BoZV - Arc 2

[Bloodbane]

When Enfurnus asked if doing this was such a good idea, the way he explained Silver's condition implied that something like this had happened to her before. "All the more reason to make sure someone's got an eye on her... but we'll see how she feels when we get to Eulene, I suppose." Rion explained as he made his way onto the sled with the others. "I'm not sure what you all think, but my mind's made up. Losing Silver to something like that would make this task far more difficult, if not impossible. But if I'm there to make sure that can't happen... I think we'll be all right." He spoke with confidence, in the hopes that if this was the worst Silver had to deal with, then one way or another he could likely handle the worst-case scenario, but he was beginning to feel like if the next crystal was just as big, then chances were he would need to help with eliminating it more directly than he had been in order to keep Silver from losing control again.

With that, the sled was off to Eulene, a method of transportation that Rion found fascinating, though at the end of it all it seemed to be just as much a drain on Aqua as everything else the party had gone through. Regardless, the group was at the gates. He looked to his armored arm, seeming to try and will some movement from it, but gave a light sigh when he made no progress. "I think that's a good idea, looks like we could all use some rest," he said to Aqua, before looking ahead. "Almost there..." He stated after a few seconds, before making his way off of the sled and working to get Silver back on his shoulders.

[Arashi]

Enfurnus nodded at Aqua, saying no more. She seemed to know what she was doing at this point, and he wanted to trust her with that. She didn't really seem like the kind of person that would lie, anyway.

He then sighed as Rion replied to him with the exact answer he was expecting.

"..I can't believe that didn't take some sort of toll on you, what you did, but if you think you have a handle on it then I won't question your choice."



~

Enfurnus watched the world go by as they rode on the sled. It reminded him of flying, but it was a lot closer to the ground, which made it rather...interesting to him. It was not like his usual view of the treetops, but instead a view of the wilderness. It was actually quite...enjoyable. He sat back and smiled as they slid along on the ice.

~

Once they got there, though, Aqua was looking tired. Enfurnus looked at her, mildly concerned.

"Yeah, let's find some place. I don't think I can carry both of you if you pass out too. And honestly, the people living here would probably look at me funny..." He smiled a bit, trying to bring a bit more light to the situation.

Enfurnus watched as Rion failed to move his arm, which...only raised more concerns, but...he seemed dedicated to his mission. There wouldn't be any talking him out of it...but was he really ready for how Silver is going to feel after what just happened?

He then proceeded to pick Terra back up and carry her over his back. It was like carrying a boulder. Jeeze.

"Someone lead the way. I have not been here in ages. Sorry."

[Sorrum]

With Rion and Enfurnus carrying Silver and Terra over their shoulders, totally not drawing weird looks from bystanders, Aqua was left to lead the group. She grunted as she stepped off of the sled, then turned on her heel, threw her hands out, then down, and then out again, all hand movements accompanied by the appearance of glyphs around them. As the motions occured, the sled deconstructed itself, dispersed, and faded away.

"Can't just leave this sitting here." Aqua said to the others. "Okay, now let's go find an inn." Aqua hailed the sentry at the gate. She quickly stated the party's purpose for entering the town so late, and luckily the man didn't seem care why there were two unconscious women slung over the men's shoulders. He told her the directions she'd have to take to find their hotel, then he threw the signal above to the doormen. The gate sighed heavily, then swung open. Aqua led the group inside past the gate, it's loud doors closing tightly behind them.

It was nearly dusk. The town was calm and serene, and the traffic of the day to day people was down to folks returning to their homes. Aqua couldn't quite tell from the looks of it, but it didn't look like just humans lived here. She spotted a few elves, and even some bestia walking among the townspeople. Interesting.

Even more interesting was the further they got into town, the more decorations they saw. Streamers were hanging from lamp posts, and merchant stalls were littering the street. The town was gearing up for a festival of some sort, or perhaps it had already passed. Either way, Aqua was too tired to be concerned. She saw a sign for vacancy at a place called The Saving Point, and doubled her pace, waving the others to hurry as well. Aqua opened the door with no hesitation.

