Phantai ships were common at Savepoint. While the Golden Doom were gone, there were still rogue Voidborns around, and occasionally Phantai scouts would also run into traces of Corruption that were attempting to flee the Pentathax and their purges. And the ship that had just landed was definitely a scouting ship, but it only had one occupant, and that occupant seemed upset. Partly because the ship had made some awful noises as it touched down.
“Moonblade!” Itaviir tried to smile, watching as a short Beh’en climbed out of the ship. They angrily chucked a crescent-shaped blade at the ground, then stomped over towards Itaviir, then calmed down a little. “What are you doing here?”
“Stupid pentacluster is really empty…” Moonblade was in a bad mood, but he didn’t want to show it in front of Itaviir. The traitorous Shatterblade, as he was occasionally known as among the Phantai, was a powerful, intimidating being at the best of times, and, despite the fact that older Phantai still called Itaviir a traitor, he was vastly infamous and known to be a terrifying entity. “Ship broke down. There isn’t anywhere else I can fucking go to get the dead Voidborn I hit out of my ship’s engine.”
“Oh. You need ship repairs?” Itaviir asked. “We can help with that. Little Kaytee has retrained to do ship repairs, and he is very quick and efficient…” Itaviir paused briefly, and inspected the ship. On the side of the ship were the words “Borderblade 021”. It was one of many small ships that the Phantai used for border patrols. “I did not know you were doing boundary work.”
Moonblade sighed, then glanced around. The entirety of Savepoint seemed rather odd to him. He hadn’t seen a tree in a long, long time, and there were loads of them, all surrounding Savepoint. In fact, Savepoint in general was incredibly pretty, full of natural features that were rarely seen outside of Life Goddess territories, and Life Goddess territories were non-existent in the Goldtorn Remains, where Moonblade had spent his entire life.
“Moonblade?”
“I’m sorry. This place is… I’m not used to seeing… is that… is that…” Moonblade trailed off again. Now that he was properly looking around, he was starting to feel rather awkward. It was all very pretty, and Moonblade had realised he’d never experienced anything like this before. He’d spent his entire existence on metal ships in a permanently dark void, sometimes seeing the odd lump of rocky nothingness. Seeing actual flora, living on its own, it was almost too much.
Something orange distracted both Beh’ens. Kaytee had teleported in, spotting the damaged ship. Itaviir pointed out the rather obvious problem, since Moonblade was still not really paying attention, not until Kaytee spoke to Moonblade directly.
“Did you mean to hit a Voidborn?” Kaytee asked. “Also, heya Moonblade, good to see you.”
“Hi, Six…” Moonblade stuttered. “I forgot you worked here now.”
“Oh, uh, you didn’t know, but, uh, I call myself Kaytee these days. Loopblade-6 is a stupid codename and Six is a stupider name.”
“Um… I apologise… Sorry…” Moonblade trailed off again, still looking around. “This place is absolutely beautiful.”
Kaytee glanced at Itaviir, then at Moonblade, then behind him. It suddenly occurred to Kaytee why Moonblade was so shocked. Like Itaviir, Moonblade had almost always been a member of the Phantai, but he had also always been a deity, and had no memory of life as a being inside a universe where nature was allowed to flourish. The poor guy was completely confused and almost blinded at how alive everything was.
“Is this what it’s like, living in the work of a Life Goddess?”
“I… I guess?” Kaytee shrugged. He’d been a mortal, he’d experienced normal life, so he wasn’t as amazed. Kaytee also wondered if Itaviir ever felt the same way, but Itaviir was a Warm Guard before he joined the Phantai, he had at least seen the natural creations of the Beh’ena, and had also been lucky enough to see inside a Warmth, the birthing and development nests for baby Beh’evok. “Admittedly, Phovos hasn’t done that much, she mostly just keeps the trees alive and waters everything occasionally, maintaining a lot of what was already here.”
Kaytee turned back to Itaviir. Itaviir grunted at him. “Kaytee, would you mind getting to work on repairs? I am going to take Moonblade here over to the canteen so he can de-stress a little.”
“Yeah, sure thing, boss!”
Kaytee did as he was told. Itaviir turned to Moonblade and patted him on the back, doing as he said he would.
“Are you well, Moonblade?”
“No, not at all, Shatterblade. I’m angry. Measureblade doesn’t need my services any more, and I have been trying different jobs in a bid to feel useful and required. But I feel empty. I don’t know what to do…”
While Itaviir was trying to lead Moonblade to the canteen, Moonblade seemed unwilling, and wandered towards a garden area. He eventually spotted a bench and sat himself down, taking in the beauty.
“You can talk freely, Moonblade.”
Moonblade sighed. “I think I better understand now why you and Leafblade left.”
“We left because Galyn was jailed for saying we shouldn’t kill dangerous Decaylings and should instead rehabilitate them.”
“Oh.”
Itaviir shrugged. “It’s fine. Pretty sure you weren’t around then. You’re not as insanely old as I am. But you seem like you’re looking for a change of scenery. You’ve been doing the same duties for many a year-string. Perhaps I can help.”
Moonblade grunted. “I have nothing to offer the Thantir.”
“You do not know that. We are currently looking for people willing to do protection and guard duties. Do you want me to put a word in for you?”
“Would the Great Blades allow me to leave?” Moonblade grunted. “They put you and Leafblade through hell, and Loopblade-6 had issues too. Sure, the Alsyr Situation means the Great Blades are allowing us to discuss contracts, but… it feels wrong.”
“Why?”
“All I have done is be a Phantai soldier. Being… something else is scary.”
“It is scary, but it can also be good.”
Moonblade took a deep breath. “I guess… I’ll need to think about things though.”
“That is not a problem. Have a think while we fix your ship. I do admittedly have work to do, but you are free to wander around. I’m sure the younger Thantir would be happy to talk with you too and help you out.”
“I appreciate that, Shatterblade. But I think I just want to look at nature for a bit.”
Itaviir patted Moonblade on the back. “That is fine. Kaytee will let you know when your ship is repaired.”
Moonblade breathed deeply. “Thank you. I appreciate the help.”
“No worries, friend.”