Private Tales Behind the Mask

[Wren Kingsley]

Shit. She'd tried to keep the gryphon grounded for as long as she could but the more she pulled on the reins the harder it thrashed.

She whipped her head around, watching the knights corner Valren and she let out a panicked breath as he tried to make a run for it only to be thrown to the ground. Had he really just sacrificed his own life to let them leave?...

"Take the reins.." she snapped to Theon and ignored his protests as she thrust them into his hands and slipped from the saddle. "Get to Widow Wood, my sisters will be there." she told him.

"Wren, please lass! You'll get yourself killed!" .. She ignored him again and smacked the gryphon on the rump, it's wings instantly beating at the ground as it took off with a screaming Theon clutching on for dear life.

"HEY!!" she yelled out, yanking the scarf down from her face and the hood from her hair. They recognised her, and started their approach immediately. Wren drew in a breath and focused her attention on the air around her, her fists curling against her palms as she gripped it and instantly whipped it around her and threw it against them, the gust taking them off their feet and sending them clattering hard into the prison walls.. The man who'd got up first was caught with the wind again and slammed into the wall until his bones crushed and he screamed out before falling silent. Her hands fell to her sides and she blinked in shock for a moment.

The two others got to their feet and looked at the dying man and back to her with a new found fury.. "We're leaving" she pointed to Valren .."...on a fucking gryphon.. Now." she frowned, daring them to attempt to stop her.

 

[Val]

Val didn't speak, mostly because he couldn't.

He saw...no not really, he felt the guard of wind that rushed over him and heard the clatter of armor as the men who'd been intent on ending his were thrown away. His head lulled up, ears ringing as he saw Wren standing In place. A smile touched his lips for a brief moment, and like a child he slowly began to crawl forward.

The sight was a truly pathetic one, Val's body marred with a dozen cuts and gashes that tainted the ground beneath him with a deep crimson. He cringed slightly as pain lanced through his body, but did his best to ignore the anguish he felt as he continued to crawl forward.

He tried to open his mouth to speak, but found the metallic taste of blood slipping over his tongue.

A scowl pulled across his lips as he spat, deciding that instead of the wasted effort of a clever word he needed to stand. With outright agony lancing through him the Nobling pushed himself to his feet. His wounds screamed, burned, but he stumbled I to a hobble passed Wren and towards the Gryphon. His sword was left on the ground, his bow unstrung on his back

None of it mattered.

They needed to leave.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

Wren kept her gaze firmly fixed on the last two remaining knights, aware of Valren in her peripheral vision. The woman took a step closer and paused as Wren’s hands clenched into fists again and wind started whipping at her hair.

She waited until Val had limped past her before taking a step back herself, but the second she did the woman drew her bow and nocked an arrow. Wren’s eyes widened and she threw her hand out, grabbed at the air and yanked hard on visibly nothing. The woman fell to her knees and made no sound as she clutched at her throat, her mouth gaping and eyes horror stricken.

Wren’s hand trembled as she held on, watching the woman’s face turn scarlet red, her eyes bloodshot.

“Stop!!” The last man standing limped forward, Val’s arrow still in his thigh. “You can both leave just stop!” He demanded shakily. Wren’s jaw clenched and she held on a second or two longer before allowing the woman to gasp air back into her starving lungs until she coughed and threw up.

Wren curtsied, and gave the pair of them the middle finger as she walked backwards to join Val..

 

[Val]

The man truly was a pathetic sight at this point.

Barely able to stand on his own two feet and almost entirely unable to move by more than just a shuffling step Val felt as though he were about to pass out. He wasn't entirely sure what even kept him going or why he was still moving, most of him wanted to lay down on the ground and simply pass out into a heap.

Still, he managed to make his way over towards the Gryphon.

Blood stained feathers as he grasped onto the creature, finding a hand coming down to help him in the form of Theon. The man was as bad off as Val himself, but it seemed he had strength enough to drag the noble o to the back of the massive creature. A cough wracked Val's lungs, and then Wren quickly clambered up into the Saddle.

Briefly, Val wondered why she hadn't just left.

