(Lachlan's horse^ Will explain and describe below)
-Vikk's POV-
I'd slowly gotten more comfortable with the place as Seto and Brice helped fix it up. We all decided to go back to Rob's castle, so while Seto and Brice teleported, Lachlan and I collected our horses from the stable. Ash whinnied excitedly, and Honey bashed the straw with her monstrous hooves. The handler helped us both up, and Lachlan looked down at me from Honey's back. She was much bigger than Ash.
See, Ash is a light horse, small, built for speed with stamina. He's a thoroughbred- a race horse. Honey, on the other hand, is a Gypsy Vanner. She's built for stamina and strength. A drum horse- an army's drummer boy, if you will. She's huge compared to Ash, because she's also a carriage horse.
Carriage horses are meant to be big and strong, so they need to physically be bigger to have space for all the muscle. Honey has a flaxen (creme) mane and tail, and also heavy feathering (the longish hair around the lower legs). She has a golden coat, and bright blue eyes like Lachlan and Brice. She's also got a pink muzzle and white face. Each of her hooves is about the size of Sky's fist, probably a bit bigger.
Once we were up and ready, Honey decided she'd leave first. Without notification, she trotted out, leaving Lachlan unprepared. He reined her in though, so she didn't get too far on free-rein. I slowly managed to get Ash to move, and we set off into our trip up north. It took a few hours with 1) the speed that I can still control Ash, and 2) Honey's top speed only being just barely higher than my controllable speed. We had no trouble whatsoever during the trip.
Getting there near dark, we tied our horses with Rob and Preston's horses, and fell asleep inside the first floor guest bedroom. I woke up to find Lachlan gone, and the door shut. I slowly walked out, but realized my mistake too late. I forgot my leg braces, and fell in the doorway. I grimaced, but crawled back to grab my braces.
Lachlan and Rob came dashing over to get me off the floor, and hauled me to my feet when I'd gotten my braces. Preston came running into the dining hall, shortly after I sat down at the table. "Happy early birthday, Preston! And happy late birthday, Rob! Sorry." "No problem. Even I forgot, and it was my birthday." "Nice one." He shrugged.
Breakfast came, and disappeared just as fast. Preston and Lachlan both ran outside, while Rob and I stayed inside. Rob handed me a paper, and after reading it over several times, I finally got through the message. "I forgot to give it to you." Rob added.
'Vikk, you may not remember me, or any of us, but we remember you. We know that you've finally found your place in the world, and I applaud you for that. We've been stuck here in a city with all the other people. Hope you do remember us... It's okay if you don't... K?'
There wasn't a signature, and I wasn't entirely sure who I should remember. But I recognized the ink. It was the ink my dad used in a letter he left with me when I was abandoned. I've long since lost that letter, but I recognized the ink when I saw it. I did remember one kid Lachlan and I met on the streets years ago... He was a city kid. He had friends in the city too. They were all thieves, like us, but they had homes. We didn't.
They gave us shelter, and offered us homes, but we refused. Lachlan felt it would be a bad idea to stay. We left, and shortly after, while passing through another city, found a Wanted poster, depicting the first kid's face.
Wanted
Simon Minter
6
Alive
$1000 reward
We steered clear of any other street kids after that. With no one left to derive us of our path to freedom, we moved quicker, and more often that not, we avoided passing through cities. But now, the kid wants me to remember him. Why? And how does he know I'd found my place? Is he following me?
I shook it off and put the letter away in my pocket. Rob fixed his cloak, and we went outside to meet the other two. Outside, I saw Preston hanging between two trees, and Lachlan sitting precariously on a branch of the one tree. They noticed us, and came down to the ground. "Soooooooo... What'd you guys dooo?"
"I handed him a note that I'd forgotten about. That's it." I was curious now. " What did you two do?" "Talked about you guys. Jibber jabbering, really..." Preston sighed. "Mindless speech. Nothing important." Lachlan added. I shifted my feet. "You sure it wasn't important?" "Nah."
"Okay then..." Sky appeared between them. "Liars." He smirked. They both blushed super hard.
"They were talking about you two, yes, but not just mindlessly. They were telling each other, 'Oh my god, Rob is so adorable,' and 'Vikk is cute,' and stuff like that. These two are hardcore fan girls." They both shied away, faces bright red. "Gosh dang it Sky." Preston hissed. I rolled my eyes. Rob just shrugged and laughed.
