It didn’t last as long as Alister thought it would, to his relief. He let Evan hug him, not pulling away and burying his face in Evan’s shoulder. He thought he should hug him back, but he couldn’t force his arms to move. He was able to keep himself from hyperventilating, trying to control his breathing. Soon his sobs quieted, becoming shaky, high pitched moans and whines.
He thought he remembered being once held like this, perhaps by a mother who only lived in his memory. But he was small then, so small that the feeling was all he could remember. Completely surrounded by warmth, by love. It was just faintly familiar enough that he didn’t recoil when Evan did the same now. Of course, he was older now, and he could never again experience the way his body had been completely surrounded by loving arms. It was almost sad, but he didn’t dwell on it.
He shuddered, going silent. Then, “I don’t want to leave now…” his voice was muffled.
He held Alister close, as tight as he possible could without hurting him but he wasn't even strong enough to hurt him anyway, not would he ever want too. He was saddened by the fact of Alisters heaving sobs but soon they ended turning into something different as he continued to hold him tight until Alister spoke. "I don't..you don't have to leave…"
“Mm,” was all that could be heard. His mind was calm, his breath steady now. He didn’t want this to end. It had seemed so strange and unfamiliar only a few moments before, but now…
The tears had stopped flowing, but his face was still wet. Exhaustion washed over him and he turned his head to yawn before burying it again.
(Yo do you need me to skip or nah?)
(i mean only if you think its a good place too skip)
(Ok, I kinda wanna let you respond and see if we wanna skip then. Sorry, you hadn’t posted in a while, and I assumed you weren’t sure what to say, and ig I was being impatient…. sigh whatever, I wanna let you post)
(completely okay, i get impaitent at times as well and just wasn't sure what you wanted.)
“Mm,” was all that could be heard. His mind was calm, his breath steady now. He didn’t want this to end. It had seemed so strange and unfamiliar only a few moments before, but now…
The tears had stopped flowing, but his face was still wet. Exhaustion washed over him and he turned his head to yawn before burying it again.
He didn't speak, simply moving alister to lay down next to him. he held him close as he pulled the covers over both of them. "I hope you don mind.." he whispered, also getting slightly tired.
He shook his head slightly, moving just enough so repositioning themselves wouldn’t be too awkward. He exhaled, drying his face as he snuggled next to Evan.
Perhaps he would join the rebellion. He had nowhere else to go. That, at least, was a certainty. He blinked gratefully at Evan before letting darkness invade his sight, and sleep take over his body.
Evan smiled as alister was the last thing he saw before drifting off to sleep in his arms.
A deep, aching pain brought Malachi into consciousness. It hurt to breathe, to move. He moaned in agony, which rose into a pained sob. He tried to quiet himself, taking slow, shaky, pained breaths. It was hard not to whimper, though. He hated that, moaning loudly like he was a child.
Slowly, he opened his eyes. He was in the cave again, looking up at the ceiling, stalagmites pointing down at him. From what he could tell, it was late morning, cold skylight pouring in from the cave entrance. Sphinx’s song echoed softly around him, and he could see the beast’s striped hide at the edge of his vision.
”Qu'est-il arrivé?” he rasped.
Kali had been gripping her arms tightly, shuddering at the thought of what she did. what she might have done if the women had never come and thrown itself at her. who the hell was that women, why did those words trigger such deep feeling and such horrible consequence. why did she listen to her commands? she knew why…she just hated the answer. the lab,they messed around with her brain, made her unstable….and that girl had found out how to break her already shabby hold, breaking what she had left.
she hated how badly she had hurt both of them, she hated it so much. she hated herself so much. at this point there wasn't much left to do, she couldn't leave because that was cowardice, no matter how much she wanted to. she couldn't bear parting with them, plus who would watch ver there wounds or them as they slept? though she wasn't exactly qualified for the job of keep a looking out it almost kept her mind off how horrible she was. almost.
she was somewhat glad for the silence, for the moments alone with herself and her thoughts. usually, she would hate herself for it, cursing her thoughts as they broke up her head and her mind. however, after waking up from a horrible vision, she knew she wouldn't have one for a while, so she could be alone in silence with maybe some trickling water in the background. had it been true silence she probably would have been driven mad, for no one could handle true silence.
