Haley Thistle
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Valravn Girlfriend: Vita (complete)
🕑 Added 2020-06-25 19:00:02 +0000 UTC
The ground you crawl across is hot, grating gravel, scalding your palms and belly as you pull yourself along. You remain as low to the ground as possible, staying out of sight while the strangers wander around. They drag their feet along the earth, scraping them so their feet bend back with the heels to the sky. As they lurch around, making horrible death rattles in their throats, they charge at any sort of motion. They look like they would be slow, but you’ve seen one charge a rabbit with such speed that it broke the poor creature in half when it caught it.
So you remain low, out of sight of the creatures as they stalk about. Their low groans had been keeping you up at night, ever since they arrived. You’ve not slept well. All you can do each day is try to stay hidden, but you can’t remain locked in your house. You’re one of the few left who can help the people in your village. One of the young, fit ones.
When the strangers first arrived in smoke, it was a massacre. You remember the dark horizon as the billows of dark ash settled before the sunrise. The world was gray, there was no light. Within that dull glow darker objects moved, it was the strangers. Their heads were wrapped in cloth that covered everything except their gaping maws. Their jaws were always open wide, dribbling thick black resin that splattered down their fronts. Sometimes you could recognize one of the strangers just by the black streaks on their chest.
Their arms and legs were abnormally longer than human limbs, and their hands and feet were quite large, almost purple in color before they blackened at the nails. Their hunched shoulder blades jutted out before merging into the high arch of their spines. You’ve heard from the others that they could elongate their necks, stretching out like snakes with unhinged jaws to devour their prey.
Their faces being covered didn’t stop them from killing. They didn’t rely on sight, but on their sharp hearing and sense of smells. Breathing in through their mouths, they could taste the world around them, or at least that’s what you and the others could piece together. They hunted and killed, taking down all those who attempted to protect their homes. It soon became a challenge to survive and evade rather than attack. You eventually figured out that staying close to the ground somehow shields you from their detection. As long as you remain low and quiet, you can slip around the strangers.
You take in quiet breaths, carefully moving across the ground. The earth feels scorched. You’ve been outside the village gathering food and supplies. It would have been so easy to just run away. In fact, many others had, but you decided to remain. Each day you don’t run, the hotter and more unbearable the crawl home becomes. But people are depending on you. You can’t leave them behind, can you?
You’re nearly to a safe spot where you could get up and walk. The ground is soft moss now. Then you hear a rattle behind you, the slurping, gurgling, raspy sound that the strangers let off. Looking up, you see pointed toes in the trees. The creature has part of a rabbit hanging from its never-closing maw. It slurps and sputters, black bile turning red with the rabbit’s blood. You did your nails into the moss and dirt, clinging like your life depends on it.
The stranger jerks forward, and the flesh of the rabbit falls from its mouth right before you. You can’t move, you can’t breathe. All you can do is pray. It’s so close, there’s no way it can’t smell the sweat and fear that ooze from your pores. You start to shake all over as the tears begin to fall.
The stranger starts to scream to alert the rest of its kind, but then there is the sound of crackling of bones, and the body drops onto the ground. The head rolls to one side, away from you, while the body twitches and spasms. A foot stomps down on the creature’s spine, crunching under the heel. You press your face into the moss, sobbing, before a hand comes down and grabs your wrist.
“Are you alright?” the figure asks.
You can’t speak. All you can do is blubber as you’re picked up. The dirt is wiped from your face, and you’re pulled into the safety of someone’s arms. They’re wearing armor, but it looks pieced together from different suits, like a quilt.
“My name is Vita,” a woman’s voice says, “and I’ve come to help your village.” She quickly leads you away before more strangers come to find the dead body of one of their own.
You always come home rattled, but today is worse. You give the supplies to the waiting villagers, and then move apart from the crowd. Vita is the one they all want to see. She’s tall. with powerful, thick arms. The sword she carries on her back is massive and far too heavy for normal people to wield. Her helmet keeps her face hidden. It looks like the mask of a plague doctor, elongated and skeletal. The thing that strikes you most, though, is that she wears no sigil. She has no house, no allegiance to anyone. Who is she and where did she come from?
That evening as you play with the children, telling them stories that will help them sleep, you notice Vita watching. She sits alone at the back of the dining hall, bent forward with her fingers laced together on the tabletop. She still wears her helmet and mismatched armor, and it’s drawn your curiosity. After you send the children off to bed, you approach her and sit across from her at the table. She lifts her head and stiffens her back so she sits straight.
