Blood-Born

Chapter XVI - DeWitch

"Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he or she never shows to anybody."

- Mark Twain

The smithy Cat was entertained to find that he could still be surprised, even by a common witch.

Apparently deep in thought, Clementine stood silent by the forge where the flick of her hand gently directed a wave of lava to roll back and forth across the surface of the molten mix that he had prepared.

Searing heat that might otherwise have blistered and melted the mortal skin of others simply flowed around hers while reflective waves of roving color that accented her features and made her eyes appear to glow.

Something very unsubtle had changed with this woman and he was not entirely sure if it would be a good shift or bad.

"Stop drooling, you're going to give your bad reputation a shine that it doesn't deserve." She mused with a weary smile etched with sadness.

"While I cannot actually drool, I do find that I am pleased that you have returned unharmed from your poorly thought out misadventures." He rumbled in reply, while he continued to watch her play with the lava as he worked on his various projects.

"Without the actions of that morph, you clearly would have died in there along with the others, beyond doubt."

"Some parts of me were snuffed out like a candle, while others have apparently blossomed to life." She whispered softly.

Cat continued to watch her indirectly as he began to recognize a certain lack of the old cheer, youth and the endearing purity that he had often witnessed almost as a second layer of skin was intriguingly absent.

"They tell me that sphere is a ... interesting place to visit when it wakes." He offered as a way to get her to say something.

"Don't bullshit me Cat, even on a good day it was designed to be worse than the very fires of hell itself."

"Not entirely sure that you have the experience to compare, but I will give it some thought."

His reward was her eyes having closed along with a sigh of not so subtle irritation while the wave that she had been pushing burst into bubbled flare as it fell back upon the molten surface.

"Perhaps if you told me what happened in there, I could give you better comparison." He offered as smoothly as he could but slipped as a grin fought to break out and won. "You would be surprised where I've been and what it was that I have seen along the way."

"I found what I was looking for ..." She started absently, "... in that cold black water."

He waited her out as she appeared to relive the experience.

"I was so focused on finding them that I didn't really pay attention to what was happening around me ... until I found them all."

"Stones of some sort, from what I've heard."

"The stones ..." She corrected coolly, "... the ones that brought the lycans that attacked Rubicon."

She turned from the lava to watch him work, her eyes clearly having lacked their usual warmth.

With selection of the proper mold complete, he opened a spigot to let the lava slowly seep in to fill it.

"A victory of sorts I'm sure, knowing that there would not be any more to follow."

"I was far too late, for by that time there were none to follow. We had them all."

He was a little surprised at the tone of veiled anger in her tone.