A Barbs Heart to Heart: Beets and Kavel
Jun 21, 2022 21:51:19 GMT
Velania Kalugina, Derthaad, and 3 more like this
Post by Beets The Beetle (Feenix) on Jun 21, 2022 21:51:19 GMT
Following: Conversation With Friends - 02/06/2022 - A Kavel Perspective
thekantasexpanse.boards.net/thread/2795/conversation-friends-2022-kavel-perspective
Storytime with Kavel
Beets 'sits' with Kavel at a table in the Great Hall at Fort Ettin listening to him recount his encounter and bare handed dispatch of a githyanki dragon.
"Psychic headbutt?! Lunar Elbow Slam!? Stonehand Fighting Techniques?! Wait! Wait one flittin minute! So you killed this big yanki'dragon with your bare buggin' hands!?!" Beets exclaims loudly in awe-much as she has many of times during the story, but this time zipping up from the table in a flurry of wing beats, sloshing her tankard and overturning her bar stool in a buzz of excitement, before then wincing and clutching at her thickly bandaged chest as she slowly flutters back to rest on the table in front of Kavel as he ends his tale.
"Bug Kavel that's ...flittin' amazing...And you have barely a scratch on you too!", she says, her ears dropping and cheeks flushing as she crosses her legs and sighs, not meeting his gaze. "My first dragon fight couldn't of gone much buggin'worse..."
Kavel looked at his fairy beetle comrade still lively with her mannerisms even when recounting a tale of disappointment. The excitement was still present, but the enthusiasm had diminished a little. This was not right - Kavel would not stand for one of his 'thicc-boi' friends to carry on with diminished swagger.
Kavel began, "To be fair comrade, Derthaad's dragon did a lot of damage at the beginning of the fight, and Sorrel's marksmanship is no joke. Also, without Derthaad, I would not have been able to delivery the Sky-High Elbow Drop. But you, " Kavel pointed at Beets to drive his point home, "you could reach 170ft up in the air all by yourself and deliver a Beets-style, dragon crushing elbow drop - no magical assistance required."
"Comrade," Kavel continued, "get some rest. Let those injuries beneath your bandages heal up, and once healed feel free to train with my Iron Strong bros. You are welcome at Kavel's Corner anytime. I don't do biting attacks, Tim and Sampson do though - when werewolves. Maybe they'll be really good at assisting in your training? Also, our training generally makes the whole body stronger, so I'm sure our training transfers to jaw and teeth strength if you want to have another go at biting a red dragon, like only a real thicc-boi would."
Beets considers Kavel's words as she looks at her reflection in her spilt ale on the table. "I guess I could try my triple somersault to pick up enough speed and get just the right angle-Oh and if I tucked in my arms and dived headfirst with my rhino beetle horn maybe I could even pierce it's scales!-"She adds excitedly, her ears springing back up as she flits up from the table with a buzz of wing beats!"
She then zooms over to hover in front of Kavel with a burst of renewed energy. "W-what really?! We have were-wolves here?! Bug I've gotta have a go at facing one of them off!"
"I'll introduce you to Tim and Sampson. And Kruger too, although Kruger is no longer a goliath werewolf - just goliath... it's a sensitive matter."
Kavel paused for a second, "Comrade..." and pointed at his floating friend, "please be careful when bringing up the werewolf subject in front of the bluer-skinned goliath with long hair, that's Kruger. Kruger is ashamed of what he did under the control of his former werewolf bloodlust. He's not his former self."
Kavel stopped to chew on some steak, and began to see a parallel between his bro Kruger, and one of his smaller comrades...
"... you know, Beets. Comrade Marto kind of reminds me of Kruger right now"
Beets turns from whistling to one of the tabards to bring a fresh round of ales to the table, a little trick she had picked up from Coll from her time working behind the bar. "Oh flit..Uhmm, of course!" Beet tries to restrain her excitement, knowing all too well the harsh judgement that can come from others for 'personal traits' out of their control. She flits down to take the ale proffered to her by a tabard whilst another rights her stool for her to land back on.
"W-wait-Marto?" Whattda'mean?!", she says, her ears perked and alert, her voice suddenly very serious, her grip tensing on the tankard so hard it creaks like an old tree branch in a gathering stormy breeze.
The Comparison of a Former Werewolf Goliath and a Halfling
The goliath puts away the last cut of steak, chews and swallows it down.
"Yeah Marto, " Kavel repeats, " you remember before we went with comrade Gerhard to the moon? I was in the fourth level of Hell, Phlegethos, with comrade Marto. Marto was very frustrated with the amount of times he had been mind-controlled by the fiends there. I think especially by a very sexy fiend called Adhyël, who I gathered," Kavel paused to consider how best to phrase the next sentence, "Marto had been, 'shitting where he ate' but with the enemy, Adhyel. You follow? So, must have been very tough emotionally. Also, very distracting and dangerous for focusing on the job."
Kavel reached out across Beets to grab the new tankard of ale she had ordered for him, "thanks Beets," and took a big swig to wash his steak down.
"Was a good steak. Anyway, Marto was very emotional during the big fight, Beets. At first, he was clearly distracted and letting his anger and frustration guide his actions - dangerous! But, when it counted, he came through as a comrade and killed his evil lover, who was opposing us. Good man. But, obviously he had some mixed emotions about the whole thing and fell very silent, much like Kruger is now."
Kavel took another swig of his new ale and remarked that his fairy comrade was unusually quiet. He decided to wrap up what he was saying, to hear from her.
"... so that was Phlegethos. When we got back, Marto was quiet, but he did share a long embrace with comrade Zola. Haven't seen either of them since then. You?"
During Kavel's words Beets' face is a wealth of emotions, her expression changing from one of worry, to then confusion, and finally to slight shock, as if she had just been struck by a stray arrow. Her face slowly drains of colour and her ears droop, “Bug…Uhm...N-n-no..I haven’t seen either of them…” Her voice trails off as she stares down sadly, unfocused, the pain in her chest from the dragon wounds now joined by a much heavier, deeper one.
"Oh and that was annoying!" Kavel exclaimed, slapping his thigh at the same time.
"For tactical reasons I had to get rid of my magical greataxe! I was thinking of giving it to you, Beets. But, then I remembered you, like me, like to use your fists, well claws - and teeth! And then I thought the greataxe would be good for comrade Anwyn - she's pretty thicc like us. Ah what a shame."
Kavel slapped both of his thighs as he turned to look at Beets with a resigned but acccepting smile at remembering having to give up such a great weapon.
Beets sits on her stool looking utterly deflated, all her usual 'buzz' is gone, a single finger slowly tracing one of her beetle leg plates.
