Reunion
The ex-warrior stares balefully up at the knight he’s come to loathe since sharing his fate, dulled nerves hardly feeling the aches and slight twinges of pain as he’s dragged over stone and earth alike. It should hurt – he remembers such things hurting in the past, when he was still alive. Now, however, he finds it more of an annoyance than a pain. One more embarrassing injustice done purposefully to spite him.
The more functional side of his mouth twists into its typical snarl, and burning blue eyes stare at the longer-dead draenei. His words, as always, are simple, sharp, and spiteful. “You are going to suffer for this. I will make sure of it.”
“And you will suffer this now.” comes the dull reply, laced with a familiar-sounding bitterness that also sounds almost bored. Geruulos has bitched and wriggled the entire journey here, and Shok’s probably sick of it by now – as though he wasn’t tired of the new knight before this.
Ruu spits an ungracious reply, fighting the urge to grimace at the blood he can still taste on his tongue. It’s a bitter flavor – not really as sweet as he had anticipated. At least it seems to have quelled the shaking that plagues his entire body, seems to have sated the roaring need churning within his belly. Whatever hunger he had felt is only replaced by dread that grows heavier with each of Shok’s plated hoofsteps.
A grunt of disdain sounds as he’s suddenly – surprisingly, even – deposited upon the ground, taking a moment to push himself to his own hooves. That grating voice, low and impassionate, speaks behind him.
“Get up. She is coming.”
Panic – an emotion unfamiliar to Ruu even in life – flares briefly in the knight’s chest, and he almost stumbles in his efforts to hurry to stand, burning blue eyes shifting across the deadened terrain. A telltale, familiar glow is evident even in the dim dawn as the other draenei approaches, head held high, with a grace only surpassed by her mother’s.
She looks calmer than Ruu imagined she would – almost impassive. There’s a dark, haunted look in her eyes as she comes to a halt a few yards away, expression scanning her father and his multitude of new scars. A battered old goat somehow carved into an entirely different creature, angrier and more dangerous than he was in life. A being capable of utterly destroying the fragile, perfect little light-mender in front of him, a voice remarks almost snidely. The thought is aggressively banished from his mind, though Muu doesn’t look nearly as frightened as he expected.
Disgusted, maybe – or perhaps that’s just his interpretation.
Rhymuu exhales a soft, steady sigh that only has the warnings of a tremble underneath. She offers no greeting or words of endearment, and the cold formality in her tone sounds tangibly forced. “.. You could have told me.” is all she says for a moment, staring up at her father with a huff. The accusing intensity of that gaze reminds him of Hani, and, for a moment, he almost trembles beneath it, stumbling over his words.
“I—you did not need to know.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!” she hisses through clenched teeth, tail lashing. He’s almost impressed by the strength in that conviction as she stamps a hoof, continuing insistently. “I could have helped, or come to visit, or at least not spend the past month or two worrying about a father that didn’t even tell me where he’d gone!” she continues. Despite her attempts at remaining steady, Ruu can hear the distress underlying her tone. He can’t find a suitable response to that, and Muu presses on before he can make one up.
“But, no, I have to hear it from your murderer of all people!” Her gaze flashes accusingly to Shok, and Ruu can’t even feel a twinge of satisfaction as the other knight flinches as though physically struck. His mangled tail twitches uneasily, and, to his surprise, he finds his voice rising in defense of the other knight. “I did not plan on telling you. I assumed you would—“
“What? You assumed that I couldn’t handle it? I’m not some defenseless child anymore, Father!” comes her swift retort. There’s a fair amount of bitterness there, and Ruu feels a little pang of guilt. He can’t deny the accusation, either, and awkwardly inclines his head. “I could have handled it! I have friends and family that would help if I needed it! B-but you’ve made it all worse by not even saying anything, and now I don’t know if I can still deal with it!” Her voice catches in a panicked little sob, and, despite himself, he shifts forward, one hand outstretched in an effort to awkwardly comfort. She steps away from him – a blow that stings worse than any physical attack. His hand thuds back to his side.
“N-no. It’s too late for that.” Her voice has lost some of its vindictiveness now, replaced with a dull sadness that chills Ruu deeper than undeath. The female draenei stares, shakes her head, and mumbles almost too softly to hear. “… I-if you cannot trust me with such things, then I will not trust you either.”
“… What do you mean?” His words are sharper than he means them to be, laced with a growl that sounds almost menacing. The fact that she doesn’t tremble at his tone stirs pride in his gut, mingled with that ever-looming dread.
“Until you can figure this out – until you can deal with it, and trust me with things – I do not want anything to do with you. I-I will not sit and obsessively worry about someone that doesn’t care for me at all.”
“… Muu. Muu, I—“
She just shakes her head, taking another sad step back. “… I’m sorry. B-but this is the way it needs to be.” She’s trembling visibly now, but keeps her head held high, voice forced and steady. She never glances away. When their gaze finally breaks, it’s Ruu that finds himself staring down at the ground.
If there had been any Light left in his life – something he doubted existed, even on his best days – he can feel it dim and vanish as the light-mender’s steps quiet and eventually disappear. When he looks up, there’s only the distant glint of the sun, nearly obscured by clouds. Geruulos feels nothing but emptiness as he turns back to stare at Shok, expecting to see some sort of twisted satisfaction in the other knight’s visage. But he only remains silent, expression unreadable.
Ruu draws in a deep, unnecessary breath, trudging unsteadily back towards the other knight. Shok seems tense, as though expecting him to lash out, but Ruu only growls, shooting him a dark look. “… I’m going to hunt. Care to join me?” ((Geruulos and Rhymuu, featuring Shok’rakar ( @phantomarmor ). ))