12

Aldrah had not yet found the person he was looking for, walked all over town, through the infernal tunnels of the caves, and found no damn thing.

"Where that rat got into.." He mumbled to himself.

The man was leaning against the wall of the entrance of his house, thinking where the boy had gone, until he noticed a strange man walking, who had a candelabrum on his back.

Aldrah was running out of options, and it was a good choice to ask people if they saw the person he was looking for.

Slowly he walked towards Ban, where with a smile on his face said, "Hello! Sorry to bother you.. But I would like to ask you something." Aldrah stopped in front of the man and continued, "Have you seen a boy, he's usually shining.. And he has messy white hair..."
(Aldrah)

Ban froze in place, completely still by the standards of fundamentally breathing, heartbeat-swayed folk, always pitched back and forth by an abrupt gesture or an epiphany born of thought. Perhaps it had been prompted by Aldrah's approach, or maybe it was a self-imposed directive, to remain peacefully, albeit uncannily inert, vigilant to a world of monotony.

He slowly shifts sideways, glaring quietly at Aldrah, before shaking his head.

"No."
(Ban Heifang)

Aldrah let out a sigh, lowering his head and closing his eyes. His luck was going from bad to worse every second.

"I see .." He spoke, turning his gaze to Ban again, "Anyway, sorry to have bothered you" He sighed again, "And what's your name? My name is Aldrah!" Aldrah reached out to the man for a handshake.
(Aldrah)

Hueless peers, gifted with the tint of a chasm's darkest gulfs simply lay low, staring at the hand that was offered. He waves it away, promptly and evidently refusing the handshake.

"You don't want to touch me."

The man drags the inner folds of his cloak into a broader stretch, yanking them across the form of his chest, as if secluding his body within its creases.

"I am Ban Heifang."
(Ban Heifang)

As a man refused to shake hands, Aldrah just shrugged, would not force him to anything.

"Nice to meet you Ban! I have not seen you before, are you new to the city or its just me being distracted?" He spoke as he scratched the back of his neck.
(Aldrah)

--

Ban Heifang says, "I am Arthur's Rowan undead."


--

Aldrah was surprised, did not think that this man would be an undead, much less one revived by Arthur.

"Really! You're an undead and it was Arthur who brought you back?" Aldrah opened a big smile on his face. "Would you like to come into my house to talk better? I would like to ask you a few things! You know, I'm studying necromancy!" Aldrah nodded.
(Aldrah)

At the mention of Arthur's control over him, the undead simply raises a hand before his own eyes, studying every small crease and stretch of taut, pale skin across his palm. At some moments, it did make him wonder if that body was yet his, or simply a conduit of Rowan's will, and his conscience was nothing but a shade, guiding his gestures and an automatic, idle personality.

The latter prospect was specially frightening now that Arthur had become the abomination he did.

"I am comfortable outside."

Ban's shoulders roll, shrinking, before the lean form of his torso stretches, almost as if unrusting old, worn out gearing. A bluish flicker seems to flare from his eyes and extremities, so vivid it seemed able to fulminate anything living that touched it. A nearby sparrow that soared by, however, simply sat by the Heifang's shoulder, perhaps mistaking it for a statue.

Not at all completely wrong.

"I like the entourage. So, what are your questions?"
(Ban Heifang)

"Oh, okay then .. I would offer you a drink inside." Aldrah shrugged.

Turning his back, Aldrah went back to the wall that was before, leaning against it. He crossed his arms and stared at Ban. He could get more knowledge this time about the life of an undead, because the last attempt did not work out very well.

"Well, they are basic things for my studies understand.." Aldrah nodded "Things I hope do not offend you in any way!"

Aldrah had asked some questions for Astaria, which was also revived by Arthur and is an undead.

"Well, can we start with how you life is like? How do you feel? Do you miss something before you become an undead? Do you feel the urge to feed?" Questions similar to what Aldrah had done to Astaria, where he needed better answers this time.


(Aldrah)

"I do not live, I unlive. It is a feeling that I had never desired to experience, and everything feels- greyer, than in my prior life."

The undead pinches the bridge of his nose, rasping a set of trimmed nails against skin, scratching a way an itch that had not even been there. As undead, not even mundane bothers did ever manage to reach him, and it felt maddening.

"I do miss my wife, my children, and my sibling. I miss purpose. I miss camaraderie."

Ban turns on his heel, glancing at Jonathan.

"Yes?"
(Ban Heifang)

Aldrah pulls a book and pen from his satchel, where he begins to write down what Ban said.

"I see... Did you happen to notice if you lost any kind of emotion?" Aldrah stared at Ban as he held the pen and the book in his hand.
(Aldrah)

"Yes. Empathy, joy, hope? They are not unreachable, not lost to my grasp. But certainly . . feel expendable."

An arm rises, and a hand is yanked forth lightly, brought only a few inches away from Aldrah's neck, its digits clawed as if to grasp it. They close into a fist-

"The rage that would lead me to choke and kill you, however, for whatever offenses you might possibly commit to me, would come rather easily."

That hand closes as its fingers clench, and limps down beside his waist.

"It's easy. Almost tempting to ponder on about."
(Ban Heifang)

Aldrah just stood silent, staring at Ban, not moving and paying full attention to the man, even as he stretched out his hands toward Aldrah's neck.

At the end of Ban's speech, Aldrah began to jot down some things as he said "I see.. I see.." Shaking his head in agreement.

This time Aldrah had gotten more information about the life of an undead, this conversation that came about by chance, was making progress for Aldrah's necromancy studies!

"Would there be something else you can tell me? Something that occurred during the time you lived as an undead?" Aldrah paused and thought a few things for a few seconds, "Some feeling about the person who revived you, in your case, Arthur."
(Aldrah)

"Yes."

Ban's arms move around, failing almost erratically, mimicking gestures of a normal man's routine. "To pour a drink. To write my thoughts. To tatter around a surface to feel it. My movements always felt mine, until . ."

His hands slowly start to clap, unmotivated, slow, but loud. The product of their motion thundered across the vicinity, and then it stopped. It was almost as if he gauged whether or not he could still stop that singular, specific act.

"One day, during Arthur's discourse . . the one announcing his lichdom, I felt coerced, forced to clap alongside hundreds of his other undead, and Ms. Rosenkreuz herself."

"For the first time since my agreement with him, I felt as if my will was not my own . . and that upset me. Our accord was not everything I thought it'd be, and to some extent, I thought myself enslaved."

The undead turns to the side, glancingto Aldrah one last time.

"My body does not wear itself out, but my mind surely does. I shall retire soon, unless there is anything else."


(Ban Heifang)

Aldrah stopped scoring, faced Ban and said, "I remember that moment, I saw his whole army beginning to clap along .. It was kind of weird." Aldrah had seen that scene and found it fascinating, but he would not say this for Ban, because this surely would not please him.

"Well, I guess that already completes my questions!" Aldrah smiled and put his things in his satchel. "Thank you very much for helping me! It really helped in my research."
(Aldrah)

--

Ban Heifang says, "You're welcome."

Ban Heifang says, "Yet another necromancer to the ranks . ."

--