Fable - Ask Two Taboos

[Taboo]

|| Jorg ||

It seemed like they were both referring to two very different things. Not that it mattered, both had their hackles raised and became defensive. Taboo, due to trying to prove to Jorg that she was perfectly able to look after herself while Jorg was trying to either tell himself or the Half-Drow that he wasn't a monster.

Taboo's nostrils gave a twitch, as what he'd said made little sense to her. Why was he talking about himself? Something else. Narrowing her eyes at him, she let her crimson gaze sweep over him from head to foot.

"No. Not Wi'tigo." if that is what he meant. He hadn't been cursed by that.

"No curse. It dead." however, she did add that she DID notice something else. "But not human."

 

[Jorg]

Ah shit.

Damned language barriers and damn him for not thinking. Lips thinned to a scowl, fingers tightening as he took short breaths. Eyes fixed on her. "No."

The answer was short, terse. It was clear that he regretted saying what he had, felt a fool for not understanding what she had actually said. Taboo had meant that he'd nearly been cursed by the creature in the Village, not that he was already cursed.

Mallia you bitch. The Werewolf cursed his god, fist tightening.

"It's fine." He said, raising his hand. "Don't worry about it, just eat something and get closer to the fire."

Jorg urged with a scowl, hoping she would just drop it.

 

[Taboo]

|| Jorg ||

As soon as the man backpedaled, the Half-Drow's eyes narrowed further in suspicion. He had the look about him of someone who had more to say beyond what he was telling her. She went over what the man had mentioned earlier.

Wait he mentioned he wasn't cursed. Not dangerous.

So he was something. Wariness crept into her eyes again. She wished she had her sword to protect herself with.

"No. You different. Not man." She repeated again.

"What are you?"

 

[Jorg]

He let out a sigh, frowning for a moment as he looked at her. A part of him was tempted just to say nothing at all, to ignore her and just shut down the conversation all together.

It would end it at least. "Werewolf."

Fuck it. What was she gonna do kill him? He had no idea how her magic worked, but he was fairly sure that with the distance currently between them and how hearty he was he could close the distance between them and strangle her before she ever had the opportunity.

Brutal but...well he didn't mean her any harm.

At least not until she meant him some.

 

[Taboo]

|| Jorg ||

A werewolf.

That was a curse. Her eyes turned into wide, silver saucers, the crimson pupils dilating as a wave of alarm went crashing over her.

"Cursed!" she immediately spat out, unable to help how she attempted to put some space in between them, even if all it was was just a few inches within the small make-shift lean to. She knew about werewolves. They were cursed; driven mad by that which drove them into the vicious, mindless beast.

Immediately, she tried to recall the position of the moons. Not yet, not for a few weeks. Moon called they were, driven to terrible horrible acts.

It was clear from her expression she was terrified, alarm blanching her face several shades whiter than her already pale skin had. She even brought her hand up, almost as if to keep him way, the only method of protection she had was the blood magic. She'd have to use her own blood if it came down to it, but there was no guarantee she'd be able to survive with the blood loss.

 

[Jorg]

Jorg didn't make a single move, didn't even eat. His lips thinned to a frown as she hurled her accusation, though it was one he could not deny. Fingers tightened for a brief second, and the Werewolf pulled in a deep breath as he bit his tongue.

What was he going to say?

Oh yes I have it entirely under control though. You see I made a deal with the Werewolf that means it gets to stay for three days instead of one so that I can use more of its powers. Yes that would go over perfectly well.

Instead he simply frowned, turned away from Taboo and lifted his hands towards the fire.

He wasn't cold, not really, the Wolf helped with that. He just didn't know what else to do.

 

[Taboo]

|| Jorg ||

Mentally, Taboo was already trying to figure out how to extract herself as quickly as possible from this situation. No one can really blame her. Not with what she'd seen in the experiments conducted by the Fullblood. She'd seen the worst of what cursed creatures could do. Flay the flesh, rip a body into pieces within seconds, mindless utter destruction.

When he didn't seem to instantly attempt to harm her, the Half-Drown was a bit confused. Then again, she knew that there was a specific time that they went mindless.

And as far as she knew, there was no cure.

"Cursed. No cure... you spread. More cursed." she knew how it worked. There was no avoiding it.

 

[Jorg]

"No cure." He agreed with a nod of his head.

Jorg had spent the first year or so searching for one. He'd tried to find shamans, mystics, wizards, and whatever the hell else might have a solution. It had been a year of drinking potions and eating strange meals but nothing happened.

"Not dangerous to others." He said quietly, frowning for a second and wondering if he could even explain it to her. "I made a deal."

Jorg offered with a shrug, as if that might help. "It won't hurt people, not...good people."

There'd been a few bandits over the years, but no one innocent. That had been part of the bargain.

