Corvus sleeps curled up because as a child, he slept curled up to survive the cold of winter, or to protect himself during attacks during the border war.
First Amaya and Gren, then Soren, noticed that the more he curled up, the worse his nightmares became.
How long have he been sleeping? Probably not that much, since his sleep turned into weird fragments. Dreams were short: a continuation of his thoughts. It usually happened when he was taking quick naps. Then why does his body feels so stiff? Why's he so tired?
Dr. Corvus, can you hear me? You were unconscious when I found you. Don’t try to move, you’re in really bad shape. I don’t even know which part of you can move.
You had, have, a fever, so I used a part of my pants and wetted it. That’s… the only thing I can do at the moment. I’m sorry, I’m not a doctor and I can’t help you.
If you… if you even can, tell me what you need, and I’ll do my best to help.
- @emotionless-wind-up-doll
Everything was weird. Wrong. It melted. It hurted. He feels himself still in the pain shock, but that's cannot be possible. He dealt with it. Then why does he feels like his whole body get's torn apart and cooking? Is this hell? Is he in hell for what he couldn't do?
Stupid. You can even treat your own wounds. A total walking disgrace. Your brother was right. You can't carry so much on your shoulders. Because you're pathetic. Why did you thought that you can fix everything? You? Nothing? You're such failure from the start. Good for nothing always trying to proof your worth. There is none. Even slaves are more valuable than you. You were supposed to die in the womb. Maybe Aurora's child thanks to some butterfly effect would live if you would never been born. See? Your absence can be more useful than you just laying there. Beaten and bruised.
Hey...Corv? Are you up? I've been worried about you.
( @dawnlighthours )
He was sitting on the bed with a coffee mug in his hand. Even tho he wasn't sleeping, he looked somewhere into the void, as if his brain was turned off, while the body was awake.
He just mumbles something unintellgible. Probably because of the broken jaw. Or fever. Or delirium. Those factors get in the way of saying something comprehensive.
The only audible thing he says is:
...swallow.....swallow...swallow....
And then whimpers some more from the pain syndrome
The next day a note was hanging on the locked clinic's door.
"I am leaving. Don't know if i'll come back soon enough. Long story short, I finally had to face my past, regrets and guilt. There something that has to be done. A dept that I have to pay. Yes. I am finally meeting my family.
The path had led us far away from each other, so my adventure won't be short. Forgive me my selfishness. Forgive me for leaving you all behind. Just count me as an asshole. Hate me. Curse me. Do everything that you can, I don't care.
I still dream of it. That time when we can all eat together as a big family. So please let us met one day and---
Goodbye forever I guess. @drpercival @dawnlighthours @neverstareatme @luna-loves-senku @ask-dr-xeno @ask-lain-blair @poisonrunsthroughveins and everybody else
-Corbin S. AKA DR. Corvus
PS every medical knowledge you'll need is at the archives. The cat food is at the cabinet and the medbay keys belongs to janitor now
Act contains: More murder attempts, Injuries, Blood, Bone breaking, Violence, Sibling abuse, Graphic description of injuries, Death, Murder, Psychological trauma, (still want to read it?)
Corvus froze for a moment, trying to process what he’d just heard. And his conclusions were not very encouraging.
“Huh?”
“You are defending your world view. But can you fight for it?”
Crane's eagerness made Corvus a little taken aback. To back off because of a misunderstanding.
“W what do you mean fight? Like… Actual fight??”
Crane didn't say anything in response, because everything was painfully clear. Well, of course he decides to brawl. It's Crane. What had Corvus expected? There was just one small problem.
“Crane. You’ll win” And that’s not even an assumption, that’s a straight up fact, but Crane decided to play philosopher.
“I’ll win because I'm stronger and bigger than you… Or because your ideals are total nonsense?”
“What’s with you trying to prove you’re right in a rigged fight? You know you’ll win! Crane, i’ve weak and pathetic body! I’ll die from a little breath of wind!”
“Then you’re not ready to put your weak philosophy on the line”
“Why do you want me to put anything on the line!? Are you an idiot!? I told you already, that the fight is rigged for me! The fact that you love to fight and argue doesn’t mean that everybody else is automatically compatible opponents for you!”
Crane fell silent.
“I see” What he really sees is unclear.
He pointed the crossbow at the statues again, and once again, on his own initiative, Corvus messed up the arrows' flight path.
“Stop, Crane! Stop!!” He shouted, trying to loosen Crane's fingers on the crossbow.
What does he even think, going up against such a Hulk? Corvus will definitely get hit. It's going to hurt. Crane’s punches aren’t exactly cat-like. But he won't kill anyone. Even if Corvus will end up injured in the process.
A huge hand of his brother landed on Corvus' head and slammed his body to the ground with a good swing. His chest met an uneven stone surface that knocked the air out of him. While Corvus was trying to catch his breath, Crane loaded another arrow.
In this state, Corvus definitely wouldn't have time to stop him, but the body moved on its own. Out of desperation.
As soon as Crane aimed his crossbow at the statue lying on the ground, Corvus immediately covered it with himself, looking at his brother with despair.
