The Poleman

Ariet's lungs were on fire, and his legs were numb, constantly shaking and faltering during each step. His vision was getting blurry, and his consciousness had started to fade. 

Three hours had gone by since the encounter with the Sin of Wrath. The Cryo still desperately crawled towards Ariet and Sine whom was still unconscious on Ariet's back. 

Drool had started to run down Ariet's face. Not noticing it, or not bothered enough to care, he trudged on, his chest heaving with exhaustion.

'Can't I- just give up?'

This thought had been running through his mind for the past three hours, on repeat, every second, every inch he has travelled. Yet each time it goes through his mind, he grits his teeth and stomps forward.

'I w-won't! I won't!'

He had to find a way to keep going. He couldn't fail himself. 

He couldn't fail Sine.

Grabbing onto the last embers his Aether Engine produced, he circulated the azure flame through his body, using veins as a method of transportation. His muscles started to produce more power and he felt a pleasant burning sensation throughout his body. His muscles started to soothe even if they were fabricating more force.

His eyes ignited with a blue flame, and he dashed forward, sprinting through the trees. He felt his broken leg start to relax, as if he stopped putting pressure on it. 

The sensation was almost like he was using a separate body to move himself forward. An ethereal glow surrounded Ariet as he marched forwards, and steam emitted from his body. A smile formed on his lips, then, a wide grin.

Ariet had started to laugh. 

He felt so good. The stress he had undergone was over. He could move freely! He felt light as a feather as he dodged trees and crunched the leaves below him. Him and Sine were safe! 

Then, the ember died down, and the flame had been extinguished. 

The sudden burst of energy and liveliness had come at a cost. All the pain came rushing back and washed over Ariet like a storm. He fell over screaming, his bones rattling and his teeth chattering.

'No no no no no NO!'

Ariet squirmed and squealed as he tried to get back up, but it was of no use. His fuse had died out. A wheeze and gargle resounded from not too far behind them, and Ariet could only watch in terror as the Cryo came into view after a couple moments, catching up with the two boys.

Ariet tried to move, he really tried. Throwing his shoulders that were in searing pain, rolling and slithering on the ground the best he could. Biting onto Sine's shirt and trying to drag him.

It only prolonged the inevitable.

The Cryo inched towards them, its face a mess of different matter, with a crazed look in its empty eyes. The gargling started to fill with glee as it got closer, its prey becoming still. 

The Cryo reached its hand out and... it went quiet. The Cryo had yet to reach Ariet with its extended arm, yet there was a strange sound.

CRACK

A twisted, contorted sound popped out of nowhere, as if a broken toy was putting itself back together again. 

Sine had slowly began to stand back up.

His inner consciousness focused so deep on what he must do, he fixed his shattered mind, and wrapped the ends of his fingers around the cold length of The Pole on his back. Without turning around, Sine slashed the Cryo in half with a blur of motion. 

A wave of power surged through them both, and their Aether Engine's had broken through to the next stage of power. They both were originally on the Nightmare level, the first tier. And now, they had trespassed into the Blight level. Sine looked down at Ariet.

Sine and Ariet's relationship had grown from enemies, to friends, to best friends, to someone they would die for in about a span of a day. A smile formed at Sine's lips as he lifted Ariet up in a princess carry, and started his long march through the forest.

**

Ariet fades in and out of consciousness, his eyelids flickering every now and then, sometimes hearing the crunching of leaves under Sine's foot, or a wolf that decided to attack them, and Sine defending against it with relative ease. Ariet could tell that Sine was getting tired though. His injuries had started to really take its toll, and his mind was exhausted from the abuse it had undergone.

And since it was boring, Sine's mind had started to wonder.

'So what rank were my enemies then over the last few days? That tentacle boy was a Nightmare, that horde of abominations were all Nightmares, luckily. The wolf is likely a Blight, and the Cryo was a Pestilent? I wonder what rank the Sin is...'

Sine then looked up to see smoke rising through the air not far up ahead.

'People?'

Sine had lightened his footsteps and started to stealthily make his way towards the source of the smoke, making sure to only step on tree roots and barren spots of ground. Sine had just realized that his senses were much better now that he was a Blighted one. 

'Shouldn't get a big head...'

Approaching the fire, a clearing had opened up. Sine had stood on the edge of the tree line and scanned the area. Three people were sitting at the edge of a fire, a leg of a roasted wolf hovering over it.

It looked to be two girls and one guy, the two girls were chomping away happily at another piece of roasted wolf, while the guy... was staring straight towards the direction Sine was in.

"You got a good sense there." Sine muttered as he stepped from the tree line holding Ariet.

"Woah dude you looked messed up!" The man said, and Sine looked down to scan himself. It's true, he hadn't taken the time to really look over himself, but his body was in rough shape. 

"Yeah, me and my friend have been through a lot. You got extra food?" Sine's stomach grumbled at the thought of it. 

"Oh yeah, grab any piece you like." He gestured towards the fire with food cooking over it. Sine sat Ariet near the fire and picked up a chunk of wolf meat, scarfing it down. 

"Ah! Thank you! It's really good!" Sine remarked, a wide smile on his face. The smell of the meat awoke Ariet. He groaned and sat up, gesturing at Sine.

Sine handed him a stick with a piece of meat on the end of it, and Ariet started eating without muttering a word. 

"So what's your guy's names?" The man questioned, leaning against a tree.

"My name is Sine, and my friend's name is Ariet." 

"Oh! I think I've heard of you Ariet!" The guy smiled and continued. "You're from that academy right? In the Pride zone?"

"Not anymore." Ariet grumbled, taking another bite of meat. "I left because this guy beat me." His thumb pointing at Sine, he looked at the man. "And he doesn't even know what or how to use his Aether Engine. He just has a sturdy ass pole." 

With a look of surprise, the man looked back at Sine. "You're a Blighted right?" 

"Yep, I'm guessing you're probably a Pestilent?" Sine responded.

"In the flesh. Oh, my name is Dolce btw." 

"Did you just say btw." 

"...Maybe."

With a weird look, Sine laid down and asked, "Is their a civilization nearby?"

"Yeah, we're out here because someone tampered with the Sin of Wrath." One of the girls chimed in, Sine looked over.

'I forgot she was even here. Wait, did she say someone tampered with the Sin?'

"Ahem..." Sine cleared his throat. "That may or may not have been us."

"What!? Why would you do that? How are you alive!" She retorted. 

"Uh, well it wasn't necessarily us, we lured a Cryo into jumping at it since we were only Nightmares at the time, we couldn't defeat it, or maybe could have in perfect condition." 

The other girl was silent and staring at the two boys, a surprised expression on her face, though Sine never realized it. 

"You're saying you could've killed a Pestilent rank beast, and a high one at that, while you were Nightmares? That's unheard of!" Dolce declared, holding his hands out in protest. "Even I would have trouble with a Cryo!"

Ariet giggled, putting his hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing. "Yeah I don't know what this guy's problem is. He is unbelievably strong for the rank of his Aether Engine."

The rest of the conversation was a blur since Sine had began to close his eyes, and fell into a deep rest.

**