Desolate Shock

Another human?

TAP TAP TAP

I was running across the trees going to Drigger's lair, carrying my trusty first aid kit. It was not perfect and easy to use nowadays, considering how often I used them over the past year but it was enough for most situations. Rolls of bandages and some antiseptic wipes were still available and if I really needed to stitch things up, Maurice could always get me some thread vines, the came kind which I had fashioned a makeshift necklace out of, adorned with three colorful crystals.

Niht really dropped the ball on that one. And so did Maurice. Apparently, Maurice could have just brought the injured human to me directly and he was quite close at the time but he carried the person to Drigger for some reason.

And Niht waited till I completed training to tell me about the injured person, then sent me on my way, but I had to go to my dream cave and grab the first aid kit and then move back to the other side. And I am pretty sure I crossed that distance in record time. To the creatures in and around the area, I probably looked like a streak of light. I was excited. A human. After so long.

I was by no means alone. In fact I had gotten closer to the Kings as well as Maurice as I got to know them. I didn't have much of a story either way compared to them. And Dragoon wasn't kidding when he said that he had lived a long time. The Kings were old, really old. I'm not kidding. They had been alive since the time the Cosmic Radiance happened. Literal fossils. They year I spent with them, going from King to King, learning from them and getting to know them, has been extremely eventful and fun. At one point I started viewing them as family. I didn't know if they thought of me as the same but I came to love them. They...… they filled the hole in my heart. And I was extremely grateful to them.

But that did not curb the excitement of meeting a new human in almost 2 years. I wanted human interaction. And I hoped that the person Maurice saved is not someone I would consider an enemy. That's all I ask for, gender doesn't even matter. I just want another friend.

A friend.

That word rolled off my tongue a lot easier than expected.

That didn't mean I was not nervous. I was. Very. I didn't know if I was going to be accepted. The year had not been kind to me. My clothes for example, were all in tatters. It was to be expected after all, the kind of training I went through didn't really leave any chances for my clothes to survive.

I had also changed a lot physically. I grew taller. My bulky body had compressed down a little. I was still on the bigger side but not as big as I had been when I first arrived here. My eyes which had gotten a blue hue due to my Waking also changed back to the older darker grey.

My hair remained the same. Straight black.

The other bodily changes I had was probably more scars. I had fought a lot the past year. My torso, forearms and legs taking the brunt of the damage, what could I do, a lot of the creatures attacked those spots the most. The ones that went for my throat, well all they bit into was pure lightning.

I had also figured out the best places for me to fight. Swampy and marshy areas, or basically any place that was wet. I tried some fun experiments as well. Some electrolysis here, a little spark there and BOOM. A little dangerous but it did the job. Swamps automatically did that for me, they naturally released hydrogen sulfide and it just rested over the surface. Igniting them was like a pyromaniac's dream. The training had led me to get used to being put into new situations and adapting to them as quickly and as efficiently as possible. And that I did. To a high degree of success.

Another thing was a change in the way my Waking worked. My training with Drigger and Strata had changed the way I used my Waking. Both of the Kings preferred me using my physical strength instead of only relying on my Waking. And with that in mind, I was given intense physical training. My only issue with that was where it took place. Inside Strata's underground cave and inside Drigger's den. Both inside. My Waking and education was done outside, in the sun but physical training was done inside. Why? 

The only instance of outside physical training was when Niht came every few months picking me up and dropping me off at a random spot telling me to survive and make my way to one of the Kings.

Anyway, the training had changed the way I used my Waking. As I started it, my eyes took on a grey glow, like that of an ordinary physical and then as I ramped up, it took on the bright blue I had come to love. When I saw the grey glow bounce off my surroundings, the nostalgia hit hard. I took several long breaths to stop myself from becoming a crying mess. But I liked the change, a physical change reminding me of the good old days.

I was seventeen now as well. And being around these guys, all with their own quirky characters, had helped me get over my loss. But that didn't mean my thirst for revenge had fallen. No. In fact it grew, experiencing this new family environment made me miss my old one more.

I also felt like I wasn't worth the having this experience. The Kings really didn't bother about trying to quell my anger and hatred but they helped me get over issues regarding myself. Art was always giving me advice, listening to me, helping me. And there was Aku, he didn't really move and could hear me from everywhere and could talk to me from everywhere. Telepathy was an interesting Waking. I didn't know how far he could push it however. Finally, there was Drigger, despite her nature, she was quite caring, often encouraging me to cuddle up to her.

