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deathbydarkelves · 8 months

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So I'm semi-casually RPing in the current Helping Hands campaign (x-faction, open campaign where the overall goal is to help the kaldorei recover post-Fourth War and investigate some Fucked-Up Shit along the way). I'd seen other people write little excerpts of their characters processing rp events post-event, but never had the inspiration strike me to do that myself. I consider this Helping Hands "timeline" separate from my AU/"real" timeline anyway, which keeps it more casual and non-serious in my head.

BUT in the latest event we were tasked with bringing some supplies through the mountains between Felwood and Darkshore, and poor Tarinne got a glimpse of Teldrassil for the first time since Legion. It may be a little AU-y -- in the real timeline she's not gonna see Darkshore for a while I'm thinking -- but I wanted to explore how she'd maybe process that.

Oh also we got ambushed by furbolg shamans with arrows and lightning and had to retreat to Moonglade through a fucked-up Void portal.

Basically: I wanted to write a little scene where it's just Cathala and Tarinne talking, since in my current WIP they're accompanied by other characters most of the time and that changes the dynamic a little. It's pretty quick and loose compared to my other writing, but at the end of the day it was sort of just a dialogue exercise <3

Tarinne had rented a hippogryph out of Moonglade the moment the druids healed her, with hardly a goodbye to the other volunteers. That brief, distant glimpse of Teldrassil stuck in her head like putrefying flesh to bone. She rode the leagues to Mount Hyjal empty-minded, counting buildings in the scarce mountain villages below to keep it that way, and taking draughts from her mead flask when that failed. She was even grateful for the hot, stinging pain on her right shoulder blade where the druids had missed part of a lightning burn, despite how much it sucked ass.

And now that wound had begun to weep, and she was sitting on a stool in her and Cathala’s room at the Nordrassil Inn, staring out the only window at a crystalline curtain of rain. Earthy incense filled her lungs. Every now and then the rain-chilled air found its way through the window and prickled her skin. Behind her, Cathala had set her bag on the bed and was digging through it for vials of herbs.

“I should have come with you,” Cathala said. Glass clinked as she pulled something out.

“You would’ve gotten your ass beat, too.”

She laughed through her nose. “Don’t sound so sure.”

“The spellcasters barely got a hit off. All I could do was stand there like an idiot while they took potshots at us.” She glared at the rain-blurred silhouettes of trees and chewed her lip. “It was a waste of time. I don’t know why I bothered.”

“You’ll be prepared next time.” Cathala closed her bag and walked to her side. She held a jar of silvery-gray earthroot paste, and two rounded vials of dried leaves Tarinne didn’t recognize. “Where is it?”

Tarinne patted her right shoulder. Cathala tugged at her own collar, a signal.

“I don’t know if I want there to be a next time.” Tarinne pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor. The odor of stale sweat followed it. “I heard them talking about taking the Rift from the get-go, and you’d have to pay me my weight in gold before I did that shit again.”

“I saw a poster for an escaped prisoner outside town yesterday. One hundred gold reward.”

Tarinne laughed once. “Maybe if I was a gnome.”

Cathala smirked like she saw that coming, then stepped between her and the bed. She was silent for a few beats. “Hold these.” She handed the herbs over Tarinne’s shoulder and sat on the end of the bed. She passed her fingers over the skin surrounding the burn, feeling for something Tarinne didn’t know.

Tarinne watched smoke curl off the incense sticks in the bowl below the window, and waited.

Cathala held a hand out. “Adder’s tongue.”

She looked at the two vials in her hands.

“The green one.”

Tarinne passed it to her and proceeded to wait in anticipation as Cathala removed the cork and tapped a bundle of leaves into her hand.

“Relax,” Cathala said.

“I am,” Tarinne said, then realized her old mistake.

Cathala jabbed two knuckles into the middle of her back, one on either side of her spine. Like she had cut the strings commanding her muscles, tension Tarinne hadn’t even been aware of drained from her body, along with an involuntary sigh. Her shoulders sagged and she slouched forward.

“Now you are.”

She took a slow breath like she’d only just woken up. “Yeah, well… I can’t do that shit you do with your magic monk fing-“ She hissed in pain as Cathala pressed the adder’s tongue to her raw wound. The spongy stems and leaves stabbed at her flesh.

