Rorri

　　The path wasn`t like Poppy`s trail that had disappeared around corners, or the bodies of light that might be obscured by a thick enough wall. He could see it through walls, because he could walk through walls, and every time he did, he felt a faint, tickly resistance, like walking through a spiderweb. Rorri could see all the way until it stopped, however faintly, receding with distance until it was only a thread at its farthest point. He saw the long, slow curve around the Portal, Iridan`s biggest road, leading up to the Plateau. He`d walked and ridden it dozens of times. He could still picture the knee-high fence they`d erected where it began sloping upward, as if it would keep anyone from tumbling down the cliffside.

　　The ringing in his ears had dwindled. As he passed by the circus of guards searching for him, he caught snippets of their conversations-

　　&can`t believe he got away&

　　&repeat: prisoner at large! All personnel&

　　&foul magic&

　　-and he could only giggle deliriously. It felt like a silly game he was inexplicably winning, like his and Adar`s blind Go Fish.

　　The path lit up every errant stone and warned him of every crack. Rorri had long forgotten what it felt like to be confident in his feet. If he wasn`t so depleted, he would have skipped all the way to the manor. But it was a long, slow, painful trek. For as spectral as Rorri`s body seemed to be, he still felt all of its aches and pains, and in some ways, it felt heavier than before. He could still smell the river`s stink, the Wall`s garbage, but every smell had a vaguely metallic tang he could taste in the back of his throat. He didn`t know how long it took him to drag himself through the city, but whispers of his escape had already reached the ramp by the time he made it there. Iridan`s rumor mill truly never stopped churning.

　　Finally, Rorri crested the ridge of the Plateau and shambled his way to 415 Pirouette Lane. He didn`t recognize the guard standing upright and stiff at the gate, but it didn`t matter. He followed the trail into the manor, up the spiral staircase and down the hall to Shacia`s bedroom. He heard her weeping and paused outside her door, letting the heartache pass through him. He was there, now. It was going to be okay. He took a deep breath, dried his own tears, and pushed through the Widow`s spiderweb.

　　What he saw on the other side devastated him.

　　Shacia was lying down, curled up like a baby with her legs pulled all the way in. But from her waist to her feet, her periwinkle light was snuffed out and shattered, like someone had thrown a brick through a window. The fissures in her legs shined the bright white of pure pain. She fought to keep still - she fought to keep silent - but every time her body spasmed, lightning struck the cracks, lighting up her suffering like the sky.

　　"Rorri?"

　　She stirred, cringing as she sat upright, her eyes wide and searching. She couldn`t see him, but somehow she knew&

　　"Rorri? You`re here, aren`t you?"

　　"Y-yes, I`m here!" he said, but she didn`t seem to hear him, either. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, clutching her front - holding up a blanket, perhaps, though he still saw everything behind it. He staggered into the room, dropped the weapon to the floor, and crouched next to her.

　　"Rorri, if you`re here - oh, god, I don`t even know what you could do& I`m probably just imagining it&"

　　"No, I`m right here!"

　　His voice had a peculiar echo in the red forest. He reached for her hand, and his fingers passed through - but she snatched her hand away, clearly startled by the sensation.

　　"Rorri?"

　　Her gaze settled on him for a few seconds, but she kept looking around, still unaware. He touched her hand again, and she started in the same way. A small smile flickered over her lips.

　　"If that`s you, do it again," she said. He did. She jumped and laughed, and it looked like even the pain in her legs had vanished for a moment. Rorri touched her nose, and she recoiled backwards.

　　"Well, don`t be a twat about it," she said, wiping her eyes.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

　　"S-sorry& can`t help myself," he said, smiling genuinely for the first time in ages.

　　Another wave of pain hit. Her face went stony, strain showing only in her neck. She didn`t make a sound. She hid it so well.

