A Worthy Trophy

Life, Milestone

Fendir kills a sabretooth tiger in the forest.

The snow started coming down harder around Fendir and Kastella as they trekked back from the mountains toward Flottenheim. They had gone up to the ranger outpost to deliver a message for his mom. It was dark now as they made their way through the Vallee and the storms had started early. Kastella propped herself against a tree for a moment to catch her breath. Fendir huddled close to her. "Are you okay?" He shouted over the wind. She nodded, "I'm just really cold." Kastella didn't do as well in the cold as Fendir did. He saw her horns had ice sickles hanging from them and her bushy hair was freezing. He took his cloak off and wrapped it around the one already around her shoulders. "What are you doing? You'll freeze!" "I'll be fine. We're close. Only a couple hours or so. Can you make it or should we find some shelter?" He was close to her face now with his arms holding onto her own. Kastella sighed, "I can make it. I'll be fine." Fendir knew she wouldn't admit to seeming weak. Suddenly from the icy bushes a growl erupted as a sabretooth tiger leapt at them and took Kastella to the ground. "Stella!" Fendir shouted as he drew his short swords and swung at the tiger. The tiger growled and turned toward Fendir. Its mouth was covered in Kastella's blood. Fendir angrily leapt at the tiger and managed to gash it's side with his sword. The tiger leapt onto him in response and pushed him to the ground, biting his shoulder. Fendir let out a cry and stabbed his sword into the tiger's back. It growled fiercely and reared back before swiping his claws at Fendir's chest. Fendir rolled out of the way and managed to get to his feet as the tiger growled at him and prepared to pounce. Fendir braced himself as the tiger leapt onto him and he shoved his swords up into the tigers chest. He dropped to the ground from the weight of the beast and drew his swords from it's dead body. He looked over and saw Kastella bleeding in the snow. "Stella!" He ran to her and saw her thigh was bleeding profusely from the giant holes the beast had bit deep into her. Fendir saw Kastella's bones and had to force himself to stay steady. She was crying in pain still laying on her back. "Hold on Stel." Fendir said as he carefully touched her thigh and summoned magic to close the wound. It took a long time though, and Kastella continued to moan and cry in pain. Fendir felt tears come into his eyes as he looked at the storm around them. He saw Kastella's face was covered in ice and he needed to get her to shelter. When his magic had done what it could, her thigh was still pretty grotesque. Fendir grabbed some of the bandages they had on them and quickly wrapped her leg. At this point Kastella was mostly silent, which worried Fendir even more. He looked around and saw a couple of trees that were growing close enough together to block some of the wind. He leaned down and dragged Kastella over between them and he took his cloak off of her back. He pulled Kastella into his arms and wrapped his cloak around them both. He rested his forehead against Kastella's and he felt warming magic consume them both. Not enough to be comfortable, but enough to survive. Kastella wasn't asleep but she was weak and unable to say or do anything except shiver in Fendir's arms. Eventually she nuzzled into his neck and he held her till the storm stopped. When it finally did, they were covered in snow and the sun was starting to rise. Fendir gently shook Kastella to wake her. She looked up at him and he could see she needed to see Borea. "Are you okay?" He asked her gently. She nodded and Fendir saw she was still in pain from her bite. "Can you walk?" He asked her. "Maybe?" She said fearfully. Fendir helped her to her feet and she winced in pain while she clutched to him. He saw tears in her eyes. He leaned her against the tree and walked over to the cat who was now under a pile of snow. He leaned down and drew his dagger. "What are you doing?" Kastella asked him, still shivering. "I just want something to remember this monster by." He said as he cut the large teeth from the monster. "Really? I was hoping to forget him." Kastella said as Fendir tucked the teeth into his pouch and came back to her. He wrapped his cloak back around her shoulders and leaned down to help her walk. They hobbled back to Flottenheim and when they finally made it to the Vallee someone recognized them and called for a carriage. They rode back up to the mountain and Fendir prepared himself for a lecture from his father and mother. When they got there, though, their parents were waiting anxiously. Killion helped Kastella out of the buggy and they took her straight to Borea inside the palace. Natalya threw her arms around Fendir when he got out and squeezed him tightly. Fenneck also hugged his son and kissed his forehead before ushering him inside. "What happened?" Natalya asked him once they were indoors. "I know. I know. We should have waited in the cave but we thought we could beat the storm. We made it to the forest before the blizzard hit and then a sabretooth tiger attacked us. It got Kastella pretty bad before I managed to kill it." He said proudly showing the teeth he had taken to his mom. He noticed she looked frightened when he mentioned a sabretooth tiger and his father sighed deeply. "Sabretooths can