Searching [Chapter 12]

[esp_dragon]

Fandom: Original
Summary: The world of Torpin is open, dragging in xeni from other worlds. The majority of them are monsters, prone to violence. There are some, however, that are not, and are able to live amongst the human population, if allowed to. Marland should know; he's one of them. His job is to hunt and stop the xeni that seek only to destroy what's around them. On one job, a human xeno drops through a portal, an event which Marland has never heard of happening before. And that's not the only thing different about the human...
Rating: R
Notes: Contains swearing.
Haha, cut this chapter short, just to make sure I'd be able to post it on LJ!
Nope, still can't describe a van. :P
Ha. You really can't tell the difference between Gahn being there and not. :P He definitely wasn't needed.
...How do I only have two chapters and a really short epilogue left and still have just under twenty thousand words left to post?! D: D: (Which, yeah, makes sense since this is the climax, but still.)
Genre: Urban fantasy
Word count: 3,895
Total word count: 78,882
Status: Work in Progress (reposting, but is complete)



Wherever the hell Marland was, it was cold, his wings shivering slightly. The next thing he noticed was the stabbing pain in his left wing, the membrane throbbing, feeling sensitive and hot. He was also up against a wall, his right wing semi-crushed there. The room stank of stale sweat and something else he couldn’t identify. What…?

His ears pricked, Marland listened for any clues.

"I know you're awake, Marland, it's…okay."

Ronthar. He peeked through slitted eyelids; Ronthar was sitting cross-legged across from him, his arms also folded, on a bed that looked like it was made from the wall. The room that they were in was about half the size, if not less, than the cell they'd just left. You had to be fucking kidding. Marland would have suspected that they'd been dragged back to Balt again if it wasn't for the fact that the walls were a dark grey and…there was a breeze coming in from somewhere? He opened his eyes fully and looked up. There was a door that was obviously a door and not hidden in the wall, and it had a slot about eye-level.

He'd been patched up too, if the fact that there was a plaster on top of where there should have been a hole in his wing. It felt tight there; he pulled the plaster back and saw that he'd been stitched up. Huh. He drew the wing back and settled himself back in place, a little further away from the wall; he really didn't want to stand up at the moment.

Marland looked at Ronthar, who shrugged, his eyes not on him. "I don't know what happened. Terrek –the man who shot you- got a message after he shot you and he stopped. He brought us back here." He took a deep breath, his arms tightening. "I'm sorry."

One of Marland's ears flicked at him, the other pointed towards the door. "What for?"

"You were shot because of me."

Marland tilted his head to the side quizzically. What?

"I hadn't thought that he would actually shoot." His teeth were clenched, his shoulders bowed. "If I'd known, I would have stayed in the way."

Marland tried to shrug, but his left wing flinched back before it got away from his back and his other wing couldn't move properly. He growled at the pain that shot up his wing and across his shoulder. He had known what would have happened, and if Ronthar had done anything, it would have just made things worse. But why was he alive now? Unless they were waiting to get shipped back to Balt.

"Marland… How do you react to medicine?"

He froze, his eyes wide and he stared at Ronthar. His ears sank down slowly. Shit, dammit, no. If he'd been stitched up, they'd probably put drugs in his system, or had at least given him painkillers. Marland swallowed, his head lowering. "It can kill me," he said quietly, barely above a whisper. He didn't feel any different, but maybe he didn't react to it straight away, or it numbed him first.

Ronthar exhaled deeply, his eyes closing and he leaned back on the wall. "Oh, thank you."

Marland jerked back at the sheer relief in Ronthar's voice. He was happy that – Marland's thought stuttered to a stop, his hands clenching into fists.

"I wasn't sure exactly what they were trying to give you," Ronthar continued, not noticing Marland's reaction, "but I was able to stop them before they could make you ingest it."

Marland stared at him, his hands relaxing and his ears coming up again. What?

Ronthar opened his eyes, smiling softly at him. "I couldn't remember why it was bad if you had human medicine; I just knew that it was." He took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. "I'm glad that they were willing to listen to me," he murmured.

Marland gaped at him, his eyes wide and his ears pointed at him. Ronthar remembered something that had happened when he was Shodin, and he wasn't going to die some painful death.

There was a pair of footsteps bouncing off the walls before Marland could say or think anything else, and he struggled to get to his feet, wincing when he flicked his wings out for balance instinctively. He could at least stand semi-steadily at least. Ronthar slid off his bed as well and prepared himself for whatever came next. A pair of eyes peered through the slot. "Someone's here to pick you up."

Who? He couldn't think of anyone that he'd want to see. Marland's ears went to the wary half-way point as the door unlocked and swung open.

"Yo."

His ears lifted in disbelief, and he relaxed from the guarded stance he was in. "Kendal?" It couldn't be, but it was. Were they still in Lahstron? They hadn't left the city?

