R : (Yvolki? I've heard of it before! It's been here since a long time ago!)
It did not bode well for either of them to fight any longer. Roberia knew with her heart that they had to run away quickly. For them to challenge an eldritch, antecedent creature like Yvolki, whom has lived long enough to have interacted with at least 7 legends directly, is akin to ants facing a mischievous human, hoping that they would not be crushed by Man's curiosity and little regard of life.
Regaining her balance, Roberia picked up the sword and ran out towards Katachi quickly.
*** ***
The great white Firebird stepped forward, its wings outspread and its head cocked and primed towards Katachi.
R : "Katachi! Run away! That's a Divine Beast-class creature!!"
Roberia had come running towards Katachi, her heavy broadsword dragging across the ground.
K : (That sound... Something heavy-?? Roberia? She has her sword back??? When did that happen?)
*Cozy's Notes : He didn't even notice the sword when he was running to her before, it goes to show how chaotic the entire situation is. Or, if you'd like to argue otherwise, she held the sword in a pose that hid it from his view. Whichever theory suits you.*
As he turned away, the beast lunged its beak towards him. Out of pure instinct, Katachi loosened one of his leg muscles and slumped down rapidly, dodging it barely while catching himself with his palms.
Its neck withdrew, and it took another close aim at Katachi, who now stared the beast back in the eyes.
R : (! It's looking at his feet, not his body. It is trying to predict where he can dodge towards, and limiting his movement-)
Katachi leapt towards the beast, with a golden 定 on his chest. With his palms, he pushed the beast along with him, away from Roberia.
*Cozy's Notes : That is another interesting way of using Constant Velocity. Though if you do plan on attempting something like this, exercise caution - If you're trying to push a whole mountain, you should first worry about your body flying forward into the rocks. You can potentially crush yourself into mush with that because your durability as a human isn't that high to begin with. Bone is hard, but brittle.*
K : (Even if I am to give my own life... If it can save another...!) "Run away!"
The boy shoved the beast with him all the way to the middle of the plains. The beast, surprised by the sudden and unprecedented attack, extinguished its flames and shook its head in confusion, trying to look behind at where it's going to land. Katachi prayed that he would live from this height, and undid the Word of Power on his chest.
The two fell.
The beast, in an uncomfortable and panicked state, went crashing into the the field headfirst, pushing apart another mound of land. Katachi, being lighter in comparison, fell onto the beast's belly simultaneously, and bounced off onto a sandy path in the middle of the field.
Where the soft earth did little to cushion the beast's rough collision, the sandy path's abrasive nature was more unforgiving. Katachi slid along the path, the little rocks and bits of rough, unrefined sand lacerating what little skin had been left on his arm.
K : (!! Pain!! It hurts!!) "Aaaack!!!"
The little slits on his sleeves opened wide, and stretched to its fullest, as his arm ground against the sandy path. His body, out of reflex, changed in position, and he tumbled after a good bit of sliding to cushion the impact.
Katachi held his arm in pain as he glanced over toward the creature, still immobilized from the crash.
K : (... Divine Beast-class creature, like Hraxiif? I haven't heard of a dragon-like creature like this, though. 解释! Explain identity - Divine Beast!)
In that instant, it became clear to him as the hoarse whisper echoed information into the back of his head.
(Yvolki, the Bird of Dream. A creature that has lived since the arrival of Kavnel. Yvolki is known to be the counterpart of Hraxiif, the Wolf of Fear. The most notable records of it include being a messenger of Kavnel at one point, assisting Kafki in the extraction of the Dream Poison, shielding Diehl and Urdythari from a sneak attack by bandits, guarding and raising Sha'koth's reincarnate Pinrae, thr-)
K : (Too much information!)
The word faded off his chest quickly.
*Cozy's Notes : Wise choice. Yvolki has done LOADS of things, being as old as it is. If he had the Word of Power recall every single detail Yvolki has done, he would suffer from Memory Overload.
On a side note, using Understand identity would have been better for him, since explain is an elaborating term. That's another weakness of the Words of Power - Knowing which term to use is important because they are fundamentally different, and the wrong application could cost you your life if it's serious.*
Katachi gazed at the beast while gripping his left arm in pain. The wyvern, Yvolki had the shroud of black skin covering it again.
