estoria | [CLOSED] A Matter of Weapons

Entry tags:

darin altway,
raven

[CLOSED] A Matter of Weapons

Who: Darn and Raven (

fishyoldman )
When: IC: 7/27
Where: The Spoon Smithy, AKA Darin's temporary base of Smithy Operations.
What: Darin's had Raven's bow for awhile now and now that it's fixed he should probably bring it back
Rating/Warning: Dumb old man and Dumb young man

[As per the norm, Darin's holed up at work. Usually, this can be attributed to his enthusiasm and creative spirit. But lately, he's been in a more somber mood.]

[He's only been in the colony for about a month, and already a handful of people know about what he is. Not that they've caused a panic, or people are looking to burn him at the stake, but that's more people than he cares for knowing something he's kept hidden his entire life. Not only that...there was the matter of that weird fox he had following him around. It was clearly linked to him but, just as soon as he had noticed it, it was gone.]

[Only to be replaced with one of those cybernetic animals. A broken one.]

[The dilapidated CyBuddy sits in a heap on one of Darin's work benches. He's tried taking it apart. He's tried fixing it. But nothing he does seems to matter. He even messed with the idea of turning it into parts but...he can't seem to bring himself to do it.]

[With a sigh, his gaze moves to another area on his work bench, where Raven's bow sits. It's been finished for some time now, but with all of this memory commotion, he had forgotten to bring it back.]

Ah dammit...I should probably bring you back to your owner, right...?

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[Raven, on the other hand, actually doesn't look so shocked by that plot twist. Though he does appreciate the honesty of that response, if nothing else.]

That figures... Death ain't always enough to stop some people. [Cerealia being a prime example.]

Then what happened?

Yeah well, he was kind of the last person I expected to see but...it made sense.

His soul was taken by the Archfiends. He was trained...twisted...into a tool for their agenda. He was trying to incite a war and he's going to try and start more unless I can stop him.

By framing me, he was trying to get my attention. This is all a big stupid game to him, just like it's a big stupid game to whatever higher powers have a stake in all of this.

He and I were always different. Special. It's why the Archfiends took him and...molded him into what they wanted.

[He grits his teeth and clenches his fists until his knuckles turned white. Until they hurt. Would he have suffered the same fate if he were killed too?]

Sad ta hear stories like these repeat themselves, even in other worlds.

[Raven frowns, expression grave, and mutters it to himself more than to Darin. Then he focuses his attention back on the younger man.]

Right, so... They were using your brother as a pawn to get to you. Did they want to nab you too with him as the bait, or get you outta the picture altogether?

[Maybe the questioning is a little blunt, but in these situations, hard facts are a little easier for Raven to deal with than being comforting.]

[Darin sighs. There really wasn't any avoiding it now.]

[He takes a deep breath.]

...I don't know if they were using Dromas as a pawn. I think...I think he escaped on his own. He's doing his own thing. He's warped now. Crazy. He kills with no thought or care. Like it's second nature to him now. When I managed to catch up to him, he'd wiped out an entire town just because.

[He runs a hand over his face when he remembers the carnage.]

As for me...yeah, they probably wanted me too. Like I said...Dromas and I are...

We're special. We have...abilities...

[He growls a bit. How can he explain this? He can't just come out and say he's a monster.]

[Well...when words won't come, maybe a demonstration would do the trick? He looks over his workspace and his eyes settle on his forge. On the piece of metal he had placed in the fire to heat.]

[He wanders over and grabs the large metal tongs he uses to handle the metal and pulls out the metal rod. It was of modest length, and the piece that was in the fire glowed a bright orange and yellow.]

[He turns to Raven and meets his gaze...]

[Then holds up his empty hand and presses the superheated end right onto the back of his hand.]

[And then screams. Because incredible resilience and ability to heal or not, it still hurts.]

[Raven narrows his eyes and watches him, with no idea what he's about to do next. What he actually does catches Raven so off guard, he jumps to his feet in alarm. Without much thought to whether he'll get himself injured, he reaches forward to try to wrench Darin's arm away before he can burn his hand any further.]

What's the matter with you, boy?! Are you crazy?!

[He'd even smack him upside the head if he wasn't already screaming, because what the hell, Darin.]

[If Raven were to look at the hand he just wrenched away, he'd see the very slightest burn. It's practically nothing. For as long as Darin held the metal to his hand, the burn should have been impossibly worse. If anything, his hand is just...red. And right before Raven's eyes, the redness begins to fade. The 'burn' if one could even call it that, was already beginning to heal. No scar, not even a mark.]

[Darin gives Raven a lopsided grin as sweat pours down his face and he offers the older man a meager laugh.]

