bakerstreet | CLEAN UP, AISLE 5

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CLEAN UP, AISLE 5

COVERED IN BLOOD MEME

So you're a bit of a mess. Or you're stumbling upon a mess. What happened? There's blood everywhere, what the hell? Is it your blood, animal blood, the blood of someone you murdered? Hell, maybe you ran out of tampons. Anyway, no matter how it got there, you're (or someone you know is) covered in blood. Can it be explained away? If not, is someone going to prison? The hospital? Going to die of blood loss? Get in trouble for playing catch with the blood bags? Man, we don't know. The point is you have a mess to clean up. Or roll around in gleefully, you nasty fucks.

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• While this meme is bound to have a lot of potentially triggering content, content warnings for anything ott or very extreme are probably a good idea!
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• Sorry for the delay!

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They never stood a chance, dabbling with what they didn't know from end to end. It seared through his blood and screamed until the only heartbeat he could still hear was his own, staccato and loud in his head.

Red stained his lips and his tongue, his hands, the whole of his being. The taste of blood upon his tongue was disgusting and divine all at once; he swallowed reflexively, mouth feeling dry at the realization. He'd awoken at some point, but what remained of mangled bodies and the taste in his mouth was all he needed to know about what happened.

His instincts bid him to keep eating, devour until only clothing remained. He was hungry, wasn't he? So very hungry....

Taking in the look of the strange circle scratched onto the cave floor, he sighed, and shakily rooted around for some clothes. He couldn't help the blood, but if he could help anything else....

At least he wouldn't be naked anymore.

Once that was squared away, he realized he couldn't stay here.

Right. As if staying among corpses was a good idea. Looking around to see if he could find any money on the bodies and elsewhere, Glenn tried not to think about what transpired, and put all of his focus into attaining some basics for the moment.

Looked like the work of mages, for the most part....

Anders didn't come up to the Wounded Coast very often. Usually it was just to collect herbs, or stake claims on good spots for his supplier. Elfroot was always easy to find, but sometimes he needed herbs and plants that only grew up in the mountains, and he was always careful to avoid territorial Tal-Vashoth or worse. On a good day, he only ran into bandits.

His belt pouches and satchel full of plants, Anders passed by a cave and thought he heard something. He and Justice debated for a short while whether to go down and investigate, before deciding to do so. What if it was Templars harassing someone?

Summoning a small wisp to light his path, Anders descended downward, the last of the screams dying down as he walked. He hoped he wasn't too late, if it was an innocent in trouble.

When he reached the cavern, he froze. There were bodies everywhere, the smell of death strong in the air, mixed with the smell of blood. "Andraste's flaming knickers."

Hiding himself as he heard footsteps, though caught off guard, Glenn hesitated to come out, hearing such an exclamation. The torches on the walls - well, most of them - were still lit. The main bulk of the bodies were around the circle drawn on the ground. It was also where they were the most decimated - one man was missing his arms, a woman, her head. Chunks of bone were littered about, some cleansed entirely of their marrow.

For now, he stayed hunkered down among a bunch of boxes and bags, on all fours. He could taste the magic in the air coming from this person. What if he was back-up?

Slowly, he hunched down further. Dimly, he realized that he should probably feel afraid, but... there was nothing. Just a sense of calm, of patience.

He should feel violated for what they've done to him, he also realized. There was certainly something going on with him right now: There was a shakiness in his whole body, his heart, still pounding like mad, and he felt vaguely dizzy. Part of him wanted to laugh, even though he felt nothing was funny, or perhaps to cry or scream. Even though any of those things would give him away in an instant, and perhaps seal his fate entirely.

There was still traces of magic, of the Fade, cloyingly in the air. Recent. And, perhaps, currently unfading in nature. As if at least part of the source was still there.

Anders could sense magic in the air, and Justice felt that the Veil was thin. A magic ritual perhaps? Anders surveyed the corpses, and found no Templars among the corpses, or even a hint of their armor. Anders feared that maybe this was a blood magic ritual.

Justice could sense it too. He didn't like it, and if the cause was still there, they had to investigate. The spirit promised to protect Anders.

Drawing his staff, Anders called, "Okay, if there's a blood mage here, or a Templar, know that I'm not alone. I have backup."

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He felt his shivering intensify, his thoughts screeching to a frustrating halt. An annoyingly cold sweat trickled down his nape.

"I--I'm not a mage at all...! Or a Templar!" His tongue felt thicker in his mouth than it should be, his words shaking. His voice...? It was always so calm. How strange that it wasn't right now.

