Fantasy The Scarlet Flower

[kevintheradioguy]

for kevintheradioguy and Blancsan ​

Mid-November | Swamps North of Kilmurry
​

Thick, teal-white mist covered the landscape, creating a smoky veil across the swamps. It was cold. Very cold. Late autumn wasn't the warmest time of the year, but out here, with small drops hanging in the air, it was almost unbearable. The swamp wasn't deep - it would reach an adult man's chest, and at least half of that depth would be dirt and silt. Occasionally, water rippled, and a flat head of a large snake popped out of the water, eyes empty, almost blind, tongue flickering as it tasted the air, looking for whether prey, or a place to curl up and fall asleep. Here and there, on flat small hillocks, a few bushes grew over rib cages and skulls of what looked like large cattle dragged here by something huge and powerful enough to steal a bull, and at times - even an auroch. Their giant bones were sticking out, like cages, among the withered, bald trees, all covered in mossy vines instead of leaves and twigs, covered in some sort of transparent slime. As if to mock this death and decay, small colourful flowers peppered the hills, blooming over rotting flesh and dirt, mixed into a brownish mush.

Monsters lived here - there was no doubt in that. On occasion, there was glistening in the grass, and a sharp eye would catch a glimpse of a coin, or a harness, or a horseshoe, glittering in an eerie lights, seen through the fog. The picture was clear: will-o-wisps and little evil fey fooling around, tricking travellers into riding further and further into the swamp, until their horses could not walk any more, dying from cold, and leaving their master for a slower, more painful deaths. Monsters lived here - but monsters didn't always mean mangy fur and sharp teeth; they sometimes meant flower dresses, and charming giggles, and shiny wings behind small, narrow backs.

There was no wind, and the air was stale, and yet somehow, for some reason, something creaked, as if these old trees, holding together small islands of earth with their mighty roots, were leaning over to look if anyone was walking their way. Few reed islands, separated from the dried mass, floated slowly, almost idly along the murky waters. Or maybe those were well-discguised swamp creatures, preying for unsuspecting prey?

It was cold, and wet, and misty, it smelled of rotten weed, and stale water, and old wood. As it usually did in these old, forbidden swamps.

 

[Blancsan]

It wasn’t everyday you were picked to be a sacrifice. However, today was one of those days for poor Eldyr Farlen.

Kilmurry was a town bustling with elves. Yes, Elves - The magnificent, majestic creatures who are said to shine like the rays of a thousand suns - however, there was more to these elves than just their pretty looks and fancy clothing. They were scared. Terrified of what lurked in the swamps North of their town.

The late autumn had taken it’s toll on the town; their crops weren’t growing, their livestock was disappearing and the harsh weather wasn’t helping. This is when they decided it was best that a sacrifice had to take place in order to appease the monster in the swamps. If they could have their livestock, at least they would be alright for food. Some even believed the monster was causing the harsh weather - he was a creation of that old witch, after all!

Their sacrifice had to be perfect. They had to appease the wicked demon feasting on their only food source for the winter. The mayor had decided that it would be best they picked out a younger elf from a draw.

Like winning a raffle. However, your prize was a horrible, gruesome death.

The raffle had been drawn. The winner had been chosen.

Eldyr took a step back, his face paling as his name was called. It wasn’t long before he was seized by the guards of the town and knocked unconscious before he could resist.

When he finally awoke, he found that he was stripped naked, leaving only a white piece of cloth wrapped around his waist to cover himself. The sun was setting, and the noises of the damp swamp made him shiver in fear. It wasn’t helping that his head was aching - that was one hard hit he took to the head, after all. He couldn’t believe his town actually went through with it. He had been against a sacrifice from the start, but to think they would actually do this to him without mercy. He had no time to think, no time to run, no time to say goodbye to anyone before he was thrown into the swamp like a piece of meat.

 

[kevintheradioguy]

It was very ;ate in the fall, and very cold, however, that didn't mean everything was dead. Simple people would think that flowers withered, their petals rotting away, trees gave their fruit and fell asleep, and vines that once held large pumpkins and tomatoes dried out and turned into dust. This was not the case for those who knew where to look. Somewhere deep in the swamps, there was a hut of what the local people called a witchmonster, and forest fey named a strawberry lady. All filled with herbs, and flowers, and roots, and mushrooms, and feathers, and bones, and claws, and all sorts of weird stuff one would imagine to be in a house of a warlock. These ingredients made for a wide variety of potions and poisons, remedies and tinctures, oils and essences. And for a few of those, very special herbs were needed, some of which should've been collected in a certain period of time. Such as during the first frosts. Such as now.

