Private Finished A New Hope

It was an afternoon like any other, however the sky overhead was completely canopied by large overhanging trees and in the darkness below stalked one mad beast of unknown origins and one lost desperate druid that had stepped into a nest that was not his own. Crouching over the trunk of a tree as he clutched his chest, Julian heaved in and out large amounts of air in hopes of regaining his lost breath. Each was a painful reminder of the daggers that had dug into his backside, raising a hand backward to confirm his suspicions he winced from the gash across his skin. Something had swiped at him from the darkness, something large with claws that dug into his skin and for all he knew withdrew a decent amount of blood and his flesh. His heart racing, he knew that he couldn’t tarry long and began feeling about the trunk of the tree for something familiar.

“Where is it, where is it?!” off in the distant he could hear the clambering of something moving in the darkness, the crack and tearing of trees sending splinters in all manner of directions as something clawed at them and the voices in his head as many other trees screamed around him “DANGER! RUN!” it wasn’t a moment too soon that his hand touched a solid clump of moss and he began racing toward the opposite direction. All about his panic idled brain he attempted to recall his lessons as a child, wondering which hemisphere Manta Carlos resided on and where exactly civilization was direction wise from him now. Dashing over tree roots as if they’d sunk to avoid tripping him or heaved him up to gain him some distance from the creature, the thunderous echo of the creature clattering after him was still growing despite his lead and with little ability to see he was certainly at a disadvantage.

Knowing that he had little hopes of out maneuvering a creature of the night, Julian took to his strengths found a nearby tree with an uproot, sunk deep under it and felt around once more. Luckily the air about the forest suggested high levels of humidity and although he had been lucky enough not to trip in any yet, he found a healthy supply of mud and began coating himself with in.

“Got to get rid of my scent” his inner voice shook, taking off his clothes Julian threw them in a direction opposite to his hiding space and as feverously as he could started to coat himself from head to toe in mud. The pounding of earth was starting to become louder than his own heartbeat or was that his breath slowing down as though he was about to have a panic attack? Unsure but knowing his desire to live outweighed both possibilities, once he was finished covering himself he moved to another sank as far under the tree root as possible covering himself in foliage and making every attempt not to move, breath or smell of anything. After a run like that his sweat would have coated his clothes and distancing them from him would throw off the animal if he was relying on smell alone… but then there was the possibility it could see in the dark as clear as daylight. Hopefully the brush he had grabbed was both adequate enough to cover him and not be poisonous.

“Murderer…” the trees whispered to him and as the word trailed off all manner of noises in the forest ceased and suddenly his attacker was here. It was a big lumbering beast from the sounds of its steps, large enough to be less careful with the noise it made to avoid other predators and likely powerful enough should any other challenge him. Holding his, he could hear it breathing, sniffing about the area as it moved tracking him. At first it moved towards his hiding place and Julian’s heart nearly stopped until it turned towards the direction of his discarded clothes. Letting it’s head hang a moment, it paused for what felt like a lifetime, like it was unsure where Julian’s smell was strongest. The realization that he had taken some time in this coating himself with mud would make the smell stronger here and his clothes could only have been thrown so far… by the Earth mother, what he wouldn’t give for a distraction right now, perhaps a giant spider or T-Rex to distract King Kong here from ripping his guts out… but with this level of darkness, he had no idea as to what kind of creature it was and when it was safe to leave. Thankfully, Julian was patient and could wait out the beast if need be… as he watched the outline of the beast move away from the root and stand nearby he pondered how he’d even come to be in this mess to begin with.

Searching for a new home, that had been how his day began. The entire druidic tribe that had seen fit to join him on his journey to a new land of magic and filled with plenty to boot, it was their first priority to find a place among the wilds of nature to grow and live. However, he heedlessly missed the obvious signs of this terrible place because he just had to say hello to a baby cow that’s father… a wild bull didn’t take to kindly to his friendliness. Thus became lost in this part of the forest trying to find a patch of the place that had an ounce of sunlight or another single living person and now… now he waits for death or a miracle to distract this crazed animal in the shadows so that he might escape.

It was almost too cruel that he should see from under his rooted area a bit of foliage moving with the breeze that exposed a bit of light. Clearly his childhood lessons had served him well and he ran in the direction of the forests edge… so close yet so far.

Humming of murderous intent, the voices of nature shook violently at the blood lust in the air as if calling out to Julian, it was both thrilling and causing a level of anxiety in his spirit that made him almost want to pass out. This feeling of dread that was welling up inside of him as the creature, who’s face became barely visible from the side as light canopied briefly in so that Julian caught sight of it… just before something slammed into its face.

