literature

The Seventh Shard - Chapter Three

Deviation Actions

Published: Nov 15, 2012

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Literature Text

Now with the thought in mind to pay for his new clothes, Gavin stepped out from behind the curtain, Indivar following close behind. The tailor looked up from a smaller project and grinned in delight when he saw them, clapping his lower pair of hands happily.

"I knew that would be a good fit on you, young man." He chuckled. "I just knew. Now! I made you an extra gift, if you would like it." Gavin blinked, confused.

"Huh?" The tailor shuffled over to him in excitement, and offered him a length of tan cloth with the emblem of a white bird on one end of it. Indivar looked at it, and he nodded, taking it from the tailor's hands and placing it on Gavin's head, tying it like a bandanna, with the long ends blowing behind him as the breeze picked up. As the tailor held up a mirror for him, Gavin found himself grinning. He almost looked like a pirate, and all he needed was an and an eyepatch. Indivar took hold of the end with the emblem on it, and he showed it to Gavin.

"The White Hawk.." He murmured. "You bear your own emblem now, Master." Gavin stared at it, tracing the bird with his fingers a moment, before the tailor gently pressed a new vest into Indivar's hands.

"A gift for you as well.." He whispered. "There are things I have come to understand now." Indivar looked at the vest, holding it up, and Gavin noticed the shimmering emblem on the back, a . He smiled at the tailor.

"Thank you, sir." Indivar sighed, and removed the vest he was currently wearing, replacing it with the new one. He bowed to the tailor, and Gavin awkwardly repeated the action. The djinn handed the man the money to pay for Gavin's , and the tailor nodded, smiling, as he bowed in return, his four hands folded neatly against his chest.

"You will do great things, young hawk." He chuckled. "There are many secrets in our realm, that need be found. There is a strength you can find, if you just..look in the right places." He winked, nodding a bit, before he returned to his work. Indivar put a hand on Gavin's shoulder, watching the tailor for a moment, before he nudged the teen away. For a moment Gavin followed Indivar obediently, but he realized then that he'd left his satchel behind under the . Quickly, he rushed back to get it, tossing the strap over his shoulder and running back to catch up with Indivar. The djinn stared as he returned, then nodded when he saw the satchel.

"One moment.." He murmured, stopping and putting a hand to Gavin's chest lightly. Before Gavin had time to ask what was going on, Indivar took the satchel and fastened the clasped straps on the back of it around Gavin's new sash. "That'll keep it from jostling around as you run.." He explained, nodding, before he turned and walked away. Gavin smiled, following after him. As much as he seemed not to care, Indivar really wasn't such a jerkface when it all came down to it. He just didn't always go about showing it the right way.

As they returned to the healer, Gavin was immediately pounced upon by the feline known as Sahil.

"At last, the glorious leader has returned!" Sahil teased. Gavin pushed him off, laughing.

"I'm not glorious, okay?" He groaned. "I'm just average! We talked about this!" Raksha chuckled, shaking her head as she walked over to him.

"Average, eh?" She remarked. "Those who are average don't wear their own emblem, White Hawk." She lifted the end off his bandanna, showing the white bird emblem. "That aside, we should return to Harij at the pen and be on our way, I suppose." Gavin nodded, glancing around. The healer was nowhere to be seen, but her assistant was still hanging around to see them off. Gavin awkwardly bowed to him, before picking up his scimitar and leaving, the rest following close behind. As they rejoined Harij at the pen, the man put a hand on Gavin's shoulder, and pointed to the roof of the building behind the pen.

"I fitted your mount with a saddle..but..he is being rather troublesome." Gavin followed Harij's finger to see Xerxes lounging on the roof, his tail thumping the thatched roof lazily. He sighed and walked towards him.

"Xerxes.. Come on, man." He called. "What are you doing up there, big guy?" The Sand Cat yawned in reply and rolled onto his side, and Gavin swore he saw the cat smiling at him. With a sigh, Gavin shook his head. "Xerxes, get down here, all right? People are getting pissed at you." The feline just purred, his tail still thumping the roof. Tapping his foot a bit in impatience, as a woman came out of the building to finally investigate the thumping on the roof, Gavin watch Xerxes for a moment longer before he decided to throw caution to the wind once more.