Inside, the delicious smell of the kitchen working overtime rushed past her and the others. She afforded herself a smile. She reached up and unclipped her helmet, removing it as she approached the elderly woman behind the front desk.

"Hi, I'd like rooms for five people." Aqua said delightfully.

"What the hell is wrong with those two?" The woman asked concerned.

"They're tuckered out from dealing with blight crystals, monsters, flying, hallucinations, cave-ins, and sleeping on the ground for the last two days."

"W-what?" The woman asked, her eyes widening.

"Sorry, I forgot shape-shifting foxes." Aqua reached into her coin purse and produced what she thought would be an adequate amount of silver for the inn's services.

The woman's expression soured, then a smile crept across her face. "Funny girl, huh? You had me going there for a second. Saying stuff like that to the wrong people will get you in some trouble y'know, so you better watch it." The woman took Aqua's payment and produced several keys, which Aqua took. "Your rooms are on the third and fourth floors. Breakfast is at sunrise and comes with a wake-up call, so you don't have to worry about sleeping through it." The woman continued listing off things that Aqua more or less didn't care about. She said something about a festival, but Aqua was actually starting to nod off at this point.

"Thanks ma'am, you have a good night." Aqua handed room keys to Enfurnus and Rion, instructed them which room was theirs, and before long, was in bed. A real bed felt nicer than her sleeping bag, she thought briefly before passing out.

[Bloodbane]

Rion couldn't help but smirk at the response from Enfurnus. "What can I say... I'm a man on a mission, and the way I see it this is the only way for me to move forward with that. As for the arm, it'll be fine; it takes some time for the nerves to recover from the rebound, but nothing I haven't dealt with before." He explained. If anything, the effects afterward were what concerned him more, but it was something he would worry about when he had a moment to himself; judging by the fact that Aqua was leading the group to the nearest inn, it seemed that was likely to be sooner than later. He had paid little mind to the decorations and lanterns, focusing more on getting into the inn. He raised an eyebrow at what the innkeeper said after Aqua explained the situation, though it seemed she had taken the story for a joke which was well enough in his opinion, but left the matter at that.

Once the party had their rooms in order, Rion simply nodded as Aqua explained where his room, as well as Silver's would be, before she herself retired for the evening. Deciding not to waste any more time, he made his way to one of the rooms he was given a key for, opening it and setting Silver down, gear and all, on the bed, leaving the key on the stand beside her. He checked one more time to make sure she was indeed still breathing, before giving a brief sigh of relief and leaving the room. It wasn't long after that before he himself retired to his room for the evening, hoping for it to be one where he would rest easily after wearing himself down in such a way.

[Arashi]

Enfurnus simply sighed as Rion replied to him.

"Well..I'm here to at least try to minimize the damage for you. Hopefully I can accomplish that a little better from now on."

~

He walked through the town without really noticing much in way of the decorations; he was too focused on carrying Terra at this point, which was still rather difficult. He followed Aqua along

Enfurnus watched with wide eyes as Aqua explained the situation to the innkeeper. He had to stop himself from laughing; the Innkeeper's face combined with Aqua's assertive confidence was just...priceless. He didn't find too many things funny in life, but...that was certainly funny. He was also glad that the Innkeeper took it as a joke...but he didn't really expect her to be able to take that seriously anyways. Nobody would these days.

He took notice of the Innkeeper explaining something about a festival. He wasn't paying too much attention, but he managed to catch that it was some sort of end-of-fall festival, that seemed to be an annual thing. That sounds interesting. He didn't like the thought of wasting time, but...maybe the group could use a few days of rest after that ordeal.

He also noticed Aqua looked kinda like she was falling asleep while standing up, so he opted to not say anything to her for the time being so she could just go to her room and rest. He took two keys from her and thanked her, then went to put Terra down gently in a room. He looked her over a little bit to confirm nothing was seriously wrong with her; she seemed to be breathing normally and everything. He then went to his own room and proceeded to pass out on the bed. He didn't realize how tired he was.

