Tunda and the Traitor Drow

Karma rushes out of the tent they hid inside of, their eyes wide and glowing with concern and their cheeks streamed with dry streaks tracing their face. they look in the direction of the sunrise listening for the distance. Aktlass looks at them ready to trade watches with them, but they ignore his calls to them as they wait in waning anxiety. without a second thought they rush past him into the forest with a heavy heart.

In the forest, Tunda stands behind the group of cults that head their daggers ready to attack the drow, who was covered in blood but not too hurt. The drow's face was obviously stricken with fear as he backed away from the crowd, shivering and panicking from his dismal situation getting worse, until a thought struck him.

DROW:

"M-my friend! You have come to my aid in destroying these monsters!"

the others turn to look at the drow in disbelief.

CULTISTS:

"what!? So you were coaxed to betrayal!"

"how dare you make a mockery of her ladyship's pity for you!"

"I knew you were a heretic. you traitor!"

The drow suddenly throws a dagger at one of the cultists and it stabs them in the shoulder and makes them scream from the pain. The drow fails to hide his smile as he pulls three new daggers from his cloak ready to throw them at his next victim.

the one that got stabbed yanks the dagger from her arm and shouts.

CULTISTS:

"Get them! And kill the traitorous heretic!!"

One of the cultists Tunda attacks, swings at Tunda with a scimitar and misses him as he steps back. The bleeding one by the drow draws their scimitar and attacks the drow with two others. The first barely grazes him until he gets barraged with more attacks slicing at him and barely missing his vitals. The rest attack Tunda, barely doing any damage to him. He swings his ax across the first damaged cultist and kills them then slams it into the second one's head as they charge at him. He swipes at the last one and they stop short of his last attack. The drow kills the one he damaged, stabbing her in the face with one of his daggers. He ducks under another attack and kicks them out of the way, making them stumble. The other two standing attack Tunda and he takes their attacks head on, letting them pierce his shoulder and stomach and locking his muscles around the blades. One cultist backs off in fear and falls back on his behind while the second one tries to pull out their sword from his stomach. Tunda yanks the scimitar from his shoulder and swings at the one on his stomach. They let go of the Scimitar in his stomach and fall back next to the other that fell, letting him take both of their heads in one swing. The drow slices at the cultists before him, out of breath and bleeding badly. He uses what little strength he has left to throw a dagger at them and steps out of harm's way.

CULTIST:

"Give up and surrender your life, Traitor. you can even beg for a quick and merciful death from me."

DROW:

"heh. nah... I don't want to be late for my date with my savior here."

The drow holds his hand up and the dagger he threw flies back through the cultists chest and catches it. the cultist spits up blood and drops to her knees.

CULTISTS:

"you... t-traitorous... low. Blood..."

The cultist falls forward and dies. The drow sighs in relief until he suddenly hears someone rushing through the trees. Karma leaps through into the clearing they were in and looks around to find Tunda and the drow at either side of a mess of cultists. To karma, Tunda had just defeated a large mass of Cultists. Tunda pulls the other scimitar out of his stomach and looks at Karma, as his wounds bleed before slowly closing on themselves. The drow looks at Karma nervously thinking they were a bandit from the camp, and decides to try and leave. Karma dashes in front of him suddenly and pulls their longsword to his throat from behind him.

KARMA:

"Five seconds. tell me who you are and what you do."

DROW:

"What??"

KARMA:

"Three. Two..."

TUNDA:

"he's not with them..."

Tunda yanks his Ax out of a cultist's face and puts it away.

TUNDA:

"They were chasing him to the camp. I had to stop them."

KARMA:

"By yourself!?"

TUNDA:

"... I faced an army of them and lived, didn't I?"

KARMA:(frustrated)

"...!? Tch!! Fuck!"

Karma sheaths their longsword and steps away from the drow to approach Tunda. Tunda notices one of the cultists was still struggling to crawl away when a ghostly dagger suddenly appears in front of him and drops onto them, killing them instantly. Tunda and Karma look at the drow who was struggling to stand on his own two feet.

DROW:

"... well... anyone willing to save a traitor?"

KARMA:

"... Consider your life spared. Let's go, Tunda."

