A Piece of Me - commission

"...I don't want to leave you, Sparky"

Kharis sighed heavily, drawing her head against his chest, and stroking it softly. It was something he had done many times, the motion had always been a comforting one, to calm her, to show Aura that he cared for her. Now that gesture tried to comfort her for an ending that neither of them had wanted to see. Both knew what it was like to lose family, but Aura had been too young to fully understand the loss of their parents. Kharis, however, knew exactly what she would go through after he was gone. She would know, even as much as he didn't want her to. He wanted to stay, protect her, keep her safe, hold her tight and let Aura know he was there.

It wasn't fair.

"...but you have to"

Kharis drew her closer, feeling Aura shudder against him. They stayed like this for many moments, until Kharis felt himself grow ever more weary as his body sent signals of wanting to let go. His mind rejected it, wanting to remain here, like this, with her, if only for a few more moments, but the tiredness intensified. Kharis let go of Aura quietly, his heart breaking as she clutched to him even more tightly, and he stroked her head again, gently whispering to her over and over again until he felt it safe to release her head. His hands trembled as they reached behind his neck, silently and clumsily searching for a catch.

He found it, and felt a gold chain slip into his palm, with a pendent at the end. It had been bought the day after Aura had been born, when Kharis had searched for something to commemorate the occasion and remind him that he had a little sister even when he was away. The fact that she had the same shock of purple hair that Kharis did, gave him the idea for the design. It hung on the chain, a teardrop shaped pendent set within a golden edge, the gem a combination of blue and purple, blue for their father's eyes (though neither had inherited this, it seemed more apt than the grey fur or black tipped ears that they had), and the purple for their inheritence of their mother's hair. Kharis had told Aura that it represented their parents, and also the bond that they shared as siblings, and in the nine years since it had been made, he had rarely taken it off.

Now, he motioned to Aura to lean forward, who did so silently. With shaking hands, Kharis placed it around her neck and fastened the catch, moving away to let the pendent fall to the middle of her chest where it rested as if it had always belonged there.

Aura held it in her open palm, then let it fall back as she looked back up at Kharis "...but... you said this was special... you said you'd never take it off... you said..."

"It... might be" Kharis cut her off, looking directly into her eyes "but you're more special than that... and I wanted to give you something... that you knew meant a lot to the both of us" he paused to take in another, much needed, deep breath. It was the only sound that broke the silence, until Aura started to cry "that way... you'll always have... a piece of me... with you"


Second commission for

Pretty proud of this one. I adored the story excerpt she sent me so I wanted to do my best to illustrate it. Kharis has been shot (electrical pulse weapon I was told) and he's fading fast, but not before giving his sister an important gift.

Not sure if I got across that he'd been electrocuted (bloodshot eyes, inflamed veins and the like) but I'm pretty pleased with it. Download for juicy details.

WIP [link]

Characters and Story (c)
Mettalix (c) SEGA