"All right, dude. You asked for it." He remarked. "I'm coming up there to get you!" With that, Gavin pulled over a long pole that vaguely resembled a ladder, putting it up to the side of the building. Climbing up was no easy task, though, as he nearly fell off more than once. He heard rustling above him, and he looked up to see that his feline friend had come over to investigate. As Gavin finally reached the roof, however, Xerxes gave a soft snort in his face before turning and running along the roof. Gavin scrambled onto the roof, racing after him.

"He's playing with you!" Raksha laughed. "You need to get on his back or he won't listen!" Gavin glanced down at the others for a moment, nearly falling off the roof as he stumbled and just barely regained his balance. He could tell that the cat was playing with him, so he just had to get ahead in the game. Easier said than done. Just keeping his balance and not falling off the roof took a lot of his focus, and Xerxes dodged back and forth as the teen tried to grab him. In a mad attempt to catch the playful cat, Gavin leapt forward, and by some miracle, he landed on Xerxes's rump, forcing the Sand Cat into an awkward sitting position. Pulling himself into the saddle, Gavin grabbed the guide leash, unhooking the main end from the collar and tugging gently. Xerxes grunted softly, getting up on his paws again, turning his head to look at Gavin.

With a sigh of relief, Gavin patted Xerxes's shoulder gently, petting him a moment. Now, the question was how to get off the roof. Before Gavin had much time to think about that, however, it seemed Xerxes already had that covered, as he crouched low at the edge of the roof. Scrambling to brace himself for the impact, Gavin leaned forward a bit, almost hugging the Sand Cat as Xerxes leapt from the roof, landing easily on his paws below.

"Okay, that was more work than it needed to be.." He sighed, shaking his head. Not really sure how to work the guide leash, Gavin tugged towards where Indivar stood watching, and Xerxes huffed softly, before turning in that direction and trotting over to the djinn. Indivar nodded, and gestured to Raksha, Sahil, and Harij who had already mounted their beasts once more, ready to leave.

"Where are we going now?" He asked. "I..don't know anywhere in this place, so..I've really got no clue." Sahil smiled as he guided Zosar forward.

"I know a place." He remarked. "It's several towns over, in the east, and we can rent a training ring there to get started on your training. This place is just a trade town, but we can stay in Hamakuso for days if we need to. How's that for an idea?" Gavin nodded. It did sound like a good plan to settle down for a while and begin training with Raksha and Sahil like they had agreed.

"All right, then that's where we'll go." He replied. Indivar nodded and walked forward, keeping ahead of them just a bit as they left Imahri behind. Guiding Xerxes wasn't proving to be easy, however, as the Sand Cat often pulled against the guide leash, wanting to go every direction opposite of where Gavin was trying to lead him. Indivar noticed this, and slowed his pace to walk beside Gavin.

"Keep your hand firm and the guide taut.." He offered. "You're giving him too much room to disobey.. You are his master. He needs to know that, or he will take advantage of his freedom.." Gavin stared at the djinn a moment, realizing that Indivar could have easily been talking about himself with those words as well, not just the Sand Cat. It was true that he was Indivar's master, too, but..he had always hated the idea of slavery. Indivar was a person, not property.. Sighing, he tugged the guide leash a little more, keeping it taut like Indivar had told him. Xerxes huffed softly, and tugged against him a bit, but as he did as the djinn suggested, the Sand Cat reluctantly started obeying him a bit better. He glanced at Indivar a moment, and remembered what Raksha had already said about him.. Djinn were violent, and proud.. She had said he would have to take control over Indivar, or else the djinn would kill him. Even Indivar himself had said that he had killed masters he'd had in the past, even though he'd assured Gavin that he wouldn't kill him..unless it was under the right circumstances.