In her head she recounts Marto's words the very first day they met in this very hall, "Wow are you a fairy?! He laughs in awe and excitement, "I like your legs!" His warm welcoming smile, not a trace of worry or doubt in his face…
Kavel looks at Beets, unconvinced she could have been paying much attention. She seemed distracted, which is unlike her. Where had gone the excitement of challenging a werewolf? Excitement levels were peak Beets before he mentioned Marto...
"... Beets. Comrade. Anything the matter?"
Beets' mind is a'whir with memories. Marto joining the play-fight alongside her against Arch'jen, his cry of worry as she was grabbed by the gargoyles, his chiding words whilst gently bandaging her wounds in the wagon, the warm glow tingling her cheeks and ears as he complimented her new Lolli original outfit, the rage that filled her watching Marto be blasted down the stairs of the old tomb, the moonlit balcony of King Verin, sharing part of her childhood story with Marto, the warm golden moonlight glow on his face as he turns to her and smiles, his words truly confirming a fluttering instinct she had held held in her chest since meeting him, like a freshly hatched butterfly unveiling it's beautiful new wings to the world. "A fairy filled with the strength of a rhinoceros with the heart of a lion."
Warm tears pour down her cheeks, thick and fast, as her lips crumble open revealing her sharp teeth gritted as she gulps back a sob.
The companions that were with Kavel for a meal after returning from Trecorvum had long gone. On this table were just two adventurers; a crying beetle fairy and a dumbstruck goliath.
A few seconds passed, and then a giant hand was placed on Beets shoulder, and Kavel scooted his stool closer to Beets to better give her support with his arm.
"Comrade Beets. What is the matter? How can I help?"
Rage
Beets stares on blindly as her tears flow, more memories flooding her mind, along with the return of that deep internal droning, intruding into the edges of each one, like split ink staining a white cloth. Marto beating King Verin in a drinking contest with her cheers and whoops echoing in the large hall. Marto's cheers in return are amplified by drink as she slams Verin to the floor with a well timed strike. THE DRONING DARKNESS SURROUNDING HER. Awaking to find the bed curtains in tatters, as if slashed by a claw, Marto's worried look she leaves for her room, insisting she just has a bug, Endless days and nights scared and alone in her room in Fort Ettin, barely eating, afraid to sleep should she awaken to find more than just her room ravaged, Marto's voice at the door, cutting through the veil of darkness sounding her like a shaft of moonlight, his face as he held her monstrous arm through the splintered door,
"Beets, I can't help you if you keep me shut out,"
His smile as after they embraced as he'd nursed her. "You're not alone, Beets."
Amongst the ever deeper increasing droning in her head she hears a horrible animalistic insectoid voice, raw and primal, illegible but it's meaning clear all the same. "LIES!"
Then after months of not seeing him she'd come across Marto in a tavern, sat chatting to a much taller, much more beautiful horned girl. "REAL TOO, NOT LIKE YOURS!", the voice doesn't say but implies. Suddenly the falling off the boat seems merely an excuse, a plot to show off his muscles in front of the rest of the girls onboard, all of them much bigger, much stronger, much prettier than her-these new 'realisations' coming from the droning in her mind, staining the memories, tainting them or...revealing the truth. Then finally, the last time she had seen Marto. The De'Avalon vault mission, he had seemed different. Short tempered and sharp with her, angry and frustrated at her words of concern for him. Finally, his last words to her as he headed off, that final touch of his hand on hers that had sent shivers across her body. “It’s okay, Beets. I’m… I’ll be okay. I know what I gotta do.”
"HE LEFT YOU! RIPPED YOU FROM HIS LIFE AND LEFT YOU ALL ALONE TO BE TORN AND TEARED...JUST LIKE YOUR MOTHER. HE NEVER CARED FOR YOU, FOR US!"
Beets' eyes throughout the last few seconds have been flickering between normal to fully black insectoid. Black like tar has begun to spill from her eyes, mixing with her tears. Her sobs change to clenched snarls and deep heaves of breath, like a restrained animal, yellow spittle forming at the edge of her mouth. The tankard clutched in her once limp hand now squealing in protest at her renewed grasp.
Kavel watched as his little comrade appeared to go through a wide array of emotions building towards a fury that he had witnessed once whilst armwrestling the deceptively powerful, but small person - black eyes and frothy mouth meant danger! This was not good. Beets needed to change whatever she was focusing on, before she could talk about it, if she wished to.
Kavel began to massage Beets' shoulders and her upper back, "relax comrade Beets. Give these thicc muscles a break and release all this tension. Come on! Deep breaths with me! Breathe in through the nose, and then out through the mouth. I will do it with you."
Beets is being overpowered by her anger-her sadness-the droning presence in her mind. All blending into one big dark primal form, RAGE! 'FEAST...MUST FEAST!! NOTHING ELSE MATTERS!!!'-She suddenly lets out a wild screech, a weird mixture of bird and reptile underlaid with the clacking buzz of an insect pitched a hundred fold which echoes around the now empty hall, making the window panes rattle and the cleaning tabards fall still. But, as suddenly as the screech starts, it croaks away to a hum in the back of Beets' throat, like the gentle buzz of a bumblebee, softening more and more as Kavel works his fingers into Beets' back muscles. Nullifying the rage that had overcome her, the grip of the beast on her mind slipping away once again into the darkness, before she went fully limp in Kavel's grasp.
Fresh Air
As Beets' tremendous fury eventually gave way, Kavel was dumbstruck anew. This boiling rage inside his little comrade that would have dispersed a crowd a hundred strong if present - completely vanished, and was swapped with the presence of a tired, unconscious fairy. What a striking change, the goliath thought. Although, he reasoned that maybe his comrade's rage was so strong, it must have been exhausting.
Sat there in the Great Hall with just a sleeping, spent friend in his arms, Kavel paused to think about why his comrade took such an emotional journey in such a short time.
"If only someone like comrade Velania were here. She is so calm and supportive... maybe Marto should be here? Does my other little comrade know what's going on?" Kavel thought to himself.
Comforted and pleased that at least Beets is now not furious and has found some peace, the goliath took the positive of the matter, and decided that a change in scenery might be good for his fairy friend, when she wakes up. With that thought, Kavel rose from his stool, cradling Beets in one arm, and took her outside for some fresh air and walked to Kavel's Corner for Strength and Conditioning, where three goliaths - two of which were additionally werewolves - were performing some deadlifts.
Kavel sat down in the middle of his gym in the Training Yard. Was introducing three new people to Beets a good idea when she woke up? Potentially not. But, barely anyone walked by Kavel's Corner ever since Tim and Sampson changed into werewolves that time. So, this location sort of gave Beets some seclusion.
