love is stored in the hand. love is stored in the hands that hold each other. it is stored in the hands that create art. it is stored in the hands that have the power to harm but don’t. it is stored in the hands that are warm and the hands that are cool. it is stored in the hands that do things for others just because they can. love is stored in your hands which express the desires of your heart.
It was not every day that Sanctus found herself yearning for death as one would yearn for sleep, but it was also not every day that Sanctus found herself truly and nightmarishly trapped in a situation that could only be likened to a type of Hell in its own right.
Like a vampire staked, pinned, immobile, blood trickled ceaselessly from the wound through her chest. The last thing she could truly recollect was the ground giving way beneath her feet, air rushing past as she fell backwards, landing horribly on... something. Whether it was a particularly sharp little tree, post, or rock she could not tell, but she landed in such a way that whatever it was was solidly lodged between now-broken ribs and a doubtlessly mangled spine.
If only it had pierced her heart instead--perhaps then she would bleed out faster than her body could heal itself. As it was, however, she would continuously regenerate... even if that meant flesh perpetually trying to close itself around the jagged object, only for each tiny movement to tear the wounds open again and again. Her lungs tried to clear themselves, she tried to cough and hack the blood out but every single effort was in vain, leaving her with only enough strength to continue the cycle, yet not enough to truly break free.
Sharp nails clawed hopelessly at the thing jutting out of her chest, as if maybe she could break it off and dislodge herself off of it (unlikely, as she could barely even move her arms, let alone the rest of her body). Little progress would be made before her consciousness began to drift.
Her ears rang and her blood felt hot beneath her clammy skin, until her arms finally went limp as the rest of her while unseeing eyes face the sky from where she lay.
It was there that Sanctus would remain, unable to free herself, yet just as unable to die.
Kaveh had just been traveling through the wilderness as the trees gave way and he happened to notice a crevice in the ground. From what he could tell, the earth had loosened very recently--perhaps from a storm a few days back. Though he knew it was best to stay away, he couldn't help wanting to take a look and make sure a stray pokemon hadn't fallen and trapped themselves. At least it didn't seem unsteady at the moment, but Mehrak stuck close by just in case in order to help try and catch him if he fell.
Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw as he peered over the edge. It seemed to have given way into a small underground cave, and pierced upon the one of the stalagmites sprouting from the ground was a writhing, blood-soaked person. He immediately recoiled a few steps back, taking in a sharp breath as his hand quickly covered his mouth. He felt like he might be sick... But... did he see right? Were they moving? There's no way... with that much blood, they were surely dead. His heart felt like it was pounding in his ears, but he mustered the courage to look over the edge again. There was no mistaking it--they were definitely moving. They were alive.
He could no longer afford to hesitate. "Mehrak-- Help me down-!" With an affirmative beep, Mehrak floated into his hand and he picked the most gradual side of the hole to slide down to the bottom. Once they neared the bottom, Mehrak eased his descent and allowed him to land without incident. Oh, but it was so much worse down here. The smell of blood was overwhelming and that combined with the sight of the scene before him made his stomach squirm uncomfortably. He swallowed, hard and dry, forcing himself to be strong.
There was so much blood... He had to step through a puddle of it just to get to the impaled person and it sent a shiver up his spine. But now that he was here this close, his heart sank as he clearly recognized this particular person. "S--Sanctus-" he stuttered breathlessly, as though speaking might cause his stomach to finally give up its contents. "Oh my god..." Mehrak beeped in what seemed like a concerned manner, beginning to scan Sanctus for her vitals. Kaveh however, now was frozen in place as his thoughts were jumbled. What would he even be able to do...? Would him trying to get her off of the sharp stone only cause more damage? Would he... kill her by trying to help?
A sudden loud beeping from his companion snapped him out of his panicked thoughts. A red caution triangle appeared on Mehrak's screen, reading 'critical' in large red letters. He wasn't sure if that was what Mehrak's scan actually revealed or if the pokemon had sensed his hesitation and tried to bring him back to reality from deep within his thoughts--what mattered most was that it worked.
Kaveh immediately tried to lift Sanctus up using both of his arms, trying to summon the strength within him to push her up and off of the tip of the stalagmite. He tried not to think of the blood that was spilling everywhere and splattering on him, instead focusing solely on his rescue as his heart continued to pound so loudly in his chest. Though it didn't feel like she was budging at first, the surge of adrenaline he was experiencing gave him that burst of strength he needed and he finally managed to lift her upward with labored breaths.