TUNDA:

"... What about the bodies?"

KARMA:

"What about them?"

TUNDA:

"The fae doesn't like his forest contaminated with death..."

KARMA:

"ugh... that's too many."

The drow snaps his fingers and a dark purple flame bursts on each body and sets them ablaze until there is nothing left but ash marks on the ground. He finally drops to his knees from exhaustion.

DROW:

"*huff*... Can I get that help now?"

KARMA:

"... *grrr* For fucks sake. Tunda, help this fucker to the camp."

TUNDA:

"Alright."

Tunda helps the drow to his feet and they make their way to the camp.

At the camp, Sarale blinks awake and rolls over to stare at Vajor's sleeping figure. His face right next to hers and she presses a gentle kiss to the corner of his mouth before wiggling out of his grasp and crawling out of the tent. She stretches and yawns before going to sit next to Aktlass. She leans against his side and rests her head on his shoulder.

SARALE:(*harsh whisper*)

"Thank you."

Aktlass looks down at her with a soft expression of unknown satisfaction. though he didn't know what to do with his new feeling, he knew where it was coming from and welcomed it happily with Sarale's touch.

AKTLASS:

"I'm not sure what I did, but you're welcome... how do you feel?"

Sarale shrugs and looks up at him peacefully.

SARALE:(*rubs throat*)

"Better. Not as sore that's for sure. You helped me when I called you. You were there. You were actually there. You didn't abandon me like they said everyone would if I asked for help. Thank you."

he thinks for a long while on her words, unable to understand what she was saying. He decides to shrug off his confusion and wraps his arm around her to rub her shoulder as he holds her close with a smile on his face. 

AKTLASS:

"I will continue to be there for you. as will we all. You are our family. Our sister. Though not blood, we will spill blood for you as you have for us."

Sarale accepts his affection and leans into his side contentedly.

SARALE:

"John's been helping me figure some things out and work through some trauma. He said I need to prune my garden of parasites. I took care of one solo, but got pretty banged up. He showed me what I looked like and how much it hurt him, even though he can't stand me, I'm pretty sure anyway.. that boy is hot and cold, I can't figure it out and I'm not going to try. But it made me wonder what it was like for someone who does like me when I get hurt like that and… I'm sorry. I didn't realize me doing things myself hurt you guys so much. (sighs) when I was young my father would beat me if I asked for help and my mother sat back and watched it happen. If I cried he hit harder and the one time I begged my mother to help she left, and he carved his anger into my skin. He said asking for help made me weak, pathetic, a burden, among other things. He carved those words into my flesh so I could never forget them. Told me.." 

Sarale sits up straight and imitates her fathers voice and facial expression.

SARALE:

"Nobody will ever love you if you can't handle it on your own. I guess he was right about that. Nobody in the Underdark would ever love me… but this isn't the Underdark. I'm not a slave to their ideals and doctrines. I can ask for help and it's okay. That doesn't make me a burden, it makes me family. I don't have to be the perfect daughter, the perfect soldier, or even the perfect paladin. Because to you guys I'm perfect the way I am, even broken and battered you guys still love and accept me. So thank you, brother, for being there when I needed you most. I'm not a monster. I deserve to be loved. I'm safe. I have a family."

Though Aktlass' expression showed no change to his expression, it was obvious that he was far too confused by her speech to understand what she was trying to convey. What he did know was that he was ready to raid the underdark to destroy the entire kingdom. Sarale's small joke was enough to make his blood boil for the underdark nobility.

Sarale hears movement coming through the trees and leans forward to see Karma, Tunda, and the drow enter the camp. Her eyes widen and she falls back off the log she shared with Aktlass, scrambling to hide behind him. She grips his shoulder and peeks past him, half her face visible to the others. The appearance of the drow hung over Tunda's shoulder in a slump, breathless, bleeding and haggard. Tunda had a few puncture wounds and scratches but his exhaustion seemed to stem from something else. Karma was scratching their head in contemplation, completely distracted by their thoughts. Whatever they were thinking, didn't seem to sit well with them as they finally came to a visible conclusion.