"I-- I survived. I think... I killed them. It's blur. I think.. no. They did something to me.... Be careful. Please."

Anders whipped around at the voice, though it was hard to pinpoint thanks to the echo in the cavern. He was ready to throw lightning for a moment, before realizing that the voice was scared. They weren't being threatened.

"It's okay. I'm a healer. Come out, and I won't hurt you."

"...Alright."

Shakily standing up, Glenn moved to enter the healer's range of vision. His eyes reflected the lighting, taking on bright yellow from the torches and the softer color from the wisp. It flickered constantly, and there was a hint of a brief, ruby-red glow that faded just as quickly.

He was just as bloodied, even the clothing from where it had seeped through the thick cloth. He'd grabbed a robe at random and it didn't feel right, but it was better than walking around naked. His posture wasn't the best, slightly hunkered down in preparation to flee, hands holding onto the opposite forearms as if cold.

The most notable amount of blood on his body was on his torso, face, and hair. Very little of it his. The sense of the Fade grew stronger as he approached, but he stopped within a fair distance as well, not wanting to take much more of a chance than this.

He couldn't work his tongue around saying anything.

Anders lowered his staff, strapping it across his back to show this stranger that he meant no harm. The healer's instinct kicked in, wondering how much of that blood belonged to the stranger. He didn't seem to be limping, and otherwise didn't look to be in any kind of pain.

The closer he got, Justice could sense something off about him. The stranger had the air of the Fade about him. Was he like them? Possessed?

Anders took a careful step forward. "Are you hurt?"

He could smell something... familiar. Something lightly sticking to the back of his mouth. It was different from the scents from before, though. And... it didn't smell like food.

"...No, I don't think I am hurt. Only... whatever they did. I was... pulled here. Dragged. I..."

Brow furrowing, he shook his head. "...It's a bit hard to remember. Like I was asleep for most of it."

Anders paused. This man was an amnesiac, and needed his help. He looked around at the bodies again, wondering if maybe the young man before him had killed them. But if he wasn't a mage, had he killed them with his bare hands? Had he done something so traumatic that he'd blocked it out?

Justice suddenly had a thought. Was this person a denizen of the Fade, pulled through by some ritual? That would explain why the smell of the Fade was all over him, and his confusion. Anders agreed not to rule out the possibility.

"In any case, we should get out of this place. I know a spring nearby where you can wash up."

"...Yes, that... sounds wise."

He stayed still for the moment, taking a shaky look around. Slowly, his voice steadied, sounding almost rhythmic compared to erratic with fear.

"I feel... a little cold. I hope the spring is not much colder...."

It didn't even occur to him to ask the person in front of him to heat the water.

"..My name-- my name is Glenn." It was completely stiff, but he forced a little smile. He remembered, dimly - people often were put at ease by smiling.

"I hope... this does not take you far out of your way."

"If it is, I can warm it up for you."

Anders found that smile a little creepy. It wasn't sinister or evil, but it had an uncanny quality to it. Like this stranger didn't ever smile and therefor didn't know how.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Anders."

Waving Glenn along, Anders began to make his way out of the cave.

He could tell that his smile didn't do much, if anything. He dropped it quickly enough, not wanting to cause problems, nor unrest, and he nodded. He followed without further prompting.

"You mentioned that you have backup. I do not--" Hear, smell-- "--see anyone."

He could hear only his own heartbeat, and Anders's. He had a feeling, however, that if he mentioned that he could hear them, it might cause problems.

"...Why are you helping me? You do not know what happened here. Not that I remember much, either. You do not know me, either. Offering help-- you are just as likely to be burned as rewarded.

"I wonder if you gain something from this. I find it curious."

Bit by bit, his tone evened out. In a way, it almost sounded like the voice of a Tranquil, but not quite.

Edited 2019-05-22 02:47 (UTC)

"He's... around. It's complicated."

Justice could still sense the Fade on Glenn, and it didn't ebb. He smelled of it, but it wasn't quite a demon's scent. It was like a mixture of human and demon, which they thought was impossible.

"I'm a healer, and that's what we do. We help people who need us."

Anders saw the mouth of the cave approaching, the light getting closer as they traveled onward.

"...I see." He was pretty sure his opinion would be unwanted regarding that, so he didn't say what was really on his mind. At lest the mouth of the cave came, and he at once could smell the sea more clearly, and of the flora nearby. Good smells.

With nothing coming in their way at the moment, Glenn took the time to marvel as they emerged, taking in the surroundings in obvious awe. It felt this was the first time he really saw sunlight, but... was that really true?

Couldn't be. The sky was something he knew. He knew how it looked. Could he touch it? he wondered. What an odd thought.

