Post by Wil Frozendagger on Mar 7, 2020 20:41:02 GMT
In the murk of the wash below Port FFirst’s harbour, a figure sat on the silty foundations, reading his stone tablet by wandlight. The fact that he had been underwater for almost the entire day didn’t seem to bother him all that much; in fact, he seemed more than comfortable, almost as if this was his natural state.
‘But it isn’t, is it, Frozendagger?’
‘What do you want now?’ Wil retorted, nigh expecting his patron’s call.
‘Oh come now, Frozendagger, am I not allowed to take interest in the life of my charge? Tell me, how has your week been?’
‘Like you don’t already know.’
‘I desire to hear it from the source.’ The almost capricious tone of the aboleth faded all at once.
Wil sighed as much as one could whilst underwater. He could never fathom why else his patron insisted on this besides to torment him for their entertainment.
‘Okay, so-’
‘I do not care for your oddly adversarial interactions with the fool aaracokra.’
With a grumble at how they had anticipated his words, Wil tried again.
‘There-’
‘Your stances on ecology are not only unfounded but also wrong.’
‘No hold on, meadow burning is totally a thing!’
‘Yes, meadow being the operative word, Frozendagger. You were in the middle of a forest. For both of our sakes, I’m glad you associate with beings smarter than yourself. Try again.’
‘The big lizard-’
‘Tyrannosaurus, Frozendagger. And if you thought you were going to spin a yarn about how you felled it singlehandedly, guess again.’
Defeated at every turn, Wil slumped onto the ground. The aboleth was the last person he wanted to have this conversation with, and yet despite everything, this was where it was leading. Wil allowed himself a moment’s reprieve before he began.
‘After the fight we realised that Sheryl was affected by some kind of weird disease or something but she made us power on to find the poachers. I wasn’t so sure that was the best of ideas but that was their choice so whatever. And hey, we found them, but…’
The boy trailed off at this point, staring into the darkness beyond. A fish came into Wil’s view, drawn to the light of his wand.
‘Continue.’
‘But they also had the sickness and boy was it worse than we thought. They were… they were mindless, like animals.’
‘And you slaughtered them as such.’
‘No wait, we tried-’
‘The elven halfbreed tried, you did nothing, nor did you want to.’
‘...No. No I didn’t, really. Am I supposed to care for a bunch of no name poachers?’
‘I’d say no, but what of your associates? Would they not want you to save them? Take the higher ground, as it were.’
Wil waved his wand in the air, leading the curious fish by it. ‘That’s them. I’m me. I never signed up for that.’
‘Ah right yes, because your mercy is based on favouritism, how could I forget?’
‘Based off my judgement.’ Wil mentally snarled, his eyes clouding over black, the water around him roiling as his brow furrowed.
‘Right, because that has proved so reliable. Well then if it’s all for my allies and damn the rest of the world, what on Toril was that display with the knife?’
‘A warrior shouldn’t die unarmed, you know how I feel about this.’
‘Is that what you tell yourself to make the reality more palatable?’
‘Shut up.’
‘Glorious combat? You gutted them like vermin.’
‘Shut up!’
‘You’re no noble soldier, you’re just a bloodthirsty boy drunk on power, a Frozendagger to the last!’
“YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME!” Wil screamed into the ocean as his fingernails erupted from his hands, piercing the fish, extinguishing its life instantly. He retracted his as the water swirled with red and black around him, with him still trembling in the epicentre.
‘I know more than you realise, Frozendagger. I do this so that you may remember yourself. Remember that there was never a need to defend these people. You’ve already died once. I believe you have some business to attend to, now in fact, so I’ll leave you with that.’
The mental connection broke, leaving Wil staring at the carcass of the dead fish, floating in the water in front of him, its cold eyes almost gazing right back at him.
“I’ll do whatever the fuck I want.” Wil muttered to himself, before kicking back upwards, towards the surface, eventually to sit on the harbour and wait for his friends, ready to do it all again, yet with his hands still shaking and his eyes still clouded.
‘But it isn’t, is it, Frozendagger?’
‘What do you want now?’ Wil retorted, nigh expecting his patron’s call.
‘Oh come now, Frozendagger, am I not allowed to take interest in the life of my charge? Tell me, how has your week been?’
‘Like you don’t already know.’
‘I desire to hear it from the source.’ The almost capricious tone of the aboleth faded all at once.
Wil sighed as much as one could whilst underwater. He could never fathom why else his patron insisted on this besides to torment him for their entertainment.
‘Okay, so-’
‘I do not care for your oddly adversarial interactions with the fool aaracokra.’
With a grumble at how they had anticipated his words, Wil tried again.
‘There-’
‘Your stances on ecology are not only unfounded but also wrong.’
‘No hold on, meadow burning is totally a thing!’
‘Yes, meadow being the operative word, Frozendagger. You were in the middle of a forest. For both of our sakes, I’m glad you associate with beings smarter than yourself. Try again.’
‘The big lizard-’
‘Tyrannosaurus, Frozendagger. And if you thought you were going to spin a yarn about how you felled it singlehandedly, guess again.’
Defeated at every turn, Wil slumped onto the ground. The aboleth was the last person he wanted to have this conversation with, and yet despite everything, this was where it was leading. Wil allowed himself a moment’s reprieve before he began.
‘After the fight we realised that Sheryl was affected by some kind of weird disease or something but she made us power on to find the poachers. I wasn’t so sure that was the best of ideas but that was their choice so whatever. And hey, we found them, but…’
The boy trailed off at this point, staring into the darkness beyond. A fish came into Wil’s view, drawn to the light of his wand.
‘Continue.’
‘But they also had the sickness and boy was it worse than we thought. They were… they were mindless, like animals.’
‘And you slaughtered them as such.’
‘No wait, we tried-’
‘The elven halfbreed tried, you did nothing, nor did you want to.’
‘...No. No I didn’t, really. Am I supposed to care for a bunch of no name poachers?’
‘I’d say no, but what of your associates? Would they not want you to save them? Take the higher ground, as it were.’
Wil waved his wand in the air, leading the curious fish by it. ‘That’s them. I’m me. I never signed up for that.’
‘Ah right yes, because your mercy is based on favouritism, how could I forget?’
‘Based off my judgement.’ Wil mentally snarled, his eyes clouding over black, the water around him roiling as his brow furrowed.
‘Right, because that has proved so reliable. Well then if it’s all for my allies and damn the rest of the world, what on Toril was that display with the knife?’
‘A warrior shouldn’t die unarmed, you know how I feel about this.’
‘Is that what you tell yourself to make the reality more palatable?’
‘Shut up.’
‘Glorious combat? You gutted them like vermin.’
‘Shut up!’
‘You’re no noble soldier, you’re just a bloodthirsty boy drunk on power, a Frozendagger to the last!’
“YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME!” Wil screamed into the ocean as his fingernails erupted from his hands, piercing the fish, extinguishing its life instantly. He retracted his as the water swirled with red and black around him, with him still trembling in the epicentre.
‘I know more than you realise, Frozendagger. I do this so that you may remember yourself. Remember that there was never a need to defend these people. You’ve already died once. I believe you have some business to attend to, now in fact, so I’ll leave you with that.’
The mental connection broke, leaving Wil staring at the carcass of the dead fish, floating in the water in front of him, its cold eyes almost gazing right back at him.
“I’ll do whatever the fuck I want.” Wil muttered to himself, before kicking back upwards, towards the surface, eventually to sit on the harbour and wait for his friends, ready to do it all again, yet with his hands still shaking and his eyes still clouded.