Vikalos couldn’t place the expression Galyn was pulling as he led him and Itaviir down to the lowest level of the Shimmering Blade, to a large, unused gathering hall. Ever since they had returned from their little mall trip, none of the Tattered Navigators had been acting quite right. Itaviir had been colder and grumpier than normal, Vikalos had been forced to keep secrets from his partners and Galyn… well, Vikalos really wasn’t sure. Especially since he was now watching Galyn empty out a large box and lie out a carpet in the corner, spreading some sort of picnic across it.
“Galyn, what are you doing?” Itaviir asked, crossing his arms and grunting as Galyn lit several candles, then pulled out a large bottle of wine and three glasses and silently requested that Itaviir and Vikalos sit down with him.
“I, uh, am… apologizing…” The stutter in Galyn’s voice was very out of place. Galyn had always been a soldier and an overall very certain being, so the fact that he seemed blatantly anxious and nervous was most unusual. “I… I would like it if we sat down and talked. Over something… nice to drink.”
Vikalos smiled, then sat down next to Galyn. Itaviir grunted, then eventually did the same. Once everyone was comfortable, Galyn poured three glasses of wine, then started pulling more things out of the large box. Itaviir eyed Galyn with suspicion as he handed two badly wrapped boxes to both Vikalos and Itaviir, then awkwardly sipped his drink.
“I know I cannot be forgiven for what I did. I have gone from one mistake to the next, my toxic claws ruining everything I touch, my emerald blades skewering the wrong targets, my words failing in every way possible. I do not believe I am worth the forgiveness I have been given so far, but rather than wallow in my own self-hatred, I… I wanted to… try and make amends. With gifts and awkward words.”
“You are definitely being very awkward right now.” Itaviir’s response was cold as always. “This is unlike you.”
“To be fair, Itaviir, you have not been yourself either!” Vikalos countered. “You gave up on emotions and threw yourself into work when we split, you were seething in anger when Galyn got back in touch, then you have become quiet and submissive while we have been in Phantai territories.”
Itaviir ignored the gift Galyn had made and crossed his arms, tutting angrily. “You know exactly why Galyn and I are being submissive. We are not welcome here. We are considered traitors. One misstep, and despite what our youngling Decay Lords have promised, Galyn and I can and will end up in deep trouble. It is a miracle that Galyn is even still alive, and I feel insulted that the Phantai believe Galyn somehow tricked or forced me into leaving, when we both decided to escape together.”
Vikalos shrugged and sipped his glass of wine. It was red and sweet, just how Vikalos liked it. “If anything, they should be angry at me, I convinced you both to leave. And you are both better off because you left. Yes, we have been through some rough patches, but Itaviir, dear, Galyn wants to make amends, let him do so.”
Itaviir’s anger simmered down. He sighed, then picked up the box Galyn had given him. He was tempted to shake it, but didn’t want to break whatever was inside. After a moment of vague irritation, Itaviir opened up the box, tearing away at badly taped together wrapping paper, and peering into the box.
“Oh. You shouldn’t have…” Itaviir muttered as he pulled out the head of a Voidborn elite, which had small fairy lights dangled around its antlers. The head was hollow but rather heavy, made of pure gold. “You know this is a Phantai tradition, right, Galyn?”
“That… is why I got the… the shawl underneath…”
Itaviir blinked, then looked back into the box. At the bottom was some shimmering fabric, which Itaviir pulled out and inspected. It was a long, black fabric decorated with little white diamonds which looked like stars. The shawl was plenty long enough for Itaviir to wrap it around himself, even with his heavy, spiked armour on.
“You… really shouldn’t have…” Itaviir was at a loss for words. He immediately put the shawl on, running the soft fabric across his claws. “Thank you.”
“You like it?” Galyn asked.
Itaviir nodded. He smiled, ever so slightly. Galyn lowered his head and smiled back, again, ever so slightly. “These are both very thoughtful gifts, thank you.”
Vikalos grinned, loving how Itaviir was showing some actual warmth for once, before turning his attention to his own gift. Just like Itaviir’s gift, it was badly wrapped, but in orange and red paper instead of blue and silver. Inside was a puffy, plastic, sleeveless orange jacket. The choice of materials was quite odd, especially since Vikalos only ever wore the same jacket most of the time. Still, Vikalos inspected the jacket, wondering if it’d fit. As he did so, he spotted something else in the box. A scarf.
A handmade scarf. Vikalos’s eyes lit up as he unfolded the scarf and inspected it. The scarf was orange, but on both ends of the scarf, Galyn had knitted three characters into it. Three characters representing the Tattered Navigators.
