Red And Yellow

One year. That’s quite some time. The voice in her head says and then continues. You had plans, what happened? The black haired Tiefling pushes some hair out of her face, watching the passersby’s of the city come and go from the Tavern she leans up against. This isn’t Avernus and I am not invincible. She continues to think to herself. A mental battle with her very own consciousness. She tilts her head upwards, looking at the sky as clouds move over across the moon and shroud the city in more darkness. That girl Alexa, she isn’t going to let you ya know? Syn nods to herself. I know. Then what? I’ll figure it out when the time comes. I don’t have a plan. I just…. Lose yourself?
No. No I don’t.
Oh? Her thoughts are interrupted by a drunkard staggering out of the tavern she is standing outside of. He stumbles and catches himself against the same wall “Out of the way freak.” Her eyes shoot towards the man. “Heh.” She chuckles. “You think this is funny?” The man tilts his head in an arrogant manner. “Yes, yes I do.” She chuckles once more, picking up her great club and turning to walk down the side alley of the Tavern. “Fuck off.” She says, throwing up a hand over her shoulder, he follows. “You twat, don’t you know who I am?” He shouts out in a stupor. “I don’t care.” Syn says. The man shouts again “I wasn’t DONE talking. You got some nerve you fucking Tiefling frea---” Her hand moves in a swift fashion, reflex from the anger inside herself, griping the man’s throat. “Finish that sentence and you will walk away from this no longer able to speak for the rest of your life.” Her hand grips his throat tighter and he begins choking. The clouds shift and rays of moonlight in this alley illuminate her face. Her eyes glisten with red and a chaotic smirk forms from cheek to cheek. “Oh? Can’t breathe?” She cocks her head to the side, watching the man struggle. Her hand trembles as she watches him. Burn.
Her thoughts echo and her eyes widen.
Burn.
Her hand grips tighter against the man’s throat, her nails digging into the skin. He gasps for breath and she hesitates, letting go of him. Her hand falls from his throat and to her side, starring blankly at him as he stumbles backwards out towards the main street. “MONSTER! A GOD DAMN MONSTER!” He shouts chaotically, running down the road. Syn tilts her head up once more, starring up towards the bright full moon.
“Monster….”
Under the full moon and coming down the road the man was sprinting on, a guy walks towards this “monster”.
His black buckle up shoes are average and along with the holes in his brown pants that reveal his knees he would appear as a beggar if one was to only examine his lower torso, but to look up would see the truth. Dark brown skin sets the space for man’s form, his black dreadlocks acting as visors for his milky white smile and hazel eyes.
He looks at Syn curiously, giving a smirk and a wave as he stops walking to perhaps give a proper greeting.
Pulling out a sunflower seed from the pocket of his sleeveless hoodie, he cracks open the shell and quietly chews. “Great night for a walk wouldn’t you say?”
Syn’s eyes shift from the moon down to the man standing out towards the main road. She stands in silence for a moment as the tremble in her hand relaxes and the rage that began to consume her dissipates. A soft inhale of cold night air fills her lungs and she holds it for a second before exhaling. “…something like that.” She finally replies and looks him over, taking note of his wardrobe and stepping out to the main road in front of him.
Chatter continues to echo down the streets. The town is lively with patrons coming and going from the tavern as these two unusual characters speak. “A walk, that’s what I was doing. Though it would seem people like to disturb me.” Syn scoffs. “I feel as though I’m going to hear about this later on.” She leans on her great club. Turning to watch people of various races walk past them, going about their business. “Do you always walk around at night talking to strangers?” Tilting her head to the side and looking at the man closer.
“I try to make a habit of it. You never know who you might run into and I’m always excited for a surprise.”
He tosses the sunflower seed shells onto the street before taking another hand full from his pocket. The moonlight radiates off his teeth when he smiles as he walks close enough so that him and Syn are within arms length before saying,” I’m Ode.”
He extends his free hand out for a fist bump.
A large smirk curls across her lips as her canine’s poke through. “Curiosity killed the cat.” She says in a joking manner…maybe. She extends her hand out forming a fist and bumping his. “Syn.”
She throws her club up over her shoulder and starts walking past him down the main strip. Looking over her shoulder slightly, she speaks. “You can follow if you want, I’m getting food.” And she continues to walk.
When she speaks follow, he breaks into a sprint to catch up before settling into a comfortable walking speed so that he’s shoulder to shoulder with Syn.