“How did you come to find us, Vita?” You look where her eyes should be, but you don’t know if she’s gazing back. “We never sent for knights.”
“I followed the sound of them breathing.” Her voice crackles as she speaks. “I always follow them.”
You turn towards the windows, which have been covered. “The strangers?”
Vita nods. “They are called different things everywhere I go, but their breath is always the same.”
You run your tongue along your teeth as you gather the nerve. “Is there something you want from us?”
“Not at all. I am simply here because they are.” She lifts her large arm and gestures to the door. “Once they’re gone, I’ll follow their breathing until it is no more.”
You feel relieved, but you’ve seen so many you thought were strong fall prey to the strangers. “But why do you follow them?”
“I have my reasons.” Vita bows her head again and spreads her palms open on the table. “Does it matter as long as they die? Once they are gone, life will return to normal.”
“I’m not so sure. This is normal now,” you whisper.
Vita sighs, and her strong shoulders slouch. “Then perhaps comfort will eventually return to you.”
Each morning, Vita goes outside and doesn’t come back for hours. When she returns, she has washed herself in the ocean, but her sword is stained by the blood of the strangers she has killed. You approach her each day, offering her drink, food, or to tend to any wounds she may have suffered. Each time she declines, but she asks for your company.
“Tell me a story like you tell the children.”
“Is that really all you want? You can come and sit with me and the children if you like stories.”
“I do not want to frighten them, and I want to be alone with you.”
Her words flutter around in your heart, and you find want to be alone with Vita too.
One afternoon a harsh rain falls, casting the world in grey and filling the air with a chill that sinks into the bone. You worry for Vita in such weather, and you wonder why she would ever go out on a day like this. You wait for her, tending to the children and playing with them to keep your mind busy. Eventually, day turns to night and the rains continue, but Vita has still not returned.
You stay up waiting, watching from a crack in the door for any sign. When the rain lets up and the clouds disperse, the full moon casts its white light over the street. You open the door further and step out onto the muddy ground. You listen, hoping to hear Vita coming back.
Instead you hear a grunt, a whimper, and a muffled curse. You step out further, keeping to the shadows. At last you see Vita against the wall of a house. She’s removed a piece of her armor and is tending to something on her arm. You see her pluck out and toss aside an object that, when touched by moonlight, looks like a tooth.
“Vita?” you whisper to her.
Her head perks up and she quickly clasps her arm against her body. “What are you doing here? Go back inside!” she whispers back as loudly as she dares.
“Are you hurt? Let me help you!” You step closer, but she shakes her head.
“Get out of here! I am fine and can handle myself. Go back to bed, where you’re warm and safe.” Vita keeps her arm hidden, but you can smell the blood in the air.
“Please, Vita, let me do something for you. Let me help you.” You come to her side and kneel.
“I want you to go away,” she snarls.
You place your hand on her elbow, and you feel fur.
“Don’t! Ah...” She winces as she tries to pull away and doubles over her injured arm.
You put your fingers through her fur until you find it soaked with blood. You pull her arm towards you so it becomes bathed in moonlight. Black fur coats her arm, and the pad of her hand is leathery. Her fingers are long, with black claws where her fingernails would be.
“It’s alright,” you murmur. “Let me help. What happened?”
Vita shivers as she takes in a breath. “I would rather you left.”
You point to the house she has her back leaned against. “This one is empty. We can go inside.” You help her up and lead her into the abandoned home. Inside you find a lantern and light it, setting it beside her arm as she lays it across the table. There are several teeth embedded in her arm, and you carefully remove them before wrapping her arm in cloth.
She starts to put the armor back on, but she stops. Vita turns her head towards you. “I’m sorry you had to see me like this.”
You look at her arm, bandaged and strange. “I would very much like to see you.”
Vita remains quiet and still.
“What will happen when the strangers are gone?” you ask her quietly.
“I will leave to find more.”
Tears prickle up in your eyes. “Would you ever come back?”
“If they return here, I would.”
You close your eyes as the tears start to fall. Ever since Vita arrived she has been the comfort you were desperately searching for. You’ve been working so hard to comfort the village, especially the children, and you’ve foregone your own wants. Vita has been the first relief you’ve had in so long, and you can’t imagine being without her again.
“I am not what you want,” Vita whispers. “I am not mortal, no man.”
