Long Travel Home

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Myra's words echoed in his mind. She didn't know how wrong she was. He was a monster. A failure. Less than human. But he'd never say any of that. It was better to keep it to himself, it's not like anyone would really understand what he meant. It took a while, but Kayne eventually drifted off to sleep, nestled into the warm fur. 

    Though his dreams offered him no escape.

    Once again he found himself surrounded by the inky black, the liquid sticking and tugging at his skin as he floated on its surface. Silence surrounded him as he drifted below a starless sky. With a grunt, he attempted to right himself, only instead of continuing to float upon the surface, it felt as though the world shifted. His feet came down on a hard surface and he found himself stumbling slightly as he fell into an upright position. 

    Where am I? The swordsman turned back, but instead of a wall of rippling ink, there was nothing but an endless abyss. He stepped back, slightly shocked at this development, but trying to keep a cool head. Each step he took clacked and echoed into the void, like metal against hardened stone. 

    I need to find my way out. But where? The young man turned and twisted, eyes darting around for something, anything that would tell him where to go, when finally he saw it. In the distance, a speck of color, a beacon in the endless night. There.

    His body felt weightless as he pushed towards the source. The light growing brighter and brighter as he approached. Hot wind blew past his face, carrying with it a familiar scent, pushing him to move faster. I'm almost out. Just a little further!

    Kayne reached out towards the light, then flinched as a burst of hot air burned his skin. His world came alight as a wall of fire roared to life. Kayne shielded himself with his arms, gritting his teeth while the air berated him. It was then that he recognized the scent. Wood groaned and snapped, glass shattered, walls creaked under their own weight. He knew what it was, but still he couldn't help but look. 
    
    The blackened skeleton of a burning home greeted him, the fire reaching up towards the dark sky. Kayne's composure broke, his hands shaking, breathing sharp and fast. No, no this... this can't be real. At the door, a pile of burning rubble shifted and clattered as a form broke free, hands clawing out of the blackened wood and dragging the mangled form from its tomb. Its skin had been melted away, the heat melting its flesh from its bones. Even without a face, Kayne recognized the expression of loathing. Even without eyes, he could feel the hatred burning into him. Even with all its flesh butchered and gnarled, he feared the powerful form. 
    
    Kayne took a large step backwards as the body tumbled out of the flames and onto the ground, wheezing and hissing, spitting rage as it started to rise. No, no, no, no! With each step forwards, Kayne matched it with a step backwards. 
   
    "So this is what you've become..." With every step, the mangled wounds began to heal, the form regaining more and more of its original appearance. "You've always been a whimpering, sniveling brat." 

    The flames flashed and roared like a living beast. The swordsman took another step back, his heart pounding so hard he felt as though it would break free of his chest. The drums tried to drown out everything, but the man's voice still broke through. 

    "You were a mistake. Unwanted garbage." The man continued, his amber eyes burning with the same light as the fire behind him. The form cracked its neck and scoffed. "You were a failure from the very beginning. And now look what you've done."

    The blackened ground beneath him cracked like glass, glowing pure white below his feet. Kayne turned to run but nearly fell back as the light crawled upwards and coalesced into a towering form made of glass. The apathetic expression made Kayne's blood run cold. Even beneath the cold eyes he could feel its want for his death. "There's no running you pathetic coward. Not from this."
    
    The swordsman whipped back, tried to move, and only found his legs refusing his orders. From the blackened ground tendrils of ink broke free and launched towards Kayne, ensnaring him effortlessly. The tentacles wrapped tight, binding him as they crawled further and further, closer and closer towards his throat. 

    "I watched you die!" Kayne shouted. The form began to laugh.

    "Stupid boy... you could never kill me in your wildest dreams." The man's hand reached out, the skin starting to fall away, the smell of burnt, rotting flesh hitting Kayne harder than a fist. No, no, no, no, stay back, stay away! Closer, closer, closer... the ink wrapped tight around Kayne's throat, keeping him in place and refusing to let go, stealing the air from the boy's lungs. Closer, closer, closer the hand came, tucking underneath Kayne's chin, going for the throat. No!

