• Closed • [Eastern Gauthrel]Pups on their own, Part 3.5: Shelter

[Varthakh]

60th Ymiden 717

It was later that afternoon, the sun was highest in the sky. Fridgar picked himself up off the floor and dragged the two Scythons through the forest with him after refilling on water. His sixth sense had been at the forefront of his mind the entire time, keeping an eye on Alistair from a distance. He hadn't returned yet, but he was still alive. That much was certain. In the time they'd been apart, Fridgar had found a spelunking hole next to the river that opened into a large cavern, tall enough for even him to stand up freely in.

It was dark, damp, cold and noise. There was an underground waterfall in there, likely flowing from the nearby river. using his portals and his mutations, he didn't have any light source but his portals to light the cave, so he was left to carefully wander while he was down there. One of the two intact Scython corpses was strung up in a tree outside while the other he kept in the cave, he didn't have enough rope. Just like he'd promised, the first of the Scython that were killed had been strung up for his rose, whenever he returned.

The two suns were starting to set, casting their amber light through the canopy. Fridgar was growing worried. Was Alistair being serious about not coming back? Had he really done that bad at being a husband? No, now wasn't the time to wallow in self-pity, he'd done enough of that for hours, even as Alistair left him in the dirt. This was the time to take responsibility for his actions. As much as he wanted to stand guard over their camp, he couldn't. Instead, he cast totem guardian and summoned the willow redbear to stand guard over the camp, giving the Lothar a good three breaks away before expending all his ether. Through the whole trial, he'd resolved not to use magic and had done it twice for the sake of his beloved.

Wearing nothing but his leather loin cloth, Fridgar set off in the direction that Alistair's energy felt strongest. Yes, he was leaving his strongest form behind and it was growing dark, but Alistair still wasn't back. He could be hurt or out of ether or stuck somewhere, and for that he needed to take risks. Allowing the camp to be compromised and having some wild animal steal their Scython carcasses would be as good as condemning Alistair to no food for a trial.

he carried the femur of the mauled scything carcass, snapped on one end and sharpened to a point. it made for an effective puncturing weapon, especially as Alistair had taken their own blade when he left Fridgar alone. As he walked, the familiar sound of footprints behind him could be heard. For fucks sake was all he could think of as a large beast prowled behind him for what might have been the third time since Alistair left. Fridgar would strafe behind a tree and raise his bone dagger, waiting for what was obviously another stekir to roll by.

Sure enough, the half-cat-half-fish thing walked past the tree, still dripping from having stepped out of the river. Before it could even look at him, Fridgar charged his fist with palenon's lightning and drove the bone dagger into the body of the creature so hard that several of its bones shattered, no matter where he stabbed it. The beast would scramble, hissing wildly as it shrieked with pain before being brutally stabbed repeatedly all over its stupid fish-cat body. When he was done, Fridgar licked the blood from his bone dagger and walked away, leaving the creature still alive... barely.

he continued to walk for what felt like twenty bits before coming to a tree with the strange indent and its roots. Fridgar would lower his body, moving around it a little as he tried to get a feel for Alistair. This was him, slumped against the trunk of a tree. He was alive but... was he in one piece? Fridgar slipped his bone dagger into the edge of his loincloth before proceeding carefully toward the silent man. He stood at his side for a trill, looking down to him. Before the noble even looked back at him, Fridgar lowered onto his backside next to the noble and wrapped him in his arms, providing what was probably the first sliver of warmth that he'd had all evening. Fridgar didn't say anything, he only cuddled. Words had gotten the pair into this mess and cuddles would get them out.

[Alistair]

Here he was, to his lonesome again. Forlorn. This was how it always ended up, really. When had he ever kept anyone, a friend or otherwise? His mother abandoned him, his father betrayed him in a manner of horrific ways. Theodore killed himself because Alistair left to explore the world, Grayson died at his hand for his betrayal. Duncan couldn't handle his cruelty, and Patrick his contempt. Everyone had been pushed away, and they never really made the effort to come back to him. And why would they? He was a spiteful, hateful creature. He was angry, even before Syroa. His brother had seen that, and so had his sister, and so had he. She marked him because he was spiteful, she didn't make him that way. How did he not see that?

He had done so many terrible things in his life, to so many people. He could see them all now. The patients of El'ganneth Rhovanion, monstrous and deformed... cannibalistic. The subjects of his Necromantic curiosity - even those he subjected to the cruel practices of his Rupturing. How did he test the unstable portals, after all? On living people. Forced them to walk through those disintegration pits, and of course, they never came back.