KARMA:

"... alright then. Aktlass, you wanna destroy the underdark with me?"

AKTLASS:

"You read my mind. but explain what that's about first."

KARMA:

"Ask them yourself. I got too many things running through my head right now and it's making me agitated."

AKTLASS:

"Come sit and destress."

Aktlass pats his thigh and Karma rushes to his side happily to sit by him and accept the offer, using his thigh as a pillow as he rubs their shoulder. Karma still had a face of contemplation but they were less frustrated now.

Sarale's brows furrow as she studies the drow. His hair and robes seem oddly familiar and recognition crosses her features and she stares at the man with wide eyes. Her jaw hangs open slightly as if she's trying to speak, but can't get the words out, and her eyes grow misty. Vajor crawls out of the tent and yawns, sitting next to Aktlass and giving Sarale a questioning look.

VAJOR:

"dove, are ya alright?"

Vajor follows her gaze.

VAJOR:

"who tha fuck is that?"

Sarale inches out from behind Aktlass and leans, trying to see the drow's face without getting too close. The drow huffs and looks up at the camp in response to Vajor's harsh tone, with a glint of his golden eyes before passing out. His sculpted, dark features, paling as he slumps over Tunda's shoulder and hangs heavy. Tunda steps carefully to hold the drow steady as he holds him closer then sets him down by his own tent, using the fabric as a support, then sits in front of him. His appearance was now more exposed in the opening as he struggled with the pain. Silent tears drip down Sarale's face as she stares at the man in shock. When she notices Tunda's injuries her heart sinks further.

SARALE:

"Tunda? May I heal you?" 

Vajor looks at her in disbelief and concern for clenching his jaw and looking at the drow in suspicion. Tunda looks at Sarale blankly as if he didn't realize he was actually injured as he studies her expression.

TUNDA:

"... You mind doing this guy first? You look like your heart'll break if he stays like this."

Sarale shook her head and stood to approach them. She looks at the drow sadly. She sighs and kneels next to Tunda and the drow. 

SARALE:

"my heart broke the moment I recognized him. I've mourned his death once already. Doing so a second time wouldn't be as painful as losing you."

Tunda looks at her confused before sitting back and waiting. She reaches for Tunda and covers his wound gently. The golden light of her healing magic illuminates her sadness as his wounds close. She offers no further explanation. Once he's healed she turns to the drow and reaches for him, hesitating nervously before pressing her palm to his forehead and closing her eyes. Images flash through her mind and her heart shatters as fresh tears stream down her face silently. She doesn't trust herself to speak as she swallows the lump in her throat, his wounds healing slowly, and rests her hands in her lap. She stands and pats Tunda's shoulder reassuringly as she walks back to her tent quietly. The drow's voice echoes with a soft pain as she opens the tent to enter it. 

DROW:

"You won't even greet me, child? I didn't think my memories were so brutal to cry alone for."

She sniffles and hangs her head. Her voice cracks when she speaks.

SARALE:

"it's not your memories that pain me Naleth. It's my guilt."

Vajor sighs and glances back at the tent before standing and going to the fire,

VAJOR:

"I'll get food started. Maybe she'll feel better after gettin' somethin' in her stomach."

Not long after, Sarale found herself in the underdark castle in a beautiful garden isolated from the rest of the castle and lit with a beautiful blue and soft lavender hues of lights. John pops out of one of the large bundles of flowers and dusts himself off as he looks around in awe and confusion.

JOHN:

"This isn't yours. Where'd this come from?"

Sarale glances at John and hugs her knees as she sits with her back against the cold stone wall. Her chin resting on her knees.

SARALE:

"It's the garden back where I was born. Naleth's garden."

JOHN:

"That Adonis from the cult?"

SARALE:

"The only light I had in this nightmare."

JOHN:

"I can see why... The guy's just as much of an oddball as you are."

SARALE:(*glances at John*)

"You have no idea. (sigh) He was wonderful. I thought he'd.. it doesn't matter anymore. I was wrong."

JOHN:

"Are you sure it doesn't matter?"

John glances around the garden when he spots a still figure standing in the corner at the far end. They seemed like a statue tucked away in the corner until it moved and studied the flowers.