be quite dangerous, Fendir. I'm so glad you're both okay." Fenneck said, pulling Fendir into another hug. "Can I go change and check on Stella?" Fendir asked them, innocently unaware of the stress he put them under. Natalya smiled, "Of course. You should check with Borea anyway about your own wounds." Fendir nodded and went up to his room to change. He set the teeth from the tiger on his desk and rummaged around before he found some string and he strung the teeth into a necklace. He put in on and excitedly went to find Kastella who was in Borea's room getting her leg fixed as he burst in. "Ta-da!" He said trying to show off his necklace. Kastella looked like hell but she chuckled at him as he entered. "Very nice." She said rolling her eyes at him. Fendir saw a huge scar on her thigh were Borea had been working. "Not as nice as your battle scar!" He exclaimed. Kastella threw the blanket wrapped around her shoulders over her exposed thigh as Fendir ran up to get a closer look. "Pervert!" She teased him. Fendir rolled his eyes at her. "Scars are cool. Hey Borea, you think this will scar?" He asked the half-orc as he motioned to his shoulder which looked like a papercut compared to Kastella's mangled thigh. Borea walked over and studied the wound for a moment before waving a hand at Fendir's shoulder removing the wound completely as it healed. Fendir pouted. "Help Stella to her room." Borea told him flatly. Fendir shrugged and helped Kastella off of the table and Kastella leaned against him as he lead her to her room. When they got to the door Lenni opened it and waved them in. Fendir helped Kastella to her bed. "Do you need anything else?" Fendir asked her. She smiled at him and Fendir felt her tail caress his side as she spoke. "Just sleep. Your cloak is over by the door, by the way. Thank you." She squeezed his hand before pulling herself into her bed and under the covers. Fendir walked toward the door and grabbed his cloak. "Thank you Fendir. She said you basically saved her life out there. You don't know how grateful Killion and I are for you getting her back here safely." Lenni said quietly so Kastella wouldn't hear. "Of course! Hey look! I took the tiger's teeth!" He said, proudly showing off his necklace. Lenni smiled and took one of the teeth in his hand. He closed his eyes for a moment before looking into Fendir's eyes again. "A very worthy trophy." He said, smiling at Fendir. "Thank you again Fendir." Fendir smiled back at him and took one lingering look back at Kastella who was already sleeping peacefully before leaving and heading to his room to rest. He looked down at the tooth Lenni had touched and felt a weird tingling of magic he hadn't sensed before. When he got to his room he sat down to meditate and he focused on the teeth around his neck and he found himself starting to understand this strange magic. It was very similar to the plant magic his father and mother used a lot but it was stronger and more wild. He embraced it and when he woke he saw the plants in his room had bloomed two-fold and had grown out of their planters. It gave his room a wild, forest-like energy. Fendir smiled, leapt up and ran down the hall toward Lenni and Killion's room. He knocked on the door excitedly. Killion opened the door and looked at Fendir confused. "Hi! Is Lenni here?" Fendir asked, bouncing in his enthusiasm. "He just went down to the stables." Killion said, clearly confused by Fendir's sudden desire to see his husband. "Great!" Fendir started to turn before looking back at Killion, "Oh! How's Stella?" Killion smiled, "She'll be fine. She's still resting so I wouldn't go bothering her yet." He said warningly. "Okay! I'll come by and see her later!" Fendir exclaimed before running toward the lifts to find Lenni. He ran past the throne room where he saw his mother and father speaking with Wyeth and out toward the stables. He burst through the door and saw Lenni feeding the horses. "I'm a druid!" Fendir exclaimed to him excitedly. Lenni smiled at the boy and chuckled, "Oh yeah?" Fendir nodded excitedly, "I think so! You did something to this tooth, didn't you?" He asked Lenni who smiled mischievously at him. "Perhaps. Are you sure you want this? It's not just a fun way to turn into animals you know." Fendir smiled, "I do. It's fascinating. During my meditation I...I let it consume me and...well all the plants in my room grew twice as big. I've always loved being in nature more than being stuck in this palace anyway." Fendir said as he started petting some of the horses. Lenni smiled, "Well, how about I teach you some stuff then?" Fendir looked at him excitedly, "Would you?!" "Of course! I can already tell you know more than you realize. Doesn't he?" Lenni turned to Flame, Kastella's golden riding horse. "Indeed, Fendir is a smart lad. A good rider too." Flame said. Fendir eyes widened as he understood the horse's words. "Wow, can you understand me?" Fendir asked the horse. "Indeed. Hello. How is Kastella? I haven't seen her in a few weeks." Flame said sadly. "It's been too cold to go riding." Fendir told the horse who sighed understandingly. Fendir turned to Lenni excitedly, "I can't wait to tell Kastella!" Lenni chuckled, "How about you help me with chores for the morning and then we can tell your parents when we get done?" Fendir nodded excitedly and got to work helping Lenni tend to the animals.