Warning for: Vootru having a panic attack/massive trigger from mention of past abuser(s)


For the first time in years, Vootru had finally felt at peace. The looming shadow of his father was gone, and much more importantly, he'd finally managed to convince himself it was gone. Tidalwave could no longer hurt him, and he was safe. Safe in the mist with his coven who'd welcomed him home and made him one of their own. The toa had prospered. He'd learned their secrets of alchemy. Eugene and Mertle had taught him how to brew the finest potions. He could make wards and protect himself and those he'd grown to care about. He'd learned the safest paths through the Terendum territory and how to avoid the ever-lurking god. Once he'd even helped a pair of travelers escape to safety from under the god's nose! He'd truly felt empowered then. If he could outwit and outrun even a god, surely his own father paled in comparison. Surely. If only his mind could follow a reasonable line of thinking. Now, with reports of a large amount of ketucari having been sighted at the edge of Terendum, he feared for the worst. 


Vootru tried to focus on the words coming from the scout's mouth, but the beating of his heart just about drowned them out. If that large group of ketucari was what he thought it was, he wasn't safe. It'd all been a lie. He wasn't safe, and neither was his entire family here. 


"They aren't making good time. they seem ill-equipped..."


Ill equipped or not they would press on. There was no stopping them. His sheer tenacity was one of the truly terrifying things of Tidalwave. He would never stop. He would never back down. They were doomed!


No. It might not be them. 


"... leading them seemed to be a blue phoenix..." 


His breath caught in his chest and his heartrate spiked to a level he'd forgotten it could reach. 
It was him. He was coming. 


Vootru's very body began to shake uncontrollably. Not in the way of a shiver, or in a brief moment of pain, but in the uncontrollable terror that wraps its thorny vines around one's very psyche, rooting one in place, and threatening to suffocate the life from one's physical form. 


The scout's next words seemed so very far away and muffled, as if they came from beyond the water in a well.


"... So many our small party couldn't make out the total. We'd guess over 100..."
-he felt like he couldn't breathe-
"...Unsure of their intentions but they looked armored and armed..."
-they were all going to die-
"...They are making very slow progress..."
-he took a shaky breath and gasped soft as a prayer-
"we're all going to die"


The long feathers of a familiar tail brushed over his back causing him to flinch away and turn in shock, and unbridled fear to see a large harpy with flames that danced across their flank. 
"Vootru. Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost!" 


Eugene had come to stand next to him. The larger harpy slowly leaned into him, offering a comforting shoulder. It wasn't enough to tear Vootru from his terror, but he leaned in gratefully. He wasn't able to speak to answer his friend's question but Eugene didn't seem to mind. They leaned into the smaller toa, now knowing the pressure was wanted, and positioned their chin between Vootru's shoulder blades. 


"Let's lie down. The ground is soft here, covered in moss."
 
Vootru found himself nodding and folding his legs, sinking into the aforementioned moss. It was soft. It was squishy. It was slightly damp. It was curly. It felt nice between his pads. 
Vootru's chest released a bit unconsciously. 
The moss was green. Eugene's paws were so many shades of gray. The water nearby was a brackish brown-green. His own feet were a bright blue that didn't quite blend in with the dreary surroundings. 
Vootru could feel the shaking now. It was no longer an unknown part of him, but something he realized was happening to him, and slowly and carefully it was coming under control. He still felt stiff and icy, but he was warming up. He could smell Eugene's musk, distinctly different from the swamp. It smelled of a blend of herbs and spices that almost made him hungry, and the slight hint of charred wood from an ever-present fire in the harpy's alchemy practice. The swamp around him smelled of heat and moisture, almost like sweat, but more earthy. Thankfully they weren't near a gaseous place that sometimes formed in the bog. With great painstaking care Vootru leaned his head down into the moss, resting it between his paws. He took in a whiff and it smelled like dirt and green growing material, but with a hint of the forests he'd once called home. The moss smelled sweetly familiar and calming, just as Eugene did. 


Eugene could feel the shaking subside as well as their friend's breathing steady. They spoke softly to him. "You're safe. You're okay. We aren't leaving you, and we'll deal with any problems these ketucari bring with them together. They're nowhere near here yet. If we need to leave, we have time to make preparations and go. If we need to hide we have time to plan that as well. This is our home, and no one knows it better than we do."


"Our home." Vootru nodded, conscious thoughts returning to him. "We're okay. We're together." He said. 


Eugene purred against him. "That's right. We're together with all of our friends and family. Do you want to leave?" 


Vootru couldn't answer them. Part of him wanted nothing more than to run from this place- to get as far from Tidalwave and the bloodshed and abuse that came with him as he could. He couldn't move though, and even if he could, the other part of him still felt the calming presence of his friend and longed for the safety of the home he'd felt minutes earlier. 


Around the two ketucari, the coven was discussing what to do about the mass of strangers entering their lands. Vootru was starting to tune back in to what was being said, but he was still having trouble processing it all. 


"Who are they?" "They don't seem to know any Talik magic or they wouldn't be so slow." "Why are they armed, what is their goal?" "Did they think this was a shortcut to somewhere?" "Why is Halicaecus never around when it'd be nice?"


At the invocation of the god's name, a hush fell over the gathering as they all peered around, as if by merely mentioning him, the great demon would appear out of the mists and begin devouring them. They were not so unfortunate today, but Tidalwave's army would not suffer the same good fortune.