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Chip2Changeling — Into the Grove | GG
Published: 2022-08-19 02:22:00 +0000 UTC; Views: 3157; Favourites: 20; Downloads: 0
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The following story is a Roleplay between myself and Sleepiest-Paws ! Both halves have been counted for acorns with Sleepy's permission.
CW: Descriptions of blood and intense pain
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. . .
Hornet Groaned lightly, rolling her head lightly to ease her nausea. Everything on her burned with pain. Her whole body stung.. But... The ground beneath her was a bit softer than before.. And her side didnt feel like it was soaked with blood anymore... A shaky hand trailed up her side... Bandages. She'd been bandaged. An ear twitched. There were the sounds of shuffling... Someone else was here.
What the..?
Her eyes snapped open and she shot up from the makeshift bed, gasping somewhat as she quite suddenly came to. She also, of course, quickly regretted the movement, a groan escaping her when her side once again burned with pain. This was seriously going to suck to heal from....
Her ears twitched again, attention turning towards the shadow that'd just appeared at the corner of her vision. Her instinct was to go on the defensive, but.. This was likely the individual who'd bandaged her wounds, so instead.. She simply let her attention snap towards the stranger, eyes wide and intense when she met their gaze.
---
Bongo rifled through his 'bag', shuffling through various snacks, old-world merchandise and various other objects he'd picked up along his walk or haphazardly brought with him. His tongue stuck from his mouth as thoughts raced through his mind, unable to pick one to focus on.
She looks like a monster.
Where'd she come from?
..Why is her blood black?
Her blood. Despite it's color, it had managed to soak his hoodie which rested some ways from the two, hung over a branch to.. "dry". That was going to be hard to explain to Baba Eeko.
He sighed, though it came out as a partial wheeze. He rolled his head around in thought, raising a paw to rub his temple. Mitts grabbing at a half-empty package of chocolate chip cookies, Bongo turned to face the folk-
Her stare burned into him.
He stepped back, surprised. He hadn't expected her to wake so soon, nor so quietly- her stare brought discomfort to him and he bit his tongue a slight bit harder, unable to find the words to say to her. He raised his lower mitts, paws fumbling as he searched for the right thing to say. He realized she might not understand sign language, and even if she did, her condition might not aid her.
"H.. Hello," he started, his voice barely above a whisper. He rubbed his throat carefully before continuing, "I'm Bongo."
A squeal at his side.
"This is Cat."
He coughed slightly, voice straining. He held up the package of cookies, nudging them towards her.
"[Eat?]"
---
She blinked, somewhat, ears perking forward when he spoke.
Bongo and Cat... Was that his tail..? Hm....
She glanced towards Cat, then back to Bongo's face. There was hesitation, tip of her tail flicking as she thought... In fact, she looked almost.. Surprised? By the fact that she could understand him. It was... as if she understood the words, but not the language. But there wasn't time for her to linger on the thought for long. He was offering her food. She paused for a moment, but reached forward, tentatively taking the package into her claws. She was able to open it, but before she ate any, she took a moment to speak, the sounds foreign on her tongue;
"... Hornet."
It was a simple Response, but a response nonetheless. Perhaps it was her name.
She watched his reaction to the statement for only a moment, finally freeing him from her intense stare as to turn her attention to the food she'd been given. Any food was good food when healing... In fact, the scent of it only made her realize just how hungry she was.
---
He nodded ever so slightly in response to her name, rolling his eyes to look away after she broke eye contact. He sat down cross-legged, tucking his mitts and twiddling with his first set of paws. Cat rested at his side, wrapped around one ankle and staring down the other folk casually.
"..You sure are hungry.." he whispered to himself, glancing back at Hornet. "I hope you like cookies."
I hope she doesn't like meat.
He swatted away the thought as quickly as it came. She was injured. Weak and bloodied. She was prey, just as he was. Cat glanced up at him, smiling softly. He was anxious, but not quite fearful.
"So.." he coughed, ears flicking rapidly as he rubbed his throat, "are you okay..?"
---
She didn't respond to him at first, still eating the food she'd been given. The only indicator that she'd heard him at all being the twitch in her ears and the momentary glance in his direction. Once she'd finally finished, she turned towards him, eyes still quite wide. her gaze was intense as ever, but it seemed to have been somewhat calmed by the snack.
She glanced around her, tail flicking lightly once more, "I'm in an unfamiliar place.."
She looked at him. "With a stranger.."
Her gaze trailed aimlessly around, but a hand lifted itself to the bandages around her midsection--bandages that had soaked pretty deeply now with dark black blood. "With a wound burning through my chest.."
She blinked, staring blankly ahead of her for a moment, then turning to him and giving a simple nod. "Yes, I'd say so."
---
He gave a content, if confused, 'hmph'.
..What a weird response.
