Kiriti quickly patched the two up, then backed away just as quick.
Tessa yelped as Cin smacked her in the back of her head. "Are you insane!?" Cinthia growled. "I told you to get me information, not go out of your way to make things more exciting. You had one job."
Tess bowed her head, taking the scolding without a single complaint. Cinthia continued, but in rapid fire in her native tongue, which no one here understood.
Runner clenched his jaw, pacing a few feet away to try to release some of the emotion.
Tess hung her head in shame. "I'm sorry," she said, then looked to a fuming Cinthia. "Epartaki, hombrera. No shia compra eti."
He understood none of it, but hearing Tessie's voice made him stop for a moment.
Cinthia sighed through her nose. "I can't expect that of you. Let's just go home."
"Need another portal?" He asked, still speaking tensely but his face back to its normal color.
Demitri shook his head from where he leaned against a tree. "I can shadow travel them." He gave Cinthia an amused look. "Rhydar told me what happened. Nice going."
"Nearly killed myself. I didn't realize I had so much until, well…boom." He glanced over at Tessie, really wanting to give her a hug but still in that stage in the relationship where contact was awkward for him.
Cinthia glared at Demitri, daring him to say more. "Tends to happen with untrained abilities," she said to Runner while having a staring contest with Demitri.
Tess smiled and pulled Runner into a hug, lightly kissing his cheek. "Well, I appreciate your sacrifice, Prince Charming. See you again, yeah?"
The phoenix audibly gagged and disappeared in a ball of flames and feathers.
"Hopefully with better circumstances, but yeah, for sure." He returned the hug, smiling lightly.
Tess beamed, face as bright as the sun. "Great!" She waved a hand between Demitri and Cinthia. Neither blinked. "Hello?"
Demitri broke the stare and waved a hand. A large shadow appeared at his side, and Fenris, Kiriti, and Cinthia walks through. Tess squeezed Runner's hand in farewell. "See you next time," then hopped through the swirling shadows. Demitri hesitated, eyeing Runner. "Don't break her," he finally said, then disappeared himself, bringing the shadow along with him
He sat down heavily, groaning. His head still pounded from the empty voice that the rage left in his mind, his chest ached from the amount of energy he had to hold, and he just felt like shit. But, at the same time, she had kissed him. He could still feel it on his cheek and hoped it wouldn't fade, knowing good and well that it would.
"Damn," he mumbled, leaning onto his back. "I should have went with them."
(I got to go. Sorry)
(It's fine! It is getting pretty late)
(See ya tomorrow!)
(Of course!)
The figure had remained in the shadows. He had returned to his place further away from the rest of the individuals present. A sudden caw drew his attention. The male turned his head, seeing what appeared to be a large raven in a tree. Though it was clear, this wasn't your average bird. The tips of its wings seemed to glow blue, the same blue energy seeming to flow off of its form.
As for the male, he raised his eyebrow, "For you to be here…something is not right."
The raven tilted its head, blue eyes glowing. It flapped its wings a bit, giving another harsh caw. A sudden voice echoed in his mind ~Yes, you are correct. Though tis too dangerous to speak about it here~.
"Hm, I see…"
He finally got off of his back, unaware that he had taken a nap but happy he did.
~Do report anything…should you see the soul I am searching for~.
The cloaked figure gave a slight nod to the raven, "Shall I call one of your reaper dragons if I cross paths with this soul?"
The bird that perched above the male shifted a bit on the branch. Its blue eyes seemed to glow even brighter. The blue tips of its wings pulsed with the energy it held.
~I suggest calling for Vokun. I have put him on the soul's trail, though having heard that it had escaped to another place, even world, it is making things quite difficult…enough chat, the others have started to awake, and most likely will see me. I'd prefer not being seen, as I have other things to attend to back home~.
The strange raven then released another harsh caw. It opened its wings, lifting off its branch, swiftly taking off and disappearing into the darkness. As for the male, he watched where the creature had taken off, then looked back to the world around him.
He made eye contact with Runner, who heard the whole thing through the still-open portal.
The male could sense the eyes upon him. His head shifted, looking directly at the boy. Yet his composure remained completely relaxed. His red eye was a dull, the black pupil round, showing his still calm state.
"Tis rather rude to listen into a conversation…though I suppose we should've taken better precautions."
The cloaked figure's voice remained emotionless, "I'm going to assume you have questions, as most do."
"To be honest, not really. You and your crew are chasing someone."
"Hm…these residents are quite surprising," he mumbled under his breath.
The figure spoke louder again, "Observant…"
He started to mutter under his breath again, shifting his gaze back to the depths of the forest nearby.
The Alnaschari shuffled back into view, now in buttoned-up dusters and boots. "What'd we miss?" Stardew asked. "Sorry, we decided to do something … else."
She glanced over to the portal. "You guys really need to teach us how to do stuff like this."