Colin's posts

"...I don't know." Ashley admitted.

"That sort of venom was never tested on me." he said. "Nor was demonic venom." he went on.

"...is it wise to find out?" Lindsay inquired.

"We have no idea how your body will react to it." he stated, which caused Ashley to laugh slightly.

"At this point? I welcome a challenge from any venom."

"...you think so?" Ashley asked.

"You HAVE been the one that did all the work, the sneaking, and such, throughout our lives of freedom." Lindsay reminded him.

"Okay, true." Ashley admitted.

"AND there's the fact that I'm immune to poison." he then added.

"Toxins." Lindsay corrected him.

"You're immune to venoms and such from animals."

"...huh." Lindsay mumbled.

"I never knew that." he said. "...interesting." he said further.

"Yeah, seems you got lucky, between the two of us." Ashley then said.

"You lost the curse, AND got crossed with an awesome creature." he told her.

"...and they picked a MOUSE for me..."

Lindsay then paused again, and seemed to think about it... though he did NOT like what he was thinking about, apparently. This caused Ashley to come a bit closer and place a hand on his shoulder.

"You don't have to-" he started to say, before Lindsay interrupted.

"I WANT to." he stated.

"...I DO remember creating black flames." he then said.

"And... yes, once I was combined with a phoenix... they went to standard flames." he recalled, opening his eyes again.

Ashley nodded.

"Yeah, I can." he said, as Lindsay shook his head.

"I cannot." he told her.

"Why?" he asked. "You think that's connected?" he asked her.

"...why would it be?" Ashley then mused.

"I mean, it's still fire, right?"

The boys looked at her, before looking at each other.

"I... maybe?" Lindsay replied.

"I think we have, and I've never tasted a difference. None that I can recall." he admitted.

"Hm." Ashley mumbled.

"I guess I'm just worried over nothing." he stated.

"But I often wonder why my fire is black... and Lindsay's isn't." he went on. "It was never really explained to us."

Lindsay chuckled in response.

"Indeed." he said, as Ashley sat there, creating a small orb of black fire in his palm, and the crushing it. And then creating another, and squashing THAT one, before sighing quietly.

"Maybe best to use Lindsay's fire." he said.

"Not sure if mine would be best..." he went on.

"If we're cooking over an open fire... mine might add a weird flavour or something, I dunno..."

"...I don't like them already." Ashley commented.

"Seems they are VERY stuck in their ways." Lindsay said. "So perhaps it best if we avoided any contact with them at all costs." he reasoned, as he looked around some.

"Hmmm." he mumbled.

"I assume we'll be sticking to woods and forests and such?" he asked.

"Stay off the beaten paths?"

The boys thought for a moment, pondering the question.

"I... no. No, don't think so." Ashley said.

"I dare say we haven't." Lindsay told her. "We've met a few mages, but... well, we don't meet people for long. They mostly got angry at us for trying to steal stuff." he lamented.

"So we don't have any real knowledge of them." he admitted.

"...are they really such bad people?" Ashley asked her.

"Well, we're used to it." Ashley responded.

"Though we're in a much better situation, as compared to before we met Anya." Lindsay reminded him.

"That is true." Ashley admitted.

"So, overall, we'll be fine. We have each other." Lindsay finished with a smile.

"Heh, yeah." Ashley chuckled in response.

"...would they not have listened to you, though, Anya?" he then asked the demon.

Ashley and Lindsay just sat on the ground and leaned against the tree.

"I don't know." Lindsay replied.

"I don't, either." Ashley lamented.

"But yeah, we can keep an eye out." he then told Anya. "Maybe we should look in the next town." he suggested.

"...it might be wiser to hide in the wilderness for a bit, let the band of hunters pass us, and then set up in a town they've already been to." Lindsay commented. "Otherwise, we'll just keep abandoning house after house." he reasoned.

"...hm, fair." Ashley admitted.

The boys nodded and then made their way to their rooms. They were there for only a couple of minutes, before they returned, looking at Raph.

"Amazing. You got it all." Lindsay commented.

"And it's all safe and sound." Raph assured them.

"I took everything that would have been too cumbersome to carry, and put it in the safe place with everything else." he told them further. "And after you leave, I'll make sure this place is barren." he added.

"As I said, it'll be suspicious either way, so might as well save everything possible."

Raph nodded in response.

"Thanks to our long-standing relationship, as well as other reasons..." he went on, being vague for Lindsay's sake. "...the spiders understood what was happening, understood what I was doing, and they went along with the instruments." he reported.

"So everything that was down there, is in a safe place." he assured her, before pausing.

"Except the meat room. You'll need to decide what you're taking and leaving, and I'll make sure what remains is thrown to the wilderness." he assured her.

"...never noticed how different it feels without that gateway thing down there..." Ashley commented.

"I think because we've never known this place WITHOUT it." Lindsay reasoned.

Raph and the boys watched her go, and Lindsay then turned towards the man.

"So... you really want to help her?" he asked.

"I do." Raph responded. "I have my reasons, but know that I have nothing but her safety as my sincerest concern." he promised. "And yours as well." he then added.

"Yeah." Ashley agreed with a nod.

"Will we see you again soon?" he asked.

"Soon enough." the man told him.