K : (Ahh! It's Yvolki... So this, is the Bird of Dream... It looks so pretty, as if... As if it's absorbing all the light around it, and letting out tiny little glints. It sort-of looks like a bird, I guess. The no-feather appearance is a bit offsetting, but that looks like a hawk, no doubt.)
As he slowly walked towards the creature, it changed back into the original wyvern form, and lifted its body off the ground slightly. It stood on all four legs once again, and stared at Katachi maliciously.
K : (!! It's awake!)
"!!!▅▄▅▂▃▂▃▂▄▄▂▅▃▄▅▂▃▃▂!!!"
The beast roared at Katachi, and started heading towards his direction. Katachi turned around, and tried to beeline away as fast as he could, only to be pinned by the beast gliding across the plains and pressing him down with its forearm.
K : (Not good! I need it to calm down, I'm not attacking it anymore! 平定! Calm mind - Yvolki!)
The word formed between the beast's eyes, and it withdrew its head for a moment.
K : (... It worked?)
-Only to have the beast shake its head furiously, and the word wore off.
K : (!!! I remember! Shelly's mentioned this before - Divine Beasts have some level of resistance against the Words of Power, because they are both granted strength from the same source!!!)
The beast, appalled and enraged by the gimmick, roared into Katachi's face.
"!!!▂▃▄▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▄▃▂!!!"
K : (If only there's some way to stop this thing! 了解! Understand solution to dilemma!)
The dry whisper from before echoed in his head once again.
(Amplify the power of 安 and 定 together.)
K : (安定! Calm down - Yvolki!)
Two words formed above its eyes this time, and the beast's shoulders drooped and lowered slowly. Its neck cringed slightly, and it stepped backwards, removing its forelimb from Katachi's body.
*** ***
*Cozy's Notes : Okay, this could get confusing, so brace yourselves. Well, then! Do you guys recall Layering magic from Lotz's lore? I hope you do! It's a form of magic that places the spells and runes over themselves repeatedly, and amplifying the result by triggering multiple attacks with a single attack - Much like how demolitions work with a fuse connected to make all bombs explode at the same time.
Layering is a technique used to amplify the result. What we have here, however, works under a different law. Much like how magic works under its own law, and how these Curse Words function under their own law. Think of these as moss and algae working together to form a lichen. They combine and create a new organism with its own property. So, where people think adding two WoPs together increases its precedence level by 2 fold, it actually boosts by 6 fold.
The fun and annoying thing is, the math here seems really confusing, but well, here's my best attempt at it. If you're originally a single being, and you split into two, you form 3 entities - The twins you created, and 'yourself'. The three of you feel the same things, and what one feels is fed back to the other two. Say the twins hold hands with each other to stay together and not be separated in a crowd - The twins and 'you' receive the feeling of grabbing one's hand, and because there are three of you, the sense of touch is amplified by 9 fold.
For the scenario regarding the Words of Power, 'you' which is the power formed from the two, is not sentient. So instead of a 3 x 3 chained feedback, it's a 3 x 2 feedback - Thus 6-fold. Think of it this way - Instead of a squared increment in image power, it's more of a factorial increase. 3! = 6, 4! = 24, 5! = 120, and so on. To give a definite formula, image power = (n+1)!, where n is an integer and n > 1. The single WoP he placed onto Yvolki had a slight effect - Multiplying that effect by 6 times is amazing.
Of course, it seems overpowered, but consider the effect 安定 brings - Calm. It's not offensive or anything. Finding WoPs that can pair with each other in a sort of useful way is tough, UNLESS your WoP is a word that can be commonly used in everyday speech. (On that note, if you think about it hard enough, you can probably guess right now, the most powerful Word of Power that exists.) Have fun with your imagination.*
*** ***
The beast seemed to have simmered down as Roberia ran towards the center of the field, cutting through the grass and straight towards the two.
R : "Katachi!"
The boy's head perked up and looked in her direction. His face contorted into a weird expression when he saw the gray greatsword on her back again.
K : "Roberia! You have your sword back?! What happened?"