    Kayne lunged forwards, letting out an enraged scream as he brandished his short-sword, animal skin falling off his sweating body. His heart pounded like war drums in his chest, and his breathing was strained, shaky, and came out all wrong. Each breath he took still didn't feel like it was enough. His brow dripped with sweat and mixed with the tears that ran down his cheeks. 

    The young man's eyes darted about wildly as everything came back to him and reality sunk in. He knew this place. The smell of smoke that had come from the burning house, instead came from a fireplace. Kayne started to shake uncontrollably, dropping his short-sword with a loud metallic clatter. Right hand immediately going to his left arm, gripping it tightly, he felt a wet, damp, sticky sensation upon his forearm, and looked down to see strands of black seeping out from the cloth and dripping from his finger tips. Kayne gripped it tighter, folding into himself slightly and muttering "Fuck." under his breath.
    
    He knew that no matter what, his actions likely scared Myra. He wouldn't blame her if she would now be nothing but hesitant towards him. The young man quickly wiped away the sweat and tears and regained his composure, pushing up to his feet. He looked towards the faunus apologetically.

    "I'm... sorry. I... need to go tend to something. Forgive me." The boy ducked away, returning up to the main outpost area. He needed privacy. At least for now, while he replaced the cloth wrappings. 

    The boy utilized a puddle outside to clean his arm, remove the ink that dripped down his skin. He re-wrapped it quickly with clean wrappings, and simply dumped the ink stained ones outside. There was no saving those. Instead of returning inside, however, he simply fell back onto his rear, letting his back come to rest against the frigid stone wall. Of course it was a dream. Kayne tightened his grip on his arm to keep both hands from shaking. I watched him die. There's no way he could come back. Tighter, until his arm ached under the strain. I watched him die.

    I killed him myself. 

[Myra]

Myra jumped awake, immediately grabbing an arrow from her quiver and hooking it on the string. She ran over, although her heavy steps gave way that she was still trying to wake up. She was stuck between alert and falling back down to sleep. Her heart was pounding from the startling sound but the rest of her just wanted to go back and sleep more.

She trotted over to Kayne with a look of worry on her face. "Is everything alri-" She cut herself off, seeing his condition. No danger but it seems like he had a nightmare. I know he said we'd be getting up early, but I wasn't expecting to be frightened awake..., she thought to herself. Before she could really register anymore more of him aside from the puffy redness in his eyes and him clutching his arm, he ran off.

Myra let out a yawn, stretching and relighting the fire. How long were they asleep? It didn't feel near long enough. Maybe a couple hours? Once the fire was lively, she began making a stew with some more of the ingredients. It was the same recipe as last time, using ingredients that were still good. At least this gave her something to do to stay awake. By the time Kayne was back, Myra was nibbling away slowly at a bowl of stew, still seemingly working on waking up but up enough to not nod off.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    As the sun crested over the horizon, Kayne found the strength to steady himself. He released his arm and let himself relax for a time as the morning light washed over him. It took some time for him to really calm down and for his head to clear, but when it did, the young man's shoulder's sagged with an exhausted sigh. 

    While puddle water might not be the cleanest thing, it was the best thing he had to wash his face with for the time being. And it worked well as getting rid of the sweat and grime, but he'd really need to bathe sometime soon once they came across a body of water. Still, right now he wasn't in the business of complaining, especially after the wild scene he'd just made. You damn buffoon. She probably thinks you're a psychopath now. Kayne fell back against the wall and hid his face into his hands. 
    
    Traveling with Myra was going to be awkward now. 

    This is why I should stay away from people as much as possible. Kayne grunted as he pulled himself up to his feet. At the very least he could say the nightmare acted as a perfect alarm clock. Which was probably the only good thing that came out of that moment of weakness. 

    Finally, Kayne found himself returning down to the hidden chamber and taking a seat some distance away from Myra. He had his own food to eat, he didn't need to rely on her if he didn't have to. When he wasn't eating, he was stowing his things back into his bag, and when he wasn't doing that he was idly wandering in his area and observing the cages. Finally, when the silence became too much, even for him, he would let out a breath and speak. 

