Free Spirits (Zombie_In_A_Box X Pigeon)

[Kotorichan]

"I know it's insane..." Arumi murmured. It was stupid, dragons couldn't befriend humans. Far too much blood had been shed for that. He stopped a short distance from the place that they had last parted ways. He slowly sat down on the ground and rested his head on his front feet, waiting for Damian to wake up.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian slept for an hour at least, just calmly breathing on top of the dragon. This whole situation was sort of relaxing, honestly... When he start waking up, the first thing he noticed was his arm being numb from the pain. He hissed softly as he attempted to move it, soon realizing it probably got infected. With a soft sigh, Damian began climbing down, his arm hanging by his side as he tried not to move it at all. "I didn't think you'd stay when I fell asleep..." He said softly as he looked at Arumi. "Thank you."

[Kotorichan]

Arumi hadn't moved the entire time that Damian slept. He just waited for the human to wake up, deep in his own thoughts. He was brought out of his own thoughts as the other stirred on his head.

 

He bowed his head slightly at the human's words. "I couldn't just leave you unconscious... something might have attacked you" he sighed and spread out his wings again. "Well... I need to go find my things, I'll be here again in three days... Will I see you then?"

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian's expression softened a little bit with a smile as he heard the dragon. He placed his good hand on the other's nose, lightly patting the scales. "I hope so, but I can't promise anything..." He was about to say something else before a spear flew straight past his ear, barely missing Arumi. His eyes widened and he spun around, looking for the one who used the weapon.

 

"Get out of here, fast." Damian muttered to Arumi as he stared at a silhouette of a man in the shadows. "I'm still me!" He yelled out, raising one hand in the air. He didn't expect to be found out so soon, but... He couldn't be in control of everything.

[Kotorichan]

Arumi let out a low growl at the human's words. He wanted to stay and make sure that Damian was safe, but he knew that he would probably just make things worse if he didn't leave. "I'll stay nearby... Just yell for me if you need me..." he said quietly. The dragon quickly spread his wings and took off, circling in the sky for a moment before heading towards the clearing where they usually met.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian nodded the slightest bit, not daring to turn his head to watch Arumi leave as he observed the person in front of him. "Damian, what the fuck do you think you're doing?" A man's voice came from the shadows, the owner of it soon appearing himself. "They're not all bad. We can communicate." Damian said calmly before meeting the other's eyes. "Do you really think you can stay with us after you've betrayed us?"

 

Just like that, Damian's world fell apart. He was taken back to the hideout where they decided to toss him out. The man was allowed to take some things, but he was told to leave until sunrise or he would be killed. Right then, all motive to live was gone. Damian felt dead inside as he began making his way out, shivering at the cold air that greeted him. He had to find a good hideout for himself...

[Kotorichan]

Arumi waited at the clearing for any sound that would imply that Damian needed help. When he didn't hear anything he gathered together his things and curled up on the ground of the clearing. He knew that no one would care if he was gone for awhile longer. He couldn't help but worry about the human since it was his fault that this happened. The dragon slowly fell asleep on the ground, not even thinking about how dangerous it was for him to fall asleep when humans knew about him.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian slowly made his way to the clearing, tears collecting in his eyes as he fully realized he'd just lost the people he could call his family. He couldn't go back. The brunet walked closer to the creature as tears began rolling down his cheeks one by one, each freezing on his cheeks. It was far too cold to be just sitting outside like this, but where else did he have to go to? Damian was slowly falling apart. Leaning against the hard scales, he pulled his knees to himself, the bitter tears falling onto his pants.

[Kotorichan]

Arumi awoke when he felt the warmth pressing against his scales. He looked down at the human and quickly changed to his own human form. "Damian..." He didn't know what to say, it was fairly obvious that the man had been banished and it was all the dragon's fault... He grabbed his own robe which he had managed to find and wrapped it around the man's shoulders. "You should rest... We can talk in the morning..." He murmured

"I'll make you a fire" he changed back to his dragon form and gathered some branches from the forest. He piled them up and breathed fire onto them until a large fire was burning.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian had no one else than himself to blame for this. When he heard the dragon's voice, a soft sob slipped past his trembling lips. As the robe was put around his shoulders, the man pulled it on with his left hand, since no one back home bothered looking at his wound. "I don't have anywhere to go back to..." He whispered, tears dropping from his eyes one by one. The human felt as if he had been broken into a few pieces and his heart torn out of his chest. He'd lost his family, his friends and his home because he was seen with a dragon. Because he'd betrayed his own race. At that moment, Damian felt like the biggest failure ever known. He had no idea what he was going to do now.

