Colin's posts

Eke's rush to the bathroom had caused Ryker to be jolted awake.

"Huh!?" he exclaimed.

"Eke!?" he said, looking in the direction of the bathroom.

"Eke, what's wrong!?" he asked, starting to crawl out of bed, but stopped when the shard in his chest started to pulse violently, causing him to clutch at his chest.

"Ngh!" he grunted in pain.

'The hell is happening...?' he thought.

Jake was silent for a moment, and stepped a bit closer towards her... slowly closing the distance, until he was able to grasp the mug that she had handed out.

He paused for a moment more, before downing the liquid, freezing as it hit his tongue. He forced it down, and immediately felt his core temperature rising.

"Oh... oh, my." he said.

"I don't know what this is, but it's certainly doing the job." he told her.

"Thank you." he continued.

"And I would truly appreciate a place to hide." he then informed the elf.

Jake was silent for a moment, before sighing quietly.

'It's that or freeze out here.' he thought.

'What's the worst that could happen?' he asked himself, before slowly stepping out of the shadows, revealing himself.

"...yes." he said as he did so.

"How did you know I was here?" he then asked.

He had found himself homeless and on the run again.

And the weather was getting closer.

It was evening and the weather was freezing rain, which was bad for him.

He found a cave with nothing in it, so he went inside it to try and ride out the weather.

But it was still cold and he felt himself suffering the effects from it.

"Very well." Jake responded.

"Thank you." he said to her.

"You're one of the few people in my life that have treated me with kindness and civility." he told her.

"You and Sydney." he said further.

"................I'd like to say goodbye to her as well." he then went on.

"But I don't think that's possible. I don't even know where he IS right now." he admitted.

Jake opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out.

He hated to admit it, but... she was right.

He couldn't NOT help her whenever she was hurt, but the longer he stayed and helped... the worse it got for Cassandra. Even if he were to stop helping her, odds are his very existence there would cause Cassandra to endure the wrath of her father... and it burned him up inside.

He then rose to his feet, dug the guild coin out of his pocket, and held it in his hand.

"...." he was silent, before letting the coin fall to the ground.

"Then I suppose I have no other choice." he lamented.

"If my leaving is truly the best course of action to help you... then I will do it." he told her.

Jake had been there as well, and knew she needed help.

He also knew that he was the only one that could do it, aside from Sydney... and he had no idea where she was.

So he sighed, and was using some more of the special weeds to help stem the blood flow, as well as bandage up the wounds.

"You need to lay down." he told her.

"I don't care, I'm taking you to my room so you can rest in my bed." he said further.

"Just... I don't care what that man says." he growled.

Jake watched her head off, and felt his hands clench into fists.

"....damn it." he cursed.

"That foul man." he said.

"She could very well have died, and you don't even care?" he asked the air.

"In fact, was this a death errand, on purpose?" he wondered further.

"....damn it all." he then cursed further, before turning towards the water, and starting to walk into it.

Jake nodded.

"Yeah." he said.

"And I'll linger here, out of sight for a bit." he told her.

"It wouldn't look good if we returned together." he reasoned, shaking his head slightly.

"I was planning to go for a swim, anyway." he added.

Again, Jake sighed.

"Sadly." he said.

"Anyway, it's clear you've been using your mana to help heal yourself, but how are you feeling?" he asked.

"These salveio weeds should have disinfected and cleansed the wound, at least." he continued.

"I can't believe he sent you out here, though." he went on.

"This is mating season for those things, and they're a lot more aggressive." he muttered.

"Does he really have no regard for your welfare?"

Jake just smirked.

"Heh." he chuckled.

"Yeah, we tend to be a low-key race." he said.

"Humans tend to despise us." he went on.

"Well, mortals, anyway." he clarified.

"So we do our best to seem like we either died out, or were a myth in the first place."

Jake shook his head.

"No." he replied.

"Your father hired me because I'm not human." he told her.

"I'm Ramaarin." he said, showing her his teeth.

"Guess he thought that was enough." he shrugged.

"Maybe it is, seeing as I took down that Trap-Snapper." he added with a light chuckle.

Ryker smiled as he saw this.

He then placed a hand on Eke's head, gently ruffling his hair.

"......." he was then silent, as the shard in his chest 'pulsed' slightly.

'What the?' he wondered.

'What's happening?' he asked himself, as he looked around, trying to pinpoint what was causing this.

Jake was silent again, and shook his head.

"I've heard about the treatment you receive." he said.

"It's unacceptable." he told her.

"He shouldn't be treating his own offspring like he's treating you." he went on.

"...." he then noticed the wound healing faster and more efficiently than he would have expected.

"... you have mana?" he asked her.