ORIGIN

--"Speech"--
--Thoughts--

Wrapped in a red cloth, Kimen was lost in a realm of his own dreams.
It was just as well that he was unconscious as his body was bruised and battered, if he was awake he would feel only the intensest of pain. Just how the young red panda had survived his beating, it was unclear. The last thing he remembered seeing was a figure made of light protecting him. The figure was, of course, his deity, the being that named him.

His fur was made scruffy and tainted by dried blood. New blood seeped from a number of places and soaked into the cloth. He was in a fetal position, being dragged along in the red cloth that used to be a flag. His tail, freshly halved in size, lay outside the cloth and left a trail of blood and the wound picked up dirt and couldn't heal.

"Speech"

These demons... had to be some kind of syndicate working against her. They had to be.

Everything seemed to be out to get her.

Her jaws full of a dusty old flag she'd found in Orion and her breaths huffed with the strain, Eira didn't know where she was going or how far. But she kept on dragging her unconscious partner, anger causing her blood to boil and her muscles to feel like iron. With every tug she took out her anger on the feeble cloth in her jaws. And when she got stuck, she'd pull and shake and growl until it was free, and drag it onwards. And finally, suddenly, she felt water under her paws. She growled under her breath, realizing that it'd seep through what used to be a flag and probably soak right into Kimen. Perfect. Just Perfect.

Eira snarled, angrily dropping the edge of the cloth with a sploosh. She looked behind her and saw a distant waterfall. Heaving in her breaths, quivering with rage, Eira finally took the chance to make sure that Kimen was okay. She'd been so busy trying to escape the demons that she hadn't properly checked on him. Trembling with rage both at the demon who'd attacked him and her own stupidity, she stalked around the flag, noticed the trail of blood from his tail and almost screamed. Her fur stood on end and her eyes narrowed around the developing gem in her forehead, which had widened and was beginning to creep around her eyes.

She struggled to hold it all in- but the anger was growing worse and worse. Stiffly she kicked some water around, before she bent down, sucked up some water. She waddled over to Kimen's tail, her lengthening body lagging behind her head... and then she emptied her cheeks out onto his tail and glared at it like she expected something to happen. At the very least, it might have cleaned off some of the dirt.

Other than that, nothing happened. however much she focused, and tried. But nothing. Nothing!

That was the final straw for the albino otter. She shook, she quivered, and then the final string in her heart snapped.

Anger surged through her. Tears formed in her eyes. The only thing in her mind was that she was the hero of this story and how she couldn't even do that. Breathing heavy, Eira scurried a few metres away, hoping that she was out of earshot but wanting to be close enough to take guard duty. She stared at Kimen with her eyes quivering, the gaze of a protector who'd failed. The eyes of a dying hero. And she couldn't help but look away for a moment. Quietly as she could, the otter curled up in a tiny ball in a pool of water, and screamed into her fatty tail, hoping beyond hope that no sound would escape. Not one bit. She drove in her fangs, she scrabbled at the ground, she blamed it on the demons- anything at all, just to make these feelings go away.

"Speech"

Eira's face was buried in the fur of her tail, her remaining eye clamped shut. Covered in congealed blood, the entire left side of her face was stained a rusty red brown which had pourec from her eye socket, but she couldn't tell; it was all numb. The wounds on her back had scabbed long ago, but no pain mattered as much as the guilt. What sort of hero was she?

There might be one less demon in the world, but it seemed like there was one less life as well. She shouldn't have left Kimen all alone. It was all a trap. Now she was weak and he was dying.

She assumed he was dying, at least. The blood panicked her, she'd never seen it before other than when she'd fought that demon and even then, she hadn't just lain down and let it. Sticky and unpleasant, a failed spellcast had frozen it into her. She didn't understand magic very much yet, but it might just have saved her life. That was something she acknowledged and that was why she found it within herself to keep pushing on.

But she had to stop crying; she realized that a true hero wouldn't sit by and cry and scream. And the more she cried, the worse the pain became. One side of her face prickled and burned. Clenching her jaws together to keep any noise from escaping, the otter stiffly rose to her paws and moved over to his still form. Reaching out, she took hold of his furry side with a quivering paw, and gave it a feeble shake.