    "I'm sorry for that... but, at least it's morning anyways." Kayne turned to her at that last part, holding out a hand as if trying to offer something, then slowly letting it fall back to his side as he turned away again. 

    He was quiet for a while longer, setting up and getting ready for the long road ahead, doing his best to avoid eye contact with Myra. It was humiliating. Waking up in a fit of rage and fear like a frightened child. It was weakness. But at least it showed there was still some part of him that was human, no matter how slight. 

    "My mentor always used to tell me how weak I was. How much shame I brought to my family name." Kayne tightened the strap of Hydra's sheath as he spoke. "He used to say I relied on my brother, on others, way too much and that it was making me soft. Everytime I woke up from a nightmare or got frightened in any form, he would slap me and tell me to stop wasting his time. Heh... to think I'm freaking out like this even now... what a joke." 

    Kayne stood up finally and turned around, heading towards the exit. He'd pause to wait for her, but it was obvious that he wasn't going to wait for very long. "We should head out, before we start wasting daylight. Moving around will get your blood flowing. and don't worry about the fire, it's not like there's anyone around here that'll care."

[Myra]

"You can have some stew if you really want, I made extra in case you wanted any. Even though it's lacking in flavour, it's got enough nutrients for a meal.", she said to him before resuming nibbling on a pheasant wing.

She sipped on some of the stew and wiped her mouth before looking at him. She was obviously more awake now. "So you had a nightmare of them.", she guessed. "He sounds like an awful person. Even for a Warforged, that's harsher than any telling of a mentor I've heard of." Though she supposed cruel teachers like that existed. Poor guy.

"I mean... It's completely fair that his presence would still have scarred you so badly. A horse that was whipped for each thing it did would still be skittish even outside of the presence that inflicted it." Myra got up and got another helping of stew, still leaving enough for Kayne if he wanted any. If not, it's probably the best meal that rats would have after they've gone.

After Myra was done with her meal, she put her bowl in a bucket filled with water so that food wouldn't dry and cake itself on the plate. She checked her things, making sure all of what she had was still in place and then followed Kayne out. "Maybe we can catch some game meat to sell on the way. The outpost had pheasants so there might be some nearby." Meat sources around these kinds of places were usually very local too.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    "To him, my brother was perfection where as I was a disappointment. A mistake." Kayne began to walk alongside Myra as he spoke, narrowing his eyes only slightly as they adjusted to the sunlight outside. "My brother was... he was everything a warrior should be. He was noble, he was proud and caring and just... he was better than I could ever be. No matter what I do, I'm always living in his shadow. I'm always living in everyone's shadow. Of my brother, of my father, of my mentor, even of my own blood."

    Kayne looked towards the ground and shook his head. "Let's talk about something else. I'd rather not bring down your mood any. Consider these just the simple musings of a lone swordsman." 
       
    The young man went quiet, but instead of a more sad silence, it was just back to a deadpan, empty gaze and emotionless expression. Back to normal. The path was pocketed with puddles after the previous day, while droplets fell from the trees. The whole word had that fresh smell that only rain could bring. 

    Kayne stopped a few times nearby a river, the first time to wash himself, the second to catch some fish, which he would allow a break in their journey to cook. While Kayne's cooking wasn't five star, it certainly wasn't terrible either, and he knew many different wild herbs that grew around to help boost the nutritional content and flavor. As well as some that could be harvested for medicinal purposes, which he also gathered a good amount of. 

    Finally, he'd break the lengthy conversational cold war. 

    "Seeing as... you clearly have more experience in these regards, what... sort of things do people usually talk about or ask about...?" Kayne rubbed the back of his neck with a sigh. "I... have to imagine you have many questions about me after... everything that's transpired..." 

[Myra]

"I never understood that ideology of 'cloning' your offspring.", Myra said flatly. Partially because she was an only child herself, but the people in her village considered each other family. All kids in the village were deemed as 'siblings' for lack of a better word. Thinking about it made it show how drastic the difference was in their lifestyles were in Myra's head.

