Antivenom

“Tiger Lily, and Ricin,” I told her, smoothing her sweat-slicked hair back. “What do you need to fix it?”

Her eyes widened and a bitter laugh broke her trembling lips. “F-f-f-funeral.” She muttered.

I looked around the room. It was a simple rent-by-the-hour rectangular box in a Coronian sex club. It had a a bed and nightstands, chains hanging from the ceiling and sadomasochistic implements on the walls. There were two half orcs laying on the ground, one unconscious, the other groaning over a shattered knee. There was a greasy rat of a man standing with his back to the wall.

Jasper. Ayaka’s poisoner.

“No.” I lifted her in my arms and laid her on the bed, and then rounded on the grinning Jasper. “There must be an antivenom.” I reasoned. “You wouldn’t have kept that poison around without one. What do you want for it?”

“That, my dear Breaker,” the rat of a man replied, “is something of a long story.”

“He’s lying,” Ayaka croaked from the bed, her throat raw from vomiting. “There is no cure.”

“That’s all I needed to know.” I said. I stalked across the space separating me from the greasy bastard and clapped my hands to either side of his head, putting my thumbs in his eyes and shoving so his head snapped back and nearly cracked a hole in the wall. He crumpled to the ground, maybe alive, maybe dead. I didn’t really care.

I clambered into my clothing and boots - Jasper and his guards had caught me and the catwoman in the act - and picked Ayaka up as if she were a toy doll. We both still smelled like sex, like the long night of Animal Behavior we’d shared. But I had no time to steep in those memories. I had to save the nekojin.

I had to get her to the ocean.

Oh how quickly things had turned downhill, mere hours ago she was writhing beneath the man she came to know as Joshua ‘Breaker’ Cronen. Now, she was shivering, barely conscious. Her lips trembled as she feebly tried to pull the sheet around her form. The man had haphazardly wrapped her in it before scooping her up, as though she were a bride to be taken, their first steps into their new life.

But this was nothing of the sort. There was no new life, there wasn’t even a half life. Ayaka had been poisoned, badly. The nekojin could have dealt with the tigerlilly on her own. Jasper had known that. But the Ricin? There wasn’t a cure. Her only saving grace was that he hadn’t injected it into her, lest she already be dead.

Her body heaved, but there was nothing else for her to throw up. The toxins had worked their way through her system faster than anticipated. Her body was still heated and running on adrenaline from her romp with the man.

“H-hey…” Ayaka breathed. The fire in her voice had gone. The snide tone and the pointed look in her eyes had melted away like ice, leaving behind a watered down gaze. “H-hey…” A weak hand reached up to graze the stubble on Breakers cheek.

He glanced down at her.

“What are yo-ughnnn….”

“Shh,” he said as he carried her. “Save your strength. I’m taking you out of here, to get help.”

Help? There was no help. The only help that he could give her was a blade through the heart, so she would not suffer the horrible pain she knew was coming. Fuck… what a way to go. She finally meets someone who can match her speed n the bedroom, finally catches a break - and she’s dying. Who the hell was supposed to look after her younger sisters?

Fuck.

“I’m good as dead.” Ayaka mumbled as she turned her head into his chest. His skin felt cool compare to her burning forehead. Ayaka knew all too well what was going to happen. Fevers, vomiting, dehydration, kidney failure, cramping...the slow disintegration of her bodys cells then…

Then…

Hot tears spotted Breakers chest. Ayaka talked big, but she hadn’t wanted to die. Not like this. She wanted it to be on her own terms, not at the hands of some dickwad.

Well…

At least she was warm.

The catgirl was weightless and shaking in my arms, like a dying breeze rattling round an evergreen glade. I strode out of the club and into the covered coach staging area, directing my hazel gaze at one of the valets on duty there. He caught my eye and snapped to attention, giving the nekojin in my arms a quizzical look.

“Prepare one of these coaches for us,” I ordered, nodding at the row of horse stalls.

“Which is yours?” He asked, raising a blond eyebrow.

“That one,” I picked the fanciest, frilliest looking carriage in hopes that it would also be the fastest.

“And the ticket for your horses, sir?”

“My what?” The only thing containing more poison than Ayaka’s body was my tone.

“The ticket… that you got… when you dropped your horses off, sir.” The valet said, gesturing at a pile of used up tickets on the desk.

I shouldered the fancily carved coach’s door open and laid Ayaka inside. She looked up at me.