JOHN:

"whoa... that is some scary beauty right there."

Sarale watches the figure, but doesn't move.

SARALE:

"it doesn't. Like I said, I thought wrong. My father was wrong."

She points at the figure.

SARALE:

"He didn't abandon me like I was made to believe."

Sarale rests her head on her knees again. The garden rustles and a tinier Sarale sneaks around the bend to peek at the statuesque figure, who hears the rustling and turns to face her. His face was clear of most of the scars that were displayed on him in the real world as he smiles at the young Sarale with soft and gentle, loving bless. he offers a hand to her and she cautiously goes to him before they both vanish into a fog, letting the memory slip away. Sarale stands and dusts herself off, 

SARALE:

"I guess while I'm here I may as well address my garden again or do you have something different planned?"

JOHN:

"I wanna see another one. Watch with me. you may get something out of this. You have good memories, so let's watch them."

******

out in the camp, Aktlass, Karma, and Tunda sit by the fire listening to Naleth's explanation of why he was in the forest.

NALETH:

"I won't be swearing to any gods, but I will insist that everything I tell you is truth through my eyes. so take what you will with a grain of salt. I am Naleth Uosalmyt. a former convent of the order of Lolth... a false order created by demons. I began following them because of this."

Naleth tugs on his robe.

NALETH:

"My initial goal was to grow closer to the underdark monarch, and ruin the consort ruling from the inside... initially to satisfy goddess Lolth, but I found that this cult is ruled by evils that wish this world to ruin. So I chose to take this and left."

Naleth takes a magically preserved scroll from his sleeve and hands it to Karma as if he knew they could read it. They take it and use a ritual to unbind and read it. an eerie white smoke emits from their hands and eyes as they look through it. Once they are done Karma sighs and they hand it to Tunda to put in his bag of holding.

KARMA:

"So why don't you tell your fellow drow? Or were you chased out for being weak hearted?"

NALETH:

"... You have a way with words too I see. Those could be the reason for my banishment, but it's actually worse than that. Those here have been put under the influence of another demon that wishes for the downfall of Lolth and all that represents her. due to that demon's intervention in the first ritual, Lolth was meant to be summoned and-."

KAMRA:

"We know that story already since we have the poor soul in question."

NALETH:

"... so you do... then I have nothing much else to explain."

Aktlass leans forward and glares through the fire.

AKTLASS:

"you've yet to say how you and Sarale are connected? the look she gave you made you safe for now, But we have no reason to trust you."

NALETH:

"F-fair..."

Naleth sigh and sits up straight.

NALETH:

"So she is called Sarale here... I'm... I once knew her as a young child centuries ago... she was quite the tormented soul. just how Lolth expects us all to be..."

Naleth's face twists into a broken smile, but his beauty was not warped from the eerie smile he gave.

NALETH:

"how laughable it is that we are simply tools of entertainment for such evil... and those like Aenmel-!!?"

Tunda suddenly covers Naleth's mouth with a panicked expression of horror and disgust. Naleth gives him a slow glance and his eyes twist into a knowing smile. He pulls Tunda's hand from his mouth.

NALETH:

"sorry. I misspoke. She goes by Sarale here. As I was saying, those like her are too unfortunate to be born in the underdark, since those souls are only fated into being tormented not just by the evil that envelopes the underdark, but must suffer in their minds and hearts as they accept sensitive emotions of those around them... I'm glad she has yet to break like me."

Vajor's ear twitches and he looks up from the food he was prepping.

VAJOR:

"like you? So yer tellin' us yer like dove? Ya can see thin's that others feel, their memories an such."

NALETH:

"I can. I don't think running off with her now is a good idea in this forest, so maybe you should stay in this group of friends you have. the more she has the safer she can be."

VAJOR:(*wide eyes*)

"I.."

Vajor's jaw clicks shut and he stares down Naleth.

VAJOR:(groan)

"yer right. The thought did cross my mind. It was a moment of weakness. It's also why I didn't act on it when I had tha chance. Running off with her would only hurt her more an I want nothin' more than ta keep her safe."

NALETH:(amused)

"... that's nice to hear."

