Journey

Chapter 14

Marron stopped talking now, running her hands through his hair as another approached. He had much darker skin than Arion -black as the night, by comparison-, spiked up multi-hued blue hair and short, pointed ears. As he approached, the small beads at the ends of the tassels on his ornamented robes clinked together, their earthly sound reverberating through the calm atmosphere, disturbing it.

Unlike with Marron, Arion recognised this man immediatley. Taureg. The man he had spent his first summers with, until fate claimed him as well. His father, in the simplest and most complicated use of the word. "Taureg...," He breathed, surprised.

"The moment you are released, you are not to head straight to the RedRabbitClan," Taureg spoke with a familiar accent, but Arion could not recall ever hearing his father use it before. "Marron does not know why. DragonFire. Do you know who this is?"

Arion shook his head. He hadn't heard of anyone with a name even remotley similar to that. "No. Should I?"

"You should," Taureg cut in sharply, earning him an elbow in the ribs from Marron. "DragonFire," He reitterated.

Arion stared blankly at him. For quite some time, until something clicked. His father's Clan was DragonClan, his mother's FireClan. If he was their child and unnaccepted in either because of this mix... could DragonFire be the name of the mix... of him? "...Me?..."

Another sharp nod from his father. "Precisely. A child of both clans, a mix." He smiled, it looked forced and fake on his father's face. He'd never seen the man smile, nor did he ever expect to. "We need you to recover something. Both the Clans are warring over it... However, if it is in your hands, the hands of a 'fobidden union' of both Clans, they cannot argue. They'll find something else to war over, and this won't promote peace... But it'll stop a little something great enough to destroy our world."

Marron sighed, pulling her son up from her lap, hugging him. Gold eyes closed as Arion began feeling as though her were fading away, even when he asked one final question his voice was distant, as though the audio on life were misplaced. "Where is this place?"

It was Taureg who anwered. "There's no official name, everyone calls it something different." Arion nodded, and Marron placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. "Farewell, our son," She said, a hint of sadness in her voice. Afterall, what mother wouldn't want their child with them? No matter how selfish it seemed?

He was fading away now, Arion confirmed this as he placed a nearly transparent hand on Marron's. His word were hollow, full of guilt he had carried for all his years, as he faded back to himself. "I'm sorry for killing you."

xXXXx

After a long and heated argument spanning a few moons, Kol had finally ran from his brother. Though, he would return, but a lot lighter than he was. Currently one unbound, probably dying and obviouslly unwell forest demon was delaying his progress greatly. He was only a small boy, and this one was almost full grown if his brother's conclusions were to be credited. Which, Kol did. For all of Kode's insane and inhumanity, Kol would always admire and look up to him -- even if he did despise the researcher from time time to time.

This was one such time. Currently he was wishing every curse, every plague, every damnation possible upon his elder brother for all he had put Arion through. Even in the time that Arion had spent unconcious Kode had not stopped his 'expiriments', adding new lacerations and pains to the poor man. Kol could not count how many times he had been wakened by a bout of pained whimpering and other protests made merely out of habit on the forest demon's part; Kode had confirmed that he was unconcious and quite unlikely to wake up, so long as he was bound.

It had been two weeks since Kol had removed the binding shackles from the dark-skinned forest demon, and there had been no change. Each day they only covered a few more miles, and that was if they were lucky. Though his family was forbidden from entering the village he knew was on the southward pass Kol continued in that direction for two reasons: They had a fair ammount of healers around them, and Kode would not risk his own life to come after what he viewed as just a way to pass time. Kol knew that he would be furious when he returned, but that was the least of his concerns.

Arion was his greatest concern. Each day the forest demon seemed lighter and he doubted it was just to his own strength slowly forming over the journey, but from the literal wasting away of his charge. Though young, Kol had his own arsenal of curses, from which he muttered one as he tried to hurry his pace.