“If you..a Thayne what are you? Really-cough- of fucking?”

“That’s right,” I whispered, laying a soothing hand on her brow. “I’m the Thayne of Fucking.”

I turned away from her and approached the valet, allowing the torchlight to lick at the Y-shaped scars on my cheeks. The young man gulped, perhaps recognizing me, or perhaps just interpreting my body language.

“Just prepare the bloody horses for us,” I growled. “Or you’ll get the same thing I gave the club owner.” I clapped my hands so hard and so fast that the valet jumped, and raced to secure a pair of horses to the carriage. I moved back to Ayaka, looking down at the catgirl as she lay on the ornately painted floor.

“You know…” She said, “I pray and pray and pray but hold no connection with any deity… they’re all.. P-pussies.”

I smiled and held her hand. “You may change your mind about that soon enough.”

She looked confused, her lips trembling to form another question.

“Why is it so cold?” Before I could answer, she went on. “Why are you red?” She lifted a shaking hand to touch my face, raking against the stubble on my cheek. “You look better in blue.”

“Hush now,” I said, and then leaned out to check on the valet. He had almost secured a pair of dappled geldings to the front of the carriage. “Get a move on, and there’s a gold crown in it for you!” I called. I leaned back to the trembling nekojin. “Where we’re going,” I said, “everything is in blue.”

It’d been a few hours and her condition had only worsened. Ayaka lay curled up on the floor of the carriage, barely conscious. Her hair was matted, messy, and dirty. Her eyes red and blotchy. Her clothes, or lack thereof, completely disheveled. Fishnets were ripped, sleek dress stained with body fluids, she was no longer the visage of bountiful beauty, and was more akin to a newborn fowl who lost its way. Her body heaved with ragged breaths.

Her eyes fluttered open, staring at the side of the carriage in front of her. Beautiful designs were printed onto paper and pressed up against the interior of the carriage. She knew they were moving, the world around her rocked, but nowhere near as much as her insides.

So...this is what it felt like to die.

To be felled by her own profession, and to think it wasn’t even one of her own concoctions. Ayaka lifted a weak hand to push strands of chestnut hair away from her head. It was slick, wet with sweat. She had antidotes and antivenoms, she had brews and concoctions, contagions and remedies - but none could...would be able to fight a toxin like Ricin.

Where...did Jasper get such a thing?

The halfbreed Nekojin struggled to think, to string cohesive thoughts together. They trickled in and out of her mind with only the single daunting awareness setting in.

Her body was breaking down.

A tongue darted out to lick dried lips. “B-Brea-ker?”

The coach trundled to a halt and a pair of heavy boots hit the ground audibly. Moments later Breaker swung the door open and peered inside, concern in his eyes.

“Is there anything I can get you?” He asked.

Ayaka groaned at the sudden influx of light, and tried to breathe in the scent of fresh air. It smelt like a dying carcass in here. Oh wait. That was her.

“Body...dying. F-find Eteri. Blue hair. Sister.” Ayaka’s words were forced between raspy breaths. “Tell her. I’m sorry.”

Ayaka’s eyes fluttered shut as she exhaled, she didn’t have the strength to be conscious. If the man could find her flippant idiot of a sister, and at least let her know what happened - then hey - that was…. Something… right?

I backed out of the carriage and closed the door carefully, and then leaped back into the driver’s seat and snapped the reins. The horses whinnied and got trotting, going as fast as they dared in the inky night. My eyes could see further than theirs, and I gazed down the road, checking for oncoming dangers. Our path was clear, for the moment at least.

The wind whistled in my ears and played in my close cropped hair, chilling my body due to the dampness of my clothes. I ignored the secondary symptoms, refusing to let myself shiver. I had more pressing matters to concern myself with.

Trees whizzed by on both sides like skeletons in the night, becoming a shadowy blur which bled into my memory and shaped into the scene from the previous night. I had gone to the club to foster a business relationship between the manager and a Fallieni spice trader, and Jasper himself had convinced me to sample one of Ayaka’s “love potions”. I couldn’t explain the effects it had on me, beyond the fact that it had shattered my inhibitions. I’d become a creature of almost pure instinct, a primal animal.

It turned out, that was pretty much Ayaka’s type.

I bore the responsibility for the nekojin’s life. If I hadn’t attended the club that night, she never would have wound up getting poisoned by her rat of an employer. She had… submitted to me, which was a new experience, but it felt as though she should be under my protection. She was under my protection, and I would not let her die.

