Private Tales Forgotten but Not Broken

[Thren]

He shrugged. "Just seems a lonely life is all."

For some reason in his head he thought that he had been alone like that in a way before, but not truly. It was an odd notion, and just then he realized as though he felt he were missing a part of himself.

A hole that he could not explain.

Lips thinned, and he slowly drummed his fingers on his legs.

"Though I should be thankful." He chuckled. "Probably wouldn't have found me if it weren't the case."

 

[Vesper]

"That's why I am out here. To help those lost from their home." She said quietly, leaning closer to him to nestle her head against his broad shoulders.

Her hair would be soft against his exposed flesh.

"But yes. It can be lonely. Sjorn and Aldak can only manage so much conversation. And they're hardly something to cuddle with." She said with a soft laugh.

She suddenly seemed to realize something and then she sat back upright and blushed.

 

[Thren]

There was no blush to his cheeks when she leaned on him, in fact that almost seemed natural enough. He was a stone, a heavy weight.

Wasn't he meant to be leaned on? "It's alright."

The Barbarian quickly assured her as she quickly sat back up and crimson shone through her cheeks. A part of him had felt good being of comfort to someone else. It came naturally to him, a part of himself devoted to standing solid.

It felt right.

"I'd be careful though." He motioned to his chest. "Not as sturdy as I usually am."

 

[Vesper]

She smiled at his light joke and then slid a little closer so that she was leaning against his arm, sharing his warmth in the relatively cool night. "You don't have to be sturdy, Obi." The woman murmured quietly.

"You're healing. It will take time until your strength returns."

 

[Thren]

For a moment Thren hesitated, the warmth of her skin touching his.

"I remember being strong." He said quietly, the memory was distant, but not so far as some of the others. In his mind he could almost retrace the steps of how to be like he was, he could picture it.

He hesitated as a memory came, then opened his mouth.

"I remember..." His hand brushed gently against her thigh. "Standing in a castle, men coming over the walls."

Thren's eyes seemed distance. "I remember fighting."

 

[Vesper]

She looked down at his hand resting on her thigh, a faint smile touching her lips. Cautiously, she moved one hand to rest on the back of his. Warmth blossomed beneath her palm and she couldn't suppress the shiver that ran through her.

With an delicate smile, she nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder, encouraging him to continue.

"Look closer. What weapon were you fighting with? What were they wearing? Describe the castle."

 

[Thren]

"I'm not sure." He said calmly. "They were wearing chainmail, barding."

He couldn't see it clearly. "It was an old castle, probably hundreds of years old. The Lord had..."

Yes.

"Hired me." A smile broached his face. "I was a mercenary."

His fingers unconsciously squeezed hers as the realization came. "I was a mercenary!"

The excitement of remembering a part of his old life struck him, and suddenly he tried to stand. Pain immediately lanced through him, and before he could catch himself Thren went half crashing to the ground.

 

[Vesper]

"No wait, you shouldn't--!" Vesper started to protest as he tried to stand.

She scrambled to catch the barbarian as he fell, managing to just barely break his fall. It ended with her underneath him with her arms tenderly wrapped around him to support his weight and take the brunt of his collapse.

"Take it easy, Obi." She gasped, worry clear in her voice.

 

[Thren]

A breath flowed from his lungs, fingers pressing against her skin as she took a deep breath and caught himself. "I..."

He said slowly.

"May have gotten a bit excited." A smile crossed his face, a stupid one at that.

He remembered part of himself. He remembered a piece of his identity. It was only a fragment, the tiniest little shard, but it was still there.

His arms tightened around her.

 

[Vesper]

It seemed odd at first, but before long the moment shifted to something that more closely resembled an embrace instead of a man who'd fallen down. Her arms slipped around to the small of his back and she couldn't resist nuzzling into his neck.

"I'm proud of you. You're doing great." She said quietly, excited for him that he was already regaining his memory.

"Are you hurt?"

 

[Thren]

"Not more than before." His fingers tightened.

The pain in his chest was still there, but oddly enough some of the strength had returned to his legs. Just from this one fall he knew that it would be months before he felt well enough to fight.

For some reason though that didn't bother him.

His fingers brushed over her hands.

"It'll be fine." He assured himself more than her. "But I think I'll probably need that bed soon."

 

[Vesper]

"Alright. I'll help you up." Vesper said with a slight smile as she maneuvered herself out from under him.

Once she'd regained her own feet, she held a hand out to him to help him stand. She was stronger than she looked and she pulled him to his feet with relative ease.

As Thren found his feet, she cautiously reached towards his waist with her free hand. "Can you walk?"

 

[Thren]

He nodded slowly in answer to her question. His feet were not as steady as he would have liked them to be, but he could move, as long as he did it slowly. Using her as a crutch, Thren began to cautiously and slowly make his way forward.

"I wonder if we're far from that fortress." He said outloud to her, glancing to their surroundings.

In his head he was still playing over the bare memory, trying to figure out what had happened.

"Maybe I got hurt there." Thren suggested. "Then got out before it fell."

It was a good explanation.

 

[Vesper]

"Mmm... Perhaps. But you would have needed a horse. There's no place like that within walking distance from where I found you." She explained gently, helping him into the small hut.

Inside, she guided him over to the bed and then helped him lower himself down.

"But... We can try to find one after you're healed?" She offered with a tentative smile. "The wise women might know a place."

 

[Thren]

Did he have a horse? For some reason the question made him frown. He did not remember having such a beast, though there was a distant memory of caring for some sort of animal.

Hurt entered his chest as he realized that he was missing something, something that he could not quite place, something that he could not put name to. His face contorted, and then he slowly shook his head in answer. "I think I prefer my own two feet."