~


Several hours later, a few hours before the breakfast wake-up call and likely a few hours before anybody else was awake, Silver slowly opened her eyes and awoke...startled. She had no idea where she was, she was only aware that her body felt a bit drained and weak. She stared up at the ceiling of the room, then looked at herself. She was on a bed, in her armor still. So that must mean she was taken to an Inn somewhere. The blight crystal must have been taken out...

But then, the memories from yesterday started flooding her head all at once. They were a little bit foggy, but...they were clear enough to let the mess unfold in her head. Something went wrong. She didn't know what. The blight took over her body and forced a transformation. Then what?

She closed her eyes tightly as she remembered...trying to fight it. Pushing with all of her will to stop it, but not being able to do anything about it besides watch. It was almost as if her body became a puppet for the blight. This wasn't the first time, either...but somehow this time seemed worse. While she could usually fight it at least some, this time...she could not fight it at all. Rion must have somehow helped her out of it; there was no way she could have broke out of it on her own.

Then...she remembered turning to Enfurnus...and attacking him. From there, he must have held her down somehow, because all she could remember was thrashing about violently. She didn't remember if she hurt him or not...

They were in a cave. Trapped in the cave, because...someone made it collapse. The details were a little bit foggy still.

She slowly sat up in the bed and stared at the wall in front of her blankly.

Aqua, Terra, Enfurnus and Rion were trapped in that cave with her...like that. So much could have gone wrong. She could have hurt them....or...killed them, or even collapsed the cave. Her friends. Who are just trying to help.

Silver clenched her hands on the blanket of the bed, her heart pounding. She didn't know what to do or how to feel at this point. Would they even trust her any more? ...Does it matter though? She is putting them in too much danger. She decided that.

She stood up out of bed; her body was shaky, but it didn't matter. She grabbed the room key and exited her room, heading down towards where she hoped would be the reception area. The place, a least, didn't look too big.

She would find out which room is Rion's and go apologize to him for her actions and for quitting; she at least owed him that. Then she would leave before anybody else could find her. They would probably be afraid of her now anyway, so it didn't matter; not acknowledging the fact that they did not attempt to kill her or even hurt her.

After weird looks from the Innkeeper, she got the information she needed. She walked back up to the floors where the rooms were and found his room, reaching out to knock on the door. But...she stopped just short of touching it.

She thought about how much fun she had with Aqua taking her on her first flight...about how silly Terra looked when she was cooking meatless stew. She thought about Enfurnus believing in her, and how disappointed he would be if he found out she ran away. And she thought about how Rion was so nice to her, and how he helped her so much...

This may be just a mission, but these people were her friends. She was growing fond of them. They made her feel happy....she didn't want to leave them. She didn't want to at all. It was so much easier alone not having to worry about hurting anybody but, this was so much better.

She pulled her hand back and collapsed down to her knees on the door to Rion's room with a soft thud. Why did she have to be blighted like this? Why couldn't it have just gone all the way back then and got it over with? She pulled her knees in to her chest and shoved her head down in them, hiding her face, whimpering quietly.

[Bloodbane]

Although he attempted to get a good night's sleep, at some point in the evening Rion awoke to a sensation of pain from his left arm, one that he would argue was almost worse than the rebound itself in how the pain lingered after the immediate shock. As he had explained to Enfurnus, the point in the process had come where he was regaining feeling in his arm, but that also entailed the painful portion of the process, as there was still damage to recover from. "Wonder how early it is..." he grumbled as he sat on the edge of his bed, looking over his arm with a sigh as he struggled to move it around still. He hadn't taken the opportunity to fully assess the damage just yet, but he planned on taking care of that when he got cleaned up; after all, he did at least need to figure out if the stunt he pulled was going to cause his condition to progress further. Before he could dwell too much further on what the residual effects of draining some of the blight from Silver directly would be, a light thump brought him to raise his head, looking toward the door with a curious expression. '... What was that?'