So now, he prepared for the end. He pointed his spear at his face, holding it a mere foot from his skull, the pointy Terrendyte end staring him in the eye. Maybe he was ready to die. Maybe he...

God, it hurt. It hurt to leave it all behind. He could feel his heart crying out, looking back upon it all. He'd lost so much. Zvezdana was dead - he knew she was. Andraska was gone, Theodore had killed himself, and after all that, he'd left his family behind. He wasn't a Venora anymore, they were all dead and gone - the ones that marred. But still, it hurt so much to leave them all, to not be able to remember them anymore.

And worst of all? Fridgar - how could he leave him behind? He knew that if he killed himself, Fridgar would probably join him. Did he want Fridgar to die? Was he that selfish? No. He loved him more than anything and everything. It was only because of him that he was able to leave the corpses of his family behind, and forget it all. Only because of him, and their marriage. God, he'd always wanted to marry Fridgar. He'd wanted to marry him from the start, the moment they laid together under the stars... when he fell in love with him, when he decided that he would be his.

He couldn't leave Fridgar. Not ever again, and not over an acrobatic stunt. Not over his anger, not over Syroa, or his pride, or what he perceived to be Fridgar treating him with a lack of respect.

Alistair set down his spear, and just in time - Fridgar wouldn't see him contemplating his own death. Instead, he'd see him curled up against the tree, dirty and shivering, holding himself to provide a meager amount of warmth. He was hungry... so hungry. His face was covered in dirt, his eyes were swelling up and his body couldn't go on anymore. If he didn't kill himself, he would've died anyway, unable to bring himself to resist as starvation and exhaustion consumed him.

God... God... he cried, being held tightly by the form of a man, suddenly upon him. His vision had begun to blur, but he knew it was Fridgar. Only Fridgar held him so... right. So tightly, so strongly, with his massive arms and his incredible, burly chest. Fridgar just held him, not saying anything, not pointing out the cruel things he'd said just breaks ago. If only he could be so pure as his lover was, not allowing himself to be consumed as easily as he always had.

He cried out in anguish, sobbing into his lover's embrace. It was all so awful, the things he did to himself, the things he did to the love of his life. He wanted it to end, to change - but suicide wasn't the answer. Fridgar was. He saw it now, the answer to everything. It was talking to Fridgar, telling him about all of his pain, the source of his anger. He'd told him about his father, which had made him feel so much better, but... he'd only scratched the surface. There was so much he'd never told anyone, that had instilled such anger into him.

Alistair kept crying, for as long as his body needed him to. He buried himself in his husband, regret wracking his mind.

"I need you, Fridgar..." he whispered, sobbing. "I need you... please. I'm sorry for being so fucked up - I know there's something wrong with me. But you still stayed, you still love me. No one else ever loved me that much," he whimpered. "No one else could ever handle me like this. They left me in the dirt... like... like I left you, and... I thought you would leave me too. I thought I'd ruined everything. But you always care - how do you manage to always care?"

He wanted to go home. He wanted to spend trials on end in Fridgar's arms, not leaving, for anything. He was done with this fucking trial, all of it. Alistair just wanted his havendal.

[Varthakh]

The moment he came to Alistair, he held in silence for a bit, trembling in his grasp. He showed no sadness, no regret, he was unwavering in his expression, his body language too. No matter how much it broke his heart to see his beloved like this, he had to be the strong one, Alistair couldn't with his state of mind. Just trills after their bodies met, Alistair broke down, sobbing uncontrollably into his body. Fridgar broke a little, pulling the noble into his grasp and encompassing him in his warmth. He wanted Alistair to feel safe with him, like everything was going to be okay. Nothing would hurt him, least of all Fridgar and not himself.

It was time for Alistair to come back with him, and if he insisted on sleeping by a tree, then Fridgar would have to take him back manually. gently, he adjusted his grip and lifted the noble up from their cuddling, grabbing his spear with his paw as he rose. Alistair would have been left out in the boiling hot wilderness for breaks alone and unless he'd drank from the dirty creek, he'd be thirsty, if not dehydrated. That mixed with the inability to eat for the past trial made for a bad combination.

His first priority was to get him some water, freshly filtered from the river. Gently, he carried his beloved back uphill, passing by landmarks as the last fading glimpses of triallight faded. When Alistair stopped crying, he sniffled and spoke to Fridgar at last. I need you he said, whimpering. "I need you too, my rose. I hope you realise that stunt you pulled has landed you a one-way ticket to spending the next dozen trials in my arms," he wasn't joking. if needs be, he would hold Alistair until Saun, and if needs be, he'd hold him until this trial next arc. Whatever it took, he wanted Alistair to feel safe again, to be stable. He wanted for both of them to be stable.