He leaned backwards, crossing his arms comfortably. "That's.. good. S'pose so." He muttered aimlessly, lost in the thoughts swirling in his mind. "Ought'a tell Baba..." Nonsensical muttered ramblings were the only thing coming from the folk for several minutes, barely speaking in a whisper and difficult to understand.
At some point, he entered a small coughing fit, and mistakenly swapped to signing his nonsense. He bit down on his tongue, ears pinned to the back of his neck.
She needs medical attention.
Can she even move?
I should get Mama Susan.. should I leave her alone?
What if she runs away-
..can she run away??
He squeaked loudly as Cat dug their dull teeth into his ear, gently swatting the tail away. A bit embarrassed by this, Bongo tucked his legs into himself slightly, looking for something to distract himself.
"Can you move?" He asked wheezily. "Like.. uhm.. kf.. does it hurt? Bad?"
---
She watched him, listening to his mutterings and watching the movements of his hands. She didn't really understand much of it, but she listened and watched anyway.
... How Odd.
She tilted her head somewhat when the interaction between tail and body happened, but.. she'd seen stranger and far more dangerous things than a sentient tail before. This didn't seem terribly bad, in comparison. Besides, he'd supposedly bandaged her and gave her food, so.. At least a basic level of trust was surely due.
He keeps coughing and wheezing... I wonder if something's wrong with his throat.
He spoke again, though, so she hummed slightly, glancing to her wound, then her legs. They were still sore from all of the running and thrashing, but they weren't injured.. She took a deep breath, and with a wince from the sting of pain that washed through her at the movement, she brought herself to her feet, tail flicking around behind her while she found her balance.
"Seems like." She huffed, hand lightly tapping at the bandages. "I've Felt worse."
That's totally a lie...
She furrowed a brow, but shrugged a moment after, nodding towards him. "I assume I need to follow?"
Whatever. It won't get better laying in the woods. Might as well let him lead me who knows where.
---
Bongo lifted himself a bit, surprised she was standing. That couldn't be at all good for her, but at the very least he wouldn't have to drag her all the way back to the tree.. yet. He cautiously rose to his feet, slinging his jacket over his shoulder and wrapping his tail (and therefore, Cat) around his 'bag'
"..Uh.. kf.. Yeah." he muttered, signing 'please' to himself casually. It was a force of habit to sign, even if she didn't understand what he said.
He took a step forward, pausing, then glanced back to her.
"Need a break," he inhaled sharply and coughed, "just say."
He started off, knowing he himself would need multiple breaks during the walk to the tree. He tired easily, and dragging the folk to a safe clearing had left him utterly exhausted. He felt his throat straining, and every word stung, but he had to communicate with her somehow. He wasn't terribly fast, walking at a leisurely pace, periodically glancing back to make sure she followed.
"Keep 'n ear out. Fangs 'r out." He knew they wouldn't be this close to the tree, but it was better safe than sorry.
---
Hornet simply gave a nod and a hum of confirmation, waiting for his lead before she began to walk herself. Just as he suspected, it was quite the strain on her, the pain of her side, a massive roar of protest to her mind, every inch of her wanting to simply collapse back onto the ground and sleep.
That's not productive. There's probably healers wherever we're going.
She huffed to herself, muttering something that... didn't really sound like words. It was hard to say what it did sound like, but it certainly wasn't words. Otherwise, though, she kept quiet. Talking seemed to strain his voice, and there wasn't much on her mind save for the million questions she had...
Someone else can answer.
She told herself, sighing softly. As much as she hated how slow they were walking... She was grateful for it, really. Her legs felt like they'd been frozen all the way through and then lit on fire, and at this point she could feel the inky black blood from her wound starting to drip past the bandages...
Jeez, it's still bleeding... I don't even know how i'm up... Whatever.
How far they were from this mystery location they were headed to she wasn't sure. Even the mention of some sort of danger didn't say much... She'd been to towns where the moment you stepped outside the borders you'd be all but bombarded by dangerous creatures... In fact, sometimes those within the town were dangerous, too. Usually they were.
Her ears folded back somewhat, but didn't lower. She'd have to be on her guard. This individual might mean well, but who knows with others... People were volatile. Dangerous.
...
But she didn't really have any bandages herself, or food, really... So it was her only option.
---
I don't remember the tree being this far off. Stupid.
Bongo tucked his face into his arm, coughing several times. He rubbed his throat, glancing up through the canopy. He could see hints of gold through the dense pine, and how close it was brought relief to him. They would be approaching one of the many entries about now, though the sudden realization of the scolding that awaited him was.. less than appealing.
"Uhm.. kf.. keep your head down?" He muttered to the folk behind him. She looked like the monsters he'd heard stories and rumors about, they'd been cropping up around the grove recently, but the phylactery on her chest didn't lie. She was as much of a folk as he was.
"Your... diff'rent"
Uncomfortably different.
