Broken Chains

As every other time before, Puck instantly broke down on the spot when they arrived back at Scarlet’s abode. The way back, even though mostly downhill, had been even worse than the journey toward the bat cavern. More than once, Puck had stumbled, and twice he had even fallen.

At least, even though strict, Scarlet wasn’t cruel. When Puck fell, she would check on him and only after assuring he was well enough would they continue. Well enough by Scarlet’s standards, though, not by Puck's.

Now, as Puck lay there on the refreshingly cold ice, resting for the second time that day, his thoughts drifted back to the sky and flying. How would it be? What even was the sky Scarlet talked about and how exactly would it look? Was...

Vaguely, Puck thought he could remember that he should have seen the sky in many of the visions shown by Zephyrian, but day after day, those visions grew blurrier in his mind, and even though he begged regularly, Zephyrian wouldn’t or couldn’t show him those visions again.

The sky was blue, right? A vast thing, never-ending and empty of ice. But how could there be no ice? Everywhere was ice... Or not? But no, Scarlet had just told him otherwise, so...

As Puck lay there on his back, still gasping for air, his whole body shaking, his imagination drifted further and further away from reality until he finally fell asleep.

Scarlet immediately went into the small kitchen room of her home when they got back. Hearing Puck fall to the ground and gasp for air, she couldn’t help but let a small smile play across her lips. Oh, the good old times when she had been just like that...

Only, she hadn’t been exactly like that. For one, she had been completely alone, only an infant of her race, yet journeying through the unknown dangers of the eternal ice. That she had survived was a wonder.

For another, the fire that burned inside Puck was different from the one that had burned inside her at that time, and it was also different from the one that burned inside her now.

When she had ventured out from her village, another one than the one Puck came from, she had been desperate for something new, having glimpsed the monotony that awaited in the normal life of her village. But it was nothing like what Puck had experienced.

She had ventured out with hope and drive. Before the unfathomable weapon and Scarlet, came though, Puck had already been wallowing in his own pit of despair for years.

That pit Puck had wallowed in had now been turned around 180 degrees. Every action of Puck, whether conscious or not, seemed to be driven by the desire to get as far away from that inner pit as he possibly could. His drive and conviction were ever-growing, and with it, his knowledge and body. One day, Scarlet was sure, he would accomplish great things.

Then she snorted.

Not yet though. Right now, he was still lying outside, gasping for air and slowly falling asleep.

Knowing exactly what Pucks body needed right now from all the experiences of her past, she started preparing a meal.

A meal.

Yeah, a true meal. Not a meal by the local Gremlin standards, but a real meal. It was hard, though. It had taken her a long time after getting back here to learn how to create something truly delicious and protein-rich with the available resources.

After all, where she was cooking right now wasn’t in some advanced kitchen of a true house or even the kitchen of a great Troll. Instead, she was here in her small abode in the middle of nowhere.

She had carved and built the small hut—or better called cave—inside a bigger cave herself, carving and stacking the ice as she needed it. Many of the tools she was using to cook to this day, though, came from somewhere far, far away.

Deciding it wouldn’t be raw but truly baked meat this time, Scarlet went on to the hard task of lighting a fire with the old, rotten, and icy wood she had only rudimentarily dried with her last fire.

It was only an hour later when the food was finally finished, and Scarlet decided to wake up her student. He needed the food and besides, the day was still young, and two further training regimens awaited.

Walking outside, Scarlet approached the originator of the loud snoring that had accompanied her while cooking the whole time. Upon letting her gaze fall on the stretched-out form of Puck, she couldn’t help but scrunch up her nose as she saw him drool while sleeping. Before lunch, she would need to send him to the river to clean himself.

He stank.

After cleaning himself and stuffing himself full of food until his belly hurt, Puck started to relax a little, but he knew the sensation was misleading. Getting proven true the next moment, Puck couldn’t help but groan as Scarlet indicated for him to get up and help clean the dishes. Truly, why did they need dishes? Puck hadn’t even known dishes before getting picked up by Scarlet. But then again, he neither had known nearly as good food...

After finishing the cleaning tasks on wobbly legs, Puck knew it was time for the second part of his training for the day. And even though Puck felt his muscles already protesting, he was expectant of it.

Walking was all well and good, and Puck was curious about what Scarlet showed him every time, but it couldn’t compare to true fighting training. Sadly, Puck still wasn’t allowed to train with Zephyrian, but that was okay, in his current state, he wouldn’t even be able to lift it.

Instead, he and Scarlet walked into a big, empty cavern about five minutes away. There, lying in a corner against the wall, two simple wooden sticks awaited.

Or so an outside observer would note, at least.

In truth, though, those wooden sticks were anything but simple. For one, they were some of the few truly stable and nearly fresh parts of wood in this part of the eternal ice.

For another, these sticks were no simple sticks. One was Puck's mortal enemy, an elusive shadow that gave him more bruises than he could remember. The other one was Puck's sad companion in the suffering he was about to endure.

A suffering Puck was expectant of, and he would try to enjoy while giving it his all.