Beets gets a Bug! - Downtime - 06/02/21
Feb 20, 2022 0:16:26 GMT
Andy D, Marto Copperkettle, and 1 more like this
Post by Beets The Beetle (Feenix) on Feb 20, 2022 0:16:26 GMT
Beets gets a Bug!
It awakens when I least expect it …its still there…inside my head..inside me…
Two weeks ago almost upon returning to Fort Ettin from De’Avalon I feigned sick.
I’d been so quiet during the return journey none of the others from our party doubted my invented illness. I paid Coll for a private room and meals from my share of the hefty reward from the King and wished them all well…Marto tried insisting on walking me to my room-I flinched- but Coll already had assigned a tabard to guide me, and “Besides...” I joked as I flitted past quick with a fixed smile, "...it’s probably just ‘a bug’ or something!”
Those days following were the longest of my life…The constant worrying, the flickers of fear each time my eyes tried to close…The dread as they opened upon a sight scarred by…me…
And then…One day…
---
-Knock knock-
“Hello Beet’s, it’s Marto! How're you feeling?”
"Don't come in I'm..umm...Horribly infectious..." -cough cough-
"Ah okay. Should I ask one of the tabbards to bring you some chicken soup? My Ma always brought some to me if I was ill. I can go down to the kitchens and get that for ya? Leave it outside your door?"
"It's um-fine, C-Coll's got it already arranged for them to bring me meals."
Literally at that point a tabbard arrives beside Marto with some tray carrying bread and soup and tankard of water.
Beets is caught off guard as the door opens to revealing to Marto her messy haired without her beetle horn headband on. She's wearing a samurai like gi top and a knotted shorts, which are ripped and torn in places.
But it's the room behind her that Marto notices more.
The bed sheets have big slashes in them. The wooden floor and some of the walls are marked with large multiple 'claw like' gouges, or stab marks. One pillow has been shredded leaving a layer of feathers across the room and under the bed,to which Marto can see Beets has tied her spider silk rope to the posts in a double lasso to make what appear to be makeshift restraints.
"Uhrghck!" Beets go to slam the door back shut as the Tabbard floats past her.
“Beets what the-“ then the door slams in Marto’s face catching his nose. “Ah!“ He grabs his nose, eyes watering at the sudden pain. “Yondalla’s left foot, that hurt!” Blinking away the tears, he turns back got the door and knocks on it again. “Beets, what's happened? Are you okay?” There’s genuine worry in Marto’s voice as he presses against the door, going to try the door handle.
The Tabard suddenly slides out between Marto's feet and whisks away down the hall.
"I-It's n-n-nothing...I..h-had-had a fever and um...b-broke...some..mgh…” Beet’s voice breaks off with a sob.
“Beets, I won’t judge you if that’s what you’re worried about. I wanna help you. It’s what friends do.”
No verbal response comes, but after a little while a sliding noise of something softly dragging down the door happens for a few seconds before there's a soft clack noise, Marto recognises comes from Beet’s lower beetle half when she's sat down before near him, and then there's some soft sniffing noises.
“Beets?”
A very soft response comes… “I don’t want to hurt you…”
“If you don’t wanna open the door then please just… tell me what’s going on.”
Again more sniffs and then....
"I'm a monster..."
“You’re not,” he says firmly. Then, gently Marto asks, “Why do you think that?”
Her voice is quiet, shaky, scared as she speaks.
"I change."
"I-I loose control....I-I grow claws...I-I lash out...I-I lose myself…"
"And how long... has this been happening?"
"S-since the night of the party...at..at the Lion King's Palace...
I-I woke up to a...a droning in my head...Deep....Angry..It was all black, I couldn't see....and then...my eyes changed-b-back..and I as the droning stopped I heard the ripping...and saw..the shape of my hand...two long cl-laws like my feet..shredding the drape on the...big bed in the room...and then..it went black and when I woke up...It-It was normal but...th-the ripped drape was still there..."
Marto is silent for a moment as he absorbs the scenario Beets describes to him. "And this keeps happening? You don't know how or what triggers it?" he asks softly.
"It..It was when that..mummy guy..it-it breathed that purple smog at me and it...it's felt like it shattered something inside me..”
"I-I never told you what happened back hom-rgghg rghhg!" Thuds sound behind the door, like the sound of multiple arrows striking the floor at once and then awful unordered squeaks like nails down a chalkboard sound.
"Beets!" Marto gets up and tries the door.
"M-Marto..rgh..help....I-I-I'm scared..." Beet's voice is trembling and even hissing either with pain, or something else. The squeaking grows deeper, to a sound Marto akins to curls of wood being shaved off a block…
"Beets, I can't help you if you keep me shut out," Marto says, lightening his pressure on the door. Then he stops and steps back. "I want to help you but-" Then he stops. He pulls out a pouch, checks its contents and comes back to the door. "Please, open the door. I have something that might help."