Kavel explained to his goliath, Irong Strong Bros, that he wasn't sure why his comrade has such a rage inside her, or what caused it. But, we can try and help her with support.
Eventually Beets stirs in Kavel's arms, opening her eyes to find the four goliath staring down at her with varying degrees of curiosity. "Uh..." She flits ups out of Kavel's arms with a flush of embarrassment, before gasping as the sudden movement twinges the wounds on her chest, causing her wing beats to stutter and her to land with small pained bursts to the sandy floor of the training ground.
She glances back at the huge forms behind her before pulling her legs in and hugging them close to her, burying her face in her knees.
As Beets hid her face - Kavel realised he may have made a slight mistake with his change in environment. It was time to rectify matters.
"It's okay my little friend!" Kavel reached out and put a hand on Beets shoulder, facing her.
"I took you outside for some air, and these are my brothers. They are your friends. We are all friends here. In fact, they are dying to meet the little fairy that bested their strong bro in an arm wrestle. They are very impressed with you! Come on. Show them your face, please?"
Say Hello to my Little Friend
Beets looks up at Kavel, her black incur stained cheeks now streaked with fresh clear tears. She shakily lifts her hands and unties the knot of her headband, letting the tall beetle horn slide from her forehead before placing it on the ground beside her. She then stands and turns to face the goliaths watching her, wiping her nose across her arm with a sniff, before shyly clutching it with the other at her side and murmuring an almost inaudible "H-hello..." With her fringe now flat against her forehead, her bounce and confidence missing, Kavel gets a sight of the shy, shunned village girl she once was.
This was a very unexpected sight for Kavel. Beets was coming across as shy. Why was she not immediately challenging his bros to a fight? Removing her stag horn was perhaps the most surprising thing to Kavel - he didn't realise it wasn't a feature of Beet's beetle-fairy anatomy. Physically, but also in posture; Beets looked naked.
"... that's a cool horn you have there, little one!" Kruger said smilingly.
"Hello Beets. It's a pleasure to meet you! Woah, Tim," Sampson looked over at Tim, "she out arm wrestled our bro Kavel!" I had to smile at that, as did Tim and Kruger. Sampson was beaming with delight.
"Hey," Kruger said, tapping Beets on the shoulder from a hunched over position, "we're going to get back to training now. But, it's good to see you are awake. Kavel said you passed out from rage... I have my own experience with rage... Hey, it was good to finally be introduced to you."
"Come train with us anytime you like, or just come and say hello," Tim offered, and with that said, the Iron Strong Bros went back to their deadlift training.
As the Iron Strong Bros vacated the spot to get back to the deadlift area, Kavel moved closer to Beets and put a hand on her shoulder, "if you want we can go elsewhere? The bros are perfectly happy with you around though, and would like to see more of you when you are ready"
Kavel lent over Beets and picked up her horn. "Come Beets, lets go outside and sit by the big rock by the pond"
The Pond Beside the Fort
The waters of the pond were quiet and still, reflecting the starlight and beautiful face of the moon above like a big shard of mirror. The deep shadows cast by the somewhat squat pine trees around the pond, not intrusive like the dominating angry darkness that had seeped into her memories, but calm, strong..supportive. Keeping this powerful fragment of the epic unknown expanse above in check. "Buggin beautiful...", Beets couldn't help but express, as she walked into view of this sight from around one of the fort's turrets led by Kavel.
"Yes it is. I spent most of my time between Kavel's Corner and the Great Hall, but this little spot is wonderfully serene. It's good to just sit in a place like this." Kavel gestured to a place to sit by the pond.
As the pair sat down, Kavel scratched the back of his head, looked at Beets and asked, "feeling better?"
"Y-yes...I think so...' Beets replies softly, her gaze being drawn away from the water to meet his, then back down again and away shly. "Sorry about..um...I...Had a lot buzzin' through my mind.."
Kavel put a hand on Beets head, "too busy up here?" And then shook Beets' head playfully. Removing his hand, he said, "not much buzzing through my mind except strength training. So I guess nothing for me to get angry about? Ha!"
"I've seen you get furious once before when we arm wrestled, Beets. Does that happen often?"
Beets can't help but give a light smile as Kavel's joking, his jolly nature giving flashes back to times with her Pa and Gramps, both who were always smiling and joking whenever possible.
"Uhm..To tell you truth no...I mean..I used to get all buzzed up if I got excited in a battle, but then after going to that tomb with M-...with Ma-" Beets tried to finish the name, but each time it lodged in her throat like a jagged rock, causing her throat to tighten, her hands to shake and cold shivers to run down her spine...Sh-she couldn't say it...
Kavel glanced back and forth from Beets' face and her hands. Unsure of what the reaction he'll receive, he gestured with a hand and said what he thought would complete Beets' sentence, "... with Marto?"
Beets gives a shaky jolt, her shoulders slumping, a sad little whine escaping her as she looks down sadly, trying to hold back tears.
Kavel watched as his small comrade's eyes and lips tightened to prevent her face from betraying her mind and putting her true feelings on display.
This time as he reached for her head with his hand, he swapped a playful shake for a supportive and caring caress, and decided that that hand would stay there for as long as needed.
"You didn't like what I said about what happened in Phlegethos. Is that right?"
The barest of head shakes, minute like the flutter of a tiny ladybird's wings on the goliath's massive palm, but felt all the same.
"Okay," Kavel said whilst giving a response back with his hand brushing the hair a little on the back of Beets' head.
"What happened in the tomb?"
And so slowly, Beets tells him everything. About the strange smog she inhaled, the shattering overwhelming pain as she felt something break-loose inside of her. She spoke of her talk with Marto on the balcony, of his visit after all her time alone trapped in her room in Fort Ettin. Never able to say his name, merely saying we or he. But her stalls made it clear who she was talking about. She ends by saying. "He was there right at the beginning, and now its getting worse...and he no longer around...It's just like back home Kavel...Everyone that was important to me..That I..Lov-..."Again her voice falters...the choking sensation in her throat, the sharp fresh pain in her chest, so immense in her she felt like she would burst.
There's silence for a little while, stillness and quiet, before a light breeze blows around them, making the crouched pines' needles shiver, the two friends' reflections rippling at the water's edge into broken fragments. "How can something that's missing, something when you never even had it...Hurt so much?"
Goliath Empathy
Kavel was staring into the pond when Beets began talking again. He looked back at his friend. He recognised she had just opened up to him about matters quite personal to her that scare her and make it difficult for her to talk about.
"I'm... not sure, Beets. But... it's, I think it's good that you have told me what you told me. I am pleased you felt comfortable enough to speak about matters that you feel vulnerable about - to me. I hope at the very least that just speaking your fears to me has helped you."
