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JudeLow hustled the human into the pathway, his hand clamped around the human’s wrist, forcing the human into a stumbling, hurried stride to keep up.
The human’s armour wasn’t the heaviest, the metal was thinner making it better for agility than adding defensive weight, but the occasional clang of metal made their location painfully obvious.
They had to hurry up.
It was difficult to do so with the human just barely being able to walk right. Jude had temporarily neutralised his injuries so he could function properly for a while ; the effects only lasted for 20 minutes which would be enough for them to make it despite the unconventional pace and noises…
The wind went very still.
A faint shudder rippled across the ground, setting a few pebbles into motion. Jude tightened his grip.
“Run.”
The pair scrambled forwards, kicking the mushy leaves on the floor and dodging the spray of poison-blossoms sprinkled around the corners of the path. A distant growl and shuddering of leaves could be heard from behind them but its position was difficult to make out.
Jude cursed under his breath. He had never been caught in the middle of a hunt, let alone even out at this hour. They were almost there though. One of the only safe spaces left : SilverWood.
He twisted his foot and skidded to a halt, grounding the human as well so he wouldn’t fall.
Both of them now stood in front of a gnarly, grand crimson maple tree with a white dot in its dark shade of wood.
“Why’ve…we…stopped?” the human asked, shakily panting into his speech.
“Sh.” Jude lifted his finger and stuck it on the human’s lips as he let go of his arm and reached for the dot and gave it a sharp jab.
A rope ladder unfolded from somewhere above the tree. The majority of the sky was just covered by the leaves of the ever-so massive and towering trees, so honestly, it could’ve been from anywhere up there.
The human’s face was now painted in an expression of distress due to being highly puzzled at the series of events ( both before he ended up in the wilds, whatever it was and everything happening right now ) he was going through.
Only in a fairytale, this would be considered normal. Jude could understand the confusion the human felt but now wasn’t the time. He’d have to save that for later.
“Up you go,” Jude pushed the human forward. “Go on, climb.”
Hesitantly, the human obliged with Jude following at a close distance.
₊˚✧ 🧪 ✧˚₊‧
The village of SilverWood was located to the west of the Whispering Wilds. It was suspended atop the upper canopy, built into colossal grey-ish silver trunks and faintly hidden into the deep crimson leaves. Winding walkways connected the village and lanterns lazily floated in the air. There were a few gaps peppered around to let the sunlight through but now the sky was slowly getting swallowed by the soft hues of dusk. All the village folk were inside their cottages, preparing for the evening to come.
The human was rooted to the spot, his eyes drifting and scanning the display. Jude grinned.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?”
The human appeared to jump from the remark, but steadied himself and turned around.
“Y-yeah.”
“Good to hear! Remind me to give you a tour later,” Jude positioned himself next to the human and lifted his finger.“ My house is up there.”
Compared to the rest of the houses, this one appeared slightly more mechanical and more isolated, yet still connected as it was still part of the village.
Jude tugged at the human’s arm.
“Let’s go.”
Together, they carefully climbed the ladders and the walkways towards the house.
“Watch out,” Jude put out his arm in front of the human. “Trip wire. There'll be more traps so stay on guard.” Jude giggled, amused at the sarcastic exhaustion he was met with by the human.
It took them around 3 minutes before they finally stood inside the actual house. It was hard not to set off any traps with a clumsy human following behind, but JudeLow knew better so he did his best to get him across safely. The closest they got to a disaster was nearly setting off the emergency alarm to alert the whole village.
“Welcome, to my humble abode.” Jude mock-bowed, ushering the human inside.
It was a simple house. From the door it led straight to the living-room that was connected to the kitchen. On the right, there was a corridor that led to the bedroom and bathroom and on the left corridor was the entrance to Jude’s office.
Nothing much. Just cozy and almost well-kept. Ignoring the stray papers, clothes and food scattered around of course.
A sharp click of metal preceded the human’s sudden cough before he came tumbling down on top of JudeLow. Jude, however, was prepared for this.
He cupped his hands around the human’s face.
It was pale with a few small scars near his nose and lips. A few loose strands of blond fell on his forehead with his eyelids dropping down in fatigue. His breathing was in inconsistent huffs and heartbeat uncontrollably echoing through the armour.
Jude pulled his arm around the unconscious human and dragged him to the bedroom. All the medical supplies were there, plus Jude would tend to him better there.
‧₊˚✧ 🧪 ✧˚₊‧
The human was positioned lightly on the bed. His armour and sword were removed and now in the corner of Jude’s office in a some-what orderly pile. His skin tight under suit was undone at the top as Jude cleaned up the wounds and scars.
He was almost done. The legs weren’t really a problem compared to the upper body where most of the damage was done. A side of his right foot was swollen,though and now it was wrapped in cloth and honeytree oil.
The wind outside whistled and whispered as it crawled from the window, sending chills in the room. The end of the hunting hour.
Some of the village folk had already called it a day while the rest snuck out to scout the forest. Their conversations were soft mumbles, all absorbed in the evening air.
“Hmmph…Mmm-ff.”
The human’s eyebrows scrunched together as he made faint sounds in his sleep.
Jude smiled.
Cute.
He’d have to admit. The human was adorable. It was cute how confused and amazed he got at new discoveries and places. Rather submissive to control, yet strong and very, very handsome. Long hair, tied in a loose bun framed his face and defined jaw. His eyes, that were closed now, were brushed in a stormy grey. The type of eyes one would lose oneself in for hours.
Besides the annoying patrol units that came in the forest, Jude hadn’t really seen a human face to face. They had no markings, no distinct features besides the fact that they had five fingers. They were really plain compared to the Mystics, that’s for sure.
JudeLow looked at the moon whose light had now entered the dimly lit room as he finished up and gathered the medical stuff and shoved it into the drawer. It was really beautiful tonight.
He closed the window and sighed. This was a rather exhausting day. By now, he’d be at Parker’s place for the layout of the new trap they’d be working on, but he sent him a hasty letter saying he can’t make it today.
He was quite tired himself. The crossfire of the hunt was best to miss and today he had narrowly escaped it.
Jude took off his belts and googles, quickly discarding them on top of the drawer. He sat at the bedside and lightly pushed the human to create some space and slipped in next to him.
It was strange having a stranger in his bed, sleeping next to him. Not to mention a human. It all seemed to have happened so fast. Finding him unconscious on the forest floor and now unconscious on his bed.
Jude inched closer so he was almost nuzzling the human’s neck. He had never done this before. It felt warm and nice to be there.
Jude let out a small yawn.
The human had a name didn’t he? What did he say it was?
Jude remembered it was something like Sharp…Sharp-something.
The rush of events had muddled up his memory. Though, there was an engraving in the armour in the human language.
Jude traced the lettering in his mind. He roughly knew how to read it.
“Sharpness.” Jude whispered to himself as he finally let the fatigue take over and drift him off to sleep.