Post by rockydublin on Jul 21, 2021 3:26:16 GMT -5
For context this is an rp I wrote out in response to a pathfinder campaign I'm doing, one of the party members had in game died and this is my character (a druid kitsune) and their animal companion (a bear) dealing with it and reuniting with their sibling and their animal companion, my character also goes by any pronouns just as a heads up. I'm really happy with how this had turned out and I really wanna share it with y'all. So I hope you guys enjoy!
It had been a few days since Emberpaw’s funeral. Kondraki and Draven weren’t handling the loss well, Draven was still holding out on the belief that Emberpaw would come trudging through joining them once again. Every noise he heard caused him to perk up and excitedly alert Kondraki with a “Emberpaw back! They come back!” It would break Kondraki’s heart all the more when they had to remind Draven that Emberpaw was gone, that they were with Gozreh now… they wouldn’t see them again. It would be at this point Draven would do the equivalent of a child crying and Kondraki would console their bear. They would go into the woodlands, trying to find peace within nature, but everything around them either reminded them of Emberpaw or Gozreh, and if Kondraki was honest, they started to hate the deity. Even becoming angry with Desna herself. That was how Kondraki found themself in their humanoid form punching at a tree in anger before screaming into the sky,
“WHY DID YOU TAKE EMBERPAW FROM US?! WHY DID YOU NOT KEEP US SAFE YOU MOTHERFUCKERS?! WE DO AS YOU TELL US WITHOUT QUESTION AND YOU REPAY US WITH PAIN?!” Kondraki let out an unintelligible scream of rage as they punched the tree again. “ “WHY DID YOU LEAVE US?!” They screamed again as they punched the tree once more, angry at Gozreh, angry at Desna, angry at Emberpaw. And it ate them up inside at this fact; their friend died to save them and yet they could not stop the overwhelming anger that took over. Another scream ripped through their throat again as Kondraki crashed to their knees and began to punch the very earth in front of them, continuing to scream at no one in particular. After what felt like hours, but was more likely a few minutes, the anger finally subsided, leaving Kondraki’s knuckles cut, bruised, and dirty. Ironically they thanked Desna no one was around to stop them, hopefully they didn't hear either. They returned to camp silently before asking for assistance in fixing their hands.
Two days later
Kondraki and his group had set up camp for the night, it was quiet out save for the wildlife that lurked along the background, he stared at the fire, occasionally looking down at his swarm of foxes, the way they moved and huddled… at one time he would have smiled with fondness. Hell, the fire would be a comfort, if it wasn’t empty... Kondraki shook his head, deciding that the waking world was too much to handle at the moment and took the opportunity to get some rest. Not too long after he was nudged at by a Draven into consciousness once more.
“Moddy! Emberpaw back! They come back! Look!” Kondraki blearily looked into the clearing in front of him at Draven’s request, making out a silhouette. For a split second Kondraki thought Draven was right.
“Emberpaw?” He groggily called out. The silhouette gave no answer, it took Kondraki a few more seconds to realize he was just seeing things; just another sleep hallucination. He let out a sigh before hugging Draven. “Hon, Emberpaw is gone. They’re in a better place though. They’re happier now.” He felt like he was trying to convince himself of this statement. He’d said it enough times, but it always hurt.
“But when do they come home?”
“They are home, Draven.”
“No! When do they come home, Moddy?” Draven motioned at Kronk, Codex, and Mammon as well as Kondraki himself, signifying this group, this home. Kondraki shook his head. This was the first time Draven had questioned the druid on when Emberpaw was coming back; in fairness to him, Gozreh did show up to Emberpaw’s funeral, so in Draven’s mind why couldn’t Emberpaw rejoin them like that? Kondraki explained again to his companion that Emberpaw wasn’t coming back, that they were dead, all the while running a hand over Draven’s pelt. The two sat in silence, listening to the crackle and pop of the fire. Kondraki felt a surge of anger and sadness course through him again as the fire mocked him and his loss. Draven noted the anger in his companion’s demeanor, however he couldn’t bring himself to growl at fire.
