Chapter Text
For months now Jean had been running from both his past and the government. The tragic day when a crowd of hecklers sent him over the edge. He didn’t know how or why he did it. One moment he was being pelted by bananas and slipping on them as the crowd laughed, and the next moment he was standing on the stage covered in blood looking at the massive amount of body parts and gore that was once the audience. He didn’t have time to process the horrors or even stop to mourn the body that held the infamous No. 1 foam finger Jean had made his mission to search out in the audience every show so he could make a rose appear to toss to said owner of the item. He only had one thing on his mind. Run.
Now Jean, had been living in the wilderness using the camping set he normally had in his old living place, moving every couple days to avoid the curious civilian or nosy government official. It contained enough for him to comfortably stay out in the woods. A wind up radio, a portable charcoal grill he could put wood in with the basic cooking pots and utensils, and even a wash basin and rope to clean his clothing and hang them to dry. But every so often, he’d make sure to dress as plainly as he could. He’d use his stage makeup in a way to attempt to shape his face and features in a way that the common civilian wouldn’t identify him right away. Going by Artful on stage and never showing his true face was a smart move on Jean’s part. He first did it so his private life could be separate, but now it was used as a disguise. He had his list of stuff he needed to do. He needed to stock up on more non-perishable foods and spices, get more cleaning soaps for his laundry and body, and more makeup. His stage make up had been working for a while, but it was running low and he needed more if he wished to continue concealing his identity.
In the town, Jean made sure to avoid talking to anyone he passed and if they attempted to greet him he’d just wave and move on by. If there was one thing that would give him away it would be his voice. He remembered moving here and his accent was always the first thing people commented on. No doubt people might link it to the wanted french magician that held a similar accent. He didn’t need more attention drawn to himself. Especially since he had to acquire the goods on his list through very dubious methods. Since he was on the run, he had no access to his bank account and didn’t dare to attempt to withdraw anything off his card lest the paper trail be long enough to lead back to him. No, he had to use a magic trick he employed in many of his shows. His magic pocket trick.
He held his enchanted cloth in his hand. The opening to it was only as large as a softball so Jean had to grab smaller items and larger quantities of them if he wished to be supplied for a while. But this meant he had to be quick about it and not get caught. Upon entering the supermarket, he looked at where the most people were first, and by the looks of it, he was going to the makeup section first to grab what he needed. It was empty, but there was a camera. Jean walked nonchalantly behind it before taking his wand out of his pocket to force the camera to look up at the ceiling. Once satisfied he got to work inspecting the items. While none of it was the white grease paint he used for his shows, he needed stuff that wouldn’t give him away immediately. He grabbed foundation, eye liner, contour, and really anything he could try to use to change his face shape just enough.
Once he was satisfied he went to the next aisle over for body care stuff. As much as he wished for liquid floral soaps, he could potentially have them spill and ruin his haul. Plus, bar soap lasted a bit longer. In that same aisle he grabbed tooth paste, toothbrushes, razors for shaving and deodorant. He was paranoid that someone was going to round the corner, but luck was on his side as no one even walked past the aisles.
Laundry detergents were the last thing he wanted to get before handling the food aisles. He waited for a family to get what they wanted and leave before he started grabbing boxes of laundry washing powder. He was grabbing a fifth box when he saw someone round the corner. He tried his best to not seem sketchy and crumbled the magic pocket in his hand. Taking the box of laundry washing powder with him, he walked to the next aisle over where no one was before stuffing the box into the magic pocket. Finally was the hardest part of his adventure. The food aisle.
The food aisles were almost always filled with customers and you could wait hours and still always have at least one person in the aisles. This is where Jean had to use his sleight of hand skills. With the magic pocket positioned properly in his hand, he could reach into empty areas on the canned food shelves to pretend he was reaching for a can far in the back and in a motion that looked like he was grabbing a can, the can itself would fall into the magic pockets opening. Jean just had to take as much as he wanted in a short time period, pull out a can and pretend to inspect it before setting it back on the shelf. He did this with various cans of soups and canned meats. When he got to the spices he was surprised no one was in the aisle so he got bold, grabbing fistfuls of spices and dropping them into the bag. Though he stopped when he spotted a child run past the aisle followed by their parents.
Jean went slowly down each aisle, grabbing pastas, jerky, instant coffee, and whatever he could keep that would stay safe to consume even if it all sat for a month or more. Once he got back to the dairy aisle and was about to think about his escape, a loud siren rang out. It was one that the civilians and he knew all too well. It was a government raid siren alerting people to make their way to the town's bunker as a dangerous entity was spotted nearby. Panic spread throughout the store with people abandoning their carts and picking up their kids before bolting for the front door. Jean followed their lead, being thankful for the diversion. Once outside Jean made his way away from the bunker. He couldn’t seek shelter there from danger as he would almost certainly be caught.
Hiding behind a dumpster avoiding a large crowd of people running to safety, Jean heard two loud sounds different from the sirens. One was a deep feral howl while the other was the sound of a young man screaming. Both echoed off the building causing him to hesitate if he should make a break for it. Just he hesitated, he shook it off in favor of not sticking around to witness whatever the aftermath would be. He ran to the edge of the town where it meets the forest. He took one look back seeing a man in a full black outfit ushering a group of civilians towards the bunker. Jean could see the man was wielding a sword and covered with lots of blood. He ducked into the foliage to try and make his way back to his camp. If he was quick he could implement some walls around his tent as a barrier.