“C’mon, I don't want you to become a murderer, brother! You’re a good man with a bright future ahead of you! Don’t ruin yourself with that!”
Crane silently moved the crossbow to another statue. Then Corvus was able to kick off the ground and tried to knock him down, wrapping his arms around his huge waist. Trying to knock Crane on the ground is like trying to fight a bear. He's strong. However, if it confuses his aim…
Pain shot through the back of his head and stomach: Crane's elbow slammed between his shoulder blades, and his knee hit dangerously close to his solar plexus. The bones creaked alarmingly loud, but not enough to give in. Corvus regained his stand, even though he lost consciousness for a second at that moment. The adrenaline made him think harder. If he can't stop Crane from shooting, then at least he'll take the arrows away from him.
His hand reached for his brother's belt and quiver. Only then did Crane resist, without firing properly. His hand pressed down on Corvus' face in an attempt to detach him from himself. But this wayward crow is stubborn.
Suddenly Crane stopped. With a click, the crossbow's shoulders curled up, turning the heavy weapon into a simple club. Clu.... Ouch.
Corvus didn't have time to react when the wood smashed into his face with all its might. He remembered that his hand was on the quiver. Remembered how his body flew like a baseball. And he remembered how he crashed right into a mountain of statues and ended up under it.
Nose hurts like hell. It was hard to breathe. It was wet and it wasn’t snot. Blood trickled to the ground as Corvus began to get down on all fours.… Gums were bleeding. It seems that the blow landed on the bridge of the nose. A crack. Corvus could feel it. And there was also the fact that his brain jumped five times inside of his skull from the punch. Hemorrhage.
Blood poured into his mouth, and Corvus had to spit it out as he got to his feet. There were arrows everywhere. He still had the torn quiver in his hands.
“Leave it” The only thing Crane said to that, putting the crossbow in his hands like a bat.
Corvus gasped in fright, trying to stand up. Legs wouldn't work. Head is in a mess. Disorientation. There was a fierce ringing in his ears. He held out his hand and…
Crack!
Pain. Terrible pain. He only managed to cover the statue with his body. The blow landed on his shoulder. Compression fracture.
Shock. Corvus screams. He tosses around in agony while the adrenaline in his body drags him into pain shock. The heart is pounding, the head is buzzing, and his hand is not moving.
Crane stands with an incomprehensible emotion. He doesn't seem to be worried, but he's not exactly indifferent either. Looks at him for a moment. Another. Then he looks at Swallow.
“Things die, Corvus. As the life intended it”
Baseball player's stance again. But now Crane is hesitating. Naturally. After all, this is his sister.
But the swing happens. And Corvus ends up on Crane, planting his foot right on his chest. With his good hand, he grabs his neck, and with the other sick and broken hand, he holds his trusty scalpel-pen in his trembling palm just above the eye socket of the skull.
Crane considers himself invincible, but his death lies only behind his eyeball. His arteries can be easily cut. Hit him hard on the head and you can cause death from brain hemorrhage. He is mortal. Humans are mortal. Corvus realized his full ability to kill a human. He knows which wounds are lethal, where you need to hit to take a person’s life. And Crane understood that too.
Under his mask, he was definitely smiling, as if he could prove something. He proved bullshit. Corvus won't stoop to murder. And he won't let Crane.
And that hesitation backfired on him. At that moment, Crane's huge hand grabbed Corvus by the neck and threw him against the wall face first with all his might. The blood left an imprint on the stone. Nose emitted a huge crack along with his jaw. Corvus is about to lose consciousness. But something prevented him from going out just like that.
He stood up. Crane had already swung at another statue. And Corvus covered it again. Even though his brother is cruel, he won't stoop to fratricide... probably.
“You’re ready to sacrifice your life for a bunch of unknown douchebags?”
“Please, I don’t want you to become a murderer, Crain” A desperate attempt to convince him to stop.
But it wasn't Crane who stood in front of Corvus. It was a beast.
“Nonsense. Even if you're gonna follow me whenever I go, you can't change my fate” Now Crane focused only on Corvus, who had nothing but hands to defend himself, “I am a murderer. Even before you. Before everything. I will kill. If you gonna watch me it won’t change the fact that i’d kill when you avert your gaze”
Crane knocked him to the ground with one blow, and then struck two more: one to break through the protection in the form of hands, and the second to slam Corvus to the floor. A minute of complete disorientation while he struggled with the darkness in his eyes. The world didn't have time to fall into place, flying with pictures and lights, but Corvus got up and went to counteract. Crane's next attempt to break the statue was met with resistance. Corvus's next attempt to stop his brother ended in beatings. He didn't want Crane to become a monster. Didn't want him to kill. He's kind. Very reliable. The world just doesn't know him. And it's Corvus' responsibility to take care of him, just as Crane took care of him in the past. He's not a bad person. And Corvus is very sympathetic to him. He wants his brother to be happy. But will this path bring him this happiness?
Corvus understood the essence of this fight. When his legs couldn't hold him anymore, he grabbed Crane with his hands, when his arms broke, he grabbed him with his teeth. He got the gist of it when he lost. When his body was covered in blood and bruises. Everything is fine. Wounds... can be healed. But sins... cannot be undone.