He nudges her with his elbow while holding out some already cracked sunflower seeds for her to have if she wants before asking,” So do you always carry a big stick around or did someone special need their head busted?”
She declines the sunflower seeds and continues walking. Heads turn, mothers scurry their children away, and vendors recoil behind their stalls. She flinches at Ode’s words. “It was a friends.” Syn pauses before continuing. “Now it is mine, queue head bashing.” The great club remains held over her shoulder as they continue to walk. Heavy wood sheathed in black Iron with small triangular dull spikes that run down the entire body. Its handle wrapped in white cloth that ties off at the circular hilt. Its extremely menacing looking and obvious it has been through many battles.
“This place.” She stops, pointing to a run-down stall at the very end of the main road. “Unique street food.” There is a change of attitude that slowly begins to creep forward. Excitement over…food. Syn heads over, casting a wave to the chef behind the counter.
“You’ve got some pretty cool friends,” Ode admits as they were walking, eating the sunflower seeds himself when Syn refuses,” Anyone who can get a weapon so well made must be pretty amazing.” He casts his eyes down towards the ground, sorrow flashing through them for the briefest moment like a comet before he gives a half hearted smile at a distant memory. He pats the space right below his shirt pocket before getting more sunflower seeds to snack on quietly.
Once arriving at the stall, he takes out a band from his pocket and ties all of his dreadlocks together so his hair doesn’t get all over the food. “Unique huh,” he asks and also waves at the chef behind the counter out of courtesy,” Sounds perfect for a people like you and me. What do you normally get?”
Syn catches his face shift to sadness, watching him pat the pocket of his shirt before eating more sunflower seeds. Her eyes narrow, she knows that face too well. When every little thing, every little word, triggers a memory of the past they you’ve spent so long to forget. The irony though, to carry something with you that still allows you to remember.
She remains in thought for a few moments before snapping back to the present and watching Ode tie his dreadlocks out of his face. “What do I get?” She looks back to the chef. “Those fluffy steam things with the meat inside of it. Two---uh.. three plates of them.” She nods to herself, taking a seat at a table. “Sit. Takes a bit for them to cook.” The small food stall rests at the end of a busy market street, only a few old wooden tables placed around the outside of it. The area is empty except for Syn and Ode. She rests her club against the table, leaning back in her chair. “What’s so unique about you?” Leaning back onto the two wooden legs of her chair, staring back at Ode.
Ode nods as Syn describes dumplings but doesn’t seem to know the name. Weird.
He hooks his foot around the leg of a chair and pulls it out before sitting down, not bothering to scoot up so he’ll be closer. He is in the middle of stretching when he hears Syn’s question. “Nice conversation starter,” he chuckles as he lets out a sigh of relief after a good stretch.
“Hm... I guess the most unique thing about me is the fact I can hit pretty fast,” he admits after a moment of thought as he rubs his chin,” Seems to be one of the few things I’m good at too so I guess I lucked out.” Taking a sunflower seed from his pocket he places it on the table and flicks it, causing it to whirl in place like a spinning top. “What’s so unique about you besides having a giant club,” he asks, eyes glancing between the seed and Syn.
“Is that…sarcastic? Is this not how a conversation starts?” She tilts her head. Weirdly asking not in a joking manner but a genuine question, like she’s trying to be normal or learning how to speak to people. She watches as he stretches.
“Hit pretty fast?” She thinks for a moment. “So you go on walks at night, talk to strangers, and have fast reflexes. Only slightly shady huh?”
At this point the chef behind the stall comes out and places three plates of fluffy steam things with meat inside on the table. Six dumplings sit on each plate, in the center is a small wooden cup of dipping sauce. Syn nods, pushing one of the plates out towards Ode before a huge grin appears on her face, sliding two plates towards herself. Without any manners, she plops one in her mouth. Nom nom nom. Then another. Nom nom nom. She beams, seemingly in a little world of her own and for just a few moments, the scary Tiefling girl doesn’t seem so scary. Ode speaks and she pauses. “Unique about me?” She talks with her mouth fool, then swallows the dumpling and silence follows.
“Nothing.” Her eyes narrow as she looks at Ode. The bliss of her favorite food fades and like a snap of fingers, a shadow creep’s back again. An aura about her that changes to something sinister.
He gives her a bemused smirk as he leaves forward, actually scooting closer to the table. “It is a good conversation, but when saying it so bluntly some people may get the wrong impression. They might think you’re just asking them what makes them unique for the wrong reasons,” he explains with a very careful and calm tone. Not in a condescending matter at all, but a simple one to one explanation.
