Quote:
The Fairies (7) : The City has been lit up for the Star Festival with banners and twinkling decorations strewn off the windowsills of shop fronts and windows. The gardeners at one particular park have put their heart and soul into creating a fairy's paradise: Fairy lights have been carefully dangled from trees to make strings of stars, little beaded jewels have been hidden among the hedges, and even the old cobwebs have been sprayed with just a touch of glitter. The park is open to everyone and the citizens of Destiny City have been invited to respectfully explore the hidden wonders that have been placed throughout. The park is magical enough on its own but there have also been reports of a strange, ethereal and shimmering stranger in the park. The glimmer of a beautiful costumed figure fluttering through the park has been passed around as rumor, and no matter what anyone claims to see, no one can take a picture of it. As if simply seeing some magical figure isn’t mysterious enough, there are also reports of mischief and small pranks being played at the same time this figure seems to appear.
If Rakovanite had, at one point, been afraid of being too overbearing with Vauxite, that concern was rapidly dwindling.
He'd always felt a little uneasy in his knowledge and mannerisms when dealing with someone forcibly corrupted, and he'd expected that being as available and supportive as he knew how to be would put him in a better position than simply being absent. ...There was no evidence to support this idea, considering how prevalent purifications were regardless of measures taken to prevent it, but Rakovanite still expected this was better. He'd done everything he could to make Vauxite feel like he was trusted; the guy knew the identities of practically everyone he was working with on their team.
Despite this, it had been obvious early on that Vauxite- Zaidyn- remembered and missed his civilian family. Some more than others, probably. But the fact remained that if he had shared a particularly close bond with any of them, would he not have been compelled to share his powered secrets? Had any of Zaidyn's family known Slidr? Had any of them fought beside Slidr?
Rakovanite didn't have the information to know how involved they were. Didn't know what the extent of their ability was to compel Zaidyn one way of the other. But seeing Zaidyn interact with his once-sister had made Nataniel... uncomfortable.
It didn't matter how much he patiently reminded Zaidyn that the secrecy was for their safety as much as his. Didn't matter how much he asserted that he had to keep his team safe, and Rakovanite would not allow Zaidyn to jeopardize that because he refused to just accept that he should move on. Zaidyn would still just... let his stupid mutt's leash slip out of his hand accidentally, Nataniel was sure, so that it would run up to her, and she would recognize it-
Rakovanite wanted to trust his teammate, and had given it so freely, but he was starting to sincerely question the benefits of letting Vauxite- or his family- go unsupervised.
So they were out together to complete Vauxite's energy quota. It was hardly any trouble at this time or year: people could be out quite late enjoying the warm weather, the festivities, the decorations... They practically had their choice of targets. Rakovanite still wanted to keep off the busiest streets. Vauxite still needed to make contact to drain his victims, so individuals or groups of two were probably the least conspicuous targets for him.
For the moment, they were simply alone, waiting on the side of a jogging path near the back end of a large park filled with water features, string lights, and dense vegetation. Rakovanite had taken up a perch on a low-hanging branch, idly reading through reports on his tablet, newly adorned with a glimmering amber charm, while they waited for passerby. Besides burgeoning reports of the city's latent magic, there was little of interest added today. With a soft sigh, he clicked the pen closed and fastened it to the inside of his jacket.
"What is it about this time of year..?" He rumbled softly, and then, more to Vauxite, "This is the first summer you have known about this magic and war and such, is it not?" Well, probably not, considering when he'd been corrupted- but the first he would remember of it, Rakovanite expected.
