Gauntlet (Old)

Part 2: Chapter 9

"You will now be left to find the blue crystal," Corru started, "continue on this road, taking the left-most path at each split. Once at the Raessa, you will find what you are looking for in Dewi Upi." I nodded, although I had little faith in my memory. I instinctually waited for her to turn and leave. She did a few seconds later.

I was on my own, and could still not see very well. I pushed the button on the side of my neck and the visor obediently dissipated. I continued on the road for a decent length of time before coming across a fork. My legs had started aching halfway through. The space between the paths had a high concentration of bright yellow glows. Sunplants, I presumed. As instructed, I turned left. I had been walking for a couple more minutes, but the trip proved too much for my legs. Two weeks only helped so much with the atrophy. I sat perched up on a tree; my legs burning unbearably.

I couldn't focus on much more than the pain in my legs, but a scream of pure agony coming from the place I was headed definitely distracted me from it. I jumped up from its sudden appearance as there wasn't even ambiance in this forest to blunt the noise. I ran back to the treehouse. The fear completely overpowered the pain.

My hands must have picked up a dozen splinters as I frantically scaled the rope ladder. Corru wasn't there. The treehouse was completely empty. It was a sight I was used to seeing, but was hoping not to. I saw her walk away from the forest, so she must have been on her way to the city.

The adrenaline allowed for me to not feel the increasingly desperate pleas from my legs, which made for an unexpected collapse. I was left to crawl, but it was better than waiting for whatever got to that poor individual to find me as well. My vision was getting fuzzy. I couldn't go on much longer. I had to keep going. And so I did, until I lost consciousness.

I woke in the shop, rather than the treehouse I was used to being greeted by. There was no bed there, and so I was laid down on the floor. I noticed a bowl of 'food' next to me, not the nutrition balls, but actual food. Sodj was, as he did, sitting behind his counter. But he was worried. A stark contrast from his usual playful manner. I felt terrible.

I got up carefully, my legs more stiff than the two weeks I had trained them. I let out a somewhat forced groan as I stabilized.

"Ximduni." Sodj started, softly, "Jewi aua tiip Namvo epaxjisi?" I recognized Namvo, and it sounded like a question.

"No, I haven't seen Namvo since the last time I was here," I responded, hoping I had correctly guessed what he asked.

"O xussa ecuav vjev lof tunivonit," he responded, allowing a sigh to escape.

"Yeah, well, um. Have you seen Corru anywhere?" Sodj pondered this question.

"No," he replied. Although he had only said one word, I picked up quite an accent. I gave him a nod, before leaving the shop. This time, Corru was in the treehouse. The oddly-shaped table I hadn't thought much about was being utilized, displaying a hologram of my armor set in green energy. She was fiddling with some metal in the chest area of the hologram.

"Corru, I heard a scream."

"A scream?" There was worry in the monotony. "Please elaborate."

"Well, I was walking over to the place you wanted me to go, right? My legs hurt, so I sat down. Someone screamed real loud from the place I was gonna go to, so I bolted." Corru's breath became raspy.

"How far away was the scream?"

"Hard to tell. It was too loud." Corru froze. There was silence.

She hurried out. I followed, admittedly a little worried. Sadly for my legs, we had to walk all the way back to the city.

"Sodj," Corru said, "Hunter jiesf e tdsien ca vji Raessa." Sodj stared blankly back at Corru, shaking his head slightly.

"Namvo?" he uttered, ever so quietly, "Pu. Ov duamf'wi ciip tuniupi imti." His voice was shaky.

"Xi'mm hu muul gus jon," Corru offered, sympathetically. She turned to me. "We're gonna go look for Namvo."

My legs were once again aching. I could barely make it back, but Corru was determined. She grabbed my wrist and pulled me along. Each time I slowed down, she would tighten her grip. Each complaint would tighten it more.

We eventually got to the entrance to the forest. My legs were in more pain than I thought was possible and my wrist was pleading for relief. I tugged my arm out of her grip and collapsed.

"Please," I started, out of breath, "I can't do this. My legs are on fire." The tears were inches from escaping my eyes. Corru kept walking, not even acknowledging me. My legs still burned, but were at least given a chance to recover now. I couldn't help but wonder why Corru was in such a rush, but I just wasn't able to follow her.

I waited there for maybe half an hour, my boredom only being prevented by the pain. In the distance was a red figure holding a black object. As she came closer, I saw that the markings on her skin were completely gone. She was breathing heavily, her posture significantly worse than usual. She had a twitch in her eye, and a snarl flickered on her face. She passed me, staring straight ahead of her. She smelled foul.

"What the hell happened?" I asked. I looked over at the small, black eye she clenched in her fist. "And what the hell is that thing?" No response. She kept walking.

I rested enough for the pain to be bearable, and so followed her back to the city. Although it was difficult to see, there was blood all over her. A familiar bell greeted her optimistically. She dropped the eye in front of Sodj. He stared at it.

His eyes opened uncomfortably wide. His jaw whimpered, trying to find something to say. Corru closed her eyes. Sodj allowed a tear to flow down his cheek and invited more to follow.

"N-Namvo?" left his mouth, almost to weak to survive. "Namvo," he said again, stronger, "Namvo. Namvo. Namvo." He began to laugh now. A broken laugh. An airy laugh. "Namvo," he said one final time, as softly as the first. He stopped. He wasn't moving anywhere prior, but he stopped. A statue with flooding eyes. Corru sighed, and slowly as she entered, she left.