Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

Date: 10th of Ymiden, Arc 719
Weapons: None
Buffs: N/A

Part 2

Even with the door broken open and the windows shattered, the wind in the town hall was far less powerful than it was outside, enough so that he could just make out the girl’s voice when she spoke. “Who—”She bit back a soft sob—“who are you?” She’d made a little nest of fabric, a blanket or something, and was using it to shield herself from the wind. Smart, but it wouldn’t do anything if the building collapsed on her.

Even kneeling, the table was too short for Praetorum to be able to crawl under there with her, so he settled for dipping his head so she could see him better. “My name’s Praetorum.” He told her as the storm raged outside, trying to soften his voice as much as possible while still being audible. “Your village is really worried about you, so I’m gonna bring you to them, okay?”

“You have to bring Moonslight too!” There was a rustle from underneath the table, and then a pair of small hands shot out, holding between them an incredibly distressed white kitten. Perhaps this was why she’d broken off from the rest of the villagers? It didn’t matter. Praetorum nodded seriously at the girl, running a claw tip gently through the kitten’s fur.

“I will.” He promised, as the kitten made a valiant attempt to maul his fingertip. “I’m going to get both of you out, alright?” The girl hesitated a moment, then nodded. “Good. Wrap that blanket around yourself and Moonslight, alright? Curl up into a ball, and try to make sure no part of you isn’t covered. This wind is nasty stuff.”

A few moments later, Praetorum stumbled back out of the building, and back into the storm, a small, squirmy bundle wrapped up in his arms. The wind was stronger now, crashing hard against Praetorum despite his defiance protection, and it carried much more debris with it, parts of houses and wagons and barrels. The dust, though, seemed to have cleared up a little, enough that when Praetorum looked up, he could see the eye of the tornado, and the lightning beginning to lance through its centre.

He took a step forwards, then winced. The adrenaline was starting to wear off, and he was just now feeling the still bleeding wound along his back. It wasn’t as deep as it could have been, between Enduring Scales and his own naturally tough hide, but it was still bloody and painful, especially with the wind tearing at the exposed flesh. But there was nothing to be done. So he simply gritted his teeth, and took another step forwards.

Date: 10th of Ymiden, Arc 719
Weapons: None
Buffs: N/A

Hunching over his charge, Praetorum turned his back on the eye—reasoning that if that was the centre of the storm, the quickest way out of it would be in the exact opposite direction—and began to run, not wanting to spend a minute more in this ether twisted storm than he had to.

Which was why, when what had once been part of a roof came flying towards him, he was moving too fast to avoid a collision. By himself, in peak condition, he might have been able to take the hit. But not with a delicate human in his arms, and not with his his back torn open. So Praetorum did the only thing he could, and leaped.

The winds around him stilled, then rushed to life again, this time carrying him above the ground and out of the path of the debris. For a moment, Praetorum felt in control again, aided by his kin element, gliding back down towards the ground, the storm unable and unwilling to touch him.

Then the last of his ether reserves winked out, and the vicious storm tore and dragged at him with full force as he fell the last few feet to the ground. He landed clumsily, his knees jarring painfully, and he stumbled forwards a few steps before landing on his knees. The bundle of cloth and human and kitten in his arm nearly slipped from his arms, before Praetorum wrapped his tail around it for additional support.

The thirst slammed into him like a runaway horse then, and Praetorum gasped out loud. He needed. It was agony, being surrounded all with ether, but having none himself, not being able to drain it from the wind around him. If he could have flayed the very tornado himself in that moment, he would have, drank and drank and drank until he burst. But he couldn’t, or if he could, he didn’t know how.

Even towards the edge of the storm, the wind was incredibly fast; it reminded him of the storm he’d been initiated in, in a way. But he’d had someone looking out for him then. Now he had no one, now he was bleeding out, now he was so desperately thirsty for… for….

His arms and tail tightened around the bundle in his arms. He could…

She was already so weak...

No one would ever have to know…

No one expected him to find her, not really…

Praetorum screwed his eyes shut against the storm, and reached over his shoulder to slap at his own back, jarring the open wound there.

It hurt badly, a sharp spike of agony that shredded through the haze of hunger, and he held on to that bone deep sensation as he stumbled to his feet. One step at a time, he told himself. Just put one foot in front of another, don’t think about anything other than the pain and moving.

One step, then one more.

Praetorum didn’t know how long he spent with his mind focused entirely on those two things; he didn’t know how many steps he took.

All he knew was, by the time his legs finally gave out, the air was soft and still around him.

The last thing he saw was a familiar shadow circling overheard, and his kheledzan's call as the shadow grew larger and larger, until his vision went dark.

Date: 10th of Ymiden, Arc 719
Weapons: None
Buffs: N/A

Praetorum woke to the familiar sound of a camp packing itself up. A tent wall blocked his view of the others, and he ached too much to turn his head to try and find the exit. For some reason, he’d been settled on his side, a somewhat uncomfortable position for him, and started to turn before a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“Hold still, I’m just tying this off.”

He blinked blearily, then looked down. His shirt had been removed, and his torso was being wrapped in bandages. That was right, his back had been…. while he’d gone to…

“How—” he started, then coughed, sending a flare of pain through his injury.

“Hush.” Selyin’s voice, he realized belatedly. His captain was the one bandaging him up. He hadn’t realized she’d known how to do that. “The girl’s fine, unlike you. Though not… untouched.”

Prae blinked at the tent, confused. “‘splain?” He mumbled through the grit in his throat.

“I’m not sure. Edyn would know better than I do, or one of of her friends. It looks like the wind… changed you all. Something like fracture corruption, I suppose. The kid and the kit both look different, hair and eyes changing color, that sort of thing. Sit up.”

Praetorum obeyed slowly, and took the opportunity to take a look at himself. Much of his chest was covered in white bandages, but what he could see was still the same burnt orange he’d always been. He flexed his claws, feeling much the same as he always had. Had his eye changed, or his face? He patted his muzzle, still the same as when he’d left it.

“Wrong half of your body.” Selyin sighed.

Prae peered down at his feet, also seemingly unchanged, before finally craning his neck to look at…

That was someone’s tail aright, but it couldn’t have been his. Praetorum’s tail had always been a solid mix of Paltharnum and Thiussum, a little sleeker than most but without the length a proper Paltharnum’s would have had. When he stood, it just about brushed the ground.

This tail belonged to no ithecal Praetorum had ever seen. Not even a Wyvarnth had ever had a tail like this one.

It had been settled on the side of the bedroll in a neat coil, and rose as he started to pay attention to it, the tip twitching with his confusion. He uncoiled it, using muscles he was fairly certain he’d never had before, waved it this way and that before trying to straighten it out.

It was roughly as long as he was tall, he realized, a little dazed. Maybe a little longer. And he’d never had this sort of control over his tail before. A curl here, a trip there, that was about it. Now, he tied his new tail into a knot, and let out a shocked laugh before untying it.

“Not a bad thing then?” Selyin asked, relaxing a little at his reaction. “I just figured I’d be pissed if my arms grew to about three times their normal length.”

“No.” Praetorum said, the tip-off his new tail twitching happily. “I think I could get used to this.”