Kavel reached out with a hand again, and this time squeezed Beets' near shoulder, and then put his hand back in his lap, before he began speaking again.
"Why can secret feelings hurt so much?" Kavel shrugged and scratched his head before continuing, "... yeah. Emotions are tricky things, right? Even for Kavel."
Feeling a little uncomfortably seated, the goliath stretched his back before continuing.
"If emotions were like strength it would be so much easier. Want to be strong? You lift. Want to be stronger? You lift more. So simple." Kavel altered his position to face Beets, smiled at her and chuckled a little, "ha, ha. Beets, I wish I could help you better with your feelings, but we are now outside of my area of specialty. I assume I come off to you as a stoic person? Some would say cold. Even amongst goliaths, my tribe on Iron Mountain was said to be the most unfeeling. 'Colder than the Iron Mountain they live on' is what other goliaths said of us. To be fair, it's funny because it is true."
Kavel's smile tried to convey an apology for his lack of usefulness. One more time he gently tapped Beets on her shoulder, "so... him... do you want to talk to him?"
Beets listened to Kavel’s words. It was honestly the kind of response she had been expecting! Not unwelcome, but perhaps a little saddening, maybe even a little envy that his world seemed so much simpler in a way. “Owh…I don’t know Kavel…I’m not sure what I’d even say to him now anyway…” She says, glancing back up at him with large sad eyes.
"How would you feel and what would you say if he came round the corner right now and said hello?"
Beets thinks for a while, looking at her reflection in the water, as if it can give her the answers she needs.
“I guess…I-I’d be happy to see him…I-I’d give him a hug and ask if he was okay…Th-Then I’d…I’d tell him how important he was to me, that he was the very first real friend I’d ever had and the first person who really saw me for who I am, and that actually he meant even more to me than just a friend, much buggin’more, and..I’d tell him… I’D TELL HIM I LOVE HIM!” Her words start slow and unsure at first, before rushing out of her as a tumbling surge, like a waterfall of emotion being released upon this unsuspecting pond.
Beets takes a few quick rapid gasping breaths, feeling the effort of speaking those words out loud as if she’d just done a triple lap flyby of the fort at double quick time.
Kavel waited for Beets to steady her breathing better before responding. "... okay. Yes. Okay, good. I don't know about Marto's feelings for you, but I know he'll listen respectfully to you. I hope you see him soon and get to talk... and I must now ask, what about the other thing? Here, you know what? Look at me."
Rage Control
Kavel sat with his legs folded and forearms resting on his thighs. He scrunched up his face, flared his nostrils and started breathing deep and fast through his nose, exhaling sharply through his mouth. All of a sudden he tensed every muscle and at that point the goliath could have been run over by a herd of buffalo, stabbed by a tree-sized spear, or been set on fire. The sky could have torn open and rained lightning on him. Tensed as he was, all these ways of hurting him, would not be able to break him on one strike alone. And then Kavel exhaled and let the tension drop. Rage came when demanded, and dismissed when commanded.
"You see, for me Beets, and other 'thicc' fighters like me and you, the battle rage is managed somehow. This is my method - steady breathing. I want rage? I breathe fast and flex. I want the rage to end? Deep breath in and then out. Everyone of us is a bit different though. Comrade Ivan? He can go into a full on frenzy when he rages. Not sure it's the same animal fervour as you. My bros though, I think the werewolf blood lust, it seems similar to your thing. Kruger has similar worries as you, and he chose to have the high diviner, Rholar remove the lycanthropy. Tim and Sampson seem to have control though and remain werewolves - I would like you to talk to them. You don't have to worry about judgement from them, because it seems like they can empathise really well with you - also train with them; your body could do with some recuperative light training. Really looks like a dragon did a number on you, comrade."
Beets watches Kavel, thankful tears springing in her eyes as the gentle gentle giant shows her his technique, and talks matters of training. 'He really knows how to keep you from dwelling on stuff...Just like Papa...' she thinks to herself, before sitting down and taking a moment to mirror his technique. As she goes through the motions of the breaths, the fresh ache in her chest doesn't fully leave, but lessens. It's as if it were a messy note scrawled in a moment of fierce intense passion, Wild and full of unbridled energy. Suddenly the note is plucked by a gentle hand from amongst the mass of papers upon the haphazard desk, its dog-eared edges straightened and smoothed, before it is safely transported with slow purposeful movements. Finally it is relocated to a nearby notice board, its surface covered with other carefully held moments of intense emotion. Not forgotten, not ignored, but simply held in place, filed away till the right time comes to be dealt with.
As the last breath is exhaled from her mouth, Beets feels that primal voice inside herself again, but softer, as if muffled. 'Feast..Must feast..' "But not right now..." she murmurs, and feels the relief of the anger inside drop off, as if being shut away behind a solid oak door with a loud and reassuring 'Boom!'
Beets then climbs to her feet and walks over to the watching Kavel, his huge form like a mountain towering above her, before she reaches out and wraps her arms around as much of his waist as possible, pressing herself against his strong solid chest, as if it were carved from a mountainside itself. "Thank you Kavel." She says simply, the last of her tears dripping off her face in a glimmer of moonlight.
Good. Good, Kavel thought to himself as he returned his little comrade's hug by bending down a little to reach her shoulders and back with his goliath hands. Feeling the smallest of the 'thicc bois' muscles, Kavel's mind wandered in thought. Was he as strong as Beets is now, when he was her height? How old would he have been? The distracting thoughts eventually parted as an extra squeeze around the waist brought his mind back to where he was.
"You are very welcome, comrade. You did very well with your breathing exercise. I would like to stay updated on further progress, so do keep me up to date and practice."
"Oh I will..and-Hey-!" She says, suddenly zipping up with a sudden turn of untapped energy to eye level with him, as if a spark had just been ignited inside a well prepared fireplace. "-are you free for a little visit to Feywild with me?"
"Sure," Kavel said whilst giving a playful punch to Beets' ribs, "what are we doing? I'll be there."
Beets feels even Kavel's gentleness punch still causes a pang of pain across her bruised and scabbed ribs, but manages to change her gasp of pain into a clenched teeth grin.
"Ahhh-W-well...W-we're going to see a dragon...A nice one..." She adds, as she flits up and onto the top of the rock beside them.
Looking at the empty space where his fairy friend once hovered, Kavel's gaze dropped to the ground, noticing the object he brought from the Training Yard. He picked it up and faced Beets on the rock.
"Don't forget your beetle horn. Here," Kavel held the horned headband on Beets' head where he thought it went, "a friendly dragon? Okay then."