A part of him thought that he might have had the situation been reversed, though he knew that was just a lie. If it were true than he wouldn't be here in the first place.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

The gryphon was squawking in protest at the three riders, his feathers ruffled irritably around his neck and his wings flapped plumes of dust into the air as they he tried to shake his quarry. Wren's arms wrapped around Val's waist, trying both to hold on for dear life and trying not to hurt him any more than he already was.

Her heels kicked impatiently at the gryphon's sides and the beast took off at a run before lifting them with a single beat of it's massive wings into the air, and climbed. Wren muffled a scream into Valren's back at the sensation of flying, her stomach flipping.

"How the fuck d'you work this thing?!.." Theon cried out in panic from the front as he fumbled with the reins. Soon they were gliding, and the flight smoothed out. She hesitantly peeked around Valren's shoulder and felt the cool wind on her face and whipping at her hair. Her grip loosened on Valren slightly as she realised how tightly she'd been holding on, and she let out a quiet groan as she looked down.. Her grip tightened again, and her eyes searched the ground for a safe place to land.

She could see Widow Wood, and the small meadow not far from her camp.. "Maybe just.." she started uncertainly, lifting her voice above the rush of the wind.. "Lean forward a little, and pull on the left side of the reins?" she suggested, and Theon did so.

The gryphon responded by tilting to the left, and as Theon pulled a little tighter and leaned a little more forward, the creature circled downward.. "Aim for the meadow!"

"Aye lass! Gettin' the hang of it!" he called back to her with a weak chuckle, and before long they'd landed in the shallows of the river beside the meadow.. "Well.. at least we landed!"

 

[Val]

Val slipped from the top of the Gryphon with his heart pounding in his chest.

Every wound on his body ached, the cuts throbbing and the bruises sending spikes of agony through the whole length of his body. He collapsed into the small shallows, water splashing up as he crashed onto the ground. "Kress."

He called on the ancient god.

"Fuck that." Val stammered out as he tried to get a little bit of his breath back, looking up at the Gryphon and the two riders still on top of it. He shook his head, deciding that flying on the back of one of those monsters was most definitely not for him. "Fuuuuuck that."

Val repeated as he crawled forward and out of the water, collapsing onto the shore and laying back on the ground as he closed his eyes.

Everything seemed to spin, the world unsteady as the loss of blood got to him.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

Wren slipped down from the saddle after Valren and reached up to take the creature's reins from Theon to guide it out of the river where it immediately lay down on the bank and allowed Theon to climb off. She took his elbow and walked him to sit down against a tree, a hand attentively pressing to his face to look over him with a warm smile.

"Lass, I.. " Theon fought for words and Wren shook her head and pressed a kiss to the man's head.

"I know." she nodded with another smile and turned to go to Valren. She fell to her knees beside him, giving a swift glance over the wounded state he was in and paying little care to it as she grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him to her to wrap her arms around him. Wren was by no means the tactile sort, there was no affection in the way she held onto him, but it said everything about the gratitude she felt that words just wouldn't explain.

She let out a sigh and closed her eyes, her body still trembling slightly.

"Thank you, Valren."

 

[Val]

"Ow." Val said quietly as Wren dragged him into an embrace, her body trembling against his as he shifted slightly.

Moving his arms in that moment seemed an impossibility.

He was fairly sure that he would not bleed out, though the wounds that covered his body were severe enough that he knew he would need a doctor...or at least someone to sow them up before the night was at its end.

After a moment he managed to croak out. "You're welcome."

It was all he could manage. Val himself had never been good with emotion. More than once he'd made his butler let down a young woman who'd thought she'd won his affections.

"Find me..." He breathed. "A doctor, please."

 

[Wren Kingsley]

"We can't go back near the city and there aren't any doctors out here.." she frowned, snaking her arm around his back and trying to haul him back to his feet.. "Afraid you're just going to need to make do with me.." she huffed out, and held out her other arm for Theon to take, but the man, despite his state, hobbled to the other side of Valren and offered him a little extra support.