The only thing left in the cave was Corvus and the rope Crane had used to get down there. There was a wooden bird lying nearby.
Grabbing it in his arms, Corvus stood up. Enduring the pain in his hands. Enduring claustrophobia and shortness of breath. He understood the essence of this fight. Therefore, he didn't want to lose it.
Crane was probably surprised that Corvus was on the surface. He was surprised that his body could move at all. Corvus was already half unconscious. And he was still standing. Because if he falls, he will drop something very important from his shoulders.
Crows flew over them. The croaking was oppressive. They gathered to make do with the leftovers.
“Understood? You're half way from being complete” Crane asked, but Corvus didn't answer him.
He didn't understand anything. But Crane seemed to like how hard he was trying not to fall.
“Those people, you’ve been trying so hard to protect. You think Swallow would like that they’d live because of you? Think she would feel at peace knowing that someone is after her?”
The crows began to scream harder. Corvus feels one sitting on his shoulder and pecking at his wound. Ouch.
For this, Crane shot, and there was nothing left of the crow but feathers in the air.
“Corvus. You still want us to eat all together?”
Always. He’ll always want that.
“Then…” Crane swung at him with his fist, “Fall”
A blow. The blood scattered everywhere in the form of black beads reflecting the dawn. He felt a vertebrae snap from the impact, and his jaw finally moved out of place. There's metal in his mouth, and his teeth are loose. But Corvus stays on his feet. This blow… is nothing. And he finds the strength to look at Crane with a look full of determination. It's all he has left. Crane was also looking at him with an incomprehensible, irritated, and also interested look. The hand grabbed Corvus by the neck again. This time, he didn't even realize how he ended up on the ground. A boot landed on his neck, pressing on his airways.
“Your world is already broken, Atlas. It’s just that you still trying to do something, to protect this ruins”
Corvus grabbed the boot around his neck and looked at Crane with rage and despair in his eyes. A wooden bird fell out of his hand.
“Accept it. You just can’t save everyone” Corvus reached for it, but Crane grabbed the wooden crow first, “Your friends there...”
“...Don't you dare... just you dare…” Corvus croaked in response.
“They're going to die too. If you don't leave this burden... I'll prove it to you.”
Crane tossed the bird up just out Corvus' reach. It found itself among a flock of crows. Where it belonged. Crane pointed the crossbow at it. And only splinters of the wooden figure remained.
Something fell. Something crashed down on Corvus, strangling him with all its weight. He can't stand it. He feels like he's starting to sag under the weight.
Crane squinted in pain as a scalpel dug into his leg. Corvus was still looking at him with that look of desperate determination.
“Stubborn crow” Crane replied reproachfully.
Without a word, he pulled out a bag of vials.
“There's a revival fluid here. Eight vials for our family”
Their faces appeared before Corvus' eyes. A family photo where they were still friends. Crane teased him with these bottles. Before throwing the bag towards one of the mountains.
Corvus started to struggle. No. No! It's... they will....
“WAIT!” His cry was drowned out by the roar of the crow's.
The flasks flew in all directions as the bag collided with the statues. Some bounced off the stone and smashed somewhere at the very bottom. And then the blood. A lot of blood. The remains flew along with the stone. Those who could, were screaming in pain. Or maybe it was Corvus trying to shout over the crows.
He watched people die. How life was draining from their eyes. Everything was crumbling like a stone. The whole world of Corvus fell apart at that moment.
When it was over, Corvus was already sitting over them. People. The real ones. Cold and dead. There were crows everywhere, enjoying the feast. They were covering Corvus, as if they wanted to try his taste too. It was like he was just like them. A walking harbinger of death.
Somewhere in the stone shell lay the remains of a wooden bird. One very persistent crow tried to peck its head. It was quiet. It was quiet for the first time. Only Crane's voice broke the silence.
“You’re complete now”
Complete. What does he call complete? A world in ruins? Dead people? Kids too… Corvus felt sick. He wanted to vomit. But all of his strength went just to keep his body in a sitting position. Corvus doubts that his digestive system is working properly. Oh. Probably because of the blood inside. He's going to die at this rate. Yes, he’s ok with that.
Crane's hand grabbed his collar. No. He doesn’t want this. Corvus began to struggle until he was easily grabbed by the arm and dragged away. He struggled. He was screaming. After a couple of kilometers, he finally broke free and ran. But he was caught. Crane was dragging him the same way they had come here. But Corvus was struggling. He got tired by nightfall. Stopped only to treat and bandage the wounds. And then he fell ill from his injuries. He was delirious, both conscious and asleep. He kept calling for someone. He kept trying to crawl away. Where was he crawling to? Where were they going anyway? Unclear. Everything is unclear. Corvus found himself in an empty world. Shoulders and neck hurt terribly. So much so that his head felt heavy. He felt murdered, even though he still was alive under the world that had collapsed on him. Alone. In the dark and cramped space. He felt like a little kid in a furnace again. He was crying from confusion and calling for someone. He doesn't remember. He doesn't remember anything. Reality became a dream. He no longer saw reality. He was just wandering around in his delirium. Tormented by guilt, pain and despair…
