Watcher and Apprentice, Part 2
(The Watcher and the Thief, Chapter 1 Scene 2)
WoW Birthday Whump Day 15: "I'm Sorry."
Whumpril Day 14 (Urgent Care)(kind of), Day 19 ("I need you")
WoW Birthday Whump Event Prompts List
Whumpril Prompts List
Tales from Valaria Masterpost
part 1
TW: stitches mention, wounds mention, blood mention, anger
Context: Hector has gotten Luc back to the blockade. Now he waits outside the medical tent, wondering if his apprentice will survive.
Aaaaand that's a wrap for this whump event! Thank you so much to @whumperofworlds for all the prompts! I will continue to participate in Whumpril, so stay tuned for more of that.
-----
“You’re going to kill the grass if you keep pacing like that.”
Hector paused mid-step and glared at the nearby elf, who sat cross-legged outside the medical tent, polishing his silver daggers. “By the depths, de Silv, he just got attacked by a magician, of all things!”
“True,” the elf replied. His hands were busied with the daggers, but his eyes, sharp as the blades, were fixed on Hector. “And I’m as concerned about that as you are concerned about your apprentice.”
“Then excuse me if I’m a little restless!” Hector snapped. He began pacing again, hands clasped firmly together behind his back. They'd gotten back to the blockade in record time. Luc’s heart was still beating when he’d set the boy on the table inside the medical tent. Unfortunately, the healers, Silas and Ven, immediately kicked Hector out so they could treat him in peace.
Assholes.
Octavian sighed, sliding his daggers into their sheathes. “From what I had glimpsed of your apprentice’s injuries, I am certain that, despite the blood loss, he should make a full recovery.”
“I’ll be sure to keep your professional opinion in mind.”
A series of shrill whistles echoed throughout the camp. One short whistle, one long whistle, pause. Two long whistles, one short whistle. Hector froze, mentally translating the code. A-G. It wasn’t the alert for a sang attack, three short whistles in quick succession. So what did A-G mean?
Octavian rose to his feet, the ghost of a smile on his face. “My presence is requested. I wish your apprentice a swift recovery.” The elf bowed his head to Hector and departed.
Ah. Ag was the alchemical abbreviation for silver. De Silv. It was a clever, if strange, bit of code. Why did de Silv have a signal to himself?
Before Hector could dwell on it further, one of the healers, Ven, emerged from the medical tent. “Watcher, you may enter. We have something we must discuss.”
Hector raised an eyebrow but did what he was told, following Ven inside. He breathed an audible sigh of relief when he saw Luc conscious, sitting on the table as Silas finished wrapping bandages around his torso. The healer nodded to Hector as he entered. “Watcher.”
“Silas. You need to talk?”
Both healers glanced at each other for a brief second. Silas gave a slight nod, and Ven turned back to Hector, her expression grim. “His injuries are superficial. We should have been able to close them without stitches. But even with stitches, the skin refuses to heal itself. The blood won’t even clot. We’ve never seen anything like it, even from runes.”
Hector gritted his teeth, eyes on his apprentice. Luc’s face still hadn’t regained its color, but he seemed alert enough. “What are you saying?”
“The wound is cursed,” Silas said softly, “the runes make it so his body can’t heal itself.” He pointed to a bandage wrapped around Luc’s arm. “And it’s not just the runes she carved into his skin that won’t close.”
“Our methods accelerate the body’s natural healing process,” Ven clarified, eyes downcast, “but we can’t do anything if the blood won’t clot. I’m sorry, Watcher.”
Hector stared at them for a long moment as he tried to process their words. His wounds won’t heal? A rune could do that? The full implications hit him like an arrow fired at full draw, and he swore vehemently, slamming his fist into the table.
The healers flinched back at his outburst. “It… it is possible that the rune is only slowing his healing,” Silas ventured, “given time, he might recover.”
“Might? Might?!” Hector barked a harsh laugh, trying to stomp his rising fury before he lashed out further. “You just told me he’s going to slowly bleed out! If infection doesn’t get him first!” He ran his hands through his hair. “Luc, your mother is going to kill me when she finds out about… about how….”
He trailed off. No need to say the last part of that sentence.
“May we speak alone, please?” Luc asked softly. Ven and Silas glanced at each other before quickly leaving the tent. Hector and Luc were left in silence for several moments.
