AuraTwilight

((As requested, this thread will serve to present more pieces involving Sonji and Dorian, though since their story shall be eventually novelized, I'm not going to post the whole thing; Just my favorite parts, and linking them with fresh prose to create coherency.))


The First Memory: Together.

It was a dusty, sandy, dry desert in the middle of summer, just as Dorian liked it. Of course, he liked these kinds of areas not merely for the climate, but also for the fabulously old and ancient ruins, a set of which he was currency digging up via hand-shovel, trying to decipher the history of the ancient culture that existed before it's modern counterpart.

He was a lean, boyish nineteen year old with olive skin, hazel eyes, and sandy blond hair, which he attempted to part neatly, but it had several loose locks and kept a general sense of disarray, and it remained as dusty as his skin and tan, plain clothes. He was always coated in a layer of dust.

"Remarkable! This pot must be at least eighteen thousand years ol-wait, who am I talking to?" He had a big flaccid grin on his face as he examined some ancient pottery he found, but he uncharacteristically dropped it when he...well, he didn't know what, but he knew he had to turn around, and that's when he spotted the travesty.

Some local men were digging a big pit, and seemed to be planning to bury a full sack. How dare they bury things that had already been disco-"Hey wait..." Was there something thrashing in the sack? Oh Powers, were they planning to bury someone alive?

He took out his trusty pickaxe and approached them, and then tried to intimidate them, but only succeeded in stuttering. "H-hey, you guys...d-don't!"

This attracted the men's attention, and it was only now that he could see that they were bigger than him, and scarier, and meanier, and probably going to whip his asslier. "Yea? What're you gonna do if we don't?" One of the men threatened, coming closer. "You're that archaeologist guy that's been browsin' around 'ere, aren't ya?"

"Um...y-yea..." He gulped.

"Well then, I advise you be gettin' out of 'ere before you're buried like your artifacts and the freak over there."

"Freak?" As he repeated that, his vision started getting blurry, and he felt dizzy. He couldn't make heads or tails of the passage of time, or colors, or sounds, and...then when his world reoriented itself, both men were unconscious. Dorian wasted no time, and opened the sack, revealing...a kitten? No, it was more like those lycanthropes he heard about back in Oberryn, but this one was a cat or something, not some sort of wolf.

It's fear quickly fading into stoic apathy, the cat creature stood. Dorian couldn't make heads or tails of its gender, as it could easily be a male or a female. It seemed awfully youthful, so you couldn't determine one way or another, like with children, but that was nonsense, as the cat was about as tall as he was. It had black fur and yellow eyes, and wore a white button-up shirt, tan slacks, and black shoes. Judging from the attire, Dorian decided to define it as a male. "Thank you..." The cat said, but its voice was so flat he couldn't sense any sincere appreciation.

"Um, you're welcome. Say, what's your name? Why were those guys trying to bury you?"

The cat sighed, and decided it be best to reply. "My name is Sonji, if you must know it. My company tends to be unappreciated, due to my anomalistic nature."

Dorian couldn't help but sympathize. "Yea, I'm kinda the same way where I come from. My father was a Dust Elemental, and my mother was a human, so I'm-"

"A Dust Genasi, an elemental Planetouched whose atomic makeup is half mortal, half Dust. I can see how that can be hard for you. You've taken to archeology as your life's work, to study that which is also corroding to dust and to hide your nature, correct?"

Dorian felt to see if his jaw was still attached to his head. "Um...yea, how'd you know?"

Sonji avoided Dorian's gaze, as if he deemed his rescuer of unimportance. "People are simple and predictable. They shun that which is different out of superstition and fear, and those who are shunned retreat into impersonal worlds of literature, history, craft, and so forth."

Perhaps if Dorian were a bit less thick-headed, he'd be insulted, but he simply smiled and clapped. "Wow, you're good. So what're you, a psychologist?"

"A magician, though psychology plays into certain aspects of the art."

"Cool, so if you can do magic, then your parents are mages too, right?"

"That's only a myth. Magistry isn't hereditary as uneducated masses tend to believe. In reality, that myth came into fruition because most individuals are simply too stupid to wield magic, and intelligence does happen to be passed from sire to subject."

"So who were your parents?"

Sonji ignored the question. "It would seem you yourself have talents you're not aware of. If you would like, I could help you harness them. It would be a suiting retribution for the preservation of my life."

Dorian got the hint, and decided not to pressure it. "Um, sure, fine by me."

Sonji took out a book and flipped it open. "Then I'll prepare a transportation spell. One moment, please."

"Oh cool, is that your magic spellbook?"

"No, it's a romance novel. I prefer not to be bored when I work."

Dorian raised a brow. "You're kiddi-"

And in a swoop of magic, the duo were gone.

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