With three pairs of inquisitive eyes trained on him, Sachi, though only for a brief moment, seemed stunned into silence by their intensity. He let out a soft tremoring breath, meeting Callan's eyes for support. It didn't take a telepath to know that Sachi had certainly been through more than any boy of his age should have. "Take your time," Callan insisted, "We're in no hurry." Phoena's form stiffened at the comforting comment, but even she knew it to be true. Now that they'd discovered that Sachi's Manabe form was the dark presence they'd observed, spending the night there as they had planned posed no threat.
Sachi's bottom lip quivered, but he looked up at Callan with such admiration, as if the older boy was a beacon of hope in even-consuming darkness. Callan had only done the decent humane thing, yet Sachi was so appreciative. "I don't remember much from before I started shifting and that was when all the problems started. The townspeople were terrified of me, even my own parents, and they wanted nothing to do with me," he explained in a quiet voice, "My brother, Orin, was the only one who was willing to stand by my side through it all. When I first woke up, you reminded me so much of him that it scared me." The boy's eyes started to fill with tears, and he choked back a sob.
"He killed him," Brady whispered, his tone low and sullen. It was pretty evident that Sachi wouldn't have been able to say it himself, but Callan was frustrated all the same by Braedyn's probing.
"It- it was an accident! I didn't mean to! I would never want to hurt Orin," he stumbled over his words in desperation.
Callan squeezed his shoulder, nodding knowingly, "Tell us what happened?"
Sachi kept his eyes lowered, his lip puffed out and his gaze clouded by the waves of sorrow that rolled in as he recalled one of the worst days in his young life. "A shifter's first turning is a pretty big deal in Gwyrholm, a rite of passage of sorts," the boy started softly, focusing on Callan as much as he could, rather than facing the other two. "So, on my fifth birthday, my family was anxiously waiting for me to shift, but they never expected me to be a Manabe. I was chased out of Mystaire, and the only person who dared to come after me was Orin. He warned me that the villagers were building a hunting party, determined to scour the woods and kill me. He wanted to protect me, and I was stupid enough to let him try... When the men from the village came for us, my fear got the better of me." His voice wavered, and silent tears spilled from his eyes. "The beast went on a rampage... friend, foe, it didn't matter who. I killed them all." The boy choked back another painful sob. "Even Orin... Seeing him lifeless on the ground like that and knowing that I was the reason why it happened, I'll never be able to forget it."
"And still the people send more hunters out after you?" Phoena asked, her voice surprisingly gentle considering her distrust of the boy.
Sachi nodded weakly. "It's been three years of running and hiding, uhh and..." Killing, they could only assume, considering Sachi's own life hadn't been taken. "That net was one of their traps, imbued with magic so my claws couldn't cut it. They found me caught up in it, sliced me over and over again with their knives, then left me there to starve and rot." The matter-of-fact way in which he spoke of such disgusting behavior brought a deep scowl to Callan's lip. Sachi couldn't control his Manabe nature any more than Brady, Cal, and Phoena could control being Runeholders. It was beyond their abilities to alter their fate.
Callan brushed away his lingering frustration, taking a softer expression as he peered over at Sachi thoughtfully. "Three years is a long time to be on your own..."
The boy shrugged, lips twisting up in a forced smile. "I didn't really have a choice."
"Then I'll give you a choice now..." Cal stood up abruptly, drawing a sharp gasp from Phoena, three sets of eyes all falling on the Grand Commander's son as they awaited his declaration. "Come with us and we'll do everything we can to help you." He offered his hand out to Sachi with a confident smile. "We can help you figure out your curse and where you belong if you'll let us. I promise not to let you down."
Sach blinked up at Callan in silence, his uncertainty worn like a badge on his chest. The icy daggers that Phoena shot at Cal with her unfaltering stare certainly didn't take any pressure off the boy's shoulders. "I couldn't ask that much of you," he said, lacking any strength or conviction is his refusal.
Callan waved a hand at the irritable blonde beside him. "If she's the reason you're so weary, don't be. We want to help... Right, Brady?"
This time, his eyes flickered in the telepath's direction, and Brady lifted his head with a start. "...Me...?"
"Yes, you Shrink-wrap," Cal sighed, "Who else?"
Brady swiped a hand back through slightly damp black hair, ignoring the screaming pain that shot through his abdomen, making his toes curl and his fingers lock up. "I don't see why we can't lend the kid a hand on our way to La Cierna." He hung his head a bit sheepishly as Phoena whipped her head around with wide incredulous eyes.