"Yeah! She said with a thankful smile, as she grabbed the loose tassels of the headband and pulled them back tight around her head. "After all...There's always gotta be few loving creatures amongst the bad ones...Be they big..or small..." and she takes his hand.
Cowritten with Andy D
thekantasexpanse.boards.net/thread/2795/conversation-friends-2022-kavel-perspective
Storytime with Kavel
Beets 'sits' with Kavel at a table in the Great Hall at Fort Ettin listening to him recount his encounter and bare handed dispatch of a githyanki dragon.
"Psychic headbutt?! Lunar Elbow Slam!? Stonehand Fighting Techniques?! Wait! Wait one flittin minute! So you killed this big yanki'dragon with your bare buggin' hands!?!" Beets exclaims loudly in awe-much as she has many of times during the story, but this time zipping up from the table in a flurry of wing beats, sloshing her tankard and overturning her bar stool in a buzz of excitement, before then wincing and clutching at her thickly bandaged chest as she slowly flutters back to rest on the table in front of Kavel as he ends his tale.
"Bug Kavel that's ...flittin' amazing...And you have barely a scratch on you too!", she says, her ears dropping and cheeks flushing as she crosses her legs and sighs, not meeting his gaze. "My first dragon fight couldn't of gone much buggin'worse..."
Kavel looked at his fairy beetle comrade still lively with her mannerisms even when recounting a tale of disappointment. The excitement was still present, but the enthusiasm had diminished a little. This was not right - Kavel would not stand for one of his 'thicc-boi' friends to carry on with diminished swagger.
Kavel began, "To be fair comrade, Derthaad's dragon did a lot of damage at the beginning of the fight, and Sorrel's marksmanship is no joke. Also, without Derthaad, I would not have been able to delivery the Sky-High Elbow Drop. But you, " Kavel pointed at Beets to drive his point home, "you could reach 170ft up in the air all by yourself and deliver a Beets-style, dragon crushing elbow drop - no magical assistance required."
"Comrade," Kavel continued, "get some rest. Let those injuries beneath your bandages heal up, and once healed feel free to train with my Iron Strong bros. You are welcome at Kavel's Corner anytime. I don't do biting attacks, Tim and Sampson do though - when werewolves. Maybe they'll be really good at assisting in your training? Also, our training generally makes the whole body stronger, so I'm sure our training transfers to jaw and teeth strength if you want to have another go at biting a red dragon, like only a real thicc-boi would."
Beets considers Kavel's words as she looks at her reflection in her spilt ale on the table. "I guess I could try my triple somersault to pick up enough speed and get just the right angle-Oh and if I tucked in my arms and dived headfirst with my rhino beetle horn maybe I could even pierce it's scales!-"She adds excitedly, her ears springing back up as she flits up from the table with a buzz of wing beats!"
She then zooms over to hover in front of Kavel with a burst of renewed energy. "W-what really?! We have were-wolves here?! Bug I've gotta have a go at facing one of them off!"
"I'll introduce you to Tim and Sampson. And Kruger too, although Kruger is no longer a goliath werewolf - just goliath... it's a sensitive matter."
Kavel paused for a second, "Comrade..." and pointed at his floating friend, "please be careful when bringing up the werewolf subject in front of the bluer-skinned goliath with long hair, that's Kruger. Kruger is ashamed of what he did under the control of his former werewolf bloodlust. He's not his former self."
Kavel stopped to chew on some steak, and began to see a parallel between his bro Kruger, and one of his smaller comrades...
"... you know, Beets. Comrade Marto kind of reminds me of Kruger right now"
Beets turns from whistling to one of the tabards to bring a fresh round of ales to the table, a little trick she had picked up from Coll from her time working behind the bar. "Oh flit..Uhmm, of course!" Beet tries to restrain her excitement, knowing all too well the harsh judgement that can come from others for 'personal traits' out of their control. She flits down to take the ale proffered to her by a tabard whilst another rights her stool for her to land back on.
"W-wait-Marto?" Whattda'mean?!", she says, her ears perked and alert, her voice suddenly very serious, her grip tensing on the tankard so hard it creaks like an old tree branch in a gathering stormy breeze.
The Comparison of a Former Werewolf Goliath and a Halfling
The goliath puts away the last cut of steak, chews and swallows it down.
"Yeah Marto, " Kavel repeats, " you remember before we went with comrade Gerhard to the moon? I was in the fourth level of Hell, Phlegethos, with comrade Marto. Marto was very frustrated with the amount of times he had been mind-controlled by the fiends there. I think especially by a very sexy fiend called Adhyël, who I gathered," Kavel paused to consider how best to phrase the next sentence, "Marto had been, 'shitting where he ate' but with the enemy, Adhyel. You follow? So, must have been very tough emotionally. Also, very distracting and dangerous for focusing on the job."
Kavel reached out across Beets to grab the new tankard of ale she had ordered for him, "thanks Beets," and took a big swig to wash his steak down.
"Was a good steak. Anyway, Marto was very emotional during the big fight, Beets. At first, he was clearly distracted and letting his anger and frustration guide his actions - dangerous! But, when it counted, he came through as a comrade and killed his evil lover, who was opposing us. Good man. But, obviously he had some mixed emotions about the whole thing and fell very silent, much like Kruger is now."
Kavel took another swig of his new ale and remarked that his fairy comrade was unusually quiet. He decided to wrap up what he was saying, to hear from her.
"... so that was Phlegethos. When we got back, Marto was quiet, but he did share a long embrace with comrade Zola. Haven't seen either of them since then. You?"
During Kavel's words Beets' face is a wealth of emotions, her expression changing from one of worry, to then confusion, and finally to slight shock, as if she had just been struck by a stray arrow. Her face slowly drains of colour and her ears droop, “Bug…Uhm...N-n-no..I haven’t seen either of them…” Her voice trails off as she stares down sadly, unfocused, the pain in her chest from the dragon wounds now joined by a much heavier, deeper one.
"Oh and that was annoying!" Kavel exclaimed, slapping his thigh at the same time.
"For tactical reasons I had to get rid of my magical greataxe! I was thinking of giving it to you, Beets. But, then I remembered you, like me, like to use your fists, well claws - and teeth! And then I thought the greataxe would be good for comrade Anwyn - she's pretty thicc like us. Ah what a shame."
Kavel slapped both of his thighs as he turned to look at Beets with a resigned but acccepting smile at remembering having to give up such a great weapon.
Beets sits on her stool looking utterly deflated, all her usual 'buzz' is gone, a single finger slowly tracing one of her beetle leg plates.
