Memoirs of a RAFian

[redtailedsaffa]

That's a nice arguing scene. Very real.

[Cloak]

Thanks.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER TWELVE:
Encumbered and Desperation

"But that's impossible," Parker said, then added after a moment's hesitation, "isn't it?"

"Parker, you of all people, should know that it is quite possible." Cloak said. "Your very armor, the armor you are wearing right now, is imbued and imbibed with Walker tech. It's what enables your armor quick-change. As it allows Blase's blade to change into any melee weapon -- and a bow, apparently. It is quite possible."

"But they need a Realm Walker to give it to them, right?" Dino asked.

"You forget," Cloak said, quite seriously. "I'm not the only Realm Walker here."

"You mean --"

"Who else?" Cloak said, with a shrug of his shoulders.

***

"I-I gotta t-to st-t-top," Agrowch said, old again, shivering, with a stutter of someone "on the needle", so to speak. "I-I c-c-can't k-k-keep doing thi-is."

He huddled himself in a fetal position. Expecting, and fearing, the coming of the Erisraptor, the onslaught of the Cravings. With each Feeding, the Cravings got more powerful, more unable to resist. It was like the Erisraptor was a separate entity entirely, which possessed him from time to time with increasing frequency, as if these gauntlets . . .

The gauntlets . . .

They were the key to getting rid of this addiction. The key of getting free of this total body aches, of being wracked with pain every two hours or so. He needed to get rid of the gauntlets. To discard them. To throw them away. He didn't need them. He didn't need them. He didn't need them . . .

He . . . did . . . not . . .

He needed to feed! He needed to feed now! Right now! There was no time for delay! He had to go. Had to go now! Now! Now! Now! What was he doing?! Why was he waiting here?! He needed to FEEEEEEEEEEEEED!!!

He took to the air. One was more than enough -- but thirty was never enough! They were all his to suck their delicious youth from! He would have them all.

They were all his to take!!

HIS!!!!

[redtailedsaffa]

Great, now he sounds like Galactus.

I thought Blaze's sword was broken in an earlier book?

[Cloak]

Chapter may come later than normal tomorrow. Got a bit too absorbed in rereading "RAFians Alive".

Great, now he sounds like Galactus.

Not quite what I was going for, though . . . especially considering future books. . . .

I thought Blaze's sword was broken in an earlier book?

True, I may have forgotten that (unless it was in "Passing the Torch", which doesn't count as it is outside the normal continuity), but that doesn't change the fact that it did, indeed, have Walker tech.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER THIRTEEN:
Losing Control and Opportunity Rises

Thirty victims.

Thirty more victims.

How many more before this Erisraptor, this entity of addiction inside Tobey Agrowch's mind, with be satisfied? Permanently satisfied?

The gauntlets. They need to go. They really needed to go. He needed to takek them off. Needed to remove the wings. The suit too. All three had poisoned him with this addiction. With this affliction.

He needed to remove the devices that enabled his addictions. He needed . . . no good! His hands were trembling too bad. And he was in his young form!! He was going on a downward spiral, and he was now desperately trying to claw himself from the hole he dig himself.

But he recognized it far too late. He was far too deep down in that hole and the sides are too steep to climb out of. It was all he could do to cling for dear life to the mephorical hole, but he ever slowly began to slip and scrap and slid down the side of the mephorical hole . . .

It was just a matter of time before he plummeted into the abyss below . . .

***

"We must do something!" Parker insisted.

"And so we shall," Richard said. "Once we have a plan."

Silence fell, an uneasy silence. Cloak hesitated before speaking. He was really acting on an assumption, as he noticed all of the victims had been human. This lead to Cloak's presumptive conclusion.

If he was wrong . . . he didn't want to think about it. It would be his fault. But they had no better options. He would have to bear the responsibility.

"Well? Anyone have any bright ideas?" Parker said, anxiously antsy.

"I believe," Cloak said, tentatively, "that I do."

"Great! What do we do?"

"No, Parker." Cloak said. "Not you."