She smirked at him, one hand giving him a quick wave. "Yep." How the hell…? She turned away. "C'mon, you two need to get a shower."

"Marland…?"

He looked back at Ronther, who was looking at where Kendal had been standing, a wariness in his eyes. "It's okay," Marland reassured him. "She's a…friend." He felt the irony of using the word, but compared to Balt, she definitely was one. Ronthar nodded, relaxing.

Kendal peered at Ronthar as they walked out and down the corridor. "Forgotten me already?" An eyebrow was raised, but her eyes weren't narrowed.

Ronthar tilted his head at her before shaking his head, sighing. "I've lost all my memories of when I was Shodin."

Kendal studied him, before she glanced at Marland. "Shodin was his name when I met him?"

Marland blinked, then went over the conversations he'd had with Kendal when Shodin was with him. He'd never actually told her what Shodin's name was. "Yeah."

She turned back to Ronthar. "So you are now…?"

"Ronthar."

"All right. Kendal," she introduced herself, nodding to him.

"Nice to meet you," Ronthar said, a hesitant smile on his face.

Kendal raised an eyebrow again. She shook his head, snorting, and then gestured down an empty corridor. "We'll be going out the back route, for obvious reasons." She waved to the police guy who had opened their cell. He walked away after throwing Marland a doubtful look. Marland and Ronthar followed Kendal out as she pushed open a door.

It was dark outside, the stars bright and clear. Marland could feel his eyes adjust to the darkness, and his headache faded a bit immediately. He sighed at that, relishing the feeling. The only things Marland could hear was the passing of a few cars in a far road and the purr of an engine nearby. Kendal led them in the direction of the engine. He kept his ears in constant motion, just in case what he was hearing was wrong, and he kept looking towards anything that seemed out of place.

It felt amazing to have that much space around him again. He flexed his wings out and held them there for a few seconds before he folded them back in.

There wasn’t anyone in the driver's seat of the black van and Marland heard a click as Kendal pushed a button and the van unlocked. When they opened the back, the light inside was weak enough that Marland wouldn't be too bothered by it, and the light that shone from the dashboard through the gap in the wall was nothing - but there was another, more important problem. Kendal seemed to realise it at the same time, looking back and forth between the interior of the van and Marland, her eyes assessing him. There was a long unbroken seat attached to the wall on either side.

"How the hell do you sit down?"

Marland's ears slanted, and he sighed, rolling his eyes. "With chairs that don't have backs," he muttered, deadpan. He considered how wide the seat was. "I'll just lie down on it." It was better than lying on the metal floor.

Kendal peered at the seat before looking back at his wings. "You gonna fit?"

"If you don't mind having holes in your seat." Using his claws was probably going to be the only way he'd be able to stay in place without falling off, one way or another. It'd be a definite squeeze but…

"Right," Kendal said wryly, eyeing the length of his wings.

He sent her a dry look. It wasn't his fault they so were so huge. It'd probably be best if he lay down with his left wing on the outside – the pain would stop it from going out too far. Or possibly even moving, the way it was feeling right now.

Marland turned to glance at Ronthar when he remembered something. "You okay with cars?" Did Ronthar have cars where he came from? If he went by Shodin's reactions the first time they went out, it was probably no.

Ronthar nodded slowly. "Yes. I've been in a few."

Marland decided not to ask what for. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know, and not just because it could be tied to whatever the hell Balt was involved in, but just, it was Ronthar's life.

Marland ducked his head and shoulders, the claw on his wing still scraping the roof with a screech as he got into the van. He lay on top of the row of seats, and punctured the cover with his claws. He tested if he could be dislodged that easily by tugging with his hands; he'd be fine, so long as he didn't have to clench his hands. He and Ronthar seemed to be getting into smaller and smaller places, he thought inanely.

Ronthar followed after him, sitting down opposite his head, his hands braced on the edge of the seat. Kendal closed the door behind him and a few seconds later, climbed into the driver's seat.

The van started up as soon as she sat down, sounding smooth. It still set Marland's teeth on edge, because he could feel the vehicle moving, the entire place vibrating, and the engine was on the border of being too loud to his ears. It went at a slow pace at least, so the van didn't move them around too much when it went around corners.

"So I thought I told you to keep a low profile?" Kendal said over her shoulder. It felt weird having a conversation with someone without seeing them, but he really couldn't be bothered pushing himself up to see Kendal's expressions.

Marland's ears flattened. "We did." Now that they were getting away, now that Marland didn't have to think about escape, his body just wanted sleep and food and to be clean. He wasn't sure if he was going to be able to stay awake for the whole ride. "We only left the flat…" He tried to think of how many times they left the flat after being told by Kendal, and then gave up. It was too long ago, with the memories of Balt and everything else after taking up his attention. "We didn't leave it much." He yawned widely, before shaking his head.

