Quest Never Enough (Savio, Sayren)

[Savio]

Savio made a sour expression when Sayren couldn’t keep the mirth from her voice or her face, clearly thinking that the noise he had made was funny. But when another voice cut through the night, Savio’s attention snapped up to see that they were quickly surrounded by monks. The young man’s heart started to race once more as he looked around for some way to escape. Sayren’s hand was still holding his, though normally it would have been awkward, Savio used her hand to pull her closer so that he could shield her from the advancing monks. His eyes franticly scanning the area around them until something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. There, on the edge of the bridge, was a single rope leading down into the Aperture. Had that been there before? Seeing no other way, Savio grabbed Sayren and rushed to the rope. “Hold on tight!” Savio commanded, as soon as her grip tightened around him, he leapt over the edge of the bridge and held on to the rope before slowly lowering them down into the darkness below. His muscles strained against the combined weight of both himself and Sayren, but held due to a season of working as a courier and many hours training under the teachers of the Iron Fist School. He had no idea of what awaited them down below, but it could be no worst that what they faced above on the bridge.

[Balderdash]

Above the two students could hear cries of "Wait!" but they were already zipping down then. The first thing that was apparent about the Aperture was that it was dark. Uncomfortably dark. The sort of dark that threatens to smother like a pillow pressed over an invalid's face. The next thing, as they slid deeper into the chasm's maw, was that it felt wrong. Like a warping of the world. There was a deep perversion in this rift that leaked out of its walls. Eventually, the rope ran out. Fortunately, it was a yard over a rather large outcropping. As they touched down, both of them noticed something... Strange. For Sayren, it was something glistening near the edge that smelled suspiciously like blood. For Savio, it was the sound of someone groaning. Someone that sounded like Ximal. The sound was coming from a crack in the Aperture wall. Neither was able to detect what piqued the interest of the other.

[Sayren WindDancer]

Sayren was quickly grasped by Savio and flung over in his arms down the rope. The tone of the monks had drastically changed from their harmful tone. They were telling them to wait! But it was far too late now. They were gliding down further and further into the darkness. The walls dripped with an utter sense of something that was just other worldly. As if the walls had engorged them into another reality where the realm was twisted with darkness and perversion.

The rope finally reached its end, dangling what seemed to be about a yard or so over some sort of landing. When they stepped down, something had glistened off in the distance from what Sayren could see. She sniffed and she caught a whiff of blood. "Savio...I'm not liking the looks of this..." So tried to narrow her eyes to see the mass more, but all she could make out was the trickling liquid that reeked of iron. It was much too far hidden within the shadow of the Aperuture's crack. She took a protective stance beside Savio. Not sure what exactly to expect aside form danger...and a feeling...that they may not make it out of this. "Can you see what that is? I see something shining through the darkness and I smell blood reeking from it. Do you have a light of some sort?"

[Savio]

Savio carefully worked his way down the rope until he reached the end and allowed himself to drop down, and then allowing Sayren to get her footing. He looked around in the dark, and he gulped. The feeling he felt as ten times more disturbing than what he had felt on the Cursed Bridge, and he was highly tempted to climb back up to face the monks when he heard something close by. He didn’t even really pay Sayren’s words any mind as me moved closer to the sound, it came from a crack in the wall. His brow was furled in deep concentration as he strained his eyes against the darkness. But he still couldn’t see anything. It was like the darkness was a solid thing that was pressing against his face, trying to blind him and suffocate him. It was an unnerving feeling. “Ximal” Savio whispered into the darkness, unable to make his voice any louder. Didn’t he bring his lamp? He sat his bag down onto the ground and dug through it, trying to find the lamp he had packed. Somehow, he managed to dig it out and light it. He raised it up, in hopes to see what the darkness would revel… A part of him honestly didn’t want to know.