Then she heard his voice rasp out painful words, and she winced, not wanting to face him or respond.
"Morning." was all she bothered to say.
Malachi stayed quiet. He found it hurt to talk too.
The creature lay between them, listening with her eyes closed and singing her favorite song. She’d went out hunting earlier, bringing two rabbits for the humans to find the female awake. Thankful that she hadn’t hurt the male yet, the beast tried to talk to her, but she wouldn’t respond, only cooking and eating the rabbit while the beast went to eat the rest of the deer. She then tried to take a nap as the girl still wouldn’t talk, and she became conscious a little before the male’s pained sob.
She let her eyes open, glancing at Malachi before she turned to Arden.
Can you heal him? Like you did to me? she asked. She had asked this question before, but now that he was awake she supposed she could try again.
She frowned looking away as the question was asked again, but she looked over at Malachi seeing how much pain that he was in. The fact that she caused all that pain so much so he couldnt move or speak without groaning in pain. She sighed getting up and walked over to him, laying her hand on him and surging the darkness into him healing most of his wounds, as much as she could reach.
"I uh…I'm…sorry." she muttered, before retracting her hand and slipping away from him into a seperate corner.
He tensed up, squeezing his eyes shut and holding his breath as he felt his ribs mending and his spine moving back into place. He exhaled shakily when she removed her hand. He tried to move, shifting his position and nearly crying with relief when all he could feel was a dull ache in his chest. He didn’t think he was ready to stand, so he tried to just sit up, immediately getting dizzy and falling back down.
“No… merci,” he murmured, glad that it didn’t hurt to talk either. He could still remember most of what happened the night before, and knew that what she had done to him was not of her own free will. “And I forgive you. What… what exactly happened? I remember falling to the ground…”
He tensed up, squeezing his eyes shut and holding his breath as he felt his ribs mending and his spine moving back into place. He exhaled shakily when she removed her hand. He tried to move, shifting his position and nearly crying with relief when all he could feel was a dull ache in his chest. He didn’t think he was ready to stand, so he tried to just sit up, immediately getting dizzy and falling back down.
“No… merci,” he murmured, glad that it didn’t hurt to talk either. He could still remember most of what happened the night before, and knew that what she had done to him was not of her own free will. “And I forgive you. What… what exactly happened? I remember falling to the ground…”
"i continued to attack you, but something must have calmed me down because i remember getting tired and then eventually falling asleep and waking up here…also, you shouldn't." she looked down at her fist, clenching tightly. "i dont care if i wasn't in control then, there was something i could have done to stop her. i know there was. you both shouldn't have gotten hurt like you did, you didn't deserve it." she forced back tears, before they could pool at her eyes.
"i dont think…i can come back with you. to your rebellion…" she sighed."not if i can just go savage until some stupid words are spoken to me."
He stared at what he could see of Arden curiously. Until some stupid words are spoken? His eyes flicked to the creature beside him, who gazed mournfully back, as if he was still badly injured.
“Don’t blame yourself,” he said, turning back and unsure of what else to say to comfort her. “Did you know that woman? She seemed to know you.” He took a few rhythmic breaths. “Yes, I guess it would be risky now to bring you back to the rebellion. But where will you go? Although, you should know… I believe you have a relative who is one of the rebels.”
Then the creature sat up, flicking her tail at him, and somehow he knew to be quiet.
She looked between the humans, then her focus settled on Arden. We need to leave anyway. And quickly. Fiends and foreign creatures know where we are. Familiar friend, I believe you are being tracked. A chip in your ear… I had one too. I remember… now. They only haven’t come for us all because I am here. They lured you away so they could find you alone. We must remove this chip. Leave it in my home. I will find a new one, once we deliver the youth back to where he belongs.
There was a moment of silence, then Malachi said quietly, “Did she say something?”
She sighed, "i probably should have but i dont. i dont know how she got her grimy little hands on that book either. she shouldn't have it.." she sighed. "I'll just survive on my own i guess, wait, did you say i have a relative in the rebellion? what relative would i even have?" she frowned at Malachi's speech, and then when he stopped, she looked over at the creature.
she cursed at the end of the beast talking, moving her hand to try and feel out the chip though she knows she couldn't.
