Rontu did his best to dodge the incoming blow, sidestepping just a second too late before a heavy fist planted itself in his gut. The wind in his lungs quickly escaped through a harsh gasp, the man falling to his knees and holding onto his stomach with one hand while bracing himself with the other.

“Archie what the hell…” he choked out, trying to breathe through the pain. “You said you were going to teach me to fight, not beat the crap out of me.”

The heavier man burst into laughter, clutching his bare belly for an entirely different reason. It seemed as if he had ditched his usual floral printed shirt for their sparring match. Slowly he made his way over to Rontu, offering a hand to him and helping him to his feet. “Ah, sorry about that one. You stepped forward too far so it was a little hard for me to pull my punch there.”

Rontu was less than enthused, groaning and hissing through his teeth as he hobbled over to one of the large wheels of the Gemmer. He sank down into the dry dirt, Archie following suit. Rontu knew that the older man had a bit of a past when it came to fighting, not to mention he had seen him chuck an unruly customer once or twice. Even after all of that though, he never quite expected the man to hit like an absolute truck. He wondered if he should have armored up beforehand.

“You telegraph your movements too much, Rontu,” Shen said, casually sitting on the railing atop the Gemmer and observing them. “It does not help that you are slower than my grandfather.”

Archie chuckled, brushing some sand from the hair on his chest before looking up. “Oh, you hush. That’s the point of training ain’t it? Rontu might be spry and young, but I don’t think he’s ever been in a real fight,” he explained before looking over to his gray-haired buddy. “He’s like fighting a toddler.”

Rontu shot him a glare, shoving Archie’s shoulder and barely budging the man before standing up.

It had been a little more than a week since the group had escaped from Lowlam, having finally exited the Glassway earlier that morning.Now instead of glass, they were surrounded by hard dirt cliffs and plateaus. They had set up their camp on the edge of a wide ravine, hoping to guard their rear with the natural formations.

“Mhm. Yeah, yup. Keep talking,” Rontu grunted at the two. “Take five Archie, I’m sick of your sweaty hands touching me.”

Archie smirked and waved him away, but didn’t argue. Sure he was experienced, but he was far from his prime. “Let me know when you want to pick it back up, princess.”

--

If there was one thing Rontu had never anticipated about being a Shutok, it was just how natural it felt. He had thought he’d be bombarding Shen with questions, but so far everything felt like pure instinct.

The Barrens sun bore down on him, midday light washing over the dull and ashy mail. He made his way away from camp, looking over himself for the dozenth time. Chunky metallic gauntlets softly touched and felt the various protrusions along his body, feeling the bulky exterior. It only made sense that he was an easy target to fight. Even small movements made Rontu feel like he was several hundred pounds heavier. He felt like a lumbering oaf after seeing some of Shen’s acrobatic prowess.

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He knelt down in the dirt, doing his best to balance on the downward incline he was taking. The worst part so far was that his helmet felt huge, like a novelty bobblehead rattling his brain. Shen had mentioned that there would be a few side effects, but left it strictly as a bit of nausea and weakness. He said nothing about the fact that Rontu might feel like a literal infant trying to learn how to walk and function. His weight shifted, causing him to lurch forward and roll halfway down the hill before catching himself on an outcrop. Rontu groaned and rolled flat on his back, staring at the layers of orange rock that surrounded him. If anything, he at least had his power, if it could even be considered one.

Rontu aimlessly moved his hand about, grabbing at various things in reach as he looked towards the sky. Finally grasping a small rock, he brought it into his vision and began to look it over. It was ordinary enough, just a small brown stone. Rolling it between his fingers, the brown slowly began to wear away. Rontu carefully melded into something new, each pass of his hands transforming into a much more beautiful sapphire.

‘That’s cute. My ability is to invalidate my life’s work,’ he thought to himself, sighing and sitting up. The new stone was completely clear, free of any clouds as Rontu began to chisel at it with his thumb. He found himself working on these little projects a lot lately. With the destruction of his home and the changes he was going through, he found at least a little bit of solace in this new hobby. At first he had thought he would be able to just freely erect anything he wished, but after many failed attempts he found himself both thinking and operating on a smaller scale. At the very least, perhaps he could find new work in Radiance as some sort of jeweler.

‘What a joke.’

His hand gripped the stone, frustration seething as he growled to himself. Was this really all he was good for? Playing in the dirt? According to Shen and Archie he had nearly wiped a city off the map. Where was that power now and why couldn’t he remember anything about how to utilize it. Just when he thought he might shatter the sapphire under his newfound strength, Rontu sighed and let the tension in his frame loosen.

He slowly opened his palm, the gem now a perfect sphere the size of a golf ball. Cradling his forehead in his hand, he gently tossed it aside and let it roll down the rest of the hill. It quickly gained speed, ricocheting off of a rogue crag and launching into the air. Rontu waited for it to bounce again, but the canyon suddenly felt very silent.

Slowly he looked up, seeing a young woman standing at the foot of the hill with a blank expression. She was sunkissed, wearing a simple jacket that showed off her tanned arms. An object was lightly being tossed into the air, landing back in her palm with rhythm before being thrown back up. The sapphire.

She watched him carefully, her eyes locked right onto the blank slate of a helmet. Slowly she pocketed the gem, keeping both of her hands inside the front pockets of her jacket.

“Hey,” she said unceremoniously.

Rontu slowly stood up, careful of his footing as he looked down to her. She didn’t appear at all worried about the fact that she was staring down a hulking Shutok. “H-hey there.”

“Pretty cool trick there,” she said, pulling the gem just a few inches out of her pocket.

“Yeah...thanks. You can keep it if you want,” Rontu replied, though he had a hunch that she had planned to from the start. It made no difference to him, he’d just made another later.

“I will. That your vehicle on the edge of the canyon?” she asked in a rather bored tone, looking past Rontu’s shoulder and up the hill.

He wasn’t sure if he should answer that. Common sense dictated that you wouldn’t tell a stranger where you were staying, but if she already seemed to know, what was there to hide? Besides, Rontu was clearly a Shutok. Shen was back at base as well. Even though he felt rather useless, Rontu was at least confident he could deter any would be attackers just by presence alone.

“Yeah, that’s my rig. So what if it is?”

The woman rolled her eyes and seemed to groan, like a pouting teenager that was just given a new set of chores. A long sigh was let out, abruptly ending with a sharp crack of her neck.

“I just didn’t want to have to get my hands dirty today, that’s all.”