Of course, this wasn't the first frost, but checking up on the herbs was never a bad idea... especially for one who was so very, very bored. Opening the door of the hut with a soft headbutt, the large, dark monster walked out of its house, heading south, to a shallower part of the swamp, where, on the edge of a thinning forest, it had discovered a small field of frost fern. Rare ingredient it was keen on keeping safe until reaping. There the path led.

Being completely honest, Zoltan would have to admit he knew why people feared him. Too big, too... scary. All fangs and spikes, and glowing eyes. He didn't blame them for fearing him, although at some point in his life wished for more understanding and less prejudice. Not any more, though. Now he just wanted to be left alone. Which more often than not, he was. Only sometimes someone brave came over to 'fight' him, or set a trap, thinking a giant creature was nothing but a mindless beast, but, luckily for all of them, he was not. The fact he usually didn't have clothes on, didn't help in pretending not to be an animal, but, in spite of humans or elves, nothing shameful was hanging around to be seen for him, carefully tucked away like in animal kingdom, so he didn't have a need to cover up... and, not being cold in this climate, he never needed anything warm. Not to mention the spikes on his back would rip apart any clothes anyway, so why bother, unless he has guests? He didn't even think about someone dragging something to his swamp once more, walking carefully through the bog, stepping over especially lovely-looking clusters of fungi not to disturb the aesthetics of otherwise not that beautiful place.

He was circling around the water, heading to the dryer area to follow along it to the forest, and was just about to head deeper into the land, when he caught a whiff of something. The large creature stopped, his ears twitching, and standing upright... or, in his case, to the sides, like of a doe. He smelled salt and blood. That was new. Of course, animals living in these parts hunted each other relentlessly, but usually all the blood was quickly devoured by water and silt; besides, most f not all predators here were of a clod-blooded variety, and were whether hibernating, or looking for a place to hibernate, instead of spending precious energy on hunting. The large, striped face turned to the depths of the woods, and then back to the swamp, nose wrinkling ans the creature inhaled, sniffing the air. It was definitely blood. And something that smelled like... perfume? Spice? Flowers? All of the above? The creature sighed with a slight grumble, shaking its mangy head, and turning around, awkwardly placing its knuckles on the ground and dragging the tail behind. Curiosity got the better of him, not to mention, this was his swamp. He didn't want to leave it... disorderly. Thus, the plan has changed, and he had walked around towards the place he had smelled blood. He wasn't in a rush, and tried to tread carefully, just in case.

He stopped, peeking out from the woods, one a single crooked tree that seemed like the source of the smell. He didn't get it. What this was. Why it smelled that way. Until he decided to circle around it, and understood that the tree was wide enough to cover the narrow back of a person behind it.

They surely picked a good place, Zoltan thought! A circle of smaller islands around what looked like a swampy crater or a pond. Lovely place for a sacrifice. Though he had no idea this was a sacrifice. The creature circled around on a long distance, hidden by the bushes and trees, and hills, and moss, and reed, peeking out to understand what was going on in his swamp. He tried to be discreet, but with his size of a small elephant this wasn't a real possibility. In the mist, and under the dark, grey-clad skies, with clouds bubbling overhead, he looked probably like a silhouette of a large porcupine moving around, hiding in the reed; or a huge moving bush. Something large, and roundish, and spiky. When being at a comfortable angle to look, this large black shadow stopped, trying to make out what was in front of him. his eyes narrowed, trying to make out details - the mist worked both ways, covering him just well, but also blurring out the figure. It looked like a... human girl? He cocked his head. What are they trying to do this time? Was this a trick? He circled some more, getting even further from the tree and the blooded thing, but at least stopping almost directly in front of it, a little more than two hundred meters ahead or so, everything but the general black shape covered in thick, teal mist. He waited a little, and for a moment, it looked like this was just an illusion - eyes playing tricks - and the moving mangy thing was nothing but another large bush. Such tricks in the mist saved him from so many confrontations. That was before he leaned slowly to the ground, his hands - or front paws, depending on the viewer's perception - springing him up, and in a standing position, not unlike a bear, the figure hanging over the water; most of it - large mane, swinging slightly to keep balance, and three greenish-blue, slightly glowing dots on its face, like cat's reflecting eyes, staring straight ahead. The head - or rather, the dots - cocked to the side, as of a curious animal, as the creature tried to understand what was this for. He was cautious for a reason. There was a few times the townsfolk tried to poison him. One time - even blow him up, stuffing a dead sheep with some sort of explosives. What was this, then? Were they trying to lure him in with some sort of virgin sacrifice to then ambush him? He looked around, but didn't notice anyone, but then again, he was not a very good scout. His world was herbs, and gardens, retorts and calcinators, not... looking for enemies in the bushes!

