forum Ever Searching (1-1, Closed, Mature)

Started September 14, 2022 by @Serpentess health_and_safety language

tune

Troll claws are known for being filthy disease carriers, almost as a form of toxic defense against their attackers. Valiel hadn't wanted to tangle with the trolls for that and other reasons, but she had, and now she was paying for it.
She woke up at some point, her body burning up with fever as the slashes on her body quickly got infected and inflamed. She realized someone was holding her, but was too out of it to notice who. She passed out again, sinking into fever dreams of troll teeth and black balls of energy flying at her from every direction.

(Lmao! A concussion with a side of plot, evil grin)

De’Tearion didn’t wake for a bit, but the sensation of an unusually warm body against him caught his attention. It wouldn’t have bothered him, except this was indeed unusually warm. As in, feverishly warm.

His eyes slowly opened and he glanced down at his beloved. She was hurt, badly, and the wounds were infected. How? Had he hurt her? And had she somehow changed her hair? It seemed so much more red than dark brown.

“Mileena, my love, what happened to you?”he breathed, gently brushing a clawed hand through her hair.

He couldn’t see her face, but he could hear her sleeping heartbeat. Good, she was resting. Now… could he heal her?

Attempting to concentrate was difficult, almost impossible, but he managed to piece together the hum he needed for the most powerful of the few healing spells he knew. He then pressed his hand flat against her and started to chirp and sing the incantation for the spell.

Faint golden light swirled around his fingers then spread onto Valiel, seeking out her wounds and cleansing them of the infection. Then, the smallest of her wounds started to knit themselves back together until they were merely scars. The rest of her wounds then start to heal, becoming shallower and smaller.

Unfortunately, De’Tearion couldn’t hold the spell much longer and the gold light faded into nothing. He immediately blacked out again, his head pounding even in his sleep. He wouldn’t be waking up again for a good while.

Valiel's fever cooled slowly, and she eventually woke up, sweaty and tired, but healthy. Her wounds hurt, but significantly less than they should have. She lifted her hands and froze.
Some of the wounds were smaller, and some were gone altogether.
She was also suddenly aware of someone cradling her. She sat up and looked around, to find the aggressive creature from earlier, curled around her protectively. He was breathing weakly, but consistently, and was definitely alive. He didn't seem hurt, but she knew he'd been thrown around and might have internal injuries.
She swallowed hard, and gently extricated herself from him. As soon as she was free, she scrambled away, sitting down a few feet away, out of his reach, but in his line of sight.
Valiel wondered if he'd been the one to accelerate her healing. She could heal herself, but the magic needs were great, and she appreciated the help.
She took a moment to focus, searching for the light always nestled somewhere in her chest, and sent a strand of it towards her wounds. They healed all the way, and she felt much better.
She sat and thought for a moment, coming to the conclusion that if he'd healed her, the least she could do was help him.
She pulled on the light again, and sent a long tentacle in his direction, letting it search im for wounds. She didn't find any, except for his head, which the light was immediately drawn to, as if he had a concusison or something. She felt the drain as it healed, and then felt the hurt disappear.
Valiel sat and watched him sleep, trying to decide what to do now.

(I was trying to have it where his secondary arms were broken, but I think I made it too subtle. So… yeah. My bad on that one. Either way, casual shrug)

The moment Valiel left his arms, De’Tearion reached out, as if to grab her and pull her back to him. He missed though, his claws stabbing into the dirt, then his arm retracted afterward, his body coiling up even more. His secondary arms didn’t move however, one hanging awkwardly. During this, he never stirred.

He also didn’t stir as Valiel healed him, mending his arms and any internal injuries, as well as his head. But, minutes afterward, his eyes flickered open. With a groan, he sat up, morphing his arms from insectile to human, and massages his temples. He had a headache, but it was minor, and thankfully not accompanied by that strange fog from earlier.

After a moment, De’Tearion looked around. He saw the trolls, piecing together what had happened. He wasn’t sure how the male had died, but he figured that the shapeshifter had managed it somehow. Speaking of… where was she? And where was Mileena? Had she witnessed the battle? Or was she just a dream?

Turning, he froze at the sight of a young human woman. She was awfully similar to Mileena, despite having different features. Short and lithe, and beautiful in a way only humans could be. But… where was Mileena?

