AUGH CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS?
He's talking about how he got his scars from a she-bear when she tried to claim him in his bear form during the mating season for bears.
Halsin: "Rejecting unwanted advances is no failure. Even if it earned me some scars."
He spent three years as a sex slave and object to a drow couple, three years being treated as a toy and a novelty. When he talks about it to us in another scene, he uses the phrasing "I did what was necessary to survive... and perhaps a few things that were- less than necessary." A lot of us only get that part of the cutscene - he explains his escape, and it goes no further. But there's a bunch more to that conversation.
Here's the whole thing written out;
"One positive I will conceded about city life is that you never know what lies around the corner."
"Takes me back to some youthful misadventures in the Underdark. It was a long time ago - I was a foolhardy young druid, intent on seeing the beauty of natureâs otherworldly fauna and subterranean glow for myself.
"Certain events transpired and I found myself the guest of a noble draw house for some time. Well, something between guest, prisoner and consort, perhaps. It was touch and go for awhile."
Some quick notes before we keep going;
"Certain events transpired" - I think we can all agree we're curious what those events were. Was he kidnapped? Tricked? Invited in and then kept? Also holy downplaying, Halsin.
"something between guest, prisoner and consort, perhaps" - sort of lends itself to the implication that he was invited in and then unable to leave, rather than a kidnapping.
"touch and go for a while" - he's so blasĂŠ about it, but we know he's serious about how much danger he was in, even if he's telling us the story through a mix of humor and gravitas
"The house matron took interest in me and the patron also. They saw me as a novelty, perhaps. I was chained in their bedchamber for nigh on three years. It was not ideal, but not without its positives, either. I did what was necessary to survive and perhaps a few things that were less necessary."Â
"The house matron took interest in me and the patron also" - that brief nod to drow matriarchal society. The drow patron may have taken an interest in him, but it was the matron who held his life in her hands.
"a novelty, perhaps" - not a person. Not something they cared about or respected or cherished. A toy.
"I was chained in their bedchamber for nigh on three years" - he was kept very close to the drow couple, in a very personal and intimate space, away from the rest of the house and from other prisoners. He would have been alone, most of the time.
"I did what was necessary to survive and perhaps a few things that were less necessary"Â - Alone, starving for companionship and completely cut off from nature - from natural light, from wildlife, from green growing things - Halsin had only the drow matron and patron for companionship.
"Donât misunderstand me, I feared for my life and wanted my freedom back, but I was willing to wait for my moment. And, eventually, it came."
I read this as him realizing he's blurring some lines in his story and correcting the trajectory a bit. He'll come back to this in a little bit and it's beautiful.
"Lolthâs noble houses are constantly at each otherâs throats and eventually some rivals of my hosts sought to unseat them. It was chaos. Drop against draw, the clash of blades echoing throughtout the cavern. The feeling of warm blood that I could not see. I took my chance and fled while all were distracted. I never looked back until I breathed fresh air again and never learned what came of my hosts."
"Lolthâs noble houses are constantly at each otherâs throats" - Yes, yes, they are. What's more, we know a few things from dnd lore about what happens when drow houses attack one another; when one house attacks another, the goal is the violent, unseen, complete erasure of the other house. No witnesses left alive.
"The feeling of warm blood that I could not see" - this has me asking about a thousand questions. I gift it to the werebear!Halsin apologists.
"I took my chance and fled while all were distracted" - at some point in his three years, he worked out how to escape and had to simply wait for a safe moment to do so. Imagine what he must have been feeling in that moment. I'm gonna write this at some point.
"I never looked back until I breathed fresh air again and never learned what came of my hosts." SUCH an important line.
"I never looked back" - Despite continuing to call them hosts, I think the fact that he fled without a second thought is important to his story.
"until I breathed fresh air again" - he'd been thinking about that breath of fresh air for THREE YEARS.
"and never learned what came of my hosts"
We do know what happens when drow houses attack one another. One house always falls; if the attacking house doesn't succeed, they fall and are wiped out. Whatever happened that day, an entire drow house fell.