Not daring to approach a possible trap, the creature finally took off his large turquoise eyes off the figure, scanning the immediate area around. His large, covered in mist figure wobbled a little, with ears still perked up, and back still straight as it tried to balance on its hind legs to see further. He didn't understand if the girl in front was alive or not, and even if she was facing him, but this all suspiciously looked like a place to get attacked by another group with pitchforks and torches... well, maybe not torches. He'd notice torches right away. Soon, he gave up. The foliage was just too thick to notice someone, and he didn't have this magical sense of smell to distinguish if there were more people around. He looked back at the figure, figuring it was probably dead anyway. It smelled of blood, it didn't move or make any sounds, and he was used to both coming from people who got lost in the swamps and noticed his twenty-foot-tall black shadow on the hilltop. That was... the main reason why no hunters came to these parts. They just ran away and never came back. 'Might as well live it there.' He thought. 'Another spooky thing to scare people off, why not?', He figured, imagining that a rotting corpse would be a good message... until the predators wake up, of course, and quickly devour any meat left. But for the winter he'd be safe.

 

[Blancsan]

Eldyr hung his head in defeat. He could feel the warm, dried blood on his white hair, which was probably a cause for concern considering how much his head was aching. Not like it mattered now, though. The creature living in these swamps would probably kill him, anyways. A stupid wound on his head was the least of his worries right now.

He closed his eyes and sighed. This was just his luck. He wished it was all a bad dream - but the dull ache of his head and the rope burn starting to form around his wrists said otherwise. He didn't know how many hours had passed. It could have been mere minutes, for all he knew.

His eyes then shot open, a chill running down his spine as he could... feel something watching him. An animal? No, he knew what it was. He just didn’t want to accept it. He slowly looked around, however, how lightheaded he currently wasn’t doing him any favour, as his sight was quite blurry.

Oh, what a truly wonderful way to die. Getting sacrificed with no mercy by your own town. Hey, at least no one would miss him too much. It was for the greater good anyway... right?

With the awkward waiting, he would much rather the monster came over and ate him right now. It would save him from the damn boredom he was suffering from at the moment. “OH, COME ON!” He yelled, causing a few nearby birds to fly off. “At least eat me instead of leaving me to suffer in silence, for goodness sake!” Eldyr pulled on the rope slightly, groaning in annoyance.

 

[kevintheradioguy]

The sudden scream startled the creature, making it make half-a-step back, and almost fall down on all fours again, barely managing to hold balance. 'So, it's not dead.' - Zoltan concluded to himself. He stood like that, head cocked, before his body suddenly fell down, a giant mountain of muscle and quills landing back on all fours, bumping its knuckles into the soft grass and fluffy moss. This was weird. People usually asked him not to eat them, so a request to do so confused the creature to no end. He never ate people. That was disgusting, even if he wasn't a human himself, and this might just be natural to his species to munch on some innocents. But he grew up among people, and had certain distaste towards taking intelligent creatures for food. Not that the girl was serious, of course; he didn't think for a moment she wanted to actually get eaten. And that alone made him think again about the trap.

Once more looking more like a giant porcupine, he walked around, continuing his circle in a large arc, and poking into bushes with as much care as he could, looking around for the culprits. He didn't like the idea of some poor thing hanging from a tree in freezing hold as much as he didn't like the idea of being hunted. 'She's lucky it's cold. Else the mosquitoes would've eaten her in seconds.' He shuddered making his quills rustle at the thought of swarms of those things, buzzing in the most disgusting way possible around his swamps.