Alistair went on, explaining how everyone before Fridgar had had left him. "Alistair..." he spoke with sympathy as he broke through the brush, nearing the river that this whole thing had exploded at. "I'm sorry but, those people didn't love you," he explained, kneeling at the river bank with Alistair in his arms. "Love, or at least how I feel for you, it's..." he paused, thinking of the words as he often did, "...unconditional, infinite, unparalleled..." all these big words, Alistair knew they were a struggle on his part, he'd had a lot of time to think about this. "When I say I love you, Alistair, I mean it every time."

Fridgar removed one of the filtering bags from his loincloth and cleaned it out in the river before filling it with cool river water. "Drink," he ordered, holding the sealed bag to his mate and motioning for him to open his mouth while he supported his back. "I know a lot of couples say this, but..." he removed the bag, letting Alistair time to breathe. "...I really think that we're meant to be together, Alistair..." once Alistair had swallowed, he held the bag back over his mouth, letting the clean clear fluid drip into his mouth, revitalising him. "Like, Six arcs ago, my teacher took me and my siblings from Gauthrel, I was compelled to go with him to Rynmere, even if i didn't believe his story, which turned out to be a lie in the end," he sighed, looking over his mate as he drank plentifully from the filtering bag. he'd once again remove it and let the man swallow and gather his breath if need be.

"And everywhere I've been, all over the world. I've never belonged. Not with my father, not in Warrick, certainly not in Andaris, not in Etzos, not in Ne'haer, not even with the jeger," he put the empty bag aside, strapping it to his loincloth as he took Alistair in both arms, making absolute eye contact with the human as he held him. "I've never belonged anywhere, but with you. No matter how I'm feeling, you always make it better. You've brought me nothing but contentedness, satisfaction, comfort, happiness, love..." his voice shook, filling with emotion as he went on and on about how amazing his beloved was.

"Alistair, I LOVE you, more than anything and everything. You're all I have and all I’ll ever need. I'll follow you anywhere and everywhere and if somehow I lose you, I'll find you, no matter how long it takes," the final words of his sentence resonated strongly to him, like he was meant to say it. it was the breaking point for him, he couldn't keep up his strong appearance, so he broke down and cried, hugging his beloved like it was his last few moments in this world.

"Please don't leave me again, my rose, I'm nothing without you..."

[Alistair]

Fridgar picked him up, holding him like he was nothing, so determined to bring him to safety in his arms. Immediately, the mage's face flushed and he blushed at his lover's gallantry. Alistair had always wanted to marry a noble husband, and he thought the laws of Rynmere would forever hold him back from that. But here, now, he had one such noble groom, holding him and speaking to him with passion and love even after all that had ensued this trial.

The mage's eyes welled up again, once more in tears, just so happy to have the lover he did. As he was carried, he looked up at the man, expression stilled and totally quiet... just staring. Taking in his features, his musky smell, the firmness of his body. This was right. All fear, all pain, had vanished. Why did he ever allow himself to feel like that in the first place, when he had this man at his side? He realized, at this moment, that there was no need to loathe himself anymore. Fridgar accepted him for what he was, and loved him for who he was, even through his mistakes. He didn't have to hurt himself, physically or emotionally, over these trivial arguments. They would argue in life, but that didn't mean the end, and it didn't mean that he was a horrible person, sapping the joy out of his lover. It was just life, it was being together, it was feeling strongly about a thing.

It didn't matter. Whatever would be, would be. Fridgar loved him so much, no matter what. And it was the same, the other way around. That was why he couldn't bring himself to do it. He didn't want to hurt Fridgar ever again.

Fridgar knelt at the river bank, and began to speak again. His next words totally pacified him, depleting all of the anger and disappointment in what he thought was his bitter heart and replacing it all with a total warmth. The mage smiled, staring softly at his lover. Unconditional, infinite, unparalleled... he said. I mean it every time.

Even as Fridgar spoke so much, the mage didn't speak in return. His voice felt strung up, so compelled by emotion that he couldn't say anything. He wanted to, but instead, his heart told him to wait... to let Fridgar say all of this, these things, to let his havendal express just how much he cared. He deserved it, after everything. Alistair would wait.