R : "You imbecile!!"
Katachi's cheek greeted a fist from her right hand. It hit his cheekbone hard, and his head rang with an unpleasant, dull sound.
R : "Don't do something this rash by yourself! This is a Divine Beast we're talking about! We can't even hope to challenge that thing in a fair fight- ?..."
K : "..."
R : "It's... Not attacking?"
K : "... That's the least of my worries."
R : "? What do you mean, that's the least of your worries?"
K : "..." (了解! Understand intent - Yvolki!)
A golden 解 formed on Roberia, and she heard a voice in her head.
(You two hooligans have damaged my shrine. I demand penance!)
Roberia looked back at the wyvern, whom stared back at them intently.
R : "Seriously? We have to pay this bird for its shrine's damage?"
K : "... Yes. Apparently we have to."
R : "That's nonsensical! We don't have the coin for this! This bird can't possibly use the gold anyway! What can a bird do with gold?!"
*Cozy's Notes : You'd be surprised what a bird can do with gold. Heh heh heh heh- Sorry. I made another revolting genitalia joke. That aside... Yeah, how would Yvolki use gold?*
K : "That's fine. It doesn't want gold, it wants our stuff."
R : "Our stuff?!"
K : "Yes. 'Give me half of everything you have, rounded up!' Or, well... Or so it says."
R : "... I can't believe it..."
K : "Let's go, then."
R : "!? 'Let's go'"?! What do you mean, 'Let's go'?! How can you listen to such a stupid request by a bir-"
Katachi wiped the sand stuck to his palm onto a clean part of his shirt, and covered Roberia's mouth with the cleaned hand.
R : (!?) "Mmmpf?!"
K : "Let's go."
He said nothing else, and headed towards the forest. Roberia could only follow him without complaints.
*** ***
Katachi unpacked the things from his bag once more, this time separating the items into two sets - One with one of everything, and the other stack was whatever that had been left..
As he spread the items out neatly, Roberia walked up to him and handed him something brown.
K : "! Ah, my wooden dagger!"
R : "I almost tripped over this a while ago, so... Here you go."
K : "Thanks. That saved me the trouble of having to search for it."
*** ***
The bird took a good look at the piles of items, and then back at the two.
R : "What? Are you still unsatisfied with this? We did a pretty good job separating them! You better be grateful!!"
*Cozy's Notes : Aggressive as always - Except this aggression isn't a tsundere sort of aggression, but a warrior's assertiveness. Ahh, the womanly aura she gives off... It leaves me in a trance sometimes.*
The bird looked back at the piles of adventuring items.
"!!!▅▂▃▅▄▃▅▃!!!"
Yvolki slammed the earth with its forelimb, and a strange, void circle appeared on the ground, devouring a pile before fading away.
R : (Figures. It took the pile with more stuff.)
Then, the wyvern shrunk. It shrunk, and shrunk, and the ebony skin faded off. A few flaps of the wings and a cry to check its voice affirmed itself that it had transformed into a parrot.
R : "?"
K : "?"
Y : "Waargh! Are you a follower of Dardicel, boy? Do you enjoy this setback offered to you? Waargh!"
R : (!! It spoke! A talking bird!!)
K :(It talked?) "... No, I am a follower of Segus."
Y : "Segus? Waargh~! I see, I see! *whistle* Segus! Segus!"
K : "... Yes, I am a Segus follower... ?"
Y : "Waargh! Eyes! Eyes! *whistle* Waargh!"
K : (Eyes?)
Katachi looked into the parrot's eyes unconsciously, and purple sigils formed on its pupils. The sigils were burnt into Katachi's eyes, and he felt some sort of weird spell cast on himself.
K : (... I feel, I feel... Nauseated... Giddy... Woozy... I don't even know the meanings of the words I just used...)
*Cozy's Notes : In case you don't understand what he's talking about, 'Nauseated' was coined in 1625, 'Woozy' was coined in 1897 A.D., but they are in 1570 A.D. (Yes, a year has passed both IRL and in the story.) Heheh. The tiny, uncanny details are the best. On a side note, this little trivia is actually *bleeeeeep*. So... Yeah.*
Yvolki the parrot then flew onto Roberia's head, and plucked a feather from its wing. The feather, removed from the parrot, formed a gigantic feather that looks just like its original skin - Black and starry, just like the night sky. Its beak loosened and the feather slowly descended onto Roberia's hands.
