Colin's posts

"......." Jaden was silent as he heard his options.

"The tea." he said.

"I don't trust myself to sleep on my own right now." he admitted.

"So I think I need all the help I can get." he sighed.

He then sighed, and looked at the sky.

"Yeah... yeah some tea would be greatly appreciated, thank you." he told her.

With that, he looked at the sword in his hands, staring intently at it.

"I know." Jaden replied.

"And the blade won't like it if I'm fed the answers." he said.

"So I need to figure this out for myself." he reasoned.

"As I said, thanks for the advice." he repeated.

"Guess I have a lot to think about." he sighed, shaking his head slightly.

"And I need to see if I can salvage some sleep out of this night." he went on.

"Sorry if I startled or spooked you earlier by being out here." he then apologized.

"...." Jaden was silent as Demitra said what she did to him.

"I see..." he replied.

He then looked back at his reflection, and she could see the fear and sorrow in his eyes.

He stared at the reflection for a few seconds, before stepping away from it.

"....my back hurts..." he said quietly.

"I think I'm going to go lie down again." he told her.

"Thanks for the advice." he added.

"....I don't know." Jaden replied.

"I don't know a lot." he said.

"I don't know why this blade seems to hate me, I don't know how to come to terms with it, I don't know... I don't... I don't know..." he went on, stammering at the end.

"I don't know what I see in that pond." he admitted.

"I don't know what's staring back at me, and what to believe."

Jaden gulped quietly when he heard her slip the sword back into place.

'...I could have been dead.' he thought.

"Can't sleep." he replied.

"Restless night." he went on.

"So I came here for... some reason." he said further.

"I'd hoped it would help." he told her.

"...doesn't seem to be."

Jaden nodded in response.

"All right." he said.

-2 weeks later-

Jaden had managed to completely sharpen the sword, but it was still disobeying and being naughty, as the ever-growing number of cuts on his arms attested to.

And the nightmares had not stopped, either.

Almost every other night, he had a nightmare about the blade, and always... always, somehow, the soul was tied into it.

He'd awoken with a start from a particularly bad one, and looked out the window, to see it was still dark out. He grabbed the blade (still sheathed), and quietly made his way outside, towards the pond where he'd had that little... encounter... with Racquel, before.

Once there, he saw the full moon above illuminated the pond beautifully, and he stared at his reflection in the water. His face was reflected perfectly, but he sighed. He then took the blade out of the sheath, and when he did... and looked at his reflection again... he saw that half of his face looked like your average human, which was himself, but with slightly darker skin. The other half... looked like a monster. A blood-thirsty, crazed, dagger-toothed killer.

Jaden was silent as he witnessed this, before he dropped the sword and slammed his fist into the water, causing his reflection to temporarily disappear and become distorted in the ripples.

"...damn it all..." he said quietly, sounding near-tears.

Jaden nodded in response.

"I'm not surprised." he said with a sigh.

"So... I suppose this ends today's training?" he asked.

"Unless you want me to go on." he said. "I can still keep going if you like." he told her.

"Or is there anything else that needs to be done around the house?" he asked further. "I can still chop or split wood, or go hunting, or whatever." he continued.

"Just let me know."

@lady luna:

I'll PM or Discord you with the necessary details and stuffs.

"They're fine." Jaden replied.

"They hurt, but... I've been through worse." he told her.

"Like my back." he said.

"When they gave me that mark, it burned for days after." he told her. "It felt like it would burn all the way through me. And it stung as well." he continued.

"So... these cuts are nowhere near that level." he assured her.

"....they still do sting, though." he admitted.

"Huh?" Jaden mumbled, snapping back to reality.

"I... really?" he asked.

"It did? With yourself and Miss Racquel?" he asked her.

When she nodded, he looked at the sword.

"...what it wants..." he muttered.

"I... I see." he said.

"And I have a limited time to do so." he commented, remembering what was told to him earlier.

Jaden remained quiet, and set the blade carefully down beside him.

"Okay." he replied.

He then extended his arms, and allowed Demitra to work.

'...that blade...' he thought.

'What I saw...' he thought further. 'Was that... really me?' he wondered.

'...of course it was.' he then told himself, sighing heavily.

Jaden followed Racquel's instructions as best he could. He took in what she said, followed what she did... but, as was expected, there were complications.

Such as the blade seeming to move at random points, which ended up with Jaden nicking himself.

Or outright cutting himself.

However, Jaden seemed to want to persevere. He continued to try and sharpen the blade, and it seemed like he was succeeding at times. At least, he managed to get it sharp enough, that when it decided to be naughty, the cuts and nicks were cleaner, and bled far more easily.

By the time they were finished with that session, Jaden's hands and lower arms were covered in blood and wounds.

"...sharpen it..." Jaden mumbled.

"All right..." he said.

"How?" he asked.

"As in, what tools do I have to do this job?" he asked her.

"And what is the proper technique?" he asked further.

"I'm... totally new and blind to this." he said further, looking at his reflection in the blade.

And as he did, he seemed to acquire an almost horrified expression.

Jaden was silent, and then nodded.

"....right." he said.

With that, he opened the box, and looked at the blade inside. He took it out of the box, the blade feeling heavier than before... like it was offering resistance.

"....." he said nothing, before grabbing the sheath, and taking a small breath.

He then pulled on the sheath, aiming to remove the blade from it. At first, it didn't seem to budge, so he tried again. This time it moved a little, and then a little more, before he slowly managed to remove the blade from the sheath.

"...that was... hard." he admitted.