Troll Snot

Life, Milestone

Fenneck and Natalya save a couple fleeing Lenisily from an ice troll. He tells Natalya goodbye before he goes to Sivania for the winter to visit Alexei.

"Are you sure it's tonight?!" Fenneck shouted over the snow storm as they made their way through the pass. "That's what he said!" Natalya shouted back, even though they weren't even a foot apart from each other. The snow and wind were slowing them down significantly and Fenneck worried about the family they were supposed to be finding. Natalya stumbled in the snow and Fenneck caught her. "Are you okay?!" he asked her. "I'm fine!" she said back, clearly annoyed by the snow and ice hitting their faces. Even her ring couldn't prevent the sharp shards from stinging her skin. Fenneck wrapped an arm around her and led her to an alcove to give their faces a small break. She caught her breath and sighed up at Fenneck. "We've been searching for hours," she said desperately. Fenneck panted. "I know. We can't just leave them out here, though. There's a checkpoint close to here, maybe we should head in that direction?" A huge gust of wind caused them both to stumble and they instinctively grabbed each other to keep from falling to the piles of fresh powder on the ground. "Okay," Natalya said, sounding defeated. Fenneck pulled out his compass to make sure they were still moving in the right direction. "Shit!" he said, trying to open it with his gloves on. "Here, let me help-" "I got it!" he said trying to wave her off and instead dropping the small object into the snow. "Fuck!" he exclaimed, leaning down to start digging in the snow. Natalya leaned down to help and they hurriedly shuffled through the snow to find the compass. Suddenly, they heard a terrifying roar. "Frost troll," he said, recognizing the sound. Natalya started frantically shoveling through the snow to find the compass. "Fucking snow!" she exclaimed. "You don't know a spell to find this, do you?" Fenneck opened his mouth to answer her when he heard another scream, human this time. "Shit!" he stood and drew his bow. "Leave it! Come on!" he shouted to Natalya who nodded and drew her bow as well. They ran toward the screams and eventually saw an ice troll attacking the refugees they were searching for. A female half-elf and a male human were trying to run from the monster. Fenneck drew his bow and fired at the creature. The disgusting troll howled as he and Natalya surprised it and landed four arrows into its back. "Run! Find cover!" Fenneck shouted to the couple. They didn't wait to reply. He and Natalya landed a few more arrows in the beast before it finally reached them and let out a nasty roar as it towered a full two feet over them. It reached down and slashed its giant claws at Natalya, knocking her to the ground before reaching down its disgusting face and biting her in the leg with its jagged teeth. Natalya yelped in pain and managed to draw her rapier. She poked the monster's nose sending a glob of blue snot and blood down onto her wounded leg. The troll howled and leaped back in surprise. Fenneck dropped his bow, drew his swords and ran at the beast in protective anger. He swiped his swords and managed to graze the trolls back before a huge gust of wind pushed him to the ground. The troll roared and took the opportunity to slam its giant claws across Fenneck's chest and bit down on his shoulder, causing Fenneck to scream in pain. Suddenly the troll reared back and howled as Natalya stabbed his side with her sword. Fenneck shakily got to his feet and grunted as he rammed his swords into the troll's chest. The troll snarled and swiped at both of them giving Fenneck a gash across his forehead and slicing through Natalya's arm, sending her stumbling into the snow. Fenneck yanked one of his swords out of the monster's chest and it cried out in pain before falling down on top of Fenneck, slamming him into the snow as it died. Fenneck grunted in pain as he shoved the beast off of his body. He clutched his chest, already surrounded by the light glow of magic as his wounds closed. He stood and stumbled over to Natalya and collapsed next to her. He pulled her into his chest and healed them both, his magical swirls surrounding them. He buried his head in her hair and sighed as she leaned against him to catch her breath. "Are you okay?" he asked her with his mouth pressed against her ear so he wouldn't have to scream over the snow. He felt her nod and he leaned against her for another few moments as they caught their breath. Fenneck felt Natalya squeeze his hand and he squeezed it back. She had taken some hard hits. He kissed her cheek gently and shakily got to his feet and helped her up. They looked over to see their refugees huddling together for warmth a few feet away against a cliff. Natalya clung to Fenneck, limping on her sore leg, as they walked over to them. "We're here to find you!" Fenneck called out to them. They looked surprised and a little frightened. "We're from Flottenheim. I'm Fenneck and this is Natalya!" he shouted over the storm. They nodded with understanding but they were still shaking from the cold. "This way!" Fenneck waved for them to follow and they tried to make it to the checkpoint. It was quite difficult without the compass and they couldn't see the sky through the wind and snow. Eventually Natalya was able to recognize some of the land features and they made it to the small igloo check point that marked the halfway point from Lenisily to their cave. They led the couple inside and Fenneck helped Natalya lay down on some furs before he quickly started a fire and created four orbs of bright blue light to illuminate the icy cave. He grabbed a couple furs, bedrolls and some good cloaks and handed them to their new companions. "Thank you, um... what was your name again?" The woman asked him. "Fenneck, and