De’Tearion searched his surroundings, standing after a minute. He looked for any signs of her, but none showed. Where was she? Where was his beloved? Was she okay?

“Mileena?”he called.

“Mileena!”

She didn’t answer. Mileena wasn’t there. She… she was just a dream. But… he had healed someone. He felt the lingering traces of magical drain. Who had he healed? He had a feeling he already knew.

De’Tearion sighed shakily, trying to compose himself, but it failed. That sigh inspired more, and in mere heartbeats he was in tears. He fell to his knees, his heart pouring out of his eyes, one black tear at a time.

(Sorry! missed that)

Valiel watched the creature, who still had no name that she knew, wake up. He began looking for something, or someone, frantically checking his surroundings.
He called a name, and Valiel felt her heart go out to him at the desperation in his voice.
She watched as he collapsed into tears. Black, ugly tears that coursed down his face made her recoil a bit, but she didn't leave.
Something had made him heal her. Maybe he'd just been kind, although she had a suspicion now that in his dreaming of this Mileena, he had mistakenly protected her. His brain seemed more clear now, but… Somehow Valiel felt bad.
It wasn't her fault in the least bit, but she felt responsible for the situation with the trolls. If she'd known he was going to bumble into them, she'd have let him know how to hunt efficiently. Lure the pup away into the woods and THEN kill it, so the parents don't come running…
As it was, they had three dead trolls on their hands. Enough meat for literal weeks.

(It’s alright. No big deal)

De’Tearion fell onto his side after several minutes, curling up. His crying slowed, but the pain didn’t fade even when his tears came to a stop. He was a fool to believe Mileena would forgive him. A fool to believe she wanted anything to do with him. And though he craved for her forgiveness, he knew he didn’t deserve it.

He sheathed his secondary arms, then just laid there on the ground. His hand drifted up to cradle his amulet, but he didn’t otherwise move. The trolls faded from his mind, and he ignored the appealing smell of blood. He also forgot about the human woman and the shapeshifter, though he wasn’t yet aware that they were the same person.

Valiel watched, and waited, and wondered if she should do something.
Then again, she had no clue who he was, and their only interaction had started with him attacking her.
She eventually decided they ought to deal with the meat from the trolls, if they were going to eat such a hard-earned meal. She stood and walked over to the male, which had the most meat, and copied his massive paw. She shifted one of her hands to a small version of a troll paw, focusing mostly on getting the claws right.
Armed with the claws, she was able to start butchering the creature into small enough chunks to move and eat.

De’Tearion still didn’t move, as he was too busy wallowing in misery to focus on anything else. Though, as Valiel started butchering the male troll, the smell of blood caught his attention. He then realized that the human was still there, and he was quite fond of human blood. He was quite fond of humans in general, and not just as a meal.

“Who are you? How has a human survived in a forest such as this?”he asked quietly, his voice shaking slightly from his lingering emotions.

He then rolled over to watch the human. He made no move to get up, and there was a general sense of melancholy about him. Like the broken shell of a once proud and confident male.

Valiel glanced up at him, and held up her hand, which was clearly not human. She hoped he'd recognize her.
"Same way you do, hunt and hide." She wasn't trying to be condescending or hurtful. He looked sad enough at the moment without her antagonizing him.
"You want the meat cooked or raw?" She couldn't tell how he'd eat it, and had no clue about his species anyway, so best to ask.
"Also, do you have a name? If we're gonna be around each other and not kill one another, maybe a name might help." She eyed him warily, hoping he would get the point. I don't want to fight you, but if you come after me again. one of us will end up dead.

De’Tearion saw the hand and immediately realized that the human and shapeshifter were the same person. How had he missed that? She had been the only other individual he’d seen in the forest for a long time. Humans were such a common creature as well. It made sense that she’d have a human form. Also, her scent had never changed, nor had her heartbeat.

De’Tearion chirped at her answer, sighing.

“Disregard my second question. Shapeshifters can survive easily in any place. I had merely realized not that you had a human form,”he commented.

At her question, he rose a confused eyebrow. Why was she preparing the meat. He didn’t need that. Half of the time, his victim was still alive when he started eating.

