Rain World: High Voltage

9: The Pilot's Raptor

An untouchable land made of cotton drifted across the expanse, and the wind rolled its hills across fluffy white fields. Branching spires and ancient cities protruded from the mass, standing still as stone against the test of time and weather. As the sun dragged the sky's green into the horizon, twilight brought a chilling blue that graduated into darker shades the further it stretched from the swelling star. Tiny, cold sparks freckled the sky, flickering ever so slightly, adopting the same green glow of the sun's fringes.

A dark figure stood against the scattered stars, a large and bulky shape cloaked in pitch-black shadows that made it unrecognizable. It shifted slightly before the figure separated into two, one as a smaller form that resembled something more familiar. They walked away from the drop they had been sitting by, a touch of caution in their movements.

"Friend, is your work done? Is she no more?" 

Gold and blue dimly gleamed a couple of yards away, two shadows side by side. One sped ahead of the other slightly to greet the first shadow. "Ah no, but something just as good came out of my trip here." The shadow moved to make way for the shadow that trailed behind him. Blue eyes approached, meek but curious. A rummaging was heard before the area was illuminated in a gentle orange glow. It reflected in their eyes and gave depth to their forms. The first shadow that held the small lantern, now revealed as a pale brown adult slugcat covered in darker brown splotches, wore goggles that flashed in the light and a red scarf that fluttered in the wind. A smile spread across his face.

"I see that, you couldn't help yourself, could ya?" he said with a low chuckle.

Martyr looked unamused. "What are you saying?"

"Nothin' nothin'! I'm messin'!" He laughed more openly this time, before taking a step towards the other slugcat with a hand held out. "Name's Patches." he pushed the goggles over his face, showing brown eyes with smidges of teal in them. There was a dullness in them that hinted at years of experience and weariness. 

"A-ah my name is P-- um," the orange slugcat glanced up as he tried to recollect the conversation with Martyr from earlier, "my name is Cobalt."

"That's a nice name, kid." He said, giving Cobalt a firm but friendly handshake. "You look roughed up, been through a lot?"

Cobalt released a heavy sigh. 

"I hear you loud and clear, kid, here." The lantern was shoved into his mouth as he rummaged around in a leathery pack strapped over his shoulder. He pulled out a large bubble seemingly made of some sort of gelatin and broken bits of a nutshell in its center. It was plopped into Cobalt's hands with a jiggle. The unexpected texture made him jump a little. "Eat up, it's hydrating and nutritious!" He said enthusiastically as he pulled out a few small popcorn plant puffs for himself and Martyr, which Martyr declined with the excuse of having already eaten. When Patches moved to sit on a nearby brick, Cobalt did the same after looking around for something to sit on before just sitting on the bare ground. Martyr simply stood, scratching at something on his arm while glancing between the two of them and at the distant clouds.

As Cobalt took a suspicious nibble out of the watery snack, Patches leaned into the lantern light as he crunched on a puff. "My mother made me eat these puffed kernels constantly when I was a pup." 

Cobalt's ears twitched at the mention of having a parent, interested in a puphood unlike his own. Patches noticed his reaction and continued with a small smile. "We lived up in the sky, and I grew up with the wind as a constant companion. These here kernels are plentiful up there. Despite the blandness, they've got that good nutty flavor and that puffiness that melts as soon as it's in your mouth."

A pause.

"Nonetheless, it never really got old for me. I tend to stick to those over the tasty bugs the others like to munch. Nobody else seems to have the same love for 'em as ol' Patches here. 'Cept for my mum and father..."