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"Hang on, let me get this straight." Corin set down his tea cup. "You're not the sole spirit in the sword? I thought you said-"
"I know what I said." Thorn cut him off, folding his arms. "At the time I didn't think telling you about the other would be necessary. They never do much and when I am at my full power, I'm strong enough to keep them locked away. But seeing how I'm still recovering from being *banished* I figured I should warn you so neither of us goes insane. Come." He stood and turned on his heel.
Corin hesitantly followed, then hurried to catch up as he saw a path in the tangled and sharp vines clear for Thorn. They walked in silence for a while before he asked. "So why don't you just absorb this other spirit or-" he waved a hand "whatever it is you did to beat the others. Are they too strong?"
Thorn snorted "Hardly. And I did try once. The problem is their mind is so broken that there's no way it wouldn't have affected me. Even in the few moments when I tried, I felt myself start to shatter. It was very unpleasant. And they were such a non-threat, that I figured it wasn't worth it. Here we are." He waved a hand at a nearly solid wall of thorns and they pulled apart, revealing a cave entrance. Corin could faintly hear running water and... Was that whimpering? "Ah," Thorn said, scowling "They're awake. Unfortunate." He stepped into the cave. "Come along, we really do not want to be long."
The cave was freezing, and the floor was soaked. There was a stream too, that moved sluggishly. Corin paused to kneel and get a closer look. It was sluggish, he realized because it was so icy. And suddenly, he had a sinking feeling which the one spirit Thorn hadn't consumed was. "Flowbreaker." He breathed out, breath misting in the cool.
"Hmmm not quite." Thorn countered. "Hurry up!"
Corin pushed himself to his feet and hurried after the man, heart pounding. "What do you mean not quite? How can it be not quite of anyone? Is it a combination of spirits like you are? Only without a dominant one?"
"Be quiet." Thorn reached a hand back and slapped Corin upside the head. "The fact that they're awake is bad enough, we don't need them knowing we're here." Corin's steps paused at that. "We also shouldn't delay, child. What has gotten into you?"
"Common sense." Corin deadpanned. "And right now it's screaming at me that following a spirit who would gladly see me dead into a spooky cave, that has something dangerous enough in it that the spirit doesn't want to fight it, is a bad idea."
"I don't want you dead. Certainly not like this. If you died like this I wouldn't be able to use your body. And even if you died in a normal way, it would still affect how easily your body moved. No, when I get control you're physical body will still be alive. Thats the whole point after all."
"Funnily enough, none of that makes me feel better," Corin said, then sighed as he started walking again. "Stupid little resh I am, can't leave a mystery unsolved." He muttered darkly to himself. He was pretty sure Thorn had heard him and just chose to ignore it. They walked around a corner and Thorn's steps slowed, as a finger raised to lips to remind Corin that they did not want to be heard. Corin nodded, taking care to make his steps as light as possible. Thorn pointed to the other side of the river and Corin peered over to it, fowning.
"They'll be on that side." Thron's voice said, and Corin wasn't sure if it was in his head or not, which was increasingly concerning. "I never walk on the same side as them. They're too unpredictable. But when we go around this next turn, you'll see them."
Corin nodded again, and the pair silently inched themselves forward. The water, Corin noted with some concern, seemed to be glowing faintly the deeper they walked. A whimper, much louder now they were so close, drew his eyes up and to the figure on the opposite shore. They were easy to make out, even in the dim of the gave with only the faint glow of the river as a light. Though, maybe that was because they were glowing themself. Corin squinted and took a small step closer, very aware of how close he was to the river and of Thron at his back.
Why would they be glowing? That didn't make any sense. Unless it wasn't Flowbreaker? The figure trashed suddenly and Corin drew back, even though he wasn't in reach.
Oh. They weren't glowing. They were just so pale that it seemed like they were because of the river. Okay. That made more sense. He wished he could get closer, to try to make out more details about the other spirit's appearance. Right now they were lying on their side, back facing them so all he could see was their white clothes, skin, and hair. Though the hair might have been a very pale blue, he wasn't sure.
The whimpering continued, even as the trashing stopped. "Are - are the yokay?" Coirn asked Thorn softly.
Thorn raised a hand to cover a snort. "No, child. Of course, they're not. They are what remains of the spirit of Flowbreaker, whose physical sword was shattered. Do you understand what that means for a sword spirit? You should, you saw what happened to your friend's firey friend when their sword broke."
"They die," Corin said softly. "I know that, but... there wasn't anything left of Delys. I know. I checked. I had multiple people check."
"Hmmm yes, but you see flowbreaker wasn't a normal sword to begin with. and it was broken by the child of a godbeast, which did some strange things. I'm not sure why they didn't just die, it would have been kinder certainly, but for some reason, a decent chunk of the spirit is attached to the hilt. Once I would have said it was like a person in a coma, but I learned the hard way it isn't. They're not braindead, they're just in so much pain from the shattering that they can't do anything but sleep, cry, and occasionally roll around. I will tell you more, once we leave."
Corin nodded, though he made no move to go. "Flowbreaker?" He called, softly, but loud enough to be heard. The spirit gave no reaction. "Flowbreaker?" He tried again.
No response.
Thorn shook his head. "Like I said, It's not really flowbraker. It's what little remains after they were torn apart. I don't believe they even know they were Flowbreaker. They just know that they were torn about and that it hurts. That something important is missing." A large hand wrapped itself around Corin's arm and started to pull him back. "But that is a story for later."
Corin let himself be towed back to the clearing where they had met, where the tea still waited for him. He sunk into his chair, eyes a little glazed looking. "What the -"
"Ah. Language." Thorn poured himself some more tea." "I know it's quite disturbing to see, but still. Have some dignity, Corin."
"You don't give a resh about swearing and we both know it," Corin said weakly, shaking his head. He rudded a hand over his face. "What did you just show me, Thron? I know you said it was the remnants of Flowbreaker but what does that even mean?"
"I wish I could tell you," Thron said, looking genuinely remorseful. "But I'm not too sure either. It's one of the few things I don't know about. All I know is when I tried to absorb them like I did the others, I was overcome with pain, and it was hard to think. Not only because of the pain but because it felt like someone was trying to pull apart my mind. I felt everything that remains of Flowbreaker feels daily. They weren't strong enough to resist me, but their pain was."
Corin covered his mouth, looking queasy. Thron thought there might even be tears building in his eyes. Redicsouly soft boy. How had he made it so far? After taking a sip of tea, and letting the boy compose himself Thorn continued. "That is why I wanted to warn you. It's not likely you ever form a connection deep enough to connect with them, easily not while I'm in the sword, but it is possible. It is also a very very bad idea because it will break your mind, and make you feel like your body is breaking too. Do you understand?"
All he got was a shaky nod.