A hearty chuckle comes out of Ode when Syn lists his admittedly shady set of skills and interests. He holds up his hands in defeat while nodding. “Yeah yeah. I can’t being a people person. It’s in my blood to meet new people and interact with them. Honestly,” he pauses for a moment as he stares at his hand. The slightest bit of light blinks in his palm like a low battery flashlight. An aura of genuine remorse and as he looks up at Syn, there is a small hint of some new scent that fades just as quickly as it comes. It smells like stardust. “I just like getting to know people, and maybe meet others like me.”
The seed continues to spin as the food arrives. Ode takes his plate and shakes his head smiling as Syn digs into her dumplings. Food really can do wonders if it can make the scariest people shed their persona.
When she says Nothing Ode naturally leans back, the unsettling and sinister nature of her aura being off putting. But after a moment, with a face stern, and eyes burning with an unknown conviction he flatly says,” I don’t believe that. Everything about you is unique Syn. For one, you’re a tiefling. A very strong tiefling if you can carry the club so easily. You’ve obviously been places far from here because you don’t know the fluffy things with the meat inside are called dumplings, and though I don’t know much about you I want to know more.” The seed stops spinning as Ode just widens his eyes at Syn and radiates genuine, benevolent, focused, belief.
With a dumpling in hand she pauses, watching him recoil back for a moment. With a long silence, she speaks. “That’s the problem.” She stares at the small wooden bowl of sauce on her plate. “Being unique catches the eyes of people you don’t want to be associated with.” Its best to be nothing, than to be something in a world as fucked up as this one.” Her words continue to project a disturbing aura and her mannerisms have changed so quickly that she places the dumpling in her hand back down on the plate. “That light, that smell. I’ve seen that before. I don’t know what they were, I don’t know what you are, but that person was in a cage, and it’s safe to assume they were sold to some assholes. "
She leans forward moving closer to the table and stares at Ode with deep red eyes. “Its not so much I’ve been to far places, but more so that I’ve been kept away from the world itself, caged.” And with a hushed yet disturbing tone, “That’s what unique gets you.”
Ode leans forward as Syn does and his eyes maintain a constant stare into her own. His flicker with an increased interest as she speaks of how she has seen someone just like him. He tilts his head and nods.
“We have more in common than I thought. Being unique can suck. Being put in a cage and being forced to fight can suck. Not knowing how to control the things that make you unique because you’ve been taught, either by yourself, other people, or a little bit of both, that you were a mistake or worse. You end up hurting people you care about,” he pauses and breaks his gaze from sin before whispering,” The pain never goes away.”
He continues to stare at the floor as he says,” But I’m choosing to look on the bright side. I don’t know what cage you were locked up in, I don’t know what you had to do to get out of that cage, and judging by that look you’re given me you’re got some heavy baggage. That’s okay.”
His eyes give off a soft yellow glow, like two suns on a white canvas. His left thumb traces a circle into the table while his right hand grabs a dumpling. “Not sure about you, but being unique has gotten meet to me some pretty amazing people. Kind of like you. Each of them were focusing on and each time it’s a little different. Me? I punch people and beat up douchebags with a attitude whenever they’re picking on someone who doesn’t deserve it.”
The light in his eyes flickers out as he pops a dumpling in his mouth and says,” What do you do?” He closes his eyes and chews, his hand still tracing circles into the table at a similar speed to the spinning sunflower seed.
The clouds slowly move across the night sky, casting shadows on the ground from the full moon, while obscuring the faint twinkle of stars and the shifting colors of the dancing aurora above them.
You end up hurting people you care about.
Syn’s hand twitches slightly by his words. A painful sentence that makes her heart pound in her chest. A wave of regret rushes through every vein and nerve of her body. “All the more of a reason to not care about anything…or anyone for that matter.” She mumbles. “It’s better that way.” Her eyes shift down to the great club resting against the table. “If as you say, being unique has given you opportunities to meet new people, then you are an idiot. People only care when it benefits them. Like right now.” Her head turns to face him once more. “Right now I am eating fluffy…steam--- er.. Dumplings with you because I am bored and hungry. This is entertaining. Should you get up and walk back down the street, should someone appear behind you and put a dagger into your back, or should a portal to the hells open up and pull you in, I’d still sit here and finish my plate, and probably yours too. My life would go on as though I never spoken with you.”
