#116
As of yesterday, the worst pain the prince had experienced was when he accidentally nicked his finger with his father’s sword three years ago.
Today, that has been replaced with the red-hot agony of a bear trap snapping shut on his leg.
It wasn’t meant to go like this. Get to the city borders and disappear into the wilderness—that was the plan. It’d seemed such a good plan too, from the comfort of his bedroom. Easy.
Yet here he is, thrown to the floor by merciless, metal teeth. It’s more blood than he’s ever seen in his life. He’s starting to feel faint, though whether that’s the sight of his own mangled leg or the pain jolting through him at the slightest move is unclear.
Darkness is throwing a blanket over the sky. Forcing the trap open has proven fruitless, dragging himself back to the road impossible. Every fibre of him, down to his very soul, is crying to rest, to ease the pain, to just have stayed in his ivory tower prison like he always had.
Something yellow—a light!—ripples through the trees. The prince thinks, for a rather depressing moment, that heaven might be approaching, and the warden has arrived to drag him into death. It would explain why he can’t feel his hands.
“Huh,” says the warden, “that ain’t an animal.”
The light is blinding now, the person behind it haloed invisibly in its spray. The prince can see them turn, kind of, to a figure next to them.
“Well, no.” A gruff laugh. “That’s very much a human person.”
The light lowers slightly, enough to get a glimpse at the people hiding in its shadow. Oh—not the warden. A common woman, in fact, her and an equally common man, staring down at him with varying amounts of surprise and annoyance.
“Hm,” the woman says again, thoughtful. “Looks expensive. D’ya think we’d get much for him?”
The prince’s stomach does some acrobatic somersault that almost makes him throw up. He tries to move, crawl away, anything, but the trap sinks its teeth into his flesh even more, like it's trying to stop him escaping. A cry falls from his mouth, some incoherent mix of terror and agony.
One of them says something, but he can’t hear it. He can’t hear anything; blood rushes in his ears—it’s a miracle he has any left to do such—his breathing hard and laced with irrepressible noises of his own suffering.
Another laugh as the man steps forward and back into hearing range. “We should probably make sure he ain’t from one of those places that’ll lob our heads off for the crime of looking at ‘im first.”
“He looks like one of ‘em, don’t he?” The woman steps too close. The prince scrambles without thinking, and gets the treat of the teeth gnawing harder into his leg. “Let’s get ‘im home, at least. Get the trap, Skat, and I’ll get the bag ready for it.”
“Skat?” The name rolls off his tongue so easily. Both of the commoners stare at him like they’re startled he can speak at all. “You– you were in the royal guard. I recognise your name.”
The man’s stare has turned to a hard glare in an instant. “Where’d you get that from?”
The prince attempts a smile, but the burning pain ripping through him makes it difficult. “You were one of the top knights in your guild. I– I came down, sometimes, to watch you practise. My father adored you. I adored you.”
“You’re the boy prince?” It comes out almost immediately. A connection made. A recognition. The prince could laugh with relief if he weren’t already crying. He nods quickly. “Wh–What’re you doing out here?”
The woman snorts behind him. “Sounds like a fat sack of cash,” she mumbles.
The man ignores her. “Don’t answer that; it doesn’t matter. Let’s get you inside and cleaned up, huh?”
“Are you serious?” The woman scoffs as the man sets his gaze on the bear trap. “We’ve stumbled across our biggest catch yet, and we’re just throwing it away? We could be absolutely minted off him and you want me to just send him on his merry way?”
“Well, Gvette,” the man says flatly, “do you really think anyone’s gonna wanna buy something that looks like it’s been dragged through ten inches of mud?”
That gives her enough pause for Skat to don a smug grin and shoot a quick wink to the prince. “Open the trap, will ya?” he adds.
It isn’t gentle. The woman—Gvette, the prince assumes—rips the trap open and lets its barbed teeth tear through any part of his skin they haven’t already. Skat holds him, almost vice-like, as he squirms and cries against Gvette's heartless freeing of his leg. He can’t help but bury his face into the man’s shoulder when Gvette first wrenches it apart.
Skat grabs his hands to try and help up to his feet. The prince shivers at nothing. “Am—” His voice catches when he puts a little too much weight on his leg. “Am I dead?”
“Well, I ain’t one for talkin’ to spirits,” Skat says brightly, “so I’d assume not.”
“I can’t feel my hands.”
There’s a pause that’s a little too thick. “You’re cold, kiddo. You’ve been lying in an inch of wet mud.”
Gvette takes the prince’s arm, rather reluctantly, as Skat pulls a blanket from his bag. He swings it open and onto the prince’s shoulders in one easy move. “A’ight,” he says as he ushers Gvette away to retake his spot at this side. “Let’s get you warmed up and into some new clothes, maybe.”
So we can get you home hangs unsaid in the air. That, or so we can see how much people are willing to pay for you.
Neither of those are an option.
They might want his leg healed before they try anything. That would give him time, and it’d certainly give him a means of escape.
The prince clings to the old knight, with no other choice, and prays that the man’s warmth to him is true.
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Just a little housekeeping that apparently needs to be done
Guys, it is absolutely ok to disagree with me. It's also ok to want to discuss the matter on which we disagree. But going off on a rant is unproductive, spreads unnecessary negativity, and is frankly a waste of everyone's precious energy. If you can't broach the topic in a respectful and open-minded way and engage in civil discussion, just keep scrolling. Move on and engage with the stuff that does resonate with you. It's not hard.
Also, try to keep comments related to the actual post, and don't bring all your conspiracy theories into the mix. I will not stand for it, especially when you're using it to try to discredit or demean someone. Genuine critiques and call outs based on tangible evidence are acceptable and open for civil discussion. Using a lack of agreeance with your conspiracy theory/general opinion to say someone is objectively wrong about something is not.
Please, for the love of all that's sacred, just be decent and respectful, people. I would really rather not have to, but I will block folks who are not respecting these simple asks. It all depends on you. I hate that any of this needs to be said. Please don't make me have to use my Parent Voice™️ like this. I don't care for it.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. May I never have to give it again. 🙏
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Chapters: 1/3
Fandom: Subnautica (Video Game)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Relationships: Al-An/Robin Ayou, Sam Ayou/Danielle Valenti
Characters: Robin Ayou, Al-An (Subnautica), Sam Ayou, Danielle Valenti, Marguerit Maida
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Sirens, mermaid au, Show to survive your shadow leviathan inlaw and his crazy gf ×, Sam looses sibling rights, Danny is a soft girl, Drama, Catfights but with fish, Robin tries pick a fight with a reaper...al-an is smitten, Everyone Needs Therapy, hugs are needed, Angst, More tags later, short and sweet, violance, Khaara/rotgill
Series: Part 2 of Blood in the water
Summary:
SAM WAS DEAD TO HER.
But still she needed to see, for herself, to confirm this lie for her own peace of mind, Robin needed to know their lives were worth more than some pretty mermaid, that she herself meant more to her sister.
That Sam died protecting them, a fate befitting for the sibling she grew up to aspire after..
The sister who may have destroyed her home, their future and her only chance at a fucking relationship with Al-an!
Robin needed to know if this traitor was still alive.
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