#raziabe

"So, little oddity, you speak to me that you have feelings for Raziel?" Kain asked the blue Mudokon, "Funny, isn't it? Having feelings for someone I hadn't met, and only heard from word-of-mouth? If only I were to know Raziel firsthand that I get a grasp on who I'm falling for..." Abe told the vampire lord, softly laughing out of nervousness over the idea and fact he liked someone he hadn't met,

"Despite all the harsh things I said about him, I can understand why you'd fall for him, Abe..." Kain responded, "His voice, his loyalty, regardless of the snide remarks he'd make of everything he comes across, he still has something about him that makes him endearing..." Kain continued speaking, "I must admit, I sort of miss him..."

While Kain could feel the sorrow of missing someone close to him, Abe asked him an off-topic question to lighten the mood, "Think, when we find a way to get Raziel back here and me back home, you can come by to pay me a visit? If not, maybe Raziel?"

"I'll consider it, but for now, only time will tell of your fate here in Nosgoth, and Raziel's fate in Oddworld..." Kain told Abe, "Let's just focus on getting us out of this rancid place before someone finds us first..." Kain turned and began walking off, "If someone does find us, are they gonna eat us?" Abe asked nervously,

"If that someone were to be a vampire, don't worry about it. Due to your blood being sickeningly sweet to vampires, both in smell and taste, it's practically a natural repellent of yours..." Kain told him, "But if it's not a vampire?" Abe asked once more, "If it were to be human, then it's nothing more than a free meal for me..." Kain answered,

Both of them crossed the various obstacles of the area, and soon, they found the exit, with just a few more to go...

= = = =

While Stranger and Raziel are crossing the desert, passing by some wooden pillars out in the sandy plains, pillars littered with posters, Raziel noticed one particular poster that had caught his attention, a poster for a blue Mudokon named "Abe", a poster of which he tore off the pillar to get a closer look,

"Stranger, do you know who this creature is?" Raziel asked the bounty hunter, who turned around to look at the poster in Raziel's hand, "Oh, him? That's Abe, a Mudokon slave who had stirred up a rebellion against the Magog Cartel," Stranger told him, "Though, that's all I know about him, I never bothered catching him because of how far he is from the West Mudos..." Stranger added,

"A Mudokon, hm?" Raziel spoke up, his pale eyes going back to the poster, eyeing the stitches on his lips, the fear in his eyes, lost in thought until Stranger snaps him out, "Hey, uh, you good?" he asked Raziel, "Oh! Of course I am, what made you say that?" he asked him, "You've been staring for a bit too long, and thought you might be in a trance..." he told him, a response that Raziel scoffs at,

"Don't be ridiculous! If I were to stare too long at someone, it would mean I'm in love, and I tell you, Stranger, that I am not in love with someone I barely knew..." Raziel responded,

Before Raziel could drag the conversation further with other snide remarks and possible tangents regarding love and the concept of love, a covered wagon came crossing by, before stopping when the coachman saw both Stranger and Raziel.

"Heya, Stranger! Heya, ghostie! Trying to cross the desert all on your lonesome?" the coachman asked them, which Raziel felt puzzled by when he heard them call him that. "Did that bird call me a ghost?" he turned to Stranger, "Don't worry about it, they don't know you," he responded, assuring Raziel about the coachman's knowledge, "Wanna take a ride on the wagon? I give out rides for free!" The coachman spoke up, offering the two a free ride, an offer that neither could refuse.

So the bounty hunter and the wraith got into the wagon and sat as the wagon's wheel began to spin, and the wagon's Gallops began galloping.

Raziel looked back at the poster in his hand, staring rather intently at the picture of Abe, staring that Stranger noticed and gave a remark to, "Are you sure you're not in love?" he asked, "Oh, shut up, Stranger,"

= - = - = - = -=