She leans on the two back legs of the chair once more, folding her arms across her chest while rocking. She watches him draw small circles on the table. “I don’t know what it is I do Ode.” She shrugs. “I have ideas in my head of things I’d like to accomplish. No, things I will accomplish but it will involve me getting stronger.” Syn pauses for a moment. Between the short silence, the clouds shielding the full moon’s light drift away. Her face becomes illuminated in moonlight and she smirks. “And maybe a deal.”
Ode stops tracing circles. His smile drops. Poignant, plain, and pensive. The face of a survivor.
He retracts into himself, leaning back into his chair and staring down at the ground. His hands grip his knees like the sun clings to the horizon. Without that beaming smile and optimistic personality, the wounds of war reflect the moonlight to cast shadows of the past which hope were only nothing moments ago due to luminosity of hope.
A small scab underneath his bottom lip, a stitched up scar hides comfortably in his right eyebrow, and a nice T shaped scar rests comfortably on the left side of his neck.
He nods as Syn speaks. A passive yet invested movement of his neck and chin done so stiffly it could be inferred this is not the first time such a view point as been thrown at his feet.
With the back of his palm, Ode slides the rest of his dumplings over to Syn before taking out a beautifully embroider leather card holder from his inner shirt pocket.
The rectangular container of potential cards has a golden twine woven into the edges of the rich, dark brown leather. An emblem of the sun, acting as the lock, rotates as Ode turns it before lifting the flap of the container up to examine the cards within. He pauses and looks at Syn. “If you ask me, the world needs more idiots. Without them how would anyone know when anything is wrong in this fucking shit storm of a world. You can’t seek revenge against a cheater if an idiot wasn’t dumb enough to lose all of their shit. You can’t take down a mercenary group if there wasn’t an idiot who got themselves killed. You can’t make friends if an idiot doesn’t see anything special in you. You can’t make a deal unless an idiot thinks you have something to give. I don’t have any alternate fucking motives Syn. I’m sitting here with you making conversation because this is what happened. You caught my attention and I’m staying because you haven’t told me to leave.”
He takes out a card and just stares at it. His eyes flicker and he chuckles a little. “I know you don’t give a shit, but if you got jumped by some random I’d beat them within an inch of their life just so you could finish them. Not like you’d need my help but hey... It’s the thought that counts.”
He shakes his head, places the card back into the case, tucks the case away, and just looks at Syn. Ready to listen. Ready to learn. Going with the flow.
The chair tilts back and forth, back and forth as Ode’s demeanor changes. She remains quiet, listening to him speak. As he continues, a rage begins to form. That confident tone of acceptance angers her. She continues to tilt back and forth in the chair, watching as he pushes his plate of dumplings in her direction. The chair falls forward onto all four legs and she leans her elbows onto the table, propping her head up with a disturbing smirk. “There it is.” She says in a cocky tone. “You say you don’t have alternate motives, but all you’ve spoken about is playing hero.” She tilts her head to the side. “You mean to tell me you would have approached me under other circumstances? No. You stopped because of that shit face in the alley.”
Her hand reaches out for another dumpling. Nom nom nom. Syn pauses.
You’re acting like him
Shut up.
The voice in her head brings back conversation from a year ago.
She looks to Ode as he pulls out a card holder. “That’s all fine and dandy, but don’t sit there and tell me you don’t have motives. Everyone does.” She lets out a long sigh. “You’re right, I don’t give a shit, because caring is what causes pain in the long run. As I said,” nom nom nom “Its easier to just not care, then to go through all the shit that occurs when you do.”
Her eyes fall to the card holder, the quality and embroidery makes her raise an eyebrow. “You don’t take something like that out and not explain what it is.” She glares in his direction. “What is that?” She leans forward, trying to catch watch sits inside the card holder.
“I stopped because you caught my attention. I don’t give a damn about a racist old man that takes up valuable space for someone who might actual make use of their life besides just trying to hurt people. Gods DAMN IT woman why is it so hard for you to believe that some people just do things just to do them... That some fool just walked up to you because you fascinated him so damn much that passing you by would have been a mistake. And let’s not even delve into the can of worms you opened up with the whole “not caring” bit. Without caring you’ll reach your potential for strength a lot sooner than you think...”