Still, his mind kept flashing on Raksha's words, about djinn being proud as well, not just violent, and he couldn't help but feel as though having a master at all was a blow to Indivar's pride. Sighing, he stared at his companion, not saying a word to him. Indivar noticed his staring and prodded a finger to his forehead.

"Care to explain your face?" He commented. Gavin blinked, shaking his head.

"I- what?"

"You have a concerning look on your face, Gavin.." The djinn replied. "Why is it you're staring at me with that face?" Gavin shrugged, now turning his gaze to the back of Xerxes's head.

"I'm just..thinking." He answered. "About how you're Bonded to me, and.. I know you don't really like having a master all that much.." Indivar sighed.

"There is one thing you need to understand about djinn, young master." He acknowledged. "We are eternal, and live for a very long time. Yet there is a balance to our existence that has been in place for thousands of years, and longer.. That, is the contactual contract that binds us to our bottles, and to the masters that come into possession of those bottles. While it is true that all djinn dislike being ruled and commanded, it is a necessary evil that we must endure. In this case, I must endure the Bond that I share with you, because one day, you will rise to become such as you are meant to be. Knowing this, I live as your guide, your protector, and your servant, and I do not argue with my fate." After listening to Indivar's speech, Gavin felt he understood the djinn a bit better, and..he supposed he felt a little better about the fact that Indivar had called himself a servant rather than a slave. Servants had little more freedom than slaves did, a little better treatment, too. He still didn't really like the idea, but he supposed he had to go along with it.

"So, you'd follow me to the ends of the earth if you had to, huh?" He remarked. Indivar nodded.

"If it were necessary, and you ask me to do so, then yes.." He looked at Gavin before turning his gaze to the Sand Cat. "I suppose you have better control of your beast now, then?" Gavin nodded.

"Oh, yeah." He agreed. "But..Indivar? Would you mind staying by me instead of walking ahead this time?" The djinn stared quietly at him a moment, before he nodded.

"If that's what you wish, Master." Gavin sighed.

"You go back and forth between calling me 'Master', and using my name." He commented. "Just call me Gavin, okay? We talked about that.. And I'm not forcing you to stay over here, you know. You have the choice to say no.." Indivar twitched slightly, his gaze fierce as he stared at him, and for a moment, Gavin worried that the djinn would take this as an opportunity to kill him, like Raksha had warned that he might.

"You are a very strange master..unlike any I've ever had.." The djinn remarked, and Gavin let go of the breath he hadn't known he was holding. "I'm not ever sure what to make of you, Gavin.."

"Is that good or bad?" Gavin asked, a little worried now. Indivar shrugged his shoulders, stretching a little.

"It's..good, actually." He admitted. "No master has ever kept me as interested as you have." Well, that was a relief. So he wasn't upset, and he wasn't going to kill him. However, the next words out of Gavin's mouth were driven entirely by his curiosity.

"How..many masters have you had?" The question earned a quiet sigh from the djinn, as he turned his gaze to the sky.

"Far too many to count now." He replied. "It has been too long, and there have been too many masters." Gavin nodded, and the thought came into his mind, wondering just how old Indivar really was. He didn't look older than a man in his early twenties, but he was probably a few hundred years old at least. He'd even said that djinn live a long time. Before his mind could catch up with his mouth, Gavin had already blurted out the question.

"How old are you?" Up ahead of him, he heard Raksha laugh in response to the question. Sahil turned his head and looked back at the two of them, grinning.

"Are you serious about asking a djinn his age?" He teased. "I'm sorry, but that's kind of amusing." Gavin hunched his shoulders, shrinking down in embarrassment, but Indivar just shook his head.

"All I'll tell you, is that I'm far older than you can imagine, young master.." He answered calmly. "It would do you well to not push the question further. My true age is my business, and mine alone." Gavin frowned. That wasn't the answer he really wanted to hear, but..to be fair, he hadn't quite meant to ask the question in the first place.

