The man gasped for air as he ran. He wouldn't be captured again! Not now, not ever! The field soon gave way to trees but he kept going anyway. Further and further in he went until he couldn't run anymore. Finally, he collapsed, his head burning with a fever. @ask-anima-2promano
Something large seemed to fly over the man soon after, only for it circle back around. Some sort of winged creature had caught sight of him, but the trees blocked it from landing. As it passed over him again, a figure jumped off of it and into one of the trees. They were quick climb down to the floor and rush over to the fallen man.
“Sir?” The figure, now revealed to be a masked human woman, kneeled by his side. “Sir, please respond!”
@ask-anima-2promano
The man cracked an eye open, once a bright amber, now dulled by the fever racking through him. It flicked up to the woman for a moment before shutting once more.
"Please... help..."
Good, still alive. There was still a chance.
“Hang in there. We’ll get you to the nearest doctor.” The woman looked up to the sky, brought her fingers to her mouth, and whistled. The flying creature transformed and fell from the air, landing with a roll on the ground. Another woman, and clearly an anima.
“What do we have, Rider?”
“He’s alive, but very weak. We have to hurry.”
The anima nodded, and shifted back immediately, revealing a large purple wyvern ready to transport the pair.
His eye instantly snapped open at the second voice, a bit more clarity showing. It flicked over to the wyvern and the man began reaching for her.
"Elizabeta..."
Elizabeta’s head whipped around to look at the man, green eyes widening as she looked down at him.
“...Andrew...?”
Rider frowned at the exchange. They knew each other? She moved over to the man, helping him onto his feet and supporting him against her as they moved closer to get on Elizabeta.
"Why'd you leave me?"
Andrew stumbled as they moved, his ragged pants showing the burn scars on his legs. He glared up at the wyvern, hurt and anger glinting in that one eye.
"I thought we were friends... why'd you leave me?"
“I-I...” Elizabeta cowered away from his glare. The fins on her head lowered down, as well.
“I’m sorry, but now isn’t the time.” Rider was quick to interject. “You can talk to her when we know you’ll be okay. Right now, we need to go. Please.”
He fell silent, putting almost all of his weight against Rider. After running for so long he could no longer muster up the energy to keep going. Wherever they were taking him, he hoped it wouldn't be the last place he saw.
With some help from Elizabeta, the pair got up onto her back. She wove between trees until there was enough of a clearing for her, then took to the air. Thankfully, it seemed the nearest village wasn’t too far, and with her speed, it didn’t take too long for them to get there.
Rider brought Andrew over to the doctor there for immediate care, and once he was in their hold, all the pair could do was wait anxiously.
It took a few days. Updates and check-ins to learn that although slow, he was getting better. With every passing day the infection cleared more and more until, at last, the fever broke.
The doctor gave word that he could take visitors and led the pair back. The once sick man was sitting up slightly in bed and looking out the small window, not noticing the new presence nearby.
Words couldn’t describe the relief they felt upon finally hearing the good news. It was always wonderful to hear that a rescue was going to make it. Naturally, they felt it would have been right to pay him a visit and speak with him. Who knows? They might learn some helpful info.
Rider was the first to come in, her partner hanging back for the moment in hesitation. “Hey, there,” she greeted with a smile. “It’s great to see you’re doing better. You had us worried for a while.”
The man took one look at Rider and scrambled back in his bed, attempting to get away from her. He bared his abnormally sharp teeth in a snarl, his pupil narrowing into a slit.
"Get away from me! You'll never take me back there!"
“Whoa, whoa!”
Rider backed away, hands up to show she was unarmed. “It’s okay! I’m not here to do anything to you. My partner and I found you and brought you here.”
Her gentle smile soon came back. “You’re safe now. I promise. We won’t let anything bad happen to you again.”
"Then what's with the mask? Masked humans are never good, they only lie and cheat, and bet." His eye narrowed until it was an amber slit. It searched for any sign of a hidden weapon, any sign that he was about to be tricked and captured once again. "Why are you here?"
“I told you, my partner and I found you collapsed on the ground. You were-“
“Let me talk to him... He’s been through a lot, so it might help him to be around someone like him,” Elizabeta spoke from the doorway, now coming into sight. “Why don’t you keep watch and make sure no one will be coming to look for him?”
“Ah... Sure. I’ll be outside, then.” Rider then left, leaving the two anima alone in the room.
The anima stared at Elizabeta, his hostility still clearly evident. After so many years, the wyvern was finally in front of him.
"So, where have you been?"
Elizabeta looked down, running her hands through her hair. She was well aware of the tension that hung in the air now. “I... I don’t even know where to start... It was a big surprise to suddenly find you after all this time. I just... I wish I could’ve found you sooner...”
"Why'd you leave?" The question was softer now. After fighting off the infections once again, the man was tired, and the hostility leaving him. "We promised we'd escape together. But then you left, and I was left behind for the next four years to deal with everything by myself."
She looked back at him, trying to fight the stinging of oncoming tears. “I never meant to leave you behind... I wanted us to get out together, too.”
She then sat down on a chair next to the bed. “But I-I couldn’t take it anymore. The humans, the pain, all of it was unbearable. Next thing I knew... I lost control of myself and set the place on fire. I didn’t even snap back to my senses until it was too late. I never wanted to leave you alone...
And I tried so hard to get to you again. I kept going back there, hoping to find you, but the humans would force me to leave in one way or another. I nearly lost my life trying to get you out. A-and when they moved everything... I didn’t know where to look. I couldn’t find anything at all to help me. Even with my partner’s help, we weren’t making any progress...”
Andrew listened to the story, noting that everything was said with full remorse. She had tried coming back for him. But after her escape, the ring owners wanted no repeat of the event and ramped up security. And the move itself was odd... for all the time he'd been there, they'd never moved before then. "And I bet you thought i didn't survive after. The flames were strong that night..."
“With how things were... I wouldn’t have been surprised. But I wanted to believe you were one of the lucky ones who weren’t lost. That I didn’t kill my only friend...”
She no longer could fight the tears that began to fall down her face. “That’s what brought me back. But when I couldn’t find you, no matter what I did... It hurt. I felt like I really was the type of monster humans warn their children about. I had to give up on searching... As awful as it felt.”
The anima relaxed seeing the tears rolling down; before quickly realizing that he was crying as well. He wiped away Elizabeta's, ignoring his own for now. "But you did your best... after you escaped, they made sure to hire more competent guards. To avoid something like that ever again. No successful escapes were made and those who tried were made examples of. But I... I knew my time was running out. It wouldn't be long before they decided I was worthless. So I got out. And now I'm here where I'm not in pain for the first time in... I don't know how long."
