Chapter Text
It was supposed to be a fun day, he was deemed a Crownguard and he was trying to spend the day with his sister before he was busy with his duties. That couldn't happen because of some animal trying to attack. It was an animal from Xadia, he wasn't sure what it was just that it was from Xadia. He tried to keep his sister safe along with himself but that just didn't seem possible.
“Soren!” He could hear his sister scream as the animal attacked him. It threw him against a tree, hard. He could hear something crack, he knew he broke something. He tried to get up, he tried to get to his sister. He couldn't move, he couldn't get to her. “Claudia, go back to the town!” She only stared at him, horror written on her face.
She was frozen, he couldn't even try to get her to move by pushing her in the direction of the town. She was stuck in place as the animal moved its attention from him to her. He couldn't try to protect her from the animal, he was stuck against the tree. The words to tell Claudia to run were stuck in his throat. He could only watch as the animal attacked his baby sister.
He could hear as she screamed and watched as her leg was ripped off from below the knee. He was frozen both mentally and physically, he couldn't do anything. He could only listen and watch. Soren was stuck as Claudia had to protect herself and him. He was failing as both her older brother and Crownguard. The last thing that he could remember hearing was the screaming of Claudia, the thumping of hooves while other guards yelled out orders to each other, and someone moving to him.
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Everything happened in a blur. One moment he was in the woods watching his sister be attacked by an animal before the animal was attacked by guards. The next moment he was staring at the ceiling of a hospital room as he was completely alone.
Is Claudia ok? Was she badly hurt? God, I failed her, I failed my baby sister. I'm supposed to be a Crownguard, I've spent so long training to be a guard and I couldn't even do much to keep her safe.
That's when he heard the door open. He could hear the sound of crutches hitting the floor, along with the sound of a boot hitting the floor. He listened as the sound got closer, he looked at the place they stopped. He could barely move his head so he could just barely see her. He watched as she brought a chair closer to him, in his line of sight. She was using crutches to move around, it made him feel guilty.
“I'm sorry.” He could finally speak again, he didn't understand why he couldn't before. Claudia only gave a weak smile before reaching for him, possibly his hand. “You did what you could. The doctors said you're paralyzed from the neck down.” Soren only hummed before looking at the ceiling again. Did their father know as well? What about his new girlfriend and her kids?
“Is he mad? About what happened in the woods?” Claudia only hummed, he looked at her again. Soren stared at her, she was looking at the ceiling. “I don't think so, he seemed more annoyed than mad.” Claudia looked at him, she had a frown on her face. It made him nervous, he didn't like any of this.
They fell into silence, he looked back at the ceiling. He could hear as Claudia brought the chair closer, it caused him to look at her. She was much closer and only fell forwards, towards his chest. “Clauds?” He could hear her move, the sound of fabric rubbing against fabric was annoying but also confusing.
“I'll take care of you if Dad doesn't want to. I know it'll be hard but I'll do my best.” Claudia's voice was quiet but filled with determination. It made Soren smile, he only let out a small hum. He looked at the ceiling again, tracing patterns into it. “The doctors said I might not be able to control my bladder and bowels that well. You do realize that if you want to take care of me then you'll have to deal with that, right?” Soren heard as Claudia only hummed.
“That sounds gross but I can do it, I'll just pretend you're a giant baby.” With those words, Soren let out a loud laugh. Claudia followed his laughter with her own muffled laughter.
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Soren spent two weeks being taken care of by doctors. They would bathe him, feed him, and made sure he was able to do his business and stay clean. Once those two weeks passed, they allowed him to go home once they gave his father and his girlfriend a list of things they'd have to do to take care of him. The doctors placed him in a wheelchair and allowed his father to bring him home.
Outside of the building was Claudia and the two children of his fathers girlfriend. Soren took notice of the cane Claudia had, along with the peg that was attached to her knee. “Sore-bear look at what they gave me! They said I could choose whether it looked like a leg or not so I chose for it to look like the peg-leg of a pirate!” Claudia sounded excited, it caused Soren to smile a bit. The two kids next to her seemed less excited, in fact they seemed annoyed that they were even there.
“Why did you want a pirate leg? That seems impractical for chasing after animals.” Claudia only shrugged before walking behind him once he was closer. He could hear shuffling before he saw his fathers girlfriend move to walk beside him, a hand on the armrest of his wheelchair. He didn't get why they were there, his arms weren't resting there as the doctors worried about them sliding off and his fingers getting caught in the wheels. “Because it's cool.” He only hummed at Claudia's answer. He was being pushed at a much slower rate, he knew why but he didn't care. He'd rather Claudia push him compared to his father or his girlfriend or her kids.