He took a few steps toward the door, hearing the sounds from the other side as he approached, though the sounds only confused him further. It wasn't until he opened the door that he saw Silver, who he had assumed was likely going to try getting his attention before whatever caused her to curl up on the floor like this. He stared for a second, before shaking his head and giving a sigh. "... Looks like we've got a lot to talk about. Come on..." He said, waiting for her to get back to her feet before backing up into the room, waiting until the door was shut before crossing his arms, the movement of his left arm appearing a bit stiffer than his right. "That was a close one... I presume that's happened before, as well?" His tone was curious, yet concerned as he spoke, wondering just why Silver was on the ground like that when he opened the door.

[Arashi]

Silver didn't even notice the door opening at first. It took her a few moments to even realize Rion was standing there, waiting for her to get up. She heard him say something, but whatever he said didn't really register, besides 'come on'.

It took her a few seconds to pull herself up. She pulled the hood of her cloak down over her eyes as she stood up, slowly. She walked in the room and stood there, looking down at the ground. This caused her to not notice Rion's arm movement being off just yet, not to mention she was rather distracted.

He asked her something about...that...happening before. He didn't seem angry or anything at her, which made it even harder on her. She just nodded, very slowly, at his question as if she was barely paying attention. It was now or never.

"I have to...I-I have to..." Her words were quiet, and pretty much faded off to a whisper at that point. She was quiet for a few long moments, then she took a deep breath

"Why aren't you angry at me? I could've...hurt everyone." She avoided looking at up as she spoke. "...I need to l-leave. I can't.." Her voice was cracking a little bit at that point, as if she was holding back a lump in her throat.

"I can't put you guys in danger like that." She struggled to get that last bit out. There. She did it. Its done.

She turned around and took a few steps towards the door...but those thoughts came back again. Her friends...She paused for a few moments.

Fairly suddenly, Silver turned back around again and without much warning very quickly walked up to Rion and hugged him.

"...But...I don't want to leave you guys. But I...have to." She spoke very quietly now, her voice shaky. It would be easy to tell she was in tears at this point, and also maaaaybe not quite using logical thinking right now.

She found herself clinging on to him, without really realizing or thinking about what she was doing at the time. It would be obvious at this point that she was very distressed by what she had done, and that her intention was to leave. And that she was kind of irrational right now.

[Bloodbane]

Rion briefly tilted his head at what Silver was saying. She had to... do what? What she said next was a little less confusing; why wasn't he angry? There were plenty of reason he could be, sure, but at this point he felt the group was aware of the risks... though perhaps not to the extent regarding Silver herself. "That's the risk we're all taking by being involved with this mission, but without you, none of us could handle these things." He stated, almost matter-of-fact. In his mind, at least, this much was true; even if he could simply do to the crystal what he had done for Silver, the risks were far too great for him he was still getting an understanding of just what happened to him. Silver, on the other hand, appeared to have a better understanding of what the energy would do to her, though this instance appeared to have her a bit more shaken.

He watched as Silver began to walk away, a frown forming over his face. Was he really about to be back to square one, but now with a bunch of other people depending on him? "You don't have to--" He said, before he found himself surprised as she suddenly turned, blinking a couple times as he felt her arms wrap around him. "U-uhm..." He wasn't entirely sure what to make of this situation, standing a bit awkwardly for a few seconds before a smile grazed his features, sighing once again before he moved his good hand to her back and doing his best to console her.

"I... er... understand that what happened was, well... rough." He began, trying to find some good words to put to his thoughts on the matter. "But unless you feel that you're giving this up entirely, it's only going to get worse if you go back to being on your own. I think you know that better than anyone." Perhaps she was thinking of giving up? He was sure she was several times his elder, but she gave off an impression that she felt this was completely thrust upon her, and she appeared unsure of how to handle her situation; a sentiment he could certainly get behind. At this point, he was simply doing what he could to try to at least comfort her if not talk her out of trying to give up this journey so soon.

[Arashi]

Silver just stayed there quietly for a few minutes, listening to what Rion was saying to her. What he was saying wasn't wrong, and for a bit deeper of a reason than she cared to admit to, even to herself. She had traveled alone for so long that she had forgotten what it was like to not be alone and have to deal with everything alone. While she simply chose that route because she didn't want to deal with the pain of losing anybody again, it seems that in that train of thought was maybe...a bit wrong.


