The sunset painted the dimming sky in a riot of colors.

Arius sat alone atop the Inn of the Dancing Lark, his mind troubled by this recent turn of events. The cool night breeze stirred his lengthening black hair, sending obsidian strands fluttering about his pale face, now unmarked by any sign of the terrible curse that had afflicted him. Below, music and laughter drifted out from the inn’s common-room, the mirthful sounds a strange counterpoint to the darkness that had settled firmly within the cursed elf’s thoughts and heart; a darkness that had not lifted from him since he’d read that scroll... He shuddered, clenching his fists and feeling—not for the first time—ill at ease in his new pair of heavy black gauntlets. The burns to this hands and arms were healing quickly, surprisingly quickly in fact, perhaps due to the nature of the injuries and the eldritch powers which coursed throughout his body. A soft scuffing sound from behind caused Arius to look back over his shoulder, his glimmering purple eyes narrowing nearly imperceptibly.

“I’m sorry,” Hayato uttered, obviously shocked at seeing Arius here, in his own favorite place of solitude. “I just thought I’d come out and get some fresh air, you know?” The monk let loose with a nervous laugh as he absently scratched the back of his head. “I’ll just… uh, I’ll just leave you alone…”

“No, stay,” Arius said, surprising himself. “She’s looking for you, isn’t she?” The black-clad elf turned his attention back to the setting sun, a slight smile playing upon his lips.

“Yeah…” Hayato replied, coming to sit near Arius.

For several long, tense moments, neither adventurer spoke, which was unsurprising. It was no secret that the two of them could barely stand the sight of one another. Arius hated Hayato for his human bloodline, his clumsiness, and—though the elf would never admit it to anyone, even Jeyld—his rapidly growing power. It was this obvious hatred, more than anything else, which affected Hayato’s own feelings toward Arius; after all, how could one expect the blue-haired monk to be civil and polite to the warlock when he himself was treated like trash in return? Finally Hayato spoke, breaking the heavy silence.

“Why’d you do it, anyway?” he asked, his gaze flicking momentarily to Arius’ now-concealed arms. “I mean, I know why you did it,” he continued as the elf flashed him a questioning glance. “Because we swore that we wouldn’t let anything happen to each other until we took out that bastard Tempest… But, I mean,” it was obvious that he was having trouble voicing his question. Surprisingly, Arius knew exactly what he was trying to ask.

“You want to know why I threw myself in front of you to take that brimstone blast, when there was a chance that it would have killed me.”

“Yeah, exactly,” Hayato said, closely watching Arius out of the corner of his eye. “I mean, you weren’t worried about me or anything, right?” He laughed as he said this, but the laugh was forced. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, Hayato clung to the hope that, just maybe, Arius had been concerned with his well being; he hoped that maybe somehow he was finally breaking through the cursed elf’s cold exterior.

“No, I wasn’t worried,” Arius replied, never taking his eyes off the rapidly diminishing sun. “I was simply honoring the terms of our impromptu alliance.” He fell silent again as the breeze picked up, and he closed his eyes as a faint smile crossed his pale features. Finally, he continued. “That attack was primarily an eldritch blast, despite its hellish enhancement; it just seemed to me that I would have a better chance of surviving such a blast, since…” Since my body is so flooded with that damned power anyway…

“Since what?” Hayato prompted.

“It’s nothing, Hayato,” Arius muttered, standing to his feet as the sun sank below the western horizon. Without another word, the raven-haired elf climbed back into the inn through the open window, leaving Hayato alone on the roof.

“That guy can really piss me off sometimes, Hachi,” the human monk said, shaking his head as he sprawled out upon the roof, scratching his stuffed octopus lovingly on the top of it’s head. “But, I have to admit,” he continued, his voice taking on a serious tone, “I don’t know that there’s anyone else I’d rather have watching my back…”
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Well, that's the end of that. Can't wait to see everyone on sunday at the next session!

AMdG

Very well done all this story is fantastic...and there's so much material to use...mwaha muwaahaa mwuahahahahahahahahahaha ... ha