OxO with @Anxietyfilledcinnamonroll
In the dark of Mirkwood, the little light that did break the tree cover often played tricks on the eyes. It made people see things- ghosts, spirits, impossible waifs and fantastical Fey.
One such thing, visible only in the moonlight, was the soul of a young Elf.
Arcturus had died that morning, slain in combat. His soul was so troubled over the state of his home, however, that he couldn't go to his rest easily. He was wandering, trying to find a way to make a difference in the situation of Eryn Lasgalen.
He didn't realize his unguarded soul was calling in every soul-seeker for miles.
Soul-seekers were any creature that could sense and interact with the souls of the living or dead. Some were Fey, who tried to coax the soul straight from the bodies of the living. Some were wraiths, who were tortured souls themselves, never to go to their rest.
And occasionally, there was a Hellhound.
(I'm finally home! And for some reason I made it Oct 3)
The darkness only covered what lurked in the thick forest that swallowed all light. A pair of glowing eyes moved their way through the everlasting darkness. A special kind of soul keeper moved about, sniffing the air for the scent of an unguarded soul. An unguarded soul had an intoxicating smell, one that drew in others, like how humans were drawn to weird art pieces. This creature didn't care. A lost soul was a lost soul. The creature came upon the battlefield, tilting his head at the soul of an elf. The usual thing he'd seen, but it was something new and someone that could potentially be shoved back into his battered body. This creature had a name and his name was Bane. Bane was the rarest soul-seeker among the rest— a hellhound.
Bane stepped out of the forest, the moonlight hitting his onyx eyes, turning them ember. He glanced up at the moon, noting its half looking shape. In six days, it would have been a fortnight and a hunter's moon. He sighed. A fortnight since his betrayal. But in about a month, it would be his least favorite event. A blood moon. He came upon the soul of the dead elf, staring at it as it interested him. "Hello, slain one." Should Bane even try to shove him back into his body? Would it be useless? He wouldn't know until he found it. The hound had found the lost, claiming the soul for his own. This deterred others from stealing those who deserved rest from him. "I don't think I can actually fix you. Your body might be— horribly mutilated." He looked the soul up and down. Sometimes, Bane could fix the body. Most of the time, he couldn't.
Arcturus had been pacing, trying to think, but his thoughts kept cycling back to the feeling of fear he couldn't shake, the sense of doom, and he hated that he couldn't clear his head.
He was startled by the voice, and looked up quickly, freezing in his spot. The creature was looking right at him, so it had to be talking to him. He didn't respond.
It kept talking, and mentioned fixing him, and Arcturus latched onto that. He stepped tentatively towards the creature. "Fix me?"
Bane's ear twitched, and he stared at the elf's soul. "Yes, fix you." He waved his hand, looking around for the body this soul had come from. "I could place you back in your body if it is not badly mutilated. I could heal the wounds, so you can live again." He paused, finding a lanky body sprawled across the ground. From this far away, it didn't look horribly slashed up. But Bane would find out when he moved closer to it. "But I can only do it once, and if you died again— you'd be out of luck." Bane turned his attention back to the elf, biting his tongue as he racked his brain for appealing solutions. "It would save you from a life of hell, but the consequence, that would be my price. It drains me and I pass out almost immediately from exhaustion." He crossed his are over his chest, holding his sincere gaze with the elf. "Do you want to breathe again or not?"
Arcturus swallowed hard, or at least as hard as his ghostly form could manage. "Umm… I don't know if I can."
The closer Bane got to the body, the more wounds became apparent. Creeping, ugly, already-rotting wounds covered the Elf's body, and his head, though lying right with the body, had been hacked clean off.
"Orcs can be brutal… spiders are just as bad." Arcturus said quietly.
Bane gazed at the body and could help but stifled a laugh. “You are dead dead! Even I can’t fix you… the only thing you have going for you is that your body parts are whole.” He knelt down and grazed his fingers over the body. Nothing happened to the body, as Bane didn’t bother to even try. “Even if I were to ask the demon of resurrection to return you to your glory.” He took a breath. “The price would be too costly— especially after.. the way I ran away..” shaking his head, he stood up and faced the elf. “You’re stuck like this, I’m afraid. I could present some options to you, but you wouldn’t like them.”
Arcturus nodded miserably. "That's what I thought." He kept his head down, listening as Bane explained exactly how impossible it would be.