“Breathe.”

“I am,” Tarinne half-laughed.

After one long minute, Cathala tossed the adder’s tongue to the floor. Its fern-like leaves were appetizingly dark and sticky with lymph.

Cathala extended her hand again. “Earthroot.”

Tarinne gave her the jar. She sighed, and a few seconds later, the threads of incense smoke twisted and faded. “We’d almost made it outta the mountains, too.”

Cathala uncorked the jar and rubbed the cool, grainy paste into her wound. At first it stung, then slowly numbed as the poppy milk she always mixed in took effect.

Cathala’s voice became flat and impartial. “As a girl, I thought dragons lived in those mountains.”

Her words faded into the sound of the rain.

Tarinne nodded slowly. “No dragons this time.”

Outside, a breeze weaved between the trees and raindrops. The incense sticks burned low, smoke shaking whenever a wayward drop found its way inside. Tarinne watched the ash of one drop into the bowl.

When Cathala finally pulled her hand away, her shoulder was blessedly numb.

Tarinne held up the second vial. “What about this?”

“Briarthorn. Only necessary if it was blistering.”

She gave the vial an unpleasant look before setting all three on the floor. Words started to form in her mouth, then died once she opened it.

Cathala ran her palm over her shoulder. “Your trapezius is tense.”

“Probably because it got struck by lightning.”

“I can work it loose once the earthroot soaks in.”

“What, no pressure point trick?”

She could feel Cathala looking at the back of her head like she was an idiot. “That’s only temporary.”

Tarinne sighed again, though she’d known that. “Mm.”

The ember of a burned-out incense stick winked out.

The bed creaked as Cathala stood. She knelt in front of her, brow knit as her eyes met Tarinne’s. “Will you be alright?”

“Yes.” Her smile faded as her gaze wandered down the scar coiling up Cathala’s neck and cheek. She chewed her lip again. “You don’t have to come with me. We might go back to Da-“

“I know.” Cathala put her hand on hers and squeezed it. “But if- when…” She closed her eyes, sighed through her nose, then opened them. “I would want to be with you.”

Tarinne was silent for a while. She studied Cathala’s face, but so many different emotions were carving their lines into it she found it unreadable. Finally, she let out a long breath, and said: “Me too.”

#my writing #cathala #tarinne #black rain #helping hands #noncanon writing

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thedo0zyslider · 1 year

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Late Night Talking (Rottmnt)

Leo and Donnie have a talk and get some much needed rest AO3 Link

Donnie was in his room, sitting on his bed with their back to the wall. It was strange for him to not be hauled up in his lab, working on some new invention. Their battle shell was thrown on the floor beside the purple bed. It was unusual for Donnie to expose his naturally soft shell.

He was sitting with his knees to his chest and his arms wrapped around his legs. Suddenly, Donnie let out a small noise as pain blossomed in his backside.

It had been about two months since the Kraang invasion, and Donatello still had not fully recovered from his injuries. Being thrown into the Technodrome’s control center hadn’t affected his softshell well, and the purple-clad turtle had been left with internal and external injuries. They’d been bleeding internally, which was bad for any species of turtle, but especially Donnie due to him being a spiny softshell. His species made his protective shell very vulnerable, and he often resented the fact. Without his battle shell he wouldn’t have even been able to attack the Kraang, let alone control that glorious ship. The outside of his shell was also bruised and bleeding, but that had been easier to fix up. The rest of his body has also sustained injury, but those had healed long ago. Though sometimes he still felt the Kraang’s tentacles around where his injuries used to be.

The thought of the Kraang tentacles still haunted Donnie’s dreams. It was part of the reason he hadn't slept well since the invasion, that and the ever persistent pain. The feeling of the alien tentacles on his skin, all slimy and gross made him want to throw up. It gave him goosebumps along his limbs. It was officially the worst thing Donnie had ever and will ever have the misfortune of touching.