But however much he looked around, and into the cosy, well-hidden areas around, he could not find anyone hiding with pitchforks, or knives, or even... anything at all. Was she here all alone? But why? He sat down, now directly to the right if the tied person, not as large and menacing shadow as before, but still a small spiky mountain. He tried to understand what was going on, and why would anyone just tie someone to a tree out here. The most logical thought that came to his mind was that this must have been a criminal, and this was the way people decided to punish her. He remembered hearing about some way of execution, when people were tied with their arms up on a branch, and stones attached to their feet, stretching the body, and making their joints slowly pop out. Was this one of the forms of such treatment? What did she do to deserve this? Didn't they have jails? Civilized people had jails. Was she outside the law? Maybe a daughter of someone important, and only crowd justice was going to work? Or maybe this is some sort of sick ritual, and she's to wait here for a prince to rescue her? Civilized people had a habit of placing their princesses in dangerous places (such as ancient towers where dragons live) for a worthy person to save them and then be wed... at least, this was what old stories taught him. But this was no good at all! She'll freeze to death! Or, as she already noted, get eaten!

He took a long sigh, almost sounding like a dying animal as he did so, and stood up once again. He didn't want to rescue anyone, but he didn't want to leave anyone to die either. The creature began slowly approaching, watching carefully not to slip and tumble down. He was still walking in an arch, approaching from the side in the fog, and keeping his distance. He knew that he looked quite demonic, and didn't want to scare her. The twitching and writhing would make the process of untying ropes so much more devastating. He, of course, underestimated the power of his current image of a large, smudged like watercolours in the fog, shadow with three lightly-glowing turquoise dots for eyes, towering over any person a normal human being would meet... was it a human, by the way? He wasn't sure. There were so many species that looked like human, he couldn't even begin to figure this out. But it talked, so it was sentient enough. His eyes fell onto the ground behind, trail of footptrints being somewhat washed away by rising and falling of the swamp water, leading somewhere away from the swamp, where the old town of Kilmury was once. The monster frowned with a small low growl, displeased at them. They should not tie people up in swamps, in mid-November, like sacks of potatoes! He had a lot to say about this, but the creature just shook his head, like a dog, walking around the tree, and looking up to see how the little thing was tied up. His long, muscular tail dragged behind like a giant fat snake. How long she had been here, Zoltan wondered? In such temperature, she might have already caught cold, pneumonia, or even swamp fever. Who and why left the little thing here naked?

Not saying a word, the larger creature circled around the tree, and tapped his claws on the tree bark behind Eldyr's back, helping himself to stand up, and reaching over to the branch. The tail curled beneath the blond little thing, forming a large, black-and-crimson spiral underneath his feet. He leaned a little clsoer, examining the knot and reaching out to try and undo it, at the same time listening closely to the breathing. No wheezing. That was good. Probably didn't get sick... or too sick anyway. His hand outstretched, suddenly covering Eldyr's chest, easily squeezing the entire body with a thunmb being on the back, and four fingers - on his chest. It was huge, with shortish, clawed fingers, and almost looked like cat paws if they'd have a better opposed thumbs. The outer side was of a dark-grey colour, while the inner part - of a dulled crimson. Dirt and grass stuck to the grey part of its fingers, signifying it walked on the knuckles. The thing squeezed the small body, fingers running up and down the chest, occasionally forcing the air out, almost as if he was touching and probing a fresh fish or a dead chicken, trying to understand what kind of stew this meat would make. Zoltan was looking for any lumps, however, that would signify overcooling to understand if he needed to treat the human (he had decided this was a human until proven otherwise), but from Eldyr's perspective it probably looked like something much more sinister.

'Looks healthy.' - Zoltan thought. His hand left the narrow body, and travelled up, fumbling with the knot on the tree branch the thing was tied to. He still expected an ambush, and was aware of his surroundings, but to a lesser extent now. He knew the swamps better than any human would, and thus, was almost sure that if he didn't find any hiding places, there was no way they would. Unless using magic. But if they used magic, why not incapacitate him already? He fumbled with the knot, wanting to untie her, but not completely. He feared she'd get scared, and run off to drown somewhere in the swamp, which would lay weight to his conscience for... well, at least a week. His fingers, however, were too large to do that, so he growled, first thinking about ripping the rope to shreds, but stopping himself, after realizing that might hurt the girl. He thought about it, and his hand ran up, to the branch. Luckily, he was tall enough, and his arms - long enough to reach almost the top of the crooked plant. He grabbed the branch at the place where the rope was tied, starting to slowly arch it, before leaning up, and placing another hand near it, trying to break it at the specific place, fearing that he might just root the old, rotten tree out and accidentally kill the girl. He was big enough to be able to do that. Hell, he did root trees out when he needed to. Wasn't that hard.

