Seras Streams
patreon
Chapter 62 – Run, rabbit! I got this!
🕑 Added 2024-10-27 16:14:52 +0000 UTCPriam was sprinting at full speed, hearing the steady ‘clank’ of the booted, armored people following him. Bloopa reappeared with a pop. I notified Ollie – why are you running?
Priam hiked his thumb over his shoulder as he took a turn and scrambled up a rock face – fueling his ascent with large, bunny-hops that launched himself up eight feet at a time. “Aspirants! Bunch of planets!”
He felt a crack against his barrier and glanced down and behind – one of the four, the one wearing the white armor – had launched a chunk of rock at him. “Ha! My barriers are way stronger than your stupid rocks!”
Priam kept on climbing up to a higher ledge and was panting as he put his hands on his knees, recovering his breath. The rest of the armored figures arrived at the bottom of the cliff below, and the green one raised their sword. “Planetary Manipulation!” The ground beneath the four began to rise – bringing them right to Priam’s level.
“Ah!” he let out a shout of panic and looked around for some type of safe route down. There were none. I can jump and let the barrier take the blow! He ran to his right – back towards the cave where Jace had made camp – and jumped down the fifty feet. He landed on his paws, and felt a surge of dull pain in them as the barrier shattered. Just enough to keep me from breaking my feet.
He sprinted and pulled up another one of the Pulsar Wards at (Rank 20). “Jace! Jace wake up! Hurr-”
Something grabbed him from behind an outcropping of rock, and he froze. Nothing should have been able to get inside my barri-oh. Jace was a designated ally, so he could reach inside. “You invisible?”
“Now you are too. Not just invisible, but undetectable and untrackable.” Priam looked up and saw Jace’s hood had been pulled up and the mask that accompanied it as facial protection had also been set in place. “How many, what powers, go.”
“Right! Four people in different colored armor – all the same type – with swords! All Planet Cosmic Power.”
Jace nodded and pushed – firmly – shoving Priam behind him. “I’ll handle them.” His weapon was surging with the dark purple and crimson light, and his body was covered with the flowing, purple barrier. “Stay here.”
Priam wanted to help, but he was still shaken up from the sudden flight and subsequent chase. “O-okay. I’ll…I’ll stay here.”
Jace vanished around the corner, and Priam could make out the clanging of the armored boots of his pursuers. Oh boy. Okay. I needed to put a Pulsar Ward on him. Or a conditional heal, or-
>>>---<<<
Jace wheeled around the corner and saw the four figures that were chasing Priam. He was pissed off.
He had woken up right after the clatter of armor running off had reached his ears deep in the cave. Not seeing Priam, he had instantly used Dark Matter Cloak (Rank 3), Dark Matter Shield (Rank 3), and Dark Matter Blade (Rank 5) [Rending].
Leaving the cave, he saw a few supply packs, a bundle of firewood that someone was lugging along, and could hear the clattering armor off down one of the narrow, mountainous passages. Finding their location was easy enough – he just grappled up to a higher vantage point and spotted Priam.
Getting to the Pulsar Priest was easy. This? These four? He had no clue what to expect.
But they dared to try and hurt Verve?
Not Verve. He’s dead. Stop thinking of him like that!
Priam. They tried to hurt Priam. And Jace felt like showing no mercy to them.
He sprinted forward and impaled the first one – the red one – through the torso – finding a weak spot between the breastplate and the neck. He wrenched the blade sideways and almost decapitated the person as they collapsed, a pale, green blood fountaining up before they collapsed.
“Someone is here! Quick, area of effect!”
“Gregor, no!”
“He’s dead, listen to him. Astral Stra-” Jace had snuck behind the green armored one and slide his blade just under the arm where he spotted another seam in the armor, spearing them through the heart and dropping them dead.
“Cataclysm Vortex!” the white armored one shouted.
“Typhoon Slash!” the blue one followed up almost at the same time.