"And the reason why you two have matching collars? Well," she added, without much pause, the grin in her voice obvious, "unless there's one that I'm not aware of."

Marland was too damn weary to even try to understand what the hell that comment meant. "We can't take them off."

There was a pause. "You can't?" Her tone was hard, anger sliding under it.

He snorted. "You think," -we? I?- "we haven't tried? My claws can't get through it and it blocks our…my magic."

"…You had magic?"

Ronthar nodded slowly, his hair waving, and then looked away as he took a deep breath. "It's complicated."

Marland blinked. What? He either had magic, or he didn't, and Balt was sure he'd taken it – and Ronthar had confirmed it, so what did that mean?

When Ronthar didn't give any more information about what he'd said, Marland asked Kendal, "How the hell did you find us?" Because he couldn't have been unconscious for that long, and it didn't explain why she'd come anyway.

"I told ya I'd talk to the police about you." Kendal's tone was light. "Plus, Paizinel came lookin' for us when you didn't return to your flat."

Pai had been to his flat again? But she normally stayed away for… How long had they been in there for? And how did she know where to find Kendal?

Marland wanted to ask more questions but he was so completely exhausted. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

* * *
Marland jolted awake to the sound of whispering. The van had stopped moving and his wing was throbbing incessantly. It was probably the combination of all those things that had woken him up.

"So how do you wake him up without him attacking you?" Kendal. There was an amused tone to her voice, and she sounded a little too curious.

"I don't know." There was a small pause. "And I don't think I ever did. But…"

"Buut…?" Marland should probably 'wake up' before the conversation went further.

"He was absolutely devastated when I…when my memories came back." Marland's ears flattened at that. He…okay, he had been, but he didn't think he'd been that obvious. He thought over what he'd done when Ronthar got his memories back. He hunched over, keeping his ears as still as he could. Yes, he had really been that obvious.

"I'm not surprised – Marland doesn't have a lot of people he's close to." Kendal moved, her clothes rustling. "You're – Shod-" She stopped, sighing. "This is getting confusing." There was another sound that Marland assumed was her shaking her head. "I've never seen Marland let anyone get that close to him, let alone that fast."

Marland tried to push down the churning empty feeling in him, just tried to not think about anything.

Ronthar cleared his throat. "Marland's awake now."

He opened his eyes then, because there wasn't any point in pretending anymore. Kendal grinned down at him from the gap in the divider. "Good. C'mon, we're home."

Marland twisted his head to look at the door behind him, then back at Kendal and Ronthar. "You're gonna have to get out first," he told Ronthar. When Marland turned around –which he wasn't sure about doing as he thought about it- his wingtips would hit both sides of the van. It was a good thing that none of Kendal's team was overly protective of the van, other than in a nostalgic way, because he was adding far too many scratches to it at once. He could try going out backwards, but he wrinkled his snout at that option. That was too awkward.

After the two had gotten out, Marland lurched to his feet. He did feel a little better after the nap, a bit more relaxed, and the constant headache he'd had was mostly faded. His jaw felt slightly numb and his wing hadn't gotten any better though. Marland stretched his right wing out, so it was out at an angle rather than being parallel to the position of his body. He tried with his left wing, but he couldn't move it that far before it protested. Moving them where they were helped a bit when he turned, though the claws at the top did scrape the ceiling, and he tucked them back in when he was facing the door.

Ronthar and Kendal were waiting for him when he got out. Kendal closed the door as soon as he stepped away from it, the slam making him twitch. The street was a line of houses that pretty much all looked the same apart from the front gardens. The only lights that were on were the streetlights.

Marland and Ronthar were led up to one of the houses, Kendal opening it and walking straight in, flicking on the lights as she did. Grumbling and wanting to cover his head with his wings, Marland followed her. The smell of fresh food wafted over as soon as he stepped into the house, making Marland realise just how hungry he was. He'd been lucky that he was able to eat the food when they were captured, but it hadn't been exactly nourishing or filling.

There was a staircase that wound its way up in the corner of the hall they were standing in, and there seemed to be doors all over the place. Marland could count four and Kendal led them to the door that was next to where the staircase started. There was a chandelier hanging above their heads and Marland stared up at it, bewildered. It sparkled, the glass or whatever they were dangling from it sending shimmering lights everywhere. He hadn’t thought anyone in Kendal’s team would want that there, but maybe it had been there since they started living there. But…who had owned it before them to put that up?

The room they were taken to was a small kitchen; there were a couple of steaming pots on the cooker and Marland eyed them. They had lids covering their contents, so he wasn’t really sure what was in them.

Kendal gestured to the pots. "Help yourself – I'm sure there's something left." She eyed the pots dryly.

Marland headed over to them and peered into one. He could see meat and vegetables, but he couldn't really identify much past that. "Do you have any microwave food?" he asked, looking back up.

