#cursebourne ocs

[lunartearrose]

Oc kiss week 2024 day 4: Lost

Ocs: Vel (left) Xavier (right)

Series: cursebourne (ttrpg)

Drabble below! Tw: character death

What a terrible, terrible night to remember.

Vel and Xavier had settled down together with some tea, as they always did after a long day.

Something was wrong with it, from the moment it passed Vel's lips, they knew - but they couldn't warn Xavier in time not to drink it.

The assassins Vel once called their family descended on him like wolves. They pinned Vel down, forcing them to watch.

All in the sake of teaching Vel to “stay loyal”.

Loyal to what? The blood of the slain on their lips? The curse they were raised to strengthen until it was almost impossible to control?

Look at what it earned them. They wanted a monster so badly, and a monster they got.

Vel was forced to watch Xavier die. And his killers would be torn apart by the very beast they were so desperate to keep.

When the beast that was their curse was filled with the blood that had raised them, the world slowly began to filter back in. Their hand, still a claw, was clenched tightly. Something was in their grasp. Something small and roundish, that they felt the intense urge to hold as gently as they could, but still could not free from their grasp.

At times like this, Xavier would console them after a transformation - promise them it was okay, that he was there for them. And always in the bags he liked to carry, there was a fresh set of clothes in their size. They were a person to him - much more than a weapon.

But now… he lay dead, in the middle of the room. Torn apart. His sweet voice would never be heard again.

It was not the first time Vel had seen things this gutted. But this time, the first in a long, long time, Vel couldn't stop crying. They tore the sheets from his bed nearby, hurriedly wrapping his gaping, bloodied wounds, doing their best to slow the bleeding.

“Please… please wake up.” Vel knows their wish won't be granted.

But they so dearly, dearly wanted it.

“Please. I'll be so lost without you. Please…”

Xavier wouldn't speak. He wouldn't breathe.

Once upon a time, Xavier took some time to teach them to read. Letters and Storybooks at first, in whatever language he could scrounge from tattered stores and lucky finds. The one they remembered finding funny were the two that ended in princesses being awoken by kisses. They both made crude jokes about it, laughing together back then.

And in this painful, desperate moment, Vel wished this could be true. They scooped him up in their shaking, bloody hands, one still closed in an aching fist.

In this dying world of curses, and strange magic… maybe it could be.

Despite the part of them that never wanted to taste his blood again, Vel leaned in.

Any warmth had been lost to the frigid night air.

Nothing happened.

Again.

Nothing.

Again…

Vel doesn't know how long it's been. Time was lost on them. Someone opened the door. A maid squealed in shock. There was no thud, so they didn't faint. Vel hadn't looked up.

“Do you know who ordered the contract on him?” Vel asked quietly.

“I-i! No! Gods, no…” the maid exclaimed, “oh dear gods, poor Xavier… Velvet, dear, did you…?”

The piercing glare Vel gave scared her to silence. “I would never do this to him.” Vel replied.

At this, they stood, wrapping the blanket around Xavier.

“As the soul survivor and heir of Burning Dark, the funds of the fallen belong to me.” Vel explained to her. “You and your other workers. You take care of their rooms in this place, correct?”

“Y-yes- sir- ma'am- um…”

Vel finally pried open their hand. Pristine and beautiful, Xavier's left eye rested in their palm.

“Good. Clean them out. Any riches and objects of value are yours. I don't want them. All I ask in return is a good place to lay Xavier to rest. I want him to have as close to a king's resting place as I can get - preserved as much as possible. That's all. I will handle fixing him myself. I know how…”

The maid nodded, leaving in a hurry.

Vel got to work, sewing Xavier up and dressing him in his best clothes, the way he liked to dress. By the time they were done, he truly did look like he was just sleeping.

As taught to do with valuable kills, Vel preserved Xav's eye in a glass bottle, and hung it on a velvet rope around their neck.

Surprisingly, a different maid returned, handing them a map to an abandoned castle in the woods close by, asking if it were sufficient.

Memories blur. The last vel saw of xavier, they had gently placed him in that castle, surrounded by mourning flowers.

Despite their crusade, ever traveling and wandering aloof, bouquets from the maids would find them, haunting them for a good year.

Years pass.

Vel kills more bloodmongers. The lives of assassins are forfeit.

It's all in Xavier's name.

More time passes.

Vel prays not to forget, muttering stories of the man they loved. Telling them to bored kids looking for this strange knight's stories.

A town Vel once visited goes down in flames. Forever.

A necromancer's name on a growing lists of murderous targets.

Vel is captured by bloodmongers, chained away.

More years.

The curse craves blood. They sleep to ignore it. Their body morphs, straddling the edge of their manticore form. Large wings, spiked tail, sharp claws and features.

They lost their sense of self.

They cried, losing the memory of how Xavier looked beyond his purple eyes. They only know he had purple ones because of that charm.

A bloodmonger got too close because of the tears, despite the warnings his superiors gave.

How many years had it been since they lost him? Ten?

It's been a while since they've seen the apprentice bloodmonger that yapped to them endlessly. They hated that they missed it.

Sleep. Lose time. Eat bread. Crave blood.

Sleep. Dream.

Something is scratching at their cage.

A rat again?

A soft swear. The clink of something small and metal clattering to the floor.

No, not a rat.

Swearing, rattling now. Perhaps frustration?

Another loud bang. The smell of blood, a small, small amount. Foul blood. But something about it…

Vel woke up.

Across the way in dim light, something undead was fiddling with the locks and chains on the door. Their skin was a sickly greenish-teal, one leg was bone, and their hair was scraggly and grayed at the ends from decay, but well kept. A familiar style, if not altered slightly.

Most strikingly… they were definitely missing an eye.

The feeling of Vel moving their lips felt foreign. They almost didn't know how to speak anymore.

“What…”

The zombie glanced up, as the cell door clicked open. At last.

Staring back was a dead, but bright purple eye. Exactly like what they had with them.

And a familiar voice they thought they'd never hear again.

“Long time no see, Vel.” Xavier said, smiling nervously as he covered the hole in his face with his bangs. “I missed you.”

#ockiss24 #oc kiss week #cursebourne ocs #xavier (oc) #Vel (oc) #blood #tw blood