Jean was almost at his campsite when he heard a low cry for help. “Heeelp… help me.” The voice was deep and gravely, but more importantly, it sounded in pain Jean had to stop and weigh the options. There was someone out there that needed help during a crisis where there was something out and about slaughtering civilians. The person asking for help has either made it far away from whatever was attacking people, or the thing attacking is still very much close and whoever is calling for help is going to die anyway. In the end, Jean decided to be cautious and stay behind the trees while following the cries for help. He made sure to keep an eye always looking back so he could have a clear path to run in case things went south.
Following the pleas, Jean noticed the trees had blood streaking them. They were high enough for it to be made from someone who was using the tree for stability as they were walking through. The cries for help were getting louder as Jean walked and he recognized that this was taking him to the river's edge. The area was open with little tree coverage around the river so Jean stayed behind a tree as he scanned the open area. He almost didn’t see anything until he noticed a black lump behind a fallen log. Jean stared at the black lump trying to discern what it was before he saw an arm pop up over the log, seemingly trying to use it to lift itself up, but it soon stopped. A weak call for help sounded and Jean could tell that was exactly where it was coming from. Jean took a quick search for anything else around, just in case danger was nearby, but no other sounds could be heard. Jean wasted no time in running to the log, but when he got there he froze in his tracks. It wasn’t a regular civilian calling for help. Laying on the ground, covered in cuts and blood, was Pursuer. A ferocious creature that Jean had the displeasure of meeting once before.
It was the same day as the incident, Jean was racing through the woods with his camping gear in his arms. He did know how far out he was running, but knew it had been a good distance away. What he didn’t notice was that he was being followed. It wasn’t by the government, but by a creature. Jean stopped running when he found a clearing. It seemed like a good place to stop and assess the surroundings. Just when he set the camping gear down, he was forced to the ground by a powerful tackle. Jean didn’t know who his assailant was but feared it was someone from the government who had somehow stayed completely undetected during Jean’s whole run in the forest. Whoever had pinned Jean down had lowered their head to his ear close enough their breath warmed Jean’s ear. “Ahhh… fresh meat.” The words sent a chill down his spine. Those were the words described by people who have survived an attack from a fearsome creature known as The Pursuer. If that was who was currently on Jean’s back, then he didn’t have to worry about being caught by the government, he was going to die right here in the woods and become another creature's lunch.
He felt a tongue press against his neck before it slid up his face ending at his ear before he heard the creature sputter and then get off of Jean. “Ah- poison!” Jean heard the creature say. He rolled onto his back and sat up getting ready to run when he saw Pursuer in full. A creature of slate black skin with a paper white face. It currently held its tongue out of its mouth wiping what looked to be the grease paint Jean wore off its teal color tongue. Jean didn’t waste any time summoning a wall before repurposing it. When he saw Pursuer charge at him he sent the wall straight at Pursuer causing it to fly backwards giving Jean enough time to grab his camping set and run.
He thought that day was going to be the last he saw of Pursuer. But now Jean was standing above the creature who looked to be on their way out the door of life. Jean had options. He could run and leave Pursuer behind. It would be a reasonable choice for anyone. Just let the creature die and the area becomes safer for everyone. Jean could also take the sword that was laying on the ground beside Pursuer and finish the job himself. He could try and make up some story to try and get himself off the hook. Blaming everything that happened during the incident on Pursuer. It’s not like there were any witnesses left. This could be Jean’s ticket to being a free man. He could say he just made himself disappear and had been hunting Pursuer this whole time. It was perfect.
Jean bent down, taking the sword in his hand. It felt heavy but he didn’t need to swing it to get a good angle for a killing blow. He just had to put the tip of the blade on the creature’s chest where Jean thinks its heart is and press down. Pursuer had been laying on its stomach the entire time Jean had been there. He reached down and with a bit of struggle, rolled Pursuer on its back. It stared at him with squinted eyes. “Help me… please.” It weakly reached an arm up towards Jean pleading. “It hurts… help.” Jean hesitated. He’d never heard of a creature begging for help. Especially the infamous one that tore through civilians like paper. Jean shouldn’t feel bad here ending its life, but why did he? Why couldn’t he do it? He was also a killer, wasn’t he? Jean thought back to the aftermath. There was so much gore strewn about the place. How could he do that? He wanted the banana peels and heckling to stop, but he didn’t want to kill anyone.
Jean pulled out his magic pocket before carefully placing the sword inside. He just couldn’t knowingly kill something. He doesn’t know what broke inside of him to kill everyone in the audience, but the one thing he does know is that he doesn’t remember the acts of killing he must’ve done. To Jean, he didn’t want to have a memory of killing anything. Even if it was a brutal killer like Pursuer. Jean took his wand out of his pocket and waved it around in order to lift Pursuer's body off the ground. As much as he could leave and let Pursuer die of natural causes, Jean knew he had the capabilities to help. So just leaving Pursuer to him would be like just killing him anyways.
Jean placed Pursuer down on the ground outside of his tent before entering it himself. He had a first aid kit that had sutures in it. He hoped it would be enough to help stop the bleeding. As he was leaving he had an idea and checked one of his bags for his container of grease paint. If it was what stopped Pursuer from killing him before, maybe it could help him now in case Pursuer suddenly got better and lunged at him. He applied it messily making sure to cover his face and around his neck. He didn’t care if it looked good at the moment. He just needed it to work. He exited the tent to see Pursuer looking at him with an outstretched arm. “Help.” Was the only thing it could say at the moment.