There's a crack of splinting wood as a hand thrusts through the bottom part of the door, black, plated with three thick sharp claws and lunges towards Marto's leg.
"M-M-Marto!! RRGHghg!" The claw stops short of his leg, shaking and clenching into resembling a fist, the claw almost straining to burst free and swipe.
Quickly as he can, a rain of silver and iron dust falls down on the fist before Marto grabs the hand holding it where it is.
He begins to mutter an incantation under his breath and there's a pulse of magic from his palm that shoots into Beets' twisted, clenched clawed fist.
Holding onto her hand as the magic seeps in, he says loud enough for her to hear through the door, "Yondalla, protect my friend from what avails her. My hands for you I use so that Beets can use her strength to protect herself."
Under his fingers Marto feels the hand begin to change, black mist trailing off it as it morphs back into the small slightly rough hand of Beets...
He lets out a shaky, relieved breath.
As the last of the mist trails off up the arm through the door, Marto sees the face of Beets peer through the gap, tears pouring down her cheeks from black glassy eyes, before the black begins melting away till left are Beets' vibrant green eyes staring at him in shock, relief...and regret..”MmmArto..."
"Hey, hey, it's okay. You're okay," he says, holding onto her hand, gentler now. His smile is calming and genuine and the warmth from the magic he cast lingers in his hands. "You're gonna be okay Beets."
“I-I think I…Broke the door…”
Her eyes roll up into her head and she falls to her side.
Marto sees just how exhausted Beets is, indicating how long she must have been fighting against whatever has been trying to dominate her. Letting go of her hand, he opens the door, which swings inwards. Careful to only open it so far, he manages to manoeuvre through it without disturbing her too much before closing it again. "Ah, right," he says, realising the bottom quarter of the door is smashed to pieces, revealing the hallway beyond. Deciding to worry about that later, Marto bends down and carefully gather's Beets into his arms, intending to bring her over to the bed. Even though it was destroyed to ruins he did his best to fluff up what bits of mattress stuffing an pillow down he could to make her comfortable. Looking around, he sees the cloak he had lent her on one adventure, mostly still intact and adds it to the pile of blankets over her.
Beet's face and arms have slight scratches over them, but her expression is soft as she begins to rest fitfully for the first time in days.
There is a creak from the door, and a tabard floats there in the threshold, it's collar tipping down slightly as if looking at the splinters of damaged door below it, and then back up at Marto, creasing slightly on one side as if it was tilting it's 'head' in a questioning look.
"Yeah, there was... an accident. I'll help fix the door, or cover the costs, whichever Coll is happiest with," Marto says, a smile on his face, hoping to make the room full of destruction seem less serious than it actually is. "If we could get some new sheets and a pillow that would be great. Maybe a damp cloth too. My friend has a fever."
The Tabard stares for a little while before turning and leaving, a corner of the material hooking the ring of the door to pull it closed with a clack.
He turns back to Beets, the smile fading, replaced with concern. Seeing she is still asleep, Marto busies himself with tidying up her room as best he can, checking on her with over the shoulder glances every now and then.
A couple hours pass before Beets finally stirs again.
“Mgh..” Her eyes slowly open and bleary glances about the room.
The room is considerably tidier, though it's a lot more bare than before. A pile of ripped cloth and gathered feathers sits by the broken door. One of the curtains has been nailed to the bottom of the door where sounds from the hallway comes in, less muffled than if the door was not broken. Sitting at the writing desk, a piece of wood in his hands, is Marto. He has changed out of his armour sometime between when he had come to her door and now, wearing a pair of soft leather breeches, a thick button up shirt and a heavy waistcoat with some nice blue embroidery on the collar. His brow is furrowed in concentration, cornflower blue eyes focused on the wood he is whittling at with a gouge in his hands. He doesn't appear to have heard her stir.
Beets watches him shyly, under her breath she murmurs, “He looks cute when he’s thinking…”
There's a light knock at the door and Marto looks up with a soft, "Oh." Getting off from the chair, he goes over and a tabard holds out a platter with dinner for two people. "Ah great. Hopefully she'll wake soon. Thank you," he says, taking the tray with dinner from the tabard. He uses his knee to close the door, which is a little awkward but Marto seems to be steady enough to not show any signs of falling over. When he turns around he gives a little start seeing Beets is awake. "Oh. You're awake. Good. You must be hungry. I hope you don't mind, I asked Silas to send up a selection of stuff -- meats, vegetables, alternatives and what nots -- because I thought you must be hungry and I didn't know what you'd like for comfort food. So I thought the more the better! Anything you don't eat I'm sure I can polish off." He's smiling as he speaks, setting the large tray of food down on a table next to her bed and starting to serve out food on a plate.
Beets watches him nervously, not meeting his eyes.
“You shouldn’t be in here…” she says quietly.
