A Fateful Encounter
(EDEMIA)
Set in the last century and a half or so of the Age of Silence. Phoebe, a young orphaned usogami living with her little brother stumbles upon a delirious and weak Calvin in the forest outside her village. After the attack of a voidwalker she brings him home to recover.
The Meet Cute- oh gosh there's blood everywhere
Every muscle in Calvin's body felt like a boulder as a voice and a jolting sensation in his gut roused him from his bedraggled slumber. He groaned as he tried and failed to pull himself to a sitting position, so he rolled over onto his side instead. He tried stretching out his wings to shake out the stiffness, but a sharp bolt of pain made him shy away from the attempt.
He could tell the voidwalker was close though, too close for comfort. Everything was so blurry, his eyes were dry and unfocused. The one lick of rest he'd gotten in probably a month now and it was this short lived. Calvin heard the voice that had woken him speak again and he wearily tried to focus his gaze on the speaker.
"Good Lassune, are you okay? You look like you haven't slept in a week!"
Calvin blinked a few times before his eyes finally cleared. Whoever this was he needed to leave soon, so they didn't get caught too close to that voidwalker.
"It's been a bit longer than that." Calvin replied hoarsely as he finally succeeded in sitting up. With his eyes clearing he was able to focus on the pretty pale yellow usogami in a simple striped dress. She pushed aside the bangs of her pale green hair done up in a braid as she leaned down looking at him. "Uh. Hello." Calvin said, somewhat flushed despite himself.
The usogami had a wicker basket in one hand that - from his vantage point - Calvin could see some fresh herbs sticking out of. Her brow furrowed with concern and confusion at him. Another jolting sensation in his gut shook Calvin from his moment of stupor, reminding him of the threat at hand. He rose to his feet quickly despite the pain, the pain wouldn't kill him. That voidwalker on the other hand...
POV SHIFT
Phoebe jumped back in surprise as the huge, not-moments-ago-incapacitated avian quickly rose to his feet. He looked around with a sudden serious and worried expression, then back down at her.
"What are you doing out here? You need to leave."
Phoebe was taken aback. "What? Um? No? Why?" She moved aside incredulously as the avian maneuvered around the bush she'd found him behind. He shook out his wings and winced visibly. He was definitely delirious. He was going to get himself hurt.
"What do you think you're doing? You look like you're going to drop dead out here." Phoebe called, stomping after him. The avian turned around to look wearily down at her, holding his head with one of his talon-like hands. "Come with me back to the village. I found more herbs than I need for stew, you look like you need something to eat."
The avian stared down at her for a long moment, still holding his head. His mouth twitched along with his massive wings. Good Lassune but he looked so much more intimidating looming over her with those wings. The avian finally budged from their momentary staring contest, running both his hands through his unkempt hair, closing his eyes and letting out a sigh.
"Listen, I'd really, really love to. But with that monster chasing me, if you don't leave right now you're going to end up dead or worse. I might end up dead. I need to scram."
This gave Phoebe more of a moment's pause. But if something was after this uso, Phoebe doubted he would make it long. He looked ready to die of exhaustion quicker than anything else. She pondered, and decided to stand her ground.
“If something is chasing you you’re not going to survive like this.” She said sternly, placing her free hand on her hip. “You’ll be safer in Clearbranch. The garrison can handle any monster. Come on." The usogami looked dumbfounded as Phoebe grabbed his arm and pulled him along with her. He protested, but didn’t resist.
“No, you don’t understand. That thing might be able to- well- I’m not sure- I haven’t seen it yet but-”
“You haven’t seen it yet? How do you know it’s chasing you?” Phoebe’s mind returned to the thought of this uso being delirious from exhaustion. The uso rubbed his face in exasperation, though Phoebe wasn’t sure if it was with her or himself.
“I- It’s complicated! It-” His ears snapped to attention and his wings lifted with a sudden jolt. With a sudden franticness he shoved her away and sprang back, his wings lifting as he haltingly took to the air. Phoebe cried out in surprise and indignation as she landed hard on her tail.
“OUCH! What was that for!? Calm down!” She snapped. Her basket had fallen from her hand and the mushrooms, rosemary, and other herbs spilled into the dirt. “Oh nooo!” She whined as a sprig of fresh thyme fell into a muddy patch below a tree. She quickly gathered up the items and scowled back at the uso with an intense glare. He was looking around with alarm, but after a moment looked down at her and cringed.
He didn’t last long in the air though. His wings faltered, and with a yelp he weakly flapped and tumbled to the floor of the clearing. He managed to land on his feet somehow though and stumbled back over to Phoebe in an attempt to help her gather her foraged items.
“I am so sorry. I really could have sworn-” The tall avian was cut off as a large inky black blur sunk its teeth into his left shoulder. Phoebe screamed. The avain also screamed.
POV SHIFT
Running on pure instinct and adrenaline Calvin grabbed whatever had latched itself into his shoulder. With both hands he grappled the beast and rolled with the momentum of its blow, violently ripping it out of his shoulder and slamming it onto the ground with all the force his tired body could muster, his scream of surprise and pain transforming into a yell of defiance.
The pretty usogami screamed again and stumbled back as the wolf sized voidwalker slammed into the dirt next to her. Crushing the thyme. For some reason the crushed herb made Calvin feel unreasonably dismayed. The chunks missing from his shoulder were much more dismaying of course. He felt a little stupid though. Had it really just been this dinky thing following him the whole time?
