Freezing betrayal.
Chapter 1
Freezing betrayal.
Requested by Kaitio.
The wide and desolate mountains where the cold never retract, the plains where the snow and ice never disperse and the emerald green grass and leaves never show. That was all he had ever seen in the manner of landscape during the millenia where he remained trapped within the spire of the north. Seen as nothing but a shade, a ghost of the winter by the mortal kin, he had been watching over them, to sustain as much balance within the realm as possible. Not by his own whim, by the Cryocian circle.....their word was his law. As much as he despised it, he had to obey.....until he came across what he had never seen before.........
Roaming through the desolate frozen landscape, the Cryocian's gaze scanned the area for the source of disturbance he had sensed just hours earlier. Moving like the winds, he remained out of sight in between the ice covered cliffs and rocks. Eventually he came across a cavern where he had rescued a stranded human not all too long ago where he could feel strange energies raidiate from what did not seem to be human, it barely seemed to be living.....or at the very least not flesh and bone. Coming up closer to the cavern's opening, the Cryocian's eyes widened as he seemed to be looking upon what seemed to be a white and black feline, partly kept together by.....metal? What form of abomination could this be? He had never seen such a thing before, but his curiousity eventually got the best of him. Moving into the cavern to get a closer look upon the feline, the Cryocian stopped in his tracks as the feline's head turned and threw a cold glare right into his eyes. Amazing.....half of it's head was consistant of a form of metal he had never seen before....even it's eye was of a material he had never beckoned.
Standing back up from having backed down a few steps, the Cryocian stood completely still scanning the rest of the feline with his cold mistral gaze. While he did, the tigran cyborg raised an eyebrow at what he could see as nothing more than a hollow image of a dark blue half-wolven man. Over time his eyes soon met the Cryocian's again, but the mistral wolf remained put in wait to find out the feline's intentions. As they both remained silent over several minutes, the feline soon spoke out....
"Mirages of wolves now? Now I've seen everything, this cold really gets into my circuits." Speaking in a slightly annoyed tone, he shook his head before resting it upon his paws again, thinking that the Cryocian was no more than a hallucination.
Raising an eyebrow at the feline, the mistral Cryocian soon replied with a deep echoing voice that beckoned the feline cyborg. "Mirage, you say? You must not have resided within this realm for too long, feline."
Once the voice of the *mirage* reached the feline's ears, his gaze darted over to the mistral wolf again, with a confused look on his face, his head tilited wondering if he heard right or not.....it was talking? "Either I am close to getting crazy, or did you just talk to me?"
Replying in a gentle tone, the Cryocian's face soon light up slightly with a smile towards the feline. "Indeed, I did. And I must say that you seem to wield more resolve than the mortal kin as you do nto flee in terror by the sight of me, hm hm."
~~~~~Mirage of the past~~~~~
Closing his earlier open paw, the Cryocian sighed content before his gaze fell onto Kaitio who resided on the frozen cliff next to him. Never would any of them forget that very day they met, as complete strangers to one another. But now, just weeks afterwards they both felt like they both had known eachother for many years. Though, they were the most curious of friends one could ever come by. The first being a tigran cyborg, created as a living weapon of massive destruction, while the other was seen as a ghost of the winter's blizzards, an immortal guardian of the cold. Whatever that brought them to remain by eachother's side, is a mystery to all but themselves.
Gazing upon the frozen spire where they both had found refuge in the last weeks, Therdac asked in a soft tone...."The beauty of this land has always been of great meaning to me, Kaitio. But it has never given what you and the remainder of this realm's races have. The freedom to travel wherever my paws would take me.....what caused you to stay here when you could depart whenever you wished?"
Upon hearing his question, Kaitio's ears twitched lightly before he replied with a slight laugh. "Ha ha, depart whenever I wanted? Where to, I wonder? I mean, where can someone created as a living weapon go without others trying to exploit me, or kill me? Here is one place I've had peace and quiet for longer than I can remember. Trust me, Therdac. If I ever had to choose a place to settle down, it would be alongside you."
Turning his gaze back to his feline companion, Therdac sighed slightly as a warm smile formed upon his lips before he replied. "Hm hm, you're too kind, Kaitio. All I can ever hope on the other hand is that you won't come to regret it. As I am still bound by the will of the elders. Would they learn of your presence here, they would most likely drive you away."
"Doesn't matter, Therdac! I'll be back if they do, I'll fight my way back if I have to. You should know that as the little *encounter* I had with those *demons* or whatever they were." Kaitio filled in with another laugh as he looked back to when a group of Cr'aan attempted to ambush him not too long ago. But soon his laughter silenced as his eyes turned curious before he asked silently. "How did you come to be one of the Cryocian, by the way, Therdac? You never told me where you truly hail from."