“It’s not your fault,” Luc said. Hector opened his mouth, but Luc held up a hand. “No. You couldn’t have known this would happen. No one could.”
Hector sighed. Unfortunately, he was right. “I just… is there really nothing more they can do for you? Are we just supposed to wait and see if your wounds close on their own?”
“I don’t plan on it. They’re planning on sending me back to Caenum to recover. Apparently they’re sending a messenger to the Draigo, to get someone to track down the magician.”
“Good,” Hector muttered, “she deserves to be brought to justice. Shame I couldn’t do it myself.” As he finished speaking, the first part of Luc’s response registered. “Wait, what do you mean ‘you don’t plan on it’?”
His apprentice inhaled slowly, steeling himself for what he was about to say. That was never a good sign, coming from Luc. He only did that when he was about to suggest something completely—
“I’m going to find a magician to reverse the curse.”
There it was.
Hector took a few deep breaths and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I want you to repeat that, except this time actually pay attention to what comes out of your mouth.”
“It’s not going to be the same magician!” Luc retorted as if that made the idea any better. “One of the wandering magicians from around Zariya or Valdove, one who we know for a fact isn’t a sang-hunting serial killer.”
“Do I have to spell out for you just how bad of an idea this is?” Hector started pacing the length of the tent. His apprentice was already responsible for several gray hairs on his head and seemed intent on giving him more. “No. Absolutely not. We’re going back to Caenum—”
“Where I can slowly bleed out? Or let my wounds get infected?”
Hector paused and glared at Luc, but the boy continued talking. “If we go back to Caenum, I will die. We haven’t seen a magician there in years! But if we seek out someone like… I don’t know… Qila Scoria? She might be able to undo the runes.”
“You’re insane.”
“Do you have a better idea?”
Hector sighed. “No.”
“So it’s viable?”
Hector fixed his apprentice with a flat stare. “It’s viable… but if your wounds get worse, we’re going back to Caenum. Are we clear?”
Luc grinned. “Clear as glass.”
@fourwingedsnake @whumpril @pigeonwhumps
13 notes
·
View notes
The 30 day Tales challenge... in one post or else it would never get done!
Favorite Tales game: Legendia
Favorite Main Male Hero: Yuri and Senel
Favorite Main Female Hero: Kohaku
Favorite Side Male Character: Moses
Favorite Side Female Character: Stella
Favorite Canon Pairing: Senel/Stella + Shing/Kohaku
Favorite Non-Canon Pairing: how official is stahn/leon at this point i wonder
Favorite Opening Song: Destiny
Favorite Location: ??? idfk the entire Legacy??? I'll go with Werites Beacon for simplicity I guess. feels like home
Favorite Mascot: Giet. don't tell me he's not a mascot, I'm not listening. (and if you want to try having that discussion my answer is still the Oresoren so we're not getting far, are we)
Favorite Monster: ??? also dfk, probably something cute except i don't like hurting cute so i guess we're stuck
Favorite Boss Battle: UHHHH listen it hurts to say but Vicious; bc the raw emotion that went into that entire storyline ate me whole
Favorite Villain: since I'm avoiding antagonists here (such as Duke who aren't explicitly villains) and prefer to go full villain, Creed.
Least Liked Character: not opening THAT can of worms!!! :D
Your First Tales Game: boooo boriiiing. Symphonia like the other half of the western population. no fancy answer here
Your Favorite Scene: ??? I mean, there's... a lot I guess??? Stahn pleading with Leon moments before disaster??? Kanata crying that Vicious was okay and came back to them??? Moses saying literally anything ever in any scene ever??? the end of Innocence but when you choose Spada as your soulmate bc I'm a bias little fuck??? anything with Yuri and Flynn being happy together??? the entirety of Legendia???
Funniest Scene: idk but it either had Moses in it, Vicious in it, or it was Spada's "I can't believe you mixed up Frosty the Snowman with the Abominable Snowman"
Saddest Scene: Moses' Character Quest cutscene (if not the whole fucking CQ), moments during disaster with Leon, moments during disaster with Asch
Favorite Quote: a lot of stuff Vicious said ngl. can't think of nor pick one off the top of my head but every time he Gets Serious it's one of those and I fall in love further every single time. but if we wanna be REEEALLY simple? "Yeehaw". thanks, Moses. maybe Yuri has said something cool enough to get on the top list, but I'm not sure anything is trumping "yeehaw", and maybe that's equal to something Vicious said
Favorite Piece of Gameplay Music: Scutum - Decisive Battle. Pour one out for Rebirth having the fucking BEST battle theme ever.