The voidwalker shambled to its feet, or what Calvin guessed was its feet. The creature had no eyes and a long, bumpy, whiskered snout. Calvin was sure he'd broken at least half its bones, but the creature undulated toward him on a pile of twisted limbs. Fear clawed in Calvin's stomach as his adrenaline failed to make him feel any more capable of dealing with this thing. He couldn't let his guard down, especially with a mortal nearby, he needed to get her out of here. But he didn't want to lead this thing toward the town she'd mentioned. - Who knew what it could do!
Calvin tiredly but resolutely took a wide wrestler's stance. This thing was smaller than him. He could take it. Maybe. The voidwalker prowled toward him on its broken mass of legs. Growling and snapping at him as its head eerily rotated. Its "fur" rippling and standing on end, reminiscent of a wolf, but not quite right.
However, before Calvin or the voidwalker could pounce, the pale yellow usogami returned from out of the trees. Waving a small but sturdy branch, she aggressively struck the voidwalker with all her might. It jumped in surprise and Calvin stared, dumbfounded.
"Leave him alone you brute!" The usogami shouted, hitting the voidwalker over and over. The voidwalker seemed almost as stunned at Calvin.
"Wait! Stop! Get away from that! Don't touch it!!" Calvin cried, beating his wings to launch himself forward toward the two. If Calvin tackled the voidwalker from this angle both of them would tumble into the bystander. So instead he tackled her, pulling her away from it. She shouted in surprise as Calvin grabbed her and pushed her behind him. Facing the voidwalker and shielding her with his wings.
Not hesitating at all this time - and fearing that he'd lose what little energy he did have left if he let himself stall - Calvin plowed into the voidwalker. He struck the creature with all his might and sent it flying into a tree. It hit the trunk with a solid thunk and the crack of splitting bark. The voidwalker's inky fur or flesh or whatever it was oozed against and down the tree, pooling out on the grass. Broken bones (or what he ASSUMED to be broken bones) stuck out every which way. A blackish red galaxy like blood stained the tree and the ground. But the wicked thing got up again!
It rose very slowly this time, whimpering all the while, but it was annoyingly sturdy. For a moment Calvin was almost overcome with despair. He couldn't kill this thing! But in a last act of desperation, and anger, Calvin ran toward it. He could feel tears on his face he hadn't noticed shedding.
The voidwalker rose to its feet and made itself look as big as it could as Calvin came near, bearing its teeth. Calvin grabbed it firmly by the snout, grabbing hold of whatever other end of it he could. It felt slick and slippery beneath his talons, but despite that, with the last amount of strength he could muster he tore it in half.
The sensation and sound of the creature getting ripped apart was blessedly satisfying. Calvin threw the carcass to the ground, the tender violet flesh inside quivered for a moment but then grew still. Calvin fell to his knees in relief, splashing into the voidwalker's putrid stinking blood. The blood made contact with his own wound, making it sear like acid. But he didn't care.
All of Calvin's adrenaline seemed to leave him at once and he slipped from his kneeling position onto his side with a thud. Heaving heavily Calvin sprawled out on the ground and let out a weak almost laugh, letting the rest of his tears flow. He was honestly amazed he was hydrated enough to be able to cry at all.
POV SHIFT
Phoebe's legs were shaking as she stumbled over to the fallen avian. His shirt and feathers were stained with his own blood and the odd blood from the equally odd monster. Phoebe covered her nose at the awful scent of the creature's guts, and quickly averted her eyes from the gore.
The avian was thankfully still breathing. His chest was still heaving and Phoebe could see tears on his face.
"Oohh mother, I feel like dying." He groaned under his breath. This snapped Phoebe back to the moment a little. She didn't have time to be in shock, this uso still needed help.
"Can you walk?" Phoebe asked in an urgent voice, trying to slip her hands under his arms to lift him. He flinched as she moved his left shoulder.
"Don't get its blood on you." He whispered hoarsely, sounding distant. Phoebe strained to lift him but quickly found she did not have the upper body strength for this. Not anything like whatever this uso did to rip that thing in half. The avian however seemed to have enough sense of mind left to understand she was trying to lift him. He laboriously stood, leaning on Phoebe for support. Good Lassune he was heavy!
In other circumstances Phoebe would have been thrilled to have a cute boy like this so close to her, but the smell of blood and the lingering shock put a damper on the moment. His shallow breathing and delirious steps made it difficult to find any romanticism in the event. Not to mention how SHARDING HEAVY he was.
"I- What-... what was your name- again?" The avian gasped out, trying to stabilize himself against a tree to give Phoebe a free moment.
"I'm Phoebe." Phoebe gasped out in-between breaths as well. This was more exertion than she had expected for her afternoon.
"Phoebe… that is… that's a pretty name." He leaned his back against the tree's trunk and closed his eyes. "A pretty name.... For a pretty uso..." Phoebe blushed.
"And what's your name?" Phoebe wasn't going any longer without finding it out.
"I'm… uh… uh I'm Calvin. Thanks. By the way." Calvin took another moment to breathe in and out before pushing off from the tree to continue with Phoebe toward the village. Phoebe nodded to him.
“...Calvin’s a cute name.” She remarked with a slight smile after an awkward pause. Calvin’s eyes were still closed and his expression pained but he managed a tired smile.
“Thanks…..My….. Mom….. Gave it to me…” He replied slowly, each word spoken laboriously. Phoebe giggled lightly and Calvin shifted his weight on her shoulders.
The trip through the forest back to her home on the outskirts of the village felt longer than it ever had before. Phoebe sent a silent prayer to any god that would take it that he wouldn't bleed out or anything before she got help.
When she finally pulled into the clearing, lugging Calvin at her side, she was greeted by the alarmed faces of her little brother Sebastian, and Gordon, the youngest member of the town militia.