 

[Blancsan]

Eldyr shuddered - both from the cold and maybe a little bit of fear. Okay, a big bit of fear. As brave as he acted, it wasn't every day you were tied to a tree in the forest and left to rot... or be eaten by a huge monster. In his opinion, at least being eaten alive would be a quicker death. He was left wondering what the townspeople thought when he was picked. Most of them... relieved, probably. Eldyr had just turned 20, and yet he was already having his life thrown away... literally. Did any of them actually care about him being sacrificed? That was a question that would most certainly eat at his mind. Well... until he was dead, that is. He did just shout on the creature in this forest to eat him, so he was probably a goner within a few minutes. Goodbye, cruel world.

He got the fright of his life when he heard a sigh - and then movement from beside him. The monster had finally appeared to eat him, hadn't it? He shut his eyes tightly, not even wanting to see the creature before he was eaten.

The heavy footsteps walking towards him were dooming enough. Slowly but surely circling the tree and beside him. He let out what could only be described as a squeak in surprise when he felt something against his chest. His eyes shot open, only to widen at the sight of the creature's hand on his chest. What were they doing? Were they feeling his skin to see if he was going to be tasty enough to eat? Which actually made him wonder if he would be tasty. Huh. I guess so? I mean, he did take care of himself so-- Okay, Eldyr, off-topic now. You have a creature about to eat you and all you can think about is if you're tasty?

The creature's hand then travelled up and off of Eldyr's body and to the rope he was hanging from. Oh, of course. He had to take him off the rope so he could properly get his claws around him and tear him to pieces. In fact... wouldn't it be easier keeping him on the rope to eat him? Like a stick through meat? Oh, well. He couldn't question the creature's mentality much. He watched the creature closely, then letting out a small whisper, "You're... going to eat me, right?"

 

[kevintheradioguy]

The monster scoffed, hearing the question. He didn't think the little thing would make a good meal even if he wanted to eat him. Too skinny, and too small. He'd laugh - albeit, internally - if he'd know why Eldyr was here. A sacrifice? Eat him - not eat the cattle? Why would he trade quarter-of-a-ton bull to this little creature that looked like an overgrown stick-bug!? Though, maybe humans tasted better. He had no idea. Then again, he hadn't eaten their cattle for quite a long time... it was so long, he actually didn't know how many years ago he had last tasted town's food.

As he tried to count the years - which was a hard task, considering they were quite monotone and boring, merging and blurring into one long cool season - the branch snapped, peppering splinters over him. His hand slipped, and he fell, landing heavily into the mud, by mere chance not squashing the little fellow between his hands... or were they paws? He wasn't sure. He looked down at the little thing so unfortunate to fall down in the dirt, thinking that this fall was unfortunate. Clean water - let alone warm water - wasn't something the bog was known for. 'Well. Damn it.'

He looked around, before hurrying to lean down, grabbing the ropes that were wrapped tight around Eldyr's wrists, and lifting him up from the dirt, like a dog carrying a squishy toy in its mouth, dangling as it jogged to carry it to the owner. His massive teeth, sticking out of the mouth, were a perfect hook to carry the little thing around, though at first he tried chewing through the ropes, only to find some unexpected resistance from it, barely scratching the fiber. It wasn't too hard, but it felt flexible enough. So, his teeth weren't enough, and his claws weren't enough. He thought about it, stepping around, as if uneasy, trying to figure out what to do with it. Oh, well, he had a sickle at home somewhere. That should do. The creature turned his head around, darting last longing look to where the frost fern was, for a moment forgetting he had someone dangling through his mouth, before jumping off the hillock and right into the water reaching no more than his wrists, strolling slowly along the shore somewhere away from the sun. He did live far, in a wilder, more overgrown part of the place so little to none would find him, in a quite normal-looking "weird old lady lives here" hut... though jsut maybe two to three times larger due to the monster's size... but even then! - it was probably more fun to be carried around (and maybe drooled at during the process) and look at the questionable beauty of the swamp rather than just... hang from a tree. Though obviously, hanging from someone's mouth was more intimidating.