"Hmm? Mmmm... I suppose the first go-to is whatever interests the person. It might be different interests, but most go for similar interests.", the faunus mused. Myra did have some questions, but asking of his past seemed to be a no. What else was there to ask about him? His sword? His goals? She was sure he mentioned something akin to goals already... "After we get to town, and you've done what you need to there... What do you plan to do? Where do you plan to go?"

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    "When we get to town, I plan on restocking on essentials, then resting for a time before seeing if there's any bounties anyone needs handled, just to offer some help. Then, once those are done, I'll head off to the next town." Kayne looked towards Myra, pondering what sort of questions he might ask her. It's a wonder he got this far, but then again, you don't really need social skills to kill someone.

    "What are your interests, then? Besides beast taming of course." Kayne's eyes scanned the horizon as he walked. The trail was calm, and though he wouldn't say it, he had to quietly admit to himself that it was a nice break from everything else. 

    A few birds would flit past and he'd give pause to catch a feather that drifted down from them. The boy studied it for a while, turning it over in the light before looking for a place to put it. He'd give pause, though, and instead look towards Myra, holding the feather out to her. She was a beast tamer, so she probably would like items like this more than Kayne would. 

    It was really just thrown in as an after thought,  but on further inspection if he held onto it, no matter how much he liked it, it'd inevitably get ruined. Either from him moving or during a battle. He couldn't confidently say that he could keep the feather intact long enough to do anything worthwhile with it. Which was unfortunate, but perhaps one day in the future he'd have the ability to carry as many as he liked. 

[Myra]

"My interests..?" Myra looked over to Kayne for a moment and then back in front. "It's probably boring, but just the wilds really interest me. I just love being in the forest, waking to birdsong. It's the most peaceful thing out there. Even then, just simply exploring the world to see what it has to offer. The ocean, the mountains, even the meadows. I just want to see it all."

She watched the feather fall from the birds and saw Kayne catch it. It was an unexpected gesture as he offered her the feather. Did he just want her to look at it? "Mmm?", she took the feather and looked at it. It was a normal flight feather. "Feathers can be used for many things. Did you want to know what they can be used for?"

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    "No... I just thought you might like it." Kayne stated. He rubbed his chin as a memory came to him. "When I was younger I used to collect those sorts of things in secret. I'n hide them in a box, and bury it where no one could find them. As far as I know, it's still where I left it... so I suppose I hid it well..."

    Huh, a happy memory for once. What a fucking miracle. Kayne gently rubbed his cloth bound arm, but when he realized what he was doing, he quickly switched to keeping his idle hands in the pockets of his jacket. When he thought about her interests, they made sense, but at the same time he sort of expected a bit more. She was a cheery person, he would have anticipated her talking about a lot more. Music or social activities perhaps.

    Then again he didn't really have much experience in social activities to know what normal was.

    As the silence went on and on, he started feeling... bad? He couldn't understand it. He... lived in the silence and it's what comforted him. But when he was around others, it always felt... wrong. Especially now when he'd been traveling with Myra for far longer than he'd ever traveled with another person.

    Those few times he did, there were others around to pick up the conversational slack so that he never had to do anything. Just say one thing or another, offer a few brief words of input on a plan or give a brief explanation of an experience to suit a story or whatever. But now that he was trapped one on one with someone, his... flaws became all the more apparent and it honestly hurt him more than he thought it would. 

    You're pathetic. You can't fight. You can't speak. You're not even good at dying. Kayne's lips parted slightly as he let out a quiet sigh. The only thing people could ever say about me was that I existed. And did I even make my presence known enough for that to be said about me? Kayne looked up to the sky and watched the birds fly past. In the mix, a large black shape drifted by, just long enough for Kayne to register it, before it vanished into the tree tops. He ignored it, instead focusing on the road ahead, trampling on the blackened feather as though it hadn't been there at all.
    