"Camp is just beyond these trees.." Wren frowned. The camp belonged to Wren, her sisters, and the only man they trusted, Rob. She had never brought anyone back there, none of them had, and it'd remained a well kept secret for the past few years, offering them safety from those who hunted for them.

Through the copse of trees it looked like a swamp, a place no one would dare set foot, but as Wren lead them into it, the ground was firm and they passed through the veil of her sister's illusion to their home on a meadow. Several tree houses had been built into three massive oak trees with rope bridges and ladders connecting them. A comfortable camp fire area sat at the base, crates and barrels of food and drink and a small vegetable patch that Rob tended.

Wren called out for her family but their camp was deserted, a fact she was slightly relieved about as she didn't feel like answering many questions right now. She led them to the little campfire, surrounded by logs and cushions which she'd let them rest against whilst she rummaged for the things she needed.

 

[Val]

A groan escaped him as Wren mentioned that there would not be any doctors attending him to him tonight. His lips thinned and then quivered a bit, a pathetic whimper escaping his throat as he closed his eyes and let out a quiet moan of desperation.

What the fuck was wrong with him?

"Just kill me." Val said dramatically as Wren set him down near the logs. The fact that he had been taken to the sisters "secret" base didn't even really register with him. The pain of his wounds and everything else mattered far more than anything else in that moment.

Theon looked at him and shook his head, clearly judging the young nobleman for how he was handling the pain of his wounds. Val frowned for a moment, passing his hands over one of the gashes on his side and letting out another groan.

"Okay don't kill me." He said trying to be a bit tougher. "But maybe kiss me so the the last thing I experience is something pleasant."

It was hard to tell if he was being serious.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

Wren's eyes rolled and her head shook as she gathered what she needed and returned to his side .. "Stop being so dramatic.." she muttered, but in truth she was more worried than her expression betrayed. "You're not going to die." she assured and cleared her throat.. "I've done this before.. Once or twice.." she frowned.

The fire was quickly set and water was rested over it to heat up whilst she helped him out of his clothes to better see the wounds. "Sewn or burned?.." she asked quite seriously, she'd never been particularly good at either.. There was no time to wait on Rob returning home, he could be gone hours, days even.

Theon made himself comfortable by the fire and rehydrated. She'd look over him too, but Valren's condition was far more pressing.

 

[Val]

"Which one will leave less of a scar?" The vain question came without any real thought.

It might have seemed silly, stupid, but there was a reason for it.

Valren was a member of the nobility. By all rights his father was the second most powerful man in all of Oban. He had a reputation to uphold, a look to go with it. What the fuck would happen if he showed up with dozens of scars covering his body?

Sure none of them would be publicly visible, but he had a reputation as a womanizer.

Despite what many might have thought, that was part of his image, part of whom he was. It was an image he needed to maintain, one that allowed him to be what he really was. Val did not want to compromise that, even now.

"Can't let them know." He said as he reached up and suddenly clasped the nape of her neck. "Can't let them see."

Val sounded somewhat delirious as he spoke.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

A brow quirked at his question.. "Sewing it is.." she answered quietly. She had started threading the hook when he took hold of the back of her neck and she looked at him with a frown knit more of concern than anger. Fuck, she hoped it was just pain and blood loss. Cleaning and sewing wounds was one thing, but she had no means of healing infections of the blood.

She leaned in close to him, her face only inches from his, her lips parting slightly, but instead of that kiss he asked for, she poured a dose of strong vodka on the wound in his side...

"Sorry.. Should've said that might sting a bit..."

 

[Val]

"OW, YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Val called out over her own words as she poured the liquor over his wounds.

His entire body seemed to seize and tighten all at the same time, his fingers suddenly clinging to her skin and drawing her in a bit tighter. The sowing needle fell into his skin and he cringed, lips thinning as he writhed beneath her.

Perhaps he was not the best with pain. "Fucking Kress."

Val swore.

"You do not have a soft touch." He complained. "Don't ever become a nurse."

Another stitch of the needle and he shifted. "You're at least gonna have to kiss it and make it be-FUCK!"