 

[Taboo]

|| Jorg ||

"Good. Bad. No matter." Taboo told him. "Curse spreads. Like fleas. One to another. No thought. Mindless. Woman. Men. Child." she explained, that even if he said he didn't hurt people, even if he only did the bad, those bad people had a chance to also be cursed, and they, in turn, continue the spread.

He was subject zero. There was no guarantee that he could be careful.

"Too many die. I see. Cannot stop. Must end." she told him frankly, regarding what the fullblood had done with his experiments. They all ended up going mad. Did not recognize father, mother, lover, sibling, or child.

Not when the curse would cause them to desperately need to feed.

"Like Wi'tigo. She can't help. Must feed."

 

[Jorg]

Jorg frowned for a moment.

He could understand the concept of monsters, those that didn't have any control, but he couldn't help but remember that moment in the Tower back in the Wilds. He had always thought the Wolf a mindless beast, a creature of violence and death.

Yet when it had been injured, the Wolf had not only allowed his companion to treat him, but had actually thanked her in it's own way after.

"I don't know." He said quietly. "I think it can help it."

It might have been an excuse, but he couldn't really help it. "But if you're going to try and kill me, I'm just going to leave now."

There was no way she could chase after him, not in her current state.

 

[Taboo]

|| Jorg ||

Was he fooling himself? Was he lying? The Half-Drow didn't have the ability to discern truth from lies, but her experience taught her that odds were, he was perhaps kidding himself.

"Others think that. Were wrong. I saw. Kill family." she told him truthfully. THe longer she sat there, the more she had time to think things a little more reasonably. He wasn't a threat to her as a human as long as he wasn't drawn by the pull of the moon. Granted, her experience was only on the sort of werewolves that she'd been subject to watch during the experiments. If Jorg was one and the same or something else, well that was beyond her.

"I kill if you attack." that could be if he does anyone.

And she couldn't really do much now about it.

 

[Jorg]

"I won't." Jorg said with a frown.

There was no impetus for him to. The Wolf could come out when things went...extreme. If she attacked him and pierced him with a blade then it could appear, but as long as things stayed mostly in control there was no real threat.

Not from him anyway. "I've seen it too."

Jorg said quietly as he shook his head. He remembered when the Wolf hadn't been in control, before the deal. The monster had been a curse then.

"But we made a deal." She would undoubtedly not understand. "You're safe."

He assured her again.

 

[Taboo]

Jorg

Made a deal.

Taboo's pale gray face would twist in confusion. Deal? What is a deal? The word didn't seem to register for her and it was evident in her expression. The man would have to explain a bit more about what exactly that meant for her to understand.

It was around this time that her stomach also gave a very loud growl.

 

[Jorg]

"Want some rabbit?" The question was almost sarcastic.

He had offered her the food like three or four times now, and it would have been a lie to say that he wasn't just a little bit bitter. One could really only take so much ungratefulness before growing tired of it all. He frowned for a second.

The rabbit was still in his hand, and with more than a little bit of attitude he thrust it towards her. Waggling the stick in front of her face. "Eat."

He offered, barely able to hold back some of the grumpiness in his voice.

 

[Taboo]

|| Jorg ||

He was mocking her. Taboo could tell right away just by the tone and the thrust of the rabbit at her direction. At this point, however, hungry as she was, the Half-Drow took the chunk of meat. With both hands, she brought it up to her mouth, hungrily consuming it. All the while, those twin crimson orbs would stare at Jorg, watching him.

"What deal?" she asked, unsure again what he meant by it. Her Common wasn't the best, what with her lack of consistent communication with others. Then again, they had a tendency to be prejudiced against her.

 

[Jorg]

He frowned for a moment, a shrug rolling over his shoulder. "A bargain."

It was another word for deal.

"After a few years of trying to kill myself and it stopping to me..." This sounded very improbable, but it was what had happened. Either by the grace of Mallia herself or some other unseen force he did not quite understand. "I talked to it."

Jorg shrugged again. "Instead of one night on the full moon it got three."

For three years now he had endured that bargain, neither of them breaking it.

"It doesn't kill innocents and gives me a little help sometimes." Like with the River. "And both of us are happy."

Relatively.

 

[Taboo]

|| Jorg ||

The deadpan expression that the Half-Drow gave him was indication enough of what she thought of that so called 'deal'.

Was the man in denial? Did he really believe this nonsense? Perhaps he had already lost his mind and this was the only way that one so fractured would try and reason with himself after becoming a monster. Afterall, how else could one live with oneself after doing so many terrible things?

Yes, this must be it. In Taboo's mind, from her experience and what prejudice she held to those so cursed, she believed Jorg to be simply deceiving himself.

Why would a monster try to make such a deal? Those cursed during the time of the high moons, especially during the days when both moons were high over head, there was no quelling the hunger or the visceral need to hunt and kill.

"Deal or not, curse spreads." she tell him flatly. "Bad or good, curse does not care. One bite leads to more, more teeth, more mouths, more hunger."