“Raw, and whole. Yet… I have eaten not with others for a long while. My eating habits are pleasant not to witness,”De’Tearion mentioned.

He didn’t immediately reply when she asked for his name, though he ignored the rest of her words. It was strangely difficult to comprehend that he’d once had a name at all. It was like that name belonged to someone else, someone who actually had something to live for. He knew the feeling, as he’d nearly turned feral once before. But, the sensation was still disconcerting.

“I… would ask for your name first,”he said.

Valiel nodded. "I can take many forms, if you must know." She tossed him half the meat, mostly the larger chunks. It was all still raw, as she'd prefer it that way too.
She quirked an eyebrow at his refusal to give a name. "Call me E. I go by many names, since I take many shapes. Your name?"
All technically true, but if he was going to dodge questions, she saw no reason to spill her personal details. She'd been trying to establish a truce of some sort, but if he didn't want it, he could mess around and find out. Again.

“True shapeshifters always can,”De’Tearion replied knowingly.

Goliathans were shapeshifters, but not true in the sense that De’Tearion meant. They only had one other form. Whereas ‘true’ shapeshifters were known specifically for their morphing abilities. De’Tearion had known a creature like that, a race of tricksters simply known as Vanishers. He had never been fond of them, though he had known an ally or two among their ranks, one of which that he missed dearly.

De’Tearion watched her throw the chunks of meat, his raised eyebrow lingering. He had meant a whole body, that he could tear into it himself. But, he wasn’t about to complain. There would be no point.

De’Tearion sat up and grabbed a large piece of meat, making sure that there was no skin upon it, then ripped it into chunks easier to fit in his mouth. The four feelers came out again, pulling the meat inward to the mandibles hidden in his mouth. Within moments, the chunk was gone, swallowed. After a couple minutes, he’d eaten the entire piece of meat that he’d grabbed, a shocking thing considering how big the piece had been.

Her answer wasn’t what he had been looking for, but he had a letter at least. And, it was likely a better alternative than ‘shapeshifter’ or ‘woman’. Unfortunately, that meant it was back to his turn to reveal his name. Was it even that now? Or was it just the name of a lost era in his life? A few minutes passed before he finally said something.

“My name be… De’Tearion. Ákle-Ikli De’Tearion.”

The name sounded so strange to him. And, he couldn’t do a thing about it.

Valiel watched him eat, for a brief moment, before deciding she didn't need that mental picture forever. She tossed him more chunks as she cut them loose, figuring he'd want a large amount. She was only cutting them into pieces light enough for her to move easily.
He eventually responded, and she nodded slowly. "De'tearion. Not a bad sounding name." She looked at him. "And you're just out here, hunting other sapients in the woods?" She was a little irritated that he hadn't immediately stopped, upon finding out she was a thinking person. He'd continued hunting her, like some animal he could just kill for food.

De’Tearion watched Valiel, appreciating her efforts. Unfortunately, the more she threw over to him, the less he wanted. He managed to eat two more large chunks before losing his appetite completely. However, his hunger wasn’t anywhere near satisfied.

“De’Tearion be my family name. A curse upon my existence,”he replied bitterly.

He turned to face her, his expression emotionless.

“I know not what you are referring to, yet I was hunting for anything appealing. Not many things are for me,”he replied.

He could smell her irritation, and hear it in her heartbeat as well. Though, he didn’t really care. He was naturally an apex predator, of any creature he could kill and eat.

"I'm referring to the fact that you hunted me, then realized I was a person, with a mind and a soul and all that good stuff, and you still decided to try to eat me." She said levelly. "Bit of a jackass move."
She noted he wasn't eating more and stopped sending food his way, consuming it herself instead. She shifted to the wolf form, where she could swallow large chunks at once and eat faster.
She could tell he was ysed to being the biggest, strongest, most powerful creature in his vicinity. He carried himself that way, though with a hurt somewhere in his being that made her curious.
Well. He wasn't feeding on her today, or ever, if she had anything to do with it.

De’Tearion snorted disdainfully at her words.

“All things have sentience, in their own way. And, I have eaten many humans in my life, woman. It makes no difference to me what you are,”he said.

He watched her, intrigued by the way she morphed into a wolf to eat. He wasn’t fazed by the gore whatsoever.

