#i'm gonna go make another one because those little figures and fish and monsters they have make me happy 🤧💕

[leaving-fragments]

picrew tag

this was so cute!! i love this picrew sm, thank you for tagging me @marculees 💕🤧

i'm tagging @gardenpebble @venusinaries @tenw1n @remtaeil @rendezvousrenjun @kunebula and anyone else who wants to do this because it's soso cute and i want to see all the options 🥺

[ashenbun]

-= Aberrant =-

"Rhes!? Where're you going?!"

Kosve- for after two summers he still had yet to choose his new name- hissed from the edge of the cave mouth as he squinted into the darkness. He had learned quickly that his new guardian was easily distracted by things 'mysterious' and, as Rhes himself described them, 'invitational'. The slim crack in the rock face that had been revealed after recent storms fit both categories and so there was no hesitation in exploring what had long since remained hidden.

Kosve bounced anxiously from foot to foot and glanced around as if his need for someone else might make them simply materialise from the air. No one came and instead the young man found himself staring at the crack in the wall again, ears twisted forward. He could hear the dull scrapes of Rhes making his way through. The soft curses of scraped shins and palms or a bumped head brought Kosve small comfort. 

For once why couldn't Rhes have kept to the paths they were meant to patrol? They had one job and yet his Oh So Wise mentor was intent each day to everything but that one job. They had climbed to the tops of 'odd' looking pine trees, spent terrifying hours trying to scale a rock face to investigate an 'enchanting carving' half way up that turned out to simply be an old lightning strike. Not to mention his personal favourite; almost being mauled by bears because the 'trapdoor' Rhes had found was simply a crack in the ceiling of their den.

It was exhausting!

Sometimes Kosve wondered how Rhes had managed to survive on his own for so long. Divine intervention? Or did the gods keep him alive for their own amusement?

"Y'comin', lad!?"

The excitement in Rhes' tone made Kosve sigh hard enough he wilted slightly on the spot. But he nodded. Thankfully he was smarter. He grabbed one of the small, carved rocks that Rhes made from his belt pouch and clutched it tightly. Leading with that hand, he followed the other Viera in.

As the strip of light from the crack began to fade behind him Kosve brought that little rock to his mouth and breathed upon it gently while casting his mind to thoughts of the sun. It worked. The spirits had answered his request and the little trinket in his hand became a dull star in the dark. Just enough to see by if you squinted slightly.

"..Wha' in th- Hurry up, boy! Ye've gottae see this!"

Kosve did not in fact hurry. He was determined to make it to Rhes with as little damage to his person as possible. By the time he wiggled free of the cramped space and found the ash-furred Viera, Rhes was practically vibrating with excitement. And Kosve could see why.

The serpentine crack in the wall had led the pair into the remains of a subterranean chamber. The ceiling was low but shaped most peculiarly, a perfect curve the likes of which Kosve had never seen. And there were faces peering out of the stone! He took a step back instinctively and reached for the spear, feeling his heart sink as his grasping hand found nothing. The spears would not fit in the tunnel and Rhes had decided to leave them. Another reason Kosve was so anxious. While Rhes had a decent grasp of magic, he did not.

"What d'ye suppose this place was? Wonder wha' kinda folk lived 'ere. Y'think it was th'Diggers?" Rhes asked more to the air than to Kosve, staring at the stone beings with eyes like a new fawn. "Migh' be deep enough for 'em, don't see any shiny stone though… Maybe some've 'em didnae live fer diggin' like w'thought? They 'ad tae 'ave other hobbies."

"I don't think it's wise to question the spirits, or speak for them, Rhes. That's the job of the Anui." Kosve kept his voice low. The little pebble light made those stone faces appear unnerving real. "Can we go?"

"Go!? W'jist stumbled onnae somethin' amazin' an you wannae leave!? Where's yer sense've adventure?"

Kosve scowled at the older male. Rhes' back was already turned and he was wandering quite calmly- though thankfully with enough caution to be silent- down the strange tunnel. After a moment of hesitation Kosve followed him, trying very hard not to look at the stone faces as he passed by. The light made it seem like they were turning. Stone didn't turn. It couldn't turn. Would-

"Oof! Rhes what are y-?"

The older male clasped a hand over his charge's mouth, stifling further words. His eyes were fixed forward and his usually lopped ears had risen to focus his hearing. Rhes had heard something. The hand not holding Kosve silent quirked itself into the beginning of the gesture Rhes used for his casts. Always the same, quick and efficient motion; swirl of the index and middle fingers, open palm upward, push the heel forward.

Kosve bit his tongue hard as the Warden's hand left his mouth. He wanted to ask what was heard. What might have been seen. Then he heard it. A dull rumble like a distant flour stone being spun. Such a strange sound for a place such as this.

Then came a second, much closer and louder sound. A jarring sound like the growl of a monster with a throat made of spear blades. It hurt Kosve's ears and made him gasp. Then a mighty slam that he felt vibrate through his very bones and rattle his skull.

The silence that came after was like that of the first snows of winter. Still enough to hear a bird's breath.

A clattering beside him made Kosve look down to see the light pebble skitter towards the foot of a stone face. They had turned. He tried to gasp but found that he couldn't and when his eyes met Rhes', he realised he felt cold. Like those winter snows.

"Rhes..?"

"Don't- Don't move I can figure this out, I can-"

"Rhes, am I dreaming? I feel foggy…"

"Don't ye dare close yer eyes, boy- Kosve! Lookit me!"

"Shhh, you're too loud… I'm just gonna… take a nap…"

He had backed away from Kosve until his back hit hard stone. From there he slid down, unfeeling, until the ground caught him. The stone faces had moved as one, towards the last source of sound, he supposed. In the dim light neither Viera had seen the huge lances held in the shadows of each alcove. A weapon for every face. He had no idea what had activated them but in one smooth and loud motion five of those spears had torn clean through Kosve, sticking him in place like a fish. It had happened so fast the boy never even realised and Rhes had no time to react.

The pool of red that had been slowly seeping across the ground swallowed the little light that had rolled from Kosve's hand as his grip failed. The stone faces illuminated briefly in a soft pink before darkness claimed the tunnel again.

But Rhes could still see every spear. See that peaceful smile.

He sat on the stone floor until he felt numb enough to leave. He fumbled his way back to the crack in the wall, staggered into the sunlight, and screamed.