Jean immediately went to work setting the first aid kit down by him as he assessed Pursuer’s injuries. Some looked deep while others were shallow. Jean remembered seeing the man from earlier covered in blood wielding a sword. It must’ve been a fight with him that Pursuer got into it with. Artful pulled out a couple bottles of disinfectant, rags, and sutures before realizing that if he just started going at the cleaning it was going to sting and hurt. He really hoped Pursuer understood English since that’s what he was speaking and he wasn’t just imitating what he heard. “I’m going to try to clean and close your wounds.” He picked up a nearby stick that seemed like it was thick enough to bite down on. He handed it to Pursuer who just stared at it. “This is going to hurt. You can bite down on that to help.” Surprising Jean, Pursuer opened its mouth before biting down on the wood.
Feeling a bit more confident that Pursuer seemed to understand what was going on Jean opened a bottle of disinfectant and poured it on a rag. Once saturated, he placed one hand on Pursuer’s body and gently pressed down before touching the rag to one of the many slash wounds. Pursuer’s body convulsed at the stinging sensation but kept its best to not move. Its hands clawed at the ground. Jean felt bad for the pain, but knew it was necessary. He continued cleaning the wounds, rewetting the rag or sometimes swapping the rag out when it got too bloody. Pursuer seemed to be getting used to the sensation but kept flinching every time the rag passed over an open wound. Once satisfied with how clean the wounds were now, Jean switched to his suture kit. He ignored most of the wounds as they were shallow and looked like they could close on their own, but the one across Pursuer’s abdomen was the concerning one as it was deep. He carefully pinched one corner of the wound before inserting the needle through the flesh.
Pursuer immediately jolted, reaching a hand out and grabbing Jean’s leg and digging their claws into it. “Merde!” Jean shouted, changing his focus to hit Pursuer’s hand until it let go. Jean could see blood starting to stain his pants. “I’m trying to help you!” Jean screamed at the creature. He half crawled away from Pursuer taking the first aid kit with him. He needed to see how serious the injury was. He took his wand and placed it next to him before taking his pants off to look at his thigh. “Dammit.” He cursed seeing four puncture wounds each bleeding. He luckily still had a couple clean rags so he could clean them before bandaging them. Upon cleaning them, they didn’t look deep enough to worry. Jean was at least happy by that revelation. He wrapped his leg up before looking over to Pursuer who had seemed to prop themselves up a bit and was looking down at the needle still in them. Its hands reached down before pinching its wound and guiding the needle through pulling the thread with it. Jean watched as the creature then proceeded to move the needle back to the wound and give it another stitch. He couldn’t believe it. Pursuer, the creature that slaughtered civilians, knew how to suture wounds. Jean just sat there watching as Pursuer closed the wound and tied off the thread.
Pursuer set the needle down and took its time laying back down. Its eyes looked towards Jean. “Sorry. Hurt.” Jean wondered if he’d gone insane. Pursuer had just apologized to him for hurting him. The monster everyone feared for how efficient it was at killing was sorry for hurting him. Jean crawled back to Pursuer’s side, keeping his wand in his hand just in case. Looking closer at the stitching, it was messy, but held the wound closed. He checked every other wound and none looked like they needed stitches. He reached for his first aid kit and pulled out some gauze to place over the other wounds. He pressed firmly on each wound he saw with the gauze, earning a pained hiss from Pursuer, before using medical tape to keep the gauze in place. Once he felt satisfied with what he had done he sat back watching as Pursuer sat up and looked over their body. “Thank you.” Pursuer said before laying back down.
Jean was almost speechless from what he was experiencing. This creature had not only called out for help, understood what Jean had said, apologized for hurting him, stitched its own wound up, and now it was thanking him. Jean expected almost a feral animal when it came to Pursuer, but this painted a whole different picture. “You’re welcome.” Jean spoke. He wondered truly what Pursuer was.
As Jean picked up the supplies and tossed the used rags in a pile to wash later, he felt Pursuer’s hand touch his thigh where the bandages were. “Sorry.” Pursuer apologized again. Jean looked at Pursuer for a moment, really processing the things Pursuer was saying. This couldn’t just be some wild animal. Not if it was showing empathy of all things.
He placed his hand on top of Pursuer’s before speaking. “Apology accepted.”
Pursuer seemed like they were about to say something until a low rumble sounded. Jean knew the sound as it was the sound of hunger. Pursuer moved their hand from Jean’s leg to their stomach. “Hunger. Meat.” Jean thought about it and food would help the healing process. He pulled out his magic pocket from earlier and reached his hand inside hoping his hand brushed across and of the canned meats. His fingers brushed against a can of familiar shape and pulled it out revealing canned tuna. Jean offered to Pursuer who shook his head before speaking. “Fresh Meat.” Jean was nervous now. If canned meat was not fresh enough, then he realized what would be fresh enough. He shook the thought from his head. He couldn’t go out and capture a civilian for Pursuer to eat.
He wondered what he could do. He looked around until he spotted something. Thirty feet away and eating grass was a rabbit. While Jean didn’t like the idea, it was the better option than letting the creature famous for civilians go hungry. He aimed his wand at the rabbit and picked it up before slowly bringing it over to them. The creature panicked and tried to run but was helpless in the air. Once the rabbit was hovering over Pursuer, Jean asked. “Is this fresh enough?”