The needle stuck a bit too deep that time.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

Wren grinned, but Theon grumbled and shook his head as Val cursed at her.. “Careful, lad..” he muttered, though it was unclear if it was a threat or a warning.

Wren laughed under her breath and shook her head.. “Maybe if you stopped writhing and whining like a little pampered bitch, it might be a little gentler..” her gaze narrowed and she bit on her tongue in concentration, giving a roll of her eyes every time he complained.

“Drink this.” She lifted another bottle and shoved it into his hands. It was an exceptionally potent alcohol that Rob made. It’d been hoped it would have been bad enough to stop Blanche drinking, but she drank it out of spite and it usually knocked her out after a few drinks. “It’s bad but it’ll numb the pain a little..”

She tried to be as gentle as she could with the rest of the wound and when she was sure it was closed up she poured more alcohol onto another wound and started on it..

“You’re a mess, Valren...” she sighed, lifting her eyes to him as she hooked the thread into his skin.. “You could’ve gotten yourself killed.” She frowned.

 

[Val]

The liquor was...well fucking terrible. If it were any other time he might have spit it out all over Wren and complained, rather loudly, at the disgust of it. Instead he simply made a face, one that continued as Wren once again pierced his flesh with the needle.

"Yeah well..." He didn't have another clever joke, or rather, the one that he did have was cut off by the stab of the hook.

A grimace pulled across his lips and he bit his tongue, nearly drawing blood as he squirmed beneath Wren's touch. His fingers wrapped around the neck of the bottle she'd given him, and without a second thought he took another long swig.

Fuck this.

"We're even now." He said pointing a finger at her. "Hell I'm pretty sure the scale is back in my fa-"

Val cut off as he was pretty sure Wren dug the needle in deeper on purpose.

Another small 'yowch' left his throat, and then he shook his head. "It's fine. It's all fine. Chicks dig scars."

Even the smaller ones.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

Wren had indeed stuck him with the needle on purpose and she glared venomously at him for a moment as he pointed at her.. She didn't take kindly to men treating her the way Oban men tended to treat women.. "Point that finger at me like that again and i'll remove it for you." she warned without a hint of amusement.

She huffed quietly and shook her head as he spoke of 'chicks' and she muttered something about swine to herself as she poured a little more alcohol onto the slash on his upper arm and started stitching.

Valren had been lucky, he'd lost blood from his wounds but none had nicked any arteries and were flesh wounds easy enough to clean and mend. She cut open his trousers around the wound on his thigh and dealt with that last. Another dose of vodka, and a few more stitches.

 

[Val]

Val was quiet for a time, deciding that it was best to grin and bare it until Wren was actually finished. He didn't want to risk another stab wound.

When she was finally done his head tilted back, slowly shifting to the left as his hand came up and ran over some of the wounds that she had stitched up. A frown pulled at his lips for a brief moment, and then he let out a shaky breath. "Thank you."

He said softly.

It was probably the most genuine sentiment that he had offered her since they met. Val was a snob, but he wasn't fool enough to think he was invincible. He had known that the Gryphon Knights could have killed him, would have killed him.

"I appreciate you not letting me die." The young noble added quietly, his head falling back and his eyes closing.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

Her emerald stare fixed on him as he thanked her, and her pale features slowly softened as her lips curled into some semblance of a smile.. "You're welcome.. Thank you for getting us out of there.." she nodded. He was entirely right. He'd tipped the scale so far past 'even' that she'd owe him for the rest of her life. He'd helped her get Theon out of that prison, he'd managed to calm her down enough to function and then he'd been entirely prepared to get himself caught and killed to allow she and Theon to get to safety. It was...confusing. Perhaps he wasn't as like most other nobles she knew, despite how much he pretended to be.

Wren's smile warmed as he closed his eyes, and she leaned to capture his lips with hers, a slow kiss that she poured every ounce of her gratitude into.

After making Theon comfortable, Wren washed Val's skin with a cloth and warm water as he rested, covered his wounds with a soothing paste and wrapped them in fresh linens and covered him with a blanket. She curled up beside him, closed her eyes, and slept. Safe.