The only way to get him to call them captors instead of hosts is to be so mean to him. You have to have your Tav be a Lolth-aligned drow and threaten to sell him back to them. After hearing this whole conversation up to this point, you'd have to say "So the mighty bear is an escaped pet... I wonder if there is a reward for your capture and return." and EVEN THEN, he doesn't lose his temper. With a hard face, he advises you not to try and suggests that his captors are likely long dead, implying he's thought about it. After he finishes, he sort of pauses and looks thoughtful, then says "interesting- I've always referred to them as my hosts, but I suppose captors is a more accurate term to what they were," which is just such a clear picture of how the situation sits in his mind.
Okay, back at it. Here's the rest of that conversation, which doesn't always trigger;
Halsin: "The passage of time has a strange way of polishing even the most arduous of memories into precious keepsakes. Had it been slightly different, I may have been put to work in the mines or or killed outright.Â
"Perhaps I carry more resentment than I realize. Time can prove to be a trickster of oneâs recollections. What will be multiple lifetimes for others now separate me from my captivity; perhaps I have lost perspective on what happened to me. I survived... and in years to come, I must have allowed hardships to become dwarfed by the shadow curse in my mind. I lost friends⌠confidants⌠and had the weight of responsibility bear down on me unrelentingly. There was scant opportunity for self-reflection.Â
"âŚI have not had true confidants for some time. The shadow curse robbed me of almost all my peers and replaced them with the weight of responsibility. Perhaps that caused me to gild undeserving memories of my youth. I am lucky to have your counsel - it was sorely needed." Â
That was a LOT, but take all of it and put it together with this;
"Rejecting unwanted advances is no failure. Even if it earned me some scars."
In that moment, I don't think he's entirely thinking of the she-bear.
Maybe I'm just reading too deeply into how his story is marked by years of having his autonomy stripped away, but I think it's significant he chose scars over submission when presented with another situation that threatened to take his choice away again.
--
Credit to @ride-a-dromedary for the gifs!
Clip of dialogue; https://www.tiktok.com/@rndm.lys/video/7342170304837405984
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The Bear and the Fox - A Halsin x Reader One Shot
Word Count || About 6,000 Words
Scenario || You are a druid adept that has been imprisoned by Kagha for trying to stop the Rite of Thorns in Halsin's absence. He returns to find you and is none to happy to see it, especially after all you have been through.
POV || 2nd Person, ungendered tav/reader.
CW || mentions of entrapment, trafficking, self-deprecation, trauma. (Please let me know if I forgot anything.)
A/n || I have been a little stressed out and have been using this as a distraction/escape. I would appreciate so much if you all let me know what you think! Requested by the lovely @drabblesandimagines, thank you for the idea and I hope you enjoy it!! Thank you for your patience in waiting for this one!
Youâre almost certain Archdruid Halsin doesnât know you exist, but it doesnât stop you from being devastated when he doesnât return to the Emerald Grove from his travels to the nearby goblin camp. Even if he doesnât remember you, you certainly have never forgotten him. Nor have you been able to wrench your heart from the grip of the merciless pining that has plagued you ever since you woke up on a pile of soft hides on the floor of his vault beneath the temple..Â
The truth is, Archdruid Halsin had saved you.Â
Youâd been captured, at the time, by a troupe of traveling drow with the intention of taking you deep into the underdark to be used for whatever nefarious purposes they deigned. You were one of many captured, but the only druid in the lot.Â
Theyâd entrapped you in a cage, preventing you from even taking your wildshape to flee. Theyâd gone between distressing you in both forms, though. Theyâd seemed to have a particular talent for making you miserable, and in time youâd lost a bit of your humanity to the shape of the russet and auburn fox you often favored.Â
When heâd reached in to coax you out with a gentle hand, you pounced on the appendageâfar too entrapped in the fear-addled mind of an animal that would sooner gnaw its own foot off than let a hunter find it caught in his leghold trap.Â
But he hadnât flinched; hadnât even grimaced as you sank your sharpened teeth into the thick flesh of his muscled forearm and tore at it. Heâd simply watched calmly as you got it out of your system. When youâd realized he was an unyielding mass of man, youâd backed into the farthest corner of your kennel and cowered.Â
âFear not, little one,â heâd cooed with that gentle, gravelly tone. âYou are among friends now. I only wish to ensure youâre uninjured, and you can be on your way to find your mate or your burrow.â
Youâd only blinked and he swapped his bleeding arm for his other one. Youâd sniffed cautiously before dropping your head and your ears. Heâd not needed any other sign, heâd known the way animals communicate; with gestures and body language rather than sounds.