Jean was answered as Pursuer practically jumped, ripping the rabbit from the air and biting down on it. He turned his head not wanting to see the bloodshed. The sound of breaking bones and ripping flesh made Jean’s skin crawl. His stomach started to heave from the sounds so he slowly crawled to his tent to get some sort of distance. The sounds went on for almost a minute, causing Jean to regret ever trying to help the screams for help heard on the way back to his camp. While Pursuer shocked Jean with the ways they understood English and empathy, the rabbit still showed how much of a threat they could be. “Thank you.” Jean looked back at Pursuer who was wiping the blood off of their face and licking their hands.
He was scared. Not only had he come across the people killing creature, he had helped it by attempting to nurse it back to health. Jean could only hope that this bit of kindness proved useful in keeping him off Pursuer’s dinner menu. “You’re welcome.” He spoke now unsure of what to do as he was now in the forest injured with an even more injured creature. Jean wondered about Pursuer’s intelligence or at least knowledge of language. “You can speak?” Jean asked.
Pursuer still laying on the ground looking at Jean replied. “Yes. Words. Hard.” Each word was separated when spoken. Almost like Pursuer was trying to figure out what to say.
“How?” Was all Jean asked.
Pursuer took their time thinking about what to say. “Mother. Like. You.” Pursuer also gestured to the first aid kit still sitting on the ground next to them. It brought more questions to Jean’s mind. Someone like him who also carried a first aid kit. Was Pursuer describing someone who was a nurse or doctor? Was Pursuer raised by a civilian? These questions spiraled in Jean’s head until Pursuer spoke up. “Name?” It sounded like a question when spoken.
Jean thought for a second. Anyone who first heard his name always tried to pronounce it like pants jeans or like John. With the limited vocabulary Pursuer seemed to have, Jean decided to give them a couple options. “Jean Fromage. But if that’s hard to pronounce then you can call me Artful.”
Pursuer looked like they were thinking about what to say. “Je… Jo… Artful. Thank you. Artful.” Jean felt an ease come over himself hearing those words. He, for a second, forgot he had just helped one of the biggest threats to civilians from dying. It felt nice to do good, even if the creature itself might not have been good themselves.
With the tension Jean had been feeling starting to ease, he did wonder if Pursuer themselves had a name. “Do you have a name yourself? Like one your mother gave you.”
Pursuer thought before speaking. “Many names. Darling. Baby Boy. Honey. Sweet Pea. Sunshine. Little Pursuer.” It was many different nicknames a mother would definitely give their kid. Maybe except for Little Pursuer. Had the government actually gotten Pursuer's name correct? Also, with the nickname ‘Baby Boy’, Jean now knew Pursuer was male. He had just been thinking Pursuer of a wild animal with no thought other than kill, but this really did humanize him to Jean.
“I guess let me rephrase it. What was the thing she called you the most?” Jean didn’t really know why it mattered so much for him, but maybe it was a thing to do with respect.
“Pursuer.” Pursuer answered. It would definitely be a strange name to call someone, but if Pursuer acted even a little bit like what he does now as a child, it would be understandable. Especially if Pursuer was spotted by their mother chasing down the local wildlife. “Tired. Rest.” Pursuer spoke before shutting his eyes. Jean watched as Pursuer almost instantly started to snore. He decided now was a good time to clean up the first aid supplies and put them back into the tent. While in the tent, he eyed his many blankets and grabbed one of them to take out to Pursuer. Being careful he laid it out on top of the beast without waking him. Finally he picked his pants off the ground and used his magic to mend the holes in them shut. He didn’t care about the blood stains still on there as the pants were already dark in color and put them back on before sitting down to organize his magic pocket.
It was close to sundown when Jean was finally done organizing his haul. He had been eating away at the can of tuna Pursuer declined earlier with some dried jerky. He turned on his radio making sure the volume wasn’t too loud to wake up Pursuer outside of the tent. It was currently going on about how tomorrow was going to be sunny with high temps. Jean at least liked the background noise. It helped with how lonely he felt in the woods. “Breaking News! An announcement from the president.” Jean picked the radio up and held it to his ear. These were the announcements he wanted to hear. “Good evening my people. As you know, there was an attack earlier today that was perpetrated by what we call, The Pursuer. The Pursuer is a mindless creature that kills without regard and eats the bodies of those it kills. It had attacked earlier and had injured three civilians until a brave hero stepped in to fight off the menace. The brave hero is named Mequot and will be awarded the Medal of Bravery for his selfless behavior. Mequot and multiple witnesses had seen Pursuer limping away and stumbling after the fight, losing a good amount of blood. We have reason to believe that The Pursuer is either dead or is in an incredibly weakened state. Tomorrow morning we shall launch an operation in the woods to find said creature and euthanize it for the safety of everyone. Until then, make your way to a bunker if you can and those currently in the bunkers, stay safe and patient. I am President Sulfur. Signing off.”
Jean panicked from the announcement. If the government was planning to scan the woods, then they’ll certainly find him as well. He started to put what he could into his magic pocket. Once all that was left was the bigger bulkier stuff he exited the tent pulling the stakes to let it all collapse. He bunched it all up as much as he could before using his magic to seal it all in a bubble and shrink it to the size of a gachapon ball. It was a magic he unlocked after practicing many nights in the woods and it came in handy many times. He put the gachapon sized tent into his pocket before turning his attention to Pursuer. He used his magic on Pursuer’s body trying hard not to wake him up. This failed as Pursuer’s eyes shot open and he started looking around. “Sorry Pursuer. The government is getting ready to scan the woods for you tomorrow so we need to move now. And with your injuries, you’re not gonna move fast enough.” Jean didn’t wait for Pursuer to respond before he took off into the woods following the river. He knew of a place to hide that had evaded the government searches plenty of times. The only issue was having to share the same space now with Pursuer.