“I’m going for a walk.” Kondraki declared to his group before getting up and walking away, Draven followed beside him. The two continued to walk until they came across another clearing, it was unoccupied, a bit away from camp, a good starting point. Kondraki dropped to his knees, his head bowed.
“O hallowed Mother, to you I give eternal praise, with a heavy and guilty heart I come to you. Forgive me, for the anger I hold in my heart. Forgive me, for the cruel words I have spoken to you and Gozreh… I miss my friend dearly, All-Mother. I beg for your forgiveness, punish me as you see fit, so that I may delight in your presence without guilt.” Kondraki then untied the blindfold that was tied around his upper arm. “Forgive me, for my anger.” He placed the cloth over his eyes before rising to his feet. With an exhale Kondraki began to spin as he always did, completing seven full circles before stopping. Kondraki then proceeded to turn and head northwest, Draven still following after him. After a few minutes had gone by, Kondraki took a turn to the right and continued walking.
It went on like this for a while, every so often Kondraki would either turn left, right, or keep going forward a few minutes, most of it turning out fine if he didn’t trip over a tree root. He made a turn to the right and instantly found himself falling down a hillside, his ankle twisting painfully along with the wrist on his right hand as he tried to break the fall before finally striking his head against a rock and falling unconscious.
The next time Kondraki had regained consciousness he found himself on his back, under a blanket. His wrist and ankle in respective splints and something was lying next to him. A bit confused he tried to piece together what it was, it was hard to keep his eyes open at the moment so he kept them shut for now, it wasn’t large enough to be Draven, not anymore. He turned his head a bit to try and ask what was happening. All that came out was, “A ing n?”
“Mom, Kondraki’s awake.” The voice above him called. Strange how did they know his name? Why did the voice sound familiar to him? Kondraki then remembered Draven had been with him and he hadn’t made a sound. Did they do something to him? Kondraki forcefully opened his eyes and sat up, ignoring the headache that pulsated through his head and looked over and saw a face they hadn’t seen in a long time… Orison. They hadn’t seen or spoke to each other in what was probably years now. The two siblings stared at one another for what felt like eons until Kondraki noticed Orison was holding his blindfold. Orison followed his line of sight, looking at the cloth before looking back to her young sibling.
“I see Desna still guides you.” It was more of a simple statement, no malice behind the words. She moved closer to Kondraki to reinspect his injuries and heal him up a bit more. Kondraki stared at his sister, he wanted to snap at her, tell her to go away, something, but all he was able to do was slur out Orison’s name before the dam finally broke. The situation reminded him of how Emberpaw had found him and Draven all those years ago and that was the final straw.
Broken wails of everything he’d kept pent up the past week finally coming forward, unable to stop. Orison stayed, crouched next to her brother dumbstruck. She’d always imagined running into Kondraki again either dead or alive, figuring if it was the latter the two would brawl. She never imagined seeing him like this, but given everything Draven had told her, she wasn’t surprised. She was unsure what to do now; did she try to go find her brother’s party? Would they trust her? More importantly should she leave her vulnerable brother alone? She shook her head to herself, but what could she do? Would he accept comfort from her? Well, there was one way to find out. Wordlessly she wrapped her arms around Kondraki, pulling close. There was no adverse reaction, instead he hugged her back, burying his face in her shoulder, soaking it with tears. Orison looked over and saw Draven growing concerned for his companion. He probably hadn’t seen him like this in a long time, if not ever. Fortunately she had Sylvaine who tended to her cousin while she tended to her brother. Orison rubbed a circle on his back, doing what she could to comfort her grieving brother. She offered him her condolences and hummed a tune from when they were both children, hoping the gesture would bring him comfort and some level of calm.