In her head she recounts Marto's words the very first day they met in this very hall, "Wow are you a fairy?! He laughs in awe and excitement, "I like your legs!" His warm welcoming smile, not a trace of worry or doubt in his face…
Kavel looks at Beets, unconvinced she could have been paying much attention. She seemed distracted, which is unlike her. Where had gone the excitement of challenging a werewolf? Excitement levels were peak Beets before he mentioned Marto...
"... Beets. Comrade. Anything the matter?"
Beets' mind is a'whir with memories. Marto joining the play-fight alongside her against Arch'jen, his cry of worry as she was grabbed by the gargoyles, his chiding words whilst gently bandaging her wounds in the wagon, the warm glow tingling her cheeks and ears as he complimented her new Lolli original outfit, the rage that filled her watching Marto be blasted down the stairs of the old tomb, the moonlit balcony of King Verin, sharing part of her childhood story with Marto, the warm golden moonlight glow on his face as he turns to her and smiles, his words truly confirming a fluttering instinct she had held held in her chest since meeting him, like a freshly hatched butterfly unveiling it's beautiful new wings to the world. "A fairy filled with the strength of a rhinoceros with the heart of a lion."
Warm tears pour down her cheeks, thick and fast, as her lips crumble open revealing her sharp teeth gritted as she gulps back a sob.
The companions that were with Kavel for a meal after returning from Trecorvum had long gone. On this table were just two adventurers; a crying beetle fairy and a dumbstruck goliath.
A few seconds passed, and then a giant hand was placed on Beets shoulder, and Kavel scooted his stool closer to Beets to better give her support with his arm.
"Comrade Beets. What is the matter? How can I help?"
Rage
Beets stares on blindly as her tears flow, more memories flooding her mind, along with the return of that deep internal droning, intruding into the edges of each one, like split ink staining a white cloth. Marto beating King Verin in a drinking contest with her cheers and whoops echoing in the large hall. Marto's cheers in return are amplified by drink as she slams Verin to the floor with a well timed strike. THE DRONING DARKNESS SURROUNDING HER. Awaking to find the bed curtains in tatters, as if slashed by a claw, Marto's worried look she leaves for her room, insisting she just has a bug, Endless days and nights scared and alone in her room in Fort Ettin, barely eating, afraid to sleep should she awaken to find more than just her room ravaged, Marto's voice at the door, cutting through the veil of darkness sounding her like a shaft of moonlight, his face as he held her monstrous arm through the splintered door,
"Beets, I can't help you if you keep me shut out,"
His smile as after they embraced as he'd nursed her. "You're not alone, Beets."
Amongst the ever deeper increasing droning in her head she hears a horrible animalistic insectoid voice, raw and primal, illegible but it's meaning clear all the same. "LIES!"
Then after months of not seeing him she'd come across Marto in a tavern, sat chatting to a much taller, much more beautiful horned girl. "REAL TOO, NOT LIKE YOURS!", the voice doesn't say but implies. Suddenly the falling off the boat seems merely an excuse, a plot to show off his muscles in front of the rest of the girls onboard, all of them much bigger, much stronger, much prettier than her-these new 'realisations' coming from the droning in her mind, staining the memories, tainting them or...revealing the truth. Then finally, the last time she had seen Marto. The De'Avalon vault mission, he had seemed different. Short tempered and sharp with her, angry and frustrated at her words of concern for him. Finally, his last words to her as he headed off, that final touch of his hand on hers that had sent shivers across her body. “It’s okay, Beets. I’m… I’ll be okay. I know what I gotta do.”
"HE LEFT YOU! RIPPED YOU FROM HIS LIFE AND LEFT YOU ALL ALONE TO BE TORN AND TEARED...JUST LIKE YOUR MOTHER. HE NEVER CARED FOR YOU, FOR US!"
Beets' eyes throughout the last few seconds have been flickering between normal to fully black insectoid. Black like tar has begun to spill from her eyes, mixing with her tears. Her sobs change to clenched snarls and deep heaves of breath, like a restrained animal, yellow spittle forming at the edge of her mouth. The tankard clutched in her once limp hand now squealing in protest at her renewed grasp.
Kavel watched as his little comrade appeared to go through a wide array of emotions building towards a fury that he had witnessed once whilst armwrestling the deceptively powerful, but small person - black eyes and frothy mouth meant danger! This was not good. Beets needed to change whatever she was focusing on, before she could talk about it, if she wished to.
Kavel began to massage Beets' shoulders and her upper back, "relax comrade Beets. Give these thicc muscles a break and release all this tension. Come on! Deep breaths with me! Breathe in through the nose, and then out through the mouth. I will do it with you."
Beets is being overpowered by her anger-her sadness-the droning presence in her mind. All blending into one big dark primal form, RAGE! 'FEAST...MUST FEAST!! NOTHING ELSE MATTERS!!!'-She suddenly lets out a wild screech, a weird mixture of bird and reptile underlaid with the clacking buzz of an insect pitched a hundred fold which echoes around the now empty hall, making the window panes rattle and the cleaning tabards fall still. But, as suddenly as the screech starts, it croaks away to a hum in the back of Beets' throat, like the gentle buzz of a bumblebee, softening more and more as Kavel works his fingers into Beets' back muscles. Nullifying the rage that had overcome her, the grip of the beast on her mind slipping away once again into the darkness, before she went fully limp in Kavel's grasp.
Fresh Air
As Beets' tremendous fury eventually gave way, Kavel was dumbstruck anew. This boiling rage inside his little comrade that would have dispersed a crowd a hundred strong if present - completely vanished, and was swapped with the presence of a tired, unconscious fairy. What a striking change, the goliath thought. Although, he reasoned that maybe his comrade's rage was so strong, it must have been exhausting.
Sat there in the Great Hall with just a sleeping, spent friend in his arms, Kavel paused to think about why his comrade took such an emotional journey in such a short time.
"If only someone like comrade Velania were here. She is so calm and supportive... maybe Marto should be here? Does my other little comrade know what's going on?" Kavel thought to himself.
Comforted and pleased that at least Beets is now not furious and has found some peace, the goliath took the positive of the matter, and decided that a change in scenery might be good for his fairy friend, when she wakes up. With that thought, Kavel rose from his stool, cradling Beets in one arm, and took her outside for some fresh air and walked to Kavel's Corner for Strength and Conditioning, where three goliaths - two of which were additionally werewolves - were performing some deadlifts.
Kavel sat down in the middle of his gym in the Training Yard. Was introducing three new people to Beets a good idea when she woke up? Potentially not. But, barely anyone walked by Kavel's Corner ever since Tim and Sampson changed into werewolves that time. So, this location sort of gave Beets some seclusion.
Kavel explained to his goliath, Irong Strong Bros, that he wasn't sure why his comrade has such a rage inside her, or what caused it. But, we can try and help her with support.