His brothers had healed easier, physically anyways. The injuries Raph had sustained from the Kraang healed nicely, the eldest turtle was the first to fully recover. He only had a handful of broken bones, cuts, bruises and his damaged eye. He could still see out of said eye, just not as well as before. Raph had also had similar injuries to his younger purple brother where the Kraang had infected him as well, but those were long healed and less severe. The red turtle has gone back to his normal ways of being the mom of the group, just with more fussing over his hurt brothers

Mikey had sustained the most damage to his hands. Opening that portal to save Leo had left them bleeding and broken in multiple places, almost destroyed. Micheal was still wearing a few bandages, but most of his broken fingers had healed. Leo, as the family medic, was worried he would have to relearn how to do certain things with his hands when they were fully healed. Mikey didn’t seem to care though, as long as he could still draw.

Leo had been injured worse than Donnie. Their twin has been in a coma for three weeks. Which wasn’t the best, since they thought he was the one with the most medical knowledge. Donnie would argue he was just as good in medicine as Leo, but he hadn’t been able to walk, or move really, at the time due his spinal and shell injuries. Thankfully Casey Jr knew medicine. According to future boy, knowing how to heal any injury in the apocalypse was a valuable and necessary survival skill. And after seeing just a fraction of the Kraang invasion, Donnie didn't doubt him.

April, bless her, had wanted to help and quickly learned how to treat her brother's injuries. Donnie was unsurprised, she was always good at learning seemingly unlikely skills, like how to drive a crane. She’d been worried sick about all of them, dragging Draxum down to the new lair with her every day immediately after school and not leaving until late night. A few times Draxum has to forcibly remove her when she stays till the early hours of the morning. It didn't go well for Draxum, but watching their all-powerful yokai creator lose to an eighteen year old human had been quite amusing for the injured turtles. Once Leo had woken up she stopped being as worried. Having two experienced medics had made April feel better, and each turtle's recovery seemed to go just a bit smoother. Splinter’s had gone faster as well, but otherwise their beloved Papa had been relatively okay, the rat saying he’d “had worse than this in his action star days.” Somehow.

Draxum was also, surprisingly, worried about his experiments. Well, unsurprising that he was worried about Mikey. The sheep yokai had checked in on them often, even getting Mayhem in for a surprise visit to cheer them up. At least Leo had shut up about Draxum throwing him off a roof. Maybe the coma did that, or one of the various other head injuries the annoying blue turtle had sustained.

Leonardo was now using crutches, despite everyone agreeing that he should not be walking or doing much physical activity. But Nardo, ever stubborn, ignored their well intentioned advice and the fact that he had almost died. Most of his other injuries were almost fully healed, despite his concussion. That injury in particular was kicking Leo’s ass, and the blue-chlad turtle was loudly complaining about it when it wasn't affecting him too much. Other than that Leo was fine.

Donnie huffed in frustration at the thought. Why was he still injured so badly? He wasn’t the one who almost died because he was stupid enough to try and sacrifice himself! And why did the pain have to be terrible today? It was all because of his stupid, useless, in the way shell! It always was. The shell felt like a weakness when compared to his brothers, and Donnie loathed it and the immense pain it was currently bringing him.

He’d been taking painkillers to ignore the pain in his shell. A lot of pain killers, several milligrams higher than what was healthy to take. They were surprised he hadn't overdosed, but at the same time Donnie was a genius and too smart to take too much. He had been making sure he took way too much, but not enough to kill them. They guessed moving around when they shouldn't be had made their injuries worse, and now the pain killers had no effect. Leo would kill him if he found out Donnie had been using most of the limited and stolen painkillers they had, only for them to do nothing in the end.

Speaking of Leo, Donnie's annoying twin was opening his door. “Don-Tron?” The slider asked, stepping into the dim room. A look of concern spread over his features when he saw his sibling. It was rare to see his brother so noticeably upset. Nardo closed the door gently, and hobbled over to sit beside him on the bed. Don just turned to face his headboard. He was not in the mood for socialization, and especially not Leo’s bullshit.

“What time is it?” The younger twin asked, glancing at his brother. If Leo was going to be in his space he was going to get some information out of him.

“Uhhh, like two thirty in the morning? Maybe three?”

“Why are you awake?”

“Insomnia.” Leo stated plainly. Donnie decided he was done with chatting and glanced away, focusing his gaze of the neon lights in their room “You okay?” Leo asked. Donnie said nothing in response this time, just buried their head into their knees.

Thankfully, for once in his life, Leo knew when to shut up. Silence fell over them for several minutes. Nardo sat cross-legged on the bed next to Donnie, who knew he wasn't gonna leave until he achieved whatever is it he wanted to achieve. Unfortunately the silence was broken when more pain washed over the purple turtle, and they let out a whimper of pain.

