image [https://imgur.com/jQV7hku.png]

James… no, Xanther. No, Ian. Ian? Xanthian? He was holding onto the sleeve of his hero. The Hero. They were walking along a shoreline. Waves broke far below them. Birds were crying out (Watergulls? Earthgulls? Airgulls?) overhead. He closed his eye as he walked along. Birds were the same everywhere, it seemed.

Evolutionarily did they also come from dinosaurs? Did all worlds have dinosaurs? Did this one still have dinosaurs? What… was a dinosaur. A dragon. Oh, were birds small dragons? No. No. His head felt so light, so hard to focus. He peered out, looking at their leader. Tenton. The boy had a broad, strong back. He walked with confidence. Boy? No, he was a man. Clearly a man.

The Wizard of Light said there was a group of people living far away from society that needed their help. Tenton had agreed with this. The Wizard and Tenton talked all the time. He was sad about that, for some reason. He had The Hero. The Hero didn’t talk to anyone but him. Sometimes he talked to The Hero about his Brother. He had loved his brother so much. He wished he hadn’t gone. Somewhere.

Xanthian gripped at his head, massaging his temple. Sharp lances of pain would occasionally stab into him. Especially when he thought about… he winced and rubbed his head. Nobody wanted him to think. That was an odd thought. Who didn’t want him to think?

The fairy bobbed over, and then settled on top of his hair. “Heyyyy… how ya doin’ bud?” Ianther felt a warmth prickle down his body, followed by a cool numbness. He flailed at the fairy and it flitted up. “HEY! What?” He was panting heavily, covered in sweat. “Don’t… don’t touch me.” The Hero turned to look at the fairy, his eyes impassive. The fairy flitted about in the air, and then Jamether heard what he was sure was a spitting sound, as a glittering droplet flew away from the floating fairy. “FiiIIIiiiNe. Be like that!” The fairy flitted off to float around the Wizard’s head. Was it… it didn’t matter. He didn’t like the fairy. He saw the Wizard turn to look at him, the man’s normally kind eyes narrowing.

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James felt like he could cry. He didn’t want the Wizard to be mad at him. He would say sorry to the fairy. He opened his mouth to speak, but then he heard another voice say something. It was Vess, Tenton’s friend. Vess was looking off into the distance. What was he looking at?

“A Hero approaches.”

Xanther turned to look. Where? Oh. So far away he could barely even make it out, a man was approaching. Oh he was a bit easier to see now. Wait, was he that far away actually? Dust was behind him, making it a bit hard to see… was that dust from him running? He sure was-

“[Beam]”. A ray of crackling energy blasted out of the mouth of Vess, tearing over the short grass. The running figure leapt to the side, not slowing. The energy hit the ground near him, but the explosion that roared up was already behind the Hero. The wizard was crying out something. “ATTACK! ATTACK QUICKLY!!”

Xanther felt something click into place, and he felt much calmer. The Hero straightened next to him. This was something both of them could understand. He brought up his sword as the air around it began to ripple with energy. Odd, he couldn’t see the lines on the man’s body that would tell him where to hit. Didn’t matter, he would just hit him everywhere. He sprinted towards the man, his sword swinging backwards. “[SILVER WALTZ] [SILVER SWORD SLASH]!!” He was beyond speed, dozens of silver blades springing forth from his weapon, empowered by the strength of the blade itself. The man didn’t deviate, only moving his head slightly to the side to avoid the actual blade as it swept down. Gods he was fast, but even if he avoided the main blade, the silver ones would… Xanther’s attacks splashed into particles of light against the body of the running man. No, the ears, the face. An elf? And then a hand snapped out, slapping him.

He heard a crunching sound and the world flew all around him. The birds overhead were crying.

Seagulls.