It’s been half a mile until Artful found the cave by the river. What made it an excellent hiding place were the large boulders that sat by the mouth of the cave. Artful could make them move just enough to block the entrance. He set Pursuer down inside before reaching into his magic pocket to pull out a couple of lanterns. Once they were set up and turned on, he focused back to the boulders and used his magic to slowly but surely block the entrance to the cave leaving only a small crack so they could still breath. Once done he turned around taking his gachapon sized camping kit out of his pocket and growing it back to size. He replanted the stakes and brought the tent back standing tall. He was glad that it wasn’t too tall as it was almost scraping the top of the cave. “Artful Powerful.” He looked over to Pursuer who despite the low light levels had watched Jean do all of it.
Jean felt a boost to his confidence being praised by Pursuer. It almost felt like when he performed on stage. “Yes, I, Artful the Magnificent, shall keep you safe from government capture.” He could hear the tone he used to have when acting out his many magic shows. It did feel good to finally be back to performing. Even if it was for a literal captive audience.
“Pursuer. Safe. With. Artful.” The words were spoken slowly as if with purpose.
“Yeah. Now, let’s get some sleep.” Jean moved into the tent turning off the lanterns in the process. He fluffed his pillow and wrapped himself in one of the blankets before letting his eyes shut.
As Jean was letting his mind clear so that he could sleep he heard the front of the tent rustle and soon felt a presence crawl behind him before settling. “Artful Safe.” Pursuer said curling up beside Jean. When he said for them to get some rest, he didn’t mean for Pursuer to follow him into the tent. Though as long as Pursuer stayed docile around Jean, he could put up with it. Morning came with light spilling through the cracks at the entrance. Though Jean didn’t wake up naturally like he had been accustomed to. He was being shaken awake by Pursuer. When he turned to look at Pursuer was met with a salivating face. “Hunger.” That sent a chill down Jean’s spine. He had closed the front of the cave and was now the only thing considered fresh meat in the cave.
He reached over in the tent turning on a lantern to illuminate the rest of the inside of the cave the light outside didn’t touch and grabbed his wand. He stood before making his way to the front of the cave being followed by a hungry Pursuer. Artful moved the boulder just enough out of the way for there to be a small hole they both could crawl out of. Though Jean crouched down and looked out to see if there was anything within view. To his luck, he saw another rabbit by the river. Jean mouthed an apology before just like the rabbit from yesterday, used his magic to lift it and bring it through the hole. He preemptively moved out of the way as the rabbit passed through the hole just in time to avoid the initial splash of blood from Pursuer’s feast. Jean this time made sure to cover his ears to try and block out most of the sound. He mentally counted to thirty before looking over to Pursuer doing what he did yesterday with wiping his mouth and licking his hands. Pursuer’s eyes stayed wide open looking at Jean. “Get your fill there?” Jean asked nervously.
“Hunger.” Pursuer said moving away from the entrance from the cave. Jean immediately took this as a sign to continue trapping as much wildlife as he could. He looked through the opening but didn’t see any animals in the area. Not even the sound of the birds chirping before could be heard. He thought they could have run off with the fact the rabbit that was grabbed earlier panicked as it was moved into the cave. As much as he didn’t want to move the boulder until he could confirm the government’s search had been called off, he needed to find something for the Pursuer before he took Jean as a main course.
He took a step back and used his magic to open the cave a little more, but once the opening widened just a little, Pursuer bolted from the cave at an insane speed. “Pursuer! Your stitches!” Jean called, dropping to the ground to see where Pursuer may have run off to. But when he looked out, the scene outside the cave looked as it did before. Pursuer had practically vanished. Jean didn’t know what to do. Pursuer was heavily injured yesterday and unless he healed at a much faster rate, he was going to break the stitches and start bleeding all over the place again. Not to mention Jean didn’t know if the government’s search was currently underway. As much as Jean knew Pursuer was a deadly force of nature, he was actually kind of enjoying interacting with someone after going so long being totally alone.
Jean weighed his options before deciding to crawl out of the cave in order to search for Pursuer. He knew it was a bad idea if he wanted to keep himself safe, but something in him just wanted to have some form of companionship. Even if it was just for a bit longer. He never liked being alone and even if Pursuer is just going to speak simple words at him, it was better than a radio. He just had to try. Once out he looked at the ground and spotted droplets of blood on the ground. Pursuer had busted his stitches. If anything, it made an easier trail for Jean to follow. Jean ran away from the river following the trail around trees and through bushes. He honestly ran for so long that he started to wonder why Pursuer didn’t find a single animal in the area. Unless he wasn’t adept in casing wildlife.
Jean stopped when the blood trail disappeared. Apparently Pursuer moved back to the river and went through it making following the trail now impossible. He realized he’d have to just give up. His chance to have any sort of connection to something intelligent just wasn’t a thing he could have while on the run. If he was lucky he could wait a few years in hopes that they assumed he either died or fully escaped and try to reintegrate into society under a fake name. Defeated, he started following the blood trail backwards to get back to the cave. He was walking around one of the many bushes Pursuer had walked by when he heard a voice. “Artful!” It definitely was filled with malice when spoken. Jean turned around just in time to be hit with a right hook sending him to the ground.