There were limits to medicine, to antidotes and antivenoms… but there was no limit to the divinity of my lady.

Ayaka had spent parts of the night trying to guess what I was. Her soul sight had made it clear I was no ordinary human. Eventually I had told her. I was a demigod, the champion and strong right hand of the ocean deity Am’aleh. My goddess could shift the tides with as much effort as I drew breath. She would be able to heal Ayaka. She would.

The coach’s wheels bounced and spun over hills and through valleys, following the hardpack road. It was fortunate that the club, just a few miles west of the outskirts of Radasanth, sat so close to the ocean. By the time the sun peeked its red eye over the horizon, the dust-covered carriage and driver came to a stop on the side of the road. Nearby, through a stand of trees, the ocean called out tenderly.

I leaped down and opened the carriage door. Ayaka lay limply on the floor, her tail drooping out as the door opened. Her ears seemed slack, her skin yellowish and clammy. I slid an arm beneath her shoulders and pulled her out, carrying her into the trees without giving the carriage a second thought. She was under my protection. She could not die.

“These trees are hers,” she said blearily, not making any sense. I maneuvered us carefully through the little spit of woods and then raced over the pebble beach and into the foamy green shallows. I waded in up to my waist and then crouched, sinking Ayaka slowly into the salt water.

“S’cold,” she mumbled. “Why?”

“To save you,” I whispered. “Pray with me now.”

Am’aleh, I thought, I know you are here. We sit in your embrace even now. Please do not allow this young one to die. Her state is my fault. Take it out on me. I am already devoted to you… but grant me this boon, and I will forever remember the favor. Please, my goddess… sap the poison from Ayaka’s veins.

Her body was gently placed in the water and with Breakers strong calloused hands supporting her, she floated limply amidst the glistening surface. The morning rays bounced off the surface and made it look as though the Nekojin had been laid upon a carpet of shifting, shimmering sapphire.

Despite the cold touch of water soaking into her Ayaka was burning, her insides churning as the poison worked its way through her veins.. Ayaka’s skin had taken on a sickly yellow taint as her kidneys began to fail her. Her eyes were glazed as they fluttered open to stare at the blurry visage in front of her.

Breaker?

No.

It wasn’t just him, something was shrouding him, about to envelop him. Blindingly bright as it emerged from the trickling waters. “L-look out…” She breathed as a slender, shaking up barely lifted itself out the water. There was no strength left in her. It fell back into the water, diving below its surface.

The gentle ebb and flow of the waves soothed her. The way her hands, hair, and tail swayed with the gentle currents felt as though the ocean itself was attempting to lull her into a sleep, one she knew would last forever.

“Am’aleh,” Breaker whispered, “Am’aleh please…”

If Ayaka was coherent enough, she’d recognize the name - it was one of the Thaynes of Althanas. She would have recalled having to pray to her every ninth month of the year, the time between Winter and Spring. But she wasn’t. She barely recognized the name, barely heard his voice. Her attempt of warning him against the sparkling mass of white and blue behind him had fallen on deaf ears. What didn’t fall on deaf ears however, was the strange lilting voice.

“What poor soul have you brought into my depths, oh champion?”

How to describe it? The woman sounded as though she were everywhere, all around Ayaka. Her voice was modulated, her tone wispy. Her silvery words were sympathetic. Ayaka was sure she was hallucinating. “F-fuck off.” She managed.

Was that laughter? The water pulsed with mirth. Ayaka swore she felt the current shift, instead of the steady ebb and flow, to and fro, she felt it begin to circle her.

“She has spirit,” the strange voice said. “Such a dose of ricin would have tamed most by now. Would have killed most.”

’Great...about to die and I’m hallucinating.’

Ayaka groaned, if she had the strength she would have pushed herself out of the water. She did not. ’Weird ass fuckin’ Thayne man and his weird ass burrial got me all loopy. Hell… I’m telling myself shit I already know. I know my high poison tolerance. I know I should be dead. I sorta wish I was.’

“Her will to live is weak,” the mellifluous voice said. “I cannot maintain a mortal coil that wishes to rid itself of the spirit…”

“Ayaka!” Breaker snapped, slapping her across the face. “You have to fight! Stay alive…”

Her eyes snapped open as she felt the sharp sting against her flesh. They struggled to focus on him. “N-no cure, dipshit.” she mumbled as she went to slap him back. Well, tried to. The best she could do was lift her hand out of the water only for it to fall short of his jaw. That strength wasn’t there moments ago. Her eyebrows furrowed. She shouldn’t be able to lift her arms.