Though, her main concern still was hurting these people that have chosen to travel with her...and hurting any more innocent people than she already had in the past. And he was right, in that if she went it alone, it may just get worse; especially since she was planning on carrying out the mission herself; a flawed plan. There was no way.

She seemed to be calming down a bit now. He was being so...kind, even now. It seemed as if he understood.

"...You are right. It would be worse on my own. But..." She paused for a moment, her voice still quiet and a bit shaky. She tried to get her thoughts together.

"My main concern is hurting you. All of you. I...would prefer to do it on my own, so you all would be safe. But I can't. I'm scared that I'll hurt someone...or worse. Then what? I couldn't live with that...that's why I wanted to leave." She sighed.

"But I can't do that either, and not just because of our goals any more. I...think I accidentally started enjoying everyone's company too much. I didn't mean to do that. It just sorta happened. Sorry. What do I do..? I'm so...conflicted. This wasn't part of the plan at all."

It was clear that he had managed to calm her down enough for her to at least form coherent thoughts. She stayed quiet again for a few minutes, still clinging on to Rion.

Oh. Wait. What? It kind of just now dawned on her what she had done without really thinking about it when she was just not really in a good state of mind. She was reaaalllyyy close to him.

"U-uh, sorry." She sort of muttered. What were the implications of that? Goodness. There was no way she could play this one off. He at least didn't seem to mind though, and it did certainly contribute to making her feel better. And then she realized while thinking about what she was doing, she was still doing it. It occurred to her that she actually kind of...enjoyed it?

She let go of him promptly and looked down, avoiding eye contact. She attempted to continue talking about the subject a bit. She was still standing kind of awkwardly close.

"...Uh, by the way, is there anything you want to know about what happened back there with me?"

Good job, me...jeeze.

[Bloodbane]

Hearing Silver seem to get her thoughts together brought another smile to Rion; it seemed she was finally beginning to calm down. He did however notice that even as she seemed to calm down she held onto him tightly. She explained how she felt conflicted about what she was doing, how she wanted to stay but she didn't mean to get so attached to the group so quickly. "But is there really anything wrong with that?" He asked after a few seconds. Sure, it was reasonable to be concerned about the well-being of her comrades, but to act like growing close and enjoying the journey for what it was seemed wrong was a little bewildering to him. Before she answered, she noticed just how close she actually was, letting go soon after but soon standing somewhat awkwardly next to him as also moved his hand away, smiling back at her and nodding. "It's fine. It seemed to be just what you needed." He said before a faint chuckle escaped.

When she asked if he wanted to know what happened, he put a hand to the back of his neck. "Well, to be honest... I think I already have a good enough idea, considering what I had to do in order to reverse the transformation." He said, admitting that he was definitely involved in making sure she returned to normal. "And... it's fine. Even if that's the worst case scenario, I think we can handle it; you may have to let the others in on your little secret, though." He added, before looking at his arm briefly. He was regaining mobility, but it was still a bit painful, as he inadvertently showed as he started to move his arm only to wince briefly. "I guess I could ask how such a thing normally would go... but I think regardless it's best to make sure you turn back sooner than later, even if I have to take a risk myself." He hadn't exactly explained how he helped her yet, but he had a feeling he had implied well enough that perhaps Silver was not the only person in the group that could pull blight from a source if absolutely necessary, even if he himself felt dealing with another transformation was preferable to what he feared could happen to him were he to try something similar.

[Arashi]

Silver finally got the courage to look at Rion for as he asked if there was something wrong with her enjoying the company of her new-found companions. She thought about it, realizing that it was her own thoughts getting in the way of something that was just...normal to others maybe?

She wouldn't reply though until after letting go of him.

"...I guess it's just wrong to me." She replied, smiling a bit now. "Wrong to me because I guess I'm scared of losing everything again. But I guess it's...worth it."

He then accepted her apology for...being weird, but his response was one she didn't really expect much. He really didn't seem to mind at all judging by how he responded, and was...laughing a bit? For some reason, she found herself...blushing a bit at this sort of reaction. Maybe because he was just being so kind to her...again? She quickly looked away for a few minutes...and then found herself laughing a small bit as well. Maybe even a bit at herself.