"Why not?" the SPARTAN demanded.

"I would think it was obvious," the Elements Master said curtly.

"My armor --"

"Isn't impervious!" Cloak countered. "The specter spores got through. A ferrokinectic could knock you around like a ragdoll."

"You don't know that those gauntlets will get through --"

"Neither do you! Why take an unnecessary risk?" Cloak countered. "We don't need to take any more risks than absolutely necessary. No. Richard, Estelore, possibly Demos, and I --"

"Hi, Uncle!"

"-- And Shadow, I suppose, should go an install this trap."

[redtailedsaffa]

Are we making an assumption on Richard's age here, then?

[Cloak]

Well, to paraphrase Joker in "Batman: the Brave and the Bold":

"And reduce" our RAFfather "to a mere man?" Saffa, "my dear, I'm so disappointed in you. Where's the fun in that?" (https://m.youtube.com/?reload=2&rdm=1lvd2sbc#/watch?v=F4zlC8jAISk)

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
Dusk Soar*

Once more young, and he should be for a few hours now, Erisraptor perched upon a rooftop, in almost roosting behavior. The Cravings satiated for a moment, Tobey Agrowch's true mind awoke, as Erisraptor became docile and dormant. At least for the moment.

"What have I become?" he said. He was very nearly weeping. "What have I allowed myself to become?"

His body shook in sobs. His mind . . . it was no longer the neat and prim place it used to be, but a disheveled, mess of a nightmare. It was in part of the mention dysfunctions and negative aspect and even diseases that he siphoned out when Erisraptor -- who he really thought of as a separate entity that dwelled within his mind. Erisraptor was now the one calling the shots, and Tobey had no control over it when the Cravings came. The Erisraptor took control over his actions and he was powerless to stop it.

He had tried to take gauntlets off again, but his hands trembled and shivered and shook too much to remove them safely. And still wanted to keep his hands. His sobs continued, unabated.

The wings, then. Make it harder for him to feed on the youth of others. Nope. Same problem. His hands shook just too much to allow him to undo the clasps and things. He started to sob harder, especially as he knew a Craving would not be long off now.

The suit. The suit then. It would have to go. He'd be naked, but he'd at least be free. For the few minutes before hypothermia kicked in -- it was still winter, after all. There wasn't anything to be done, he couldn't stop his hand shaking enough to grasp the zipper clasp. Much less pull it down.

His sobs shaking his body led smoothly into his body's convulsions as his purloined was being evaporated from his cells. It was blindingly painful now. He cursed the moment that he was stupid enough to put on this godforsaken suit, these stupid wings, and, most of all, these hellish gauntlets!!

Soon, it was over. He was old again. The Cravings would be coming on soon, he knew. He had to fight them this time. He had to ignore them. He had to . . .

He had to . . .

Had to . . .

FEEEEEEEEEEEED!!!

He launched himself into the air, and swooped over the nearby forest, as the sun began to set . . .


* "Dusknoir". A Pokemon.

[redtailedsaffa]

This book could be used for an addiction avoidance and counselling programme. It really has that feel. Though, trigger warnings.

[Cloak]

Too right, on that one, Saffa. And that was kinda the angle I was going for. I just hope I don't over use it in the series . . .

And, as such, it's why I won't read this during my "Recovery in Creative Writing" class (the reason that I have Mondays off).

Tomorrow's new chapter may be later than normal tomorrow.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
It's a . . . You Know, Trap!

Tobey managed enough sway over Erisraptor to get it to swoop over the forest, before being quelled beneath the bulk of this monstrous construct in his mind. It took over once again, but Tobey hoped that this time there would be no victims. That the Cravings would be starved out of him. Had his rational mind had not been temporarily subsumed by this addiction personification, he would have continued to rue the day he donned this suit, wings and gauntlets.

How long ago was it? A week? Two? He couldn't even remember. Right now, he cared only about one thing. He needed his fix. He needed it desperately. He could not fight the Cravings. There was no winning against them. No point. Its futility was inevitable. Might as well just give into Erisraptor's whims.

