Rorri

　　"He`s only half-Du閚, isn`t he?" Rorri said, breathing too quickly.

　　"What? How-"

　　"He never knew his f-father?" He looked to the half-human for confirmation, but the young man just stood there, twiddling his thumbs, emitting the color of fear.

　　"Does he-"

　　Rorri`s voice cut out as the red figure shambled out of the hut. He walked with a hunched, unsteady gait, and his eyes simmered like magma on Rorri`s trembling form. He clutched the weapon in his left hand. Rorri could feel its heat in his own palm.

　　"Who are you?" the half-Du閚 boy spit. He looked like a spirit of fire, a spark away from burning everything down. Tears streamed down Rorri`s face. He felt like he might faint.

　　"WHO ARE YOU?" Pak shouted.

　　"Pak, wait," Kano said, taking a step towards him. "It`s okay - Whatever is going on, we can figure this out-"

　　Pak held up a palm, silencing the half-human. "Stay out of this," he said quietly, never looking away from Rorri. The forest around the boy began to change, even the structure of the hut itself. Blood red seeped into the trees, the branches, the vines, the flowers, filling it all with unfiltered rage. They squirmed and bristled, sprouting thorns. Vines reared back like vipers. Rorri hadn`t seen violence in so long. The thought of it made him feel sick.

　　"Please relax," Rorri whispered to the trees. They eased back and the thorns shrank, though he could still see the tension in their muddied color.

　　"What did you say?" Pak took another step closer. The cat-owl hobbled out after him, fretting at his heels, though still only Rorri could see it. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

　　"I was keeping the t-trees from hurting-"

　　"ANSWER THE QUESTION!" Pak shouted, his voice cracking. He couldn`t control himself. His aura was convulsing in a way Rorri had never seen, rippling black and red, with convulsions of yellow skirting his edges.

　　"M-my name is Rorri," he said as calmly as he could. "But I used to be called P-pak`aror-"

　　"I don`t care about your fucking name!" Pak barked. "Why were you in Iridan? How did you know my family? Tell me who you are, or I`ll-"

　　He choked, breaking into a sob. The red in his chest melted into a deep, mournful indigo, but the anger remained in his limbs, and his grip on his weapon grew tighter until his fist was shaking.

　　"I came disguised as a forest elf and claimed asylum from the War," Rorri said. "The Rosaris were offering free m-magic lessons-"

　　"So you wormed your way in, you raped my mom, and you fled like a f-fucking coward!"

　　Rorri went cold. His eyes hardened and narrowed upon his son`s silhouette.

　　"I did no such thing."

　　"STOP LYING TO ME!"

　　"Pak, no-!"

　　It was too late. The weapon cut through the air, trained on Rorri`s heart.

　　Kano

　　Kano had no idea what was happening. One minute he was delightfully high, and the next, the stranger was babbling about things he shouldn`t know, and the love of his life burst out of the hut having a violent breakdown. He tried to stop Pak from throwing the weapon, but something had possessed him, and the words just didn`t reach. The stranger gasped as the knife pierced his heart, and Kano could only watch.

　　A second passed.

　　Rorri was still standing there. No blood, no screaming, no gurgling death-sounds& He was just standing there. Kano shook out his head. He swore he saw the knife pierce, but perhaps he was just imagining it. He had definitely smoked more of the Bubbleweed than he should have - he`d always been terrible about that sort of thing.

　　But what happened next was even more flabbergasting than all of that. What happened next made absolutely no sense at all.