Chapter Text
Just… let me live…
Kronii grunts as she claws through the dirt, having fallen just a few feet ago during her escape. She leaves a trail of blood as mud stains her skin through her ripped clothes that were essential rags at this point.
All because she didn’t want to fight?
All because she didn’t want to kill?
Her life was worth taking because she wouldn’t take others?
How pitiful.
She can still feel the imprints of combat boots on her ribs, the open wounds of ripped out arrows burning her body, her life draining away from her with each movement.
It does not help when she tumbles down a hill.
Each bump kicks more air from out of her lungs, leaving her gasping for something, anything.
Then, water surrounds her, darkness flooding in as her entire body gives up on her.
She lets it happen.
It’s not like she can fight anyways.
She wakes up again. She doesn’t expect to.
She doesn’t expect to be able to move her fingers, tapping them against her stomach in a test of whether or not she’s really alive.
“You’re awake.” A voice calls out from above her, and Kronii’s eyes flutter open, a Goddess looking down at her from the heavens above.
“No,” the Goddess giggles. “Close though.”
Oh. She said that outloud.
“It’s good to know you can talk. Are you still hurting anywhere?”
Kronii looks down, her body laid out before them, with her head resting on something soft. She tries to prop herself up, but is eased back down with gentle hands on her shoulders.
“Not yet,” the Goddess coaxes. “Just because you woke up and aren’t hurting, doesn’t mean that you should get up now.”
“Am I dead?”
The Goddess shakes her head. “Almost. The river carried you to me though, so I nursed you back to health.”
“Oh.” Kronii lifts her hand up to twist it around, testing it’s movement. It was a bit sore, but only in the slightly numbing way as if her body was still waking up. “How’d you do that?”
“Magic?”
Kronii looks up again to see golden eyes looking at her with such… care. Is that what that was? She wouldn’t know. This was new. This was… weird.
“So then, are you actually a Goddess?”
“Something like that.” She shrugs. “But you’re not in Heaven.”
“Huh? Then how are you here?”
She tilts her head. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t Angels only exist in Heaven?”
The Goddess (???) gives a soft chuckle, music like a morning songbird’s melody. “You’re a charmer, aren’t you?”
Kronii raises an eyebrow. “A charmer?”
A blink. Then a scoff. “Come on, I can’t possibly be that outdated on human terms now, can I?”
“I, um…” Kronii shrugs. “I’m not very… educated…”
“I thought the kingdom taught their soldier?”
Kronii bites her lip. “Not their dogs.”
“Dogs?” The Goddess brushes her hands through Kronii’s hair, who closes her eyes at the comforting feeling. “Well, you look very human to me.”
“Mmm.” Kronii hums, melting into the little touches.
“Go to sleep.” The Goddess tells her. “You’re safe here.”
“Safe, huh?” Kronii murmurs, before losing consciousness once again.
When she wakes up again, she’s on a soft bed of leaves. They don’t crunch under her movement, but rather rustle as if they were still fresh and living.
She isn’t able to move much though, a weight heavy on one of her sides. Her arm is trapped under something, in fact, her entire side felt… warm?
Kronii’s eyes flutter open once more, and when she looks to the side, she sees the Goddess using her as a pillow-slash-teddy bear combination.
The next thing she notices is that instead of the sun illuminating them, it’s the moonlight that shines down upon the scene. The stars do well to sparkle in the night sky, and reflect themselves in the glowing skin of the Goddess next to her.
“Mmf.” The Goddess grunts as she snuggles into the crook of Kronii’s neck a bit more. “Go back to sleep.”
“Did I wake you?” Kronii whispers.
“I’m always awake.” She whispers back, a warm breath of Life hitting her collarbone. “I was just resting.”
“Oh.” Kronii breathes.
The Goddess props herself up, hovering over Kronii just slightly. “Something on your mind?”
“You.” Kronii blurts out. “You don’t know me, and I don’t know you, but you’re… not…” She bites her lip, trying to think. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Do you need something to do?”
Kronii sighs, looking away to avoid eye contact. “There’s always work to be done.”
“Hm.” The Goddess giggles. “Fauna.”
“Huh?” Kronii looks up with a raised eyebrow.
“Fauna. Ceres Fauna. That’s my name.”
“Oh.” Kronii adjusts herself as Fauna settles back into place. “Kronii.”
“Just Kronii?”
“Dogs don’t get full names.”
“Hm.” Fauna props herself back up again, a hand moving to gently caress Kronii’s face. She thumbs her lips, and Kronii opens her mouth just slightly, confused fangs poking out. The Goddess shrugs. “I guess you’ll just have to take mine.”
“Sorry?” Kronii sputters.
Fauna smiles, falling back down to nestle herself once again. “Just kidding.”
“Oh.” Kronii’s arm wraps itself around Fauna, hand landing on her shoulder as she holds her close.
“You sound disappointed.”
“No, it’s just…” Kronii sighs. “You saved my life, I belong to you.”
“So you actually wanted my name?” Fauna whispers, a bit glad that Kronii can’t see her face as she hides a forming smile into the soldier’s collarbone.
“I wouldn’t mind being branded by you.”
Her smile drops, eyebrows furrowing as her hands wrinkle themselves in Kronii’s rags. “You’re more than something to be owned, Kronii.”
“It’s alright. I don’t mind.”
The dismissal ignites a small fire in Fauna’s heart, irking the Goddess.
What exactly did they do to you?
Fauna grumbles when she feels Kronii shift again, well aware that the soldier still needed rest. Although, maybe part of her just wanted to lay like this a little longer.
“Stay.” Fauna whispers, trying to push Kronii back down. “It’s too early.”
“The sun’s about to rise.” Kronii argues back. “It’s time to train.”
“Train for what?” Fauna asks as she sits up, allowing the soldier to as well.
“For protecting you.”
A little scoff. “I don’t need protection.”
“I owe you my life.” Kronii reiterates. “I must live, breathe, and fight for you, whether you need it or not.”
Fauna sighs. “You wanna do something for me?”
“Anything, Goddess.”
She wants to wince at the title. Kronii had yet to call her by her name.
“Then learn.”
Kronii raises an eyebrow, a look of frustrated confusion as she stares at Fauna. “Learn?”
“You’ll be living here now.” Fauna explains. “I want you to learn about this place, and in return, I also want you to tell me about yourself.”
“But I don’t have anything about myself-”
Her words die in her throat when Fauna sets a hand on her chest, her heart rate suddenly strengthening. “Then you’ll need to figure that out, too.”
“Goddess-”
“Until then.” Fauna cuts her off as she stands, blocking the sunrise from Kronii’s eyes as it frames her silhouette perfectly. The soldier needs to squint in order to keep staring, unable to tear her gaze away. “Take it easy.”
Kronii stumbles to her feet as well. “But, Goddess-”
“And please. Call me Fauna.”
Kronii bites her tongue, unable to follow the simple command as she watches the Goddess disappear behind a tree.