Caught Somewhere In Time

[Lief]

Vain Hollow Citadel​

The Iron Mountains​

Panatha​

​

Whispers scaled the grim walls of the putrid structure he had spent most of his childhood locked within. Talk of a fiend who knew more than he ought, of a child well above his station. It was not rare to hear of a Zambrano Bastard; if you peeled away at the stone walls of the Hollow you were sure to find more than any man ought to have sired and that wasn't counting the endless brood who were known by the wider nation of Panatha and the Galaxy beyond its reach.

Most were strong, vying for attention, craving recognition from the God-King himself. Perhaps that was what had drawn the man with many names to this particular stain on his Master's line. It was easy to build upon one who already had the perfect qualities, but a runt? He who walked with crutch and limp?

Well, that was a challenge.

The one known as [member="Czernon Zambrano"] had been summoned to a particularly empty chamber down in the basement which lay beneath the Citadel. Oppressive heat greeted any and all who stepped foot within its walls, the ground was cracked and dust and ash lay scattered throughout. What thin streaks of light illuminated the space revealed more of the particles floating through the air. A room long forgotten.

One solitary seat sat in its center. A throne of sorts, though like most everything else in the room it too was weathered with time. Even so it was an imposing sight to most, it would have been the perfect spot to wait for the boy.

Yet Kobe decided instead to stand off to one side. Watching eagle-eyed for the first signs of his approach.

No doubt he would be heard before he was seen.

 

[Ras'kala'han]

Sweat formed tiny, glistening beads on Czernon's forehead, and left glistening trails as they ran down threads of dark hair. The ersatz prince stopped for a moment along the spiral staircase he was descending, wiping the moisture away with the back of his hand before continuing on below. Though he had, in idleness or curiosity, wandered before through what tiny fraction he could of the tangled knot of tunnels, veins running out from the sickly, beating heart of Vain Hollow, the bastard never had taken a route quite so deep or remote, especially to go somewhere quite so empty. Even so, Czernon answered when summoned.

For all his blood's status, he knew that he wouldn't long survive Panatha unless he were the dutiful nephew to his uncle, the dutiful attendant to his uncle's favored retainers.

As Kobe had surmised, Czernon was heard before he was seen: a soft step, then a rapport of metal on stone. His cane was a simple, sturdy length of dark metal with little ornamentation. A soft sigh of breath, and a slight, muffled cough. Then, the youth himself - dressed in a dark tunic woven from lightweight, synthetic fabric, the only particular marker of status a metal broach with his family's insignia.

He offered a respectful nod to the man who he surmised had summoned him when he entered the chamber, then turned to the throne, pointing to it with an uncalloused hand. "Will one of my kin be joining us?" He smiled softly.

[member="Kobe Seren"]

 

[Lief]

Tap...Tap...Tap...

The empty room was unforgiving in its announcement of the boys approach. Long before his gaze settled upon him he was noticed, then watched from the shadows as though weakened prey in the eyes of a hunter. Not a sound was made by the one who stood as onlooker, whose hands were clasped at the base of his spine. There was nothing innately grand or truly noticeable about the watcher, his visage was one which would be easily mistaken for another, his attire simple and free from adornment. Yet there remained a certain tension about him all the same, his muscles seeming perpetually poised in preparation to pounce.

Acknowledged with a nod that was not yet returned, the man with many names allowed himself but a moment to adjust to the darkness around them, to pierce the inky veil, before drawing from the boy any discernible features... Yet truth be told he was as most in these parts were.

His eyes followed the direction of the boys unmarred hand, glancing across to the barren throne as the question was raised. A curious expression fell over him then, before he simply looked upon Czernon and gave a short shake of the head. There was a distinct emptiness to his gaze for a few moments following the action, before he took two purposeful strides toward the boy. Peeling himself from the shadows in the process.

Without warning he reached out, fingertips caressing the cold metal of the cane in the boys grasp. No move was made to take it from him, in fact all that it seemed to do was trigger a mist to form over his eyes. His mind was filled with countless snippets, though there were few he could truly break away from the mix to focus on.

With a shuddered, unabashed intake of breath, he pulled back his hand. Gaze once more lifted to the boy, this time fixating upon his with an intensity. There would be no battle to be had within their minds, such was not the way of their people, though he sized him up all the same. Peering down at him with an expression that did not quite know what it was.

No words were said, hardly a single noise expelled itself from him as he stood there and gestured to the ground. A ferocity lay within his eyes, though the rest of him seemed to reveal little else of his intentions.

[member="Czernon Zambrano"]