Y : "Waargh! An offering is an offering! Blessing! *whistle* Blessing! Waargh!"
*Cozy's Notes : I've had a lot of debate and internal conflict for this chapter. Really. Should I give Yvolki the ability to speak? I thought about it from a lot of angles, and decided not to. There really is no need, no rationale, no solid meaning behind Yvolki being directly capable of human speech - So I omitted it. There's a huge meaning behind Hraxiif speaking human, though.*
R : "Blessing?"
Without staying any longer for an explanation, Yvolki took off for the shrine in the forest, and disappeared from their sight.
R : "... Well... That was weird. I didn't expect that at all."
A wooden sound was heard from behind her, and Roberia turned around - The sword which had been stabbed into the ground had changed back into a simple twig.
R : (Wha- It turned back! Damn, what a pity. Just when I got used to its weight again, it's gone! Again!)
K : "... Well... At least the bag's much lighter now, thanks to Yvolki..."
R : "... ?... !! It sure is, isn't it?"
K : "I lost the triple braid rope and the nice shoes, though. Mother Rin didn't pack extra rope for us." (Which would make sense, since we didn't have any sort of oil to soften the rope fibers.) "Such a pity."
R : "... Ah. That rope you used then..." (That nicely-prepared and well-made one with no burs he had before's gone...)
K : "... Guess I'm going to use these sabots for a while to come. It's a good thing I swapped the ones I had before for these, then."
R : "Katachi? Let's keep walking. We're wasting time, you know."
K : "... Ah, right. Eliasbury won't magically become shorter. Let's take the sandy path again."
R : "... Before that, can I get some water? I'm parched. The weather and battle sure works up a thirst!"
K : "Water? Ah, sure... !? What- No!"
R : "? What's wrong?"
Katachi's face turned glum and long as he faced Roberia bearing bad news.
K : "... Yvolki took the water pouch with water inside."
*Cozy's Notes : Guess they should have halved the water in the water pouches as well, since Yvolki considers that as part of the penance. HA! XD*
*** ***
And so, the two had to take a detour and hiked towards a nearby river. They set up camp and rested their exhausted bodies under the warmth of the one blanket and groundsheet they now shared.
K : (That sound... Something heavy-?? Roberia? She has her sword back??? When did that happen?)
*Cozy's Notes : He didn't even notice the sword when he was running to her before, it goes to show how chaotic the entire situation is. Or, if you'd like to argue otherwise, she held the sword in a pose that hid it from his view. Whichever theory suits you.*
As he turned away, the beast lunged its beak towards him. Out of pure instinct, Katachi loosened one of his leg muscles and slumped down rapidly, dodging it barely while catching himself with his palms.
Its neck withdrew, and it took another close aim at Katachi, who now stared the beast back in the eyes.
R : (! It's looking at his feet, not his body. It is trying to predict where he can dodge towards, and limiting his movement-)
Katachi leapt towards the beast, with a golden 定 on his chest. With his palms, he pushed the beast along with him, away from Roberia.
*Cozy's Notes : That is another interesting way of using Constant Velocity. Though if you do plan on attempting something like this, exercise caution - If you're trying to push a whole mountain, you should first worry about your body flying forward into the rocks. You can potentially crush yourself into mush with that because your durability as a human isn't that high to begin with. Bone is hard, but brittle.*
K : (Even if I am to give my own life... If it can save another...!) "Run away!"
The boy shoved the beast with him all the way to the middle of the plains. The beast, surprised by the sudden and unprecedented attack, extinguished its flames and shook its head in confusion, trying to look behind at where it's going to land. Katachi prayed that he would live from this height, and undid the Word of Power on his chest.
The two fell.
The beast, in an uncomfortable and panicked state, went crashing into the the field headfirst, pushing apart another mound of land. Katachi, being lighter in comparison, fell onto the beast's belly simultaneously, and bounced off onto a sandy path in the middle of the field.