With one last strained grunt, he managed to lift her up over the tip of the rock and near immediately he could feel himself falling back as her weight fell towards him and he tried to keep a hold on her. He ended up on his back with Sanctus' gored body landing on top of him. Quickly, he tried to right himself as he held Sanctus in his arms. He felt so nauseous and dizzy, the smell of blood quickly overwhelming his senses as it coated him almost as thoroughly as it had Sanctus herself.
"Sanctus- Sanctus, can you hear me?" He quickly pulled off the red cape from around his neck, balling it up and pressing it firmly against her wound as best as he could. It was crude, but... right now it was all he could do. His measly first aid supplies weren't cut out for a wound of this size, that's for sure. She wasn't... human, or at least not just any regular human. But, was this something she could endure...? Even with all this blood everywhere, she was just moving not long ago... He had no time to bring her to a doctor (he wasn't even sure if she'd want to see one), and admittedly he hadn't really thought of a way to get out of this hole--especially with someone else in tow. He just... had to hope that whatever she was, she could get through this alright.
Kaveh blinked as he had been minding his own business, when suddenly there were a pair of lips placed upon his cheek. He made a small shout out of surprise, backpedaling a bit dramatically as he turned to find out the culprit was Sanctus.
"You--!! Huh?" A kiss-o-gram? He listened to the message, though it really very clearly was just from Sanctus herself. His lips pursed as his cheeks flushed a deep red, both from the action itself as well as what was being implied in the message. He gave a small sigh. Honestly, this method of apology... Somehow, he thought it was a bit cute. Even after that whole experience, she still completely captivated him and she unwittingly ended up occupying both his thoughts and the blank spaces in his sketchbook.
"Is that so?" He said, giving a light tilt of his head as he put his hand on his hip. "Well, you tell your mysterious sender that I've decided to forgive her. As for the kiss..." He seemed contemplative for a moment, tapping his bottom lip with his forefinger. He then moved back towards Sanctus as he lightly put his hands on her cheeks to guide her face towards his as he placed a small, chaste kiss upon her lips. "...Let her know that tongue might be a bit forward right off the bat. At least offer dinner first."
So maybe she threatened his life. Maaaybe the supernatural manipulation of his blood was also a bit inexplicable. The self-destructive fools she rescued were normally a lot less... mundane in their reactions. For a brief moment Sanctus lived in a world where having one's life threatened was something easily brushed aside as mere banter, but then it's a perfectly normal human who has to remind her that she is, in fact, maybe a little terrifying and should put more thought into her words before she speaks.
Hm.
"You don't mean money? Then what do you... ah, nevermind, it doesn't matter." She shook her head. "I helped you because I didn't want to see you hurt. Maybe there's a chance you could have survived a trip to the hospital--but I think enough risks were taken with your life as it was, so I wanted to be certain."
"As for the blood crystal..." Her brows furrowed. Oh, you know, I'm just trying to build a new god out of blood, as one does! "... I collect them."
Silence befell her for a moment longer before she looked to him again.
"I apologize again for frightening you. Genuinely, I am sorry. With powers like mine, if word were to spread too far and wide and reach the wrong ears, I'm sure you can imagine the unwanted attention I may receive from ne'er-do-wells who would wish to use me as their tool. I spoke thoughtlessly from a place not too unlike fear, I suppose, but that is no excuse for speaking harshly to a gentle soul like you."
And yet the ever-present risk of being used by some villain never really held her back from showing off, did it? Not when there was some beautiful reckless fool in need of being put back together.
Kaveh's lips pursed as they continued to frown, though the more he heard from her and the more his adrenaline started to wear off, the more... guilty he began to feel. Sure, he didn't choose for her to use magical mystery powers to heal his wounds, but she did anyways and because of that he's out of a tough spot. She possibly even saved his life. He's scared, but from the sounds of it so is she. Instead of keeping herself hidden, she chose to use those powers in front of him and put herself in potential danger by doing so. She certainly didn't know him that well yet, so of course she'd be cautious.
He was thankful she didn't press him further on his previous desperate plea. He wasn't even really sure what he was trying to offer... Perhaps some part of his brain thought that maybe she'd leave him be if he just gave her more blood, but that was a... rather stupid notion, given even an ounce more thought. She didn't seem to have ill intentions--he believed her when she said she didn't want to see him hurt.
"You collect them? But why? Wait... does that mean that you have more of them??" His brows furrowed, concern returning to his features. "They aren't... ill-gotten, are they? I don't imagine you rescue poor sods out in the wilderness all that often." He brought his hand to his head again, once again trying to fight off any more unnecessary panic. "...Maybe I don't want to know actually. I already feel like I'm treading in territory where I don't belong."