Everyone cringes at his odd behavior growing more unsettling and they become more guarded around him.

KARMA:(insistent)

"alright. So what's your relation to Sarale then. Why did she look so heartbroken when she saw you with Tunda?"

NALETH:

"I would say it was a bit complicated if not for our similar circumstances. if I had to label my relation to her, it'd be... we found solace in each other's presence, having been tortured and suppressed by the same person for different reasons."

TUNDA:

"It's not because you're the same?"

NALETH:

"No. because we're not the same. she is still far more pure and welcoming than I am... especially now."

AKTLASS:(*agitated hissing*)

"Your words are getting spiteful."

NALETH:

"ha ha... there's n-no reason behind my words. It's just how I've come to be. she'd be the same if she hadn't been protected and well received by... other gods."

Vajor goes back to preparing the meal.

VAJOR:(sighs)

"so yer sayin' ya found comfort in each others company because her father's a cunt… I'm curious why she said her memories of ya weren't the source of her pain, but rather her guilt. What does she have ta be guilty fer?"

NALETH:

"... I think that would be something she should tell you herself... guilt stems from one's own vice in others after all."

Sarale blinks awake and yawns, slipping out of the tent, and scratching Ithildin's ears as she walks past everyone to sit next to Naleth without a second thought. She's quiet for a few moments listening to the conversation, before she leans sideways and rests her head on his shoulder, staring into the fire. For a split moment, Naleth glares down at Sarale with unfiltered rage in his eyes. Vajor swallows as he watches them, his heart leaping into his throat, though his exterior seemed perfectly calm. Tunda and Karma watched him carefully.

NALETH:

"you rested well, ssinjin."

*Translation*(sweet)

Sarale closes her eyes before opening them with a soft smile.

SARALE:

"Siyo, ussta deis zhahen valyrin ulu uns'aa, jhal dos jal'yur zhaun nindel."

*Translation*(Yes, my dreams were kind to me, but you already know that.)

Aktlass jumped from his seat with his ax pulled from his side. Sarale's eyes widen at Aktlass, her hands raising as she sits up straight.

SARALE:

"woah! It's okay. Da-.. Aktlass please calm down."

NALETH:

"It wasn't for a moment."

SARALE:

"I know."

NALETH:

"I see your thoughts haven't changed one bit have they?"

SARALE:

"At least I'm consistent."

NALETH:

"I wish you'd change that."

SARALE:(*head tilt*)

"I'm working on it."

NALETH:

"... I'm... pleased to hear that."

Sarale visibly tenses up and cuts her eyes at Naleth.

SARALE:

"It's… okay?"

As soon as she looked at him, a hand was in her face ready to flick her in the face. as soon as it does Naleth suddenly has a stern tone in his voice.

NALETH:

"stop it."

Sarale holds her forehead and pouts, puffing out her cheeks.

SARALE:

"ow~. I didn't even say anything."

NALETH:

"I know what you're thinking about. Stop it."

SARALE:

"It's not like I'm trying to."

Naleth pulls her into a hug and pets her hair at the base of her neck. His touch was cold compared to the welcoming warmth of the morning sun. Sarale relaxes with a hum when Naleth suddenly starts chuckling to himself as he holds her tighter as if she were a little girl in his arms. Sarale smiles to herself and hugs him, holding onto his robes and leaning into him. Vajor eyes them in confusion before going back to cooking the meal and shaking his head.

VAJOR:

"Foods almost done."

A few seconds of cuddling later, Naleth looks around the party as if he knew what they were thinking. Tunda quickly stands after making eye contact with him the longest and rushes over to Vajor. He didn't understand why, but he felt even more uncomfortable than he knew he should be.

TUNDA:

"H-hey, Vajor. Lemme help dish the food." 

Aktlass seemed confused and for some unsettling reason he felt his blood boil until Karma leaned against him in a similar way as if asking to be helped the same way. He couldn't help but to accept their lust for attention. Everyone had finally settled with the tension and chose to observe the two for the time being. Vajor swallows nervously before nodding at Tunda.

VAJOR:

"yeah~.. come on."

Sarale watches the group curiously, gauging their reaction, and giggles innocently at their expressions.