this is Natalya. We are here to save refugees like yourselves. What are your names?" he asked her as he walked over to the supply crate for clean shirts and pants for himself and Natalya who was lying on the floor in pain. "I'm Thea and this is my husband Otto," she introduced them as they made a bed for themselves on the ground. "Go ahead and get some rest," he told them. "It will take us a couple days of hard travel to get to Flottenheim but once we get there you'll be safe," he assured them. "Thank you so much. You two handled yourselves well against that beast. We really owe you our lives," Otto said gratefully. Fenneck gave him a small smile. "I'm just glad we found you in time. The storm prevented us from finding you sooner." Otto nodded and turned back to curl up with his wife under their new cloaks. Fenneck took his bloody clothes off and looked down at Natalya who still seemed to be in a lot of pain. Fenneck threw on his new clothes and brought Natalya her own. "Here. Do you need help? Are you still hurting?" he asked her, concerned about her wounded state. She looked exhausted. "I'm fine," she said a bit grumpily before pulling her tunic off, not bothering to hide her naked breasts from Fenneck's eyes. He found her behavior a bit odd and out of character. "What's wrong?" he asked her, glancing over to see if their companions were asleep. She shrugged sadly. "It was just a rough day." She slipped her new tunic on and tried to pull off her torn pants that were covered in blood and snot from the huge bite the troll had taken into her leg. Fenneck reached over to help her. "Lift your butt off the ground," he told her. She obeyed and he slipped the ragged pants off of her. Her braes were also destroyed and he looked at her to see if she wanted them removed. "I'll close my eyes," he promised her, giving her a small smile to try and lighten the mood. He hated seeing her in so much pain and sadness. She shrugged indifferently and lifted herself up again. Fenneck pulled them off and closed his eyes so he wouldn't see her. With his eyes closed, he picked up the new trousers and handed them to her. "Fenneck," she said, wincing in pain. "Open your eyes," she said, fear and pain flooding her voice. Fenneck did and saw that she had covered her private area with a fur. He could see her lower right thigh though and he looked in disgust and horror at the giant purple and blue mound of flesh covered in blood and blue troll snot. His magic hadn't closed the wound and it was still ghastly. "It burns. Like ice," she said fearfully. Fenneck quickly found a rag and some water and washed the wound until her leg was clean. She winced in pain as he worked, breaking Fenneck's heart to see her in such a bad way. He tried to clear the blue poisonous snot from the wound, which resulted in Natalya writhing in pain and he noticed the snot was extremely cold and hurt to touch. "I'm so sorry, Nat," he tried to comfort her. She cried through it and eventually the wound looked okay. He touched her leg and summoned more magic to try and close it before gently wrapping it in bandages. "Is that better?" he asked nervously. She nodded, clearly still pain. "You need rest," he told her gently. She nodded sadly and tried to wipe the tears from her face. "Here." He took her new trousers and carefully slipped them onto her legs and pulled her slender feet out of the pant holes. He pulled them up to the fur blanket and she took them and pulled them up the rest of the way, only wincing a little bit this time. "Are you okay?" she asked him, suddenly aware that he had taken some hits as well. He chuckled at her. "I'll be fine," he said, curling up under his own furs about a foot away from her. She looked at him sadly and laid her head back on the ground. He scooted a little closer to her so they could whisper without waking Otto and Thea. "Nat, if you need anything, please let me know, okay? If your leg gets worse I mean," he told her, worried it might be infected. She nodded. "Okay. Thank you," she said softly and gave him a small smile. She seemed to be shivering and Fenneck scooted a little closer, knowing this was testing the waters between them. She looked over at him with her sad, pained eyes. "Will you... come here? I'm just..." she shook her head and Fenneck felt a little flutter in his heart. He carefully situated himself next to her and she laid against him, shivering. He hesitantly spooned her so he could hold her and keep her warm and she curled up against him. Fenneck didn't know why she was suddenly acting this way or why she seemed so sad. He gently kissed the back of her head. "Is everything okay, Nat?" he asked softly in her ear. He felt her shrug in his arms. "I just... I don't want you to leave," she admitted. He sighed and squeezed her tightly. She took a deep breath. "The whole thiramin thing is nice but I... I still feel lonely when you leave for the winter. I only see Dimitri a few times and I'm just... alone," she said, sounding annoyed at herself for enjoying his presence. Fenneck let out a small sigh. "Come with me, then. I won't be in Flottenheim this winter anyway. Jasna and I are going to Sivania and we'd love it if you would accompany us. Jasna misses you to pieces and it would be fun and exciting. Supposedly there's a friendly dragon there who I'm supposed to meet and have tea with," he tried to persuade her, imagining how wonderful it would be to get to explore a new city with her. She shook her head. "I'll be fine, Fenneck. I can't leave Dimitri," she said sadly. Fenneck sighed and laid back against the furs, pulling away from her for a moment. He heard her sigh in annoyance and he felt anger start to boil in his heart. "Don't be like that," she said annoyed. "Please. Not tonight," she said, sounding exasperated that Fenneck would have the audacity to pull away from her. He huffed at her. "I just don't think your boyfriend would appreciate us cuddling all night," he said a bit too aggressively. She turned to face him and fight but she seemed flustered. Fenneck gave her a look and she plopped her head back on the furs. "Fine," she said, resolute in not spending the evening in Fenneck's embrace. Fenneck huffed in annoyance and turned away from her on his side and closed his eyes to meditate.   