Hell...come to think of it…

The blinding,cramping pain had dulled. Not entirely, no. She still felt it tugging at her body and churning her insides. Her limbs still burned and her head felt as though it were being crushed - but it was ever so slightly more tolerable.

“Whossat?” Ayaka asked as her eyes focused on that same glistening figure behind Breaker.

“Meet my goddess, Am’aleh.” I said as the Thayne took shape behind me. She wore the form of a woman made of water, her skin and dress different shades of the same cascading blue. I could feel her magic at work in the sea, touching the catgirl, making her well again. There may not have been a cure for ricin, but there was no limit to divine right.

Am’aleh came to stand beside me, her aqueous hair floating in the gentle salt breeze. I lifted Ayaka to her feet, supporting her beneath the shoulders, and my goddess extended her endless arms around us both in her healing embrace.

Ayaka tried to fight the embrace, squirming. It was almost a relief to see her moving again. “W-hwho-whah..”

The magic swelled like a great wave at sea, rising in crescendo without ceremony. I felt Am’aleh’s love lift us both, felt her kiss my soul and brush Ayaka’s body free of the toxins contaminating it. I tried to remember how the healing magic worked, so I might replicate it on my own, but it was too powerful and complex even for me. Only a Thayne could give the gift of life to a body on death’s door.

The goddess’ omnipotent voice echoed around us again.

“A great debt is owed for this favor, champion. Do not allow my act to have been in vain.”

The magic faded, like water running through a sieve. The temperature and movement of the water around us returned to normal, and I was left holding Ayaka upright in waist-deep water.

‘I fuckin’ hate magic…” She groaned as she struggled to stand, her knees buckled and she was relying heavily on me for support. “I feel like a fuckin troll sat on me.”

“No spell is perfect,” I said, turning her toward the shore and lifting her above the water to carry her. As we landed on dry ground she clawed with growing strength at my face, and I set her down and supported her again. “You should be grateful for Am’aleh’s gift,” I said as I steered her back toward the trees separating us from the road.

“W-who? That Thayne of ...what was it….storms? Water? Was that who that fuckin voice belonged to? Fuck….I thought I was insane.”

“I thought the same thing, the first time she spoke to me.” I said as we made our way through plants and between trees. Vegetation and dirt clung to our wet clothing, and I could feel the catgirl’s fatigue in the way she leaned on me. The poison might have been drawn out, but she still needed a place to lay down and recover. “But you are not insane. You have been given a great honor. I know not what I will have to do to repay her.”

We staggered out of the treeline and came to the stretch of road where we’d left the carriage.

It was empty.

I sighed. Either some opportunistic thief had happened along at the right time, or the horses had simply forgotten that dropped reins mean stay still. Either way, I was left to care for the ailing catgirl, alone and without transportation on a lonely stretch of Coronian coast.

I decided we’d walk downhill, and got us moving along the road.

Her entire body ached, she didn’t want to be pushing herself so hard. Ayaka wasn’t one hundred percent sure what happened, but she was fairly certain she was meant to be dead. There was no coming back from Ricin poisoning. Not like that. Then she had apparently met a goddess?

Ayaka shook her head, then instantly regretted it. It felt like she was being knocked around. Caramel locks still clung to her face. “I’m a fuckin’ high priestess. I’m too dainty for this roughin’ it shit. Fuck. I don’t think a Thayne ever responded. ‘Spose I’ve met two now huh?”

“I’m not a Thayne,” Breaker reminded her. “Not yet.”

Ayaka turned to glance at him, she furrowed her eyes. “Coulda fooled me, soul practically reeks of the shit I-” Ayaka paused, her body shook and she had to turn her head to the side to heave up bile and remnants of toxin from her body.

She drooped, sliding out of Breakers grip. He quickly positioned himself to get a better hold on her. “Ya don’t have to...do this…” Ayaka mumbled. She didn't’ understand it. Why he had helped her. All they did was fuck. Quite frankly she should have been more careful around Jasper, it was her own cockiness that got her into the situation. “I’ll be fine.”

“You’ll be roadkill, if I leave you here.” Breaker said, hooking his arm beneath hers again. “Come on, we’d best keep moving.”