Dazed, he tried to get up but was immediately sat on by a random man who readied his fist for another swing. “Wait! No!” Jean screamed, putting his arms in front of his face to block the impending blow. His forearms took blow after blow. The man on top of him was getting frustrated and started using his other hand in order to pull Jean’s arms down in order to get a clear shot.
“You’re gonna pay Artful! I don’t want you in jail. I want you in Hell!” The man screamed, continuing his fury of blows. Jean tried to knee the guy in the back, but it never had enough power to do anything. He needed his wand, but it was still in his pocket. He weighed his options before dropping one of his arms taking an immediate hit to the side of his head. In the moment as his eyes blurred and his head started to pound, he grabbed the wand and pulled it out in an attempt to cast anything to get the man off of him. His hopes were dashed as the man grabbed his wrist before yanking his wand out of his hand and throwing it. “Not letting you cast your party tricks!” Jean resumed blocking his face as the blows resumed.
He didn’t know how he was going to get out of this. That wand was his only defense. Sure he could attempt to punch back. He did work in construction for years and did try to keep up a healthy build even after his accident on the job site and even through his magic shows, but not in this position. Any attempt to retaliate would only leave him open for more hits. His arms already were sore though and he didn’t know how much longer he could hold back the assault. He didn’t want to die here. Not in the forest, not by some stranger, and most certainly, not before he had any chance to try and redeem himself. He knew most people wouldn’t want him redeemed, he committed an atrocious act that was so horrific if even his own brain won’t let him remember. But he had to try. Live long enough that people forget about him, then sneak into a random community and try to do better.
The man on top of Jean had enough of Jean’s defensive plays and switched tactics pushing his hands past Jean’s arms and latching onto his throat. Jean panicked, he couldn’t last like this for long, his hands were already prying on the man’s hands to get any type of air into his lungs. One instance he did he screamed out before inhaling what he could. The man took this as an opportunity to land a single punch on Jean that started to cause black spots to appear in his vision. Jean was disoriented and getting woozy. The man continued using two hands to choke Jean this time with less resistance. Jean felt weak. His lungs were on fire and he started to think that he was actually going to die here. He thought of his family who he was never going to see again. How much they must've been disappointed by his final performance. How would they react to his death? He could hear his father now telling him he should’ve stayed in construction and never picked up magic. How much Jean wished that was the case.
As Jean’s world started to fully go dark from the lack of oxygen, a loud snapping of bones was heard on top of him and the grip around his throat let go. Jean practically gasped and coughed trying to replace the lost air in his lungs. The weight on top of him also fell off of him allowing him to roll over onto his hands and knees. Jean looked to the left to figure out what happened just in time to see the man’s head rebound off of a nearby tree and bounce onto the ground. Where the man’s body was laid on the ground was also where Pursuer was. He was already tearing into the man’s body taking chunk after chunk out of it. As much as the sight should’ve horrified Jean, he couldn’t be more thankful towards Pursuer than right now. When Jean caught his breath he spotted his wand by one of the trees and crawled over to it before sitting with his back against the tree it was by. He watched as Pursuer tore into the body like it was some five star delicacy. When he saw Pursuer look up and immediately lock eyes with him, he couldn’t lie that a slight twinge of fear did spike in his blood. Pursuer crawled towards him on all fours. When Pursuer stopped in front of him, Pursuer spoke only two words. “Artful. Safe?”
Jean couldn’t hold back his gratitude leaping forward and pulling Pursuer into a hug. “Merci Pursuer! Merci! Thank you!” He practically cheered. Wherever Pursuer had been in the forest, Jean was glad that he was just close enough to save him.
Jean felt Pursuer’s arm wrap around him returning the hug. “Artful is safe.” Pursuer spoke. If Jean was told the creature that almost ate him on the worst day of his life would save his life, he’d laugh in the face of whoever told him. He tightened his hug on Pursuer just glad he had someone even remotely in his corner. While Jean and Pursuer were reuniting a woman’s voice called out that caused both of them to look in the direction. Jean panicked and let go of Pursuer to get his wand ready, but when he looked at Pursuer, he was weirdly still. The woman called out again and Pursuer moved forward slightly. “Mama.” Pursuer spoke. Jean confused looked from Pursuer to the figure that poked around the tree. It was a woman who looked to be in her late 50’s early 60’s. Jean stood weary just in case, but Pursuer immediately rushed forward crying out. “Mama!”
“Pursuer?” The woman said before being picked up into a hug and spun in a circle. “Wow! Baby boy, put me down!” The woman laughed as she was set down. She embraced Pursuer before looking at the mutilated body. “I told him not to run ahead. Oh! Sweetie you’re hurt.” The woman spoke, instantly pulling out a bottle of liquid before pouring it over Pursuer’s abdomen along the slash wound that had reopened. Jean watched as the wound slowly closed up. He knew the healing tonics had been getting better from announcements over the radio but this was bordering on magic levels of healing. The woman locked eyes with Jean giving a neutral expression. “Judging by the grease paint, you’re Artful. Surprised you’re out here after all. Rumors are either you left the country or was one of the unidentified piles of gore during the show. That was until that Lizzy girl confirmed you were the one that attacked the crowd. Now you have a bounty on you.”