[Balderdash]

Savio would see... Absolutely nothing. Though the Aperture was awfully moist. Sayren, on the other hand, would have her fears confirmed. It was blood. And it wasn't the only splatter. There were others, moving up the face of the rift... As Sayren's eyes followed them, Ximal's voice hissed "Savio!" If he chose to follow the voice to the crack, the student would even see a sliver of his master's face and trademark blue eye peeking through. When the boy took notice (which would likely be very soon) a stream of whispered words spilled from him. "You have to listen, and fast. It's Sayren.' 'She sabotaged my equipment- I don't know why. Maybe she thought I was too harsh. All I know is I can't feel my arm. It might be paralyzed. I think I'll be fine-" Well, at least he was still Ximal- with a level of confidence perhaps a touch above what could be considered reasonable.- "But... And I know this might sound wrong... I don't know if I'll ever be able to use this arm again. And without it... Fighting's my life..." he paused for a moment. "I want you to make her pay. Don't kill her!" he added hastily, perhaps foreseeing where Savio's mind would go. "No, death and injury is too good for her. No... I want you to break her. Make her suffer like I suffer. Will suffer. Do what she did to me, and take something from her that she can never, ever get back." Savio heard a pained groan then- evidently Ximal wasn't quite that fine- before his master continued. "I can't repay you for what I hope you're about to do, but... I know you like daggers. There's a special set I found in my travels... If you can do this one single thing for me, you'll have them along with my gratitude." Of course, Sayren couldn't hear a word of that. But she could see something Savio couldn't see. The trail of splatters lead all the way up to the lip of the Aperture, and on it, hauling himself back to the surface, illuminated by torchlight, was a giant of a man who could be no one but Ximal. Clearly, he was back up top, and he was injured! Naturally, Savio could see neither blood nor Ximal. It didn't help that the giant vanished from view a few ticks later either. OOCYeah... We're going dark places. Real dark. Anyways, I'll be mostly hands off from here on out, barring any fighting that might break out. But other than that... What happens from here is entirely up to you.

[Sayren WindDancer]

It was obvious the light Savio was using hadn't worked. He was going in the complete opposite direction the blood was trailing off too. As much as she wanted them both to stick together, they were both students of Ximal. They were at least trained to a decent degree physically and mentally. As she followed the trail (What she could make of it), she saw a giant man with a torchlight towards the top of the Aperture. It had to be Ximal! He was limped in his movements, but before she could go after him. The man was gone within a few blinks of her eyes. Strange. Could he not see the light Savio had? Even she could from this distance make out the faint light in Savio's torch.

So she traced her steps back towards Savio. He was inspecting some crack in the walls? Why? There was nothing towards there. What could it have been that caught his attention so? Whatever it may have been, it couldn't be important now. Ximal had escaped the Aperture and was hurt. Badly. They had to leave NOW if they had any hope of catching him. "Sav! C'mon! I think I found Ximal! I saw this trail of blood leading to an exit in the Aperture. I saw him for a moment, but then he disappeared. He must've been severely injured and if we want to help him, we have to go now!."

[Savio]

Savio moved closer to what appeared to be a sizeable crack in the wall. He leaned in to get a better look inside and was shocked to find the face of his teacher. The young man nearly jumped out of his skin at the abruptness of the appearance of the face. “Ximal! Are you okay? Hold on, lemme get Say and-“ His words were silenced when Ximal started to talk. The words that came from his master were unbelievable. Sayren would never… Or perhaps… she would. She was in fact a diamond clan Drykas after all. Savio knew that tensions with the clan were dire back home in Syliras. They are warriors. But he also heard that they were clever too. Perhaps Ximal had earned the ire of one of the chiefs, and Sayren was sent to assassinate him. Well, clearly she had failed in killing him. She only maimed the man and left him for dead. Savio felt rage build up within him the more his master spoke. The girl needed to pay for the pain she had caused Ximal. The man was not only a teacher to Savio, but had also become a close friend. Savio narrowed his eyes as he heard Sayren approach. His back was still turned to her, so she could not see the murderous glint that had formed in his grey eyes. “Don’t worry Ximal, I will avenge you.” Savio whispered to the wounded Master as he straightened out his back and turned to face the female Drykas that had wormed her way into his heart with her lies and false smiles. “Stop your lying, Sayren. I know the truth.” Savio stepped forward and shoved her against the Aperture wall. “Ximal isn’t leaving here. You are just trying to cover up your tracks, aren’t you?” Savio’s voice had taken on the tone of growling in his outrage. He was so angered that he held up his shaking fists and fixed her with an icy stare. “Why did you do it?!” Savio finally yelled at the top of his lungs.

