“Ember… is that your sister?” Dare asked cautiously. “What is she like?” Internally, she cursed at herself. This was no time to try and connect with Tempest. She had a deal to fulfill, and she couldn’t let her emotions get in the way of that.
(I think I'm waiting on Hybrid..? I'm not sure.)
"Yep she's quite a warrior where she comes from" Ember bluffed along with her new ally.
"Oh is that so…well then 'warrior' I'm Ace. What do your people call you where you're from?" The shadow said with a grin
Tempest smiled a bit as he tried to keep himself warm "she's my sister.. yeah. She's the best one someone could ask for." He started "she loves the outdoors, and she's even more protective than me if you can believe that." He chuckles a bit "she's….she's the one that takes care of me since Mom and Dad were killed by Zerack."
Dare froze. “Oh, I’m sorry. You’re really lucky to have her in your corner,” she said lightly. Well, shit. This wasn’t good. Damned emotions, making everything harder! She shoved down her guilt and steeled her resolve. It didn’t matter what had happened to Tempest in the past, all that mattered was living for herself now. If Ember showed up, that would make everything twice as difficult.
"Yeah…I love her even if she's a pain sometimes cause I know I'm an annoying brother to her too…y'know…typical brother-sister relation…what about you? What family do you have?" he gently asked
“Oh, y’know, not much. I live with my uncle, who’s a detective in the police force. He taught me everything he knows, and I’ve assisted him on a case once or twice,” Dare said offhandedly, tapping her fingers rhythmically against her thigh. She seemed to have recovered rather quickly from her earlier ordeal.
"Wow police training? I think Ember may have a gun in our pocket verse st-wait! I wonder if that tool I gave you can…try to change it into a gun. I've never tried it before." He gave her a little grin
“Okay. Let’s see if it works!” Dare picked up her sword and held it in the middle of her open palm. “Gun!” The tool obliged, shifted and pooling together to form a blocky handgun that fit comfortably in her hands. “I’ve used a gun a few times on a shooting range, but never without supervision.” Inside her head, her thoughts were racing. She couldn’t shoot Tempest right now as convenient as that would be; Yumi was too close, and she wasn’t aware enough of the area to know how close she was to the barrier. Dare would have to wait.
"Geeze that's pretty neat! I've always used blades myself though…" Tempest dug in his bag and pulled out a single empty thin vial. "I gotta go do something but I'll be back in a bit. Stay here and keep warm, protect Yumi." Tempest told her as he started to walk off "I won't be far just holler if you need me."
"Got it," Dare said with a nod. As soon as he was far enough away, Dare got up from the stone she was sitting on and began to follow Tempest. What is he doing? I'd better find out. She did her best to avoid dense patches of snow and stayed close to the bushes as she crept along behind him.
Tempest was knelt by the water's edge a ways down from the group and put the vial into the water where some moonlight hit the water. He started to mutter in a language that wasn't familiar to at least Dare. The liquid started to turn into a silver one with a gentle glow. "Better than hyping myself up with caffeine at least." he drank the contents and a warm sensation flowed into his body. He refilled it again and pocketed it this time.
Dare tilted her head in curiosity. "What is that?" she muttered softly to herself. The way Tempest was reacting to it, it seemed like it was giving him some kind of energy, almost like her new gift. She wanted to get her hands on that extra vial, but figured that she couldn't risk it right this moment. Dare remained hidden in the trees, and closed her eyes. "Alright, Zerack, what do you want me to do?" she whispered.
"He's trying to regain strength. You may want to dispatch him sooner than later…but this isn't my job…it's yours Dare. You aren't the normal girl you were before my gift. He's only a year older than you and while he's experienced in fighting for his life…I'm not sure he could overcome his friendship with you…he's blinded by his sense of right and wrong." The Shadow Lord spoke into her mind
"Yes, Zerack, I understand. I'll do my best to foster this friendship further and get him to truly trust and care for me," Dare murmured in return. "Pray tell, what does your gift, actually, you know, do? You were rather light on the details."
"It will adapt the what you are most skilled at and magnify what you usually can do. You can solidify the gift into weapons or protection if you wish. The reason that Haven members have silver tools though is that it's the one physical metal that we cannot heal wounds from rapidly…the enchanted form he just consumed can also be used to rid the body of my gift entirely." Zerack tried to explain
"Interesting…" Dare replied, deep in thought. If she wanted to keep up the illusion of being a normal human, she might have to injure herself with the tool Tempest had given her, and the vial in Tempest's pocket was a solid backup plan in case this deal didn't go her way. But, it was likely she wouldn't need it because of how powerful this new gift seemed to be. "Does the gift allow you to read my thoughts?"
"Yep she's quite a warrior where she comes from" Ember bluffed along with her new ally.
"Oh is that so…well then 'warrior' I'm Ace. What do your people call you where you're from?" The shadow said with a grin.
(Time to come up with random terms! If anyone gets the references, kudos to you!)
"The name's Alice, Whitelighter of Palore. I was stripped of my sword upon coming here–at least I am lucky to have something." Erika talked sternly, putting the barrel of the bat on her foot, holding it only by the palm of her hand. "I'd say it was nice to meet you, but under these circumstances, it is not optimal. I seem to be here instead of fighting for my kingdom, why?"
That's it! That's what I can do!
I can lie and play the part.
How this will get me home, I don't know.
"You are newly infected…I cannot see into your mind yet but it matters not, for this is your way home so I can hardly see trust being a problem."
Tempest then turned and started on his way back to the makeshift camp
Ace took another step forward toward Alice "Then let us see your skills then warrior of Palore." she challenged
"I wouldn't want Madam Alice to tire over such an unworthy opponent such as your self. It would be a real shame." Ember interrupted, aiming another arrow at Ace this time. It was a hint of it'd be best to get back to Alice
“Of course,” Dare said with a nod. “I won’t let you down.” Seeing that Tempest was making his way back to camp, she slipped behind a tree and held her breath. She couldn’t risk Tempest seeing her now, or he might begin to suspect something was going on.
"It's kinda crazy but I think that Dare girl is so neat…brave too." he said to himself as he walked "Quite literally owe her my life." he muttered, remembering back to where she distracted a feral for him. "Not an ounce of magic and yet she still's the person getting me through this right now…" was it weird to talk to himself? Yes. But was it honestly any more unusual than he already was?…No not at all.
Dare’s stomach twisted with guilt, and her shoulders bent inward like she was trying to make herself small. At the same time, she felt a kind of dark glee at how easy it had been to convince Tempest that she had good intentions. It hadn’t even been that long, and already he trusted her with his life. She crept back to the camp as well, using the sound of his footsteps to cover up her own. With a burst of speed, Dare made it back to camp just before Tempest did and settled herself down on a smooth rock.
Tempest smiled brightly as he made it back to camp, seeming to be in much better shape, for the larger cuts had clotted and any minor abrasions and wounds were completely gone. "Alrighty I'm backs guys…I assume everything was well while I was gone?"
Yumi’s stomach twisted, her nerves were all over the place. She sat down under a tree and took deep breath, still shaking from the experience. I’m fine…
Tempest looked to Yumi and went over kneeling by her side "Hey I know this is real scary…I'm scared too…but we can get through this. Dare and I are here for you and when it's all said and done…you're gonna have a new home Yumi." he gently said to her. He offered his arms up in a hug "Come on, you need one."
Dare watched awkwardly as Tempest offered Yumi a hug, fiddling with the sleeves of her sweatshirt. She supposed she should try to make an effort to participate, so Dare stood up and edged over to the pair.