“Fuck you. I almost died.” I hissed at him in protest. Still, I pressed on. There was no way in fuckin’ hell I was gonna let him lord this over me any more. I tried to push away to stand on my own two feet, I lasted several metres before faltering and he had to catch me again.

“Don’t push yourself too hard.”

I wanted to be angry at him, but I didn’t have the strength. Even the usual Ayaka brand glare didn’t waver him. He just stared at me with cool, hazel eyes beneath a brow furrowed with concern. Dammit. Why did he have to look at me like that? I wasn’t weak.

Even so...I knew I couldn’t keep this up forever. I had my limitations. “I...I need rest…” I mumbled as I staggered again.

“I was hoping we’d find a house somewhere,” Breaker said, “but we could walk for miles out here without finding anything. We’ll find someplace with a little shelter, and you can lay down.”

I nodded and we continued down the path. Half an hour had passed before Breaker tugged me into the direction of the forest, having caught sight of something. Apparently his vision was fuckin’ amazing cause I didn’t see shit. “Where we goin?”

“I think I saw a cave - ah. Here.” He reached out and quite literally tore a branch clean off the trunk of a tree to reveal an entrance to a small cave. It was small, small enough that he and I both had to duck to enter. Walking forward a few more metres lead us to an opening. It was clear it was once used for hibernation. The stench of fur filled my nostrils, but whatever was once here, was long gone. There were no tracks leading in or out the cave nor signs of recent stirring. The cave walls were dry but the air brisk. “Home sweet fuckin’ home, huh?”

Ayaka crawled into the cavern and collapsed just within its jaws. I turned and stepped back into the thick of the trees, stooping low and snatching up dead branches wherever I saw them. In short order I had an armload of dried twigs, as well as a few heavier pieces of wood. I circled back to the mouth of the cavern and knelt perhaps a foot shy of the opening, building a nest of kindling.

“W-w-what’re you d-d-doing?” Ayaka said from the cavern, shivering badly. “You got no matches. You know f-f-fire magic?”

“Don’t need it,” I replied. If you can move your hands fast enough, you can literally make fire by rubbing two sticks together, which is what I did. The friction between the two bits of deadwood built up until a flame sprouted from one stick, and I transferred it to the nest quickly and smoothly. The flame caught, and before long I had a merry little fire going.

If only I could heat Ayaka up as easily. I crawled into the little cave next to her and pressed my equally damp body against hers. Feeling the violence of her shiver worried me. The catwoman’s frigid hand clasped mine, searching for warmth and comfort.

The licking warmth of the flames reached us, and with me on one side and the fire on the other, Ayaka’s shivers began to subside.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“Should have fuckin’… let me die… to the ricin.” She said between long, deep breaths.

“You will be well soon. Am’aleh has shown it as her will.” She scoffed at that, but I saw a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

“Do you actually… know a Thayne?” Ayaka said, her disbelief raw and trembling.

“Intimately.” I replied. “She is my patron, and I am her champion.”

“I’d have called fuckin’ bullshit on that about two hours ago,” she winced. “Still might, I haven’t survived yet.”

I placed my hands on her back and massaged the large muscles there gently, easing her tension and drawing the faintest shadow of a purr from the catgirl’s lips.

“I really thought I was dead,” she said in a soft, mewling voice after listening to the fire crackle awhile.

“You’re not,” I assured her, “and you will be well. Am’aleh-”

Thunder rumbled overhead, and I heard the skies open up like a faucet.

Rain poured down, dousing our fire and seeping through the loam, threatening to invade our haven.

“Has shown it as her will.” I finished quietly, drawing Ayaka tighter against me and reaching past her. Beneath my influence the water rose up in a wall guarding us and froze solid. It became darker within the cavern, and I felt Ayaka tense as she realized she was trapped.
“Do not be afraid.” I whispered. “Breathe, and have faith.”

“Fuck faith.” she spat. Ayaka wasn't exactly afraid she just didn't like the idea of being trapped. Especially with an ice welding Thayne loving demi human.

But…

He had helped her this far. There was little reason to believe anything would happen. They already fucked like animals. “Don't go thinking I'm gonna fucking fall for you now.” She muttered. Ayaka could feel his warm breath tickle the back of her neck as he laughed softly.

She wrapped her arms further around herself, pressing her back against his chest. She could practically feel his heartbeat against her damp skin, through the sodden clothes.