He pushed the thoughts away. Other than looking like, well, a predator, she looked relatively cool. Like a neat rock you'd find lying in a riverbed. Unfamiliar and intriguing.
With a few quick skips, Bongo found himself breaking through the tree line and walking along the roots of the Great tree. Some buildings lie on the outside of it, but very few. Small passels of folk gathered around the busier areas, paying little mind to the usual child, but he noted how their gazes turned and darkened when the stranger followed behind.
---
His words served to put her further on edge, and it seemed rightfully so. Her ears folded close to her body, her gaze once again widening, each and every individual in sight getting at least one quick glance from her--the older folk even more so. Some had strange traits similar to the one ahead of her, some looked almost painfully plain, and many smaller ones had gems on her chest--similar to the one she'd noticed in her own.
Caution..
Shock..
Fear..
Distrust..
She silently noted each and every expression in her mind, and none of them were good. Something about her made these strangers uncomfortable, and she couldn't tell what it was... Some she'd have wagered were simply reacting to her wound, but... The glare of a few of the strangers stuck out. It was a glare of what seemed almost like hatred--from folk she'd never met. It was... Strange. Strange, and terribly uncomfortable. What about her could be so bad as to warrant immediate hatred?
I've done nothing, and yet...
With a small huff, she took a few quicker paces, bringing herself closer to Bongo's side. The closer she walked, the less of a threat she or anyone else was. She didn't even have a weapon, after all, and many of these individuals were much, much taller than she was. It certainly wasn't a pleasant experience.
---
Just stare at the ground.
His head ached. He could feel their eyes burning into her, and in turn him. He walked with a folk like that of a monster, what else could they be thinking other than how strange he was to be with her?
He stole a glance at the folk beside him as she hurried to his side, exhaling wheezily.
Where do I take her?
Will the Den Mothers be unhappy?
..Will they turn her away?
They wouldn't. She was just a kit, after all, phylactery still exposed for the world to see, but black as a moonless night. He knew other kits who's phylactery darkened or shifted shades when they had those horrible nightmares, maybe she had experienced something in a similar vein.
"Your.. phylactery." He choked on his words slightly, "Did you dream?"
He waved a hand vaguely, trying to avoid the stares of the adults around them.
---
Her ear twitched, attention finally pulled from the mistrustful adults around her to instead answer his question,
“… Dream?” She tilted her head in thought. “I mean.. I suppose so, but..”
What’s a Phylactery?
She frowned. The way he spoke of it, it must have been so normal… was it the strange new gem on her chest..?
“Do you.. mean this gemstone…?” Her ears folded back, almost distasteful. “It’s… New.”
---
He almost halted in walking, confused by the folk's language. He bit his tongue slightly, analyzing her appearance.
Fuck. She's THAT different.
He wasn't supposed to be talking to her. He wasn't allowed to be talking to her. They'd been cropping up everywhere- Bongo had heard the rumors of folk appearing from worlds not their own, their memories shot and their phylacteries dark as night. The Promethean Society was supposed to take care of them, but what would the society make of a folk who looked like a monster?
"I... kf-" he had to stop talking. He quickly detoured to the side, popping between two shops and waving his arm for her to follow him. The alley was empty, away from the prying eyes of the adults and those concerned.
Bongo wrung out the last of her undried blood from his hoodie, which wasn't much. It was relatively crunchy now, but looked more or less the same. He shook it out, holding it up to the folk before him and gesturing for them to put it on.
---
She almost jumped in surprise when he suddenly veered to the side, but she followed. Her eyes had furrowed in confusion now, watching his movements.
Ah.
She nodded lightly, slipping the black hoodie over her small frame. It was even larger on her than it already was on bongo, with the extra sleeves hanging limp at her sides.
It was dried stiff with blood—her own, she figured—and didn’t fit her at all.. And yet, part of her was relieved. She wasn’t terribly used to feeling so exposed, so something to cover up with was very welcome, even if it wasn’t at all like her usual cloak.
I should thank him.
She frowned, hesitating somewhat. He’d been making gestures with his hands, before, and seemed to struggle to speak… while she wasn’t terribly familiar with any form of signing, she had.. Heard of it.
So, after a small sigh; “[Thank You.]” She waited a moment before adding; “I.. don’t know much more than that.”
---
Bongo smiled softly, pointing to his ears and giving a slight thumbs up before crossing over his throat. He pointed at her own and gave her yet another thumbs up. He sighed slightly, though it came out as a pained wheeze. Stepping back out of the alley, Bongo casually started off a final time, the glares and glances now less frequent with his companion being.. concealed.
They weren't that far from the den now.
They'll have to take the hoodie off to help her.
..they'll help her. They will.
He was doing something wrong. Something illegal. But was it really that bad? It couldn't be, she was hurt, and disoriented-- she needed help.
The society was bad, anyways..
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Palette Challenge: August Nights
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45/376 Acorns