“Can't mom push him? It'd be faster.” One of the kids complained, a hand on the bag resting on her hip. “I'd rather your mom didn't.” He could handle his father doing it, he trusted his father enough to do it. He just didn't trust his girlfriend enough to do it, in fact he didn't trust the woman that much.
“She's your mom as well Soren, well she will be in a few months.” His fathers voice was full of slight annoyance, he always sounded annoyed. His voice was still soft but the hint of annoyance was still there, it didn't matter who he was talking to, he just always sounded annoyed. Soren only hummed at the words, he didn't care if she was going to be his mom. He truly didn't, she was nice but he didn't trust her. “I thought it was supposed to be next month.” That's when he saw someone move their hand towards his shoulder. He recognized it as the hand of his fathers girlfriend.
He couldn't feel his body but he could feel her touch on his shoulder. He didn't understand how or why but he didn't like it. He didn't like it when people put their hands on him randomly. “We pushed it back so you could get used to your paralysis. We knew it'd be hard, especially since it happened the day after you became a Crownguard, so we figured we'd give you time to get used to it.” Her voice was soft, gentle, and full of love. He didn't get why, he understood why it held softness and gentleness but not the love. He didn't feel any love for her so how did she feel any love for him?
“Basically you ruined it.” He glanced at the person who said it. It was her son, he was walking slightly ahead with his hand resting on the handle of a wooden sword. Her son always carried it around, Soren never understood why. “No he didn't, it's not his fault that we were attacked.” Claudia immediately spoke up in his defense.
“Does it matter? He had to receive special attention for something that's not even that important which caused the wedding to be pushed back.” Her son sounded irritated, like Soren ruined his entire life. Soren could hear as a book snapped shut. “Do not speak to my son like that, he required that attention to ensure he wouldn't die.” His fathers voice was filled with anger, anger he hasn't heard since his childhood.
Her son only looked at him before rolling his eyes and looking away. His fathers girlfriend only let out a small sigh and a quiet apology. An apology Soren didn't care about, he simply stared at the back of her son's head. His ears buzzed a bit, he felt like he was back at the tree. Frozen and unable to speak, watching as his baby sister was attacked.
Claudia was also attacked, did he react like this with her?
The thought made Sorens blood boil, if he could move then he would've punched the other boy. The other was older than him by a year so he wasn't worried about punching someone the same age as Claudia, but he would if she asked, or someone the same age as his father as that would be disrespectful. Soren simply ignored the world around him instead of saying anything, he stared at the ground before him.
I wish he'd just walk into a tree and break his nose or a plant shoots up and hits him in the face.
The thought was childish, his father would give him a lecture as to why it was. He hated the lectures, they made him feel dumb and like he was five. However it didn't matter because the thought would stay a thought, he wasn't going to say out loud. It would only cause more problems, problems he didn't want to risk dealing with.
“How do we get him up the steps?” The sound of Claudia's voice caused him to come out of his own mind. He looked up to see the steps leading to the door. The kids of his fathers girlfriend were standing near the door, it was wide open. “Push him up.” The daughter sounded annoyed, like the solution was truly that simple.
“I can't, he'd fall.” Claudia sounded annoyed by the daughter, Claudia never liked the other girl or her brother. Soren didn't mind them until they started to treat Claudia unkindly. He didn't know why they didn't seem to like her but their behavior towards her made him want to throw rocks at them. “We'll just carry him up the steps, you and Elenor can carry the wheelchair after us.” His father came into his line of sight, setting a book down on one of the steps.
Soren only frowned a bit as his father carefully picked him up. His movements slow as he took Soren out of the wheelchair. Soreb hated it, he was held like a sleeping child or a princess in the books Claudia liked to read. His father walked up the steps, passing by the two children and walking into the living area.
Soren was placed down on a single person chair carefully. His father knelt before him, staring at him. It made Soren nervous, did he do something wrong? His father only gave him a small smile. Soren only stared as his father cupped his face. “Don't worry, I'll fix this. You'll be able to continue to be a Crownguard, I promise.” His father rubbed his cheek with a thumb. It made Soren feel uneasy, he didn't get why.
His father then stood up, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. Soren watched as his father walked to the door, helping his girlfriend and Claudia get his wheelchair through the door. Once they got it through, Claudia immediately took hold of the handles. Pushing his wheelchair to the chair he was currently sitting in, stopping it next to his seat. He could hear her speak but her words weren't processing in his brain. His father's words echoed throughout his mind.
Why am I so uneasy? He's my father, he wants to make sure I can stay a Crownguard without any issues. So why do I feel like I'm going to puke, pass out, and cry all at once?