Hehe...see...?

Special...

[Raven slowly lets go of him as he watches the injury fade, looking from his hand to Darin's face in disbelief. Though he's less disbelieving at how rapidly it healed -- as surprising as that is -- and more at just what Darin was willing to do to prove it.]

Yeah, you're real special all right. What the heck do you think you're doing, hurting yourself like that?

[He's Not Impressed. If anything, he looks downright irritated, which is a rarity for him.]

It's...not that big of a deal. I get hurt all the time. It takes a hell of a lot to actually hurt me, and even then...it takes even more than that for the wound to even last...

Dromas was similar...he was crazy strong, even when we were little kids. Way stronger than any five year old had any right to be. But he got hurt just like any normal kid. He had strength and I had resilience. We were just...born that way.

[Darin pulls his hand away from Raven's grasp and blows on it a bit, the wound fading away entirely.]

Like I said...it's not that big of a deal to me anymore...

[His voice was sounding less and less cocky as he caught on to Raven's expression.]

No...No worries, Old man...I'm used to this...!

[Raven's eyes linger on his hand until the burn fades away entirely, and his expression becomes flat, unreadable.]

You're used to suffering, so that makes it okay ta put yourself through it just to show off? Gimme a break. [He turns and goes to pick up his bow from where he'd left it at the workstation. He's ready to hightail it out, but first:]

Maybe we'll talk about this more when you've had a chance to cool off.

W-Whoa...Raven, I'm not...

I'm not doing it to show off. I was born this way but I'm not...

I'm not proud of it...

I just didn't really...I don't really know how to...

[He struggles to find the words. 'I don't know how to explain to you that I'm dangerous.']

[The words catch in his throat and he wanders over to his workbench quietly, turning his back to Raven.]

Yeah...we can talk another time...no big deal.

[Raven hesitates. Of course it's a big deal, but Raven doesn't really know how to deal with stuff like this without being able to hold it at arm's length. So maybe leaving it at that is for the best for now.

Still, he pauses and glances back. He doesn't want to just leave Darin feeling bad like this... How does he keep winding up in these situations with all these dumb kids, anyway?]

I'll spell out what I'm tryin' ta say. Whatever you are, I ain't here to sit around and watch ya torture yourself over it. And whatever you wanna tell me, there are better ways to say it.

Think about that, and then we'll talk.

[Darin doesn't turn to face Raven. He props himself up with his palms on the corners of his bench, his shoulders hunched. He visibly winces at 'whatever you are' but says nothing in regards to that.]

[He couldn't argue with him. He was right. There were better ways. Like maybe telling him the truth. Not that he'd care to hear it right this second.]

[Darin merely nods.]

Yeah...m'sorry. I'll ah...

I'll see you around, Old man.

[The wince doesn't go unnoticed. Maybe Raven could have phrased that a little more delicately, but at least the message seems to have gotten across. He's not much for coddling others' feelings, for better or for worse.]

See ya, kid. And thanks again for the hard work.

[He pats his bow to indicate what he's referring to, then heads out.]

[Darin waits a few moments to be certain Raven is gone. He grabs a stool and slumps down into it, burying his face in his hands.]

[Dammit, why the hell was he so stupid?! Why the hell had he done that?! Why couldn't he just...tell Raven?!]

[Raven was kind enough to check on him. Raven...seemed to actually give a damn about him, even though he really had no reason to.]

['Even though he really had no reason to...?']

[Darin had a sudden guilty pang in his heart. Acteon was the same. Acteon had no reason to take him in when he'd lost everything but...he did. Acteon was a good person. Acteon was proud of him.]

[Homesickness set in and wrapped itself around Darin's heart with the weight of a lead blanket. He just realized that if his world was gone, he'd never see Kenmore again. He'd never see Acteon again. All this time...he'd been so preoccupied with how his world was doomed from the get-go, but he'd never actually processed what that meant. His home was gone. Acteon was gone. Everything he knew, everything he loved...gone. And he was all that remained.]

[He lowered his frame until his face buried itself in his crossed arms on his work bench.]

[Now he knew why it hurt so much. Raven reminded him of Acteon. And in one moment of fear, a moment of being unable to trust the kindness in another's heart, faith that maybe he'd be accepted for what he was...he isolated himself again.]

[He tilted his head to look at his broken and dilapidated CyBuddy.]

Guess you and I are pretty much the same, huh...

[With that...he reached over and pulled the broken contraption closer with one hand, then reached for his tools with the other. He pulled his hair back and tied it off...]

Well, maybe if I put some more time into you...

...I'll be able to fix it.

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[CLOSED] A Matter of Weapons

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