"Do either of you have any idea how crucial our duty as Runeholders is? We can't be wasting precious time like this!" She gestured wildly, her tension and frustration radiating off her body.
"Then what do you suggest we do, Your Majesty?" Callan countered, sneering at Phoena's high and mighty act. She liked to think that she knew what was best for the group, but her narrow-mindedness lacked a very necessary human element. Compassion. "Just leave him here and hope that his townspeople miss the mark time and time again? Might as well cut him down yourself then, since that's as good as sentencing him to death."
Phoena shot to her feet, shooting forward to grab Callan by the collar of his cloak. "Shut up," she snarled, practically nose to nose with Callan as she seethed. Her hands were quaking in anger as her fingers tangled up in the fabric by his throat. "Don't you dare act like you know me and why I do what I do." She released him with a sharp flick of her hand, giving his chest a rough shove as she turned on her heels. "If the boy wants to come with us to La Cierna, that's his choice. You two can do what you want. It's pretty clear that me trying to reason with you lot is pointless anyway."
Steadying himself, Callan narrowed his eyes and stared at Phoena's back as she stalked toward the treeline without another word. "Huh..." Brady murmured quietly, peering between his two traveling companions with a click of his tongue. "That wasn't exactly the chain of events I'd been expecting..."
Cal arched a brow at that, but figured whatever Braedyn meant by that would only fuel his agitation. One pissed off Runeholder was plenty, thank you very much. Shaking off his little tiff with Phoena, Callan turned back to Sachi, who like Braedyn still sat on the ground. Again, he outstretched his hand to the boy, nodding softly to assure him that it would be okay. "Even the angry blonde said you could come, so let us do what we can." A beaming grin claimed Cal's face as Sachi's small hand linked with his. "There we go. Everything's going to work itself out, Sachi."
"Is she always so unhappy?" Sachi's voice was meek as his eyes fluttered toward Phoena, too nervous to linger there any longer than mere seconds.
"Unhappy?" Callan tilted his head, glancing down at Sachi, who nodded solemnly. "That isn't exactly the word I'd use to describe her... What makes you think that?"
"She walks around like she has the weight of the world on her shoulders and hers alone." Sachi mumbled and met Callan's gaze resolutely. "Wouldn't you be miserable too if you thought you had to carry a burden like that?"
A dumbfounded expression crept over Cal's face, and Brady let out a short laugh. "The kid's pretty deep. I get that vibe from her too, honestly. Probably doesn't help that you think you're useless and I'm knocking at death's door with pastries and bad jokes. Pretty lousy chosen ones if you ask me."
"You are not knocking on death's door," Callan huffed bitterly. He didn't even bother arguing with the rest of it. Brady could search through his mind without so much as batting an eye. Anything that Callentine thought was at Shrink-wrap's disposal.
"Okay, I'm ringing the doorbell. Happy?" Brady gave a strained smile as he attempted to get to his feet, barely managing to hold his own for even a few seconds before he wound up falling against Cal's chest. The telepath groaned and rested his head against the other boy's shoulder. "Any ideas on how we can fix this before I keel over? Just so you know, I'm not going to make a pretty corpse... runs in the family."
"Could you shut up for just two seconds?" Callan growled. He could feel the heat pouring off Brady's feverish skin as he held him up. "I can't even think with you rambling like that."
Brady laughed dryly, but even that smile action left him breathless for a moment, the searing pain at his side sapping all the energy that he had. He slumped forward, legs practically giving out on him. "I just thought I'd give you something to remember me by..."
Cal huffed, adjusting his grip so that Brady didn't find himself crumpled on the floor. "Pull yourself together, man! It's just an infection. We can fix it."
That was when a quiet voice piped up from behind, and Callan glanced back over his shoulder at Sachi, wondering what the boy could possibly be suggesting. "Maybe I can help with that...?"
***
Look who's back, back again... Rissa's back... Tell a friend!~ Yeah, it's been heck of a long time! But here we are again, and I hope you all will enjoy this newest installation of R U [ I ] N E D, because writing it was a blast! These characters are so precious to me, and I can barely wait to post more! Any ideas as to what Sachi has up his sleeve to help Braedyn? With any luck, I'll have Chapter Nine finished up for you all to read in no time!
Until then friends... Rissa <3