There was nothing left. Tobey knew that he was nothing more than a shell of a man. There was no hope for him. None at all. Perhaps he deserved it. Perhaps he was reaping the consequences of his past decisions . . .

Wait . . .

There. A small girl with red hair and a cat shirt sitting on a stump. No parents around. No guardians of any sort, no one around. She was so foolishly alone! Her youth was his!! His!!!

Erisraptor stooped into a dive, and dove with an almost fanatical passion. He held his talon-tipped gauntlets out in front of him, greedily. The youth was just sitting there, waiting to be drained from this prey. She was so close now.

Closer . . .

Closer . . .

And closer still . . .

"D'ah!!"

He was in a shrub!! He was in a shrub!!!

How --? He was so thoroughly intangled in the shrub that he was unable to wriggle his way out, unable to thrash and force his way out. He was held fast, but that wasn't important.

It made no sense!! There was no girl anywhere! Where'd she go? Where'd she GO?!?! She was right here!! She could not have just disappeared like that!! She had to be here!!Her youth was his!! If he did not take it, it would putrify, it would expire!! It was his -- HIS!!!

"Thanks, Rocky." came a calm voice, then he addressed Tobey. "The erisraptor, I presume?"

"WHERE IS SHE?!?!?" Tobey erupted. "SHE WAS MINE!!! MINE!!!!!!!!!!"

"You, sir," came another male voice, "have problems."

"MINE!!!!!!!"

A female voice commented, "I don't think he really cares."

"MINE!!!!!!!"

[redtailedsaffa]

Good lord man, you got issues.

[Cloak]

Are you talking about me or Tobey Agrowch?

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
Lashing Out

"Is he . . ." Shadow said, stepping into the dwindling light. "Is he  . . . okay?"

"The gauntlets have gone so far create a psychological and physiological need for the youth," Cloak said, observing Tobey Agrowch closely. "He has used it so much that he needs to drain youth just to feel normal."

"It's become a drug?" Estelore said, with surprised concern.

"WHERE IS SHE?!?!?!?" Erisraptor demanded again. "GIVE HER TO ME!!!"

"I see now. He wasn't attacking people from maliciousness, but because of this odd addiction." Richard said, looking over Tobey. Cloak could have been mistaken but he thought that he saw pity in the man's eyes. "Someone in such a state . . . such a pity . . ."

Erisraptor thrashed around within the thick shrub once again. The shrub had small thorns, which the suit protected Tobey from. Mostly, anyway, as his face was still exposed. His right hand was free if the shrub, though the rest of him was thoroughly ensconced within the shrub. This hand managed wrap around Cloak's arm.

Nothing happened.

"Impossible!" Tobey gasped.

Cloak shrugged off the hand, "Well, I believe it is safe now to assume that the guantlets work with actual years, instead of relative years."

"IMPOSSIBLE!!!" Tobey roared.

"Not so," Cloak said. "I may be twenty-seven by Realm Walker years, but by yours I'm 271, give or take the last digit."

"Huh?" Tobey asked, with a rather stupid grunt.

"I'm actually older than you," Cloak said, with exaggerated enunciation. "Your gauntlets won't work. On any of us, any of us assembled here. We're all older than you, in actual years. You have nothing to siphon out. There is no prey for you here. You're gonna hafta quit cold turkey."

[redtailedsaffa]

Tobey, of course.

[Cloak]

That's what I thought. But I read that at four in the morning, so . . .

Anyway, I'll try to get a new chapter up, but work today has drained me. I need a nap.

Had a nap.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
Gauntlets Gone

"GIVER 'ER OVER!! I . . . I need . . . I need the . . ." he raged, quickly devolving into a pant. "The youth . . . I need it . . . the youth. . . . Please . . ."

Cloak ****ed his head a bit after he heard this, giving this erisraptor a contemplating look. It seemed as if he was winding down into lucidity. This seemed very odd, when compared to the screaming hysterics of moments previous.