Jean was haunted by the thought of killing Lizzy, his number one fan, but if she had identified him as being the perpetrator of the massacre then that means she had to have survived. “Lizzy.” Jean could feel tears prick his eyes with a surge of relief. “She’s alive? Thank God. Thank God.”
“Well, God didn’t protect the other people there so I’m not sure how much thanks he deserves.” The woman spoke plainly. Jean was confused by this woman. She didn’t bat an eye when discovering the companion she was following into the woods had died, and now she’s speaking about the massacre as if it’s an average Tuesday night for her. He was unaware of his facial expressions as the woman scowled at him. “What’s that look for? Don’t tell me someone who killed as many people as you did is actually disturbed by my attitude.” Jean actually was getting more disturbed as the woman spoke. Pursuer looked between the two of them while still keeping an arm around her. “I’ve seen so much death in my life it doesn’t bother me. Doesn’t help I also wasn’t too fond of people as a child in the first place. Only one who I actually gave a care for was Pursuer here. Found him in the woods one day and took care of him until he started eating the neighbors. Told him to run in the woods to avoid getting captured. I visit him monthly to check up on him. And now look at him. Grown up to be so handsome and strong!” The woman reached up pinching Pursuer’s face who seemed to relish in the attention. “I suppose you took care of him yesterday after the attack. I know I taught Pursuer basic medical care, but I know he doesn’t have access to bandages and stitching material.”
Jean was stunned by the woman. She was so nonchalant about the whole ordeal here. “I heard him crying for help as I raced back to my camp. I was hesitant to help him since when I first ran he almost ate me. But in the moment, I felt bad just leaving him to die. I tried to keep us hidden in a cave overnight, but by daytime Pursuer was too hungry and the rabbit I gave him wasn’t enough. I opened the cave door and he ran out. I was looking for him when that man attacked me.” He explained while leaving out the tidbit to where he was thinking about killing Pursuer and placing the entire blame of the magic show on him.
“Damn, survived an encounter with my boy already and then survived a night with him? And you were crazy enough to chase after him? You sure live life dangerously stupid.” The woman commented.
“Artful is powerful. Keep. Pursuer. Safe.” Pursuer spoke to the woman with a look of glee on his face. “Pursuer. Protect. Artful.” The woman’s face showed a bit of shock for a moment before looking over to Jean. He hadn’t expected Pursuer to vouch for him in any way.
“You have talent, Artful.” The woman started. “For magic, for gaining Pursuer’s trust, and for actually impressing me. Feeling remorse for the people you killed to the point of relief you heard someone survived and helped my boy instead of letting him die even if it would keep you safer to just leave him. You are… weird.” The woman walked from Pursuer to the man’s decapitated head before picking it up and putting it in her bag. She pulled out a handkerchief before handing it to Pursuer. “Be a dear and strip a couple fingers off that body and put the bones in this.” Pursuer diligently took the rag before bending down to the body and biting the fingers off the corpse’s hand before stripping the meat off of it and tying them in the handkerchief. Jean was particularly disturbed by how efficient Pursuer was at following those orders. “Do you still have your mask?” The woman asked Jean.
Jean confusedly pulled out his magic pocket before reaching in and pulling out his performance mask. The woman took it without asking, breaking it in two, handing one half back to Jean and dipping the other half in the corpse’s blood. ‘Wait, what are you doing?” Jean asked, watching the woman take the cloth with bones back from Pursuer and putting both the mask and cloth into her bag as well.
“You’re dead now, Artful. No one will now look out for you and whatever crimes you committed will be cleared as long as you stay hidden for a long time. But you will have died in these woods by The Pursuer. Your bones and mask were both found by an elderly caretaker named Martha. It’s my thanks for keeping my boy alive.” The woman named Martha spoke before turning back to Pursuer and pulling him down to kiss his forehead. “Love you. I’ll be back next month my dear. Stay safe.”
“Goodbye. Mama. I. Love. You.” Pursuer said, giving his mom one last hug before watching her disappear back into the woods. Jean stood there as Pursuer turned to him and approached him. “Artful. Leave. Too?” Jean could see Pursuer almost look visibly down as he spoke. He wondered if Pursuer also missed communicating with people if he grew up around others.
Jean reached out, placing a hand on Pursuer’s shoulder. “I have to head back to the cave. Though I wouldn’t mind having company.” Pursuer perked up at the sentence. Jean laughed a bit at how excitable Purser seemed to be. “Well, then let’s head out shall we?” Jean said, leading the way back to the cave following the blood trail from earlier. Pursuer walked close to Jean as they walked back all the way to the cave. Once back to the cave, Pursuer crawled through the hole first.
As Jean was halfway through the hole himself, he felt hands grab under his shoulders and pull him into the cave. He was pulled up and onto a body before arms wrapped around him. “Safe. With. Artful.” Pursuer said, nuzzling into Jean’s chest. He was definitely caught off guard by the sudden bout of affection. Within the two days of knowing Pursuer, he had somehow gained his trust.
Jean patted the top of Pursuer’s head before attempting to reach out for one of the lanterns in order to turn it on. Upon noticing Jean’s movement, Pursuer let go, letting Jean get off of him, before entering the tent leaving Jean in the cave to close the boulder. Jean, after using his magic to close the boulder a bit, moved back into the tent to see Pursuer curled up in the blankets. He gave a half chuckle before getting the radio to turn it on.