When commanded to, he drank, taking in the water and gulping it down thirstily. He exhaled afterwards, yawning as he did so, and stretching out as well as he could, which wasn't much considering he was being held like a baby. Hell, he was acting like one, just staring quietly at the man holding him like he was filled with curiosity - occasionally smiling, even crying at the softness of his lover's words. The thought made him laugh, hard, preceding Fridgar's words, breaking the silence. He quickly grew embarrassed by his sudden bout of laughter, and finally spoke, to explain himself.

"I'm sorry, Fridgar. I was just thinking of how I felt like a newborn at the moment," the mage said, smiling happily. Clinging to his lover's chest, he continued to listen to him, as the man explained that they belonged together... they were meant for one another... and nowhere was anywhere unless the two were there among each other's arms. It was all so strong, so loving, and so emotional. Alistair had never heard Fridgar talk like this, and it truly brought some beauty into the world, every word he spoke like a painter's brush upon an easel. He was... charming. He really was, and right now, he was sweeping Alistair even more off his feet. Making him fall in love, all over again, and with a strength that would never be compromised.

Fridgar was his. He was Fridgar's. Alistair vowed at this moment to never let the external things of this world come between them. Their love transcended this world.

"I..." he didn't know how to word any of this. He couldn't even begin, it was so much, so strong - Fridgar was... incredibly strong. "Fridgar, I... I will never, ever leave you. I will kill anyone who tries to take you away from me, I'll tear down cities if they keep us apart. I'll kill Immortals and rend this world awry. And my own weakness, my anger, my spite? I'll cast it all to the dirt. I love you more than anything, and I was born to love you more than anything. You're right - we are meant for each other. I know it." He leaned forward and kissed his mate on the lips, holding him tightly.

"Fridgar, let's get married, for real. The day after we finish this test, let's go to the Temple and get married. I mean it. Let's invite no one, and tell no one. I want it to be the two of us. You're all that matters to me. Everyone else is background noise," he said, eyes expressing that he was entirely serious. He was determined - Alistair and Fridgar, married, this Ymiden. The noble wouldn't allow it any other way.

"Did you make shelter?" he asked. "Take me back there, Fridgar. I want to lay with you, like I said I would. I want to show you my love."

[Varthakh]

Alistair agreed with him, so it was settled. They were made for one another, meant to be together. He'd met Alistair for a reason, right? And what were the odds that he'd just happen to be in the woods when he was being confronted by a mortal born? This, this was true, this was destiny. All that Alistair had promised him, nothing would get between them again, nothing at all. He believed in every word the noble said that evening, his promises to fight through anything and everything to ensure that they're with one another. This was perfect, everything. The stars seemed to align and the world around him, everything was as it should be.

Fridgar smiled through the kiss as Alistair's met with his, reminding him of just how perfect the human was. Fridgar kissed him back, sensitively. To simply press his lips against his beloved's and be close to him, it was right. Finally, everything was back to the way it was, right? Only, Alistair still had a request that needed fulfilling, which he happily reminded Fridgar about. The Lothar blushed, though it was difficult to see in the twilight. "Alright, Alistair," he spoke lightly, joyous. "As soon as this trial is over, I'll make you my Kindal," he spoke, kissing the human again, only a little more passionately.

Ensuring that all his equipment was packed away, Fridgar lifted the noble once more and took hold of his spear, taking it with him as he went. it was time to return to the camp, Alistair was hydrated again and he was looking a little better. Tomorrow, he would feast on Scython meat, just as soon as they figured out how to make fire. "I know you want the wedding to be a private affair and all, but can we invite people to the after party?" a party with no people was no fun, after all. He stopped, considering briefly. "Do the Lotharro even have after parties?"

As he carried the smaller man in his arms, however, another request fell upon him. Another blush formed on the cheeks of the giant, a roll of his darkened eyes followed. Leave it to Alistair to remember when he was owed love making. Fridgar smiled, kissing his perverted mate on the lips as he walked. "Of course, my love. I... I want to make love to you tonight, not violently like we usually do..." he requested, not seeming to realise what Alistair was asking of him.

It felt right, to take his kindal in the woods passionately. Fieldcraft was his apparent passion, something he'd not known before. To make love to his beloved was also a passion of his, putting the two together could only be a good thing, for both, he would make sure. They were close by, anyway. Just like he'd said, he wanted the shelter to be close by to the river, he was lucky with the spelunking hole he'd found.

Soon enough, he returned to the hole entrance and his Redbear stood in the place he'd left it. Everything was intact, but there were four Stekir corpses around the camp, all murdered brutally, mauled by some great beast. The blackened eyes of the Redbear glinted with malice in the twilight as its maw dripped, he could imagine what with. the blood of the fucking Stekir, of course. Why were there so many of them? Why did they all throw themselves to the jaws of predators? They weren't even moderately dangerous.