There was a very clear family dynamic here.

Art and Aku acted like concerned and reliable parents. Drigger was a caring older sister, Niht was the outwardly cold but loving brother. And Dragoon and Strata were the unreliable older brothers, who wanted to get you in trouble. Maurice was the youngest who had to suffer the most due to the older siblings.

But man.

A friend.

Now that I thought about it, I could only make friends with them if they were still alive. The thought kicked me into high gear and I increased the speed I ran at, whizzing through my surroundings at a faster pace now.

A few minutes.

That was how long it took me to reach the spot.

Drigger's den was really nice. Natural light was the best there, the reasoning for that was that it had windows. Personally made when Drigger cut holes to the outside, when I said that I couldn't see clearly. She really was the caring older sister type. And currently, she was on her little rock, high up. She stayed there because 'she could see everything from up there.'

Walking in I saw Maurice crouched over the person applying some leaves.

I spoke as I made my way to him, "Has the bleeding stopped yet?"

"Yes. Bandage?"

"Got it right here." I said reaching into my old reliable first aid kit and pulling out the roll of bandages.

I looked around Maurice, trying to catch a peek at the person's face. But Maurice being the absolute genius that he was, pulled the person's shirt over their head to look at the wounds, the string of a necklace peeked through the gap in the shirt.

A male.

The body indicated that easy enough.

He moved the body closer to me.

"Tie."

I looked at the wound and took a breath through my teeth, "That is pretty deep. Did you wash it? It can get infected."

"I wash. Leaf antiseptic."

Maurice wasn't stupid. He was smart. Extremely smart. The only thing that made one doubt his intellect was his speech. Despite knowing how the language worked, he still couldn't string together a full sentence. The Kings had tried many times over the years, Dragoon especially, since Maurice lives at the dream cave.

I grabbed a crudely torn end of the bandage and started wrapping it around the torso of the person. Maurice slowly spun the body around so that I could tightly wrap it. As I wrapped it, I noticed the hair color of the person in question.

Red.

Huh. I knew a guy with red hair. How was he doing I wonder?

As we finished wrapping the body, I gave it a little tug to make sure it was tightened before I tore the bandage. 

And a little pendant fell from the shirt due to my tugging.

A little black pendant.

A little black pendant in the shape of a coin.

A little black pendant with the logo I was all to familiar with.

The red hair and the pendant could only mean one thing. With my hands shaking, I tied the bandage up and pulled the person's shirt down.

Tears filled my eyes.

He had grown and changed but I could still recognize him. 

My brother. Gen.

Maurice hadn't brought a potential friend. He had brought family.

I put him down and spoke, "Who Did tHis to hiM?" My voice cracked as I spoke. A lump forming in my throat.

 He would survive that much was for sure, humans were quite resilient these days but what made me angry was why he was in this state and who had put him in that state. If it was an animal, then I wouldn't do anything, survival of the fittest applied to everyone here, no one was an exception. But if it was a person, well that just meant I had another person on my hitlist.

"Why?" asked Maurice.

"You know when I said my family died. There were two who didn't. They left before. This is one of them. Meet Gen, my brother." I said showing him the pendant and my bracelet.

Drigger who had her eyes closed the entire time, opened it and stared at me.

"What!"

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Yo Manager here, after the next chapter, I will be on a planned two week hiatus. Don't worry, I will be back after two weeks. The reason why I'm taking this break is to actually flesh out the next arc. The goal with writing this was to improve along the way and I aim to do just that. I will be planning as well as writing during the two weeks. Along side this I plan on writing another story, options for which I will add after this. I'll choose one. But just to be clear, I aim to write all the stories.

1. League of legends fanfic

2. A DC fanfic (But less on the actual hero stuff and more of a laid back thing. Powers will be absolutely busted but it is an extremely cool idea that I have never seen be used in any scenario, so that will be fun.)

3. A game type story. Similar to SAO but also like TOG.

Disclaimer, I will start with these, but don't expect them to be out soon. Split skies is still my main focus. I will stock up on chapters for the next story and will probably do a mass release type thing, you know, drop a whole volume of 30~ish chapters every few months.

Anyway, that's about it.

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