Blue Gravity

Chapter 1: "Burning Mage"

Aspen Irving wasn't one to complain if he could help it. Seeing as he was constantly in an undercurrent of pain, the feeling wasn't anything new for the young man. However, his feet absolutely hurt and his coat itched on his skin. With how scarred the young man's body was, he didn't feel it as much as he could have, but the cold, wet material made him feel unnecessarily uncomfortable. Aspen dragged his shoes over the ground. He noticed with lazy eyes that mud took increasingly more room on the ground, obscuring the cobblestone. It made the experience of walking even more dreadful than it already was with how his shoes liked to stick to the dirt. All of his clothes were far beyond needing to be repaired and washed and he was sure one of his soles would come off any minute.

The rustling of dozens of strangers surrounding him filled his mind and created a constant dizzying distraction. His brain just wasn't made for human contact and crowds like this were worse than what he was willing to handle on a good day, not to mention on a day of this caliber. He and his companion had been traveling for almost a whole shifting, the ninetieth day approaching ever so ruthlessly. Had he been given any choice as to where he wanted to be right now, it would have been back at the Order where he truly belonged. The Gods wouldn't ask him for his opinion though, and he doubted they would do anything but laugh at his request if he ever were to mouth it. They hated him if his life was proof of any rule of nature and science.

His partner moved ever so ruthlessly forward, almost leaving him behind entirely. When his gaze wandered up from his feet to pick out the woman's boots from in between the dozen shoes in front of him, he noticed a small pair striving directly against the stream of people.

The kid's voice was almost inaudible through all the noise, but somehow Aspen managed to catch the boy's words directed at his companion, "Ma'am, you'd like some bravvas? They're fresh out the oven. Real good. Only five Muil a pack! Won't be able to find 'em dis cheap anywhere else in the city!"

The tall woman merely stepped around the kid, never losing focus on where she needed to go. Yeah, she wouldn't be kept by any of the vendors prying on naïve tourists and travelers. Aspen on the other hand had his doubts whether he would be able to fend them off. Just when he considered calling out to the Gods for their protection, all hope was crushed. He could have sworn to hear their mocking laughs somewhere in the distance.

He stifled a groan as the boy turned to him, consequently blocking him from following the woman. She didn't have trouble navigating the crowd, he on the other hand was considerably smaller and felt himself physically unable to look up for more than a few seconds at a time. In other words, he really couldn't afford to lose her.

"What 'bout you, Ma'am? Eh, sorry, Sir?" the boy tried his luck with Aspen. Considering his options, the young man stopped dead in his tracks. Thinking is best done standing still. "Sir?" No, definitely not looking up either, or responding for that matter. Okay, now it was getting awkward. Gulping, he attempted to just walk around the kid and was pushed back by a passerby. Was he honestly stuck here until he bought something from the kid?

Aspen noticed too late that the hood covering his face had been shoved off his head almost entirely by the contact with the other person. Before he could readjust it, the boy let out a squeaking noise. "'m so sorry, Sir! I didn't – eh, well, sorry. Excuse me, I'll just. You know, leave you alone and not, eh, bother you. Sorry again, really. I-," the boy stuttered and disappeared back into the crowd as fast as he had appeared. Aspen just stared at the ground and pulled his hood back over his head, successfully obscuring his face from view.

Aspen Irving's face showed only a fraction of the damage his body had received as a child, but it was off-putting enough. The adolescent wasn't fond of his own looks. They reminded him of things better left untouched, forever kept in the darkest pits of his consciousness. People's stares only amplified these emotions. His right side seemed completely molten as if the skin had been transformed into a slick liquid at one point. Like frozen lava it stood, obvious to everyone taking only a single closer glance in his direction. He should just invest in a mask at this point, though he hoped he would soon have no more reason to hide. Aspen would never undervalue the calm of his studies ever again.