Jace would have been blown away if not for his prosthetic legs. The whipping, swirling, razor-sharp wind swirled around the duo – but Jace was inside the eye of the storm, suffering no injury or energy drain due to the shield. As for the slash of water that burst out from the blue one’s blade? Well, he just stayed behind them and mirrored their movement. Grabbing the arm while it still spouted the cutting beam of water, he twisted it and chopped through their white-armored ally with the beam of water.
“Kiva! No!” The one Jace was holding was panicking, and he snapped their arm as they shouted in pain. Their armor buckled and burst from the force he exerted, and a shaft of bone protruded through the skin and plate mail. He forced the person to their knees from the pressure and twisting of the broken appendage.
He let his Dark Matter Cloak drop, letting the person see his piercing, purple, draconic-magic eyes. “Why did you try to kill V- Priam?”
The person’s eyes were barely visible through the slits, and Jace could see the fear and panic. A silvery-white Wayfinder was nestled inside the armor as well. “We-he said he camped in the cave! He just wanted to get to his camp! Please spare me!”
“No.” Jace shoved his blade through the top of the collar, down into the chest, and instinctively found the heart.
No one hurts Priam.
Despite the short duration, the trusting, slightly - well, very naïve - bunny boy had grown on him.
Plus, they were Signers for the same faction – he was Jace’s responsibility.
As he let the body drop, he gestured to Ollie, “Dust them.”
>>>---<<<
Oh, 100 Stardust. How thoughtful. Bloopa signaled to Priam.
“Thanks!” Priam said as he saw Jace coming around the corner, slightly tired but otherwise hale.
“Let’s go pack up.” Jace led the way back to the cave, snagging a hefty looking dungeon core from the ground in the cave entrance. “That takes us from 54 to 63.” He put it into his backpack and Priam followed Jace into the cave’s depths. The Dark Matter Aspirant packed up the tent before looking back to the priest. “How you feeling about traveling more?”
“Great! Thanks for saving my butt back there.”
Jace chuckled, “Sure. Alright. Let’s go on foot for a bit. I need to conserve energy.” The glow faded from both, and Priam walked alongside and just a little behind the human.
Passing the spot where Jace had slain the other Aspirants, Priam spit on the ground. “That’s what you get for not being nice!”
>>>---<<<
My responsibility? No, he’s not. He’s just part of the same faction. Jace walked with Priam just a step behind as they descended the mountains. He had wanted to walk to save energy – especially with that fight earlier which he was not anticipating.
What am I thinking? I…he’s young. And trusting. Damnit. Glancing back at Priam, the rabbit-man Priest gave him a smile and nod, “What you thinking about?”
“You,” Jace replied honestly. “I don’t know how to feel about you.”
Priam cocked his head sideways, “How so?”
Jace sighed, “I…almost feel – no, I do feel responsible for keeping you safe. I mean, I kept you alive because you reminded me of a friend I let down. Hell, I even mixed up his name with yours.” He shook his head, “The whole point of this is to become Tier 10 and bring back my sister. I don’t know why I chose to bring you along. And now? You’re part of my faction.”
“Well…you chose me to come along because, despite all the non-meaty parts, you have a heart.” Priam grinned at the little rhyme. “I’m helpful, and I can definitely help out The Cosmic System. And by doing that, we both get Stardust. We both level up. Closer to your goal.” His ears twitched slightly, “You said bring back your sister…is she?”
“Dead. 2 years, 5 months, and 13 days ago,” Jace rattled off having the date burned into his memory. “I have to hit Tier 10 before 10 years has gone by. If I don’t…I can’t bring her back.”
“Oooh! I need to get to Tier 10 also, then. And fast! Dad only died 5 years ago! I can bring him back!”
Jace smiled at the revelation of a shared goal, “It would go faster if we were both solo.”
“But not as safe!”
“I…no offense, but I don’t need your help.”