He sighs as he shakes his head and just takes out a card from the holder. “It’s a Tarot Card. It’s called The Sun. My deck is full of them,” he says in a rushed and impatient tone. This agitation, the slight flex of his muscles, and the general underlying savagery to his mannerisms seems more natural. And he is hating every minute of it.
Without caring you’ll reach your potential for strength
Like the shattering of glass his words draw forth a side of Syn that Ode has yet to see. She slams both arms down onto the table, strength uncontrolled that cracks the wood around her. Her teeth naw together out of anger. “Let it. Let it happen.” She mumbles between grinding teeth. Holding back the red that so easily consumes her. “Let them burn, let them all burn.” A hand comes up and presses against her head.
Ode pulls out a Tarot card. The sun and its design on the face of it distracts her for a moment. Her eyes burning with pain fall to something of normality. “T-tarot card?” She reaches across the table towards the card. “What is a Tarot card?” As though he’s speaking to the dumpling loving Syn from before, the darkness disappears and syn stands, leaning across the table reaching out with curious eyes to a card she’s never seen before. “w-why all one card?”
The agitation in Ode’s mood remains only for a soon seconds after Syn slams both of her arms onto the table. Let it. Let it burn His eyes shift to concern. “Let what burn,” he thinks.
Let them burn, let them all burn.
Them
He doesn’t inquire further. Touching a broken flame can still burn even if it seems smaller than it was before. Instead, he hands Syn the card while still holding the card holder.
In a hushed tone he explains,” Fortune telling cards. Psychics, mystics, diviners, and all other kinds of con artists and magicians use them. Apparently they can tell a lot about a person. Some can be warnings about their own death while others can be reminders for new beginnings. I got this deck from some... sketchy hood covered person while I was being stitched up after a fight. I don’t know why the only card in here is the sun... but I think it’s because the Sun is my future... I didn’t mention it but the cards have different meanings depending on how you pull them out of the deck of twenty-two. The sun represents a persons inner child, feeling down, and being overly optimistic.”
Slowly, very slowly, Ode holds up the deck up to Syn. “When it’s upright it represents fun, vitality, warmth, and success. It’s like that little part of yourself that no matter what will always believe that they will get whatever they want to done. Failure isn’t an option for me when I pull this card.....” He looks up at her, not judging, not angry, not sad, not sympathetic.
Respectfully, he asks, “Do you want your own?”
Syn reaches out taking the card from his hand, holding it up above her towards the sky. She flips it over and over, rotates the card left and right, and analyzes the artwork depicting the sun. She listens to Ode explain what its for and she nods in response. The distraction of something so strange to her broke the building fire within. Now she stands across the table staring down at the single card in her hand.
The card shows a silhouette of a person standing in a field of sunflowers, holding the bright orange and yellow sun in the sky. “The Sun is your future?” She asks, looking up from the card. “What the hell does that even mean?” She scoffs at the thought before plopping back down into her chair. “No, I don’t want my own.” She places the card onto the table, sliding it across back towards Ode. She pulls her hand back and the side of the card glides against her finger tip creating a papercut. “Tsk. See? Even your card doesn’t want me to have one.” She licks the blood from her finger.
Hope arrives. A twinkle in Ode’s eyes shine for but a moment as Syn examines the card. She seems so peaceful.
The Sun is your future?
Hope shines brighter as it rises from Ode’s disbelief. This is too good to be true. She just might actually open up. His eyes widen until they look like saucers and his body waits on the edge of his seat for her next words. This might be it!
What the hell does that even mean?
And there it is. He chuckles to himself as he takes the card back, smiles when he looks up at Syn nursing her finger, and let’s out a sigh of relief. Some mysteries are worth waiting for.
“It means that no matter what I’m going to succeed in the end. Whatever my goal is I’ll eventually succeed and I want to give other people their own sun. Unlucky for you, apparently that particular card didn’t have the kind of success you need right now. My advice would be to draw your own card from the deck. Either that or just remember don’t hold them from the side, but I’m warning it’s a very difficult skill to master. Took me thirty seconds,” he teases with a mischievous smile, the glow in his personality returning in full,” And speaking of skill, let me see your finger. I’ll heal it up for ya. Well after you’re done tasting yourself of course.”
“What? Did I disappoint you or something? Was I supposed to be more enthusiastic over a card?” She squeezes the papercut on her finger and a bead of red surfaces at the skin, she watches as it runs down her middle finger. “Sorry, but I find it hard to put everything you live for by drawing a card at random.” By now the blood has trickled down to her knuckle.
