fire. She lay there, staring up at the sky. She didn't breathe. Her eyes shook with shocked confusion.

"Got it!" The man smiled broadly when the arrow in his hands lit up. "As I was saying. They may be zombies. But, once they're on fire..." He knocked the air and shifted his head, his yellow-orange smock blowing out around his dark-armored body, his cascading hair and bronzen skin shining in the desert light. "They die just the same as anyone."

The man behind the rock began, "I still don't think that-"

"Shut up, Phil!" The bronzed man lifted his flaming arrow and fired a well-aimed shot directly at Thal's chest.

The miqo'te had jerked to the side as soon as the soldier's arm pulled back to release the arrow, but it still found a mark, knocking him back a few steps with the force of it as it buried itself in his shoulder. Mouth twisting, he grabbed at the wood and, deliberately not thinking about the action, yanked it free to toss it away before any flames could set in. "Fine," he muttered. "I'm about done with people wanting me dead again."

Then he bent his legs and, in a fluid motion, sprung forward at the bronze-skinned hyur, barreling into him and sending him to the ground.

"Ah!" The one behind the rocks jumped up. "Hank! Oh, no!"

"Do something!" The man shouted. He was not a small man, but the miqo'te had him pinned anyway. He held Thal off of him and tried to punch its head. "He's gonna eat me! Do something!"

The concealed man, a thin Hyur, hopped up on top of the rock he'd been hiding behind and drew an arrow, knocking it, preparing to shoot Thal at point-blank range. A sharped, earthen missile to the face stopped him, however, throwing him into the dirt with a pathetic wail. A line of dust hung in the air, trailing behind that stone back to the green-haired girl, standing now with her stick in-hand.

Tail whipping behind him like a ribbon, Thal pressed down on the hyur beneath him, locking his legs against the other man's and bringing his forearm down against the base of his neck. His other hand grabbed at one of the man's arms, trying to hold it back. The hyur's blow to his head landed, but it didn't do much other than jerk him to one side a bit, dislodging his grip on the man's arm. "I'm not gonna eat you," he barked. "Just leave us alone!"

The man didn't appear to be buying it. He felt along his belt for a knife, and pulled it. He lifted it to stab Thal, but a piece of weaponized stone struck his hand, and his arm snapped violently away, likely broken.

Thal pushed away from the man, springing back several fulms before spinning around and sprinting towards the girl. "We're leaving, now," he said, grabbing her arm.

She sputtered, but didn't argue. The rags of her dress slipped down on her body so that she was barely wearing them anymore. The very thin girl was now mostly burned flesh, cut and stabbed and bleeding.

The man on the ground writhed and grabbed at his damaged arm, and did not stand up.

Thal ran with her, and then a few steps later scooped up the girl in his arms and ran faster.

Looking bewildered at Thal for a moment after being picked up, she eventually curled her limbs up and looked around them, her eyes searching every shadow and rock warily. "Will more follow?"

"I don't know," Thal grit out. He wasn't about to look back, either, just pumping his legs as hard as he could make them go, westward. "We'll lose them, don't worry."

She was quiet for a brief time, and then said. "I don't like that town."

"Neither do I, kid. We won't go back."

Fully silent then, she eyed the stick in her hand. She waited a long time, still worried that someone might be following them, but when they were far enough and it had been long enough, she reached up and put a hand on his shoulder. "You hurt?"

Thal blinked, sparing a moment to tear his eyes away from his path to glance down at the girl. "Huh?" Then back up to watch where he was going. "It's fine, just a scratch." He smiled. "Doesn't even hurt."

She frowned. "Maybe it should? Mine does."

"Eh?" His steps faltered, slowed. "... Why didn't you say so? I'll find a place to hide in the rocks."

"It's okay. It isn't bad." She shook her head and blinked up at him, unphased. "I can handle it."

Brow lowering, Thal picked his pace back up. "I don't like you in pain. I'll keep an eye out for a place to duck into."

"What I need is food." She said this firmly, but not sternly. "And I like you carrying me."

"Right," the man breathed out. He chanced a glance behind them but could smell no hint of the soldiers' scent, or catch any sight of their colors. That didn't mean they wouldn't return to town and get others, though. He pressed on, moving in the direction he'd been originally wandering, before Megiddo had interrupted.

"I'm starting to think the answer is 'no'." The girl said, conversationally, as Thal carried her. "I'm not the one who buried you."

The frown deepened. "Green hair, young girl. Given the circumstances, kid... it has to be you."

"I thought so, too. But I..." She appeared vexed, and looked down at her hands. "I remember feeling very sad. But sounded angry. I remember mud on my hands. Feelings of burying..." She put a hand to her throat and rubbed it. "But I would not... do what I... she. What she did."

Adjusting his grip on the girl, Thal banked around a number of rocks jutting out from a cliff. His ears relaxed slightly as he spied a familiar pool of water on the horizon, complete with giant toads. His frown doesn't ease up, though."I don't know what to tell you, kid. I..." He faltered, hesitating over his words. "I can understand why you might've been upset at the time. Not thinking straight."

She shook her head. "That's not it. I remember doing lots of things. Mean things. Angry things." She blinked and looked unsettled. "Things that made me sick. Things I didn't want to do. But I did them anyway."