And he said "please". He hadn't said that before. Cloak took real notice of how emaciated that Tobey looked. He wondered how long had been since he ate something, as the youth didn't seem to be providing the same sustenance that real food offered. He looked like that beneath the suit would be a dried up, desiccated skeleton. He did not look healthy at all.

"Please . . ." he said. "I need it . . ."

Cloak surmised that the constant rejuvenation and re-aging had halted the negative effects of the potentially lethal consequences of the eating abstinence . . . and the possible diseases fhat he absorbed in his haste to be young again.

"Please . . ."

Cloak looked at this thin, haggard, dried-up man and came to the conclusion that he, too, was a victim of all this. But the only real difference was that he chose this.

"Help me . . ."

At least, it was his choice, at first. Before the addiction took hold. Before it managed to sink its claws inside this poor, pathetic man's psyche. Was he something to be reviled? Even in this sad, sad state?

"Please . . ."

Of everything this man had done, it began with his own selfishness. He didn't care if he had to take something that belonged to another as his own. Sure, it spiralled into a messs, and the victims were only truly victimized for a brief period. And when they recieved their youth that this man absconded with back, they discovered that it was without disabilities and negative aspects and diseases that the youth left with.

"Help me . . ."

But it wasn't done from selflessness. Tobey Agrowch has nvere been selfless in hisnlife, according to his file. Tobey simply didn't know about this aspect of the youth-siphoning gauntlets. Even when he did, the addiction to youth was already present in force. Compelling him to continue with his actions, despite being aware of the possible outcome.

"Please . . . help me. . . ."

The ultimate outcome.

"Please . . . help me."

"I shall," Cloak said, taking no enjoyment out what he was about to do. He knew the possible consequences, and he tried to prepare his heart for them.

He removed Tobey's gauntlets. Then he destroyed them ferrokinetically.

[Cloak]

Yeah, your opinion of Tobey might change a bit, Saffa.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
An Inevitable Conclusion

Cloak had expected more resistance, more cursing and swearing. But Tobey had allowed him to remove the gauntlets, and looked rather indifferent to their destruction. It was a complete and absolute reversal to expectations. It was almost as if he had wanted them off.

It was like taking a needle from a hardcore druggie and having them not fight you at all for it. Absurd, it would seem in all livelihoods.

"Uh, guys?" Esty said, looking concerned. "He doesn't look too hot."

It was true. There was a slight rattle to Tobey's breathing and he appeared to be sweating profusely. He seemed to have lost the ability to speak coherently. He eyes looked horribly sunken in.

"This is happening too suddenly," Richard said, quite seriously. "If I'm correct, and I very well may not be, it should take far more time for such severe symptoms to show up."

Tobey gurgled in a most disconcerting way. His breath rattled a little more audibly.

"Is there . . . anything we can do?" Estelore said, in hushed tones.

Tobey's breath was rattling a bit more noticeably and there was a raspiness to it now. He was flat upon the ground now, no longer ensconced in shrubbery. Where once the suit fit him rather snugly and left little to the imagination, it now hung rather loosely to his horribly emaciated and desiccated frame. It was horrible, and the RAFians knew what was happening.

"Is he . . . ?" Shadow asked, realizing how rather naive it sounded.

"Yes, Shadow." Cloak said, solemnly. "Tobey Agrowch is dying."

"How?" she asked, before she could help herself.

"Overdose," he uncle said, still with his solemn body language. "I doubt even Kelly or Yunyun could help him now."

"In any case," Richard said, as Tobey's breath became more labored, "I doubt either one would be able to get here in time. Agrowch doesn't have much of that anyway."

"We're just going to watch him die?" Shadow asked. "Surely there something we can do fo him!"

"It's too late," Cloak said, as he heard the rattled breathing, the labored breathing, cease altogether. "He's already gone."

[guitarhero01234]

Jesus. You weren't kidding when you said this book was gonna be dark.

[redtailedsaffa]

He was a much more complex character than I initially made him out to be.