Chapter 7 -- The letter 'R'

AIO: This planet we live on is so, alluring... There's countless things wrong with it, and yet, for some reason, we find it endlessly captivating. 

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Time seemed to pause for a moment.

The area went silent.

Shile maintained his smile, perhaps in ignorance.

.

..

...

....

Thorn moves behind Shile in an instant, her blades plunging downward towards his neck.

THOOK.

Sound vibrates from the whiplash.

Shile is sent rolling onto the grass.

Shile: ?!

Tomo stood stunned - a common occurrence.

The impact revealed Reach standing next to Thorn. His hands clamping hers atop the blade handles.

Thorn's momentum stopped just in time so as not to decapitate old man Shile.

Tomo: I... I can't...

Tomo: They're still too fast.

Thorn angrily looked at Reach.

Thorn: "Hey."

Thorn: "What's the big deal?"

Thorn shrugged Reach off.

He took a step back.

Reach: "I told you to relax."

Shile stood up with the help of his living wooden spike.

Thorn: "This old man is crazy. He was clearly about to try kill us."

Reach: ...

Reach: She's certainly got a point.

...

Reach: "But even so..."

Reach: "Part of being strong is knowing when to wait things out."

Thorn: ...

Reach: "We both know you could kill him easily. So why not let him explain himself?"

Thorn begrudgingly returned her blades to her back.

Thorn: "That looter from earlier. With the large sword."

Reach: ...

Thorn: "Maybe you should have let him explain himself?"

...

Tomo: ?

Reach stood, quietly.

Reach: ...

Reach: "We both know that was different."

Thorn: "Not by much."

...

Thorn: "Don't act so righteous."

Reach looked down, unsure how to respond.

Tomo changed the subject to Shile in a timely manner.

Tomo: "H-Hey!"

Tomo: "What was that all about?!"

Shile removed his smile, coughing.

Shile: "Ahem."

Shile: "I may have given the wrong impression."

Thorn: ...

Shile relaxed his hand.

The wooden spike returned to look like your average green tree.

Shile: "The villagers say I get far too excited about the ritual."

Shile: "Of course it is not mandatory, and I will not hurt you without consent."

Reach: ...

Shile: "Hmm. Should I have started by saying that?"

Tomo: Oi...

Shile waved his hand downward.

The tree submerged back into the grass.

Shile: "The resplendent podium demands blood. That is how you establish a bond with the trees."

Shile: "More specifically, we call it a blood link."

Thorn: ...

Reach: I see.

Shile: "There are countless trees in this village."

Shile: "Typically we offer them to people who wish to live here, but travellers also like to have a tree for when they stop by."

Tomo held a concerned look.

Tomo: "Y-You said the podium demands blood? How much blood?"

Shile: "It is solely up to you."

Tomo: ?

Shile took out a small blood vial from his long blue robe.

He walked up to the podium and tipped a single drop of blood into the podium's basin-esque head.

Reach: ...

The drop of blood travelled downstream, into the ground.

Moments later, a tiny seedling sprouted from the grass.

Tomo: "Oh!"

Shile: "As you can see, this is what the bare minimum will get you. Although not very helpful."

Shile moved his index finger.

The seedling returned to the soil.

Shile: "The blood link then allows you to control it as your own."

Tomo: "Wow..."

Shile: "Isn't it marvellous?"

Shile: "It's as if we all share a beautiful disease in this village."

Reach: That's... Rather nice.

...

Thorn crossed her arms as she listened on.

Shile: "I did not mean to scare you, young lady."

Thorn: "Huh?"

Reach: Don't provoke her...

Shile: "Your blades are quite the make. Light green curvature, ease of handling."

Shile: "My respects to the craftsperson."

Thorn: ...

...

Thorn: "They're from my homeland."

Reach sighed in relief.

Thorn: This old man...

Thorn: He's a mix of respectful and crazy.

Shile gazed once again at the surrounding trees.

Shile: "I've lived here my whole life. I have bonds with plentiful trees."

Shile: "If you're willing to pay currency, you can rest in one of my trees. However, if you wish to undertake the ritual, you can claim a tree of your own."

...

Tomo: "And the tree can do anything?"

Shile: "There are limitations, of course. You will not be able to control it as I do mine, but it is viable as a living, animate place of home."

Shile: "Only those who establish a blood link are permitted to enter."

Tomo: "Can the three of us share a tree?"

Shile: "Yes, if you so wish."

Shile: "The majority of outsiders will be unable to force their way in."

...

Tomo hesitated.

Tomo: "The majority?"

Shile glanced at Thorn, then up towards the dark blue sky. The evening steadily approached.

Shile: "There's a great deal of strong people in this world."

Shile: "Some well known, and others yet to be discovered."

Shile: I wonder which category these three fall under?

...

Shile: "Therefore I cannot promise anything in today's cosmos of disease."

Reach: ...

Looking back to the podium, Shile continued.