Where the soft earth did little to cushion the beast's rough collision, the sandy path's abrasive nature was more unforgiving. Katachi slid along the path, the little rocks and bits of rough, unrefined sand lacerating what little skin had been left on his arm.
K : (!! Pain!! It hurts!!) "Aaaack!!!"
The little slits on his sleeves opened wide, and stretched to its fullest, as his arm ground against the sandy path. His body, out of reflex, changed in position, and he tumbled after a good bit of sliding to cushion the impact.
Katachi held his arm in pain as he glanced over toward the creature, still immobilized from the crash.
K : (... Divine Beast-class creature, like Hraxiif? I haven't heard of a dragon-like creature like this, though. 解释! Explain identity - Divine Beast!)
In that instant, it became clear to him as the hoarse whisper echoed information into the back of his head.
(Yvolki, the Bird of Dream. A creature that has lived since the arrival of Kavnel. Yvolki is known to be the counterpart of Hraxiif, the Wolf of Fear. The most notable records of it include being a messenger of Kavnel at one point, assisting Kafki in the extraction of the Dream Poison, shielding Diehl and Urdythari from a sneak attack by bandits, guarding and raising Sha'koth's reincarnate Pinrae, thr-)
K : (Too much information!)
The word faded off his chest quickly.
*Cozy's Notes : Wise choice. Yvolki has done LOADS of things, being as old as it is. If he had the Word of Power recall every single detail Yvolki has done, he would suffer from Memory Overload.
On a side note, using Understand identity would have been better for him, since explain is an elaborating term. That's another weakness of the Words of Power - Knowing which term to use is important because they are fundamentally different, and the wrong application could cost you your life if it's serious.*
Katachi gazed at the beast while gripping his left arm in pain. The wyvern, Yvolki had the shroud of black skin covering it again.
K : (Ahh! It's Yvolki... So this, is the Bird of Dream... It looks so pretty, as if... As if it's absorbing all the light around it, and letting out tiny little glints. It sort-of looks like a bird, I guess. The no-feather appearance is a bit offsetting, but that looks like a hawk, no doubt.)
As he slowly walked towards the creature, it changed back into the original wyvern form, and lifted its body off the ground slightly. It stood on all four legs once again, and stared at Katachi maliciously.
K : (!! It's awake!)
"!!!▅▄▅▂▃▂▃▂▄▄▂▅▃▄▅▂▃▃▂!!!"
The beast roared at Katachi, and started heading towards his direction. Katachi turned around, and tried to beeline away as fast as he could, only to be pinned by the beast gliding across the plains and pressing him down with its forearm.
K : (Not good! I need it to calm down, I'm not attacking it anymore! 平定! Calm mind - Yvolki!)
The word formed between the beast's eyes, and it withdrew its head for a moment.
K : (... It worked?)
-Only to have the beast shake its head furiously, and the word wore off.
K : (!!! I remember! Shelly's mentioned this before - Divine Beasts have some level of resistance against the Words of Power, because they are both granted strength from the same source!!!)
The beast, appalled and enraged by the gimmick, roared into Katachi's face.
"!!!▂▃▄▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▄▃▂!!!"
K : (If only there's some way to stop this thing! 了解! Understand solution to dilemma!)
The dry whisper from before echoed in his head once again.
(Amplify the power of 安 and 定 together.)
K : (安定! Calm down - Yvolki!)
Two words formed above its eyes this time, and the beast's shoulders drooped and lowered slowly. Its neck cringed slightly, and it stepped backwards, removing its forelimb from Katachi's body.
*** ***
*Cozy's Notes : Okay, this could get confusing, so brace yourselves. Well, then! Do you guys recall Layering magic from Lotz's lore? I hope you do! It's a form of magic that places the spells and runes over themselves repeatedly, and amplifying the result by triggering multiple attacks with a single attack - Much like how demolitions work with a fuse connected to make all bombs explode at the same time.
Layering is a technique used to amplify the result. What we have here, however, works under a different law. Much like how magic works under its own law, and how these Curse Words function under their own law. Think of these as moss and algae working together to form a lichen. They combine and create a new organism with its own property. So, where people think adding two WoPs together increases its precedence level by 2 fold, it actually boosts by 6 fold.