[Sayren WindDancer]

Before Sayren came much closer, she heard Savio whisper something under his breath. Then he told her she was lying. And what truth? The truth was Sayren wasn't lying! What the petch was he talking about? Cover her tracks? What has gotten into Savio? Sayren hasn't done anything aside from following him here into the Aperture. Now he finally faced her, with rage that filled his eyes as he shouted why did she do it?

"Why did I do what, Savio? Follow you into the Aperture? Because we were trying to find Ximal and before that we were spotted by monks! And I am not lying! If you could only open up those eyes and see the blood that leads out of the Aperture. It must be his! I have no reason to be lying to ANYone. Especially you Savio. You are my closest friend in all of Nyka." Even though he was threatening her, she wasn't going to raise her fists. She would only strike him if he had struck first. And if he did that...then they weren't the friends that she thought them to be...and she should have trusted Garel's disliking for him instead of trying to coax the strider against his judgment. She was praying to herself, "By the seven...please realize this is all truth..."

[Savio]

Savio shook his head violently before looking at her in disgust. “Stop lying to me Sayren!” How could someone so small and sweet be a heartless liar like that? Savio would have believed her too, if he hadn’t known better. “What blood? I don’t see any blood! Do you really take me for a fool? Perhaps I am a fool, since I believed you. By the gods, I PETCHING trusted you!” He shoved her back against wall, causing her back to slam against it again. Close friend his arse. “Why did you sabotage Ximal’s equipment? And don’t lie to me, Sayren WindDancer. He just petching told me what you did. I want to know why!” He gestured to the crack in the wall, where he had seen Ximal’s face just moments before. He didn’t know what hurt more: Her betraying Ximal like she did, befriending Savio falsely, or that she continued to lie to him with that sweet face of her’s. How low would this woman to stoop down to?

[Sayren WindDancer]

Stop lying to him the man shouted. What lies!? All she was telling him was the truth. Could he not-

He couldn't...He was not seeing the blood splatters that she had followed previously. He told her he trusted her, "Then trust-" But before she could say much more. He shoved her to the wall. Her eyes widen. He pushed her? Why!? Why was he doing this to her?! Ximal's equipment? The man never uses equipment. Not that she would know of anyways. Wait? Ximal just told him? But that couldn't have been possible. Even if Ximal was in perfect health, he couldn't have gone such a distance in such a short time. Which meant...he was lost to the Aperture...there was nothing more that could be done for him. She wasn't going to allow him to push her no longer.

She shook her head and slipped into a stance, "I don't know what's wrong with you Savio. But I have never lied to you, nor will I ever. Ximal is my teacher...and a closer friend of mine than you will ever be for not realizing the truth...may the Web spare you Savio." With that, she knew what she had to do. She had to beat some sense back into Savio. Since he was already close from pushing her, she vaulted a kick up to his chest. Whether it was a hit or miss, it wouldn't matter. The motion of the kick will jump start her momentum and lift her from the ground once she rolled her torso, readying her for the second strike in mid air. Before leaping backwards and landing unsteadily on her feet. Should it play out as she hoped, he would've taken two full out kicks to the chest. Pushing him back a ways and allowing some distance between them. "I don't want to hurt you Savio, but you are taken by the Aperture...you've lost your mind and all sense of rationality."