Chapter Text
“Stellaron…Hunters?” Dan Heng questioned, his voice still boiling in his throat. He had never heard of a Stellaron, he hadn't heard of much at all, much less a group wanting to hunt them. “Hunters…” A memory flashed in his head of a guard demeaning him 'in the name of the hunt’, maybe they were related.
“Are you, part of the Xianzhou? Is that why you picked me up?” He really felt like he put something together. The Luofu has a reverence for some hunt, and Kafka is a Stellaron Hunter, it makes sense that they were related in some way. That was until she started laughing.
“Hahaha, you think we follow The Hunt? Us, The Stellaron Hunters? Part of the Xianzhou Alliance? Is that really what you think shortie?” She wiped a pretend tear from her eye to exaggerate his ridiculousness. Dan Heng’s face burned from the mockery, but from his perspective they seemed close enough to the same height, only confusing him more.
“Shortie?” He questioned.
“Look at you,” Kafka claimed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “You’re barely standing up straight, I’d say I have a whole inch on you and these aren’t even my tallest heels. What’s wrong with you anyway? Am I so mesmerizing you can’t even keep your knees straight?”
“Uh…” Dan Heng felt his face go red with embarrassment. He looked down and saw his knees were bent. They hurt enough to begin with, and having been forced to stay on his knees for so long he didn’t want to think of what it would feel like to straighten them.
“I…” Make up a lie- “I just stand like this.” Even after he conjured up all the confidence he wanted to have he still sounded like a kid who got caught stealing. He kept his head down, which was actually the more comfortable position for him. He didn’t want to know how Kafka was looking at him, this way he could pretend she believed him.
“If that’s what you say. Chin up, you’re about to meet the other hunters,” Said Kafka, and Dan Heng did. His head snapped up to face her again at the order, much to the dismay of his neck. He tried his best to hide his pain when he noticed two large, red stone doors with 2 silver door knobs. All surrounded by ornate carvings he didn't bother to make sense of. He guessed they were at the end of the staircase.
“They should know I’ll be bringing back company. I just hope Silver did her part in cleaning.” She sounded exasperated. “Well in any case, they should at least know someone is coming and to play nice,” Kafka walked over to the door to reach for the handle, and Dan Heng felt he had to ask. Even just to prove he even cared about anything. What the hell even is a stellaron?
“Wait-” He cut her off, “You never answered my question. Why did you bring me here? What is a stellaron?”
She waited a moment and lowered her hand, never turning to face him. “That's 2 questions shortie. But if you really want to know, a stellaron is like a cancer. It mutates a world, changing its nature to become antithetical to or against its path and the will of its people. If a planet follows the path of Abundance, for example, the stellaron might kill its plant life or reduce the lifespan of its inhabitants, which goes against that path. We hunt those Stellarons and put their extraordinary power to a better use,”
That was…more noble than what Dan Heng was expecting. Stellarons hurt planets, and this group hunted them. But he still felt obligated to his second answer, as if knowing why would change anything. As is knowing would send him home, even if it was just stacks of crates and cruelty in his mind. “And, why you took me from the Luofu?”
“Simple, Elio commanded it.”
“Who is Elio?”
“Our leader. Enough questions, the others are waiting on us.” At that, Kafka shut down his question. She reached for the door and it flung open with ease. Inside was a small stone hallway, the rocks jutted out like waves but were smoothed out. Kafka ran her hand against the stone as she walked through, Dan Heng followed and kept his hand griped on his spear. He never wanted to let it go.
At the end, Kafka stepped to the side to show him a large sitting area. Long, soft couches surrounded a large black screen. Dan Heng's focus set on that at first, taking in the warped reflection of himself and the room. That’s when he noticed the distorted faces of two more people, he turned his gaze back to the couch where they were sitting just to see them both staring at him.
"Ahem, Dan Heng this is Firefly and Silver Wolf," Kafka said as she gestured to each of them. Firefly waved a hand from the end of the couch close to them. And Silver Wolf made the smallest gesture with her head, sitting on the floor on the other side of the room.