"All right.." He sighed, turning his gaze forward. Before he really had time to dwell on it at all, however, he heard the sound of an elephant grunting up ahead, and he sighed. It was probably one of those small elephants, the deipaphants, but then there was something else.. The animal sounded upset about something, and a shadow passed overhead, making Gavin look up to see large birds circling overhead. They were vultures.. Different from the ones Gavin knew about, but that didn't change that they were vultures. He noticed them descending towards the sand below them, and without waiting for anyone else, he tugged Xerxes's guide leash towards where the birds were circling, and gave him a nudge to start running. The Sand Cat was all too happy to oblige and increased his pace, running towards the circling birds.

"What are you doing?" Raksha called after him, but Gavin ignored her. Sahil's ears twitched softly, listening to the sounds around him, and he quickly turned Zosar around, looking up at the birds.

"There's been an accident.." He gasped. "And our great and wonderful leader is onto it. Come on." Nudging Zosar, he lurched forward quickly, following behind Gavin and catching up quickly. As the distressed deipaphant came into view, Gavin noticed that it seemed to be dancing in a small circle, and it kept looking down at the ground, nudging something with its trunk, before grunting and trumpeting in short bursts like it was calling for help. Gavin nudged Xerxes to move faster, and the Sand Cat obliged. Reaching the deipaphant, he saw a man laying there on the ground. So that was what the deipaphant was so upset about, and why the birds were circling overhead. Pulling Xerxes to a stop, Gavin quickly dismounted and knelt beside the man, quickly finding blood on him and in the sand around him.

Sahil was close behind, tugging Zosar to a stop as he dismounted and moved towards the deipaphant, raising his hands to calm her, whispering gently as well.

"Shh..Easy, girl. It's all right." He urged her, glancing at Gavin. "So what's the matter with our new friend here?" Gavin shook his head.

"He.. He's lost a lot of blood, but..I can't really tell-"

"A fracture to three of his ribs and a cerebral trauma.." Gavin looked up, startled to see Indivar right behind him already. "As well, he has been struck hard with a whip, more than once..and you will want to remove the dagger from his abdomen if you indeed plan on helping him..I'm honestly amazed he is still alive." Nodding, Gavin fumbled to help the man, his hands shaking now. While he had been confident minutes ago, that had evaporated to leave nothing but nerves now. Noticing his hesitation, Sahil stepped in beside him and quickly took over tending to the man. Indivar sighed, watching the two, and he shook his head.

"I don't see why you're assisting this man.." He remarked. "He's a stranger to you..and if it's his fate to die here, then-"

"I was a stranger to you and yet you helped me out in the marketplace, when you didn't have to!" Gavin snapped at him. "You weren't Bonded to me, then, but you helped anyway! He needs help now, and I'm not going to step aside like it's nothing! That's not who I am!" Indivar stared at him quietly, before he nodded.

"I see.." He sighed. "Do as you will, then..I won't stop you. But I will not assist you, either." Gavin shook his head.

"And here I thought you weren't so bad, after all." He sighed. "But now I find out, you really are cold-hearted. So why do you even bother pretending?" Glancing at his satchel, a thought struck him, and he opened the flap, reaching in to pull out the djinn's bottle. "Oh, yeah. You're here because of this! That's it, right? You only act like you care because you're guarding your stupid bottle!" Indivar's eyes narrow, his gaze turned sharp.

"I wouldn't do anything to my bottle if I were you.." He growled. "You're walking dangerously, foolish child.."

"Then help me.." Gavin replied. "And don't do it just because I ask you to. Prove me wrong.. Show me you're not a selfish jerk.." Sahil glanced at the two, his ears pressed back uncertainly as he pressed a kerchief to the man's bleeding wound. With a sigh, glancing behind him as Raksha and Harij finally joined them, Indivar knelt beside the man.

"This once.." He murmured. "This once I will do this for you..but do not ask me for such favors again.. There is much you don't understand." He pushed Sahil aside softly, before pressing his hand to the gushing wound. A gold smoke rose around Indivar's hand, and Gavin watched as the wound began to close, and the blood was drawn back into his body. There was something else, though, and Gavin stared in shock as Indivar's body began to open up, a wound appearing in the same place it had been on the fallen man. The djinn's blood gushed forth, and he pulled his hand back, sighing.