When he opened his eyes again he felt Natalya's back against his own. He wanted to be upset but he enjoyed the warmth radiating from her body. He turned carefully and saw her turn to him at the same time so their noses hit each other and their arms got tangled into the other's. Natalya jumped back from him. "What are you doing?!" she whispered angrily to him, realizing Thea and Otto still had about four hours of sleeping to go before they would be ready for travel. "Me? You're accusing me?!" he asked her in disbelief. They heard a loud snore from Otto and they both glanced over before giving each other menacing stares knowing they shouldn't fight in front of their sleeping guests. Fenneck rolled over away from her, angry and hurt at the situation. He laid there for a while, fuming at Natalya for her behavior when he heard her sigh. "I don't want to fight with you," she whispered, still sounding aggressive. "I don't believe you," he whispered back, still not looking at her. "Come on, Fen. Why are you upset?!" He turned to her angrily. "Because, Nat! If I was in Dimitri's shoes I wouldn't exactly love it if I knew you were cuddling with me at night because you're lonely!" he spat at her accusingly. She glared at him. "Well you're not Dimitri! And it's not like it matters anyway! You said you used to fuck and cuddle your best friends all the time!" He widened his eyes in bewilderment at this. "That was a very different situation! I also have my feelings to account for when it comes to this, not that you'd ever give a fuck about that!" he lashed out at her. She looked taken aback by this. Fenneck wished he could take it back. "I..." he started, but she faced away from him angrily and buried her head into the furs. He sighed and slammed his head back into the furs in distress. "Nat?" he called to her sadly. He turned to look at her still hiding her face in the covers. He sighed and scooted up around her and wrapped her in his arms. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that," he whispered to her woefully. She slowly turned her body so she could look up at his face still wrapped in his arms. "No. You're right," she said meeting his eyes. "I just get... confused... sometimes," she said, looking longingly into his eyes. Her face was a few inches away from his and Fenneck wished with every part of his being that she didn't belong to another man. She reached up a hand to his face. "Your head," she said concerned as her finger ran across the scar that now graced his forehead. "I'll be fine," he assured her, inching his face closer to hers. She turned her face away from his, though. "You're right, Fenneck. I'm being selfish. I chose Dimitri and I don't want you to... wait for me. I love him," she said decisively. Fenneck pulled back a little and nodded, trying to hide his painful heartbreak at these words. She could see he was upset, though. "Fen..." He shrugged and pulled his arms away from her. "It's just confusing for me too," he tried to move past the awkwardness. "I'm sorry for overstepping. You are a taken woman and I shouldn't touch you like that," he said, getting to his feet to start prepping for their journey. "Fenneck, I don't want things to be weird between us," she begged him as she sat up. "Me either," he said, turning to her. "It's probably a good thing for us to have some space this winter. I'm quite excited for my trip and you can spend some time with Dimitri. It will be good for us," he said, putting on his boots and travel gear. "Yeah. I guess so," Natalya said passively, still sitting in her bed. Fenneck threw their mangled armor into a bag to have it repaired in Flottenheim and he got some rations out for Thea and Otto. Natalya eventually stood up and started getting ready as well. "How's your leg?" Fenneck asked her passively. Natalya shrugged and avoided his eyes. "It's fine." Fenneck breathed a frustrated sigh and continued to prepare for their journey. They spent the day traveling in silence as Fenneck led and Natalya followed behind them. They eventually made it to the cave around mid-afternoon and rested there until the next morning for the last stretch of the journey. That morning, Fenneck and Natalya woke up around the same time and Fenneck started packing for his trip to Flottenheim. Natalya got dressed and motioned for Fenneck to speak with her outside the cave. He followed her and when they were far enough away Natalya turned to him. "I just want to say goodbye for the winter. While we're alone," she said, avoiding his eyes. He sighed. "Are you sure you're going to be okay? If you need anything, go to Flottenheim. Baegla and many others will be there to help you. I'll rejuvenate the garden before I leave. You're good on other rations for now?" he asked her. She rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine, Fen. It's pretty routine at this point," she assured him. "Have fun in Sivania. Try to loosen up a bit while you're there," she suggested. He sighed at her and looked into her eyes. "Please be safe while I'm gone," he told her, pressing its importance before kissing her on the forehead. "I plan to be back in about three months." She nodded. "Be safe, Fenneck." They looked into each other's eyes for a moment before Fenneck pulled her into a tight hug. She squeezed him back and they held each other for a moment before pulling away and heading back inside to wake up their new companions.