Chap 2: The Steal

[Ponic]

As Neon continued to fly over the mountain in the thick fog eventually he would feel a mental presence in his mind, a familiar voice.

"Neon? What are you doing here?" It was Keera's telepathic voice...

[Neon]

Finally after moments of silence and unknowing Neon finally heard a familiar voice..."Keera. Where are you and Ponic. I felt something was wrong." Neon said as he looked around the area trying to find where Keera was coming from

[Ponic]

Through the fog, Neon would begin to see the mountains slowly start to recede and in the distance was the village of the Veluts. Keera, however, was no where to be found in Neon's immediate vision.

"I don't know where Ponic is, he vanished. I think I can sense your shadow, even from how far you are, let me try to open it for you and bring you to me."

If Neon was watching his shadow he'd notice that slowly it would begin to pulsate, the transition was slow because of the distance between Neon and Keera but eventually it opened and would lead him right to Keera in the village.

[Neon]

Even though he still had no leads to Ponic it was nice to of atleast found Keera. When Neon noticed his shadow beneath him he landed on the ground first before walking through the shadow.

As he reached the village finally Neon looked around even though Keera was right in front of him. "It seems you have an infestation.." He muttered.

[Ponic]

Keera saw Neon emerge in the village and ran toward him, pulling him into a hug, a brief one, however. She seemed somewhat shaken. "You have no idea," she said running a hand through her red hair. "How did you get here? I know I couldn't send for you across realms, and things have been getting pretty nasty."

[Neon]

In the blink of an eye Neon saw Keera run towards him and hug him briefly. Neon was still very awkward with hugs he did not inform first as he merely went stiff and had an uncomfortable look on his face. When she let go Neon shook his head and returned back to the numb face he always had.

"My mental connection with Ponic allows me to tap into how he is currently doing...Out of nowhere that connection was snapped...I was under the impression that you and him were under attack..." The darkness human gestured behind him towards the mountain. "Possibly by whatever that creature was..."

[Ponic]

"It's a bit of a long story," said Keera, "come on." Keera led Neon back to the house, well what was left of it. It was the wrecked house that Ponic, Keera, and Markov used to live in. She didn't introduce it because it was a safe bet Neon already knew what it was. It seemed Ponic and Keera were staying there, it was isolate enough but still in the village.

"The Shadow Warriors," she began, "it's been so long since they were here and usually when an occupying force leaves a place the leaches move right in. Ponic and I never thought they would be so active, though, it all seemed to go wrong. Has Ponic ever mentioned the Irates?"

[Neon]

As Neon followed after Keera he noticed the house they were currently in...It made him feel somewhat empathetic looking at it. He himself had lived in a house similar to this one in his past

"Irates...Are you talking about whatever that creature was..?" Neon said looking at Keera. "If Ponic is out there fighting those things himself then he is going to need help."

[Ponic]

"No, but whatever that thing was, it came from them," she said to Neon, guessing the creature he had encountered. "The Shadow Realm is full of different types of Shadow Wielders, Neon. The Irates are Shadow Wielders that were rejected by the general realm because of how they function. They fuse themselves with shadow in ways that are far beyond necessary, almost turning it into a cancer running through them, and their shadow reflects it. Their shadow tends to have a weird look to it, like a disease. It's spiked, and almost drips, infecting other forms of power close enough to it." Keera paused sighing, there was clearly more to the story.

"They are also quite violent and since they were cast out they mostly lived in the slums, hiding. They are scavengers and mercenaries with no allegiance to anyone but themselves, but they never operated openly...until now. When Ponic and I came here we found them out in the village, with way more courage than what was normal. It was weird, and whatever they are looking for seems to coincide with what Ponic and I are looking for." Keera stood up and stepped inside for a moment, coming back with a book.

"My parents wrote this, Zoe, Ponic and I found it. It has so much information on what they were doing and the different races, and I've barely had a chance to look through it. The Irates have been running around our village, recently, performing all kinds of havoc. I don't know why they'd be trying to block Shadow Realm entrance, but that weird effect you felt on your mental link with Ponic was probably because he went to their village. I tried to convince him to say, but you know how stubborn he can be when he's worried. He said he wanted to find out more about what we were dealing with, but I haven't heard from him since then. It's been three days, I was just preparing to set out to look for him myself when you came. I'm worried, Neon."

[Neon]

"Those creatures...They sound more like an infection then shadow wielders...I do not think they are doing this for no reason...If they are causing such chaos and blocking passage to this village then clearly they have a message..." Neon sighed as he looked at Keera who was giving him a worried look. "Don't worry, I will bring him back from their village...Stubborn or not"

[Ponic]

Keera laughed lightly at Neon's statement. "I'm sure you will, you have a way of being persuasive but I'm going with you, either way. Ponic is my husband now, I can't just leave him in the village. The Irates are, like you said, more mistake than people they are more like a race of mercenaries, but that makes them especially dangerous. They won't care what they have to do to get their work done." Keera looked up and around. "I'm worried what they are doing all of this for." Keera held the book and scrolls. "I would leave these here but I can't risk them getting stolen so I'll have to take them with us in a shadow and make certain no one can get to them."

[Neon]

"Alright then." Neon said folding his arms as he looked at Keera. "Show me exactly where this village is and we will make sure that Ponic is alright...I could care less how strong this shadow plague believes they are..."

[Ponic]

Keera stood up and tucked the books and scrolls into a shadow. She then pointed toward the moon which was cresting just southeast of the eastern mountains that Neon had arrived from. "There," she said, "they have some kind of shadow block in their village. I can't get us in by shadow, so that takes out being able to just teleport in. We'll have to sneak in by either flying or walking, somehow."

[Neon]

"Of coarse..." Neon sighed knowing that it wouldn't be as easy as just teleporting into their village. "I prefer to fly." He said as two darkness wings formed behind him. "If we can provide proper cover then we can have an aerial advantage over them..."

[Ponic]

"All right," said Keera, "let's get going. I'm not as good as Ponic at is but I can get myself to fly at least somewhat. We might have to put down at some point, however." Keera summoned a shadow and had it mix with her. She took on a blackish glow and began to float. Ponic was better at this in that he nullified the gravity upon him allowing him to levitate. Keera summoned a shadow and forced it to fly due to her locked core, which was a more inefficient method.

"Come on, and watch out for them, they'll be watching the village." Keera took off with Neon over the village. As they flew they would see down that the Velut village seemed to be picking up its pieces. The tell tale signs of the former war were very present in the form of wrecked buildings and craters, but there was an air of hope as well. The Velut Shadow Wielders appeared to be doing their best to make the most of a bad situation and slowly rebuilding. It had already come along quite a bit from what it used to be, but rebuilding after so long an occupation and devastating battles took time.

As they flew Keera looked over to Neon. "There's one more thing," she said. "I don't think we'll encounter him, but Ponic sensed his shadow not long into our arrival. Hanzo is in the Shadow Realm, lurking about. I don't think he left since the last time we were here, but Ponic said there seemed to be something slightly off about his shadow. He's not sure what it is though..."

[Neon]

Neon while they were flying over was taking in every piece of scenery that he could see. This truly did look like a place ravaged of war...Although there were signs of life one may even think that this whole village was abandoned. Neon kept his eyes focused and his mind concentrated trying to find any sign of ponic throughout the city. Then Keera had mentioned an old enemy of theirs...

"well as long as he does not get involved with this then we should not have too big of a problem..." Neon did not want to worry Keera but he himself was hoping that ponic was not captured by the shadow wielders below.

[Ponic]

Keera nodded to Neon. "I'm sure he'll probably rear his ugly head at some point. We seem to have a propensity for running into each other at different points. I just hope that if that happens we'll be able to deal with him." Eventually Keera and Neon would move beyond the Velut village and begin to soar across the long rolling plains of the Shadow Realm. The greyish-white tinge of the long plains seemed to move forever and a gentle breeze would caress against their bodies as they flew toward the village of the Irates. Interestingly, Keera did not seem at all put out from the flight, perhaps she was getting better despite her disadvantage.

Keera signalled to Neon to land in an empty meadow that was full of tall grass that sat in the shadow of a tall mesa, but not tall that they would not be able to see. Keera pointed upward the mesa. "If we fly in they might notice us. The Irates' village is up there," she said.

Neon would briefly feel the mental pulse in his mind from Ponic. They were definitely getting closer.

[Neon]

Neon landed where Keera had permitted them both to land safely and undetected. Once feeling the pulse from Ponics mind Neon began to walk forward towards the village. "I want you to do something for me." Neon said looking back at Keera before they continue. "If the situation escalates to one of us escaping with Ponic, I want it to be you. I can handle myself." Neons face was very serious as he turned back to walking forward.

[Ponic]

Keera walked up the mesa with Neon. "Neon, don't talk like that. You know we won't let it get that far, we'll get through this together, and we'll be at the cabin laughing about it safely before you know it." Keera seemed determined, though her tone betrayed her. She was worried, worried because she knew Ponic was a strong Shadow Wielder, how could this have happened?

[Neon]

Neon could tell just by hearing Keeras tone she was worried, of coarse her eyes were practically screaming it to him. "It will be okay." Neon said trying to reassure her somewhat. As they approached the village Neon would get into a more recon like stance searching the area for any possible threats or better yet, Ponic.

[Ponic]

Keera nodded to Neon calmly and continued to walk up the mesa with him. As they approached the village, the stark difference would become sickeningly apparent. The Velut village, where Keera and Ponic were from, while a telltale of war it was orderly and crisp, looking like a structured city. The Irate village had buildings that seemed to drip shadow, indicative of their design of shadows. Their design bespoke almost of the structure ingesting its occupant rather than providing shelter. There was a fog that hung over it. Of course, in the Shadow Realm, there was a fog everywhere, but this fog was dark, almost black and it seemed to threaten like it would thicken around you once you entered and you'd be eternally lost in its endless mist. The village seemed to carry the sound of a near howl and moan that rang out into it and toward Keera and Neon.

Keera breathed deeply, fighting a shiver and then looked Neon over. "You need to blend in, they'll figure you out in a heart beat." It was painfully obvious that Neon was not from in the dimension. His lack of pitch black skin was as good as holding up a giant sign shouting that he was not from the Shadow Realm. Keera held her hand out, "do you trust me?" she asked him before moving closer.

[Neon]

The feeling and atmosphere of the entire city was definitely taking a toll on Neon. He was someone who was very adept with understanding darkness and unnatural things, yet this entire place felt more like a separate abandoned island.

"Blend in..?" Neon said raising his eyebrow at Keera who moved closer to him. He looked at her hand and looked away. "For Ponic..." Without looking at Keera he held his hand out to her. He had a feeling he was going to regret this.

[Ponic]

Keera took Neon's hand, and near instantly shadow began to pulse between their palms. Keera mentally dove into Neon's shadow, which was directly connected to Neon and thus the best entrance. It began to pulse around him and slowly creep up his body. The feeling would be like multiple tiny needle pricks up and down his body as Keera fused Neon's shadow with him. However, in order to do it properly Keera had to dive into Keera's mind via his shadow and match every aspect of the shadow with Neon, which meant she was deep inside his mind, seeing many of his inner and private feelings and thoughts.

The point of this was to have the shadow match itself with Neon, and cause him on the outside to gain pitch black skin just like a Shadow Wielder. If she did not do this, the shadow would invert Neon and not only have a nasty side effect it would make his skin appear quite white. Keera moved through Neon's mind and emotions, alerting the shadow perfectly until the process was over and she separated her hand from Neon's. A thin sliver of a shadow appeared where Neon's shadow was originally, and Keera expanded it to look like Neon, though any Shadow Wielder that was trying would be able to tell that Neon's 'shadow' was actually attached to him right now and the one he was casting was a falsehood. Still, it was much better than nothing.

Keera averted her gaze from Neon and nervously played with her hair. She had just been deep inside Neon's thoughts, probably more than he would've liked. "Um...so they'll probably be able to tell we're not Irates, but they're less likely to kill fellow Shadow Wielders than non Shadow Wielders." Keera paused and coughed lightly, "so...try not to use your powers unless you have to. Ahem...yes...well...let's go," she said walking to the village.

Now was the time to find Ponic...but it would certainly not be easy.

[Neon]

Neon allowed Keera to take his hand while looking away before feeling the strange shadow like energy move between their hands and began spreading up his arm and around his entire body! The feeling of shadow like acupuncture surrounded Neons body as the shadow completely covered his skin...He could feel Keera poking around his mind making him feel incredibly uncomfortable both mentally and physically.

Keera would have most likely saw Neons past, everything he had been through, his father, Tom, and a lot of regret with the crimson color of blood. she would even see his deepest thoughts in concerns with Arianna....

Once the process was finally over Neon had actually lost his footing and was on his knees. After Keera finally let go of his hand Neon looked at both of his palms. He was completely pitch black!

"What the..." He said feeling his own face and looking at his arms. After his self examination he sighed and attempted to return back to his numb mask. He noticed how uncomfortable she was and actually felt guilty that he had allowed her to sift and filter through all of his memories...He probably would try to apologize to her later when they were not in a dangerous situation.

He followed after Keera now reflecting that of a shadow wielder and trying to hide the rather awkward feeling ruminating in his skull. "Where should we start..." He said looking around.

[Ponic]

The village around them was mostly that roadways where people would walk to places rather than many vehicles moving throughout, which was a commonality of most Shadow Wielder villages. There were already a few Irates walking in their village, some going about their business and some laughing. It was hard to tell if they were laughing with some kind of an overarching evil thought, or joyfully. Their hideous appearance that looked to be like some kind of a weird combination of Shadow Wielder wearing a mask made reading emotions from the face quite difficult. Overall, Keera and Neon did not seem to be too noticed yet. Likely because they were looked upon as dirt here, which was good. Dirt was disregarded, made it generally somewhat easier to move around.

Keera looked around at the many roadways and shrugged her shoulders lightly. "I have no idea," she said, "you have the mental link with Ponic. What do you sense?"

If Neon expanded his mental connection with Ponic, now that he was in the village, he would notice it was a bit stronger now. The mental link was not coming in random bursts but seemed to be closer to normal, but muffled slightly. Despite it it was now like a small constant stream and it seemed to be pulling Neon to a road way that was westward of where they were.

Thing was, there were quite a few Irates in that direction, and from here Neon and Keera would be able to see a larger sized structure that seemed to tower over the village. The structure had multiple spires and shadow crossed over its walls like writhing snakes that moved down the building to the ground below. The Irates were moving through this roadway, some making their way in the direction of the structure, others milling about at some vendors and going into various buildings in the village.

Likely if Neon and Keera went that way, staying out of attention would be a bit more difficult, but it was still where the mental pulse was coming from.

[Neon]

Watching each and every Irate shadow wielder Neon was focused on not drawing any attention to himself. Listening to their laughter Neon felt that he disliked it a lot...It was a mixture of mockery and ego. some had even looked over towards Keera and him laughing even louder.

Doing nothing Neon focused his attention on the source of Ponic he was able to sense...

"This way." Neon said moving forward following the stream of ponics energy like a rope pulling him through the fog. He took note of the large structure towering over the entire village in a fortress like manner.

"I think Ponic is somewhere inside of that tower...There is much more Irates around it..." Neon said. He was hoping that Shadow wielders did not have a specific way of talking or specific way of walking...other wise he would be a sore thumb.

[Ponic]

Keera walked with Neon through the village, taking care to avoid the Irates around them, she was just as uncomfortable as Neon. Keera looked at the large structure and nodded. "I've heard about that place. Just rumours that there is much power inside it, but no one has ever gotten in and lived to talk about it to find out what it is specifically. Obviously, not enough people care enough to come here." As they continued to walk Keera said nothing for a moment, following Neon and then said, "so...I'm sorry about before. I kind of had to to make you like us...I won't tell anyone what I saw. If you don't mind my asking, though, I felt what you felt about Arianna..." she was talking quite lowly at this point.

[Neon]

"I have heard that too many times..." Neon sighed responding about the stereotypical warning this strange fortress like structure had around the shadow realm.

Neon was rather relieved hearing Keera tell him that she was not going to tell anybody what she saw, then without warning she brought up Ariannas Neon practically jumped back!

Recovering his stance while they walked Neon looked away and attempted to not let his face turn red even through the black skin disguise he was wearing. He cleared his throat while they were walking to not draw any more attention. He wasn't quite sure how to respond to that sudden statement.

"What is your point..." Neon said looking towards the side while they were walking. "Thoughts are just thoughts..."

[Ponic]

Keera didn't quite look at Neon's either. "Not much of a point," said Keera, "I just mean that...well...isn't it better to try and it not go well then be left with a what if? Or worse, feelings that boil to the surface and become something nasty?" Keera paused and lifted her hands in an 'I don't know' gesture. "I'm just thinking, it wouldn't hurt to see what might happen."

As they continued to walk they'd notice that there was an Irate ahead, he was alone specifically, but there were other Irates milling about doing their own thing. The single Irate, however, seemed to look up and meet their eyes. This might be trouble, there were other paths to take so Neon and Keera could try circling around. The general direction of Ponic was still where they were walking, which was toward this particular Irate.

[Neon]

Neon wasn't sure how to respond to that either...Although it was rather sudden Keera did have a point to him. It made him feel uncomfortable on the inside but it made a lot of sense...He was not sure exactly what to do about Arianna...He would have to ponder more about this when this situation was over...

He was about to say something to respond to Keera but was cut off when he made eye contact with the single Irate in front of them. The feeling of Ponic was still in the direction of this Irate.

Neon narrowed his eyes and continued walking despite this Irate as he merely was going to walk past him.