 

[Blancsan]

Eldyr let out a scream in surprise as the branch snapped, throwing him into the dirty mud below. He didn't even have time to react before the creature lifted him from the ground by the rope tied around his wrists. Which hurt a bit, he had to admit. He watched as the monster knawed on the ropes, furrowing his brows in confusion. After a few minutes of dangling like a chew toy, he let out another small noise in shock as the monster jumped down into the water below, then walking through the swamp all the while Eldyr was hanging from his mouth.

He still wasn't quite sure of the monster's intentions, but I guess he was a little happy that he hadn't been eaten. I mean, he was a horrible candidate for sacrifice. He looked around as the monster carried him through the swamp. The scenery wasn't the worst thing ever, but it wasn't the best either. "Where are you taking me?" Eldyr asked.

 

[kevintheradioguy]

There wasn't much to see for the young man. Looking down - just sometimes a few large paws, like gorilla's, stepping on the knuckles with each step, of a dark, grey colour, rough skin covered with fur on the sides of the forearms. And looking up - almond-coloured teeth, popping out of the knot on the ropes, glistening with somewhat blueish or greenish saliva - it was hard to tell right now. The creature walked silently. Even if he wanted to reply, he could not, with mouth filled with hemp fiber. How did the little thing expect him to reply anyway? Was he not carrying him like a pup - in his mouth? The creature would shake its head if it wasn't for the fear of hurting the little one.

The walk along the swamp took a while. The monster was in no rush, taking his time, and enjoying the views as much as he enjoyed his irritation at someone ending up tied and sprung like a pig. And him making a detour from his routine check on the plants. He was... a little bit a grumpy old man, come to think of it. At times, his eyes darted to the side, spotting sharp movements of the local wildlife... and feylife as well. He tried to be on the good side of either, thus feeling only slightly intimidated by the magic winged creatures an inch tall, but wielding magic so strong no beast would be able to fight it. Soon, however, the air became colder, and the eerie decorations of ritualistic-looking totems with eyes oozing thick green fog, and large skulls painted with runes that hung from the trees, became more and more. An eerie, disturbing sight, but in reality nothing but scarecrows, set there to drive people away. In here, animal life felt itself safer, and was it not closing to winter, their ears would be filled win unending cacophony of croaks and squeaks, caws and hisses, as smaller animals hid behind horror-inducing totems as much as the monster did. As if he wasn't twelve feet tall.

Amidst the mist, a small hilltop was seen, and on it - a silhouette of a hut. Almost like in a picture in a fairy tale book. A hag's den, where young children are lured to be cooked alive and devoured, only to be saved the last moment by their own wits. Only, the hut was a few times bigger than anyone would expect. As the matter of fact, it could've been remade into a decent-sized house - at least for an agrarian town like Kilmurry. As they approached, it looked more and more civilized. The road to the nearest shore - not the one they used, though - was made by measuring it with stones, and throwing soil between them, forming some sort of higher ground between the small hill and the crooked dry forest. A small fence - as arched and crooked as the trees on the other side of the murky water - was popping from behind the hut, so there probably was a small garden there.

The creature turned towards the hut's door, approaching and headbutting it, making it open with a creak, letting them both in. It was dark inside, but from that glimpse of light that was let in before the door closed again on its own, a large now empty fireplace was seen, and shelves with herbs, claws, feathers, and bones hanging right over a large cauldron, almost like an oversized witch props. Just like in fairy tales. Unlike fairy tales, Eldyr was not immediately thrown into a cage and locked to wait for his doom. Instead, he was almost spit out on the ground without mach care, falling on cold wood, peppered with hay here and there. The creature then turned around, going deeper into one single large room, and starting to go over some things, its silhouette huge on the dark-brown walls with just a few rays of light peeking from between the curtains. It looked like a silhouette of a giant gorilla with a thick spiky mane on its back, and long thick tail reaching all the way across the hut, its tip almost touching the door. The creature was looking through all the work utensils it had in search of a sickle he put away weeks ago, dropping all sorts of smaller, duller knives around, as well as spoons, hand scrapers, spikes, files, and all the rest of the things he might use in his everyday life...