Dry shrub and sand crunched under Thal's feet as he ran. The lake ahead bobbed in and out of sight as he moved over a few, low dips and rises across the ground. His mouth twisted at the girl's words. "If you didn't want to, then why did you do it?"

"I did not have volition," she answered. "I did not decide. I did not speak. I was moved and words emerged from me. They were not mine."

"You didn't..." His steps slow a bit, until he's just ambling across the sandy ground. Then he sighed. "What does it change, kid? You can't do anything about it now."

Her tail shifted, lifting to curl around his arm. The fur was matted and burnt in places. "It matters."

"I'm not one to hold grudges, but... well, yeah. I guess it does," he sighed and slowed even more until he was walking. The ground became softer the closer they got to the lake, and he angled his path to walk around it. "You okay to walk on your own?"

She nodded and waited to be put down. "I'm not... I did not do anything wrong. But that's not my point. My point is. I was not before, and am now."

Lowering her feet carefully so she wouldn't stumble, Thal kept a hand on her back once she was on the ground and quirked one ear towards her. "I'm not sure I'm following."

"I'm not sure." She lowered her ears, and then she shook her head. "I am sure. You were alive, but do not remember. I was not alive, but remember a life."

"Let's keep moving," he murmured, urging the girl onward further along the lake. He wasn't about to take the chance that those soldiers might catch up to them, not until they'd put a few days between themselves and that town. After a moment, he spoke again, "What's done is done. I won't pretend to understand what went on before, kid, but I'm not sure what good it would do to try and figure it out beyond causing more grief."

"But I..." She walked with Thal at his urging, following his lead dutifully. "But I care! About people. That I remember."

Blue eyes closed for a moment, then opened to look down at her as they walked. "That's why you can't go back to where you want." His feet sunk into mud as they neared the lake's bank. "They know you as dead. Showing up... it would only hurt them."

"Not if I explain!" She leaned forward, turning wide blue eyes on Thal. "And I can explain away the bad, too. And someone needs to do something about K'ile!"

Thal frowned at that. "The guy's just protecting his family. I can see that much pretty clear." Then he shook his head. "But you don't understand, kid. They've grieved, moved on. It's not fair to pop back up in their lives, especially when... you're--well, we're not actually... that." He shrugged slightly, half-heartedly.

"And what's fair to me?" She managed to whine through the grating in her throat.

"What was fair to me?" He countered, not happily.

"That's not my fault!" She started, and then trotted forward to turn back and look at him. "What do you want me to do?"

"Keep walking, for one. We need to put some distance between us and that town." He swung his arms, rolled his head back and around. "... And just try to move on."

She turned to walk a bit faster, putting some distance between herself and Thal, actually. "No. I can't move on. I never lived."

"Can't you just... ugh," he let out a frustrated breath, though the emotion was half directed towards himself, just as much as it was towards the girl. "Look, I don't know, kid. I just know that going back 'home' is not a good idea. You saw how that one guy reacted. They'll all react like that."

"We'll go to Ul'dah then!" She spun once more and pointed at her head. "I remember now. That's where mom is."

Thal's steps slowed and then stilled completely, arms hanging limp at his sides. "Mom?" He blinked and then seemed to slump before saying reluctantly, "Right... uh. I think that would be the last person either of us should see."

The girl stopped and put her hands on her hips. "Well I disagree. Mom won't care."

Blue eyes frowned. "Because you can explain it all away? That's not how these things work." He let out a groan then, rubbing roughly at his face, pulling fingers through his long bangs. "Mom. Your mom. Which, if I've been understanding things right, would make her my... uh. Someone. Yeah... I'm not going to do that to her."

"I am." She stated this proudly, lifting her nose. This also showed off the gash exposed by the listening cloth on her neck. "She still loved... her. The bad person. So. I should be easy."

Thal grimaced at that. "I don't think you quite get it, kid. You died. Just... let her be in peace."

"And I don't think you get it, dad!" She had one hand on her hip, and leaned forward, pointing at him with her other hand. She didn't sound angry, just insistent. "Family is important. And alive or dead, I'm still around. So I'm going to find my family. That includes you."

"And what happens when she sees you? You're a ghost to her. And me... I don't know you. And I don't know her. I don't feel anything for her but pity, kid, and that... that is not fair."

"You're not fair!" She stood up straight and shook her head. "No, family's stronger than that. You would've said so once. You'll see."

"I'm not doing it." He started walking again, then stopped and groaned, combed through his hair, rubbed at the back of his neck, paced to one side. "Why can't you just let it be. I'm trying to protect you."

She walked back towards him. "Because I know what I'm talking about. Why can't you just give it a try?"

He paced some more, feet splashing into the shallows of the lake, then back out. He did this for several minutes until finally throwing up both arms and then letting them drop back to his sides, swinging a few times from momentum. "Let's just keep walking for now," he said at length, jaw working on a heavy thought, brow wrinkled deeply. His tail spun and twisted behind him.

She scoffed, the sound like a cough from her ruined throat, and grated out, "Fine." She began walking, not waiting for him.

Thal watched her back for a moment, and then let out a heavy sigh, muttering under his breath as he followed.

What Can be Found if You Trust the Gods

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes