Blood Brother

Ratsel staggered towards the edge of the cliff, his sword covered in the blood of every single thing he had to fight in order to get there. He felt every single feeling of sadness wash away from him as he saw the sunset in the Emerald Axis, a beautiful mix of the colors he so desperately needed to see. After all the carnage he needed to get through to be free, after being run down by the officials and the guards, claiming he was 'inhuman' and 'a freak', the only thing in the world that mattered to him right then was the sunset. His sword, an infamous blade that carried the name of Schreck, glittered in shades of gold in the light, only masking the black and grey colors held in it's blade. He sighed, and laid his head back and stared off into the fading sunset. He closed his eyes, and let the world drift to an everlasting black.

He woke up running, Shreck clearly have sensed something while he was out. There were about 8 of them on his trail, and while Ratsel felt groggy and cloudy, he didn't need to worry with Shreck in control. He felt himself running through a maze of broken machinery, sparks lighting up the dark and desolate cavern. He could still see clearly, as a result of Schrek's blood. Just one of the many blessings that came with a blood bound weapon. The darkness faded away and Ratsel felt himself come upon a drafty area, a circular platform suspended by wires that held aloft over a bottomless pit. He could feel their heat signatures and emotions, coming from the 7 walkways that led him there, their hatred and fear for someone of his power. In a sudden instant, Schrek immediately retreated back into his blood, giving Ratsel full control of his body again. He felt himself fall to the floor, panting and breathing like he had been choked, Schreck clearly had greater physical limitations than he. Slow clapping echoed from one of the pathways, a familiar face he learned to hate the owner of the hands.
"Hello Ratsel," He said slowly, both words contained enough venom to bring down a Wolver.
"Demian.." Ratsel spouted out his name, and Demian's expression quickly turned into a cold glare.
"Did you really think you could outrun us?" He snarled, and unsheathed a Leviathan Blade. Instinctively, Ratsel pulled out Schreck. He glittered with an uneasy sheen, the shadows of the knights seemed to be gathering towards it. Some of them backed up, others exchanged an uneasy glance. Demian quickly took notice of this.
"Ha hah, don't be afraid you fools, he's too timid to even kill a Silkwing!" Demian let out a laugh, and the others joined in. Ratsel frowned, as if he showed genuine concern for them.
"Please Demian, call them off, I don't want them to get hurt," Ratsel stuttered, holding the sword in front of him with both hands. Demian made a look of disgust and pointed his sword at him.
"Kill him and burn the corpse," He sneered, and everyone else quickly drew their weapons.

Kill all of them..

Schreck whispered into Ratsel, as he saw all of the knights charge at him from each direction. He couldn't move, Ratsel needed an outlet first. The one on my right shot him in the elbow, the one on his left slashed his arm, leaving a wide gash. The one in the front shoved his Sudaraska into his chest, pushing him backwards before the upwards slash of a Leviathan blade knocked Ratsel forward, landing face down as He felt blood pour out of his wounds. However, there was no pain at all. Ratsel had been used to this, the pain, the agony, and the blood. He stood up and touched the gash that bled out his blackened blood. He reached inside and felt himself grab a handle, and pulled a sword right out of his arm. The knights around him grew wide eyed and fearful, as his face voided his emotions and his blood collected into the blade. Strands of blackened blood disappeared into the sword, and the gash that had once bled out the blood disappeared. Ratsel opened his mouth, but another voice came out instead, deeper and darker.
"If you wish to continue living, I suggest you run," Ratsel said. The Knights exchanged a terrified glance, and one turned around and ran.
They were all distracted by the one who ran that they didn't notice that Ratsel's eyes began to fade.
One of them charged at Ratsel, but he was immediately sliced in half. He started walking towards Demian, who began to worry. Two others attempted to slit his neck, but all they saw was the edge of a sword before they even hit the floor. Another fired off his Iron Slug, but Ratsel reacted quickly enough to decimate the bullet in midair. The terrified knight in turn received a stab straight through the eyes, and two others turned back and fled as his blood dripped from the end of Shreck. The last one fell to his knees and covered his head, he dropped his sword and his weapons and pleaded for mercy. Ratsel passed him by, and he turned and retreated when he did, lucky to escape with his life. Demian had now drawn out his Leviathan blade, gritting his teeth and glaring daggers.
"Do you wish to be conscious when I cut out your heart?" Ratsel slowly said, and a look of fear spread across Demian's face. He tried to get up and run away, but Ratsel grabbed him by his collar and threw him onto the ground. Demian's sword clattered away, falling over the edge and into the darkness. Ratsel cut himself on the arm, and let his blood drip onto Demian's arms, binding him in place.
"No, wait! Please , I have a family!" Demian yelled, struggling against his binds. Schreck was in complete control, leaving Ratsel only to watch as he controlled his body and blood like a puppet. Ratsel cringed as he saw himself rip out Demian's chest with his sword, his screams filling the air and echoing through the emptiness.

Please Schreck.. Just stop..

Schreck completely ignored him, and after a minute or so of ripping out Demian's innards and intestines, he finally let loose a final scream before dying. His blood splattered across the floor and Ratsel's armor, mixing with the black and gold in Ratsel's. Schreck retreated back into Ratsel's consciousness, and he dropped to his knees and stared at his hands. Schreck disappeared into a pool of black liquid and entered through the gash in Ratsel's arm, before healing thoroughly. Ratsel was left there, staring at his bloodied hands and the corpse, until his fatigue got the best of him, and drifted off to sleep.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

He relived that day in his dreams. Every single time he tried sleeping he had flashbacks about his past, his life, his short, miserable life. His squadron had just been sent on a short mission to give supplies to a recon group , when they were ambushed. He remembered seeing his friends being ripped to pieces and their bodies being burned on the funeral pyre, while he sat in the infirmary in a state of emergency. He remembered through his groggy memory the voice of the medics, saying that he would not be able to make it. He couldn't move because a Gremlin's hammer had shifted his spine. The days went by slowly, each day he laid in that bed, watching through the window all of the excitement going on outside. The Punkin King, Thanksgiving, and Winterfest all went by as he laid unmovingly in the infirmary room.

Then, he had the visitor. It was the dead of night, the silhouette of the window against the dark room and the sliver of a moon let a smooth blue light into the room. He felt a presence in the shadows, and a voice came out of the darkness.
"Do you have a wish?" It said. Ratsel had seen weirder things in his life, such as the confirmation that magic exists and that the dead can be animated, so talking shadows seemed near arbitrary compared to what he's experienced.
"Do you have someone in life you care for?" It said, and a look of surprise spread across Ratsel's face. He had someone he still owed, someone who definitely needed something like a wish especially now. The shadow seemed to read his mind, and a figure stepped out of the darkness, half of it's face illuminated by the blue light of the moon. The figure stepped closer, until it was directly beside Ratsel, and held out it's hand.
"I do have someone I care for," Ratsel managed to say.
"And his name is.." Then his dream blacked out.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

When he came to, it was morning in the stratum that Ratsel was in. There were trees around him, and the smell of plants filled the air. The sky was a bright red color, and the artificial sun had only risen a little above the horizon. Schreck however, having decided to move him closer to the other Blood Bound, had travelled a while Ratsel was sleeping. He could already sense him, a Blood Bound with a fiery personality. Schreck had lectured him about how the Blood Bound's abilities reflect on the wish that was granted, and the personality of the said person. Schreck began to spell out all of the details he could find, he was male, and his ability had something to do with flames. That explained the smoke on the horizon, Ratsel thought to himself. He then realized something, that the smoke began to come closer, and closer, until out of one of the trees a figure leapt out, and tackled Ratsel. Behind him, there was a trail of flames. Ratsel looked up at him and saw a Knight who seemed only a couple years older than him, holding Ratsel down with one arm and a sword in the other hand, wreathed in flame.
"Who are you, and why are you following me?" He growled, each word so threatening it seemed like his voice was on fire. Ratsel then saw him back away, as if another force had taken over him, and from a gash on his hand a dark red blood flowed out, collecting into a pool on the ground. From this pool rose a Dragon Scale-Clad figure, a standing just as tall as Schreck, and instinctively, a gash appeared on Ratsel's arm and Schreck flowed out as well. The attacker's color came back to his face, and the two blood-covered beings stared at each other, then at the other's owner.
"I am Schreck, the Golden Blood Binder," He said, in a deep voice with absolutely no emotion .
"And I am going to be the Blood Binder that burns you to cinder if you cross me. Surt, Crimson Blood Binder," The other being scoffed, and crossed his arms.
"This is Ratsel, he is currently trying to get to Carnelia, but however we also sensed that you and another are trying to get there as well," Schreck said. Ratsel hadn't known that there was another one as well, but he did know that Carnelia was where he needed to go.
"Uh, what's your name?" Ratsel said sheepishly, the other knight gave him a quick glare and remained silent.
"He is Revan, and I apologize for his attitude," Surt said, bowing before Schreck, who remained stoic and aloof.
"The other Blood Bound is not far from here," Schreck said, and looked in the direction that they came from.
"Ah, the Chartreuse Blood Binder, I had not known she had found a host as well," Surt replied, surprised.
An explosion rang out from about fifteen yards away, and the two bloodied beings disappeared into their hosts. Schreck emerged again in sword form, a black and gold blade that shone like the midnight moon. Revan seemed surprised, at least enough to show it. He took out a Striker and slit a small cut on his hand, and willed the blood to flow out, dripping all over his sword. He snapped his fingers and the blood bursted into flame.
"Flammable blood?" Ratsel said, in which the concept seemed a little too deadly.
"I can change it to a fireproofer if I needed to," Revan said, and readied his flaming sword. Schreck had already told him what it was, and it was ugly, an entire Tortodome. They haven't been seen in the past decade or so, but they are definitely a force to be reckoned with. Ratsel had once fought one and had to flee, the rockets and the lasers everywhere seemed like too much. The trees fell down in front of them in a blur of smoke and fire, and through the smoke Ratsel could immediately sense the rockets about to launch and he and Revan quickly sidestepped. Ratsel struck Schreck into the side of the shell to no avail, while Revan let out a flurry of flaming strikes onto the front of the Tortodome. The creature spun around and knocked them both back and sent out a flurry of missiles.