He then spoke to her about her question regarding if he wanted to know anything about her blighted state. His response managed to concern her a bit now. She looked at Rion, her expression a bit more serious now. So he did do something. And then he moved his arm funny, and seemed to be in pain. Was that related somehow, or was that something else entirely? Was he...able to do something sort of similar to what she does? Now she just looked more concerned. She had never really thought too much of it, but now the gears were turning.

"I thought you had something to do with it. Usually, I can fight it some and I'll eventually turn back, but...that time was bad. I stood no chance. I think it was because of the blight crystal...it's never happened from one of those before. I just...had a feeling it could, but I didn't think it would be like that. I don't know what would have happened if you didn't do something, to be honest." She sighed. "But...I don't like what you just said, either. What did you do? I don't know your magic well, but I know dark magic well enough to be aware that it can't just be nullified so easily. Even if you say you can handle it, it isn't hurting you somehow is it?" She eyed him a bit, still looking worried. She still didn't fully understand just what he was doing or how he was doing it, but it couldn't be good for him, whatever it was. This had to be beyond regular light magic, didn't it?

One thing stood out to her though, especially now.

"...And why is it worth that sort of risk to you? I am positive you are aware how...tricky dark magic can be. I may be able to learn to fight it if that would help...I know I'm necessary for the mission and all."

She stayed quiet for several moments, and then spoke again.

"And by the way, I have decided to tell the others about myself, as of right now. I'm not sure when, but...I'll do it. Soon. Just...help me out a bit, huh?" She smiled a small bit.

[Bloodbane]

When Silver finally replied, stating that she felt it was worth it, Rion nodded in agreement. "I think we've got a good group of people traveling with us so far," he replied, though soon noticed Silver seemed to shy away briefly. Was it finally hitting her, what just happened? When she looked back at him, she appeared more serious, perhaps even concerned; it looked like she was beginning to piece together what happened a little bit more, nodding once more when she stated he had done something, but for the moment saying nothing as she went on to explain she had gone berserk before but would turn back after some time. Needless to say, he felt if they were traveling with others then he could not let that go unchecked any longer.

Eventually she began to inquire more about just what it was he did, wondering why he did it; why was helping her turn back worth a risk to him? What was the risk, even? "You're right, it doesn't simply go away so easily... and as far as driving it out of an individual using my light powers, that only goes so far, especially if I can only keep steady for so long," he explained, though held off on any further details until she finally agreed to his recommendation to inform the others of her particular "talent". He couldn't help but chuckle a bit when she asked for his help again, before shrugging his shoulders. "I'm leaving that one entirely up to you, but I think it's pretty obvious by now that transformation had to have come from somewhere; you may not have a whole lot of time to keep people off the subject if I had to take a guess." He began, before extending his armored arm outward, still slower than normal but things were slowly returning to normal. He still looked a little unsure, but a faint smirk came over his face before speaking again.

"But, I suppose I did say I'd tell you more; while I may need to let the others know when the time is right, I think it's best if you understand just why it's better if you don't leave... for the both of us, really. I had hoped it would be on better terms, but hopefully this will put your concerns at ease, or at least prove we can handle a worst-case scenario, even if it's less than ideal for me."

Much like when she spoke to him in Aldur, Silver would be able to make out a faint glow beneath the plating of Rion's gauntlet as he reached for the bindings, soon undoing the clasps keeping it bound tight to his arm before removing the piece of armor. Upon removing the gauntlet, the glow would show a bit more clearly in the room, revealing that much of Rion's arm up to his elbow appeared to be covered in some sort of crystal, almost eerily similar to the kind of crystals Silver's body generated when she transformed. While much of the crystal glowed with a radiance similar to his own aura of energy, she would be able to see that closer to his elbow there was some portion of the formation that was darker, and more similar to blight in color.