“Your shell still hurts?” Leo asked, moving to sit closer to his sibling. Donnie just nodded in response.

“Have you been taking all my painkillers?” The blue turtle asked knowingly. “And now the pain is so bad they don't work anymore?” “Yeah..” Donnie muttered, admitting defeat. “How’d you guess?”

“Dearest Donald,” Leo said, as if lecturing his younger brother. “You do this every time you get hurt so you can work on your stupid little inventions.”

“My inventions are not stupid, they are a work of my technical genius” Donnie hissed, now in pain and annoyed.

“You mean the inventions like-”

“Nardo.” Donnie growled, cutting off their sibling before he could mention one of the freak accidents that happened when Donatello’s tech went awry. But it was called a freak accident for a reason, mostly because it was his brother's fault when it happened. Most of the time. Ninety percent of the time.

“Lemme look at your injuries” Leo sighed, dropping the sibling banter. Donnie sighed, moving slightly so Leon could examine his shell better. He needs to be confined to a bed but is sitting here being a medic, ironic. Donnie thought, ignoring the small flare of pain as Leo checked for any external shell injuries.

“Your injuries are still internal, because you haven’t been resting.” Leo declared a moment later, leaning away from his younger sibling again

“No shit, Leon” Donnie rolled his eyes.

“Instead of giving me attitude you should sleep in your bed instead of sitting on it.” The medic snapped back, gently flicking his siblings head. Donnie sighed. “You’re right.”

“I know.” Leo said, sounding almost smug about it. He stood up so the other could have room to lay down. “On the bright side, the outside of your shell is fully healed.” The blue turtle clutched his crutches like a lifeline.

“Woo.” Donnie deadpanned.

“You’re very happy about that.” Leo rolled his eyes, slightly amused by his siblings' unenthusiasm.

“Sigh. Sorry, it's just that bleeding internally doesn't feel very great.” Donnie moved to lay down on his stomach. “Now exit my bedroom, I am resting.” Their voice became mumbled as he shoved his face into a pillow.

“Why yes, Oh Great Donatello.” Leo said, wobbling towards the door. He closed it quietly behind him as he exited his siblings room, leaving the purple turtle to get so much overdue rest. Donnie heard him almost fall and gasp in pain when he left, which Leo thought he stealthy covered up. They made a mental note to bug Raph about keeping their brother bedridden when he awoke.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Leo was now alone in his dimly lit room, similar to how Donnie had a week earlier. Except this time he was curled up under his bed. He’d been having nightmares almost every night since the invasion. And if it wasn't a nightmare it was his injuries or insomnia keeping him awake.

This night’s nightmare had been particularly bad. It was about Leo’s time in the prison dimension. But instead of Leo being trapped it was his brothers, specifically Donnie. His brain had tormented him with images of his twin screaming in pain as the leader Kraang threw him around the void of the prison dimension. He’d dreamed of Donnie being thrown against walls, his goggles shattering in two. His battle shell had been ripped off, and his softshell exposed and injured horribly. It was similar to the injuries Donnie was currently still recovering from outside of his dream. The nightmare Kraang had infected his twin brother, like he had with Raph. And Leo knew how much Donnie hated touching the alien substance, having thrown up over it once. He had an image of a Kraangified Donnie in his head, being beaten senseless by the cruel alien leader. It was an image that wouldn't go away.

Leo shook his head, trying to literally shake his thoughts away. He felt his breathing quicken, throat constricting. The dream brought him panic, and reminded him of his own traumatic time in the prison dimension. He brought his limbs inside his shell, finding comfort in the action. His head was left barley peeking out, just in case he heard someone approaching his room and needed to act like everything was okay. Though he doubted most anyone would come to his room at, what time was it? Around two in the morning.

However most people were not his twin, who opened his door gently a few moments later. Leo didn't even need to see Donnie to know it was him. The twins often came to each other when they couldn't sleep. Leo was normally up due to insomnia, and Donnie didn't know what “sleep” meant when he had his head in a new piece of tech.

