“So, while we’re all just chilling out, mind if I ask a question?”
Kayel glanced up from the kitchen, where he was busy preparing two pigeons he had shot and killed earlier. Pigeons were considered a massive pest in the city of Palaestra, and there were no laws against killing them. In fact, there were a handful of restaurants which sold mainly pigeon-based dishes, and trapping and killing pigeons was somewhat common in the Ksithan and Temthan districts. Kayel wasn’t really a fan, he thought the meat was too game-y, but since Nyssi’s diet consisted of meat and nothing else, he didn’t mind cleaning the bodies, removing the unwanted parts and shoving them in the oven, with herbs and a butter rub. He’d also made some noodles and stir-fry for himself and Retvik and a bowl of porridge with chocolate sprinkles for Tenuk.
“Is this going to be another weird and awkward question about me?” Kayel frowned. Normally, whenever Tenuk asked if he could ask everyone a question, it was normally him asking some blatantly ignorant question about Kayel and his biology or his shadow powers. Or he’d ask Retvik about his biology then redirect the question to Kayel. Tenuk didn’t mean it, he was mostly just curious and was clearly a very sheltered Spast before he started living with other races, but the questions did get awkward sometimes.
“Actually, it’s a question about the rest of us!” Tenuk chirped, smiling as he watched Retvik relax on the sofa opposite, taking up the entirety of it. “Like, Kayel, you got your cool shadow powers, I was wondering if Nyssi and Retvik had cool secret abilities they’re hiding! After all, each race has a, uh, elemental affinity? Something like that. And outside of Banikans breathing fire and Ksithans being basically immune to the cold, the whole elemental affinity thing is mostly just, I dunno, kinda just ceremonial.”
“My shadow powers aren’t cool…” Kayel muttered.
“They fucking are!” Nyssi hissed. “You can use shadows as portals! How is that not cool?”
“Alright, fine, they’re cool, but the side effects are NOT cool…”
Nyssi just shrugged. “They’re fixable problems though. Either way, I like to think us Temthans are very much attuned to our elemental affinity! After all, we are the farmers of the universe…” Nyssi trailed off. “That being said, my personal venom is kinda weird.”
“Alright, my turn to be ignorant,” Kayel sighed from the kitchen. “Is Temthan venom different for every one of you? I thought the majority just had that basic sedating venom but in different strengths, and venoms like that Jalark bastard’s rage serum were a one-percent thing, same way shadowjumping is for Skyans?”
“Oh you’re absolutely right!” Nyssi beamed. “80% of Temthans have the same weak sedating venom, 15% have a much stronger sedating venom and 5% have… uh… weird stuff. The Clan Unmourned’s venom was particularly bad, it’s basically a mind-control drug, but for some reason I don’t have it.”
“What does your venom do then?” Kayel asked. “Because when we did that rematch with the Temthans of Anarchy, you bit me and I kinda… forgot to ask why.”
“It, uh, counteracts other venoms. Except my antivenom takes a while to kick in, and sometimes just delays the effect if I can’t give you a high enough dose. Like, Kayel, you took enough sedatives to knock out a Rethan, I bit you to stop you immediately passing out.”
“Couldn’t you have bitten Retvik though, to stop him going mad?” Tenuk blinked.
“I think Nyssi attempting to bite me while I was both filled with rage juice and in my Defensive Stance would have been a really bad idea…” Retvik tutted.
“Oh, definitely!” Nyssi immediately agreed. “I may act dumb, but I’m not really stupid. That being said, if we ever get a match against a Temthan team again, I might get my fangs milked and give the three of you a one-off dose or something we can use more immediately.”
“You can… milk fangs?”
Nyssi nodded. “It’s actually quite relaxing. Like having your face massaged.”
“Do you get your fangs milked often?” Retvik asked.
“Not really. Most only get it done every six months when they go to the dentist. Some Temthans though produce way too much and sometimes their venom dribbles out of their fangs so they go like once a week. Anyway, Retty, apart from being a hunk of a Rethan, do you have any weird powers? Oh, thank you!”
Nyssi beamed as Kayel handed her a plate of grilled pigeon gizzards. Kayel then gave Tenuk his bowl of porridge, handed Retvik a bowl of noodles and sat himself down next to Nyssi.
“Uh, I would not call it a power, but I do have the Family of Dawn trait…” Retvik muttered.
