when things break bad...

[ldfsh]

Bad End AU Meme

Sometimes you want a fix-it AU. You want everyone to live, to be happy, to find love, so on and so forth. You want the bad guy to lose early, for victory and triumph. Those are great things. Those are happy things. But sometimes terrible things happen to good people and you want to get catharsis through making some characters suffer. We understand. We really do. Sometimes no one wins. Sometimes the villain wins. Sometimes even if the heroes win everything is for naught. Sometimes, things just don't end happily.

• Top level your character. Include any details you might think are relevant. Or don't. As always, we're not the cops.
  
• Reply to other people's top levels!
  
• Have fun!

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[portolan]

Fran spoke of how hard the first weeks were without the Wood. Balthier wasn't going to insult David with empty sympathy, but he does put a hand on the other's arm, squeezing it firmly.

"She must respect you a great deal to entrust you with this."

Balance or the Wood burning. It makes Balthier's stomach tight, but he had worried about as much himself. He just -- didn't honestly see what one Viera was going to do about it. But he wasn't about to let David try to follow that objective alone, especially knowing so little of the Hume world.

"You will travel with me, as long as you wish to." He wasn't sure how appealing of an offer it was, but David had it so long as he wanted it.

[helpdesk_hero]

"I think she believes no other would agree," David countered. Faith in him? No. The Wood would not be so foolish.

It was a relief, though, to know he would have companionship.

"I am grateful. I do not know what to do. The world of the Humes is unknown to me."

[portolan]

"Do Viera turn down the Green Word?" Maybe it's insensitive to ask right now, but it genuinely surprises him.

The vulnerability, though, reminds him to be mindful. "Balfonheim is a port, and it is independent of the warring states. It is a good place to find information." He squeezes David's arm again. "They have good book shops, too."

[helpdesk_hero]

"You've seen plenty of Viera out of the Wood," David points out. He knows it happens. It is rare, but it happens. "And had I refused, she would not have turned me away."

He, though, had not chosen this. Even if he might have wanted to.

"You will not abandon me then?"

[portolan]

That's fair enough, and Balthier doesn't know how explicit the Green Word is presented. Still, the last bit makes him consider his words. After that first night, he did not push David on his interest in the outside world, but it's clear the Viera has it. There's a reason he did not refuse, even if the cost is enormous.

"You may travel with me as long as you wish," Balthier reiterates. "And I'll probably tell you to wait if you try to part with me before I'm sure you can navigate Humes alright. They're not nearly so direct as Viera, or as logical."

[helpdesk_hero]

"I fear that this new will mean that I am bound to you for a while. Are you certain that this is something with which you will be comfortable?"

He knew the man might not wish the weight of another Viera on his shoulders, this one inexperienced.

[portolan]

Balthier shrugs, giving David a wry smile. “It gives me a purpose that means something. I’d be a fool not to take that compass direction.”

And honestly, he enjoys David’s company.

[helpdesk_hero]

Well, that was something he could accept.

"Then I shall try and not hinder you."

[portolan]

“I dont suspect that will be an issue.” He’s been enough of a hindrance, morose and — while they have been weaker — plagued by nightmares. “Or at least, I will be enough of a hindrance to make us even.”

Still, there’s no sense staying here, where David likely can no longer pass, and so he takes a few steps to see if the other wishes to progress.

[helpdesk_hero]

"You know the way the world is outside of the wood," David countered.

But Balthier was moving, and so the Viera straightened himself, tried to ignroe the pain, and began to walk. What else could he do after all?

"Is the distance we must travel long?

[portolan]

It doesn’t escape Balthier’s notice that David’s gait is altered. He will keep an eye. Grief is a heavy burden.

“Yes. It’s probably a week to where we can find airship passage, assuming they are still running ships. Longer if we need to go by sea. I don’t want to go by sea.”

[helpdesk_hero]

"Is there an issue with transit by the sea?"

Not that David had ever known bodies of water so large as a sea. He would likely be shocked to see it.