　　"If it really is you," she started, then stopped to stuff away a tear. "You need to come back - wherever you are, you need to come back. As best as I understand it, you`re in the same place the weapon goes when it disappears. It`s enchanted with blood magic, and it`s bound to you, now, so& so you`re the only one who can command it - and I know that none of this is helpful, but& I don`t really know how it works, Rorri, and I`m so, so sorry&"

　　"It`s not your fault," Rorri said. He reached out to stroke her cheek. He thought she would recoil again, but instead, she grew still, her eyes fluttering shut, as if she could nuzzle into his touch.

　　"Just please come back," she said in her tiniest voice. "Whatever you did to disappear& just& undo it. Or do it in reverse, or do it again, I don`t know& just do something. Please."

　　Rorri stepped back and picked up the weapon. If this was where it went when it disappeared, then he`d simply followed it here, and if he was the one who commanded it, that meant he could command it back to the regular world, just like how he`d done in the prison cell before he disappeared. It was the same thing in reverse. But he had no rock to cut through. He tried to stick the weapon into the floor, but it just wouldn`t stick. Maybe he didn`t need that here, he thought. Maybe he wouldn`t have to hang on quite as tight. And though he was still drained, with Shacia right there, absolutely nothing could stop him from going back to her. If the only energy he had to draw upon was his own stubbornness, that would have to be enough.

　　Rorri sat down on the floor, his ankles brushed by the soft rug beneath him, took a deep breath, and clutched the weapon`s handle, pouring all he had left into it.

　　R E A P P E A R

　　Pip.

　　Kano & Cabbage

　　"PRRROOOH!"

　　Kano heard Cabbage`s wailing the moment the Dream portal spit him out, before he even touched the ground. Though some traces of light spilled in from far, far above them, in the darkness, he could hardly see a thing.

　　"PRROOOH! PRROOOH!!"

　　"Cabbage, what`s-"

　　As his eyes adjusted, he saw the cat-owl frantically circling a dark silhouette on the ground.

　　"Pak!"

　　Strange dust hovered in the air around Pak`s body. Kano dropped his guitar case and scrambled to him. He wasn`t moving.

　　"No! No, no, no, no, no, this isn`t happening&"

　　He took Pak`s shoulders and shook, but his body gave no resistance. Kano tapped his cheeks and lifted his eyelids, but he didn`t react at all. His pale lips were barely parted, stained with red-tinted drool. Between mournful yowls, Cabbage licked Pak`s face, hopped on his chest, bit his hair and tugged as hard as he could, but he didn`t stir.

　　"Wake up! Pak, wake up, please&"

　　Kano took Pak`s hands, startled to find them sticky and covered in red. Horrified, he lifted them up and found the deep gashes in his wrists.

　　"Cabbage, do something!" Kano shouted. "You have to - you have to fix him! Do some magic! Anything! Please&"

　　Cabbage couldn`t bring himself to look at the half-human. He could only pace, flutter and howl, as the truth sank into them both.

　　"Please don`t leave me," Kano sobbed, crumpling over Pak`s body. Cabbage pushed his face into Pak`s limp hand, purring as loud as he could. It was all he had left, all he could think to do. But Pak gave no response. They were too late. He was gone.

　　"Please& just wake up&!"

　　Kano cupped the back of Pak`s neck, wrapped his arm around his shoulders, and lifted him up to rest against his chest. He kissed the top of his head, dripping tears into his hair, and gently rocked him back and forth.

　　"Come b-back&"

　　He hugged him tighter, as tight as he could, as tight as he wished he`d done so long ago. If he`d hugged him before, none of this would have ever happened.

　　"Please, Pak& I miss you& Please, please wake up&"

　　If only he`d told him how he felt before he`d ever left - if only he knew how much he meant to him, none of this would have happened.

　　"I`m so sorry&"

　　Kano whimpered, wheezed and shook, rocking back and forth, back and forth&

　　"I love you& I love you& I&"

　　Some time passed that he couldn`t speak. He`d never felt pain like this, not even when his mother died. This time, it was his fault. If he hadn`t been so distant - if he hadn`t left him so terribly alone&

　　"You didn`t deserve this," he blubbered. "I should have - I should have done more. You deserved so much more&"