He looked up after. "Options?"
He wasn't sure he liked that, but he'd died defending Eryn Lasgalen, and if he could continue after death, he would.
Bane sucked in his breath. It was a vicious sound, almost like water being drained from its grounded spot. He nodded, staring at the horizon. “Yes, there are a few options. But as I said, you probably wouldn’t like them.” The Hellhound seemed to be on edge, glancing over his shoulder once in a while. “Well, you could face an afterlife, but you wouldn’t want that. Lost souls don’t fade, thankfully, but they’re cursed to wonder. Unfortunately, if I left you, you’d be dragged off somewhere else.” He grabbed Arcturus’ wrist, making sure he could still touch him. Bane sighed in relief. The elf was still solid to him. He let go. “Option one: You could become a demon. Option two: you could wait until the hunter’s moon and see what comes of it. Options three: You could—“ He gritted his teeth, sucking in air between his teeth. His face scrunched as if he was unsure if this was a viable option. “Try making a contract with me to ensure your soul safe and what not… but the catch is, I’m a Hellhound. We’re not supposed to make contracts. But it can be possible… though I’m not sure it’ll work.”
Arcturus knew if he died, as an Elf, his spirit would travel to the Halls of Mandos, and he'd live in Valinor forever, but… something was keeping him here. Something he was needed for.
"If I… If I wait on the hunter's moon, would you wait with me?"
The Hound had said he'd be dragged away if he left, so Arcturus wasn't sure how to do this without him around.
Bane’s eyes glittered in the moonlight. He turned his attention back to the darkened horizon. His breath visible against the harsh air in the little light provided. He looked unsure, as if he didn’t know if his worry was true or irrational. “Yes.” Bane seemed far away in his own head. “I have no where else to go, so I will wait with you.” He breathed a heavy sigh. “The hunters moon is in six days.”
Arcturus nodded. He'd been aware of the moons before, owing to Silvan's particular relationship with full moons, but that knowledge seemed to have leaked from his head. In fact, a lot of things he'd known seemed to have left him.
Well, I did die, sooo….
He watched the hound look around nervously. "Looking for something?"
Bane was brought out of his head by Arcturus’ voice. Fear consumed his eyes. “So, what is your name? I’m Bane… a traitor according to my lovely father..” He looked up at the sky. Bane started to moved, walking towards the dark horizon, his hands in his pockets. He hoped Arcturus followed him. After all, if he didn’t, the elf would be dragged. “I’m not looking for something per se.” He voice was carried out by the still, cold air. “I’m looking out for someone— my father… whose a bitch and has threatened to murder me. Isn’t that fun.” He muttered.
Arcturus raised his eyebrows, following the Hound. Bane seemed very comfortable with sharing the private details of his awful situation.
The Elf hurried to catch up, finding his ghostly form harder to control. It walked, but its movements were floaty and slow, and he didn't like it. It lacked all the grace and atheleticism he was used to.
He also could feel that his magic was gone, and though he didn't consciously use it often, it had always been there, and he felt vaguely naked without it.
"I'm sorry to hear your troubles." he said carefully. "Any way I can help?"
As soon as he said it, he knew it was a dumb question. What could I possibly do, I'm dead!
Bane slowed his pace, walking slowly. His movements lanky and unappealing. Each step he took was heavy, crushing the ground underneath his feet. Anyone he found who could help him, he constantly told them about his personal life. It was out of desperation for a better life. It was a kinda stupid, but Bane didn't know any better. He was like a child in a sense. "No." He bit his tongue. "That would be a dead man's job.." He paused, looking at Arcturus. "Well, not for a dead man like you. You'll be double dead. You'll become nothing." Bane staggered while trying to keep up with the dead elf. "You need to get used to how to utilize your dead-self. You have some useful dead man abilities."
Arcturus didn't realize he'd outpaced the hound. He was just struggling to move consistently.
"Enough with the dead this and dead that." He knew it was true, but being reminded was unpleasant. "What abilities do you think I have?"
Bane sighed. He stopped, yanking Arcturus by his wrist. "Alright, listen here ghosty boy. I get it may be jarring to hear me talk about you being dead. But's reality and I am telling you why you can't do some things. There is not other way to sugarcoat it." He let the soul go, huffing and walking ahead. Pulling out a hilt, he flicked it and shadows formed a blade. Bane needed to feel protected. A shiver ran up his spine from a bad feeling. "Well, that's for you to find out and for me to kill of some nasty creatures. But phasing through things can be helpful. Possessing things can be helpful."