Eventually Beets stirs in Kavel's arms, opening her eyes to find the four goliath staring down at her with varying degrees of curiosity. "Uh..." She flits ups out of Kavel's arms with a flush of embarrassment, before gasping as the sudden movement twinges the wounds on her chest, causing her wing beats to stutter and her to land with small pained bursts to the sandy floor of the training ground.
She glances back at the huge forms behind her before pulling her legs in and hugging them close to her, burying her face in her knees.
As Beets hid her face - Kavel realised he may have made a slight mistake with his change in environment. It was time to rectify matters.
"It's okay my little friend!" Kavel reached out and put a hand on Beets shoulder, facing her.
"I took you outside for some air, and these are my brothers. They are your friends. We are all friends here. In fact, they are dying to meet the little fairy that bested their strong bro in an arm wrestle. They are very impressed with you! Come on. Show them your face, please?"
Say Hello to my Little Friend
Beets looks up at Kavel, her black incur stained cheeks now streaked with fresh clear tears. She shakily lifts her hands and unties the knot of her headband, letting the tall beetle horn slide from her forehead before placing it on the ground beside her. She then stands and turns to face the goliaths watching her, wiping her nose across her arm with a sniff, before shyly clutching it with the other at her side and murmuring an almost inaudible "H-hello..." With her fringe now flat against her forehead, her bounce and confidence missing, Kavel gets a sight of the shy, shunned village girl she once was.
This was a very unexpected sight for Kavel. Beets was coming across as shy. Why was she not immediately challenging his bros to a fight? Removing her stag horn was perhaps the most surprising thing to Kavel - he didn't realise it wasn't a feature of Beet's beetle-fairy anatomy. Physically, but also in posture; Beets looked naked.
"... that's a cool horn you have there, little one!" Kruger said smilingly.
"Hello Beets. It's a pleasure to meet you! Woah, Tim," Sampson looked over at Tim, "she out arm wrestled our bro Kavel!" I had to smile at that, as did Tim and Kruger. Sampson was beaming with delight.
"Hey," Kruger said, tapping Beets on the shoulder from a hunched over position, "we're going to get back to training now. But, it's good to see you are awake. Kavel said you passed out from rage... I have my own experience with rage... Hey, it was good to finally be introduced to you."
"Come train with us anytime you like, or just come and say hello," Tim offered, and with that said, the Iron Strong Bros went back to their deadlift training.
As the Iron Strong Bros vacated the spot to get back to the deadlift area, Kavel moved closer to Beets and put a hand on her shoulder, "if you want we can go elsewhere? The bros are perfectly happy with you around though, and would like to see more of you when you are ready"
Kavel lent over Beets and picked up her horn. "Come Beets, lets go outside and sit by the big rock by the pond"
The Pond Beside the Fort
The waters of the pond were quiet and still, reflecting the starlight and beautiful face of the moon above like a big shard of mirror. The deep shadows cast by the somewhat squat pine trees around the pond, not intrusive like the dominating angry darkness that had seeped into her memories, but calm, strong..supportive. Keeping this powerful fragment of the epic unknown expanse above in check. "Buggin beautiful...", Beets couldn't help but express, as she walked into view of this sight from around one of the fort's turrets led by Kavel.
"Yes it is. I spent most of my time between Kavel's Corner and the Great Hall, but this little spot is wonderfully serene. It's good to just sit in a place like this." Kavel gestured to a place to sit by the pond.
As the pair sat down, Kavel scratched the back of his head, looked at Beets and asked, "feeling better?"
"Y-yes...I think so...' Beets replies softly, her gaze being drawn away from the water to meet his, then back down again and away shly. "Sorry about..um...I...Had a lot buzzin' through my mind.."
Kavel put a hand on Beets head, "too busy up here?" And then shook Beets' head playfully. Removing his hand, he said, "not much buzzing through my mind except strength training. So I guess nothing for me to get angry about? Ha!"
"I've seen you get furious once before when we arm wrestled, Beets. Does that happen often?"
Beets can't help but give a light smile as Kavel's joking, his jolly nature giving flashes back to times with her Pa and Gramps, both who were always smiling and joking whenever possible.
"Uhm..To tell you truth no...I mean..I used to get all buzzed up if I got excited in a battle, but then after going to that tomb with M-...with Ma-" Beets tried to finish the name, but each time it lodged in her throat like a jagged rock, causing her throat to tighten, her hands to shake and cold shivers to run down her spine...Sh-she couldn't say it...
Kavel glanced back and forth from Beets' face and her hands. Unsure of what the reaction he'll receive, he gestured with a hand and said what he thought would complete Beets' sentence, "... with Marto?"
Beets gives a shaky jolt, her shoulders slumping, a sad little whine escaping her as she looks down sadly, trying to hold back tears.
Kavel watched as his small comrade's eyes and lips tightened to prevent her face from betraying her mind and putting her true feelings on display.
This time as he reached for her head with his hand, he swapped a playful shake for a supportive and caring caress, and decided that that hand would stay there for as long as needed.
"You didn't like what I said about what happened in Phlegethos. Is that right?"
The barest of head shakes, minute like the flutter of a tiny ladybird's wings on the goliath's massive palm, but felt all the same.
"Okay," Kavel said whilst giving a response back with his hand brushing the hair a little on the back of Beets' head.
"What happened in the tomb?"
And so slowly, Beets tells him everything. About the strange smog she inhaled, the shattering overwhelming pain as she felt something break-loose inside of her. She spoke of her talk with Marto on the balcony, of his visit after all her time alone trapped in her room in Fort Ettin. Never able to say his name, merely saying we or he. But her stalls made it clear who she was talking about. She ends by saying. "He was there right at the beginning, and now its getting worse...and he no longer around...It's just like back home Kavel...Everyone that was important to me..That I..Lov-..."Again her voice falters...the choking sensation in her throat, the sharp fresh pain in her chest, so immense in her she felt like she would burst.
There's silence for a little while, stillness and quiet, before a light breeze blows around them, making the crouched pines' needles shiver, the two friends' reflections rippling at the water's edge into broken fragments. "How can something that's missing, something when you never even had it...Hurt so much?"
Goliath Empathy
Kavel was staring into the pond when Beets began talking again. He looked back at his friend. He recognised she had just opened up to him about matters quite personal to her that scare her and make it difficult for her to talk about.
"I'm... not sure, Beets. But... it's, I think it's good that you have told me what you told me. I am pleased you felt comfortable enough to speak about matters that you feel vulnerable about - to me. I hope at the very least that just speaking your fears to me has helped you."
Kavel reached out with a hand again, and this time squeezed Beets' near shoulder, and then put his hand back in his lap, before he began speaking again.
