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Friendship's End

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Infinity421

Infinity421

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"Oh! Hello, Aivas," Zanik said, smiling. "I was just checking out Oldak's latest experiments, and I didn't notice you." Since the last time she had seen him, the warrior had to have gotten new equipment - the set of armour she had last seen him in, which had been covered in spikes and Bandosian sigils, had been exchanged for a suit of plate armour forged out of a dark metal that Zanik didn't recognise. Purple padding was visible around the areas the armour did not cover, and overall it bore a slightly smaller amount of spikes than the previous set - though his helmet looked more like a collection of metal stalagmites than anything else.

"It's no problem, Zanik," he replied, voice seeming to echo slightly in his full-helm. "I've actually been waiting for him to finish some teleport-spheres, but it's going to take a while." He rolled his shoulders and stretched out his arms, twisting the limbs in there sockets with muted pops and cracks. "If you don't have any plans, I'd like to talk with you somewhere private, allow us both to catch up on what the other has been doing."

Zanik brought a hand up to her chin, gently tapping it as she thought. "I was planning on visiting the Kharidian Desert again," she said thoughtfully, continuing to tap. "...But I suppose that can wait. If you want, we can go to my house and talk there?"

Aivas nodded, the padding under his armour rustling slightly. "Yes, that'd be good. Lead the way."

29-Nov-2015 04:49:58

Infinity421

Infinity421

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Aivas crested the top of the ladder into Zanik's bedroom, armour clanking softly with his movements, but neglected to go further than the edge of the rug, sitting instead on the hard stone floor. Zanik quirked an eyebrow at him from the edgge of her bed - andafter a few seconds, when it became clear that he was set on sitting there, she questioned him: "Are you sure you wouldn't prefer to sit on the rug instead?"

Aivas shook his head, lifting a hand to cover the area of his helmet that, Zanik presumed, covered his mouth. He coughed loudly, before lowering his hand and speaking. "I... am perfectly comfortable here. Besides, I wouldn't want to get your rug dirty." Zanik held his gaze for a few seconds, despite being unable to actually see his eyes due to the construction of the helmet he was wearing.

"Okay," Zanik sighed, deciding that one of Aiva's small quirks wasn't quite worth arguing over. "So, you wanted us to catch up with each other... Mind if I ask the first question?" Aivas nodded slowly. "This armour you're wearing," Zanik began; "I've never seen anything like it before. Where did you get it? What's it made of?"

"It's called... 'Torvus Armour'. There's... a dungeon beneath the ice, far to the north, within which dwells a monster of almost impossible power. I joined up with a war-clan travelling there and we slew the beast... There were so few of us left at the end that nobody bothered to contest my claim on the armour as my spoils."

Zanik swallowed as she thought of a beast that could take down almost an entire clan. "...How many were in the clan before you fought this monster?"

"Around twenty, maybe as many as thirty."

"And after it was dead?

"...Five. Including me."

29-Nov-2015 05:34:43

Infinity421

Infinity421

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Zanik's jaw dropped open slightly and her eyes bugged out of their sockets at the thought. She took in a breath, and was about to speak - but before she could, Aivas coughed, the sound louder and distinctly wetter than before. There was another sound as well, though, this one very quiet - liquid softly splashing against the inside of Aivas' helmet. Zanik's expresson morphed from terror, at the idea of such a powerful creature, to concern for her friend - mixed with anger.

"You didn't fight that thing and then immediately come here without allowing yourself to heal, did you?" Zanik asked, tone slightly more angry than she would have liked. "You have to let yourself heal! I know that the gods 'catch you' when you die, but it can't be worth going through this, can it?"

"Gods," Aivas breathed out, shaking his head. "Gods... no, the fight with the beast was over a week ago."

Zanik's eyes narrowed slightly - was he lying to her? Geuinunely telling the truth? "Let me remove your helm," she said. "I want to take a look at you."

"No," Aivas said as she slipped off of the end of her bed, taking a step towards him. "I'll... I'll take it off myself... And, I confess, that I had a reason to want to talk with you beyond simply catching up with you."

The warrior grasped his helmet with both hands, slowly lifting it off. Zanik wasn't quite sure what she had expected - perhaps her friend's face, reduced to a scarred and bruised mass of tissue from the struggle against the monster beneath the ice - but what she saw was shocking in an entirely different way.