Its very difficult to master She scoffs, leaning forward and holding her hand out. The small bead of blood pools at the knuckle and drips onto the table. “Fine, I’ll humor you. Let me draw one of your stupid cards.” An obvious joke from Ode that goes right over Syn’s head. A challenge, on any scale is something Syn wouldn’t turn away. “I don’t need healing over a cut. Let it bleed. Though, what are you? A cleric or something?”
"Never said you had to be enthusiastic about a card. Its the message of the card. Besides, these are more like a reminders. Can't blame a guy for hoping you might get something useful out of them."
Ode holds the card pack up for her, seemingly not bothered by the blood. He shake his head when Syn even suggests he's some sort of cleric. "Hell no," he says looking almost offended," I don't mess with clerics. It's just something I can do." As he says this he looks between Syn and her hand, debating with himself. Finally, he fist bumps her open hand. A warm glow quickly surges in his veins faster than most people could see. A comforting warmth fills her hand, condenses on the cut, and then disappears just as quickly as it came. The pain is still present, but the bleeding has slowed slightly.
"Yeah. Just a thing I can do."
“Oh? Not a fan of the holy?” She grabs a card from the deck, pulling her hand back. “I said I didn’t need healing.” She glares at him before taking a dumpling off the plate and eating half of it, flipping the card over and placing it on the table for them both to see. “Oh, wow look at this!” She says in a sarcastic tone with her mouth full. “The Sun!” Syn snickers between noms. “Tell me fortune teller, what does it meaaaaaaaan?” She eats the other half of the dumpling, leaning back into her chair with a grin.
“Also..” Nom nom. “For it being ‘just a thing you can do’ that seems pretty nice of a skill. Wish I could do that. Would make things a lot easier.” Nom nom.
"I heard you, but I get the feeling you only remember people who leave an impression. I'd say helping even when you don't want it at least gets me a little memory space," he retorts and takes down his dreads since no food is nearby," Besides, it's not like I can forget about you so easily." He laughs when Syn shows her sarcastic side and can't help but smile when he sees her mouth full of dumplings. That changes when the card is flipped over.
As the card is flipped over and placed on the table, the visage of a man with black, beady eyes stares upward while his arms are crossed over his chest. A dead man's pose. Above him are two ornate daggers, and a snake that encircles a yellow eye of Horus. The Roman numeral XIX stands above them all while the words The Sun reside at the bottom right below the scarab beetle underneath the unsettling man.
Ode looks at the card and shrugs," I always thought it meant someone was going to die. Someone who caused a lot of problems. Someone who deserves. Someone more powerful than you. At least for now... I pulled it once and let me tell you when everything was finished this little skill of mine only did so much. If you're looking for serious healing then I'm sure you know the standard array you're gonna need."
“I don’t get it, why are you so damn determined to befriend me? She stares down at the card on the table as he begins to explain its meaning. Its still another Sun card but the art on its face is drastically different then the first. Morbid looking really. She remains silent for a moment, thinking over the card and Ode’s meaning of it before speaking once more. “Someone is going to die, someone who deserves it…”
Syn tilts her head down, her bangs hiding her eyes. “Heh….heh………..heh…….” Her head quickly lifts up. “HA HA HA HA HA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Her laughter is so chaotic it would send chills down even the most noble of warrior. She stands up from her chair, holding her arm across her stomach while belting in psychotic laughter. “That’s the plan anyway.” She picks the card up off the table. Holding it out in front of her. “All of them deserve it. In fact, the entire fucking city does.” She holds the card up towards the night sky, looking at it once more before moving her arm to Ode, handing the card back in his direction. “But I didn’t need a card to tell me that.”
Ode stares on in confusion, dread staining his hands in the form of sweat. He wipes it off on his hoodie. "What is this laugh," he mumbles to himself, standing as she does. When the card is handing back to Ode, he holds onto it just before Syn lets it go.
Slowly, as he looks up from Syn's footwear all the way up to her face, his eyes grow in the intensity of light they produce. It's not enough for anyone besides Syn to really notice the anomaly. Golden orbs of glowing radiance fill the space of Ode's eyes. After a few moments of awkward silence, he lightly pushes her fingers back.