“What the fuck!” cried Julian as these titans collided with one another, the sound easily the loudest thing that was echoing through the forest? Where Julian’s every instinct was to run, the small opening that had previously shone light into this dark part of the forest was now a gaping hole but for a single moment. It was beyond disbelief what he was seeing, a moment ago Julian wasn’t entirely sure what the beast was that had attacked him, but having been raised by druids, having seen all manner of beasts in persons and in text, was certain that this beast most likely fit Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in wonderland” description of a Bandersnatch. An animal of fierce disposition, a hulking ruthless fanged cat, with spots about its grey fur and claws like daggers that were sharp as razor edged steel. As for the other that saw fit to barrel into it, Julian wasn’t entirely unfamiliar with dragons as to not recognize one… but to say he was happy to see one, would’ve made the symbolic nature of urine trailing down his leg lose it’s value. As if a Bandersnatch wasn’t the worst possible thing that could kill him, a bloody dragon could roast him alive and bite off one limb at a time just before the pain overtook him.

Julian felt a cold chill run up his spine as the inevitability of his death was drawing closer, fingers began moving about him that were not his own and to spite them vines began snapping back at them in effort to defend Julian without his knowing. These dark forces and nature were not friends and very rarely worked together but it seemed after a moment of hesitation the forest conceded it’s right to protect it’s own and let Julian be taken.

“What, what no!” Kicking and screaming, Julian felt hands reaching out for him and pulling him from under the root that protected him from the naked eye. Covered from head to toe in mud with only his shorts covering his lower extremities, Julian was brought out from his hole and into the light… so to speak and before he knew it into the sky were all but one of his senses were so overloaded that he blacked out. The last thing he saw was the earth vanishing beneath him, with his fear of heights or falling so hardwired into his brain he couldn’t cling to consciousness to save his life.

Suspended in mid-flight, the closest his semi-consciousness could come up for this delirium in his lethargic state was that he was dreaming. As his mind floated between worlds, from blackness to air rushing in his face, he could’ve swore that he’d seen the most perfect place for his people to settle. What made it so quaint was the fact a house was already sitting there and his body was growing ever closer to it as he descended to the ground. It was quite an experience to say the least, zooming through the air so effortlessly like an angel. Fretting over him now was a blur that sounded so empathic to his situation, something about the way the wind blew about this blur and the softness of how the trees spoke about him was reassuring.

Though warm liquids rinsed his body clean and relaxed some of his more weary muscles, all pain receptors came back on in a flash as the familiar stinging sensation of alcohol touched his open wounds.

“GAH!” he winced gritting his teeth and shutting his eyes as hard as he could. His back was arching like it would snap in twine at the fresh painful reminder that he was mortal. Nothing else mattered, nothing else would register but the pain, but was it new pain or old pain? Had his savior also been his captor and if so what fresh new hell would he have to endure? Briefly blinking his eyes with rapid succession, Julian looked about the room in effort to get a sense of his bearings. It appeared as any bathroom aside from his blood on the tiles below and on the other person that was trying to help him. As his vision began to clear, Julian could tell the blur was actually a quite handsome man and the way he stumbled over his words like a child with his hand caught in the cookie jar relayed no real sense of danger. If nothing else, there was something that could be said about a man that had living plants in his house. Not that a serial murderer couldn’t own plants, but just above him looked to be a rather well tended pot of devils ivy.

Julian smiled, knowing full well that this was the perfect plant as it was near impossible to kill and did well enough in the dark… however, the thing about this plant is that it had flowered. As Julian could recall, the flowering of devils ivy was so rare the last known spontaneous flowering was in 1964. Although the plant could and likely would sing it’s masters praise, it had no need to Julian this was an amazing display of how much this man cared for his plants and likely by the tending to himself, he was in good hands. Relaxing visibly at the questioning, Julian’s eyes fully opened and he gave a pained smile to let the man know he was okay or at least as okay as he could be. Of course Julian had a million questions, figuratively speaking. How did he get here, what had become of the Bandersnatch and the dragon? Because if the scars on his back were any indication of reality, that was no dream.

“Gods” he exclaimed trying to sit up and stretch, which of course only compounded his issue.

“Everything hurts… What happened, how did I get here?” perhaps the man could fill in some gaps.

Julian

“Stupid? yeah, that sounds like me” a wry smile graced the delicate balance of wincing and grimaces from the pain of applying the salve that he was all too familiar with. As a child he couldn’t count the number of scrapes, bruises and broken bones he’d received on account of his reckless need for adventure and excitement.

Listening to the man recount the tale of how he had been saved was quite the fable indeed, to think this scrawny mess of a man child had pulled him out of the brink, away from a full grown, hungry Bandersnatch and a dragon with a little something to prove. It was a miracle that the both of them weren’t made into a two course dinner, let alone having escaped.

From one grin to another, Julian shook his head in agreement that a hospital would’ve been preferable and most likely necessary despite any application to his person… especially if the animal in question was a Bandersnatch, because some were rumored to be poisonous. Of course there was no way for Julian to confirm this, he’d never seen the animal in question outside of fairy tale books and could hardly peer round to his rear and evaluate whether his wound was infected, festering or gangrenous. Suffice it to say when it came to the medical community, Julian had little doubt that magical physicians would be able to treat the wounds and even have the scars sealed up within a day or two… goddess those are going to be a rough few nights though. Julian moved with ease to accommodate the other man’s attempts at bandaging, trying to ignore the man’s hesitation or at least unease with skin on skin contact was hard. Perhaps he was anti-social. That would explain the plants about the house, not exactly a dozen cats but plants were no substitute for friends either.

