Forums » General Roleplay » A wild orphan appeared (1x1 with gloomy)

Natalia huddled in the shadows of a crumbling building within the small village. As far as she knew, she was the only survivor or she had just gotten left behind. Both thoughts made her sad. She wasn't important enough to kill and nor was she important enough to take away from the village.
Her clothes were burnt and some of her tan fur was frayed at the ends, but at least she was warm and no one could hurt her anymore. She huddled deeper into the shadows, closing her eyes, praying for death. She had nothing else anyways.

Malus had been on a stroll through the more desolate reaches of his kingdom, wanting nothing more than to get away from the bustling city districts he called home. Today was different, however, for he was alone; leaving his personal guards back at the castle to tend to less mundane tasks. He might have been a king, but that certainly did not mean he was unable to take care of himself. All had seemed rather peaceful through the long trek through the mountains -birds and insects humming their familiar tunes- when all at once the world felt at standstill. Something was... wrong. He knew this path, it was only a half a mile before the next outlying village, and he felt compelled to head there instead of the path back to Sarracosta. If his instincts were right, perhaps someone in the village would know. If his instincts were wrong, all the better.

Making his way to the village, he came to see that the entirety of it was ransacked, completely in ruins from the bottom up. He was right. Something was terribly... terribly wrong...

Cursing under his breath, he walked down the main path, taking in all the sights of his lost people, when he came across a shadow shifting just in the corner of his vision.

Natalia glanced up when she saw the shape and immediately recognized him as her king. But he probably cared less about her than the townsfolk did, which was barely enough to give her their left overs.
Even still she had an obligation to her ruler and nervously came out of the shadows, tears in her eyes and she got down on her knees and bowed deeply to him but remained silent for a moment.
"You highness," she finally said with a whimper and then leaned back so that she was sitting on her knees and she grabbed her furry shark tail, pulling it to her chest. She looked up at his regal figure for only a moment, then looked away, fearing that if she looked too long he would hit her.

Malus had turned to see the kneeling figure at his feet. He looked at the child for a second, his gaze hard and calculating as the gears in his mind turned. So many questions... However, this cold demeanor had only lasted for a brief moment, before his gaze graced over her frightened eyes.

As soon as he saw just how much emotion was reflected through her eyes, his own gaze softened. He kneeled down to reach her eye level and offered her his hand, smiling warmly. "It's alright, child. I'm here to help."

She couldn't help but blush behind her tan fur and nervously took his hand, "Th-thank you, sire," she said anxiously and looked up at his kind eyes again. At least he wasn't hitting her, or blaming her for some reason.
She stood next to him and looked at the still burning buildings and the dead animals and villagers scattered about.

Malus scowled at the amass of mayhem before them, before returning his gaze to the young girl. "What is your name?" He asked.

"N-Natalia, sire," she whispered nervously and gently squeezed his hand if only for Confort.

"Natalia..." Malus let the name sink in. "Hmm... what an interesting name. Alright, Natalia, I need you to tell me everything you can about what had happened. Perhaps there are more survivors within these ruins." He looked around in case he could spot any of the shadows moving.

"I-I don't really know what happened... A bunch of men came in on horses and they had axes and hammers... They started killing people and taking things, then they left. They had armor made of chains and weird helmets that looked like cones and some had horns on the sides. Some of them had feral animal pelts on from bears or wolves... They didn't spare anyone that got close."

"I see..." Malus mumbled numbly. He had never heard of such forces before, but if this is what they could do to a fairly large village such as this, then surely they had no time to waste. For a moment, the king said nothing, the gears in his mind spinning as he contemplated his next move. Then, in a last minute decision, he turned away from the girl and kneeled onto the ground. "Get on my back." He ordered, "Hurry."

The 15 year old blushed deeply, "N-no, sire! You can't do that!" she protested, "I can run fast as you... And I don't want you to be mocked or jeered at for carrying a homeless person..."

"Bah, let them talk." Malus mocked queerly, standing up and brushing himself off, "I would not lose even an ounce of sleep over such petty insults. However... if you insist that you're well enough to travel on your own, then let us make haste."

The king paced himself briskly down the path on which he came from, Natalia close in tow. The plan was to reach the nearest guard outpost to alert them of the recent pillaging; that is, if the smoke billowing out into the sky hadn't been enough to pique their interest..

It was a simple enough plan. But Malus, despite his calm demeanor, desperately hoped that this was not as bad as it seemed. There had to be more survivors than just her, right? Enough guards at the next post to warrant a search party? Perhaps the raiders were only planning to strike that one village? These were his own people being slaughtered, for Martyr's sake! This was absolutely unjustified!

So many questions left unanswered... And yet, there was something nagging at the back of his mind: the horrible feeling that despite what had happened, this was only the beginning.

Needless to say, he was scowling the whole way through the trip.

The girl kept up right next to him the whole time, and if he started running, she would more than be able to keep up.
"Why... Why are you helping me?" Natalia asked after several minutes of silence, "I'm not worth anything... The raiders didn't even kill me... One of them looked right at me and then moved on and killed someone else..."

"Huh?" He stopped and looked at her, suddenly pushed out of his train of thought, "Why am I... helping you...? Well, why wouldn't I be helping you!?" He gave a slight chuckle in response and continued to walk.

"Just because I'm king doesn't mean I'm heartless; I have a duty to my people, to protect and serve them as they serve me. Every life is important, no matter how big or small. And besides, what kind of man would I be, to leave such a stunning young woman such as yourself?" He gave her a warm smile.

Her cheeks turned bright red at his compliment and she nearly tripped over her own feet. The king had complimented her?! The king?! She couldn't even get a compliment on a job well done whenever she was hired for some minimal job that no one else wanted to do, like cleaning the stables. She never would even get paid or fed, despite promises made to her, yet the king just called her stunning?!
The shark/fox girl's mouth opened and closed a few times, revealing those sharp rows of teeth she had but no words came out of her mouth. She was covered in dirt, soot, a bit of horse manure and she was wearing only a burlap sack that she had torn holes in with her own teeth. Her fur was even burnt but still, he had found it in his heart to compliment her appearance. It astonished her after so many years of torment and abuse from peasants and even other homeless that the king could be so kind.

Malus could only chuckle at her reaction. In truth, he was being honest; taking off the Natalia's rough exterior, he could see his own wife in her eyes. It was the same look of kindness and compassion that he woke up to every day, and he could see a strong heart and powerful will just beneath it. A will woven by the hardships of their past...

He heard something.

Malus stopped dead in his tracks, whipping his head around to scan the distant brush. He could hear... something. Just what, he wasn't sure. Readying the small blade at his side, he watched and waited for what could possibly be on the other side.

Natalia stopped and peaked out from behind him, "I-it's just a rabbit..." she said, "It's they're breeding season."

Malus let out a sigh of relief, letting his muscles ease. "Right... Sorry, just a little on edge, is all..."

"I thought you wolves had a good sense of smell," she said teasingly and tends herself in case he hit her for the snide remark.

The king snorted in amusement, "Ah, my sense of smell isn't what it used to be. Hearing, yes. Smell, eh... not so much."