"For the most part, light mages are strong against blight and dark magic due to being able to push through it, to the point where they can even pull small amounts into themselves and drive it out of their bodies naturally. Against a strong enough infection, however, and it's perhaps even more dangerous to them than others, for their natural element can be completely twisted to blight itself. I don't think I need to explain how bad things could get if what happened to you happened to me instead." Rion stated, though with his good arm he directed Silver's attention to the darker crystal. "This is the result of what I drew from you to balance things out. Rather than being pulled into my body and forced out, it ends up slowly being overcome by the rest. Eventually it'll turn the same color and be entirely light-based. It's how I was able to stop that giant before; I channeled energy through the crystal of this arm and into its blight crystals until the light consumed it and destroyed them." He added, but furrowed his brow after a few seconds, obviously as concerned as she was by what he was seeing, and the implications of such a phenomenon.

"I wasn't always like this; it's as if something has made my power act similarly to blight in how it feeds off other energy and grows, but while maintaining its natural strength against blight itself. What I did to help you will even make this power of mine stronger once I've fully recovered from the rebound that formed the new crystal in the first place, but for a price that I currently cannot anticipate; I still don't fully understand the long-term effects myself, nor have I found a way to reverse the process. That being said, perhaps neither of us will need to worry about being consumed by the blight itself... but we'll have to work together to keep it that way."

[Arashi]

Silver nodded in reply when Rion said he thought they had a good group going. She agreed, for sure. She quite enjoyed their nice little group that they had managed to acquired.

He then confirmed her thoughts, at least for the most part, by telling her that getting it out of someone was indeed as difficult as she thought. Maybe even more so. She sighed quietly. He then commented on her telling the others about the darkness she had within her, saying she may not have much time. She did smile a small bit.

"Fine...yeah. I'm sure I won't. I'll just tell them when they ask. Or maybe I'll just blurt it out. I guess if they're still around, that won't scare them off. In theory, anyway. B-but I mean, if they get mad at me, you gotta back me up! ...You will, right?" She looked at him and tilted her head slightly.

He seemed content with her decision to tell the others about herself, and then went on to explain more about what he did exactly. She quietly listened as he told her he would reveal some things about his powers, and that it would be better for both of them if she didn't leave. Hm. Odd.

Silver looked at his glowing arm as he began to remove his gauntlet. She never really thought much of the glow, but...apparently it was something very significant, and not at all what she was expecting. His arm was...crystalized? Kind of like blight. There was even a small chunk that looked dark, like blight. Woah. Is that why his arm seemed injured? She looked at his arm for a few moments, then back to him as he explained it. She had a confused and still concerned expression. He pointed out the darker spot, and explained that it was from helping her. She certainly didn't approve of that now, but...the way he talked about it made it seem like it was safer for him to simply fix her, instead of taking in a large amount of blight with possibly much more severe consequences. She didn't like that a lot more.

"I see...so you have powers kind of like mine then. But it does that to you, and it sounds like it'd be a lot more dangerous for you than me to work with the crystals we find, huh. That's a very odd skill, with a very odd effect. I don't know what to make of it, and I have not seen anything like it in my entire lifespan, which isn't exactly short. However, I don't think this is a good thing for you...and I'm not pleased with contributing, so to speak. But I will take that any day over the option of you taking in too much. My body can handle it; I don't like the thought of what could maybe happen to you." She spoke in reply, basically summing up what he said and what she understood about it. She sighed, still looking worried, but things did make sense now.

"You don't know the long term effects, though? I think...we need to learn more about you somehow. We should add that to our mission. What if its something bad?" She sighed once more, then...smiled a small bit at his statement about them needing to work together to help each other. It made her feel better, knowing that she was helping him too. "Well, I don't think I could have left no matter how hard I tried if I was being honest. And knowing now that I am important to your survival perhaps, I will stay with you. And now I want to help you figure out what this is, too. I guess we're really lucky we met." She kept smiling. She was still concerned, but a bit less so now. She smiled. "Thank you...for telling me all this. I know its hard, especially when your powers remind someone of blight, and when they're so unique. I'll stick around though. Promise. And I won't tell anybody anything." She paused for a moment, then looked down. "And thanks for making me feel better."

It was interesting to her how similar their powers were, and how these powers sort of relied on each other to function safely for the task ahead of them. How did she manage to meet him out of all the people in this world...? And then a thought suddenly occurred to her. She had no idea where they currently were. That was kind of important to know.

