Citizen 1099 Diablo

‘Find me a treasure worthy of this ship,’ Chrysos had said, before hurling Diablo off into the ocean.

What a vague claim! Diablo thought as he hauled himself ashore onto the beach of rocks and misery. A short distance along the beach, the land shifted into a huge, towering cliff with a cave set into the cliff itself. He could feel the wind bite through his red and black scales, ripping away the moisture to leave behind a gnawing cold. He grumbled as he dragged himself towards the sea cave that was in front of him. At least it wouldn’t be so windy inside. He made it in a short time and shook his body like a wet dog. Unsatisfied, he ran his hands across his body, wiping away the excess water. The bag that the captain had sent with him was soaked. Diablo sighed.

‘What does he want?’ he groaned in frustration. ‘I don’t want to get another beating…’ Diablo looked into the cave. He couldn’t see very far into its depths without activating his magic. He slammed his tail into the wall and scraped the ground with his back paws. A loose rock from the wall clinked into his back scales before rolling onto the floor. ‘Better hope there’s a damn treasure chest in here or something… anything…’

Diablo trudged deeper into the cave. He lit his green tinged magic so he could see. He had always hated his magic colour. It threw the rocky walls into a sickly shade, like the surroundings were going to start oozing gross fluids. Brightening his colour and condensing his power into a bright orb didn’t help the feeling, but at least he could see where the walls were. Anything shiny would catch the magic and glisten, but there was nothing so far. He had always hated these caves. They were too dark and there was usually nothing but rocks and icy sea water inside them.

Anything he thought he saw was just a slightly shinier rock. The walls pressed down upon him as he turned the corner and slinked further into the cave’s maw. There was nothing, he knew there was always going to be nothing, but his captain had sent him on this quest. So he could either return empty handed and get flayed to an inch of his life, or he could starve to death. Honestly, he preferred the latter. His thoughts turned inward, not really paying much notice to the surroundings. The captain might wait a day, maybe two if he was lucky. Diablo just didn’t understand why he was sent out like this. Was there a reason? Or did he just want Diablo to suffer?

Thus his thoughts spiraled, and his body went through the motions as he wandered. Through the magic-lit darkness he trudged. Stones flew as he walked. He paid no heed to things like subtlety or carefulness. Rage boiled inside him. He knew his captain was an awful rexal, their ties bound only by the fact he was more powerful and horrible than Diablo himself. He had thought Chrysos had given him some grudging respect for being able to stand up to almost anyone else, but such things were being discarded through the journey.

Such as it was, his front paw slipped and he almost didn’t catch himself. One hand was held over a massive drop off, so deep and dark that his light couldn’t touch the bottom. Rocks skittered into the hole. He had to wait a few seconds to hear them rattle as they hit the bottom. Diablo gulped. He had lost track of things. To his side, there was a small, rocky path spiraling down the wall. It looked barely large enough to hold his sturdy frame. The path was sturdy enough to hold a rexal. He sighed. Perhaps someone had hidden something down here. The path was too convenient. But there was hope that there would be something down there he could return to the ship with.

Diablo began the trek. At first it was easy enough to navigate, with his ball of light lowered down the middle of the hole to illuminate the entire area. He noticed the path was slowly, but surely, thinning out. Walking on all fours became tricky. A minute later, he had to haul himself up onto two legs and turn inwards to the wall lest he fall off. He looked over his shoulder. The bottom was becoming visible. It wouldn’t be too long before he could jump the rest of the way down. He shuffled his feet, inching ever closer. Diablo brought the light closer to him. He wasn’t so stupid that he wouldn’t check if he could get out. It would be possible, if only just.

He flashed the light out and finally looked at the bottom of the pit. Rocks, just a pile of rocks! But… he saw something shine. Hope. He grinned for the first time since Chrysos had hurled him off the ship. Diablo jumped and his body crashed into the stones, sending them flying. His magic caught multiple objects shimmering just a little. He pulsed his magic. He bounded towards each little object that caught his eye, grabbing them and shoving them into his pouch. It was impossible to tell their actual qualities just from the light of the magic. It was better to grab everything and hope that something was of some value. He plundered the rocks, shoveling them all up and turning over everything with his large hands. One of them sliced his hand.

He gazed at it in shock as he paused. The pain came a moment later, stinging in shame. A rookie mistake. However, the object lodged within his left paw had an odd quality to it. It would be worth keeping. He examined it. Blood began to ooze around the object. Removing it would only cause the blood to flow faster. Diablo hauled his magical light to his side. He had no bandages in the bag, only the objects of undetermined value. It was by no means life threatening, but it would be an annoyance if it got infected. Chrysos would probably make him scrub the deck on purpose. He was like that.

Diablo hauled himself back on the path carefully. The strange shard poking out of his left paw made the maneuver more difficult. He inched along the path, slowly, slowly, dripping his own blood onto the uncaring rock wall. After an excruciatingly slow minute, the path widened enough to plant four paws onto the ground. The injured rexal ran on three paws, a wobbly gait as he ran. He didn’t think about why he ran. He felt compelled. Run, run up the strangely circular hole. When Diablo reached the top of the hole, he launched himself forward. He ran until he burst onto the windy beach.

The wind nipped his scales. But this time, it wasn’t so biting. He looked down upon his injured paw. The shard that impaled it glistened in shades of purple and blue. It caught the light in a dazzling way. Diablo thought he could feel some kind of power emanating from the sharp stone. His blood was a stain upon the pure brilliance of the object. It didn’t matter if the entirety of his bag was filled with nothing but junk. He was confident the shard in his hand was all he needed to quell his captain’s rage. Diablo glanced up to the ship and shuddered. After he swam back out to it, of course…

Artist: Glacialfalls