29-Nov-2015 05:49:40 - Last edited on 29-Nov-2015 08:05:09 by Infinity421

Infinity421

Infinity421

Posts: 381 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Zanik could remember what Aivas' face had looked like the first time she had seen it with an almost eidetic level of detail - hair, eyebrows and beard bleached white dozens of years early clashing with a youthful face full of joy and anticipation as he had shown her around the surface town of Lumbridge.

Now, though, his face was different - his face still youthful, but obviously less so; his beard, patchy and unkempt; great handfuls-worths of hair missing from the top of his head. Zanik stammered for a few moments, trying to find something to say as her friend brought a bolt of cloth to his mouth. He coughed once, twice - and when he was finished, the ersatz-handkerchief was stained with a thick, black substance.

Aivas smiled - the gesture meaningless, as it exposed a set of teeth covered with what appeared to be tar - and spoke, conjuring up another bolt of cloth seemingly out of nowhere. "No, the monster didn't do this to me, Zanik, I've... been like this for a while. It's a good thing that you were here, this time - came here to confess that I think I might I might be dying a final death, and losing my mind as well."

"I," Zanik said, recoiling at the sight of her friend in such a state. "Why are you like this, Aivas? Final death, going mad? How?"

Aivas chuckled mirthlessly, taking in a breath before talking. "You know how Guthix is dead, right?"

"Yes," Zanik answered, now fully fearing the worst - she knew that Aivas had always followed the God of Balance; was his death linked to the human's state?

"He's not dead. Not for me, not yet." Before Zanik could question him, he spoke on. "You know how Edgeville was all but destroyed? Not for me, not yet! Do you remember how you said that Armadyl's victory against Bandos was, 'all thanks to me'?"

Zanik nodded - now also fearing that Aivas' fear about his sanity may have been true.

"Well, it doesn't make sense! The Edicts are still in place! Guthix still lives!"

29-Nov-2015 06:13:05

Infinity421

Infinity421

Posts: 381 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Aivas continued to rant as Zanik watched on, honestly unsure of what to do or say.

"They call me a World Guardian, but it doesn't make sense! Divination, HOW?! How can Guthix's life-force be spread across the land when he hasn't even died? The dragonkin destroyed Edgeville, but they haven't even returned yet!"

Aivas fell silent, shaking his head in disbelief, and Zanik drew closer as he began to speak once more. "I'm out of synchronisation with the world, Zanik, and there's nothing I can do! Time's going forward too fast and it's leaving me behind... They say it's the Sixth Age, but I still live in the Fifth..."

Zanik drew yet closer, extending a hand and intending to touch it to Aivas' face, which seemed to have grown far paler than usual - but the warrior pushed it away with his free hand, bringing another bolt of cloth to his mouth with the other as he hacked up more of the vile black liquid. "Don't touch me, Zanik," he said as he stood, swaying on unsteady feet.

"I'm not letting you get infected by this liquid, it might cause this to spread. I... in a week, I plan to talk with Juna. She is close to Guthix, she should be able to help me... or at least help me understand what has happened to me. A week should give me time to put all of my affairs in order..."

Kneeling to the floor, Aivas picked up his helmet and rammed it back on - shortly before a series of wet, hacking coughs wracked him, the sound of the black liquid splashing against the inside of his helmet now eaily audible. "Do you know how to get to my house?" Aivas asked, voice now softer than before. When Zanik nodded, he breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good... If I'm not at the cave where Juna lives, one week from now, then I'm giving you permission to come and go from it as you please."

Just before he teleported away, he spoke again. "Juna wishes for your forgiveness, and realises that what she said to you was wrong. Go and talk to her while I'm away."

29-Nov-2015 06:51:53

Darelzel

Darelzel

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Wow.

An interesting story, highlighting the 5th Age-6th Age confusion that results from having 5th Age and 6th Age content on the same map and accessable even to those who haven't done the quests that made the 6th Age possible.

In canon, Zanik considers the adventurer a close confidant, telling the adventurer things she wouldn't tell most people. I kind of like this take that in this particular adventurer's case, the reverse may also be true.

The story kind of abruptly ends. So if it doesn't continue, we might assume that in the reality this story is set in, Zanik never saw her friend again and honored his final wishes.

12-Oct-2016 15:36:49

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