    "Do... you like violin?" It was obvious Kayne was grasping at conversational straws right now. He was desperately relying on Myra to carry this shit. It was hard to talk about stuff when you didn't even have any interest in yourself. He'd spent his life thus far just quietly existing, and it showed. 

[Myra]

"I do! It's a lovely feather. Look, it's not split anywhere! It's a perfect feather!", she said, turning it in front of Kayne. Perhaps she would turn it into a charm. Bind it in leather and... Perhaps as an ode to Kayne's gesture, black and white beading to decorate it? Myra carefully put it away, probably something to work on while she was resting somewhere.

Myra kept glancing over at Kayne slightly, he seemed bothered, but she wasn't sure if she was allowed to ask in such topics. The way he woke and talked about one thing that bothered him, he quickly swapped to something else. "Violin? Hmmm.... Yeah, violin is nice. Why, you play?" Myra appreciated music of all sorts. She was more a drums person herself, finding the mixed beats of large drums matched the feel of the hunt and heartbeats. But she was open to other instruments too.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    "I do, actually. Well, I haven't in a while, but, yes." Kayne nodded to Myra. He was actually pretty proud that he could do more than just... kill and destroy. The violin had a different feel about it. Something to its tune that brought a beauty and serenity with it. "There were many things left behind by my mother, and one of those was a Violin. When my father wasn't around, my older brother would teach me how to play it in private. I became quite good at it. My mentor, though, he didn't see any use in any instrument besides war drums."

    "I'm glad he never found out about my ability to play violin."

    Kayne went quiet again. Unless Myra said anything, the swordsman would stay that way this time around. He'd watch the world around him. The way the grass in the fields bowed to the wind. The way the birds soared through the clouds. How the leaves whispered ever so gently. It was the type of calm he'd been taught to hate, to mistrust. The type of calm that he tried to appreciate, to ignore what he had been taught.

    

[Myra]

"Oh! I'd love to hear your play sometime, if you don't mind!", Myra said. His father figure sounded awful though, as if life was nothing more than a chance to fight the world. The poor guy, having to be brought up like that. I'm glad he didn't either. Gods know how much worse your life would have been if he took something that made you happy away. That's just awful to think about."

It wasn't long until they could spot the town upon the horizon. Admittedly, Myra wasn't totally sure what town this was, but it seemed to be active enough with a full market in swing down the main road. Myra picked up the pace a little, excited to go in town and see what's going on and to catch some news as well as a bath.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    The town was busy and full of life. The market scene was indeed thriving, with travelers and townspeople alike all browsing, buying, and selling a variety of wares. That wasn't the first place Kayne went to, however. Instead, finding a small inn where he could rent two rooms out. One for him. One for Myra. 

    The young swordsman didn't know how long they'd really be staying here- well, he didn't know how long Myra would stay here- but he still put down enough gold to keep a roof over their heads for a week. Just like Myra had planned, Kayne's first plan upon entering his room as well was seeking out a shower. He only washed his face in the morning, and even then he only used a puddle, so having a real shower was a luxury. 

    But not one he enjoyed for long. 

    Kayne washed the grime off himself, but didn't stay in long enough for the water to even get warm. It was just in, stay for about three minutes to scrub, and then out to dry himself off. He appreciated the simple luxuries of civilization, of course, but he didn't try to get too comfortable with it all. He didn't want to become soft, especially when he would be leaving soon enough. As long as the young man didn't become too acclimated, he wouldn't lose his edge. Especially after the shock that was dealing with Bahamut. 

    The boy didn't wait for Myra as he left the inn, leaving a note for her to inform her that he was going to gather up the supplies he needed. If she needed coin, he left some under his pillow for her to use. If she didn't, the option was still there just in case. Always had to have a backup, or a cushion to fall back on if things didn't work out. 

    In the market, Kayne would listen to idle chatter as he bought dried fruits and meats, some packs of medical supplies, and a box of water proof matches. He also bought some new fishing line and hooks, to replace a spool that had snapped and some hooks that had been lost during his journeys. After all the essentials though, he found himself wondering what else he should gather for Myra, knowing full well that she might want something more...comforting or flavorful than dried rations. 