“Oh… oh my…” Vikalos threw off his current scarf and wrapped the new scarf around his neck. He then immediately wrapped his arms around Galyn. “Thank you, thank you so much!”
Galyn hesitated, then hugged Vikalos back. He hesitated some more, then very lightly kissed Vikalos on the cheek, before quickly backing away, looking somewhat embarrassed.
“Dear?”
Galyn shivered. “I am sorry. Being… emotional feels… almost wrong, around here.”
“But you seemed more emotional when…”
“When we went on our trip, yes…” Galyn frowned. “Maybe Litvir was right, maybe Itaviir and I are under some sort of weird, residual Phantai mind control…”
Itaviir eyed Vikalos and Galyn, then shifted himself over, so he could put his hand on Galyn’s shoulder.
“We will be leaving this place eventually, yes? We will… go back to normal then, right?”
Vikalos nodded. “As soon as the Decaylings have done their trial, we will be leaving. I think Retvik and Litvir are sick of this place as much as we are, and some of our Decaylings are still struggling.”
“Why are we even here?” Itaviir asked.
Galyn sighed. “We were somewhat desperate. There is nothing left in the sectors we fled, we were low on supplies, I was welded to the cargo bay in case I went insane again and Kal made the suggestion to come here, thinking we would at least be safe from insane Voidborns. That… has not been the case.”
Vikalos snorted, then pulled Galyn close, giving him a proper hug. This time, Galyn didn’t try and push away.
“Dear, what has happened here has not been your fault, and, in all honesty, while you two have struggled, this has been a good opportunity for our Decaylings to train themselves up.”
“Still…” Galyn trailed off. He noticed that Itaviir had put his hand on his shoulder again. Vikalos took this as an opportunity to grab Itaviir and pull him into the hug as well. And, to everyone’s surprise, Itaviir didn’t immediately relent.
“I missed you…” Itaviir eventually muttered. “We should not have separated.”
“I know. I deeply regret it myself. I…” Again, Galyn trailed off. He was having genuine troubles with his emotions. “I am so sorry.”
“You did what you believed to be right, you were tricked and you were abused. But you never intended to harm us or split us up, it was all meant to be temporary. I forgive you, Galyn.”
“And I forgive you too!” Vikalos grinned, pulling everyone closer. However, while Vikalos was enjoying the close contact with his partners, he suddenly let go, glancing away from Itaviir and Galyn. There were beings approaching, potentially unfriendly ones.
Psehon Panton, better known as Soulblade, was standing over the Tattered Navigators, flocked by the Mind Blades, Soulblade’s three underlings.
“I hate to interrupt this cute little picnic, but I need to speak to you, Firestorm.”
Vikalos blinked in confusion. “Why do you want to speak to me?”
“You have information. Information that we require. Information that the two traitors here lack.”
“I do not follow.”
Soulblade smiled. “You do. But you lie. Come with me, quietly, now.”
“Or what?”
“Firestorm, you have very little room to argue with me when you are partnered with Shatterblade and Leafblade, individuals who were on our most-wanted list for quite a long time. Come quietly, or I will threaten your friends.”
Vikalos hesitated, then stood up. “Very well. I will come quietly, but if you harm Itaviir or Galyn, I will harm you in return.”
That smile on Soulblade’s face only increased. “Very well, your toothless threat is fair. Come along now. As for you two traitors, do not try to follow us. We will return your furry partner to you once he has answered our questions.”
Vikalos tutted, then did as he was told, following Soulblade as he and his lackeys strode off.
It took a while for either Galyn or Itaviir to react. Both of them were admittedly somewhat scared, knowing that if they tried to do anything, the Phantai could easily imprison or even kill them both. Eventually though, Galyn reached for his communicator. Itaviir gave Galyn an odd look, but he simply tutted and called the third contact on his list.
“Retvik?”
“Hello, Galyn, is something wrong?”
“Soulblade just interrupted us and took Vikalos away, wanting to question him about something!”
There was some hesitation on the other end.
“Do you know what they wanted to question him about?”
“No, we have no idea. Soulblade threatened Itaviir and I to make Vikalos go with him.”
A long sigh echoed down the line, followed by some hushed muttering and telepathic whispers.
“That is not good. Litvir is on his way now to hopefully intercept Soulblade. Are you two free to leave your current location or did Soulblade tell you to stay put?”
“He told us just to not follow him. What is going on?” There was definitely a hint of panic in Galyn’s voice, and he could tell Itaviir was even more concerned. However, Retvik’s voice seemed rather calm, despite what Galyn had just told him.
“Meet me on the Thantir Two and I will tell you.”