Most Shocking Reveal: ??? I'm... not sure at this point. Giet??? was it Senel??? maybe Mathias and Ruca??? Ratatosk and Emil??? I kind of want to say Ratatosk and Emil because I remember being very impressed with the direction of the plot, in that the main protagonist/player character was actually the villain the whole time that the antagonist was trying to kill the whole time. definitely not a plot direction you usually get in JRPGs. Giet's story still hit like an entire brick building 100 storeys high falling on me though
Favorite One on One Fight: that was actually FUN??? uhhh idk Vicious against Kasque. what did you expect me to say???
Favorite Skit: way too many skits to have even a semblance of an idea. I'm going to assume it was either something related to Yuri and Flynn, Moses, Vicious, Spada or Stahn. that's about the closest I can pinpoint
Favorite Tales Spell: I don't... think I have one...
Favorite Tales Weapon: -bangs fist on desk and gets really obvious really fast- BLOOD SINS, BLOOD SINS, BLOOD SINS. after that the Swordians
Tales World You Want to Live In: honestly Legendia's and Graces' seem the most reasonably normal compared to the rest, but also shiny fingertips and Moses is a pretty solid Legendia
Favorite Animated Tales Series/OVA: (don't say rays don't say rays don't say rays don't say stahn/leon) probably First Strike if only because it focuses on Yuri and Flynn who I love, but Abyss' anime was very solid compared to the other Tales animated series that were just heavily condensed versions (or worse in Eternia's case, not even being relevant to the main story). like, I would not recommend the animated series to anyone prior to playing the game except for Abyss, which is the full major story and I have inarguably rewatched that anime more than I've played the game. I guess in terms of general animated, FS, but in terms of actual consistency to the game it came from and dedication it had in retelling the story faithfully without skipping 80 percent of it, Abyss
Favorite Tales Outfit: RICHARD??? HEEEELLO??? not arc F though that shit is too fruity for me. also Leon has VERY enjoyably bright colors that make him stand out and as a Very Deeply Definitely Not Obsessive Leon Enjoyer, I very much love that. Aegis also has a really nice outfit. Asbel's is pretty but definitely not Richard level of I'm obsessed with this look
Favorite Game Plot: -breaks everything in your room and your neighbor's room for good measure- TURN IT BACK ON NAMCO I'M PAST MY LIMIT SO I'M PROBABLY IN OVERLIMIT (Crestoria. it's that or I'm saying Legendia again. Innocence and Hearts both are really close runner ups tho!!! definitely the most unique in the franchise imo out of the mainline games and sadly confined to "nobody fucking cares about them and never did")
Favorite Game Ending: so that's got... layers. it really depends on the sub topic. I guess in terms of a happy ending, Graces (the Wii version specifically, getting Richard back. don't really care for the ending of arc F and lean more toward disliking it). in terms of a depressing fucking ending that makes me Very Upsetti, Destiny. there is literally nothing happy about Destiny's ending for me. like yeah we saved the world, but at a LOT of cost and it's just depressing. I've wanted to make a post about that anyway, but basically it's a type of ending they don't really make anymore (especially in Tales), and the emotional impact for me was a lot heavier than the other games, with Destiny 2 lingering right behind it. both Destiny games were just DEPRESSING, and no matter how bittersweet Destiny 2's ending was, it's still DEPRESSING. Vesperia at least had a more outright happy ending (that wasn't completely changed by a post game ending arc with a totally different ending) and I finally at that point didn't lose my favorite character to Certain Final Boss Death or Recurring Side Character I Came To Love Dying Unceremoniously and Undeserved. only a couple of top favorites actually came out of their games alive for me by Vesperia in terms of games I know + release timeline (to put it into perspective, by the time of Vesperia in release order (so not the order I played in bc I don't really remember the whole actual order at this point), out of all the games I know, my favorite character death toll was five to three survivors not counting Vesperia. still haven't played Eternia so I'm not counting that one). so I guess like, my answer is a whacky combination of Graces for the Wii, Destiny and Vesperia. maybe if Hearts hadn't killed my mans off then it could've had it all. 😔
4 notes
·
View notes