Soon the sobs died down, replaced with sniffling and the occasional shaky exhale. Orison continued to hold her brother, running her hand up and down his back. Drained from the emotional release he’d gone through, Orison felt Kondraki go lax in her arms as he fell asleep once more. She carefully laid her brother back down on the ground, looking at tear streaks down his face, before turning to both her companion and her brother’s. Orison hadn’t forgotten about the group Kondraki and Draven were travelling with, she looked to Draven,
“Hey, we should head back to your camp, your friends are probably worried about you two.”
“What about Moddy?”
“He’s coming with us. We won’t leave Moddy by himself.”
“Okay! I know where we’re sleeping!” Draven perked at the chance of helping.
“Alright, I need you to be careful though, okay? I need you to carry your moddy.” Draven nodded his head before walking over and carefully rolling Kondraki onto his back, the latter remaining asleep and now sprawled out on his companion.
“Shouldn’t he be tied down while you walk?” Sylvaine questioned.
“No. Moddy knows how to stay on, even after he drinks the honey drinks.”
“The… honey drinks?”
“Yeah, it was sweet, but also tasted funny, I didn’t like it.”
“Ah, you aren’t missing much, Draven.” Orison spoke with a smirk. Kondraki always was the sharing kind when it came to animals, granted he always made sure it wouldn’t harm the animal, which was more than he could say when it came to his own health at times. Either way, they needed to get Kondraki back to his party. Quickly disassembling her own camp she looked to her brother’s companion once more, “Lead the way Draven.”
As the trio retraced Kondraki’s guided walk Orison and Sylvaine asked Draven about the company that Kondraki kept. The large bear excitedly spoke about the small and magical, smart unicorn, a half-elf named “Thumbs”, a large death horse with a scythe, and then finally, Emberpaw. The wolf who could sleep in fires and remain unharmed, the one who had rainbow tattoos that glowed in the night, the one who blew up a sawmill, destroying everything inside to save their friends. Draven fell silent after a while, and then shaking his head and looking around saying to himself, “They come back. Emberpaw come back.” Orison nodded, noting the shakiness in his voice, like if he said it enough times it’d be true. He still didn’t want to believe his friend, who he saw as invincible, was dead. She wasn’t sure how Kondraki handled his companion while this happened, so for now she’d opted to offer the bear a distraction.
“How much closer are we to camp?” Draven perked up again at this.
“Close. This is where Moddy covered his eyes.” They continued onward, finally making it back to Kondraki’s camp.
It had been a few days since Emberpaw’s funeral. Kondraki and Draven weren’t handling the loss well, Draven was still holding out on the belief that Emberpaw would come trudging through joining them once again. Every noise he heard caused him to perk up and excitedly alert Kondraki with a “Emberpaw back! They come back!” It would break Kondraki’s heart all the more when they had to remind Draven that Emberpaw was gone, that they were with Gozreh now… they wouldn’t see them again. It would be at this point Draven would do the equivalent of a child crying and Kondraki would console their bear. They would go into the woodlands, trying to find peace within nature, but everything around them either reminded them of Emberpaw or Gozreh, and if Kondraki was honest, they started to hate the deity. Even becoming angry with Desna herself. That was how Kondraki found themself in their humanoid form punching at a tree in anger before screaming into the sky,
“WHY DID YOU TAKE EMBERPAW FROM US?! WHY DID YOU NOT KEEP US SAFE YOU MOTHERFUCKERS?! WE DO AS YOU TELL US WITHOUT QUESTION AND YOU REPAY US WITH PAIN?!” Kondraki let out an unintelligible scream of rage as they punched the tree again. “ “WHY DID YOU LEAVE US?!” They screamed again as they punched the tree once more, angry at Gozreh, angry at Desna, angry at Emberpaw. And it ate them up inside at this fact; their friend died to save them and yet they could not stop the overwhelming anger that took over. Another scream ripped through their throat again as Kondraki crashed to their knees and began to punch the very earth in front of them, continuing to scream at no one in particular. After what felt like hours, but was more likely a few minutes, the anger finally subsided, leaving Kondraki’s knuckles cut, bruised, and dirty. Ironically they thanked Desna no one was around to stop them, hopefully they didn't hear either. They returned to camp silently before asking for assistance in fixing their hands.