As she wholeheartedly apologized though, he finally moved to grip her hand with his before placing his other one over the top of hers. "Listen, I... I do believe you. I apologize as well, I feel like I... overreacted, to this whole thing. You haven't actually hurt me, and instead did the exact opposite. I'm just... this was a lot for me to take in all at once. I'm feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, and would like to just go home. But don't get me wrong, I won't forget how you helped me out today. I'll be sure to make it up to you sometime."
When things go wrong, your first instinct is to look inward — not with curiosity, but condemnation. You carry guilt like skin. Even when something isn’t your fault, you wonder if it might be. If you could have done more. If you should have known better. Somewhere in your story, accountability got tangled up with identity. You confuse being responsible with being to blame. You apologize too quickly. You accept criticism too easily. You over-explain, overthink, over-own.
Kaveh: Do you want to be the Sun in my life?
Sanctus: Yes.
Kaveh: Good, then stay 92,935,700 miles away from me :)
----
Kaveh: Sanctus, I screwed up, big time.
Sanctus: Kaveh, given your daily life experiences, you’re gonna have to be more specific.
----
Kaveh: Don’t worry, I know exactly what I’m doing. Everything is going to be fine!
Sanctus: How can you still say that?
Kaveh: Because sometimes, when things get tough, denial is all we have.
Bonus with Alhaitham:
Sanctus: The results are in, I’m afraid you have updog…
Kaveh: What’s updog?
Sanctus: Alhaitham! Get in here, I told you I could do it!
----
Sanctus: If I die, my funeral will be the biggest party ever and you're all invited.
Alhaitham: "If"
Kaveh: Great, the only party I'm ever invited to and she might not even die.
Send in ✏️ and I’ll use this (improved) incorrect quote generator featuring both our muses!
(please remember to specify how many muses/which muses for multimuses!)
"Drawings of buildings? So he's something of an artist, is he? How admirable. But, ah--what sort of drawings? Do you mean blueprints, perhaps?"
Not that there was much Sanctus could do to help either way. Instead, she turned her attention to the human once more with a bright eagerness upon hearing his triumphant cry.
Without a moment to waste the purrloin reached her little paws out to accept the poffin. She brought it close to her face to give an investigatory sniff, her ears immediately perking up as she looked more than pleased, giving a grateful little myah! before taking a big bite out of the tasty snack.
Light, buttery, flavorful... perhaps not as fresh as her picky palate may prefer, but beggars can't be choosers! She made quick work of the delectable little treat, making a show of licking the crumbs off her lips and overall seeming pleased as punch.
"My compliments to the chef!" She meowed, still speaking only in the tongue of pokemon as she glanced towards Mehrak. "Would you thank him for me through that little..." She flicked her paw in a vague gesture. "Device thing you're in?"
Mehrak beeped in a pleased manner. [Yeah, like that! I carry digital copies of them on this device so I can show you if you want! It's really something to watch them get made in real life. It takes a lot of time and effort, but he's always really happy when it all comes together in the end. It's just.. the in-between parts that can get rough. Like right now...]
Kaveh watched with a bit of a sparkle in his eye as the purrloin grabbed up the snack with its paws like they were little hands and took a big bite out of it. It really was so cute... Before he really knew it, the whole thing was gone! "I take it that it was alright then? You seem pretty happy with it." Perhaps he's finally perfected making poffins... Purrloin were known for being finicky so getting one's approval on food was quite the honor!
Mehrak perked up as she addressed them again. [Huh? Hrm, I think I might have something like that on here...] The rotom pulled up a digital keyboard on screen, the digital keys being pressed as though phantom fingers were typing something out. Soon, a monotonous female text-to-speech voice came out of the device.
"Mehrak said: The purrloin says compliments to the chef."
Kaveh blinked, before all at once realization dawned on his features as he reached to cradle Mehrak between his hands. "Oh--!! Mehrak, I almost forgot I added that feature in there-" And he certainly hadn't thought to use it like this. With Mehrak's help, he could feasibly talk to this pokemon!
"Compliments.." he repeated, as though the words finally sunk in. He beamed with the power of a thousand suns, his previous hunch now proven correct. He released Mehrak, who floated once more with a little spin as a flourish. They already seemed pleased that Kaveh was in a much better mood than before. "Mehrak, could you ask them if they have a trainer? I'd like to make sure they get back home safely."
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