"Why can secret feelings hurt so much?" Kavel shrugged and scratched his head before continuing, "... yeah. Emotions are tricky things, right? Even for Kavel."
Feeling a little uncomfortably seated, the goliath stretched his back before continuing.
"If emotions were like strength it would be so much easier. Want to be strong? You lift. Want to be stronger? You lift more. So simple." Kavel altered his position to face Beets, smiled at her and chuckled a little, "ha, ha. Beets, I wish I could help you better with your feelings, but we are now outside of my area of specialty. I assume I come off to you as a stoic person? Some would say cold. Even amongst goliaths, my tribe on Iron Mountain was said to be the most unfeeling. 'Colder than the Iron Mountain they live on' is what other goliaths said of us. To be fair, it's funny because it is true."
Kavel's smile tried to convey an apology for his lack of usefulness. One more time he gently tapped Beets on her shoulder, "so... him... do you want to talk to him?"
Beets listened to Kavel’s words. It was honestly the kind of response she had been expecting! Not unwelcome, but perhaps a little saddening, maybe even a little envy that his world seemed so much simpler in a way. “Owh…I don’t know Kavel…I’m not sure what I’d even say to him now anyway…” She says, glancing back up at him with large sad eyes.
"How would you feel and what would you say if he came round the corner right now and said hello?"
Beets thinks for a while, looking at her reflection in the water, as if it can give her the answers she needs.
“I guess…I-I’d be happy to see him…I-I’d give him a hug and ask if he was okay…Th-Then I’d…I’d tell him how important he was to me, that he was the very first real friend I’d ever had and the first person who really saw me for who I am, and that actually he meant even more to me than just a friend, much buggin’more, and..I’d tell him… I’D TELL HIM I LOVE HIM!” Her words start slow and unsure at first, before rushing out of her as a tumbling surge, like a waterfall of emotion being released upon this unsuspecting pond.
Beets takes a few quick rapid gasping breaths, feeling the effort of speaking those words out loud as if she’d just done a triple lap flyby of the fort at double quick time.
Kavel waited for Beets to steady her breathing better before responding. "... okay. Yes. Okay, good. I don't know about Marto's feelings for you, but I know he'll listen respectfully to you. I hope you see him soon and get to talk... and I must now ask, what about the other thing? Here, you know what? Look at me."
Rage Control
Kavel sat with his legs folded and forearms resting on his thighs. He scrunched up his face, flared his nostrils and started breathing deep and fast through his nose, exhaling sharply through his mouth. All of a sudden he tensed every muscle and at that point the goliath could have been run over by a herd of buffalo, stabbed by a tree-sized spear, or been set on fire. The sky could have torn open and rained lightning on him. Tensed as he was, all these ways of hurting him, would not be able to break him on one strike alone. And then Kavel exhaled and let the tension drop. Rage came when demanded, and dismissed when commanded.
"You see, for me Beets, and other 'thicc' fighters like me and you, the battle rage is managed somehow. This is my method - steady breathing. I want rage? I breathe fast and flex. I want the rage to end? Deep breath in and then out. Everyone of us is a bit different though. Comrade Ivan? He can go into a full on frenzy when he rages. Not sure it's the same animal fervour as you. My bros though, I think the werewolf blood lust, it seems similar to your thing. Kruger has similar worries as you, and he chose to have the high diviner, Rholar remove the lycanthropy. Tim and Sampson seem to have control though and remain werewolves - I would like you to talk to them. You don't have to worry about judgement from them, because it seems like they can empathise really well with you - also train with them; your body could do with some recuperative light training. Really looks like a dragon did a number on you, comrade."
Beets watches Kavel, thankful tears springing in her eyes as the gentle gentle giant shows her his technique, and talks matters of training. 'He really knows how to keep you from dwelling on stuff...Just like Papa...' she thinks to herself, before sitting down and taking a moment to mirror his technique. As she goes through the motions of the breaths, the fresh ache in her chest doesn't fully leave, but lessens. It's as if it were a messy note scrawled in a moment of fierce intense passion, Wild and full of unbridled energy. Suddenly the note is plucked by a gentle hand from amongst the mass of papers upon the haphazard desk, its dog-eared edges straightened and smoothed, before it is safely transported with slow purposeful movements. Finally it is relocated to a nearby notice board, its surface covered with other carefully held moments of intense emotion. Not forgotten, not ignored, but simply held in place, filed away till the right time comes to be dealt with.
As the last breath is exhaled from her mouth, Beets feels that primal voice inside herself again, but softer, as if muffled. 'Feast..Must feast..' "But not right now..." she murmurs, and feels the relief of the anger inside drop off, as if being shut away behind a solid oak door with a loud and reassuring 'Boom!'
Beets then climbs to her feet and walks over to the watching Kavel, his huge form like a mountain towering above her, before she reaches out and wraps her arms around as much of his waist as possible, pressing herself against his strong solid chest, as if it were carved from a mountainside itself. "Thank you Kavel." She says simply, the last of her tears dripping off her face in a glimmer of moonlight.
Good. Good, Kavel thought to himself as he returned his little comrade's hug by bending down a little to reach her shoulders and back with his goliath hands. Feeling the smallest of the 'thicc bois' muscles, Kavel's mind wandered in thought. Was he as strong as Beets is now, when he was her height? How old would he have been? The distracting thoughts eventually parted as an extra squeeze around the waist brought his mind back to where he was.
"You are very welcome, comrade. You did very well with your breathing exercise. I would like to stay updated on further progress, so do keep me up to date and practice."
"Oh I will..and-Hey-!" She says, suddenly zipping up with a sudden turn of untapped energy to eye level with him, as if a spark had just been ignited inside a well prepared fireplace. "-are you free for a little visit to Feywild with me?"
"Sure," Kavel said whilst giving a playful punch to Beets' ribs, "what are we doing? I'll be there."
Beets feels even Kavel's gentleness punch still causes a pang of pain across her bruised and scabbed ribs, but manages to change her gasp of pain into a clenched teeth grin.
"Ahhh-W-well...W-we're going to see a dragon...A nice one..." She adds, as she flits up and onto the top of the rock beside them.
Looking at the empty space where his fairy friend once hovered, Kavel's gaze dropped to the ground, noticing the object he brought from the Training Yard. He picked it up and faced Beets on the rock.
"Don't forget your beetle horn. Here," Kavel held the horned headband on Beets' head where he thought it went, "a friendly dragon? Okay then."
"Yeah! She said with a thankful smile, as she grabbed the loose tassels of the headband and pulled them back tight around her head. "After all...There's always gotta be few loving creatures amongst the bad ones...Be they big..or small..." and she takes his hand.
Cowritten with Andy D