Two days later
Kondraki and his group had set up camp for the night, it was quiet out save for the wildlife that lurked along the background, he stared at the fire, occasionally looking down at his swarm of foxes, the way they moved and huddled… at one time he would have smiled with fondness. Hell, the fire would be a comfort, if it wasn’t empty... Kondraki shook his head, deciding that the waking world was too much to handle at the moment and took the opportunity to get some rest. Not too long after he was nudged at by a Draven into consciousness once more.
“Moddy! Emberpaw back! They come back! Look!” Kondraki blearily looked into the clearing in front of him at Draven’s request, making out a silhouette. For a split second Kondraki thought Draven was right.
“Emberpaw?” He groggily called out. The silhouette gave no answer, it took Kondraki a few more seconds to realize he was just seeing things; just another sleep hallucination. He let out a sigh before hugging Draven. “Hon, Emberpaw is gone. They’re in a better place though. They’re happier now.” He felt like he was trying to convince himself of this statement. He’d said it enough times, but it always hurt.
“But when do they come home?”
“They are home, Draven.”
“No! When do they come home, Moddy?” Draven motioned at Kronk, Codex, and Mammon as well as Kondraki himself, signifying this group, this home. Kondraki shook his head. This was the first time Draven had questioned the druid on when Emberpaw was coming back; in fairness to him, Gozreh did show up to Emberpaw’s funeral, so in Draven’s mind why couldn’t Emberpaw rejoin them like that? Kondraki explained again to his companion that Emberpaw wasn’t coming back, that they were dead, all the while running a hand over Draven’s pelt. The two sat in silence, listening to the crackle and pop of the fire. Kondraki felt a surge of anger and sadness course through him again as the fire mocked him and his loss. Draven noted the anger in his companion’s demeanor, however he couldn’t bring himself to growl at fire.
“I’m going for a walk.” Kondraki declared to his group before getting up and walking away, Draven followed beside him. The two continued to walk until they came across another clearing, it was unoccupied, a bit away from camp, a good starting point. Kondraki dropped to his knees, his head bowed.
“O hallowed Mother, to you I give eternal praise, with a heavy and guilty heart I come to you. Forgive me, for the anger I hold in my heart. Forgive me, for the cruel words I have spoken to you and Gozreh… I miss my friend dearly, All-Mother. I beg for your forgiveness, punish me as you see fit, so that I may delight in your presence without guilt.” Kondraki then untied the blindfold that was tied around his upper arm. “Forgive me, for my anger.” He placed the cloth over his eyes before rising to his feet. With an exhale Kondraki began to spin as he always did, completing seven full circles before stopping. Kondraki then proceeded to turn and head northwest, Draven still following after him. After a few minutes had gone by, Kondraki took a turn to the right and continued walking.
It went on like this for a while, every so often Kondraki would either turn left, right, or keep going forward a few minutes, most of it turning out fine if he didn’t trip over a tree root. He made a turn to the right and instantly found himself falling down a hillside, his ankle twisting painfully along with the wrist on his right hand as he tried to break the fall before finally striking his head against a rock and falling unconscious.
The next time Kondraki had regained consciousness he found himself on his back, under a blanket. His wrist and ankle in respective splints and something was lying next to him. A bit confused he tried to piece together what it was, it was hard to keep his eyes open at the moment so he kept them shut for now, it wasn’t large enough to be Draven, not anymore. He turned his head a bit to try and ask what was happening. All that came out was, “A ing n?”
“Mom, Kondraki’s awake.” The voice above him called. Strange how did they know his name? Why did the voice sound familiar to him? Kondraki then remembered Draven had been with him and he hadn’t made a sound. Did they do something to him? Kondraki forcefully opened his eyes and sat up, ignoring the headache that pulsated through his head and looked over and saw a face they hadn’t seen in a long time… Orison. They hadn’t seen or spoke to each other in what was probably years now. The two siblings stared at one another for what felt like eons until Kondraki noticed Orison was holding his blindfold. Orison followed his line of sight, looking at the cloth before looking back to her young sibling.