He smiled, dismissing the darkness in his mind.

"Maybe." Thren said. "Or maybe I shouldn't try to find what doesn't want to be found."

There was a lot of darkness in his past, he could feel it.

 

[Vesper]

Vesper smiled tenderly to Thren, sitting next to him on the bed and she ran her fingers through his hair to soothe him.

"Let it come naturally. Focus on getting better, Obsidian." The redhead whispered to him.

She pulled her hand back and the gently tugged a fur skin over his form. "Can I do anything else for you?"

 

[Thren]

"Well I can think of one thing." The words came before Thren could even really think about them.

Almost the instance that the words spilled from his tongue the Barbarian's cheeks began to color.

He cut himself off and started to cough, as though that would somehow manage to cover up the slip of his tongue.

"I uhh." He shook his head. "Nope."

The corner of the tent was looking nice.

 

[Vesper]

Vesper's head canted to the side, braids and red tresses slipping over her shoulder. A smile settled over her features and she leaned down, teasing the tip of her nose against his own.

"I'm all ears. What were you going to say?" She whispered, her breath fleeting over his lips when she spoke so close to his face.

 

[Thren]

Thren coughed. "It's uhh."

The Barbarian tried to look anywhere but Vesper's eye, perhaps the moment being a bit too awkward for the amnesiac.

He had no idea where the words came from, why they were there or why he had said them. It had just been a natural impulse.

"Well..." He looked down, then up, then at the ceiling of the tent. "Itsjustuhh."

Thren continued quietly, but at a barely audible whisper.

 

[Vesper]

She could tell how awkward and uncomfortable he was. It was sweet and endearing. Enough so that she felt comfortable enough to take a gamble.

Her head tilted a little further to the side and her lips delicately pressed to the barbarian's mouth. She was tender and cautious, allowing him to break away if he didn't want her to follow through.

"Too much?" She asked softly with the hint of a coy smile.

 

[Thren]

In truth Thren wasn't entirely sure where the lines blurred at this point.

He was no longer what he was, and what he used to be he couldn't remember. Was he a murderer? A killer? A soldier? It all blended together in a wash of darkness that his mind had difficulty following. "I could..."

Thren started, a smile breaking his face.

"Think of more." It was a lie, but only because he had absolutely no idea what to do next.

 

[Vesper]

She smiled back at him and then leaned down to press a fuller kiss to his lips. Her own lips moved against his, encouraging him to follow her lead. Eager to taste him, she let her tongue flit across his bottom lip, inviting his own to join the dance.

One hand braced on the mattress, next to Thren's head as she leaned over him. Her thick red hair fell over her shoulder, spreading over him in a curtain of flames.

"Mhmm.." she mused softly as she kissed him, and then pulled back slightly.

"I'm sure you will."

 

[Thren]

--
​

A night passed, a day, Thren really wasn't sure. His wounds ached with pain still, but he found himself far more focused that he had been before. Memories were still washing through his mind, bare glimpses of decades past, but they were there.

Nothing was whole, but fragments were coming to him again and again.

Thinking about it hurt almost as much as the wound, but as he sat outside on a small stone that Vesper had lead him to he couldn't help but feel relaxed for the first time since he had awoken. He knew that he was still not in the best state, that there was time missing, but it didn't seem to matter so much.

It was a dangerous thought, but one he had nonetheless.

For now he was content, perhaps believing that his memories would soon return. "I wonder where I am from."

The barbarian wondered out loud, the thought striking him suddenly as he looked upon the mountains on the distant horizon.

 

[Vesper]

Vesper had left one of the massive raptors with Thren, while she took the other hunting. The Barbarian's clothes were soaked in blood and torn, so she decided it was prudent to make him something more suited for the jungles anyway. It would take her some time to tan the hides, but it was better than nothing. Besides, she needed the meat to feed both herself and the raptors.

On the hunt, she continuously found herself distracted with thoughts of Obsidian. She'd only known the man for a short time, and already she felt a bond forming. A small part of her was dreading the day that his memory returned, as he would no doubt leave and seek out his old life. Not that she could blame him for that, of course. It was a complicated set of emotions that she had to grapple with.

When she returned with a pair of deer thrown over Sjorn's back, she found Obsidian perched on a rock and he seemed to be lost in thought. Not wanting to interrupt, she went around the back of the little hut to unsaddle Sjorn and to prep the deer for cleaning.

Obsidian asked himself a question aloud as she was walking around the hut, wiping her hands clean with a cloth. Her head tilted slightly at the question. He certainly was not from the Wilds. Here it did not matter so much where you were from, but where you were going. People here were not concerned with their heritage or homeland, only survival and progressing. Your past shaped who you were, but you got to decide who you wanted to be.

Her lips pursed a little and she cleared her throat. "It will come to you, Obi." She offered softly. "With time."

There was another pang in her chest, something she didn't understand. Even now, his mind was elsewhere. She could see it in his eyes, something called to him. He just couldn't hear the words yet.

 

[Thren]

Thren turned his head as Vesper cleared her throat, offering a smile for a brief second before shaking his head. "Part of me wonders if I should even want to remember."

The thought that crossed his mind more than once in the last few days.

It had come mostly from the fact that whatever had happened to him had caused him to lose his memory in the first place. Did he really want to know what had happened? Did he really want to see what sort of monstrosity had forced him to forget most of his life?

The idea was terrifying.

Slowly Thren shook his head, smiling ruefully to himself before he decided to dismiss the subject. He did not want to dwell on the past too much, especially now.

"Do you travel often?" He asked Vesper. "Away from the jungles I mean."