“I fuckin hate magic. It's unpredi-t-table. Alchemy… Po- potion making. It's a science. Any fucker can conjure shit. Making concoctions. Thats real art.”

“No doubt you are right,” Breaker murmured. “And yet, you have magic to thank for your life.”

Ayaka winced. “Yeh.. And I hate knowing that.” she didn't like having to rely on an outside source to save her. Sure, she was a high priestess and much of her time was spent praying but she had lite faith in self serving thaynes.

“Bit catty of her to send a storm right after saving me don't you think?”

“Perhaps it’s a commentary on your attitude.”

Ayaka turned, rolling over in his grip. This felt better. She pressed her arms up against him and nestled her chin into the crook of his neck. For a man dedicated to a woman of watery storms and shit, and who could magic up a wall of ice.. He was ridiculously warm. Radiating heat.

“Good to know the Thaynes hate me too.”she mumbled bitterly. Sure, she had the reverred respect of her town but she left it under the guise of a pilgrimage to pursue more profitable means. Ayaka hated the fakery of it all. So she did what she did best. Got drunk and pushed it all away.

“How the fuck do you even get to know a Thayne like that?”

He took a deep breath, his chest expanding and contracting as he considered the question.

“My lady first found an interest in me when I died during a tournament. She saw fit to raise me back to a mortal life… some time after that, I realized what she had done and became her devout follower. Our relationship is… unique.”

Ayaka scoffed. “Sounds like ya fuck her and do her bidding if ya ask me.” He was beating around the bush, but the way his body shifted against her. The way he placed emphasis on the word intimate. Yeh. Didn't take a steam engineer to figure that one out. “If thats the benefits perhaps I should start looking for a thayne to become my patron, know any willing for a fuck?”

“You would not understand,” he said, his shoulders rolling as he shrugged against her. “No matter how I explained it.”

“Not much to explain.” Ayaka mumbled. She was feeling better, slowly, she had a feeling she'd improve if she wasn't soaking wet. “Don't explain it to me. I don't care.” Why should she? She had no feelings for the man. She was making conversation. It was the least she could do to distract herself from the cold.

But, part of her was serious. She was a priestess. She prayed a fuck tonne. So why shouldn't she seek out a Thayne? She doubted she could devote herself so irrevocably so like Breaker had. Still…

Her chest rose and fell as she drew in a heavy sigh. “I should go home. Back to being the high priestess. No sex dens. No trouble. Simple. Boring. Safe.”

With the ice blocking out the wind and rain and my body heating the cramped interior, the cave became almost snug over time. The catgirl and I stay cuddled together, although there was barely space for any other position. Her question lingered in my mind as I listened to the rain patter on the rock overhead. The rainstorm was like countless tiny needles, numbing the ground below to all sensation.

“If you truly wish to know,” I said at last, “I will… try… to tell you. It makes a good story at least, even if you will not respect it.”

I felt her shift in my arms. Her voice became quiet, a soft whisper. “It's not that I don't respect shit. I just… don't want to..” there was a pause in her words and I felt her hair tickle the underside of my chin as she shook her head. “Don't put yourself out for my sake.” Whatever she had planned to say, she had chosen not to share.

I sighed. After a single night in the nekojin’s company, I already knew better than to expect her to willingly ask for what she wanted. Since I didn’t have access to nipple clamps or a melting candle at that moment, I decided to just tell her.
“Before Am’aleh, my driving purpose was to become the best martial artist Althanas has ever seen. I became a well known prize fighter and tournament competitor, winning the support of many people across the known world. When she brought me back after the Cell, Ama’leh sought to exploit that. There is no question in my mind that she always meant to use me. She told me as much.

“But things did not unfold as she’d planned. I was not satisfied by the life she envisioned for me, as her champion in the hearts of the masses. One day I… I put on my metal boots and walked into the ocean, to see whether it would swallow me whole or spit me back out. I walked beneath the waves, along the sandy bottom, until my lungs screamed for air. But I would not relent. I wanted the crushing blackness to be my forever.

“It was then that she came to me in her true form… she showed herself to me, made herself vulnerable, even if in the slightest. She buoyed me and my spirits both back to the surface, and we lay together in the waves for the first time. It is not at all like…” I took a deep breath, not wanting to say what we did.