"how do we remove it?" she asked the beast, before looking down again. "i have a tacking chip, they have been using it to find us."
Malachi was trying to sit up again, slowly this time. He had to lay back down again when Arden mentioned the chip. ”Merde! How could I have forgotten? I had one too. It should be somewhere in your earlobe, like an earring. I had a friend of mine take it out with a small knife. It shouldn’t take too much.”
He brought his fingers to feel gingerly around his left ear, where he could still feel the scar where the knife had made its incision. Then he planted his hand on the ground, trying to sit up again. “I believe you have a brother. A young man by the name of Evan Arden. He’s never mentioned you to me before, so I can only assume…” he groaned slightly. “… He doesn’t know you exist either. But you have the same last name, and you look similar, so it was easy for me to put two and two together.”
He managed to sit up all the way. He took a few breaths, resting his head on the cavern wall.
The beast cocked her head at him, then turned to Arden. I can use my claws to remove the chip. It will only sting for a moment.
She sighed. "Go ahead." She was talking to the beast, but she started to think. Was this evan arden the little white haired boy she'd she seen in her visions? She could only hope it was.
The beast edged closer. Stay still.
Her head stretched forward, breathing in Arden’s scent and trying to find a whiff of metal. She stopped and backed away. Ah, just as I thought. Raising her paw, she aimed for the girl’s left earlobe. Then, with inhuman gracefulness, punctured the pale skin with one claw, and at the end of it was a small metal device just shy of the size of a fingernail tip. A small blue light blinked on it for a few moments, then went dark.
The beast was expressionless, but she seemed to purse her lips. She carefully moved her claw from her ear, letting the chip fall to the ground.
I seem to have destroyed it. she tilted her head. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. She took the chip in her mouth and flung it deep into the cave. Just in case.
Then she turned and scratched her ribs with her back leg. Speaking to Arden, she seemed to say, Friend, would you cook the rabbit I caught for the youth and give it to him? Then perhaps we may take our leave.
She let the puncture happen, barely grimacing when it happened, she watched as she took the tracker chip out and set it down, before throwing it deep into the cave.
She nodded to the beast, taking the rabbit, making sure it was skinned before cooking it over the fire, in good time the rabbit was cooked and she handed it over to Malachi but her gaze was downcast.
"Careful. its hot." then she returned to her space in the cave waiting for him to finish eating his food.
Malachi had watched silently as the chip was removed, and now he straightened, trying to sit in a comfortable position. He had found the strip of cloth and used it to hold his dreadlocks up in a bun. The dizziness would come only in short bursts now, whenever he moved his head too much or too quickly.
He accepted the rabbit. "Merci," he murmured simply, resting his head on the cavern wall again.
He blew on it and ate slowly this time. Not very interested in initiating conversation anymore, he thought about what he might do when he got back to the District 6 prison. He would need to contact Storm, and that Collins woman from '7. And David too…
Then a thought occurred to him. "Oh, right." He flicked his eyes over to Arden's corner. "Chat noir, I want you to at least learn your first name, so I hope you would at least continue to accompany me for that. Does that sound alright to you?"
She looked up when malachi spoke, turning to look at him and listen to his soft words.
"Yeah. It does." She nodded to him, as she spoke nothing else to malachi, turning to look towards the exit and drift into thoughts about what her name might be.
He nodded, finishing up the rabbit. Licking his lips, he said, “I would ask you if you could teleport us to the prison, but I think my head would split open if we did that. I don’t think I can walk either…”
The sphinx chirped at him. I’ll carry you. I have done it before. She jerked her head to her back.
Malachi seemed to know what she meant. “Ah right, of course. We have you, mademoiselle. How silly of me.” He managed a smile.
She kneeled. He tried to get up, but suddenly there was a pounding in his head and he sank back down. He tried again, this time slowly crawling over to the beast. He managed to mount, wrapping his arms around her neck and lying all the way down on her back. The beast slowly rose.
Are you ready? she tilted her head at Arden.