If anything, the scent of the Fade got a little stronger for a few seconds before ebbing again to the state it was before: present, but far from overwhelming.

...He remembered this smell, at least. Of sand creeping into his boots, clawing the ground as--

"...I was dragged here," he observed absently. Looking around at the ground near his feet, the skid marks in the sand were deeply faded, but just barely visible. "...Blindfolded."

He was glad those who hurt him were dead.

Anders tensed when that feeling of the Fade increased, feeling it through Justice. For a second, Anders feared that Glenn would turn into a demon right there, but he stayed human and the scent of the Fade died down.

"You were kidnapped, you mean?"

The spring wasn't too far off. Anders walked down the trail, making sure Glenn was still with him.

"That could mean any number of things. Were they slavers? Blood mages looking do to a ritual?"

"I believe so, yes." He thought a moment, looking back to the flickers that he barely remembers.

"...As to who they were, I am uncertain. I might... have to go back to look. But there was a large sigil on the floor. I also remember hearing something watery landing on the floor near me."

He continued to follow, if somewhat behind him.

"After that, I believe I lost consciousness. When I woke up, it was only about a minute before you arrived. I felt something bad would happen to me if I did not leave soon.

"I... do not believe I have ever truly felt frightened before, until today."

"Could be blood mages, or even Magisters." Kirkwall did have a bit of a problem with Magisters as of late. "Or just some non-magic sickos playing with a ritual that they didn't understand." Anything was possible, really. Kirkwall tended to attract strange things.

"Don't worry, you're safe as long as you're with me."

Anders walked a few more meters, before they reached the spring. "Here we are. Let me know if it's too cold."

He turned around, facing away from Glenn so he could have some privacy.

Glenn considered pointing out that, if anything, he would probably be okay because of all the dead bodies and him being the only one left alive. But it probably wasn't a good idea.

Reaching the spring, Glenn moved to undress, and then reached down to dip his fingers into the water, only to recoil sharply with a look of utter distaste.

"Feels... half-frozen."

It actually wasn't, but Glenn's body temperature was so high that it was perceived that way.

Anders turned back around and knelt by the spring. He dipped his hand in, noting the temperature. It felt cold, but not to the extent Glenn described.

Shrugging, Anders channeled warm magic into his hand, warming it up just a little. He didn't want to make it boil.

"How about now?"

Completely nonplussed by even being glanced at on accident in his nudity, he blinked a bit and tried again with his fingertips. It still felt chilly, but it wasn't as bad as before, so he nodded and slipped in all at once, flinching and letting out a minor yelp of discomfort. Shivering, he hurriedly tried to clean up. At least he could move. He probably would have been too stunned to do anything if the water was any colder.

A faint, strange clicking sound briefly emerging from his throat (it certainly didn't sound like teeth chattering, even though his did that a little, too,) Glenn continued to wipe his scarred body free of the blood and dirt on it. Huh. There were some burn scars on his body, too. And other kinds of scars. Did he used to always have these? The tissue seemed like it had been repairing itself for some months now, but it felt... strange.

Anders stayed where he was, kneeling by the spring and watching Glenn. It was still noon, so Anders had a better look at the other man now that they were out of the dim lighting of the cave. There was a face under all that dirt and blood, the water turning a little red as Glenn cleaned himself up.

Blonde eyebrows went up at the noise Glenn made. He also couldn't help but look at those scars, wondering what the story behind each of them was.

"Do you have someplace you can go when we get to Kirkwall?"

"...No one place in particular, no. But, I am good at finding temporary places to rest. Apparently, not ones that assist in avoiding kidnapping, unfortunately."

Still shaking, he immersed himself a little more into the chilly (to him) water, until the last of the blood and dirt fell away. Only then did he come out of the water without warning, Honestly, the only places that he didn't seem to be scarred as much were his neck, face, stomach, thighs, and groin.

Looking down at himself a bit, he scowled, touching over several of those scars with a furrowed brow. Still, he didn't comment, and only moved to try to wipe off excess water while the sun's warmth started to dry him off.

Anders averted his eyes as Glenn stepped out of the spring, wanting to give the other man a bit of privacy. He'd seen a bit of those scars, and was still curious about them. That and thinking that he could have healed every single one of them if he'd been there at the time Glenn had received them.

He picked up the robe and held it out to Glenn. It still had some blood on it, but there was nothing else around for him to cover himself with.

"I have a place in Darktown. If you like, you can stay there tonight."

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CLEAN UP, AISLE 5

Anders | Dragon Age

cw: cannibalism

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