Priam deflated slightly at this, and Jace immediately felt bad. Ollie nudged him and whispered in his ear, “Remember, his barriers kept you safe from the shockwaves on those explosions.”
“But!” Jace said, as if he had just remembered that himself. “You did help me with those explosive things. So…thank you. I’m sorry. I just – since Chroma died, I’ve been a solo act. The…idea of teaming up…well-”
“That was her name?”
Jace nodded, “Yeah. You know, you remind me of her a little bit.”
“How so?”
“The…enthusiasm…and being willing to see good in people. Hell, when we first met, I was kicking your group’s collective ass. Yet you still saw that I didn’t really want to kill the lot of you, and only did it when there was no other choice.”
Priam’s lips drew thin and he nodded, “I’m sorry on their behalf. Hopefully, their souls find peace and do not end up in the eternal deserts. May they find the oasis of plenty.”
Jace chuckled, “That sort of like heaven and hell?”
Priam looked at his Wayfinder, who shifted through a plethora of shapes. “Oh. Yeah, sort of like an afterlife.” He grinned, “I’m sure they are in the oasis. They did help me, after all.”
“They used you, also.”
“But I used them to stay alive, also. We used each other. It was…symbiotic?”
Jace nodded, “Well, I am not going to use you for my own ends. And…just, look, if I come off as harsh, I’m sorry. I’ve been on my own for a few years. Plus, a whole month with just Ollie – and his gruff personality…it kind of rubbed off on me.”
“Hey!” Ollie shouted. “I am not grumpy.”
“You were when we met,” Priam replied.
“You were trying to kill my Aspirant!” Ollie replied with a cute, non-threatening growl due to his size.
“I wasn’t, Giordo and Rory were.”
Jace chuckled and scratched Ollie’s head, “Hey, you started out pretty grumpy and pissed off. It was only after I survived that Vyrknadine attack that you really saw my value.”
Ollie frowned, “Well…yes. That is true.”
Priam smiled, “It’s okay. You let me call you Ollie instead of Oliver – so I already know we’re best friends.”
“Aww, Ollie? Kicking me to the curb already?” Jace taunted.
Ollie playfully slapped him on the head, “Nope! You’re my Aspirant. Priam…he is a friend. But not my best friend.”
“How can you touch your Wayfinder?” Priam asked.
Ollie smirked, “Why? Jealous you cannot touch my luxurious fur?”
Priam shook his head, “No. Just curious.”
“I am fairly certain that Jace’s Cosmic Infusion being at (Rank 10) is the cause. His body is ingrained into The Cosmic System to an extent.”
“Oh! Interesting,” Priam replied.
Jace let out a slight sigh. Not out of frustration, but just because he knew what was coming. “Come on, let’s pick up the pace a bit. Less talking, more walking.”
>>>---<<<
The duo made good progress overland. After they cleared the mountains, they found themselves on the edge of a windswept, sand-strewn desert. Dunes that crested several stories in height were scattered all around. “You will not be able to move as fast,” Ollie had told Jace. “Since the claws help propel you forward.”
Priam seemed ecstatic. “It’s just like how dad described Fernaid! A gorgeous, huge desert with glimmering, golden sand.” He was practically buzzing with excitement. “It feels so good between my toes!”
That’s when Jace finally noticed – the bunny-boy wasn’t wearing any types of footwear. He had slightly oversized rabbit feet. “Are…are you going to be okay?”
“Oh yeah, these floppy things were built for sand.”
Jace nodded and looked at the map. Right, so, I used an information Boon to find the glitch location on this tile. Way off in the corner? Damn. At least there’s a few Complexes along the way. “Ready?” he asked Priam.
“Oh yeah! Let me lead the way! But first, barrier time!” he closed his eyes for a moment, and the yellowish barriers popped around the two of them. He seemed to not have burned any energy – Jace assumed from his excitement at his species’ home terrain. “Let’s go! Into the desert!”