“What’s that?” Tenuk was filled with questions.
“I can create small motes of light. Something that, weirdly, Relkir can do but Rethais cannot.”
“Can you show us?”
Retvik shrugged. He sat up and put his plate down, then stared at his hand, before snapping hsi fingers. A tiny ball of light appeared, hovering in the air, pulsating briefly before fizzing out after five seconds.
“Hmph. I need to practice more.”
Tenuk stared at Retvik. “How the fuck did you do that?”
“I am not sure. It is just a thing I can somehow do. The Trehavon Tradition, they can all create literal beacons of light, and also manipulate light to change the appearance of their armour. Us Rethianoi can just create these motes, and even then, only half our Tradition seems to be able to do it.”
“Huh. Interesting…”
“How many bloodlines are there?” Kayel asked as a follow-up question. “Like, I know the Rethianos Tradition is supposed to show off Rethan purity and perfection, but there are others, right?”
“Yes, there are five Traditions. The Rethianoi, as you said, are symbols of the Rethavok’s overall strength and perfection; the Ethranioi are bred to be vastly intelligent giants; the Threanioi are, weirdly, trained to be somewhat like the Threavok of old, small, nimble and deadly; the Hertanioi are living weapons, with a weird genetic trait that gives them massive blades on their arms; and the Trehavonoi are born with light in their blood.”
“And they all follow the same bullshit two-kids-only rule?”
Retvik nodded. “Well, they do currently. Apparently Rethais is working on ending the Traditions but they are facing some backlash from older, grumpier Rethan Generals who like their stupid old tradition stuff…” Retvik trailed off and glanced at Tenuk. “Do you have any weird abilities, aside from the shapeshifting?”
Tenuk hesitated. “Uh… no.”
“Hey now!” Nyssi hissed. “No lying to us! We told you our freaky things, you gotta tell us your freaky things!”
“Yeah, we’re all freaks, you gotta be a freak too!” Kayel added.
Tenuk sighed. “I mean, I already am a freak, since I can cleanly do mixed-species and hybrid shapeshifting without giving myself amnesia, and I am learning to better mimic voices. I’m also kinda working towards the Spast Holy Grail, but I’ve only managed Thrakian Flight and Three Traits so far.”
“What is the Spast Holy Grail?” Nyssi asked.
“It’s, uh… like… to prove that you’re the best shapeshifter ever. Six tasks you have to be able to do. Rethan Ruse: shapeshifting into a Rethavok and not getting instantly called out as not being a Rethavok. Banikan Disguise: shapeshifting into a Banikan that can both breathe fire and speak the Banikan language without being identified as not being a Banikan. Thrakian Flight: being able to combine Thrakian flight with the body of another species. Vohran Forgery: being able to perfectly shapeshift into a Vohra, Vayhra or Vahrga and blending in to a Vohran nest without being detected. Three Traits: combining three different species traits into one single form. Godly Deception: Shapeshift into the form of a Deity in front of said Deity in order to trick or confuse them. Those are all fucking hard, pretty much no one has managed to do all six.”
Kayel tilted his head to one side. “You’ve done Godly Deception though. You tricked that nasty Kinisis Corrupted Deity thing by shapeshifting into it as a distraction.”
Tenuk’s eyes widened. “Wow. Fuck. You’re absolutely right. I’ve done half of the Holy Grail… And, honestly, I might be able to pull off Banikan Disguise if I can learn some of their weird backwards language. Still got no idea how to pull off Rethan Ruse and Vohran Forgery though, they’re considered impossible, and Levik, while capable of fooling a Vohra, can’t fool a Vahla at all.”
“Still, four out of six is pretty impressive!” Nyssi smiled. “Like, I’m pretty sure most Spasts can’t even do one!”
“Yeah, that’s why it’s considered our Holy Grail. No Spast will ever reach it.”
“You never know, you might…” Kayel shrugged. “You’ve done some insanely cool stuff already.”
Tenuk frowned, not really believing Kayel. “Eh, I doubt it…” With a sigh, Tenuk returned to his bowl of porridge, which was steadily going cold. “This has been an interesting conversation though. I guess we were all freaks before the Thantophor blessed us.”
Nyssi didn’t seem bothered what so ever. “Maybe, but we’re the best freaks ever, right?”
Everyone nodded, then sighed, before falling silent and eating their food.