"Darkened Emotion" (Ledgic & Eothan)

“Darkened Emotion”

Ledgic stepped out of his home and lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. He smirked slightly and took in a deep breath of the dense air. Booty bay had always provided him with a refreshing way to wake up, even if he did occasionally have to deal with the unpleasant smell of fish.

He yawned and stretched his arms in the air, arching his back and closing his eyes at the sound of faint cracks. As he stood up straight and rested his arms by his side he recalled that Eothan had sent him a letter the day before, requesting another training session. He shook his head slightly at his own apparent forgetfulness; he had even put his armour on without thinking before he’d left the house.

‘ ‘eck, mebbe I’m losin’ it’ he said quietly as he turned to walk towards the bay’s entrance. He had taken the time to give Eothan one training session before and was impressed with Eothan’s stubborn nature when it came to fighting. In some ways, he was just like a Caan; he simply refused to stay down. He smirked slightly as he exited the bay, giving a couple of nods to the goblins on guard and turned to walk into the jungle. Ledgic wasn’t enough of a fool to think that Eothan wanted to learn how to fight out of his own desire; he was doing it because of Valerias. Eothan had become easier to read since the sudden burst of feelings he had developed; his actions were becoming more and more human with every passing day.

Ledgic peered up at the sky as he continued to walk, a fine vines brushing against his arms and chest. The idea of Eothan being anything more than a con man, an arrogant con man at that just didn’t sit right with him. Ledgic had experienced nothing but shitty remarks and mockery when it came to Eothan in the entire time he had known him. Now it was like he was steadily becoming a different person, while holding onto the persona that he knew Eothan loved. It was commendable at the very least, that Eothan would try to better himself and yet stay as close to his usual self as possible, trying to make a combination of the two to satisfy himself and most likely, to satisfy Valerias.

Ledgic slowly drew his gaze down from the sky as he entered the clearing that he and Eothan had trained in a couple of days before. He nodded as Eothan slowly rose from the floor and ran a hand through his hair, before tying it up into it’s usual pony tail.

‘It’s a strange time when I arrive earlier than you do. I thought you had something against keeping people waiting’ he said as he took a few steps towards Ledgic. Ledgic smirked and gestured vaguely with his hand as he stopped in his tracks.

‘Well it ain’ like ye were gonna piss n’ moan abou’ me bein’ a couple o’ minutes late, I figured I’d let ye sweat it ou’ a bit’

Eothan shrugged slightly and suddenly narrowed his eyes; he stretched his neck from side to side and clenched his fists, a brief crackle of shadow energy flickering around them.

‘Oi, y’know wha’ I said abou’ usin’ tha’ stuff durin’ ou’ trainin’, this is fer combat, na’ spell flingin’ said Ledgic as he observed Eothan’s stance. He seemed angry, he could tell that much from the look on his face.

‘Feck’s eatin’ ye?’ said Ledgic as he folded his arms.

‘Did you even stop to think just how you might have affected me? Did either of you?’ said Eothan bluntly, a strong frown washing over his face. ‘I can guarantee the first person that popped into your head was Annie, wasn’t it? How guilty you must have been and yet, I wasn’t there at all, was I? You didn’t even spare me a single fucking thought’

Ledgic slowly unfolded his arms again and let them rest near his sides; he closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. He should have known what that look was about; he should have guessed that Vale may have said something to him. He opened his eyes and looked at Eothan with something of a sad expression. The horrible thing was that Eothan was right; he hadn’t considered his feelings at all. He had kissed Vale, become truly lost in the moment and… he had liked it. The feeling of guilt he experienced afterwards was directed towards Annie and Vale, yet he had not spared a thought for Eothan at all.

‘Eothan… I’ muttered Ledgic as he lifted a hand to rub it across his forehead.

‘Save it, Ledgic. I know I’m right and I’ll let you in on a little secret. You’ve stolen my hope from me; you’ve made dealing with this –so- much harder. Is this why you saved my life all those times? So that you could break that life with one fucking action?’ Eothan said, almost growling.

