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Ryko sighed, smiling slightly at the sight before them. A young pup, just learning to walk, stumbled around the den. Its mother smiled and called out words of encouragement.
“Just don’t think about it,” Maelstrom’s voice came from beside them, gruff but somehow still gentle. As if he were talking to a misbehaving pup.
Ryko gulped, “He’s just so young,” they knew they’re voice was much too whiny, Maelstrom wouldn’t take well to it.
“Pretend he’s not. You have a good imagination, put it to use.”
“What? I can’t just pretend I’m not taking a pup’s life!”
Maelstrom’s eyes flashed with a sudden burst of rage, something Ryko had seen too many times.
“Ryko! This is your job. If you’d like, I can send you back to your real home.”
They felt a shiver run down their spine, as they always did when Maelstrom said that.
They inhaled sharply, feeling Marer’s power began to pulse through their veins, spreading to every point of their body, stretching into their very heart. The pup’s life force started to fade, leaking from the living world and becoming one with the realm of the dead. Dissolving into Ryko’s power.
Before they even knew what they had done, and it was always like that, the pup lay before a crying mother, cold and dead. And Ryko stood alone, shivering and on the verge of tears, feeling the horrible nausea and aches that always followed their “missions.”
…
“Maelstrom! I don’t know why you always have to disappear like that!” Ryko’s voice echoed through the den as they entered. They were trying to keep their voice steady, show no weakness, as Maelstrom always said. But it was getting harder, as it always did.
“Pup, you must learn to do this on your own,” their master’s voice reached their ears from somewhere above their head.
“Yeah, alright,” they could feel exhaustion pulling at their limbs as they approached their nest.
“Ryko,” Maelstrom appeared in front of them, gray eyes glimmering in the dim light.
“Hm?”
“You need to learn to push your emotions out of your mind. Ignore them and do your job.”
Ryko flinched at his sharp tone, “I-I know, master. I know.”
His eyes softened, “Alright, get some rest, I don’t want you being sick all over the floor again.”