Cold Scales

by Konatra

A Bitter Reunion

After some heavy combined thinking, the duo came to the conclusion that Discord seemed to just peace out whenever he wanted and came back when it involved some comedic event involving him or something random. In regards to a house or some kind of place to live the both of them were stumped as to the current whereabouts of the Chaos God. After some time the Hunter leached off of Spines and returned to his normal(?) form. Even after separation, Spines felt some kind of bond with the strong monster guy.

The Hunter paced around the tree line in deep thought for a few minutes. Spines used this time to sit down on a moldy stump and collect herself before she fell apart. She shivered every so often. The tall man snapped his long fingers. "Chasm is a chaos god so that means we can summon him." His tendrils shot out of his back into the ground to carve out a large circle filled with various odd symbols. "Yes that will do, I learned this from one of the books in your library. Now we need to gather three cups of Dire Wolf blood and some corrupt roots of a dying elder tree. Now this will be difficult to obtain but I'm certain we can collect these items before the month's en-"

Spines jumped to her feet with a chest full of air, she let out a heavy yell. "DIIISCOOOOORD!!" Her draconic lungs shook the ground causing flocks of birds to flee from their resting trees. Even the Hunter flinched at the sudden increase in volume.

"...Are you sure that wi-" A puff of sparks, smoke and confetti drowned out his words. Dressed in a pink glimmering tuxedo and lampshade that acted like a hat, Discord the god of chaos appeared before the duo. He was in the process of blowing a party streamer while the shade obstructed his vision. He looked confused.

"Hey!" He threw the shade off his head which disappeared in a pull of smoke, he completely ignored the white hunter to peer angrily down at Spines. "Now I'm not sure what Dusk Shine teaches you about manners but where I'm from it's rude to yell out for someone when they're in the middle of something." He took off the tux which also blipped out of existence, he ate the streamer.

Spines smiled slightly. "Well it's not like you had to come immediately...or at all really." She could see the hunter slowly creeping up behind Discord.

He waved a claw to dismiss her. "Well sorry, I just thought for a second I was a Genie who must obey your every command. Regardless I was under the impression you went missing around a month ago, your father is running the kingdom to the ground searching heaven and hell for you." Despite his usually cocky and arrogant nature, he looked somewhat genuinely concerned.

Spines felt awful at this information, Her father, Dusk and who knows how many more were suffering because of her curiosity. Before she could ask more about what happened during her absence Discord made a retching noise and held his nose in disgust. "My goodness Spines, what part of Tartarus did you crawl out of?" Suddenly his yellow eyes bulged, some of the colors of his face drained down to the floor. "I feel a presence I've not felt since-!" He turned to see the Hunter poised to attack. "YOU!"

"CHASM!" The Hunter unleashed six tendrils that hooked around the body and every limb of the chaos god, despite his powers Discord could not break free. "It would seem I wasn't the only one who lost so much power from back then." Discord trashed around violently like a caught snake, after a minute of this he calmed down.

With a huff Discord spoke in a tone far darker than anything Spines heard from him before, it sent a chill down her spine straight to her tail. "Truly it has been some time since we last met Interloper...you look different, far less bulky and more serpent-like..." He spoke calmly but his words hinted at inner spite.

The Hunter stepped closer to the captured god. "I can say the same for you Chasm, last I saw you you at least looked like a dragon of some sort, I can hardly even recognize you now."

"Ah yes..." He circled his lion hand around. "I hardly even remember what I used to look like, this is what happens when I decide to see what was all the commotion was about during the initial riot, serves me right I guess." He sighed folding his arms together after the Hunter freed him. "Those savages tore me to pieces so I had to find the unshredded bits of my old comrades and fuse them into my flesh." He chuckled closing his eyes in remembrance. "Ah 'Chasm' that's a name I haven't heard in ages...that life is far behind me Interloper."

The Hunter took a more relaxed stance now feeling that the hostile aura around Discord has lessened to safe levels for the moment. "You were all fools to imprison me, if you blasted gods could just listen for a moment then I could have killed that Infection before he could gain even an ounce of his current power, yet you decide to let him grow enough energy to level a planet if he so wished."

"Well I can't take all the blame for that whole fiasco, I actually agree with you in that regard, I never approved of the whole 'Strongest Sentinel' garbage the Top was blabbering about, giving an Interloper such power was one of the dumbest ideas I ever heard of. That demon should have been killed the second we had him in our grasp...in some aspects, I'm glad things played out the way they did, given a few more centuries I'm certain the Top would have started a civil war and burn this planet to a crisp." He walked over to his old prisoner. "The question remains, however." He leaned down lightly to meet eye(?) level with the tall hunter. "Why have you summoned me, surely it is not to 'catch up'"

"While you spent your days lollygagging and tormenting horses with petty parlor tricks, I kept this planet secure by killing the thousands of spawns that keep bleeding out of that monstrosity you 'gods' created! I am amazed that Thing didn't figure out how to escape this forcefield that keeps the bastard away. I am almost certain I am the one who made it in the first place, I can barely remember anything with all the energy you forcefully backed my mind up with."

For a moment the tall man lost his composure, even still he seemed pretty self-controlled for the level of abuse he has suffered over the years. Spines coughed lightly to make her presence known. Both odd creatures looked to her. "Yeah, well I just only starting to understand what happened between you two back then, do I really have no say in this but I think we should focus on the horrible monstrosity that has been living in that forest before it decides to start leaving its cave...Discord we could really use your help." The multi-named god looked thoughtful for a moment as he stroked his beard.

"Listen kid." He took a step toward her and ruffled her head spines. She pushed his lion hand away half annoyed. "I could not even start to understand how you got wrapped up in all of this ancient business, but I'll tell you this, up until two minutes ago I didn't even know that Disease was even still around, I assumed it either was killed by some malevolent force or it escaped this world and chose some other planet to torment." He shuddered. "You have no idea the fear that was placed into me eternally after meeting face to face with him. Sometimes I go into a state of terror thinking about the event when I'm alone, god or not, even at full power I could not leave a dent in his armor. Several powerful beings fought together to kill it, but even then we were slaughtered like dogs." His eyes shrunk to pinpricks. "If he has really made a resurgence...then I suggest we start to evacuate this dimension altogether."

Spines frowned at the idea. "Discord that's ridiculous! I thought you changed but now you're saying you would abandon everyone at the sight of trouble, a bunch of Nightmares almost killed Butterscotch and the Crusaders less than an hour ago, this is much bigger than us."

Discord looked genuinely distraught. "I understand what you think Spines but this goes far beyond anything we are able to comprehend. Listen, I like you and all of the friends we have so I can keep them safe, we and many others can come with me and live in my pocket dimension. We can all live together in harmony and whatnot, it beats dying and being absorbed by miles."

"Can we save everyone on this planet?" She snapped.

"No."

"Then no deal."

Looking defeated, Discord sighed. "Sooner or later you will want to take my offer Spines, it will be your only hope at survival. The more you wait the more lives will be lost." Seeing her angry face Discord made his leave.

"HOLD ON!" Before he could warp out of space the Hunter latched a tendril to his goat leg. "We're not finished yet Chasm."

"And what could you possibly want from me Interloper?"

"Where is the crash site, where is my ship!"

Comments

[NightmareMoon23]

Great chapter!