[Myra]

Myra stopped Kayne from paying for her room, she was more than capable of paying for her own rent. She placed the coins on the counter and then went to her room, placing things down and flopping onto the bed and stretched. It was only after a few minutes of that that she would get up to actually shower. While in the shower, Myra was thinking of what she needed to prepare for her next journey out into the wilds. Some more foods, maybe some more arrows. Oh, she needed to find the guards and tell them about an outpost they passed by being cleared.

By the time she was dried off and dressed, she noticed that Kayne was gone, reading the note and folding it. It was a nice gesture that he'd offer something like that, but she was okay on funds herself. She made her way to the market, feeling the warmth of the sun on now cleaned fur felt great. Even the lightest breeze picked up through her fur and it just felt great. She stopped by a blacksmith's forge to pick up some arrows and sharpen her daggers. While waiting for her daggers to be fixed, she went to seek out the guards.

They shouldn't be too far from the forge, right? When Myra did find them and tell them of the outpost, they seemed more than relieved and thrilled to start stationing there. Apparently those bandits were giving them trouble, more with scare tactics than anything. And it made sense since they seemed somewhat understaffed. The faunus made sure to ask for the coinage to be split since she wasn't alone in the endeavor, pocketing both bags and exiting back into the market to look around.

She noticed Kayne wandering, it was hard to miss someone that looked like him really, and trotted over. "Hey! Apparently those bandits had a bounty on their heads.", she said, pulling out a coin bag and handing it to him. "Not taking no for an answer, that's half of the bounty's reward. It won't rest right on my soul if I took more than half."

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Kayne finally determined a few food items that were more... reminiscent of the comforts of society. They wouldn't last a week outside of the town, but he didn't plan on taking them outside the town. It'd all be eaten up during their stay here, give his traveling partner more variety. It also meant he could conserve rations as well, so his complaints were minimal. The pack of food he'd collected consisted of meats, cheeses, fruits, and vegetables- enough to last a week, perhaps a bit less depending on her appetite. 

    His was obviously not a concern.

    When Myra came across him, he would allow a brief flicker of surprise that she'd done it so quickly. Then he remembered what he looked like and that surprise waned slightly. At least until the girl brought up the payment. Kayne's first thought was why din't she just keep it for herself? But after remembering how she... generally acted around him, he just sort of... accepted it. 

    The young man hesitated briefly, before carefully taking the pouch away from Myra, stowing it away without a word. So, those bandits had some attention on them. He mused. They weren't much of a challenge, so it doesn't surprise me that I never paid attention to the bounty.

    It was pretty light too, even after being split. Of course, money wasn't Kayne's primary goal- though after buying a large bulk of perishable food he definitely felt the weight difference in what he normally carried. The young warrior didn't buy things such as this often, so the accidental result was he typically had a good amount of gold on him. It wasn't even that he was cheap either, the weight difference just felt odd. 

    Guess I'm just not used to change?

    Well... ok that wasn't too far of a stretch. Kayne didn't try to be so stuck in his own ways, but at the same time he was just so... him that it just turned out that way. Unfortunately he didn't try hard to change that either. 
    
    Kayne looked to Myra and gave a slight nod. "Thank you. Though I wouldn't have said anything had you have kept it to yourself. That's not necessarily the reason why I fight." 

    Once again, money wasn't his primary motivator. At times, he'd even forgone getting payment entirely, just preferring to continue moving on once a job was done. There wasn't much need for money unless he took long stays in towns, like right now. And even then, once again, he had enough of a cushion so that he didn't really have to worry. Most of the stuff he needed he could gather in the wild. And most of the stuff he didn't need, he didn't want. 

    He just wasn't a frivolous spender. 

    The young warrior took the pack full of goods and opened it for Myra, showing her what he had gotten. "Enough to last our stay. You can take whatever you want, or get your own. However, if you'd like, I can use what I've gotten to make something for you. I believe I'm a... semi-decent chef."