“The authorities” Julian repeated a bit taken back, thinking since when was it against the law to be mauled by a wild animal? Of course it was his fault there was no mistaking that, but he’d traveled the entire world in his life and with the resources of many druid clans throughout that area seen and heard of many forbidden forests. Often times it was labeled such for good reason to keep people safe, other times it was to keep out poachers. Julian having little to say in the matter did not argue that the later often doesn’t apply when one is being chased by an angry bull.

Julian took the brush in hand, slicking back his matted hair as to get it out of his face with only so much time to notice the man attempting to leave the room.

“Wait… um” he started, a bit embarrassed by his knowledge of procedures for such emergencies.

“If you insist on bringing clothes, please just make sure it’s nothing you’ll miss or something I can replace… I’d hate to bleed on your favorite… anything” something told him he’d likely have to pay for a new rug or something after all was said and done. Being in a strangers bathroom with blood going down the drain often meant he took you through the front or back door for god sakes and then proceeded to drag you over whatever was along the way without thinking.

Embarrassed that his action had put another person out, Julian turned his head to let the man leave the room. Today truly could have been his last and what would his tribe have done if he had gone missing? If any had gone looking for him, he could’ve caused the deaths of so many more in the process and honestly… who doesn’t quarantine that kind of area?! By all that is holy in the earth mothers world, even druids knew when a place needed to be locked down with a barrier and sealed off from the rest of humanity for safety. Even if the Bandersnatch was a creature of nature, it was still a hell hound compared to a bull and sure hadn’t given him a second glance before shredding his flank.

Sighing in exasperation, Julian gave a mighty huff and let go of his anger, he knew it was only the pain that was making him think so negatively. During his time caring for some of the elders in his tribe, he’d often see some of the kindest men and women turn sour due to a spike in pain levels, hunger or sleeplessness… The Bandersnatch could’ve just been having a bad day hunting and was hungry, goddess knows he couldn’t blame it for hunting. Speaking of off putting ailments, Julian hadn’t realized how scratchy and dry his voice sounded until now, with the taste of fresh dirt and blood still upon his broken lips he waited until the return of his savior to ask a favor.

“Could I get a glass of water, please?” his throat felt like a raw bit of open path, dry and crack from being trudged over by feet for years.

Taking the clothes in hand graciously, Julian eyed the gifted items wearily and pondered just how many of this man’s nicer things was he discarding for a stranger’s sake. Some of it looked fairly nice, Julian was partial to the dragon tee, the p-jay pants and the Nordic sweater (pretty much everything), he’d owned some nice things but these looked like clothes kept in a closet that never saw the light of day or at the very least were very well kept. Julian’s clothes even before being discarded were full of holes, patched up and with a layer of dirt that was not from the chase. After all, being part druid meant being okay with having a healthy layer of dirt on you. Not that Julian didn’t own nice clothes, though his closet whenever he finds the time to obtain one would find clothing altogether scarce, he had been promised a rather large monthly allowance from both the tribe and secretly his family.

Reaching his arms up, he was about to make a mental note to re-evaluate his wardrobe after getting settled as if he hadn’t a ninety nine problems to solve already thanks to his clumsiness. However, his reach didn’t go over his shoulders before he winced in pain, the realization that his wounds didn’t appreciate him flexing before and now attempting to put a shirt on would be near impossible without assistance. As the stranger returned with a bottle of water, Julian was holding his arms close to him in a feeble attempt that people make to fold in on themselves when in pain… as if it will lessen. Still once handed the elongated bottle that looked vaguely like a canister of “ooze” from the teenage mutant ninja turtles, Julian swiveled off the top with little thought to its name brand and greedily took in its contents.

Coughing slightly as he had taken a minor amount into his wind tunnel, Julian relaxed and breathed normally taking in sips as his host retrieved his phone and pointed out the two hadn’t even exchanged names. Not that Julian was opposed to telling a complete stranger his name, but he had heard stories of certain creatures, demons or other ilk with ill intentions towards mortals using such knowledge to control their prey… Julian had already gotten a pretty strong vibe from this… Chester Mayfield… that he was a pretty straight shooter.

“Harrison…” he exclaimed as he wiped his lips and then proceeded with the full name as if he was Bond, James Bond.

“Julian Harrison” he chuckled weakly at the thought of his nerdiness and how he had put a slight British accent behind the repeat of his full name. Despite his cheeky nature, Julian had a keen eye for detail and an ever changing attention span. That is to say, whilst pressing lips to the bottle of water he noticed that Chester was favoring his right leg as opposed to his left. Waiting until the manboy was preoccupied with thought or speech he gave the man’s leg a tap to see if he had any response.

“You okay?” he asked concerned, shooting the man an apologetic look if he had overstepped with reaching.

“Sorry, but if it cut you too, you should be going to the hospital with me” he explained, going into detail that if the animal in question that attacked him was what struck him, there was a high likelihood of infection or that the wound could fester if left untreated.