"Hmm," he intones as he holds out a plate piled with food. "Maybe. But I'm still not going to leave you alone for tonight. We can see someone in the morning. I know there's a priest of Ilmater around -- he might be able to help."
“No priest can help Marto…it’s not a curse…though it sure feels like one…”
"Then what is it?" he asks, making his own plate of food.
Beets stares at the floor, hugging her arms slight. “It’s just me…”
“Did I ever tell you I’m the only one like this in my village?”
He thinks. "You might have mentioned it... And it's why you were teased."
“Yeah..Well I-I never got to know my Mama..”
“Pa said she was wild, beautiful, incredible, amazing.”
Beets eyes are large and sad, almost child-like as she picks up a loose feather from the cloak and stares at it.
"Just before I was born, Mama left, well, Pa said she couldn’t resist the pull any longer, whatever that meant…She had to go, but she wouldn’t rob Pa of both of us, and so she left me and was just..gone…”
On the breath of word gone the feather floats up from her hand, twirling slightly as it rises in the room.
"So what you're going through... it's something you inherited from her?"
“I don’t know…Pa didn’t ever talk much about mama and…It felt cruel to push him. Gramps told me though that Pa really loved my ma, and that they both loved me legs and all…So I guess..I’ve gotta accept it’s part of me now.”
She stares watching the feather as it twirls through the air and out on the breeze into the amber lit evening.
Marto watches Beets, his concern growing with the lost and uncertain expression in her eyes. He puts his plate aside, reaches out and rests a hand on hers. "Hey. Listen to me. You're not alone, Beets. You don't have to face any of this alone." He gives her hand a gentle squeeze as he looks into her eyes. "Maybe... maybe we can look at trying to find your Mum. Or find out if this is some sort of Fey curse. I've read a lot of stories, and it sorta sounds like it could be one?"
Beets looks at him, her eyes watering. "D-do you really think I could be...Cursed?" Her lip trembles.
Suddenly feeling like he's unintentionally said the wrong thing Marto tries to clarify, "Well, usually Fey 'gifts' come with some sort of hidden trick, or hidden bane, that the receiver sometimes doesn't know or is aware of until after the deal has been done. That's what I meant. Not that you're cursed!"
"Oh..." She blushes slightly and there's a bit of awkward silence.
"How do you know all this stuff? You say you're a wood cutter but I've never known one to be able to fight like you or do the kinda magic you can do."
"I've read a lot of books. And, well..." His eyes fall away, looking off to the side as he answers. "My sister walked off with fey when she was a child. I grew up being told to not look into or talk about the fey and so, naturally, I did. When we were reunited I asked Merla if she could teach me magic." Marto chuckles. "I don't have the natural talent she does but I'm a quick learner. She taught me the basics and I've sorta been continuing on my own since." He looks back at Beets, realising he's rambled on talking about himself. Marto scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "But this isn't about me. This is about you. I can help you Beets if you let me know how you'd want my help. Or if you even want my help. You can also tell me to mind my business and I'll go."
Beet's suddenly lunges at Marto, unsetting some of the plates of food with a clatter, particularly a cooked beet which rolls off her plate onto the floor and long a claw groove before it bumps against a lump of wood that he's left propped up again the leg of the writing desk. Beets has her arms around Marto in a fierce hug.
Marto, shocked by the sudden hug, hugs her back, holding Beets carefully so as not to squish her wings.
"Thank you..."
She talks into his shoulder as she continues holding onto him
"You had every reason to judge and mistrust me and yet...you haven't..y-you've helped me..."
He pushes her back so he can look at her as he says, "It's what friends do. They help each other.... stand beside one another when they need the support... and they protect each other." His smile is kind and genuine. "You're not alone, Beets."
Beets smiles back, happy tears in her eyes.
"Hey..." she says softly as she picks up another cooked beet from the plate and holds it thoughtfully.
"You wanna know why Gramps called me Beets?"
"Sure." Maryo says, sitting back, ready for the story.
"They're Pa's favourite food..."
She just continues staring at the beet thoughtfully.
Marto waits, expecting more to the story. Then lets out a laugh. "I mean, they're pretty good. I like them best when they're pickled myself."
Beet's side eyes him and smirks and then reaches across and punches him in the shoulder.
"No you idiot! Do you seriously think my Mum would let me be named after a root vegetable?"
He winces, but laughs. "Well, I don't know how! Some folks are named after virtues, others after plants. Why not a vegetable?"
"Well I probably would have had one of those cushy names...Till I kicked Pa in the face with one of my beetle legs as a babe and gave him a black eye for a solid week. Gramps said I gave Pa a serious case of the beets...and the name kinda stuck."
She smiles, "I always hated beets..." She takes a big biteful of the one in her hand and winces as she pulls a face.."Urrkghck! Gross!"
....
(A huge thank you to the Amazing Riah <3 aka Marto Copperkettle for this Rp!)