Shile: "So what do you say, aspiring travellers?"

Tomo: "We're explorers!"

Shile: ...Much of the same, no?

Reach strode to the podium alone.

Reach: "We'll do it."

Thorn: "Really?"

Shile began to smile. The others caught a glimpse of his white teeth.

Shile: "Shall I prepare the spike...?"

Shile: "Oops."

Shile covered his mouth.

Shile: There goes my bad habit.

Shile: "Ahem. Very well."

Shile: "You may begin. And the other two can follow once you've obtained a tree."

Reach analysed the podium for a moment.

Shile: "How much blood do you intend to spare?"

Reach started to remove his olive green long sleeve shirt.

Shile: ?

Reach's toned body and abs came into sight.

Tomo: Oh. Smart.

Shile: "Erm. We typically extract from the arm. But I suppose we can withdraw from the body if you prefer?"

Shile perceived a faint humming noise that slowly became more noticeable.

Shile: ?

...

Shile: What is that device... On his shoulder?

Reach looked down, examining his own hand.

Reach: "Does it accept flesh?"

Shile: "Huh? I-I believe so, but-"

Reach extended his arms over the podium.

Reach: "Thorn, if you don't mind."

Shile: "What?"

Thorn grinned, disappearing.

Reach closed his eyes.

SHINK.

Reach's arms plummet into the podium. Blood spouts from his upper arm sockets.

Shile: "Hwha-?!!"

Thorn reappears to shake the blood off her blades.

Reach winces from the pain.

Tomo: I can never quite get used to it..

Reach's arms swiftly grow back.

Shile: "H-Hey..."

Shile: "What-"

Reach bends over, calmly collecting the device from his detached arm - Thorn's slash high enough to have included his outer left shoulder.

Clapping the device back onto his new shoulder, a nostalgic drop of blood streams down his bicep.

Thorn returns her blades to her back.

Thorn: What exactly is that device?

Reach exhales.

...

Shile: "A... A disease?"

Reach: "Yep."

Mass amounts of blood traverse downward through the podium.

The limbs too, slowly become absorbed.

Reach puts his shirt back on.

Reach: "I didn't want to rip another one."

Tomo chuckled.

Shile: A regenerative disease... How intriguing...

Reach located his bag on the ground and swallowed two pain killers.

Shile: "What does that device do, young man?"

Thorn: ...

Reach: I don't mind being called young..

Reach: "It... Keeps me alive."

Shile: "Is that so?"

Shile: Low blood sugar, perhaps?

...

The four of them began to feel pulsing vibrations.

Reach: ?

Villagers outside of the immediate area too felt tremors.

Shile looked to the opposite side of the grass area, quite some distance away.

Shile: "This is unprecedented."

Shile subtly smiled.

Shile: "You have completed the tree ritual and surpassed my expectations."

Reach: Oh..

The biggest tree in the village, dark wood and dark blue leaves... Moved towards the podium.

Shile: No one would think to cut off their limbs simply to live in a tree.

Shile: His disease breaks the logic of this ritual entirely.

Towering above them stood the pinnacle. The 'pioneer' Shile deemed it.

Tomo demonstrated vibrant excitement.

Shile: "Th-that... Is now your tree."

Reach exhibited a pleased, relaxed state.

Shile: "Well done, kindred explorers."

Thorn: Kindred?

Shile: "No one has ever been able to claim that one."

Thorn looked above to the faint light, now closer, high on the face of the tree.

Reach caught wind of Thorn's visage and prepared to physically investigate the light once again.

Shile interrupted almost verbatim.

Shile: "If it is yours, you need not climb, remember?"

Reach: ...

Shile extended his arm, posing as an example.

Shile: "The link exists."

...

Shile: "Try to control it. Feel its energy."

Reach took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Moving slowly, Reach lifted his forearm, followed by a mild twitch.

He paused for several moments, then raised his entire arm above his head.

Shile: ...

Stroking his fingers in a downward motion, Reach's arm slowly descended, back towards his waist.

...

Thorn: The light...

Thorn: ...Is moving down the tree.

Shile: Hmph. That's it.

Tomo's eyes glistened in a bright yellow encased by dark blue.

Reach opened his eyes to find that same light, roughly now at eye level.

Shile: "We do not know what it means, however, it has been adjoined to that grand tree for generations."

Thorn: ...

Shile: "It is more than a simple mount."

Reach put his left hand forward, blocking the gentle shine into his eyes.

Thorn: "It's... Glowing."

...

Tomo: "Yeah..."

Tomo: I don't really get what's going on.

Adjusting their eyesight to the radiant object at hand, the three pondered the significance of its layman typography.

Reach: ...

Thorn: "I wonder what's the point."

...

Thorn: "Is it a message? What does it stand for?"

A sole member of the 26, built in physical representation and fixed upon the tree.

Thorn: "The letter... 'R'?"

[Chapter 7 -- End]