"Nice to meet you Dan Heng," Said Firefly, her voice was sweet and she held out her hand to him. This confused Dan Heng again. First Kafka now Firefly, are they trying to give him something? Is it a game? What are the rules?
"No handshake ok," She said, keeping a smile on her face. "I hope you feel welcomed here. Silver Wolf, anything to add?" Firefly glanced at her expectedly.
"Come on Wolfie don't be shy, he doesn’t bite," Kafka voiced, sounding almost like a command. Dan Heng looked at the girl in question and noticed her holding a long tablet with red and blue ends, clicking buttons furiously. A pixelated sound effect came from it and that's when she looked up.
"This is the guy? Welcome to the stellaron Hunter base. We’re here to make you feel welcomed and help you with whatever,” She looked him up and down as it sounded like she recited her speech from memory. “Do you know the purple guy?”
“Huh?” Dan Heng thought about it then remembered Kafka next to him. She wore purple and had purple hair, so he pointed to her. Who else could it be? “Kafka?”
The room immediately burst out laughing, Kafka especially. Dan Heng didn't understand but he tried to go along with it until it died down. After a long, long time. What was so funny? Kafka was purple, wasn’t she?
“Oh I like the new guy, can we keep him?” Silver Wolf asked, wiping a tear from her eye. “I can teach him who the purple guy is!”
“And what about the yellow guy?” Firefly tried to be smug but sank back into her seat when Silver Wolf gave her a death glare. “Right, no talking about the yellow guy,”
“Alright everyone, quiet.” Kafka settled the room down. “Silver, he's not the new guy yet and we can’t force him to stay.” Silver Wolf hung her head in defeat but Kafka continued without a care. “And Firefly remember, no mention of the yellow guy,”
Firefly sighed and repeated back, “No mention of the yellow guy if we want Wolfie to keep her sanity.”
Dan Heng tried to interject, he was confused enough that he actually wanted to question it. “Um, who is yellow-”
“Don't ask,” All 3 of them cut him off in unison.
“What about purple-”
“I’ll have my fun with you later, don't worry,” Solver Wolf said, picking back up her tablet. She immediately became engrossed in whatever she was doing on it.
Kafka quickly explained, “It's a game series Wolfie likes about robots-”
“Animatronics actually. There’s a difference, Kafka,” Silver Wold interjected, never looking up from her game.
“Right, animatronics.” Kafka corrected herself with a small laugh. “Purple guy is one of the characters and she will be explaining the whole story in excruciating detail. Good Luck,”
“Actually,” Firefly spoke up, and Dan Heng turned his attention back to her. “Where's Blade? We were all supposed to be here,” This got everyone's attention. The 3 of them turned to look at one corner of the room. It was empty. Dan Heng assumed that’s where he normally was.
“Huh, Bladie is never late. Dan Heng come with me, there's one more person you need to meet,”
Kafka led Dan Heng down a long hallway, much to his indifference. He wanted to know who this ‘Bladie’ was, but also he would just be standing there if he didn't follow Kafka.
The hallway they were in was made out of the same stone as the hallway to the first room. The same smoothed rocks jutting out that reminded him of waves. He wondered how he knew what those were.
“Here are the dorms,” Kafka said, pointing to a long row with a few doors. “This first one is Blade’s. We're going to meet him.”
Dan Heng had a passing thought about why this was so important, but he already went along with everything she did before. He doesn’t have the right to question it now if he didn’t before. His thoughts were cut short when Kafka knocked on his door and spoke.
“Bladie, our guest is here to meet you,” Nothing. Another knock, “Bladie, are you awake? Is everything ok?” Kafka sounded a little concerned, and it was justified by the screeching of metal on stone. Dan Heng’s hands flung to his ears because of the horrid noise and immediately regretted it as pain shot through his arm. But she miraculously kept his spear tucked between his elbow.
“Dan Heng step away,” Kafka told him. He did, but this time he was actually nervous. The Bracer on his arm started freezing. “Blade I’m coming in.” She quickly opened the door and stepped inside.
A deep raspy voice came from inside. “He’s here, Kafka. I can feel him,” So that’s Blade.