Heâd smoothed a hand over your ratty coat; it was the first kind touch youâd felt in months. Youâd leaned yourself into it and heâd used the opportunity to scoop you up into his arms.Â
Perhaps it was at that moment that youâd fallen for him. Because as soon as youâd registered the strong and tender support of his warm, cradling arms, youâd suddenly realized how exhausted youâd been. You lost hold on your wildshape and changed back to your humanoid form, unclothed and skinny.Â
Heâd started, adjusted his grip a little clumsily as youâd spilled out of the space heâd allotted in his arms for you; but he didnât drop you.
âYou surprised me, child,â heâd said as youâd started to drift into unconsciousness. âIâd certainly thought it was strange to go through such stringent measures for a single fox, but I see now why theyâd made such efforts to keep you entrapped.â
Heâd reached up to brush your tangled hair away from your face. âI can see youâre exhausted. Rest now; when you wake, youâll be safe and warm with a meal and a warm bath awaiting you.â
He hadnât lied, and the Emerald Grove had quickly become your home in the months and years that had passed since then. Youâd seen Halsin around, of course. And he always seemed to have a smile to spare for you as you passed like swans floating in a pond. But youâd never quite been able to find a way to speak to him in private.Â
Perhaps it was your fault, you think, as you find yourself in a new cage, heart broken and aching as it seems less and less likely that he will ever be coming back.Â
You know Halsin to be strong. Heâs a seven foot elf and built like the cave bear he so often likes to take the shape of. But there is only so much a single druid can do on his own, even one as competent as Halsin.Â
It hurts to be facing the possibility of rotting in the cells below the groveâbelow the place that had so much begun to feel like home for you, finally. It hurts to realize you may die here having never told Halsin how you feel about him.Â
But perhaps itâs better this way. Perhaps it is better to die having never faced the awkward acknowledgement of feeling that could never be returned.Â
Halsin has always been effusive, warm, welcomingâŚbrave.Â
But there is a reason you chose the fox for your wildshape.Â
You have always been furtive, timid, too reliant on a single person. It has always been your nature, but you canât deny the fundamental absurdity of the fox falling for the bear. At best, you could only be an inconvenient pest to him. Youâre sure of that much.Â
StillâŚyou miss the sunâŚyou wish you could see it one more time. Youâd always wanted to die bathed in the sunlight, not cold and damp in a stone chamber flooded with three inches of water. You curl into yourself, hugging your knees close, trying to remember the feeling of those warm arms around you as the Rite of Thorns continues somewhere above ground, heedless of your pleas for stalling, uncaring of the courage youâd had to summon to stand up to Kagha at all.Â
Kagha had never cared much for you; found you weak and miserable.Â
Pathetic. That was the word youâd heard bandied around when she didnât know you were within earshot or when you were cozily cloaked by your shadows.Â
âYou should have just kept your mouth shut,â you tell yourself.Â
But even you donât really believe that. Not truly. You found kindred spirits in the Teiflings who had come to find refuge in the grove. Youâd even played with the children in their little hiding spot beneath the old stone structures.Â
When the goblins came screaming the name of the Absolute, when Halsin left to learn more about the parasites, youâd been shocked and frightened by the sudden turn of sentiments against them and gotten swept away in your own outrage over it. As far as youâd been concerned, everyone in the grove should have been well aware of what Halsin would have tolerated. They should have known that heâd want any living being to be safe and fedâespecially the children.Â
But itâd seemed that even the Emerald Grove druids were merely people; they were just as vulnerable to intimidation, coercion and power hunger as anyone else in Faerun.Â
You shiver in the cold and the dank, wishing you could get some rest so that you could take your wildshape and find warmth in the silken texture of your auburn coat.Â
You think of the nights curled up by the fire in Halsinâs secret cache while he allowed you a smaller space to acclimate to when youâd first arrive. You remember the feeling of large, gentle hands cradling your small, vulpine body in comfort as you slept.Â