Though, as time passed, the peacefulness of their meal seemed to inspire his darker memories to surface. Maybe it was the quiet. Maybe it was the companionship after so long without it. He wasn’t sure. He tried to ignore them, but he found himself seeking the comfort of his amulet once more.

"Sentience, yes. Sapience, no. The fact that you see no difference and just kill indiscriminately shows me you're neither." She glared at him. To admit to eating innocent people was… just a monstrous attribute, and Valiel almost wished she'd let the troll get him.
But, he was alive, and she was alive, and they were going to have to either peacefully coexist, or get into a knock-down-drag-em-out fight to the death.
Coexistence, then.
She finished butchering the male and consumed the rest of its meat. She moved to the female, resuming her more human form, but with the claws of a troll, butchering the female slowly. Eventually, she shifted to the bear form to scarf down that meat as well, managing to get it all into her system.
She looked up, to see De'Tearion looking upset. He was clutching an amulet of some kind around his neck.
"Something bothering you?"

De’Tearion snorted, seeming disinterested.

“E, you know not me. And, you most certainly know not my home. Believe me when I say that I am quite civilized compared to the other Forestfolk of my homeland,”he remarked, bitterness in his voice.

He watched her finish eating the male troll, then the female. It saddened him to waste an opportunity like this, but… he simply had no more interest in eating, even despite his lingering hunger.

De’Tearion didn’t realize he was being watched until he heard the shapeshifter’s voice. He flinched, startled, then took a deep breath and sighed. His mouth opened slightly to respond, but he decided against it, simply closing his mouth and turning away.

Valiel smirked at his assertion of his own civilization.
She'd come from the Hinterlands, and could say with certainty, that even 'civilized' people from sufficiently savage lands were savages and ferals. By that definition, she and De'Tearion both fit.
She watched his reaction to her and decided not to pry. There was no point. He'd been nothing but hostile and rude, and she saw no need to stick around.
He did heal you, though.
She sighed as her conscience prodded her.
"At least answer me this: Why did you heal me?"

De’Tearion ignored her smirk. If the shapeshifter couldn’t deal with him being from a harsh homeland, then that was her own problem. She had never seen the forests, had never known the constant battles, the constant paranoia of being stabbed in the back or eaten alive. She’d never known the dishonor and disrespect of a race that considered themselves honorable.

Her question ripped him out of his thoughts, and he froze. He couldn’t look at her, not because he was ignoring her, but rather because he didn’t dare face her. It would mean facing a woman that reminded him of Mileena, of the hurt he caused her, and the hatred she now held for him.

“I… know not,”he breathed. He was lying. Unfortunately, he was a very bad liar, and he winced at how obvious it was now. His hands also started to shake with the effort of trying to keep his composure.

Valiel watched his pitiful attempt at deception. He had appeared cunning and very much the schemer, up to this exact moment.
He was obviously hiding his reasons.
"C'mon now, I'm curious. Why would you heal me, after we've done nothing but trade blows and insults?"

De’Tearion sighed and shook his head. He really didn’t want to talk about why he had healed Valiel. Unfortunately, he had been stupid and tried to lie. What had happened to him? Why did so many of his actions not make any sense?

“I… ‘Tis difficult to explain,”he answered vaguely.

He was fighting tears at this point, and deliberately avoiding Valiel’s gaze. His hands shook more prominently now.

Valiel made a small joke. "What, did you think I was someone else or something?"
Only after she'd said it did she see the look on his face, or the way he wasn't looking at her. She remembered that he hadn't recognized her in her human form right away. And then it hit her.
*Oh, he really did… that's… *
She didn't know how to feel, given how he was reacting.

De’Tearion visibly flinched at her joke and teleported away. He reappeared behind a nearby tree, a black tear sliding down his face. He fought to compose himself, but all he managed to do was keep himself from completely bursting into tears.

Why did this woman, E, or whatever her name was, have to question him? Why did she have to push him? And why did he want to stay around her despite having no reason to whatsoever?

De’Tearion could only hope she didn’t ask about Mileena. He knew he had shouted her name after waking up, and E had watched the whole thing.

Mercy, for once, be merciful. Let her ask not about Mileena. I beg you.