The fun and annoying thing is, the math here seems really confusing, but well, here's my best attempt at it. If you're originally a single being, and you split into two, you form 3 entities - The twins you created, and 'yourself'. The three of you feel the same things, and what one feels is fed back to the other two. Say the twins hold hands with each other to stay together and not be separated in a crowd - The twins and 'you' receive the feeling of grabbing one's hand, and because there are three of you, the sense of touch is amplified by 9 fold.
For the scenario regarding the Words of Power, 'you' which is the power formed from the two, is not sentient. So instead of a 3 x 3 chained feedback, it's a 3 x 2 feedback - Thus 6-fold. Think of it this way - Instead of a squared increment in image power, it's more of a factorial increase. 3! = 6, 4! = 24, 5! = 120, and so on. To give a definite formula, image power = (n+1)!, where n is an integer and n > 1. The single WoP he placed onto Yvolki had a slight effect - Multiplying that effect by 6 times is amazing.
Of course, it seems overpowered, but consider the effect 安定 brings - Calm. It's not offensive or anything. Finding WoPs that can pair with each other in a sort of useful way is tough, UNLESS your WoP is a word that can be commonly used in everyday speech. (On that note, if you think about it hard enough, you can probably guess right now, the most powerful Word of Power that exists.) Have fun with your imagination.*
*** ***
The beast seemed to have simmered down as Roberia ran towards the center of the field, cutting through the grass and straight towards the two.
R : "Katachi!"
The boy's head perked up and looked in her direction. His face contorted into a weird expression when he saw the gray greatsword on her back again.
K : "Roberia! You have your sword back?! What happened?"
R : "You imbecile!!"
Katachi's cheek greeted a fist from her right hand. It hit his cheekbone hard, and his head rang with an unpleasant, dull sound.
R : "Don't do something this rash by yourself! This is a Divine Beast we're talking about! We can't even hope to challenge that thing in a fair fight- ?..."
K : "..."
R : "It's... Not attacking?"
K : "... That's the least of my worries."
R : "? What do you mean, that's the least of your worries?"
K : "..." (了解! Understand intent - Yvolki!)
A golden 解 formed on Roberia, and she heard a voice in her head.
(You two hooligans have damaged my shrine. I demand penance!)
Roberia looked back at the wyvern, whom stared back at them intently.
R : "Seriously? We have to pay this bird for its shrine's damage?"
K : "... Yes. Apparently we have to."
R : "That's nonsensical! We don't have the coin for this! This bird can't possibly use the gold anyway! What can a bird do with gold?!"
*Cozy's Notes : You'd be surprised what a bird can do with gold. Heh heh heh heh- Sorry. I made another revolting genitalia joke. That aside... Yeah, how would Yvolki use gold?*
K : "That's fine. It doesn't want gold, it wants our stuff."
R : "Our stuff?!"
K : "Yes. 'Give me half of everything you have, rounded up!' Or, well... Or so it says."
R : "... I can't believe it..."
K : "Let's go, then."
R : "!? 'Let's go'"?! What do you mean, 'Let's go'?! How can you listen to such a stupid request by a bir-"
Katachi wiped the sand stuck to his palm onto a clean part of his shirt, and covered Roberia's mouth with the cleaned hand.
R : (!?) "Mmmpf?!"
K : "Let's go."
He said nothing else, and headed towards the forest. Roberia could only follow him without complaints.
*** ***
Katachi unpacked the things from his bag once more, this time separating the items into two sets - One with one of everything, and the other stack was whatever that had been left..
As he spread the items out neatly, Roberia walked up to him and handed him something brown.
K : "! Ah, my wooden dagger!"
R : "I almost tripped over this a while ago, so... Here you go."
K : "Thanks. That saved me the trouble of having to search for it."
*** ***
The bird took a good look at the piles of items, and then back at the two.
R : "What? Are you still unsatisfied with this? We did a pretty good job separating them! You better be grateful!!"