"I didn't ask you to do that!" Gavin yelped. "Indivar, I never asked you to hurt yourself to heal him!" Indivar stared at him.

"No..You didn't." He whispered. The wounded man groaned softly, opening his eyes slowly. He turned his head to Indivar, and a bit too quickly for Gavin's liking, he sat up abruptly, staring at the djinn with panicked eyes.

"You- You're a djinn!" He gasped. "My life is worth nothing to you, and I- I have already been left for dead here!" Indivar sighed, shaking his head.

"That..is no way to greet one who has spared your life..and taken your pain upon himself.." He remarked. The man's eyes widened, and Gavin stared at Indivar, noticing now that the djinn was bleeding from his head a bit as well. For a moment, he wondered if the djinn even noticed pain at all. Getting to his feet, the man looked around, noticing his deipaphant nearby.

"My Nalika!" He gasped. "She's all right.. They didn't take her." He walked over to her, and Gavin frowned, noticing that he moved without any signs of pain at all. He turned to Indivar and gave him a half-hearted glare.

"You healed him completely, didn't you.." He commented. "And took all of his wounds on yourself.." Indivar nodded, and shrugged his shoulders.

"You have a problem with this?"

"Jerkface.." Indivar shrugged, and for a moment, Gavin was sorely tempted to just hit him. Still, he held himself back, figuring that even if he tried, Indivar would probably annihilate him before he could even get close. Looking over at the man, he watched as he nuzzled his face to his deipaphant's trunk, petting her gently as she used her trunk to hug him in her own way.After a moment or two, he turned and walked back over to Indivar, before he slumped to his knees and bowed to the djinn..

"O great djinn," He murmured, and Gavin noticed Indivar's eyebrow twitch slightly, as the djinn turned his gaze to the side, watching the man carefully. "Guardian of the living desert.. I am eternally in your debt.." Now, this gave Gavin an idea.

"Sorry, sir?" He started. The man turned to him and smiled.

"Please, call me Inoday." He replied. "You.. You are the djinn's keeper, yes?" Gavin sighed, nodding, glancing briefly at Sahil for a moment.

"Yeah. Inoday, would you like to repay Indivar for helping you like he did?" The redhead asked, smiling. Indivar faltered slightly, and Gavin noticed him watching carefully now. Still, the djinn's reaction only encouraged him, as he continued. "Well, I know a great way you can help out, and repay the favor he's done for you." Inoday smiled, excited for the idea.

"I would do anything to repay him. I..I owe him my life!" Gavin nodded.

"Right. Well, why don't you come with us on our journey." Immediately, Indivar had the reaction Gavin was expecting.

"I say no to that idea, Master," He hissed. "He nearly lost his life without our involvement in it. He's not any more than a liability." Gavin shrugged.

"At this rate, so am I." He replied. "I have no training yet, no real experience fighting. I'd probably die easier than he will. So, I say that if he wants to join us, he's welcome to it." Inoday smiled, bowing to Gavin now.

"I would like to accompany you, if I may." He agreed. "But..may I ask where you are going?" Sahil took this as an opportunity to finally join in the conversation, as he smiled at Inoday.

"We're on our way to Hamakuso for a while." He explained. "We need to stop there a while and train Gavin some." He gestured to the redhead. Indivar sighed, shaking his head. He still wasn't too fond of this idea, and Gavin noticed he kept giving strange looks to Inoday now, almost as if he was suddenly suspicious of him. Gavin nudged him as Sahil and Inoday talked.

"Lighten up, okay?" He urged him. "It's not like he's some all-powerful being sent to kill you, or me." Indivar shook his head, and Gavin turned his gaze to the blood still oozing from the djinn's body.

"That's..going to heal, right?" He asked, gesturing to it.

"Of course it will..Though it will be temporarily draining me more than some other injuries would.." The djinn gave a soft sigh, leaning gently against Gavin's shoulder now. "I..just require you to stop talking for some time.. I have a headache."