Rob tackled Preston in a hug, taking them both to the ground. I held out my arms, and Lachlan came to me. So while they hugged it out in he grass, Lachlan carried me inside. "You realize how small a king you are when your queen can carry you around like a feather." Lachlan giggled out. "But who cares! I love being carried around. It gives me more time to watch your beautiful blue eyes." Lachlan blushed again.
"Vikk, stop that. You're making me blush." "I can see that." I giggled. "But Lachlan, they are beautiful. Your eyes look like the ocean. Do you remember the ocean?" "I remember it. It was amazing, like blue crystal with a waving surface." "That's how your eyes look to me. Like that blue crystal, ever-changing in the light." He stopped, glanced at me, and smiled. "That's awesome. Thanks for that, Vikk..." "No problem."
Lachlan set me on the floor in the main hall. Only seconds later, I sat on the ground outside the house. Lachlan appeared next to me. The pressure plate system had done its job quite efficiently. Lachlan picked me back up and carried me inside. Once inside, Seto came into the living room, holding a staff I'd never seen before.
He froze. Slowly turned to see us sitting there. Realizing it was only us, he went back to walking. He spun the staff through his fingers like a baton, never losing his grip on it, never fumbling it. "What is that?" "My staff. What did you think?"
"I know it's a staff, but where'd it come from?" "My old childhood home. That apparently still stands. I thought the Solace clan had burned the place to the ground." "How is it so big if it's from when you were little?" "It's magic. Ever-changing to match my age and height. It knows every spell I currently know, and it matches my height exactly." "Then what's the ball at the top of it?"
"The orb? This is the staff's memory. It has its own memorization patterns, much like the human brain, but packed into a small, stained glass orb." "Which is what?" He flicked the orb, and it flashed a defiant red, then back to the original soft purple. "It thinks, and feels. My flicking it, the red, was the intake of pain it felt. It's not just glass." "So it feels pain? Does it feel love?" "Not considered love, but more... loyalty..."
And he left. "Oh." I sighed, pretty stumped. Seto returned. "Did you not understand?" I shook my head furiously. "Take it." And he held it out for me to take. I reached for it, and he whispered, "I dare you." I took it, the gleaming purplish wood staff settled in my hand perfectly. "That staff is made of Peltogyne wood. It's naturally a varying shade of purple, as you can clearly see." "This isn't stained?" "No."
"That's amazing." "Isn't it? It's a very rare tree though, and very few exist. My staff is technically a twig I pulled off a small Peltogyne sapling when I was very young. My father polished it, and here we are, a purple staff. The orb appeared on the top the very next day." I studied the staff closer. It had the purple wood base, a small ring on the bottom with a spiral design, and at the top, a metal claw. Four small spines curled out and around, like a flower bud.
In the center of the silver spines, the orb sat in midair, touching nothing, but remaining inside the small, sharp spines. "Try asking it to make a light." "Can you make a light please?" It flashed a defiant red again. I got the message loud and clear. No. I gave it back to Seto. "Make a light please." And the small orb glowed just a bit brighter.
Brice came over. "You found it?! Congrats!" "Can Brice use it? Or only you?" I asked. "Just me. But if Brice tried, it would just kill him. Quite literally." "That's why I didn't try." He smirked as he walked past.
"Brice?" "Yeah, Seto?" "Mind showing Vikk what happens if you just get close to it?" "Seto." He said warningly. "You know how much that hurts. I've done it once."
"But still. I want him to know." Brice huffed. "Fine. Never again after this." Brice padded over, and simply put his hand about a foot away from the staff. It sent an angry red lightning bolt straight into Brice's open hand.
He recoiled, gritting his teeth and shaking out his shocked hand. "Sorry Brice." "No problem." He said through a tight jaw and gritted teeth. After a moment of pain, he seemed fine. He just grimaced slightly and left.
"See? Any closer and it would've done its best to kill him. That was a warning." "Then why doesn't it do that to me?" "You're a regular human, or neutral. He's my polar opposite. I'm dark, he's light. If he had his staff, I'd have the same problem with his." "Does he have one?" "Yes, but it's not adapted to him yet. It hasn't been physically handed to him by anyone, so it doesn't know him."
"You make it sound like it's alive." "It is. Remember me flicking the orb? It felt that. It is alive, or it would have just been plain old glass." "Oh yeah. Never mind." "Our staffs have a certain DNA sample to follow, almost like a tag-lock, but specified for sorcerers only. Tag-locks are a human thing." "That's cool. We should get Brice's staff. Make him feel better or something."
"That might just work. It'll recognize you as someone of a higher rank, and will adapt to Brice instantly. It won't do a darn thing to you because you aren't a sorcerer. It's perfect." "Then let's go get it."