"Oh uh...by the way, where are we now?"

[Bloodbane]

"So you've yet to see anything like this either... that makes two of us, I suppose." Rion said with a brief chuckle. He had been to healers, to see if it was some kind of damage that could be undone, but as he had already stated eventually any darkness he may have drawn in, assuming what happened to him involved darkness in some way, had simply been purified and absorbed into the mass of what he could only assume was crystallized light magic. The few light-based healers he had seen described it as more like a mutation than an injury; that whatever he survived had altered his power over light rather than corrupted it. Some were in awe of the implications, others saw it as an ill omen, but he still had to find out more if possible. Fortunately, it seemed that Silver was willing to help with that, a somewhat surprised look coming over his face as she appeared to be more enthusiastic about her role in the group's journey all of a sudden.

"Y-yeah..." He said after a few seconds, soon finding himself looking back at his arm as he worked to move his fingers, finding himself looking there more as a need to keep his gaze focused elsewhere. "This road we're on, it's not going to be an easy one... I can't speak for the others of course even if I feel good about their intentions, but as long as we look out for each other, I have a good feeling we'll get to where we need to be at some point." He finished his statement with another smile, though his thoughts drifted briefly until Silver asked where they were.

"H-huh?" He quickly shook his head before looking back at Silver. "Oh, right... We made it to Eulene. We managed to make it to an inn and that's about it so far. I think they're gearing up for some kind of festival, though... We'll need to get word back to Shin somehow anyway, perhaps this is as good a place as any to recover and maybe even relax a bit after our successful mission. We'll have to see how the others are doing in the morning, I suppose."

[Swim]

Terra's finger twitched. Her eyes blinked open and she tried to sit up but her arms and abdomen were both too stiff and she fell back awkwardly. She peered around at her surroundings, clearly the others had transported her from the mine and to an inn maybe? She assumed it was an inn anyway, as she was clearly on a bed. Nobody had bothered to remove her armor, she wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. Where was everyone now anyway? How long had she been out for? Maybe they were off finding a doctor for her, something sure didn't feel right. In fact, she wasn't feeling much right now, she just very stiff and numb like she'd slept for a week. At least she could flex her fingers now, that was certainly an improvement. She groaned and managed to roll onto her side with great effort. She sucked in a breath and pushed herself up into a sitting position. Feet on the floor. Aaand standing up. Not paralyzed then, good sign. In fact she was starting to feel much better. Noticing her room contained a tub Terra decided she might like to bathe, a hot soak would feel incredible right now, plus she noticed she was still covered in earth and monster grime. Seemed like every mission she couldn't help but to get dirty. She let out an audible sigh as she slipped into the hot water, no more thinking now. The Blight, her companions, everything else could wait...

------------------------------------------------------

Elsewhere, Lucas Boltin had followed a peculiar track to the base of the mountain. It had taken awhile for him to pick up the trail again, he was a scientist not some rugged ranger outdoorsman after all, but he was still quite observant and able to surmise the site's approximate location from their last known travel vector. The tracks led to some sort of side tunnel into the mountain, a secret passage perhaps that had opened from within? Neither the tracks nor the tunnel made sense to him, but once he entered the cave it became quite apparent that a battle had been fought here. The heavy indents on the wall, the collapsed portions, the monster bodies... and here was something curious...

"They've left the crystal?" Boltin asked with wonder in his voice. It was a bit smashed up, likely due to the falling rocks but it was still there. Apparently now that everyone in their little band had their protective charm they had no more use for the mineral and decided it wasn't worth collecting after the Blight had been purged from it. Boltin was grateful but confused. He had a thousand tests he'd wanted to try, and now he had much more of the raw material to work with. He'd known the girl and most of her party had no appreciation for the sciences, but he still couldn't understand why they'd discard the crystal when they could have at least brought it back to the other dragon to make safeguards for other people... Perhaps it was for the best. Somehow, Boltin thought he could do better than protective charms, he'd give people the ability to fight back against the Blight Mages directly. With this crystal he knew he could change the world.