 

[Blancsan]

Well, yeah. It was dumb of Eldyr to ask a question when he was hanging from the creature's mouth. If he even tried to reply, he would probably be crushed in a second. Bad move on his part, but he couldn't help it. He was confused as to what was happening - the creature didn't seem to want him as food. All Eldyr could really do is hang from his mouth, quietly taking in the scenery around him.

He watched as the creature trudged towards the hut, then opening it with his head and walking in. He let out a squeak in surprise as the creature threw him to the floor, then wincing and rubbing his lower back. He squinted as he watched the creature walk to the other side of the hut.

"Are you just going to leave me here?" Eldyr asked, "Can you even talk much?"

 

[kevintheradioguy]

The creature darted a glare towards the little lying thing, and then looked back to his business. He didn't reply. Truth was, Zoltan could speak just fine, though he usually didn't. It wasn't because of the edginess or attempts to look mysterious, though, but rather because he rarely had anyone to speak here to, and he just... forgot to do that. Just like city folk forgot they could, say, jump, preferring to crawl over obstacles like barriers, curbs, railings, or boom gates. They could do it just fine. They just didn't. Though, perhaps that was not the best comparison. Point was, he didn't speak, instead concentrated on finding any tool that would make cutting the ropes easier. This was a hard thing to do maybe, as all of them were for his hand. His... giant... clawed... inhuman hand. They were oversized, and all too often - dull. One didn't need to own sharp knives when there was enough strength, right?This would not work in this case, though. Was he to try and rip off the ropes, he'd most definitely would break the little guy's wrists.

Finally, the thing lifted off a sickle. Probably the only sharp tool he needed. Though it looked more like a large scythe with small handle, given the sized of the creature. The black silhouette with a curved blade in this dim, almost absent light of the room, looked almost like some demonic statue in the temple of an old god, waiting for the sacrifices to be placed at its feet. And then, he turned his head towards the little humanoid, three dimly glowing dots burring into the young man's face, before it awkwardly walked towards the tiny figure on the floor, steps emitting a rustle, as if he was carrying a lush fir tree behind his back. Leaning on just one hand was uncomfortable enough, and needing to mind the sharp blade probably able to cut his own arm off only added to lack of comfort. He almost tumbled at Eldyr's side, swinging the sickle in the air, but managed to keep balance. Looking down at the little thing, he slowly lead the blade down Eldyr's body, just a few millimetres away, and to the tight knot around his wrists, and hooking them up, dragging them over the young man's head, almost like hanging a carcass in a slaughterhouse. Despite the slaughterhouse, this improvised hook was sharp, easily going through the part of the ropes, loosening them up a little, and needing almost a slight push from either side to be cut loose. Unless, of course, Zoltan thought, this little girl liked being hung like a piece of meat. Gods know, he won't kinkshame.

 

[Blancsan]

Eldyr held up his hands as the creature glared at him, "Jee, alright, alright..." He huffed quietly, taking that as a sign to shut up.

His eyes widened slightly at the sight of the sickle, and he gulped. Hard. Eldyr wasn't exactly one to be frightened - but who the hell wouldn't be scared at the sight of a huge monster with a sickle in his hands? Then again, he guessed, a bigger monster wouldn't exactly be scared. He shook his head, gathering his thoughts as the creature slowly walked over to him. It wasn't like he could do much when he was in this position. His hands were tied, and every part of his body was sore from hanging from a tree for hours on end. He wasn't exactly a strong one, either. So all he could do was accept his fate.

He waited patiently as the creature stumbled over, then closing his eyes and waiting for whatever was about to happen. He could feel his arms being lifted, slowly opening one eye to see the sickle raising his arms over his head. Oh. He was cutting the ropes with the sickle.

 

[kevintheradioguy]

The large head cocked to the side. Did the little one not want to set itself free, he thought? That was weird. He expected for Eldyr to set rid of the restrains as soon as there was a possibility, but maybe he was wrong? Maybe he should have left the little one hanging there from a tree, getting his shoulders in a twist from constant hanging. Why wouldn't anyone tied up not want to get untied, he thought. The ones that weren't tied up by their own consent that is. At that last thought, paranoia immediately blew up in the creature's brain. What if this little thing wanted to hang there? What if someone was luring him out, to the edge of the swamp, to then follow here, home, with pitchforks and torches ready?