Arcturus shook his head. "Don't be a jackass, I'm not asking you to sugarcoat anything, just to use bigger words. Can you do that?"
He didn't want sweet lies, but being referred to as dead 6 times in the same sentence was a bit much. Any rational person could see that.
He noted the blade, and Bane's strong sense of insecurity, and realized he may not be dealing with a rational person. Orome, help me…
"Phasing and possession. Anything else?"
Bane growled at the elf. "I'm not being a jackass. I'm just telling you up front. What. Do you want me to call you deceased or departed? Because you're not departed." He shook his head, his eyes glowing in the darkness of the night. The hound charged at something, slicing through it's stomach. A creature shrouded by darkness became visible in the moonlight. The creature fell dead and Bane cursed under his breath. "It's not safe in an open location. Either you give me ideas or I take you somewhere random." The blood on the sword evaporated into a cool mist. "The moon is highest in the sky. We about six hours before sunrise." The hound didn't answer Arcturus' other question, instead, he grabbed the Arcturus by the hand. "Paint a picture of somewhere safe to go."
Arcturus just looked at him. "I don't know why your're asking me, I'm dead. I wouldn't take us to my home now anyway, I don't know you that well." He thought for a moment. "You don't have any place safe? Cuz random is fine, I suppose."
He wasn't sure what the Hound was so worried about. Arcturus had been slain in direct combat with a band of orcs, and you could hear those coming a mile away. There wasn't much that was sneaky enough to creep up on an Elf, and he'd assume the hound would be the same way, but Bane was oddly jumpy.
Bane rolled his eyes, sighing. “I just need some ideas of where to go!” Shadows flickered around their forms. They appeared in a small little base. It was disastrous. It was obviously the a temporary base of a Hellhound. He threw his sword on the ground. “Here’s random.” Bane scavenged around the makeshift base from something.
Arcturus looked around, noting that Bane had clearly been here a little while. Not long, but enough.
"So… a random base you've had set up?" He wanted to laugh, not in a mean way, just at Bane's disorganization, but it didn't seem like the thing to do.
"How long have you been here?"
Bane looked in his satchel, cursing under his breath when he couldn't find what he searched for. The base wasn't really— homely per se, but when you're a hellhound on the run— you aren't looking for homely. The hound had just found some random abandoned cabin and settled. "If been on the run for a week. I betrayed my pack a week ago. They never liked me anyway." There were a couple of makeshift comfort items, but Bane didn't need to sleep, and neither did his new guest. The walls and floor were made from plain wood. The cabin was mostly empty save for some abandoned furniture items. Bane held up a necklace with a symbol hanging from it. I was quite similar to him. "Here. It's an enchanted neckless of Mercury. Mercury is the element that is able to drift between life and death." He placed it around Arcturus' neck. "And the enchantment should give you more of a solid form, so you don't look as—" He bit his lip, searching for a better word. "Expired?"
Arcturus looked at it as Bane dropped it over his neck. He suddenly felt more solid, somehow.
The Elf smiled at Bane. "Thank you." He had noted the hound attempting to find a different word, and was grateful for the kindness.
He wondered about the pack, but decided not to bring it up.
Bane stepped back, looking at the elf with aww. Now he could see Arcturus features better. He closed his eyes, listening for anything of interest. "You're welcome. I have my ways in getting enchanted stuff. My friend is the best at it." He frowned. He knew his friend was going to die soon, but that rose a bigger question. What was he going to do? He had only picked up a dead elf from the streets. There wasn't anyone to protect him if his father found him. Spirits weren't— the best at fighting. "How would you like to live out the six days before the hunter's moon? Maybe then, you could ask for resurrection.. Maybe.." Bane's ear twitched and he whined. A snotty growl came from outside, and Bane picked up his umbra sword. "Shit."
Arcturus was processing what the Bane had said, trying to decide what to ask, when the Hound reacted.
"What?" He tensed, pulling on the magic that had controlled his weapons for so long, but nothing moved. It was disorienting and uncomfortable.
"Bane, how do I help you? How can I fight alongside you?" He asked quickly, trying to figure out a way to be helpful.