He planted the noble's spear in the ground before approaching the bear and rubbing down it's snout with his free and. His paw was coated in the red of the Stekir's blood, though he only knew it by texture. he smiled to the bear before it seemed to fall apart, melting back into its core where the Redbear totem fell to the floor. he would place Alistair on the floor beside it. He brought his body atop the noble, holding himself up by the forearm and palm as he made his wishes known, kissing passionately into the human's lips. His own arousal grew to be obvious to the noble he held, clearly expecting the dominant role this time around.

[Alistair]

Fridgar would make him his kindal. The acknowledgment made his heart skip a beat, his face lighting up with excitement and a brilliant smile. Quickly his smile faded, but only because his lips were brought into a heavy, hot and passionate make-out session. No complaints; his havendal was already playing the role incredibly well, making him feel both loved, comforted and incredibly aroused satisfied.

Soon, he would be his kindal, really - with not even death to separate them.

He was soon after picked back up, and Fridgar led them back to the camp. As they walked, Fridgar questioned whether or not the Lotharro had after parties. Alistair shook his head, smirking. "Fridgar, have you not heard our neighbors?" he asked. "I think they have an after party for their after parties. Do you remember that one time our neighbors were screwing - incredibly loudly - and then invited a bunch of people over to also screw incredibly loudly? It's like they were rehearsing their orgy or something," the mage reminded Fridgar, laughing as he did. There was no way the Likryjr wouldn't be celebrated.

When Fridgar mentioned that they would be lovemaking, Alistair waggled his eyebrows curiously. He had to admit, something about being loved down by Fridgar in the forests really enticed him. Maybe they'd have to... switch over, partway through. The thought made the mage blush, he found he'd done that a lot since Fridgar retrieved him from his desperate state. Alistair... just felt so happy, having his man with him, knowing that he'd always be there through thick and thin. He really loved him, so much.

When they returned to the entrance of the spelunking hole, Alistair examined it and made a mental note; places like this would be good for setting up, especially in the Uthaldrian wilds. They'd have to make a fire, though, and maybe find some sort of thing to sleep on. Alistair didn't know if he could sleep on the floor of some cave - maybe the forests, but that was just dangerous. Fridgar would have to provide him with extra strong cuddles to keep him feeling secure.

Alistair paid no mind to the Willow Redbear, he knew Fridgar must've pulled it out with his... weird magical powers. The mage was much more focused on providing love to his mate, a thing he'd been waiting for all this trial. When he was set down, the noble relaxed himself, adjusting his body and relaxing against the grass. Fridgar came back to him quickly, dismissing the totem, before the two of them pursued their intense, carnal desires.

[Aeon]

Alistair

Skill Knowledge:

Discipline: Don't give up when times are tough
Endurance: Just hold on a little longer
Fieldcraft: Recognising a well-established 'camp'
Fieldcraft: Caves make for easy Shelter

Other Knowledge:

Stekir: Weaksauce
Stekir: Annoying
Stekir: Plentiful in the East
Fridgar: Was meant to be with you
Fridgar: Wants to marry this Ymiden
Fridgar: Loves you no matter what

Loot:

N/A

Injuries:

I'm not putting that here. Nope

Fame:

Devotion:

N/A

Magic:

These points can NOT be used for Domain Magic

Points awarded:

15

Fridgar

Skill Knowledge:

Blades (Daggers): Stab it 'til it stops moving
Discipline: Be strong emotionally as you are physically
Discipline: Don't give up when times are tough
Fieldcraft: Fashioning crude weapons from bones
Fieldcraft: Caves make for easy shelter
Fieldcraft: Setting up camp close to fresh water is often a good idea.
Hunting: Recognising when you're being stalked by a lesser predator
Hunting: Keep the kill off the ground to keep it fresh for longer

Other Knowledge:

Alistair: Wants to marry this Ymiden
Alistair: Really does love you
Alistair: You were meant for each other
Alistair: Nothing will ever separate you
Stekir: Weaksauce
Stekir: Annoying
Stekir: Plentiful in the East

Loot:

1 Scython-Ur bone dagger

Injuries:

N/A

Fame:

+2 for killing a stekir

Devotion:

N/A

Magic:

These points can NOT be used for Domain Magic

Points awarded:

15

Comment:

I'm so glad it's all finally working out for Fridgali, I really am, the threads before this one were just so depressing I feel so relieved to be able to read this one and smile!!

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful day!