Why?

[FennWenn]

It was nice to meet an old friend again. Amari didn’t seem to mind his enthusiasm, instead standing as steady as a statue as Fenn clung to her. He hadn’t had much good company besides Daugi lately. His friends were all either far away, busy, or both. Though he was used to wandering all on his lonesome, it did get lonely at times. He wondered how long it had been since he’d dipped in to visit anyone. His personal quests sometimes became all-consuming, and he forgot to keep track of time.

Amari tapped her chin thoughtfully as she looked down at him. “Why don’t we get a drink first, to get us relaxed, and then I can take you to the house?”

Drinks sounded good to him! Beaming in agreement, Fenn allowed his old friend to take him by the arm and lead him down the icy road toward town. Daugi, he noticed, trailed after them reluctantly, keeping a certain distance. She seemed uneasy around Amari. That struck him as odd.

Few words came from Amari as they walked. She seemed to be pondering something heavily. Perhaps she was thinking about all the things she had to tell him about since their last visit! Fenn certainly was going through all the adventures he would have to tell her about -- the dragon he tried to steal from, Jake, his quest for knowledge about other Frost Fae. They came to a somewhat rickety bar near the edge of the crumbling city, the edge of the Knife’s Edge. Daugi, stay, Fenn asked with a few short hand gestures. Her response was to bare her teeth in Amari’s direction, causing Fenn to sigh and the woman to chuckle lightly. Something weird had to be going on with Amari’s magic. Last time, Daugi had been delighted to be with her! A more jealous bit of Fenn’s heart was perfectly fine with this. Stay, he commanded firmly.

With a resentful glare, Daugi slunk down into a sitting position and watched the two enter the bar. The door creaked as Amari pushed it open. That was the loudest sound in the vicinity; at midday, it was pretty quiet. Aside from a gaggle of patrons chatting in the corner of the room, it was just them as the bartender, a gruff man who wiped at a dirty glass with an even dirtier rag.

Amari sauntered up to the counter, glancing behind as if asking him to follow. A hushed whisper was exchanged with the bartender as Fenn hoisted himself onto one of the tall stools.

The bartender bustled off to prepare drinks. More than just her appearance was off. He wanted very badly to know just what had gone wrong, and what he could do to make it better. Whatever Vince had tried obviously hadn’t worked, but that was okay; Fenn probably just needed to take matters into his own hands, like he sometimes did when he stumbled into other’s problems by mistake. Sure, those times often ended in a mess, but it was messy success!

WHAT HAPPEN TO YOU WHILE GONE? LOOK A BIT SICK. VINCE HELPFUL? he scrawled eagerly as two mugs were set before them.

“We can talk about that later,” she purred, pushing his drink closer to him. “Let’s drink and enjoy each other’s company. You do drink, right Fennik? Since, you’re not a child.”

Fenn nodded resolutely and grinned, pleased that she would say that.

“Good.” She took a swing of her drink, and he took a swig of his. It was a bit bitter, causing him to scrunch his face, but he wouldn’t complain.

As he drained his cup, Fenn spelled out excited bits and pieces of stories to his friend. He didn’t get much opportunity to just sit down and spill out his thoughts. MUCH HAS HAPPENED SINCE LAST MEET. THERE WAS DRAGON, AND SHE WAS SCARY, BUT I LIVED! AND THERE WAS SPOOKY HOUSE AND IT HAD A SPOOKY CREATURE BUT I DIDN’T SEE MUCH, PASSED OUT. DAUGI FOUGHT IT I THINK. LEARNED MORE ABOUT PEOPLE LIKE ME, NOT MUCH THOUGH. WANT KNOW MORE. AND I FOUND LOTS OF SHINIES. MAYBE SHOW YOU SOME LATER?

Amari nodded in unspoken amusement. He started to feel fuzzy in the head, as if cotton was being shoved through his ears and up into his brain.

His cup was mostly empty now. STRONG DRINK, he noted. His writing was looping oddly, somewhat out of his control.

“It’s good stuff, isn’t it?” She was smiling. It was an odd grin, a composed coyote waiting with bated breath. Fenn tilted his wobbly head at it. She was smiling, so she had to be happy, right? And if she was happy then everything was probably fine.

His head bobbed forward awkwardly, and he wasn’t sure if he meant to nod or not.

THe boundless energy he usually had felt... drained…

The little Fae laid down his head for a moment. It felt so heavy, and he just wanted to get his bearings back. Amari brushed a flick of hair out of his face patiently. Nothing felt quite right about this situation, but he was too out of it to put his finger on what had gone wrong. Trying to think too hard made him more tired. With his cheek pressing against the chipped wood of the counter, lightly frosting the planks over, Fenn dropped off into a dark sleep.

~ � ~ � ~ � ~

Fenn awoke with a dry taste in his mouth and a vague numbness in his limbs.

Grogginess yielded to the sudden realization of pain. His breath caught, and his eyes watered. It felt as if molten bracelets had been shackled to his wrists and ankles, a deep burning that made his skin itch and crawl. The soles of his feet burned too. Had someone poured lava over him? He shouldn't be this hot. His natural cold should have hissed away any heat pressed to his skin; this was wrong in so many uncountable ways.

No, no, lava was not his torment. Rusty iron cuffs had been callously clapped onto his arms and legs. Looking at them made him woozy. His skin around the cuffs was char-grey, fading out into an ugly pink. Beads of black blood dripped from cracks made by the burns. It was a few minutes before Fenn could stop staring at it in horror.

What? Why?

He seemed to be in some sort of cage. The room beyond the cage was familiar, if dusty and rundown, but he had trouble placing it. “Good morning, Fennik,” a cold, pleasant voice called out. “Did you sleep well?”

Fenn’s breath tightened in his throat. Amari?