“Nardo?” Donnie asked, his voice still somewhat sleepy. Leo sighed, rolling out from under his bed and removing his limbs from inside his shell. The blue-chlad turtle was now laid out on the floor, looking up at his twin. “What, Donald?” He asked, slightly exasperated with the younger twin.

“Why were you under the bed?” Donnie asked bluntly.

“Nightmare.” Leo answer honestly

“Oh.” Donnie said. Leo changed the subject, knowing the younger wasn't good with things like emotion or personal stuff. “Why are you here?”

“Pain and a nightmare.” Donnie said, sitting on his brother's bed. Leo slowly stood, going to join them. The younger twin seemed to notice Leo’s slight panicked state. Donnie shifted closer, knowing touch helped calm Leo down. The blue brother shifted closer instinctively, making a conscious effort to not make Donnie uncomfortable with too much contact. They were barely touching, but it worked for Leo. His quickened breathing, which he hadn't even noticed, had gone back to normal. He gave Donnie a small nod when he’d almost fully calmed, letting his twin know he didn't have to do the touch thing anymore. Donnie still stayed put despite that.

They sat together in silence for a while afterwards, before Leo decided it was therapy night and they were getting personal. I’m sick of bottling this up

“Hey Don?” He asked, glancing at the other mutant.

“Yeah?” The sleepiness had now left his sibling’s voice.

“Why do you do the thing?” He asked. Don gave him a look that said What thing are you talking about? “Ya know, the thing where you drown your pain in painkillers?” “Oh.” His twin said again. They were silent for several minutes, seeming to contemplate what to say and if to go ahead with the mushy feelings talk. Both twins knew Leo would either change topic or go back to silence if Donnie didn't want to elaborate. They had full control over where the moment went. Leo liked to think that made them feel better, like they could be more honest.

Donnie eventually did speak, mind seemingly made up to go ahead with the impromptu therapy session.

“Because I feel useless and like you guys don’t need me when I can't be making tech. So I don't want to sit around recovering and be useless.” The truth came out of his twin rather easily, and Leo was surprised, even though he set the moment up. They hadn't had any sort of heart-to-heart since before they found Mayhem, so in like, four years. This was a rare moment with his sibling.

“You aren't useless without your tech, Donnie.” Leo said, “And even if you were, which would be impossible, we’d still love you because you're our brother.”

Donnie took a moment, taking a deep breath as he registered the words. “Thanks.” He said quietly

They lapsed into silence one again, enjoying the sincerity of the moment. Leo also didn't want to overwhelm his twin, so he waited a while to ask his next question. “What was your nightmare about?” “Kinda what I just said.” Donnie shivered at the memory of the dream. “Me being useless and left behind.” They clearly didn't want much more prying from Leo, so they changed the topic slightly. “What was yours about?”

“Prison dimension,” Leo muttered. “But instead of me it was you.” He took a breath. “I had to watch you get beaten by that thing-” The blue brother cut himself off, feeling his panic return as the dream was once again replayed in his mind. He buried his hands in his palms, shutting out his surroundings and focusing on trying to stay and not break down in front of the worst person to break down in front of. He noticed his breathing quicken this time, and the slight shake in his hands.

Donnie blinked in alarm, before moving closer to his brother, not quite hugging him. It was his own form of comfort. Leo knew this, and was glad it made him feel better, if only slightly. He was more of a physical affection person, but appreciated his twin's attempt.

“You okay?” Don asked, noticing how his brother's breathing returned to normal.

“Mhmm”

“You wanna sleep in here or elsewhere?” Leo guessed his sibling wasn’t up for sleeping in their own room anymore. And honestly, Leo isn't either

“If I have to stay in this room for one more minute I’m gonna lose my mind, Don-Tron.” He stated. Leo stood, removing his hands from his face and letting them fall to his side.The elder twin stood shakily, somehow hobbling over to the doorway with his leg injuries. Donnie followed him. Leo gently opened his bedroom door, trying to not wake any of the light sleepers in the house. Donnie not so gently tapped Leo’s leg with a crutch, as if reminding him he needed those to walk still. Leo sighed as he grabbed them.

“Living room?” The purple twin asked.

“Living room.”

#rottmnt #rise donatello #rise leonardo #rottmnt leo #rise leo #rottmnt donnie #tmnt donnie #rottmnt fanfiction #disaster twins #ron.fic #ron.writing #helping hands

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