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Chip fell to the floor, the life leaving his eyes before the thud of the impact of the hammer was even heard.
When Gillion found his dear friend, it was while he was in a state of severe panic and hopelessness. Having just defeated the great evil that had plagued the city for millennia, He and Jay quickly noticed their fellow co-captain was missing. Minutes turned to hours and hours into days as they searched for any sign of their friend, hope slowly trickling out of their minds as time continued its endless march to oblivion.
It was by chance that Gill has seen the torn bandana that had been tangled in the overgrown forest floor. And pure coincidence that the trees provided shelter for the body so the scene of his final moments remained untouched, even after countless days, rainstorms, and fights had passed.
Gillion reached down to touch Chip’s cold face, an expression of disbelief and pain clearly sprawled across his own face when the magic spilling out of his hands had no effect.
“No.” It started out as a wisper, barely audible in fear of disturbing the area, but quickly rose to a loud shout and Gillion stumbled backwards,
“No, no no no no no no no no no! This isn’t real! This can’t be real!” Gill had tears running down his face as he tried to convince himself that his friend wasn’t dead in front of him, the grief strong enough to let him forget his childhood training against showing emotion for the time being. Gill looked back up from where his hands had brushed foliage away to reveal the scene he saw now and finally saw the large gash in Chip’s head as well as the small note attached.
“Hello Gillion Tidestrider,” the note read, Gill stated in disbelief, blinking his eyes to rid them of tears as if that would help him read,
“If you are reading this note it means you found your little friend. It’s a shame that it had to happen like this, but what else were we supposed to do? While you were up on land getting cozy with an air breather, we, the ones who raised and loved you so dearly, were forced to stay down here and suffer. ‘When one is faced with a threat, one must get rid of it using any means necessary’ surely you remember the number one rule of your training? It hasn’t been that long since your little accident after all. We also hope you remember your prophecy, specifically the last line, “by their choice one will remain, sea or land.” We were only helping you prepare to make the right choice. And one final thing, if you think about defying us any longer, we will come after you other friends, this was just a warning.
Sincerely, The Undersea Elders.”
Gillion felt a white hot rage spread through his body, how dare the elders thing they could just swoop in and take one of the only good things in his life? How dare they think they can manipulate him into obedience after killing his friend?
Gillion Tidestrider suddenly only had one thought racing through his mind as he looked down at his partner’s dead body,
Fuck destiny.
The thought startled Gill at first before he settled into it, like a warm blanket being wrapped around his shoulders after a particularly cold day on the Albatross.
On that day, as the ex-champion of the undersea, ex-hero of the deep, ex-all things that had once tied him to his prophecy, carried the lifeless and still corpse of his once energetic co-captain back into town, Gillion Tidestrider thought of only two things:
All the happy memories he had with the man in his arms, and how he was going to bring ruin to all those who hurt him.