His voice, like honey over tempered steal, speaks with an aura of lofty confidence befitting that of a rebellious prince, is soft yet resolute when he says, "Then how about an extra pair of fists to punch with. I'm gonna be honest, I have no clue why I'm attracted to you. Maybe it's the fact that you're a badass, maybe it's because like me you've got a few scars, or maybe it's because you have excellent taste in food. I don't know, but I do know that you can't just burn down everything. You've got see past the horizon Syn. They all deserve it, yeah I'll give you that, but if you burn down the town it's not just them who's going to go. I know. I've done it."
He sighs and just stares again but for a much shorter time before letting out a sigh. " Keep the card. It'll do you more good than it did me. I don't want to stop you from curd stomping them, but just think of this. The Sun can burn too. If it can explode and cause everything to go away. There wouldn't even be ashes. But they aren't the only ones that burn. Your friends go too. Relatively good people go too. And you know what else? Dumplings. If you burn the entire city, you'll never taste these dumplings again..." His eyes return to their normal, handsome hazel color. He smiles and stacks the plates, putting any remaining dumplings on top. "It's the little things that make shit worth it. You know?"
“You can’t lose anything, if you have noth---” She stops abruptly at the end of the sentence. “I’ve had this conversation before.” A hand comes up and presses the palm against her forehead. Fighting back the pulls of different views inside her own mind. “You are foolish.” She says out of nowhere. “And its bothersome to me as well.” Her palm presses hard against her head. “You are too nice, like her” She says sharply, exhaling as she finishes the sentence. Struggling to even draw the memory out into words. “And even like the candle woman I’ve hung around with, you all are the same. Clinging desperately onto some form of hope. That hope is what will get in my way. If it means taking myself down with my desires, then so be it. I shouldn’t exist anyway.”
Her other hand reaches out and takes the card. “You wouldn’t want to hang around with me regardless. In fact…” She holds the card out towards him, showing the dead man pose. “You might even want to kill me should we meet again.” She draws the card back, tucking it into her pocket. “There is someone out there who possibly understands. Willing to let me achieve the things I want to achieve without judgement. Though as all things in this world, it will possibly come at a cost.”
Syn walks to the food stall, digging around her pocket for change and leaving a gold piece on the counter for the Chef. Weirdly, way beyond the price of the dumplings. She turns back to Ode. “Friends and family….when you mentioned those things I didn’t bat an eye. When you mentioned Dumplings, I felt slightly sad. If that doesn’t tell you the state of things I don’t know what will.”
“It just tells me that this world needs my dumplings stands,” he comments while taking out a silver coin,” It could change your mind about burning everything or maybe not. All I know is that I want to be on the ashes with you. As for killing you and finding someone to help you without judgement, you’re looking at him.”
He looks up at the sky, moonlight twinkling on his skin like stars,” Ans all it’ll cost you is more of your time and a bit of attention my way. I can’t really get that when you’re dead and if I find out you are, I’ll pick up the torch and burn the city for you. And if it wasn’t obvious already, anyone is lucky enough to hang around you. Hell I am.”
He doesn’t break eye contact but tosses the silver coin up in the air, his steps echoing on the earth when he walks forward, and finally leans upon the stall a good five feet away from where he tossed the coin.
“Oh and Syn,” he says with a smile yet his eyes sear with gold, “ I don’t cling onto hope or some lofty ass ideals. I am hope. Maybe I’ll change enough to not get in your way."
As he turns his back, a solid construct of light forms. Curved white nails attached to long sticky fingers, all forming a beast like claw flicks the coin with enough force to send it flying towards the table in a yellow comet of energy. On impact, the silver melts into the table, steaming, exactly where Ode was previously tracing circles. After it’s show of precision, the claw fades into sparkling dust that follows Ode as he walks away and clings to his clothing.
“ NEXT TIME WE MEET YOU HAVE TO TELL ABOUT THIS GIRL YOU COMPARED ME TOO,” he yells over his shoulder before quietly saying to himself,” She must have cared for you a lot too.”
As Ode walks away shouting over his shoulder, Syn steps to the end of the table, looking at the melted silver that resides within the circle he drew earlier. She looks back up to see him fading off down the main road. “Tsk, damn magic users always showing off.” She scoffs putting her hand in her pocket. The edges of a card trace her hand. She takes the card out of her pocket and gazes at the art once more. “Let’s see how real your stupid predictions are.”
Syn tucks the card back in her pocket, reaching down to grab the handle of her great club, tossing it over her shoulder. “And hope you are not dumb enough to seek me out later on.” She takes a road that heads out from the town. With a casual stride, and a sadistic smirk across her face, Syn fades into the darkness of the night.