[portolan]

“It smells of sour bodies and I get sea sick. But it’s reliable should we need it.” He ought to let David make up his own mind, but he can’t help the distaste in his reaction.

He feels like he ought to say something else, but what does one say to loss of home, a breaking point? Balthier has been there more than once.

“I’ll be glad for your company,” he says.

[helpdesk_hero]

Well, David could accept that his company was welcome. The Hume was still clearly in need of care.

"I suppose I shall have to learn the magics used outside of the Wood now. And hope to be able to keep up with you."

[portolan]

“I can help with the basics of some,” he offers. When he left, distraction was helpful.

Perhaps that’s a story he needs to offer, but right now it sticks in his throat, somehow the point he’s chosen for when everything started to be his fault.

“Perhaps it’s fortunate I’m moving slow these days. Glad to have some use for it.”

[helpdesk_hero]

"Until you feel stronger, I will do my best to protect you. But please teach me to deal with Humes. I imagine not all of them are like you, and you are the first I ever met."

And so all he knew of their people was what he knew of Balthier.

[portolan]

His pride flares but he bites it down. David has to be wildly untethered; he doesn’t need to take this from the Viera. “Appreciated. When we pass a market I will acquire a ranged weapon and hopefully be of more assistance.”

To the latter though, he pauses, looking back to catch David’s gaze. “I will teach you, and I will not leave you to fend for yourself.” Was that how male Viera were trained? Regardless, passing through smaller trade camps on their way may be valuable.

He doesn’t even notice the way his mind slips easily to these tasks, the first time in weeks it’s felt any clarity or purpose.

[helpdesk_hero]

It is not his fault that Balthier came to him weak and unarmed. It was clear that Balthier still needed time to grow stronger, to be as fit as he clearly had been before.

"My gratitude for the lessons. My kind do not meet outsiders at all."

That he had met Balthier at all was a shock.

[portolan]

Balthier had met Fran when she was accustomed, in her way, to Humes. He would have to keep adjusting his expectations. But it made it easier too, that they were different.

“We will go at your pace. I don’t know that anything will prepare you for a city, but we will find quiet spaces for you should you want them to rest in. And I think you will enjoy watching the landscape change.”

[helpdesk_hero]

"Quiet spaces?"

See, he wasn't at all prepared for the idea that things could be more noisy then Eryut village was. He would truly be shocked and confused when he encountered it.

"Change?" he asked. The man had spoken of it before, and now David wanted to see it. "Please, then, guide me. Show me more of your world."

[portolan]

It's one thing to know someone hasn't seen the world and another to begin to process it. Balthier chuckles lightly. "Words don't hold much weight in this case, do they?"

It's good, though, to hear some curiosity in David. "We can go three ways out of the jungle. One is a mist-heavy wood, and I do not think I am strong enough for the creatures there. One is through the snowy mountains, and I do not think we are properly prepared in clothing, so we will go the third, which lets out on the plains the eventually turn to desert."

[helpdesk_hero]

No, he supposed they did not. Balthier was going to have the paint a picture in experience, and David would hopefully adjust to it.

"I would prefer the wood, but I understand the reasons to not. I believe I have heard of deserts before. They are places where there are less rain. What sorts of plants grow there, I wonder."

[portolan]

"It's not much like this wood, but it would likely be interesting to see." In his private opinion, everything is worth seeing, but he also knows familiarity is comforting in an upheaval. If the feywood made sense, he'd prioritize it.

"We should get you a blank book when we can, and you can record your travels and the plants."

[helpdesk_hero]

That sounded wise. A travelog of sorts, a way to communicate the changes he saw, as well as what he felt.

"Is this a common thing to be done?" he asked curiously as they walked together, though his eyes weren't on Balthier. They were on the wood around them, his senses straining for signs of dangerous creatures.

[portolan]

“To keep a personal log or journal is common. I suspect if you wanted to publish it someday it would be of great interest to people, given your unique perspective.” He didn’t know if David had ever considered that in addition to reading books, he could write them.

“I have kept them on and off over the years.”