"Poor Nillos'll be hurt, after all the effort he put into cooking that," Kendal said, smirking.

He was able to tell that Kendal was teasing him. Just. His ears still flattened though. "I can't eat some human food, and I don't know what ones exactly I can't eat, so I just avoid most of them." He shrugged slightly with his wings.

"Hmm." Kendal glanced over to the fridge in the corner. "We've got a couple of packs – anything else we should know?"

"Do you have any chocolate?"

One of Kendal’s eyebrows slowly rose. It was very obvious she was waiting for an explanation.

He looked away, hunching his shoulders, his ears lowering. "Can't eat human painkillers either – I use chocolate."

"Huh. Makes sense," Kendal said as she walked over to the fridge. "We’ve got some in here too, I think." She snorted at something inside the fridge when she opened the door, but Marland couldn't see what had caused that reaction.

Marland waited awkwardly as Kendal stuck his food in the microwave and Ronthar got out the plates and cutlery after being directed to them by Kendal.

There was light footsteps approaching them and Marland saw a purple head poke in around the corner of the door. -'Where have you been?'- Pai stalked up at him, glaring all the while.

"Fion?" Ronthar yelped and whirled around, wide-eyed. He visibly deflated when he saw Pai, his eyes lowering and head turning away. "Ah… I thought…" He shook his head, turning back to the plates.

Shit.

-'Okay, and that's another reaction that I don't normally get from you,'- Pai teased, her head cocked to the side.

Marland winced. Kendal, at that point, lobbed what was left of a chocolate bar at him, and Marland caught it easily. "Pai…" Marland said awkwardly, not really sure how to continue, fiddling with the chocolate bar. "This is Ronthar."

-'Ronth – Oh.'- Pai ducked her head. She was quiet for a second, looking back and forth between Marland and Ronthar. –'Do you remember…?'-

Ronthar shook his head. "I don't remember being Shodin."

-'Oh…'- She glanced back at Marland, before sighing. -'So, what happened?'-

Was he going to have to repeat himself every single time he met someone? "Don't want to talk about it," Marland grumbled, his ears flat as he ate all the pieces of chocolate available. He didn't want to think at that particular moment; he just wanted to curl up into a ball and be unconscious – he didn't care where, just so long as Balt was nowhere near him. It wasn't like he knew a lot about what happened either. He had no idea how Ronthar had gotten his memory back, and he hadn't exactly been wondering how it happened, more focused on the fact that Shodin was no longer there. But Shodin was; Ronthar had shown that he still had some sort of residual memories of their time together.

The microwave dinged and Marland went over to get his food, throwing the wrapper in the bin. The kitchen seemed pretty crowded by now, and his wings really weren't helping. Ronthar had finished scooping out the food he'd wanted and Kendal then led them to another room. There was a large TV along a wall in front of them with a couch, a table and multiple chairs clustered around it. In the corner to their right was a table and while there was a large window right next to it, the curtains were also closed.

Ronthar, Kendal and Pai sat down at the table in the corner while Marland peered around the room, looking for somewhere to sit. There wasn’t anything that didn’t have a back, so he went to stand next to Kendal, his plate on the table. He leaned on one elbow as he started to eat.

The others turned their heads towards him. "Don’t you want to sit…?" Ronthar asked him.

Marland grunted, keeping his attention on the food. "Take too long and can’t be bothered." He was going to end up sleeping really soon anyway, no matter if he sat down or not.

There was a small pause and when Marland didn’t fall face-first into his food, Ronthar and Kendal started to eat their own food.

Ronthar wasn't really eating though, more poking at his food a couple of times before putting it in his mouth. The rest of the time was spent silently, the relatively relaxed mood broken, neither Marland or Ronthar willing to really talk, both exhaustion and far too much things unsaid keeping their mouths closed.

After they were finished, Kendal waved them away from the dirty plates and led them up the stairs. Marland’s ears flattened at the task as he half-pulled himself up them, leaning heavily on the banister at the same time. At the top of the stairs was a small landing before another set of stairs continued upwards. Between the staircases were two doors. Kendal gestured to the one that was closest to them, one hand coming up to cover her mouth as she yawned. In the room were two single beds parallel to each other and a small nest of blankets in the corner.

"You all okay sharing a room?" Kendal asked, glancing between them all.

Marland really didn't care at the moment, just so long as he could sleep and Balt wasn't anywhere nearby. He grunted, while Ronthar smiled tiredly at her.

"It’s okay with me."

-'Yes.'-

Marland went to the bed the furthest away from the door. He eyed the blanket before he folded it up and stuck that and the pillow at the foot of the bed. He would have taken away the linen too, but he was just too damn tired. He curled up on the bed, hearing Ronthar slide into the other bed, several 'night's and fell right to sleep.


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