While Pursuer seemed to take a nap, Jean kept listening in on the radio waiting for updates on when the search would be called off for the day. It took the light from outside showing the colors of twilight before any news came through “Breaking News! An announcement from the president.” Jean awaited whatever announcement the president was going to give. “Good evening my people. The search for The Pursuer has come up with a casualty. Marvin Hastings, a self-defense teacher, was on one of the teams dispatched to see if Pursuer had succumbed to the injuries it sustained due to the altercation with another citizen, MeQuot. He unfortunately fell victim to The Pursuer as his remains were found by Martha Mannings, a local Caretaker, another member of the search team. While we will mourn the loss of one of our own, we do have some good news to share. While ironic to say, The Pursuer seems to have taken the life of Artful the Magician. Now Artful, known by his real name as Jean Formage, was one of the people suspected to have killed his audience members during one of his performances after he was not found among the remains. He was confirmed to have been the perpetrator by an audience member, who shall remain unnamed for protection, survived the brutal attack. Artful’s stage mask and bones were found in an area not far from Marvin’s body. Families of the victims can sleep easier knowing their loved ones have been avenged. We will have to call off the search for The Pursuer as it is now known that it has made enough of a recovery to attack and kill again. We shall reconvene at a later date and use more heavily armed forces when searching resumes. Until then, please remain out of the wooden area as it is not safe. This is President Sulfur. Signing off.”
Jean breathed a sigh of relief at the announcement. He was by all intensive purposes, a free man. He mentally thanked Martha for her actions. He now just needed to continue what he was doing and keep his head low. Maybe let his hair grow out and try to lose the accent in his voice if he could. He wiped his hand across his forehead feeling sweaty before noticing the swatch of grease paint left behind on his hand. He needed this to come off soon before it started to itch horribly. Jean looked to the boulder blocking the cave before pulling his wand out to move it off to the side making the entrance large enough for him to walk through. As he was grabbing a towel, soap and a change of clothing, Pursuer seemed to have awoken and moved near Jean. “Ah, Pursuer. I was just about to get cleaned in the river.”
“Bathtime?’ Pursuer asked, picking the bar of soap off of the towel Jean set aside before smelling it.
“Yes, I need to clean my face of this paint.” Jean stopped for a second thinking why he had the paint on in the first place. “Pursuer?” He asked. Pursuer looked at Jean before tilting his head. The motion reminded Jean of a dog. “Will you promise not to eat me if I take my facepaint off?”
Pursuer stared at Jean for a second before responding. “Artful. Not. Food. Artful. Friend. Pursuer. Protect. Artful.”
Jean could only laugh at the statement. “Your mother really didn’t teach you too much about stranger danger. Though, I guess you can take care of yourself pretty well.” He gathered his belongings and walked outside by the river’s edge. His clothing came off one by one until he was left in his boxers debating if he wanted to be fully naked around Pursuer. The thought passed though as Pursuer himself didn’t really wear any clothing so Jean took off the last remaining article of clothing and folded it to be placed with his other articles of worn clothing. The water chilled him as he stepped into the middle of the river. It wasn’t too deep at around waist deep for Jean. With soap held in his hand he took a deep breath before dipping under the water to get through the worst part of bathing in a river. The cold shocked his systems, making any ounce of tiredness go away. He came up for air, wiping the water out of his eyes along with large amounts of grease paint. What he didn’t expect when opening his eyes was for Pursuer to practically have his face right in his. “Pursuer! Ah… Hi!” He truly didn’t know what to say. He had really hoped Pursuer was keeping his word and not trying to take an opportunity for a fresh clean meal.
“Pursuer. Make. Sure. Artful. Not. Drown.” While that may be something comforting to hear from someone. It doesn't go well with half scaring said person to death with their sudden appearance. Jean though could appreciate that Pursuer was showing his own way of caring. Though Pursuer seemed to have gotten quite attached to him. Jean thought Pursuer must’ve really missed interacting with others if he is able to call Jean a friend. Though Jean did think of how he managed to save Pursuer from the brink of death and feed him when he was hungry. So assuming friendship wasn’t too crazy of an idea. Jean might have to teach Pursuer about personal space though.
“Thank you Pursuer. Though I got this.” Jean said, lathering the soap before scrubbing his face vigorously. It took a few dunks under the water before water dripping off his face was clear, but he was finally clear of the grease paint. “How do I look Pursuer?” Jean asked as he spotted Pursuer looking at him with wide eyes.
Pursuer reached a hand up and touched the side of Jean’s face. “Artful. Look. Better. No. Poison.”
“It wasn't poison in the first place. Though I’m guessing for you, it really wouldn’t have tasted good. Though it did help us become friends, right?” Jean said, smiling at Pursuer.
“Friends!” Pursuer chimed, pulling Jean into a tight hug. Jean returned the hug, patting Pursuer on the back before stepping back out of Pursuer's grasp so that he could finish washing. Afterwards he was soon toweled off and dressed by the cave’s entrance. He had taken out a couple cans of food for himself since he hadn’t really eaten all day. He kept an eye out for animals while eating so he could grab them with his magic and drag them over for Pursuer to consume. He was going to make sure Pursuer was well fed if he was going to be walking around without his grease paint now. Once he was done eating and Pursuer had finally rejected the 7th bird brought to him, they both retreated into the cave to sleep. Jean wrapped himself in a blanket feeling Pursuer curl up beside him. It felt nice having a friend now. Someone he hoped he could rely on for a long time.