“Bladie I keep telling you there's no way-”
“He’s right outside that door,” Is he talking about me?
“Bladie it's just the Mara, if you need I can put you to sleep for a bit,”
“He’s here Kafka. Yesterday someone moved our bracer and an hour ago someone put it on. He put it on.” The man who Dan Heng assumed was Blade had a lot of emotion in his voice. Not unlike the people and guards who blamed him for the death of their loved ones. What actually happened he still doesn't understand.
Wait, our bracer? As he thought that it immediately started to burn as he heard more commotion in the room. The cold was one thing but the burning was too much. He tried to slide it off his arm but he couldn't get his fingers under the material. In trying to do so he dropped his spear and it clanged on the ground. By the time he picked it back up it had gone silent.
“...Do not stand in my way”
“Fine but your sword stays in my hands.”
“Kafka-”
“No buts, if your Mara takes control I can't have you getting in the way of the script. I can already see it surfacing again,”
"There's a script? And it involves him? Why didn't I get it?"
"First of all, it's not who you're thinking of out there. Second of all, this reaction is exactly why. Give me your sword and you can see who has your bracer."
It kept burning. Dan Heng had propped his spear up on the wall in a panic trying to slip the bracer off. He could barely comprehend what the 2 were saying in the room. He finally managed to get a few fingers under the material when 2 pairs of footsteps walked up to him.
When Dan Heng looked up he froze. What stood before him was like a shattered mirror. The reflection of the most perfect man in the world with a dagger through the reflection of his heart and eyes. His long dark hair fell over his face, that same face was youthful and smooth. But tilting his head up to see his eyes, Dan Heng could see centuries of pain and heartache, bleeding out into his red eyes and dripping to the ground.
Dan Heng instinctively reached for Cloud Piercer, not out of defense but he longed for its weight in his hands. He took another look at his weapon, then at the man in front of him. 2 names were in his mind, but only one came out. Because he only knew one name for that face, there was only one name for his face.
"Blade,” That one word killed his tongue more than any amount of screaming and crying he had done. Another glance out his spear, and another glance at Blade. Dan Heng could feel his cheeks get warm as his eyes glazed over Blade's form, especially when he saw his chest poking out a little over his button.
Dan Heng once more met Blade's face, who kept a monotone expression. He couldn't stop thinking that, himself, Dan Heng, this spear was interlaced with Blade. Then it came to him. He looked Blade in his bloody red eyes, ignoring the inexplicable pain in both their hearts.
"You…gave this to me, didn't you? I don't remember, I was told it was on me when I was reborn. But it was you, wasn't it?" The words burned in his throat. More so than the ones he said to Kafka before. The physical and mental pain the words gifted him was cutting him up from the inside, but the possible return of some kind of answer made it worth it all. Even if it wasn't what he wanted to hear. What did he want to hear from Blade?
"Reborn?" Blade's lips moved but it took a moment for Dan Heng to hear them. "You have his spear in your hand and our bracer on your arm. Yet you are not him?"
"I was only given these recently, and I was told they were on me when I underwent rebirth. And that they are mine now," He took another look at his spear, keeping his gaze down because suddenly he couldn't stand the sight of blood. He drank in the detail of the spear, something he regretted not doing before. And on that spear, under the glowing orb that kept it together, “丹” Dan. He traced his thumb up and down the character and braced himself to meet Blade’s gaze again.
He was also looking down at the spear, perhaps trying to avoid Dan Heng’s eyes as well. “I remember,” he said, gripping his hand over the handle and taking it from Dan Heng’s grasp into his own hands. “I remember carving his name in the spear. And I remember someone being mad about that.” Blade kept staring at the spear, and Dan Heng kept staring at him. “Dan Feng really is no more, is he? He would never wear something like that, you're shorter too. No tail,”
The name Dan Feng sounded familiar. So familiar. Too familiar. Maybe the most painfully familiar name he had heard. It was more painful than the pity of the golden-eyed man, and more painful than his still burning bracer. But Dan Feng… “Who?”
"What do you mean who?" Blade's head snapped up and his eyes glowed like a small candle.