‘Hold on mate, yer goin’ a lil’ overboard wit’ tha’. I made a mistake, an’ tha’s gonna sit wit’ me fer a lon’ time, y’know? It ain’ like I ever meant t’feck ye over, fella. I didn’ even wanna feck Vale over, but I’ve managed it, an’ she’s someone I care abou’ a lot’ said Ledgic as he frowned slightly.

‘Don’t you talk about caring for her, don’t even dare. You’ve ruined any chance I had of being with her, you know that? I can’t compare to you, I am –not- you, I’m not a Caan! To her I’m nothing but amusing company and the bloke that knocked her up. What am I supposed to now, huh? Just live in this pathetic bubble of pity and unfulfilled feelings for the rest of my days?!” shouted Eothan, lifting his fists slightly as shadow began to crackle around them fiercely.

Before Ledgic could speak, Eothan threw his hand back before launching it forward, a bolt of shadow erupted from his palm, flying towards Ledgic. He grunted loudly as Ledgic slipped to the side, narrowly dodging the bolt and listening as it collided with a hill behind him.

‘Stop this, don’ go down this road!’ yelled Ledgic as Eothan threw another bolt of shadow at him, this time missing due to Ledgic jumping over it. Ledgic began to dart around at high speed as Eothan continuously through shadow bolts at him, yelling as he did so.

‘Stop it? Perhaps you should have said the same fucking thing before you kissed her! I have this theory, you know, that shadow energy is empowered by the darkness within one’s self and your actions have made me a whole lot darker!’

Eothan let one arm rest at his side and charged a slightly larger bolt of shadow in his right palm, throwing it at Ledgic violently. Ledgic tensed his jaw and frowned heavily as he stuck out a hand, scraping backwards across the floor slightly as he caught the energy.

Eothan’s eyes widened as Ledgic simply stood there, his hand clenched around the shadow energy as his violently crackled around his hand. Ledgic looked at Eothan menacingly as the shadow energy flickered past his face.

‘Don’ ye dare talk t’me abou’ darkness, wha’ th’feck d’ye know abou’ it?’ growled Ledgic as he threw the shadow energy violently to his side, letting it smash into and begin burning a nearby tree.

He walked towards Eothan, the palm that had caught the shadow energy still in front of him; the smell of burnt leather and flesh filled the air around him. Eothan readied himself but to no avail as Ledgic darted towards him and slammed his arm into his throat, sending him smashing to the ground.

Ledgic knelt down beside Eothan as he groaned, lifting a hand to his mouth and wiping away a minor amount of blood. He looked at Ledgic and blinked slightly at the sight of Ledgic’s sad expression.

‘Me n’ Vale ‘ave ‘ad this stuff fer years, Eothan. It jes ‘appened… an’ neither o’ us really knew why. But those feelin’s are prob’ly gonna be there forever, th’fact o’ th’matter is we’ll prob’ly never get th’chance. I feel sa’ guilty fer doin’ it ‘cause now she’s realised jes wha’ th’two of us could ‘ave, an’ she can’t ‘ave it’.

Ledgic rested his burnt hand down on Eothan’s shoulder and continued.

‘I’m gonna be wit’ Annie ‘til th’day she decides I ain’ enough anymore. An’ wit’ any luck, tha’s never gonna ‘appen. If me n’ Vale can’t be t’gether mate, yer th’one I wan’ ‘er t’be wit’. ‘cause yer th’only one I can trust t’andle ‘er’

Ledgic stood up and took a few steps away from Eothan and turned around, looking over his shoulder.

‘Don’ abandon ‘er an’ don’ let go o’ wha’ ye wan’, ‘cause I’ll be feckin’ disappoin’ed in ye’

Ledgic nodded and walked deeper into the jungle, eventually fading from Eothan’s view.