Plasmatropolis [OLD]

Misinterpretation

Was all this just a dream?

Thalleous didn't quite believe he really was holding the sketchbook now. He wasn't sure if anything he'd done in the past several months had really happened. Did he really kill the master? Did Tygren really die? How did it all happen?

He paced restlessly around his room, the bandages bound to his chest, arms and face were real enough. The pain that raced across the cuts and throbbing bruises beneath was definitely present. The potions of healing and regeneration were working, but slowly.

What would've happened had he followed the advice Osivian had given at the courthouse, when all this had begun to unfold? Would the master have accepted it? Would Tygren still be alive? The thought of the Voltaris froze him in his path, a sharp stab of pain sticking into his mind. He looked back down at the book in his hand, the plastic cover with the messy writing staring back. He shook his head, stowing it back into his inventory, sorrow heavy in his heart.

The Sendaris continued pacing the perimeter of the room, before finally coming to a conclusion. Throwing on a jacket and tracksuit pants, he pulled open the door to his quarters, surprising the guard who stood outside, half asleep.

"I'm going for a walk. You may go back and rest, I will be back by dawn."

"But sir," he slurred, "What if the others attack you?"

"I can defend myself well enough, now go and rest, that's an order."

The blue Ardoni bowed his head, "Yes sir."

Walking outside the headquarters now, Thalleous took in a breath of the cool, night air. It reminded him of the long walks he used to take with his now-dead boyfriend, of the jokes they told, of the revelations they'd shared and more than once, a kiss beneath the cold, white moon. Now, he walked alone through the dry air of the Outerlands. He pulled the jacket closer around his body, trying as best he could to conserve heat.

The Outerlands themselves were barren, petty crime often ran rampant through the streets and few trees or parks survived the axes of low income humans, desperate for heat. Thalleous rolled his eyes, why were these humans so lazy? All they had to do was go out and work, why destroy the nature around them? It was all so unreasonable.

Tucking his hands into his pockets, the Sendaris continued his trek along the artificial desert, towards something that pained him more than anything, but he still held close to his heart. As the only remaining Outerland forest came into view, he quickened his pace. His steps were measured and timed to be the most efficient he could as Thalleous angled towards a small clearing, navigating with the moon as an anchor point.

Breaching the edges of the bushes, he came across an unlit Ardoni gravestone, Tygren's markings chiseled into the cold, unchanging stone. He could not light it himself without the staff that was in Ingressus' possession.

Hah, Ingressus. Idiot, coward, I curse him and spit on his honour. I hope he dies a slow and painful death. And Achillean, what a sensitive idiot! Curiosity killed the cat, it's only a matter of time.

He drew his sheathed greatsword from his inventory, slinging it onto his back. Then drawing the sword once again, he tapped the blade at the peak of the arc on the stone.

At that moment, Thalleous could hear whistling. There was a human nearby, walking through the forest, in a red shirt and black pants, with muscular arms and a bushy black beard. He had a simple axe slung over his back. He was most likely a lumberjack. Definitely looked like a stereotypical lumberjack, that was.

The human didn't notice Thalleous. He was whistling nonchalantly, and came to a large oak tree. He took his axe and prepared it at an angle to the trunk. As lumberjacks tended to do, this human seemed to be about to cut down the tree, but a sudden thought crossed Thalleous' mind. This forest... This forest was sacred. He couldn't just let the lumberjack cut down one of these trees. Too many in the Outerlands had already been felled, and this couldn't happen to the woods where Tygren rested.