The thing squeezed the sickle harder, ears perking up, and quills on the back standing, making an imposing figure look even larger, even more menacing. He listened closely to the things outside the door, turning his head slightly in its direction, trying to catch any note of footsteps or conversation. The marsh bubbled, and the wind blew, making trees rustle, and dust hit the swim bladder windows. Nothing out of the ordinary thus far. Thus far. Still, he now held the sickle almost as a weapon, even though he knew full well that his sheer size and mass would've been a better weapon than any blade... but that was probably just a reflex. He was holding something extremely sharp and dangerous, so why not use it for defence? Even if tehre was nothing to defend from.

 

[Blancsan]

Eldyr soon freed himself from the ropes, rubbing at the sore burns on his wrist caused by hanging for God knows how long. He didn't really know what to think right now - the creature was helping him, but why? In the town, he was always known as a big scary monster who would eat anyone who crossed his path. But the monster wasn't that menacing. He had basically been thrown in as a sacrifice for absolutely nothing!

He looked up at the towering figure, seeing that he looked extremely on edge. Perhaps he thought this was all a ruse - the town people were that mean, after all. Considering they did tie Eldyr up and hang him from a tree to be eaten...

"Uh... thank you, by the way..." Eldyr finally spoke.

 

[kevintheradioguy]

That was another unusual thing, the creature thought. Usually people ran away, terrified. He couldn't blame them. Even without rumours, even if someone would ignore his rather passive nature, he was just huge. Huge scared people. But the little thing didn't seem to be overly bothered by this, adding to the suspicions. What was it with this small creature, that made its responses and reactions so out of the ordinary, this phlegmatic, if not for well-made preparations with some townsfolk for another heist? The swamp dweller had no other options coming to his head, and for a few moments was absolutely confused on what to do next. Should he show the door? Keep the little one as a hostage? Break its neck before it does something weird? He expected something to happen by this point, be it some stupid man running into the bog and setting the house on fire (which would be easy enough, given it was almost entirely wooden), the little one running away immediately as it frees its legs, or pulling out a knife at him (admittedly, the creature had no idea where Eldyr might keep one, seeing as there was not much clothes on the poor thing, but at that moment, this logic didn't kick in yet). But there was nothing. And he was extremely confused by this.

With a small, rapid cock of his head, the creature almost slammed the sickle on the floor, leaving it there to free his hand, circled around the little white creature, a giant black shadow in the darkness of the house, reaching for the simple fireplace. Its thick, smooth tail slid after, curling on the floor as he stopped. bringing dust and hay in a tiny pile at it. He looked through the pots and pans, until finally grabbing one first in its large hand, and then - into his teeth, making it hang on the handle from his mouth like a weird door ring from a creepy castle's gargoyle mug. Turning around to look at the small blond thing, he placed the paw on his back, easily covering it, clawed fingers touching the chest over Eldyr's shoulders as he squeezed the little body. It was cool and dry, like a snake, but, admittedly, much warmer than the air around. Zoltan awkwardly turned to the door, and pushed, moving such a small weight with ease, and outside the door once more, exposing both to the cold, piercing winds, and lit up clouds, blinding after darkness of a place with not a single candle lit, and not one shatter opened. They didn't go far - just out of the hut, before the creature let go of his sacrifice, but, before Eldyr could turn, or run, or pretty much do anything, the monster turned the pot over the head of the little creature, pouring cool water on top of him. It wasn't a large pot, but... it wasn't a large one for Zoltan, but for someone as tiny as Eldyr... well, the little one could have probably taken a bath in it.It ran fast over the narrow shape, so unwelcoming in such weather, but the creature couldn't have known that. He was absolutely comfortable walking around naked in this time of the year, and to him the water would've felt quite... normal. In fact, as he threw the pot in the corner at the porch, almost as a full stop in this interaction, he fully expected the little one to just run away to... wherever he was from.

 

[Blancsan]

Eldyr watched the large creature closely as he walked around his house. He coughed and spluttered as the dust was brought up from the creature's tail, waving his hand to try and get it away from him. His eyes widened as the creature grabbed him, sending chills down his spine. And that was before they even got out of the hut - once he brought him outside, he could feel goosebumps forming all over his body.

He then let out a gasp as he poured the water over him, causing him to start shivering. "If I don't die by getting eaten, I'll probably die from hypothermia next." He chattered, crossing his arms over his body in a weak attempt to get warmer.