*Cozy's Notes : Aggressive as always - Except this aggression isn't a tsundere sort of aggression, but a warrior's assertiveness. Ahh, the womanly aura she gives off... It leaves me in a trance sometimes.*
The bird looked back at the piles of adventuring items.
"!!!▅▂▃▅▄▃▅▃!!!"
Yvolki slammed the earth with its forelimb, and a strange, void circle appeared on the ground, devouring a pile before fading away.
R : (Figures. It took the pile with more stuff.)
Then, the wyvern shrunk. It shrunk, and shrunk, and the ebony skin faded off. A few flaps of the wings and a cry to check its voice affirmed itself that it had transformed into a parrot.
R : "?"
K : "?"
Y : "Waargh! Are you a follower of Dardicel, boy? Do you enjoy this setback offered to you? Waargh!"
R : (!! It spoke! A talking bird!!)
K :(It talked?) "... No, I am a follower of Segus."
Y : "Segus? Waargh~! I see, I see! *whistle* Segus! Segus!"
K : "... Yes, I am a Segus follower... ?"
Y : "Waargh! Eyes! Eyes! *whistle* Waargh!"
K : (Eyes?)
Katachi looked into the parrot's eyes unconsciously, and purple sigils formed on its pupils. The sigils were burnt into Katachi's eyes, and he felt some sort of weird spell cast on himself.
K : (... I feel, I feel... Nauseated... Giddy... Woozy... I don't even know the meanings of the words I just used...)
*Cozy's Notes : In case you don't understand what he's talking about, 'Nauseated' was coined in 1625, 'Woozy' was coined in 1897 A.D., but they are in 1570 A.D. (Yes, a year has passed both IRL and in the story.) Heheh. The tiny, uncanny details are the best. On a side note, this little trivia is actually *bleeeeeep*. So... Yeah.*
Yvolki the parrot then flew onto Roberia's head, and plucked a feather from its wing. The feather, removed from the parrot, formed a gigantic feather that looks just like its original skin - Black and starry, just like the night sky. Its beak loosened and the feather slowly descended onto Roberia's hands.
Y : "Waargh! An offering is an offering! Blessing! *whistle* Blessing! Waargh!"
*Cozy's Notes : I've had a lot of debate and internal conflict for this chapter. Really. Should I give Yvolki the ability to speak? I thought about it from a lot of angles, and decided not to. There really is no need, no rationale, no solid meaning behind Yvolki being directly capable of human speech - So I omitted it. There's a huge meaning behind Hraxiif speaking human, though.*
R : "Blessing?"
Without staying any longer for an explanation, Yvolki took off for the shrine in the forest, and disappeared from their sight.
R : "... Well... That was weird. I didn't expect that at all."
A wooden sound was heard from behind her, and Roberia turned around - The sword which had been stabbed into the ground had changed back into a simple twig.
R : (Wha- It turned back! Damn, what a pity. Just when I got used to its weight again, it's gone! Again!)
K : "... Well... At least the bag's much lighter now, thanks to Yvolki..."
R : "... ?... !! It sure is, isn't it?"
K : "I lost the triple braid rope and the nice shoes, though. Mother Rin didn't pack extra rope for us." (Which would make sense, since we didn't have any sort of oil to soften the rope fibers.) "Such a pity."
R : "... Ah. That rope you used then..." (That nicely-prepared and well-made one with no burs he had before's gone...)
K : "... Guess I'm going to use these sabots for a while to come. It's a good thing I swapped the ones I had before for these, then."
R : "Katachi? Let's keep walking. We're wasting time, you know."
K : "... Ah, right. Eliasbury won't magically become shorter. Let's take the sandy path again."
R : "... Before that, can I get some water? I'm parched. The weather and battle sure works up a thirst!"
K : "Water? Ah, sure... !? What- No!"
R : "? What's wrong?"
Katachi's face turned glum and long as he faced Roberia bearing bad news.
K : "... Yvolki took the water pouch with water inside."
*Cozy's Notes : Guess they should have halved the water in the water pouches as well, since Yvolki considers that as part of the penance. HA! XD*
*** ***
And so, the two had to take a detour and hiked towards a nearby river. They set up camp and rested their exhausted bodies under the warmth of the one blanket and groundsheet they now shared.
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