Blood and Smoke

"Don't think it over too much," Nicholai said "If you can't decide on one thing, then make a few for him to try. Maybe that'll be more likely to gain his favor." If only Billy had told them what Rava even was, then Zephyr might've been able to narrow his options down somehow and make something that the quest favored more than most foods.

Ugh, cats. And he had to babysit them. He was tempted to ask Alder to do it, but Nicholai was supposed to try and be nice to Salt and the unnamed Maine coon. So, he said "Yeah, I'll watch them." And with that, he left to go find the two cats wherever they were, leaving Zephyr to work.

Nicholai didn't have much to do with watching the two cats, not that he minded. He had patiently waited for Zephyr to finish, coming when he called. He tilted his head curiously at the food set out. It only took a moment for him to join his partner in the circle, hoping they'd be successful in getting to talk with Rava.

Nicholai looked around after Zephyr called to the entity, whatever it was. A minute passed before there was someone sitting opposite of them. Ivory-black skin, with three milky-white eyes. His hair was braided, the length going just past his shoulders, and he was wearing a black, probably will robe with silver patterns. He sniffed at the food curiously, then at the humans before him. "You must want something big if you made more than one dish." Still, he began to pick at the food, eager to try it.

Rava's aura was small, but super dense, like he was containing it. He paused from eating for a moment, looking at Zephyr. Then, he smiled in amusement, pearly-white fangs showing before he went back to his meal. "I have it," he said before going back to eating "I stole it, actually."

Rava went quiet again, silently eating as he thought about what he might want. "What do you want it for?" he then asked them, licking his lips before going back to eating, on the track to finishing off all of it.

"It is if you want it," Rava said after swallowing, eyeing the new tray "The sword you want is old, dangerous, and really shouldn't even be within your knowing. You're not competent enough to know how to fight with it, so you must want it to fix something, or someone?"

Nicholai glanced down at Zephyr, but his gaze snapped up to watch Rava almost choke on his food at the mention of Barry. He hid his face in his robe to gather himself, unresponsive for a moment before showing his face again, licking his lips. "Um... I didn't know he was actually alive. Being burned by the sword? You usually die within a year, no matter who or what you are if you don't get help. Mmm... I was there when my brother created the fire that the sword bears. Experimented on everything he could find. I don't know if he was successful, but in attempt to cure the symptoms, he would drain their blood, and a weird orange substance started to leak out instead, and he'd drain them until the orange stopped flowing. You'll need the sword to make the cut though."

"The orange substance isn't the entire stock of blood," Rava clarified with a small laugh "The majority usually takes up about three pints, give or take one, and it's drawn to the sword which is the reason why it drains at all."
At the restated question, he snorted, still picking at the food "I want your promise that you'll return it to me when you're finished trying to help your incurable leech. Once I reveal it, many will come for it, and that'll be your problem."

"You're very impatient. I bet you're very needy in bed." Rava snickered before standing up as well, palms glowing a firey orange as he muttered a single word of some old language. A ball of fire formed in front of him, and he pulled back a sleeve before he reached in without touching the flames. Grabbing something, he pulled out a sword by its hilt, eyes reflecting the pretty flames as he said "Never touch anything with this blade that isn't infected, and do not swing it, cause rumor is that the air catches fire if you so." He held it out for Zephyr to take.

Rava turned away, disappearing in a puff of smoke, any food that had still been left mysteriously disappearing as well.
Nicholai curiously looked at the sword before nodding in agreement at Zephyr's suggestion. "Alright, let's head back to Billy's then." Taking a few minutes to clear out the dishes Rava left and put them in the kitchen, he was soon ready to go.

Barry was listening to Billy talk about one of his books. His dilated gaze snapped over to Zephyr, and his pupils shrunk so much that you couldn't see them. He snorted, sparks of black lightning escaping his nose. How dare you bring that weapon here, wretch? See what happens if you try to get close to me with it! He pulled at his restraints, muscles clenching around the spear still in him, skin on his wrists being cut now from trying to pull them free. Billy tried to calm him down, but jumped back when he was nearly bitten. Barry pulled and thrashed, erratic, blind lashes of black lightning reaching out, whipping and grabbing. However, their range was limited, about a three foot radius.
Nicholai only watched, nose twitching as he picked up on the stench of the lightning, but also a tiny hint of fear swimming around under the bold smell.

After making sure Zephyr was okay, Nicholai cautiously approached Barry, only getting close enough to try and see a cut. There was a puncture wound, but the orange substance inside started to leak out, though it was super slow, like thick sap. Barry was screaming and yelling, pulling at his restraints. And the unfortunate thing was that he causing them to become loose from the wall, foam dribbling from the edge of his mouth.

Billy looked around stressfully, then edged around Barry to pick up the sword by the hilt, just as Barry's gaze snapped over to Zephyr.
Your HELP is to cut me all over again! I don't need or want your help! His struggling was actually getting the orange blood to flow a little faster, but it wasn't anywhere close to enough as he pulled one of his arms free, the chain breaking and he immediately tried grabbing at Zephyr. But, the grabbing was brief, Billy cutting clean through the arm, causing orange to explode or of the wound at a much more satisfying rate.