“Imagine if you could gaze directly into the sun. What beauty and secrets hide in its fires? What piece of the everlasting puzzle is so private, it must be kept hidden by a blinding force? Most mortals can only gaze on the stars from afar. But I… I have seen them up close. I have seen Am’aleh in the flesh, or as close to it as she ever comes. I know the truth that is in her heart. She no longer seeks to use me for her own ends…” I peeled a sticky strand of hair off Ayaka’s cheek.

“She wishes to raise me up to Thaynehood, to take my place at her side. Together, that is what we seek.”

She was quiet. She never expected him to admit he had wanted to off himself. That had hit a little close to home. Ayaka never dealt well with this sort of thing. Emotions, sentimentality… It Just never bode well for her.

“So my sight isn't shoddy. You're becoming a Thayne.” she hummed against his skin. “Hmmm I'd give it five years, tops. Before you go ascend and be with her or whatever.”

She gently patted his chest, an awkward form of comfort. “Then you can fuck her starlit form as much as you want. Eh?” Damn Ayaka thays not how you comfort someone.

He merely shook his head.

“How's about when I get home, I'll get all the shrine maidens to pay homage to Amaloo. Think that'll calm her tiddies?”

Strike two Ayaka, really not the best at this comfort thing.

“I’m sure she would be honored by any worship.” Breaker replied.

Ayaka snorted, “could do a few rounds of prayer for you too.” she added. “ya know since you're gonna be a Thayne one day. You could work on having your own champions or what have you.”

Yup. Strike three for three. Ayaka comfort, do not recommend.

“I don’t like to get too far ahead of myself,” Josh said, “but when I’ve ascended, I’ll be sure to keep you in mind as an acolyte.”

“Didn't you hear? I'd be a terrible acolyte. The only thing I look out for is myself.” Ayaka shut her eyes. “For the record though. You may just prove me wrong when I say all Thaynes are pussies.”

She pressed her head further into his form, lapping up his warmth like a newborn kitten. Damn now that she was warm, she didn't realize how fucking tired she was. Ayaka didn't like feeling vulnerable. She didn't like having to rely on someone else. But hell, she was only mortal. Unlike her present company.

Would it matter so much if she just indulged in someone else like this just once?

He seemed to detect the wave of fatigue that had struck her. His hand cupped her head against his shoulder, petting her softly behind the ears.

“Rest now,” he said, “you can tell me what a fucking idiot I am when you wake, louder and with more energy.” She gave a snort in response. Damn fucking right she would.

She'd tell him he was an idiot for opening up to her and being all sentimental. She'd tell him he was an idiot for not grabbing warmer clothes or blankets for her earlier. For leaving the carriage unattended.

And for saving her life, which meant he was now in big debt with a Thayne.

Even though she was clearly exhausted, it took Ayaka some time to fall asleep in my arms. For awhile she held herself tensely, resisting, but then she collapsed against my support with a soft mewl, her ears folding forwards, her nose twitching. The little cave was not an especially comfortable sleeping quarters, but I resolved to hold her for as long as her breathing stayed steady. She needed rest, and soon she would need food and water. The water part I could help with… food would be trickier. I was no expert forager, and while I could certainly catch game, I lacked the means to do any cooking.

I melted a hole in the ice wall to watch the rain as I listened to Ayaka’s rhythmic breathing. We had not passed any dwellings on our way to the sea, so the next day we would have to gamble and continue following the road in the opposite direction. I would carry the catgirl if necessary, even thought I knew she would fight it. We would find either a home or a cabin or a passing farmer on a cart. There would be something to assist us, something to help get Ayaka where she wanted to go, back home to Akashima.

There was nothing between us, both literally and figuratively. I did not consider her life a debt. I had been to blame for her poisoning in the first place. The only debt existed between Am’aleh and myself. I knew not what my goddess would ask in return, only that a favor would be required… and a great one at that.

The rain swelled, spatters coming in the window I had opened, and I sealed it up lest it should strike the catgirl and wake her.

Even if she felt that she owed me her life, in truth it was the other way around. I owed her her life, for I had almost taken it. She was my responsibility… and I would do whatever it took to see her safely back onto her path.

She had a crass manner and tongue, but also a strong spirit and matching skillset. I did not doubt that Ayaka’s notion of a debt between us would become an exploitable resource at some point in the future. And so I held her, beneath the rocks, beneath the rain.

Breaker receives 1760 EXP and 95 GP!

Ayaka receives 625 EXP and 80 GP!

All rewards added!