Colin's posts

After a few seconds, a small slot opened up, and a pair of eyes looked through.

"...hey." the one they belonged to said.

"What are you doing here?" they asked.

"And who is THA-" they started to ask further, looking at Julien, but then stopped.

"Holy hell, he took a beatin'." they commented.

"...let me guess, you want to bring him in to be looked at."

Julien just laughed.

"All right." he said.

"I'll do that." he told her.

With that, he approached the head of the creature and waved his wrist a little, as a stream of blood started to flow out from it.

"Hmm." he mumbled, looking around.

"Ah." he muttered, letting it flow into a small bucket that was nearby.

"There we go, that should hold it."

"I can carve a beast decently." he replied, approaching her.

"I can also try and make it so that the blood doesn't pool and spill everywhere." he then commented.

"Hmmm." he mumbled.

"Which is to say, I can extract all the loose blood in the veins and such, before you start to carve." he went on. "Some spillage and dripping is inevitable." he reasoned with a shrug.

"But want me to make it that it's not going to ooze and flow everywhere?" he asked.

"If not, just tell me where to start cutting and skinning."

When she stepped into the backyard, she found that she wasn't alone. Julien was there, and looked over when she appeared in the backyard.

"Oh, hello Demitra." he greeted her.

"Your mother is out looking for lumber." he told her. "I remained, as I would only get in the way, and I was told to await your arrival, so you'd know where she is." he went on.

He then looked, and noticed what she had with her.

"...impressive kill." he commented.

"I would be most appreciative of that." Julien responded.

"Learning to hone my horticultural skills would definitely serve me well in the future, regardless of what may happen." he reasoned. "So if you'll teach me, I'll happily learn." he went on.

"I mostly can grow vegetables and such." he said.

"Became really important when the colder weather hit, and I needed to find some kind of shelter for the winter." he continued.

"But anything above and beyond that would be wonderful." he finished, before thinking about it.

"...I think the most complex thing I grew was a Spike-Carrot." he then added.

Julien just smiled.

"Ahh, good, good." he said.

"And I manage." he told her. "I'm competent, anyway." he continued.

"I mean, I know how to grow some simple things, and I know how the ground has to be and all that." he went on.

"I can't grow exotic stuff, though."

Julien shook his head.

"Nope." he replied. "I'm quite accommodating when it comes to that." he told her.

"Well, in terms of intolerances, anyway." he clarified.

"I really like fresh fruit and berries." he then said. "Doesn't matter what, I love them if they're fresh." he continued.

"There's something about the natural sweetness or tartness." he said further.

"It's so refreshing."

He just smiled softly.

"It's okay." he said. "I understand that having someone to genuinely talk to is rare for those like us." he told her.

"And I'm glad to be here to lend an ear." he went on.

"I'm honoured you trust me enough to tell me all this, too." he then said further.

"I can't offer any solutions, sadly, but I CAN and WILL... offer an ear." he continued.

"I can at least promise that."

"..." Julien was silent as he heard this.

"Then I wish Vincent even MORE luck." he said.

"Because chances are... she's frighteningly powerful now." he commented.

He then sighed, and shook his head.

"But he did seem quite capable, to massively understate it." he then said.

"Perhaps all we need is some faith in him."

Julien shook his head.

"I cam't tell you." he said. "Nomads by nature are nigh-impossible to track down." he muttered.

"And... he intends to stop Rowena?" he asked.

"He's powerful, yes, but I wish him nothing less than the best of luck." he commented. "From what I've heard, Rowena is growing stronger and stronger with each passing day." he said.

"Some say she gets stronger with every soul she traps." he continued.

"...personally, I think that's exaggeration to foster even MORE fear of her." he then growled.

Julien was silent for a moment, before sighing.

"That... might explain something." he said.

"I've had an... encounter... with Vincent Remmington." he told her. "It was a long time ago, but a mob had cornered me, and I was injured, and there were too many for me to use my mana to try and escape or incapacitate them." he continued. "They were moving in for the kill, when suddenly a large windstorm whipped up. It carried them all into the air, except for me, and when they fell, they were all rendered unconscious." he went on.

"When I looked around, I saw a man standing there, the wind mana briefly swirling around his extended hand." he continued. "...I asked him if he'd done that, and he nodded, saying I should take this time to get away." he told her.

"I thanked him, and asked who he was, as I wasn't so well-versed in the who's-who of the mage world back then." he then explained. "He merely said he was a friendly traveler, and took his leave, a smile on his face." he said.

"...but looking back, there was a definite sadness to his expression. Almost as though he were wracked with guilt over... something." he then revealed.

"Maybe you and Demitra going missing was a part of it." he suggested.

He didn't mean to hijack the conversation, but he could sense that Racquel was grateful to have someone to talk to, and thought that perhaps regaling her of his encounter with Vincent might help her in some way.

Julien was silent as Racquel said what she did.

The gears started to turn in his mind, and Racquel was able to see it.

"...nomadic..." he mumbled.

"...prestigious family..." he muttered further, before his eyes widened.

"It... it can't be..." he said.

"Remmington!?" he exclaimed.

"Vincent Remmington!?"

"Her father...?" Julien asked.

"...I hadn't even considered that." he said. "But that just raises more questions, to be honest." he told her.

"Who could be able to have such a thing happen?" he asked. "For her to be losing her heat... it's surely the work of very strong mana." he went on. "But that makes no sense." he continued.

"Fyrane mana is some of the most potent in the world." he commented.

"...what could possibly be a match for it...?" he wondered aloud, before shaking his head.

"Sorry, I tend to think aloud a lot." he apologised.

Julien just sighed heavily.

"My deepest apologies." he said.

"I know that those that came before me were... well... not very nice, to understate it." he told her. "I'm pretty sure decades of being persecuted for their mana did it to them... as well as some of them just being generally nasty people." he went on.

"I promise I'm not like, that, though." he then assured her.

"...but all you have is my word." he continued.

"Still. Thank you so much for trusting me." he said further, before pausing.

"And... not feeling any heat... that wasn't just me?" he asked her.