"Speech"

Eira looked up for a second. And suddenly, there was a shriek of joy. "Aiieee! You're awake! You're alive!" The otter scurried over to the face of the red panda, as he spat blood and groaned. She looked at his face, looking into each eye with her remaining one. She was so happy to see him- she'd never looked so happy before. Not when they'd first met, not when they'd fallen asleep next to one another... not ever. Her own injuries were an afterthought, but she was just as much a sight for sore eyes as he was. She didn't even consider how she'd look to him when he awoke.

For once she wasn't the hero- she was the one being rescued. For the first time in her life she thanked her lucky stars. And it wasn't anything to do with her. Well, it was- but in that very moment, she wasn't being heroic or noble- she was greeting the partner she felt like she'd almost lost forever.

"Ah! You're hurt, you're hurt..."

She knew what it was she'd done to quell the bloodloss; it didn't strike her as dangerous but the truth was, it'd almost cost her her life. She was no healer, but she was determined. And she would do it again. Eira dropped her head to a chilled puddle and in rather disgusting fashion, expelled it all over Kimen's tail. And then she focused. She had to focus. She had to save him...!

The moisture on Kimen's tail began to cool, drastically. The moment Eira saw it begin to sparkle she was back by Kimen's side, breathing heavily, her bloodstained gem aglow.

"Kimen, I... I..." she struggled with the words to say. "...I'm a hero now."

Suddenly the devastation hit her like a wave. The fur along her spine rose but she was suddenly sure of what to do. And then she broke down. tears poured from her remaining eye whilst her other stung, beginning to bleed. Agony surged through her. The cold. The claw marks covering her. Half her vision was gone, and only now was the strain beginning to show. Was it worth it? "But it... it really doesn't feel like it."

She couldn't see Kimen, because he was on her blind side. But she could feel him there, next to her.

Such was the duty of a hero.

"Speech"

She looked down at him, and what remained of her vision blurred, the young one struggling to keep calm and collected. Her injured eye prickled and burned, pain making her eye water all the more, which in turn caused her wound all the more pain. A fresh trickle of blood made its slow way down her cheek. He hadn't responded, said nothing. he was too weak to do anything... Fury burned in her chest towards the one who did this to him. The one true hearted being she knew and the one who, right here, right now, she swore to protect as her hero's duty.

"Kimen," she replied with some difficulty, raising a paw to rub her eye with the back of her wrist. She clenched her teeth, a whimper escaping her muzzle as agony surged through the wound with even the slightest touch. She brought her paw in front of her face and saw the fur there stained dark red. "It's me. Who... Who did this to you?"

She breathed heavily, biting her lower lip.

"I swear, I'll hunt them down. They can't live after doing this to you."

She broke down a little inside. Violent shudders and soft twitches passed over her body as she struggled to keep from crying.

"Kimen," she murmured quietly, turning her head so that she could see him through her good eye. "Are you... gonna live? Gonna be okay?"

She left her inner thoughts unspoken.

"Speech"

Again, Kimen didn't properly answer her. The otter twisted around further, so that with her one remaining eye she stared right into his. "Tell me," she huffed dangerously, though realized her mistake in an instant and shied down, curling up with her head in her paws. Tiny little sobs emerged for a moment, soon to be replaced by violent twitching as she struggled to hold them back. "P-please.... I wanna know if you'll be okay..." she sobbed, and her voice rose into a squeal.

She heard Kimen's voice again, his sweet cracking voice... and her heart simultaneously softened and broke. He huddled close into her, and the bloodstained otter huddled close in turn. She shook her head. "No, they didn't. In the end, I taught them not to mess with a hero..." she gave a little grunt.

It seemed that Kimen wasn't about to meet his untimely demise, not at this minute. But the otter was still on edge. Still, she wanted to assure Kimen, at least. "I'm alright. Don't worry about to me." As stoic as she seemed, it was at least clear that she was trying.

She tried to smile, to prove it; but the motion only brought more pain and she had to let her face drop. "You'll be okay. I'll protect you."

She looked at him again, bowing her head.

"I'll be your hero."