The two resumed in silence, as Bie took in the sight of the broken roads and the high mounds of rock in the distance. It would be a lie to claim that he didn't want to explore, but he wanted to do it with Amitha. He hasn't really been alive for even three weeks, so aside from those odd humans and that guy, Lapil, she was really all he knew. And he knew he liked her a lot and wanted to stay with her, even if it met stagnating in strength.
He could tell that she seemed to be discontent with her ability to cast magic. But that was okay! He could figure it out himself and maybe even teach her one day.
'Then I could be the boss, and SHE would be the childe...it sounds funny. But...' He knew that the thought itself was pretty unreasonable. How would someone without even a month of experience in living be able to pop in and randomly change the predicaments of someone else. Someone who had a lot more encounters than he would most likely be worlds apart in knowledge of their circumstances.
The stop signs and their broken bars and rusted over lettering filled his gazes, as if the world was trying to tell him to quit avoiding the truth. Stoplights sputtered red as they spat out sparks, and the depressions in the roads seemed to enlarge even further and deeper. The surroundings seemed to fade as he melded into his melancholy, disrupted by the change in light and sensation of descent.
They had arrived back to the numerous tunnels of the Underground, and Amitha steadily stepped down the stairs as her antennae weakly swayed along as Bie occasionally poked at them. She had once again opened up the flat wall into a large open area of the caves, before sitting down and leaning against the wall.
"Come on, come sit by me." She said, softly patting the ground beside her. Bie reluctantly waited, almost as if to provoke her and make her change her mind. She patiently awaited his presence on the ground, not snapping at him like he would've hoped. He hesitantly slid down her arm and took up her sitting position, eyes fixed on the ground right before him.
"Ya know I suck at explanations, so I'll just come out with it. I'll be passing on Gazing to ya, and ya'll stay here for about a month before ya'll have to leave to get an official education at the Midnight Church. It's the rules for children, so ya can't disagree or whatever. I bet ya'll be glad to get some better education as well!"
As she said this, she settled her hand on Bie's head and ruffled his hair, while a fresh pearl of knowledge emerged in his mind. Closing his eyes and focusing on the information in order to hide his dismay, he felt his Ink getting restless and starting to circulate up to his eyes before flowing down the rest of his body.
"Ya really are a natural, hm? Ya might even peak yer realm before the Church comes to retrieve ya!" Amitha did nothing to mask her pride, still patting his head as he focused. The boy was unresponsive, drawn into a deep focus by the meditative trance that had come over him.
"Ya know, I could've been up there with the some of the greats, I would've been great in the Night District. I was even in the Backstreet King's court, I could've had a pretty nice setup, huh? If only I was strong enough...but I'm over it. I just hope that yer strength will be able to fully bloom, and ya can grasp all the opportunities and powers we Guides have access to."
'Strength? Right, to get stronger. I'll do what you couldn't teacher. I promise...' Bie could hear everything she said, and took it open himself to engrave the words she spoke into his mind. The frame of a conviction was erected, and the desire to grow stronger started to germinate deep within him. The Ink took in this resolve like water to a plant, nourishing itself as it expanded and pushed at its constraints.
--
The next day.
Amitha had brought Bie back to her hut and got some rest from the first time in a while. Because she was an undead, she didn't have to sleep, but she did feel oddly drained when she realized she would have to be alone again soon. It seemed the loneliness had been slowly chipping away at her bravado, and Bie seemed to keep the encroaching solemnity that had been spreading over her mind away. The boy was always so noisy...
Speaking of noise, she couldn't hear him stirring. There were no energy fluctuations either, and she doubted that Bie had become adept enough to hide his energy from her. Heck, she even doused him in Ink and found out his status while he was meditating yesterday, finding out about his new Bridge. It was called Smile of the Mountain, which made her feel a heavy pressure just from reading it. It was true that the baby blue undead had quite a bit of talent squirreled away, she just hoped that he would be able to realize his potential.
And normally, he'd have been training. With an expectant look, she shambled out of the hut and scanned across the flattened rocky terrain, searching for his little figure. She found nothing. She looked at the poorly made thatched roofing of the hut, and he wasn't there either. She then started sweating, as lukewarm pearls traveled down the side of her face, as she looked around for where the boy could've gone.
Her fervid searching did not find Bie, but it did find a letter in the cauldron. Amitha read over it, surprised that he could already write, but equally furious as she read on.
"Miss Amitha,
I'm going out to the caverns to train, because I found some Crystal Balls. Bye!"
The letter was short, sweet, and utterly ignorant. Any Crystal Ball she didn't bring him to was obviously out of his league! Couldn't he think straight for even a little bit, I mean it was obvious and-
'Ah. The tike's still a childe. I forget sometimes, f*ck!' The woman leapt up in the air and firmly planted her feet on the ground as she landed, exerting a herculean strength to push off of the ground at a speed her frame didn't seem capable of. Every footstep was akin to a lunge, every lunge a massive stride as she ran down the tunnels hurriedly.
The ground was displaced, the worm like creatures where crushed, and the stalagmites gave way before her might. A mad glint filled her eyes as her antennae flailed wildly. Not even walls could stop her, as she just punched right through and kept running, desperately attempting to pick up Bie's trace.