“I don’t need man,” you reply.
Vita extends her arm back out across the table. “I am a creature. As much as I may want it, I can never be held by you.”
You place your palm in hers. “But can you hold me?”
Vita wraps her fingers around yours. “Pretty thing, you.” Her voice cracks. “Why would you even want that?”
“Because I forgot what wanting felt like. You reminded me of it.” You pull her hand up and cup it around your face. You nuzzle into her palm, then kiss it softly. “Please, let me kiss you, just once.”
“I cannot kiss,” she whispers.
“But I can.” You move her palm down, letting her touch your chest.
Vita pulls her hand away. She removes her helmet, revealing her face to you. It looks like the skull of a raven, with dark sinew wrapped around the jaw and the back of the head. In the sockets are soft blue, human eyes. Behind her beak is a second mouth, filled with teeth like a wolf’s. Feathers protrude around her collar and start to fluff up around her neck.
You reach forward, placing a soft kiss upon her face. Then you kiss her all over while her arms wrap around you. Her hands stroke up your back while you continue to pepper her head and neck with soft kisses.
“You can want anything. Why me?”
“Do not question it.” You pull her hand to touch you again. “Please, just stay with me tonight.”
“I cannot offer you much,” she whispers, “but I will try.”
Vita undresses you, tossing your clothes aside and then running her hand down your body. She pulls you into her lap so that your back is against her chest. Her hands play with you, cupping your breasts and tugging the nipples. They move down over your belly, gently caressing your mound before her fingertips slip into the rich valley between. Then her hand cups over your mouth. “You must be quiet,” she whispers. “Your scent is strong, so you must keep your voice down.”
You moan against her palm. It’s going to be hard staying quiet as she touches you. Her strong arms keep you still and your arms pinned while her fingers find you wet and engorged below. Above, she presses her fingers into your mouth, pinching your tongue between them.
“This is all I can give you,” she whispers into your ear. “I wish I could do more.”
You spread your thighs and lift your hips, allowing her to touch more of you. She finds the bud at the top of your mound, and as her fingertips stroke it you cry against her fingers. She pinches your tongue harder, and you begin to drool.
“If you’re loud, I won’t give it to you,” she moans. Her fingertips swirl against your clit. She breathes into your ear. “Stay still, now.”
You whimper against her fingertips, thrusting your hips to meet her touch. It feels close and overbearing, and you’re almost about to overflow before she pulls her fingers away. You whine pitifully, glancing up at her.
“This won’t do.” Vita picks you up, taking you to the bed. She places you on your belly with your face against the pillow. She presses her hand to the back of your neck, then lifts you hips into the air. “If you cannot keep quiet, then let the pillow dampen your voice.” Her fingers slip inside you, and you do just that.
Her fingers tighten at the back of your neck. Her sharp claws dig into your skin just enough that you’re aware of them. Inside you her fingers push deep before pulling out, curling so they hit a pleasurable spot inside. Her thumb rubs your bud again, and you whimper breathlessly into the pillow.
“Pretty thing,” Vita moans. “You’re a jewel in this hellscape. Take my pleasure. Keep it with you. Remember me.”
You dig your fingers into the bed and thrust your hips back. You cry into the pillow as you overflow around her fingers. Your whole body pulses with the release, throbbing over and over until you’re weak and exhausted.
You wake in the morning, finding Vita sitting at the table and watching you in all her armor again. “Are you leaving?” You place your feet on the cold floor and walk towards her, each step becoming more and unbearably hot.
“Not yet, but soon.” Vita holds her hand out to you.
You throw yourself into her arms, holding her close. “Take me with you.”
“You cannot go where I go,” she whispers. “I cannot always guarantee your safety. But if you stay here, I can.” She cups your face in her palm. “The strangers will be gone.”
“But so will you,” you cry.
“That is a good thing, and you know it is.” She brushes her fingertips under your eyes to wipe away the tears.
Your chest squeezes painfully so you can barely catch your breath. “Will you come back?”
“If I do, it is not a good sign.” She taps her fingers against your lips. “But maybe one day, I will be able to go where I please.” She rises from her seat, and you can see wings spreading from her back. She goes to the door and lingers there for a moment.
“I want you too,” she whispers. “I will never forget that feeling.”
You close your eyes as she leaves, sitting back down as the door closes behind her. Maybe one day she will return, you tell yourself. And then, you’ll have a life you truly want.