“I see Desna still guides you.” It was more of a simple statement, no malice behind the words. She moved closer to Kondraki to reinspect his injuries and heal him up a bit more. Kondraki stared at his sister, he wanted to snap at her, tell her to go away, something, but all he was able to do was slur out Orison’s name before the dam finally broke. The situation reminded him of how Emberpaw had found him and Draven all those years ago and that was the final straw.
Broken wails of everything he’d kept pent up the past week finally coming forward, unable to stop. Orison stayed, crouched next to her brother dumbstruck. She’d always imagined running into Kondraki again either dead or alive, figuring if it was the latter the two would brawl. She never imagined seeing him like this, but given everything Draven had told her, she wasn’t surprised. She was unsure what to do now; did she try to go find her brother’s party? Would they trust her? More importantly should she leave her vulnerable brother alone? She shook her head to herself, but what could she do? Would he accept comfort from her? Well, there was one way to find out. Wordlessly she wrapped her arms around Kondraki, pulling close. There was no adverse reaction, instead he hugged her back, burying his face in her shoulder, soaking it with tears. Orison looked over and saw Draven growing concerned for his companion. He probably hadn’t seen him like this in a long time, if not ever. Fortunately she had Sylvaine who tended to her cousin while she tended to her brother. Orison rubbed a circle on his back, doing what she could to comfort her grieving brother. She offered him her condolences and hummed a tune from when they were both children, hoping the gesture would bring him comfort and some level of calm.
Soon the sobs died down, replaced with sniffling and the occasional shaky exhale. Orison continued to hold her brother, running her hand up and down his back. Drained from the emotional release he’d gone through, Orison felt Kondraki go lax in her arms as he fell asleep once more. She carefully laid her brother back down on the ground, looking at tear streaks down his face, before turning to both her companion and her brother’s. Orison hadn’t forgotten about the group Kondraki and Draven were travelling with, she looked to Draven,
“Hey, we should head back to your camp, your friends are probably worried about you two.”
“What about Moddy?”
“He’s coming with us. We won’t leave Moddy by himself.”
“Okay! I know where we’re sleeping!” Draven perked at the chance of helping.
“Alright, I need you to be careful though, okay? I need you to carry your moddy.” Draven nodded his head before walking over and carefully rolling Kondraki onto his back, the latter remaining asleep and now sprawled out on his companion.
“Shouldn’t he be tied down while you walk?” Sylvaine questioned.
“No. Moddy knows how to stay on, even after he drinks the honey drinks.”
“The… honey drinks?”
“Yeah, it was sweet, but also tasted funny, I didn’t like it.”
“Ah, you aren’t missing much, Draven.” Orison spoke with a smirk. Kondraki always was the sharing kind when it came to animals, granted he always made sure it wouldn’t harm the animal, which was more than he could say when it came to his own health at times. Either way, they needed to get Kondraki back to his party. Quickly disassembling her own camp she looked to her brother’s companion once more, “Lead the way Draven.”
As the trio retraced Kondraki’s guided walk Orison and Sylvaine asked Draven about the company that Kondraki kept. The large bear excitedly spoke about the small and magical, smart unicorn, a half-elf named “Thumbs”, a large death horse with a scythe, and then finally, Emberpaw. The wolf who could sleep in fires and remain unharmed, the one who had rainbow tattoos that glowed in the night, the one who blew up a sawmill, destroying everything inside to save their friends. Draven fell silent after a while, and then shaking his head and looking around saying to himself, “They come back. Emberpaw come back.” Orison nodded, noting the shakiness in his voice, like if he said it enough times it’d be true. He still didn’t want to believe his friend, who he saw as invincible, was dead. She wasn’t sure how Kondraki handled his companion while this happened, so for now she’d opted to offer the bear a distraction.
“How much closer are we to camp?” Draven perked up again at this.
“Close. This is where Moddy covered his eyes.” They continued onward, finally making it back to Kondraki’s camp.