 

[Jorg]

Jorg knew that she was right. Knew that at the end of the day he likely would either end up spreading the curse or killing enough people that it didn't matter if he did or not.

The truth was though...he didn't care. Jorg wanted to live. He didn't want to die. He didn't want to lock himself away or trap himself in some sort of cage. He was just like every other man alive; he wanted freedom. He wanted to live.

Was that wrong? No.

"It's fine." Jorg insisted to the woman with a frown.

It was a lie, and they both probably knew it, but Jorg didn't care. Not right now. He had a certain amount of peace for the last few years. The Wolf could hunt as it pleased, and he got to live his life without worrying about murdering some innocent.

As long as that continued why would he wanted a change.

"It hasn't broken the deal." He told her. "It won't."

It was a denial.

 

[Taboo]

|| Jorg ||

It was denial. Smelled, of thick, rancid, putrid denial.

A snort was Taboo's response, one that relayed that again, he was a fool. She took the last bit of meat and began to suck on the bone, much like anyone who was well used to going hungry and trying to get every little last bit of meat and goodness she could. After that, she held the bone in both hands and gave it a hearty snap. That's when she began to suck on the bone marrow within.

"Soon. Later. Curse spreads. Mean or not." her broken Common could only relay that last bit. But she was done.

"You no be near Drow lands. They lame them for your curse."

 

[Jorg]

"I don't even know where Drow lands are." No one did really. Her people were about as enigmatic as the Naga.

Jorg of course wasn't about to make that comparison out loud, but he certainly thought it. The underrealm, or whatever it was called, wasn't exactly a place that Jorg had ever wanted to go, not if he had a choice about it anyway.

Being in Belgrath had made him nervous enough.

The Wolf in his head preferred to have the stars above his head, and in all good truth Jorg couldn't help but agree with that sentiment. Solid earth beneath his feet, clear skies, and the sun shining on his head was his preferred environment.

Hell he would even do without the Wilds. "So that won't be a problem."

He told her simply.

 

[Taboo]

Jorg

Another snort and then a loud sucking noise as she took the last bit of marrow from the rabbit thigh. A flick of her wrist and the scrap went sailing off to her right onto a small bush. A smack of her lips and Taboo settled in. Mentally, she figured she could rest and then go on her way. Leave the cursed one behind as long as he didn't do anything that would trigger her desire to make him bleed for her safety.

"Good." then a pause, "No people. You stay away." it was a warning that he should not go into villages or towns. If he wanted to be a fool about his curse, then so be it, but he better do it in a place where there were not going to be other people who he will infect.

Deal or no deal.

 

[Jorg]

"I'll go where I damn well please." Jorg muttered to himself quietly, taking a stick from nearby and gently poking it into the fire.

He knew that the Wolf was dangerous, knew that the beast in his mind would slaughter an entire town before someone could put him down, but...well it hadn't in over two years. Why would it suddenly start now? Not when things were good.

That was his excuse.

Jorg didn't need some stupid Drow telling him how to live his life. Things had been more than fine so far, he was sure they would continue to be.

They had to be.

 

[Taboo]

|| Jorg ||

"No. You must think. Plan." her tone was rather authoritarian on the matter as if informing a child. The broken Common likely didn't ease the tone or the manner by which she delivered her statements.

"Cannot know. Better. Safer." bending down, she tried to inspect the damage to her leg. Part of her wondered if there was a way to control the scarring. Her magic could only work on scar tissue to rip them open, never really to form it. Part of her wanted to experiment, but another knew that if she were to try something, it might very well lash back and harm her.

This is why the Drow who took her did conduct several experiments on others. It was better to test another than on oneself.

 

[Jorg]

Jorg rolled his eyes. Who in the fuck did she think she was? It wasn't like she was some sort of Werewolf expert...at least he assumed she wasn't.

"Yeah." He said quietly. "Sure, Sure."

The tone of his voice denoted the fact that he was being extremely sarcastic. Jorg had lived this life for two years now, ever since he had made the deal. He'd always made sure to be plenty far away from any life when the Wolf's turn had come around, but other than that?

A man had a right to live.

A man had a right to chase some waitresses, have a drink, and do a little gambling. Where was that supposed to happen if not a village?

 

[Taboo]

|| Jorg ||

The sarcastic tone bled across languages. Taboo did not have to be fluent in Common to figure that out. Whatever, fine. Live amidst your lies and whatever helps you sleep at night. Her shoulders rose with the heavy snort of disbelief she gave him.

"Always the same. Fools. Never believe." it was a statement as if she'd told this to another before but the advice was not adhered to.

Satisfied that the man had made some measure of a basic bandage, Taboo's hands left her leg and then began a slow and thorough inspection of her limbs and extremities. She had to be sure she had not come into contact with the cursed man's blood in any shape or form.