Sable, her name--How did I?
I shook my head and brushed the thoughts out of my mind.
I took in a deep breath, my smile growing even bigger than it was. I remembered something. Her name. Sable.
I began to wonder why her name stuck out to me; of all the useful pieces of information I could have remembered--her name? She had to have some significance to my past, but what?
I looked at her again, her eyes fixed on mine. She had doe eyes, and her eyelashes were especially long. Her skin was fair, not a pore or rough spot on it. A small brown mark was above her right eyebrow. Her brown hair still flowing in the wind, it was the type of hair that was hard to keep control of; it would follow it's own path.
Her brown eyes, just a shade lighter than her hair--I just couldn't look away from. There was something about her, she had a way I couldn't quite describe.
The cobblestone ground had grown wet with my tears, and the citizens around had noticed. A family walked up toward me and Sable. The mother had on rough rags, there were tears and stains all over them. But to me they weren't imperfections; they were memories. How each stain got there, what made the fabric tear--all of it had a memory.
"Are you okay young Lord?" She asked, she was a bit taller than sable, so maybe five foot five, and her voice was shaky. I could tell by the way these people acted nobles here were harsh and cruel to them. They shook and flinched like a beaten dog, I couldn't remember if the old me had been part of the problem.
The thought of me having been that way upset me. My hands turned into fists, and my grip tensed. I was upset--with myself. How could I have acted that way?
The mother smelled like grass--it struck a memory in me. Not a new one, but one of my youth--one I never lost. Viper my older brother, Vi as I called him, and I were at a field. I remember rolling around, and chasing each other. We shouted at each other in a playful way, we laughed and we smiled. I miss him.
"I'm okay miss, thank you for your worries." I said, my eyes moved to her rags, her shoulders and arms were barely covered. Faelrau was a particularly cold place, and it was only fall. If winter came and that was all she had there is no doubt she wouldn't make it.
So I moved my arms and slid off my coat, the fine brown leather ruffled as I did. It felt jagged, could this really be the peak of Faelrau's craftsmanship?
I took it off and put it over my left forearm, I put my arm forward, "I want you to take this. A token of my gratitude." I said, smiling as I did.
I could hear the people who had begun to gather around us gasp and chatter, such tolerance was taboo in these streets. I hate that.
I looked back at Sable, her hair still flowing in the wind. She had a scent, I couldn't quite make it out but it smelt homely. It was pleasant.
"We should move on, there's a stall I want to look at." I said to her.
She looked to the mother I gave my coat to and back to me, like she was waiting for me to take it back. As if I played some cruel prank. I shook my head at her, "What's so unbelievable?" I asked her, genuine confusion hinted in my voice.
She tilted her head again, like a puppy she was just adorable. My heart fluttered and I took a step back. "Nothing!" She said, thought her voice had a hint of something left unsaid. She didn't need to say it thought, I knew what she meant.
We walked to the stall I had in mind, the cobblestone grinding against my boots as we walked. We stood shoulder to shoulder again, she was short next to me. I was taller than most maybe six foot two or three, and I couldn't remember why but I hated the feeling of being taller than everyone else.
I thought to myself, wouldn't most people prefer this? To stand out, to be more.. intimidating? But not me, I just--didn't.
In all honesty I would have rather been her height than mine, being short would not bother me like this did.
But my mind was cut off by the sound of a merchant as we reached the stall, they were selling flintlocks. The flintlock was the peak of modern technology, it had changed the way war and combat worked in the modern day.
Nations wanted as many as they could, and frontline fighters soon died out.
However, arkon's were the sole outlier of this rule. Ark's granted humans a body of enhanced durability, as well as strength. They could withstand bullet's with just a graze. It was the pinnacle of strength.
That's why arks are the most sought after thing in the world. By all men alike.
The flintlocks in front of me were made of various metals and wood. Though one stood out, it looked unassuming, but I had an eye for the hidden. It had a carving on the trigger of it, R.R. the most famous gunsmith in the entire empire, how the hell did this merchant get control of a flintlock of his?
Surely they must not know it to be of R.R., I could not let this chance pass me by. The merchant was an older man, maybe fifty and his hair was white. He had a patchy beard and his clothes were unusual. From a foreign land, a foreigner with one of the most prized guns in the world. Something was off about him.
Sable tugged on my undershirt, and I looked at her. Her eyes had a look of worry and fear--but before I could ask what was wrong my body took over and moved without my control. I grabbed her with both arms and moved faster than I even knew I could. Behind me was a brief aftereffect of a serpent.
We were about thirty feet from the stall, and bang my ears started ringing. It exploded and debris hit my arm cutting it, I certainly did not have the durability to match my speed. I looked to Sable making sure she was okay, she had her head pushed into my chest and was holding onto me with both arms.
She must not be an arkon, I'm glad my body acted when it did. But what the hell even happened? I thought, the air was full of smoke and I couldn't see much. The screaming of people was in the background of my ears, they were still ringing and I was nearly deaf for the moment.
Sable held onto me tighter, worried she could be in danger--but out of the smoke the merchant came, and now I could see it clearly, he had hid the palm of his hand behind his back at the stall.
But now he didn't, his ark was glowing it was the shape of a circle and the size of a marble. It was not very developed, but an ark was an ark. Normal humans had the fighting chance of an ant versus an arkon.
But... was I--normal? What I did, only arkon's would be able to do. How could I move that fast, and what did it? I didn't think to.
If it was just me, both Sable and I would be pieces of flesh scattered across the cobblestone floor.
The merchant looked at me, his mouth was moving but I couldn't tell what he was saying, my ears were ringing far too loud. I tried to think of a way to manage him, but if he already did this--who knows what other things he might do.
Faelrau had town guards, but it'd take twenty of them, maybe more, to dispatch of this guy. And he was a low class arkon... Faelrau had a few arkon's under its employ, house heads and a few commanders and a few other irregularities. But none cared enough to come here--the commoner square.
It would take two or three minutes before help arrived, he could kill me a in a fraction of that.
Sable, pushed herself off me I looked at her eyes--her eye. Her eye.. it was glowing? It had white tendrils of light flowing out of it just like the merchants ark.
One of Sable's eye was an ark...??? WHAT?
I couldn't even notice... I felt embarrassed.
I let go of her, realizing she was far more capable of defeating him than I was. I took a step back, two maybe three, and I looked at her. Her hair was covered in dust and the blood of a few citizens. It made me sit to my stomach.
Sable's hair was flowing unnaturally, like a strong gust of wind was pushing it but there was none. She must have powerful resonance with her ark.
"River, get everyone at least twenty feet from me... I can't use my full strength with them around." She turned to look at me, her eye glowing.
I-I could do that. I'd try.
But I took a look around, at the blown up stalls and the bodies scattered across the floor, most were already dead others fled.
But I noticed her again, the mother and her children. My coat was torn up with holes all over it--her arm was detached. She covered her kids up in the blast and suffered serious damage in doing so, her kids looked fine but she was unconscious now, I had to get them to safety. And her.