"Bladie-"
"I've got it under control, Kafka," His voice came out loud, making Dan Heng flinch. He hoped the others didn't notice but Kafka and Blade kept their attention on each other. Staring at each other. He wondered why she had to stay.
"Who is Dan Feng?" For the first time, Dan Heng felt drive. He wanted to know who this man was and why their names were so similar. He was willing to do something to find his answer whether he deserved it or not.
“...” Blade was silent. Dan Heng looked around a bit and found Kafka, standing behind Blade and to the side so she could see everything. Her face screamed of worry but she tried to keep a cool composure.
“Your predecessor,” Blade spoke up. “Dan Feng was the Imbibitor Lunae I knew a long time ago. I had accepted his death. That bracer gave me hope I was maybe wrong. But my eyes only see someone else in his image,”
“The bracer?” Without Dan Heng noticing, the bracer had returned to its normal, slightly warm temperature. He looked at his right arm, it sat snugly on his skin.
“I can’t,” Blade dropped Cloud Piercer with a clang. “I can't keep looking at you,” He turned on his heels without a glance at Dan Heng.
“Bladie do you need-”
“I don't need your whisper, Kafka. I’ll be fine if I take some tea.” His door slammed closed and Dan Heng was left to awkwardly stand wish Kafka as his spear clanged to the ground and Blade’s door slammed closed. He opened it back up for a moment then closed it again gently.
“Why did he leave?”
“Sigh, Mara. He gets violent if it gets too much. It’s also not a pleasant experience if it takes control. It's only useful when he's fighting and outside of that we all do our part to keep him calm. Part of that is his medicine that he takes as tea. That's what he went to his room for. For whatever reason you made it bubble up,”
“Oh,” Dan Heng felt absolutely horrible. He had heard of Mara before. Whatever happened that got him landed in the shackling prison had apparently resulted in a lot of people becoming Mara Struck, and even more succumbed to it. And that made him think.
“What if he..succumbs?”
“Bladie will not succumb. His body is immortal so it won't turn to wood like other Mara Struck, and with treatment, we can keep his mind intact. It works better than you think. Most of the time he’s pretty calm,”
“And, the rest of the time?” Dan Heng shivered to think what he would be like when the insanity took over. Especially when he felt so intimidating already. Like a large, bottomless hole you're teetering on the edge of.
“That's only when he's fighting, don't worry. He pours his Mara into his sword to enhance his strength. If it gets too much outside of that I can always put him to sleep with my spirit whisper,” She said it so casually, as if it were fact.
“...What is that?”
“It allows me to make someone do whatever I want. A little gift from Elio, but I promised to use it responsibly. When it comes to Bladie’s Mara though I try to get his permission first if it’s not an emergency”
“Right, that sounds useful.” Dan Heng let his head hang, still feeling guilty about what he must have made Blade feel. He saw Cloud Piercer on the ground and instinctively bent down to grab it. For a moment he was glad there was no pain.
Until he was proven wrong.
He powered through and managed to lift himself back up with his spear with just a loud groan. He let out a deep breath and faced Kafka who looked slightly concerned once more.
“That sounded painful,” Her voice sounded genuine enough, and she hadn’t done anything to hurt him yet. So Dan Heng decided to trust her with this.
“...It was,”
“Want me to take you to medical?” She asked. Dan Heng remembered the ‘healers’ who were assigned to him. How they rarely actually helped him and often hurt him more. But this was also a chance to get actual care and the others all seemed like they had no ill intention. Even Blade removed himself before he had a chance to hurt him.
“Yes,” With his permission, Kafka turned and started to walk down the hall. Leading him to what was assumedly the medical facility here, and Dan Heng followed like a lost animal. But there was another thing he had to know, speaking of medical.
“I feel like you’re telling me a lot, about Blade’s condition,”
“If you’ll be staying here you should know. Most of us have some kind of disability that we try our best to accommodate, and the others do the same for the rest. Bladie just has a more detailed plan” That was all good to know, but Dan Heng was stuck on the first part.
“I’m staying here?”
“Will you be leaving?” How can I?
“...No”