[Kotorichan]

Arumi changed back to his human form, he found it much easier to talk to Damian in this form. "Damian..." he kneeled before the man and gently cupped his face in his hands. "This is all my fault, I got myself involved in your life and now..." He trailed off, his heart heavy with guilt. "I... I'm so sorry..." he dropped his hands away and looked at the ground. "I know there's no way for me to fix this... but... I'll take you back to my home with me... I'll find a way to make it work"

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian bit down on his lip as his face was cupped, tears still in his eyes. The man nodded a little bit when he heard the other, pressing against him for a moment. He let out a long sigh, his forehead pressed to Arumi's shoulder. "They'll kill me if they see me." He whispered quietly, for once appearing honestly scared. "They'll kill me if they see me..." The brunet trailed off, his voice shaking slightly.

[Kotorichan]

Arumi gently wrapped his arms around the man's shoulders, holding him close. "Your people will?" He frowned deeply and gently ran his fingers through Damian's hair. "I won't let anyone hurt you... Maybe someday we can try to visit them again and see if they are willing to listen..."

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian hiccuped softly, never before having shown such fragility. The human had never before felt this weak, too. "My people, your people, everyone just wants me dead." He mumbled softly, taking in sharp breaths as he attempted to calm down. He disliked looking weak, especially in the presence of anyone - be it a friend or a foe. Although he wasn't entirely sure which one Arumi was, he really hated looking weak in front of him.

[Kotorichan]

"I won't let anything happen to you..." Arumi lightly stroked his hair. "It's not because I think you're weak... You just need a little help right now..." He gave the man what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Get some rest tonight, I'll take you back to my home tomorrow... I'll tell you my plan in the morning"

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian stayed pressed up against the other, one arm wrapped around his shoulders. The human let out a sigh as he closed his eyes, just nodding barely. Just like that, he slowly drifted off to slumber. His dreams were everything but calm or relaxing. He was banished and killed in thousand ways, each time flinching in real life as well. He wouldn't get any rest if it went on like this...

[Kotorichan]

Arumi held the human in his arms for a few hours, watching sadly as the man seemed to continue having nightmares. He sighed and changed back to his dragon form, knowing that he couldn't do much to help. He curled around Damian protectively and slowly fell asleep, hoping that the other would get at least some rest for the next day.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian managed to sleep until the morning, although he didn't feel that rested. Finding that a dragon was curled around him was both scary and somewhat soothing. It was weird, he finally decided. A soft sigh left his mouth as he leaned against the hard scales, gently running his fingers over the scales in front of him. He liked how light reflected from them... Just like that, he waited for the creature to wake up, not finding any reason to stand up or even move any more than his hand. His motives to live had been washed away in one night, he couldn't just be alright...

[Kotorichan]

Arumi woke up just a few minutes after Damian. He lightly nuzzled his nose into the human's shoulder. "Good morning..." He breathed, his warm breath washing over the man. "I hope you slept alright..." he slowly uncurled himself from around the human. "I'll catch you something to eat... and then we'll go back to my home" The dragon stretched and poked at the embers of the fire with his claw. "You think this will last for awhile longer?"

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian smiled faintly as he nodded, slowly standing up as the dragon pulled away from him. The brunet watched Arumi stretch with an empty gaze. "I'll keep it burning." He said quietly and sat back down next to the fire, gently blowing air into it as well as fixing the branches. At least he could still do this, seeing as he was a failure at everything else. Damian was never really depressed, up until now.

[Kotorichan]

Arumi stared at the human for a moment, deeply concerned about his well being. "I'll be back soon..." He finally murmured before walking off into the forest. He had a reputation in his country as being the strangest of the princes as well as the weakest, so he knew that it wouldn't be too much of a surprise to anyone that he brought a stray human back with him... He was mostly just worried about Damian's health. He caught a deer and carried it back to the fire.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian mumbled something in response as he nodded, watching as the fire began burning lazily again. The human took in a deep breath as he hid his face into his hands, just for a few moments. He felt like he was dead inside. As a deer was dropped next to him, Damian took out his knife and, while holding the body down to the ground, began cutting off parts. He should skin them, but he honestly doubted he would be able to do so with one hand.

[Kotorichan]

Arumi whined softly and bumped his nose against the human's shoulder. He felt like Damian was a child that he needed to take care of. The dragon changed to his human form and took the knife from the man. "Rest..." He said in what he hoped was a caring tone. He began to cut up the meat and cut the skin up, only picking the softest pieces of meat as he would with a hatchling. "You eat meat cooked, correct?" He asked, he had never seen a human eat but he remembered learning that somewhere.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian didn't resist in the slightest when the knife was taken out of his hands. The man just nodded a little bit and leaned against Arumi, letting out a quiet sigh. "Mhm..." He muttered out in response to the question, closing his eyes. The brunet snuggled against him slightly, to get a little bit more comfortable. He honestly didn't see the point in anything at the moment. Losing his family in one night hit him hard - right then, he probably wouldn't have resisted even if someone tried to kill him.

[Kotorichan]

"I apologize for making you do anything right now... But how am I supposed to cook this?" Arumi had never cooked anything before, dragons always ate things raw. "Do I just put it in the fire until it's warm...?" He didn't want to make Damian do anything too stressful after his horrible experience the night before.