Laughing softly from Kaitio dragging up the memory of when the Cr'aan got themselves, not lethal wounds but one hell of murdering headache. Though, once the question of his true origins reached Therdac's ears, the expression on his face turned pale and empty before his eyes closed. Eventually his maw opened as he spoke in a low tone in response to Kaitio's question.
"I haven't always been a ghost of the winter's blizzards, Kaitio. Once I resided along nature itself...I was a part of it...I protected it...I lived at peace with all beings in the realm. I was known to hail from what the mortal kin know as Thoun'aer, the giants of nature. The eternal guardians of the Earth itself. Many saw us as gods, but that was in terms of that they trembled before the power we wielded. Our strong affinity to the elements and the weathers often made us valuable assets to the elemental circles, such as the Cryocian elders, for one. To secure my continued loyalty to their whims, they parted my soul from what made me to who I truly am."
Listening observant, Kaitio soon asked without hesitation. "What did they part you from?"
Looking back to the feline, Therdac's paw landed upon his chest before he replied. "My heart.....along with my physical body, Kaitio. That is why I am known as a *ghost*. Since I do not longer remain corporeal as I used to. Thus I feel no emotion apart from the constant cold of the eternal blizzard."
Hearing his words, Kaitio wrinkled his nose a little before he huffed slightly. "Hmph, that sounds more like an imprisonment than an offer to join a new family, if you ask me. If you were to be one of them, why couldn't the idiots just let you choose instead of forcing you into it?"
"Since I have always stayed neutral in the wars in between the circles, Kaitio. Over time, I grew stronger than most other of my kin, therefore the circles wished to capture me before I would take my side. Even though they knew of my neutrality, they always feared that I'd turn to one specific side over time." Therdac fill in before his gaze fell back onto the spire where he had been trapped for so long.
"I see, but isn't there any way to set you free, Therdac? I mean, if they parted you from your heart and body, they must keep them stored somewhere, otherwise you'd vanish. Or wasn't that what you told me about a week ago?" Asking that, the feline tilted his head to the side anxiously awaiting an answer.
Remaining silent for a few minutes, nothing else was heard except the smooth breeze that soared through the air, sweeping past them both. Therdac had never thought that someone would ever ask him how he would be set free again, but yet here a tigran cyborg he had met just weeks earlier asked him just that question. But why? Would he be willing to help Therdac to restore his former identity? "My heart and body is kept in safe storage by the elders, yes....But why do you....." Cutting himself off, his eyes soon widened while gazing upon his feline friend. "You...you intend to release me, Kaitio?....Why?"
Jumping down from the cliff he was laying on, Kaitio came up to Therdac looking up into his eyes before he spoke. "Listen, Therdac. Why would I leave a friend trapped in a prison he never choosed to spend the coming eternity within? That is not how I am, I tell you. You have kept me safe from bloody hunters these weeks I have spent in this icebox, then what stops me from returning the kindness you have showed me? Nothing!"
Never had he seen such determination within Kaitio's eyes like that which sparkled within his eyes this very moment. Therdac couldn't help but being amazed by how strongwilled Kaitio was, in difference from himself as he had never thought himself able to be released, as no one had ever offered to help him before. As he gazed down at the feline cyborg, his ears perked up and his gaze turned stiff and alert. "Kaitio! Sh!......We aren't alone.."
With those words spoken, they both flinged into hiding in wait for whatever being that stalked them to show itself. Keeping eachother within their line of sight despite their camoflague, they soon saw another group of the ever sinister Cr'aan. A small group was not any great threat to them both, but small groups always meant that a large pack was not far away. Keeping that in mind, Therdac closed his eyes and tensed his thougths, causing a sinister blizzard to erupt. Even though the Cr'aan were devoid of emotion, a sudden powerful blizzard caught them by enough surprise to drive them off again. Once the lesser demons departed again, Kaitio asked a little grumpy. "Hey, why'd you have to scare them off? We could've taken them."
"We could yes, Kaitio. But as I have said before, small groups always mean that larger packs are not far away. And judging by how often they are roaming this realm nowadays, I fear that the elders have something sinister in store for me." Therdac reply as he glance out across the landscape while thick dark and forboding clouds began to cover the skies. "If you still intend on releasing me, Kaitio. I will stand by your side as far as the blizzards can ever carry me, that you have my word on."
"Ha ha, whatever they got in store for us, we will smash right back into their faces, Therdac. You can count on that." Upon having those words spoken, the feline cyborg and the Cryocian dashed off towards the spire to prepare for a battle that none of the realm would ever forget. Soon, the elemental circles would know why these two lethal companions were a force to fear either upon the field of battle or in the shadows of scheming.