Chapter Text
Elliot wasn’t sure when or where he started feeling this strong sense of exhaustion within the realm— but nonetheless, it weighed on him. No matter how lively the conversations got. No matter how often they won the endless “games”; he couldn’t shake it.
A quiet fell over the cabin as a darker night fell over the survivors— stars dotted the sky in dull patterns, the overwhelming light from their settlement dulled the beauty of the stars more often than not— but he couldn’t say he missed it. Nobody can miss something they never knew, only long for it in all its glory and awe. Elliot remembered how the stars were shown to him in images, gorgeous expanses of light under the new moon’s darkness and it just happened to be a new moon tonight. The delivery driver wondered if the spectre was kind enough to let people see the stars in all of their beauty. So, he wandered off into the woods.
The forest was always a mystery to the survivors— it was eerily quiet, a fraction of its expanse was mapped before they found a creature deep within its depths. It growled and they’d all been too far away to see how it truly reacted to them by the time it moved to face them— but Elliot couldn’t help but be fascinated by the creature. Sleek red fur that almost looked like scales with dark horns… and these beautiful, dark, imposing wings.
To say Elliot was captivated with the beast would be an understatement, it was the first thing to snap him out of his exhausted and apathetic state in a long, long time. Now, he hoped he would see it while he stargazed— flying above him with grace that rivaled how the admins flew in their prime.
Elliot passed the closest cabin to the woods along the way, 007n7’s cabin looked like shit, rotting wood and a porch that looked like it would collapse if a light gust of wind hit it. But he deserved it after what he’d done to his work all those years ago. He hadn’t changed in his own personal opinion, so why should he care? The exploiter never even tried to engage with the others anyway. Then the fence— it was bolted shut after the incident with the dragon, for fear that someone might get snapped up while they were wandering through the forest. Elliot simply climbed over it, making his way down the overgrown path through the trees.
The starlit forest was humid, warm despite the fact that it was midnight in the middle of autumn— though snow hadn’t yet fallen, he didn’t expect how warm the forest itself would be at this time of year. He hopped over a tree root and into a clearing with a tall stone in the middle. Elliot walked over to it— reaching a hand out to feel along the moss and rough rock on the surface of it.
Some of the moss and grass near the boulder was slightly or completely singed— but it appeared too wet to have been done today or even recently. Elliot sighed before sitting on the rock— looking up at the night sky, he leaned on his palms for support. The stars were gorgeous, better seen in person than he had ever expected them to be. A loud crack snapped the delivery driver out of his thoughts. He looked over— only to be greeted with piercing blue eyes and distinctive red fur that was more beautiful than he remembered from his last encounter with the beast not even a week ago and now it swooped in on huge wings— they flared out in an intimidating manner, flapping before it landed a few paces away.
It stared at him for a few long moments— not making a move to approach or even attack the delivery driver. He sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes glimmered in awe, his lungs burned from the sheer heat and humidity within the forest that only seemed to get worse the longer he stayed within it. None of that mattered in the presence of what he perceived as perfection in creature form.
The creature towered over him— it had to be at least thrice Elliot's size. It moved closer to his comparatively small form on huge rippling muscles and huge deep red talons. He made no move to run or hide from this gorgeous beast when it got close enough for the pizza man to feel its comparitavely cool breath on his face, a welcome respite from the heat of the forest.
Distantly, he wondered if he would see its sleek fur glimmer with his blood in the starlight when it killed him. Almost unthinkingly— he reached a hand out to the beast, touching its nose-horn: firm and powerful like solid steel with a distinctive sandpaper-ish texture that almost rubbed his hand raw.
The beast leaned into his touch, churring contentedly. Elliot's breath hitched in his amazement— he couldn’t help but look closer at its face. Its eyes were a sea blue color, he could only compare them to the sky on a day free of clouds and full of comforting warmth. It had 5 total horns on its head— all a deep red and just as sturdy as the one he was petting.
Two massive red-and-black wings enveloped the delivery driver and the creature he now had his face buried into the mane of worriedly cooed at him, licking his hand where he had rubbed it too raw. Elliot hadn’t realized he was even bleeding until he felt the smooth tongue drag up his palm like a mother cat licking its kitten— it stung and he winced, but the bleeding had stopped.
The forest seemed to fade away around them for a while— leaving him only focused on the comfortingly warm fur he had his whole body buried into. But as suddenly as the dragon appeared— it dropped him and darted off at a dizzying speed, leaving him sitting alone on the damp and warm forest floor.
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It'd been days since Elliot last saw the beast and he couldn’t get it out of his head. All the delivery driver could do was make comparisons to creatures he found in his now nightly expeditions into the forest— sneaking out and wandering to find the creature he thought was more brilliant than the stars themselves.
The way his mind now always seemed to drift off to that magical encounter with the beast was beginning to affect his performance in rounds— while he detested how it hurt his teammates, he couldn’t help how enamored he was with the creature.
The others were beginning to grow worried due to the delivery driver's new behavior. And oh, Telamon, maybe they were right to feel that way. But every time he caught a mere glimpse of red fur or the shadow of anything vaguely resembling that creature, he felt drawn to the woods. It made his exhaustion with this realm lessen when he truly explored its depths.
Elliot kept going back even when snow fell upon the forest, it'd become a comfort— even after he'd lost hope of seeing that mystical beast again. He found a strange sense of familiarity and safety when he was there. While he did feel safe at the main cabin, he always felt threatened by the presence of that damned exploiter. The man couldn't have changed— ‘It all had to be a ruse! To build their trust only to break it for some sadistic game.’ He thought with a strong snarl on his face while trudging through thick, unforgiving snow and past tall trees that towered over anything that dare wander thus forest.
Elliot shook his head to get himself out of his thoughts. The snow only got thicker the further he went; the cold intensified with each step he took until it started to get through his clothes. His breath was visible now— his body shook with each gust of wind and he realized he didn't know where he was anymore. The delivery driver couldn’t see any landmarks due to the thick snow and the falling snow was already covering his tracks.
He knelt down and planted his palms into the pitch white snow, expecting to die in this cold with no possible way to get back yo his cabin— only to feel those all too familiar wings wrap around him. Elliot shakily placed a gloved hand in the red fluff of the creature's warm body. It brought him closer with its talons and he leaned into it— deciding to let himself be comfortable, his eyes fluttered closed and he swiftly fell asleep in the warm fur of the creature he revered.