Itâs at that moment that you hear the scuff of loud, fast foot fall on the decrepit stairs that lead down to this sodden prison. Itâs followed by heavy, hurried sloshing before, as if out of thin air, Halsin stands before you. His hands are wrapped around the thick, stone bars of your enclosure so tightly that they are white at the knuckles. His broad chest rises and falls with exertion; or is that emotion? It is hard to know.Â
He looksâŚutterly stricken. So much so that you wonder what happened to devastate him. Did he get back to The Grove to find all of the tieflings slaughtered? Did the tieflings rise up and destroy the grove before the Rite of Thorns could be finished?Â
He opens his mouth and you expect terrible newsâexpect the worst.Â
âA-are you alright?â is what he chokes out instead.Â
Youâre quiet for a moment; the question not making sense to you. Why in the world would he care if you were alright? You wereâŚnobody. A druidic adept that found much more comfort tucked into a nest of blankets than anything else. Youâd failed to stop the Rite. Youâd failed at almost everything in your life so far.Â
Has heâŚis it too dark down here? Does he think heâs talking to someone else?Â
He grits his teeth and starts to wrestle with the door to your cell.Â
Its mechanism is like the others in the temple; controlled by a stone tablet which should be placed in the proper slot and then activated with druidic magic. But heâs trying to use his own raw strength to open it.Â
âForgive me,â he grunts as the stone actually begins to give way, heeding his command. âI should have never left you here while The Grove was tangled in so much unrest. Had I thought the KaghaâŚhad I knownââ
âArchdruid,â you stammer. âYouâre going to hurt yourselfââ
âI care not,â he says, his tone taking on an almost ferocious quality that has you lifting your shoulders and shrinking into yourself. âIt is you I am most concerned for. You had only just begun to smile and Iâ because of my negligence I find you entrapped all over again.â
Your mouth drops open as you realize that he actually came down here looking for you. Specifically to find you. To save you again.Â
You are small; practically half the size of the archdruid. Yet, you suddenly recognize that he is trying to free you and you are just sitting there like some kind of dead fish. You stand to your feet and hurry over to the bars, grasping two of the other juts of stone and pulling it as he pushes.Â
Youâre not sure, but for a moment you think you see the barest ghost of a smile before his teeth clench again with effort.Â
When the door is finally forced open a few inches, you release the stone. You roll your shoulders, shake out the tension in your hands. You will yourself to become smaller, to become lithe. You will your mouth to grow sharp, unforgiving teeth. You become vulpine.Â
You slosh through the water on four padded feet and dash through the opening.Â
For a moment, you almost flee up the stairs, ready to retreat to the fresh salty air outside. Ready to resign yourself to life as a fox.Â
But Halsin drops to his knees and you look at him as he looks at you.Â
He reaches a hand out to you, and you see the faint, silvery scars on his forearm from where you tore into him on the day you met. You sniff at him for a moment, then you shift back to your human form, carefully cradling his arm in your hands.Â
âDid it get infected?â you ask. âAfter I gnawed at you?â
His brow is low and lips turn down at the corners.Â
âNo,â he says.Â
âI donât understand,â you say. âYou shouldnât have scarredâŚyou should have been able to simply heal yourself.â
âI was able,â he says. âBut I was unwilling. IâŚI didnât want to forget.â
You look up at him. âWhy?â you ask.Â
There is the sound of chaos from up the stairs. You turn your head, letting your ears tune into the finer details of it as the quiet ambience of the water dripping and sloshing around you obscures it. As your focus narrows, you hear her.Â
âSheâs back,â Halsin sneers. âKagha has finally returned.â
You look at him, your eyes wide as if youâre seeing him for the first time. The expression on his face is nothing short of raw, wild fury. He is the snarl of a wolf, he is the crackle of wildfire, he is the dark promise of death in a row of pointed teeth.Â
He draws his arm back, stopping to take both of your small hands in his. His expression softens. âI will tell all,â he says. âBut not before I punish the one who did this to you. Not before I see justice properly served for all of the disarray and cruelty enacted in my absence.â
You try to find a way to answer, but you canât, settling instead for a dumbfounded nod.Â
He stands and, once at his full height, shifts the position of his hand to cradle yours; offering you help, but also offering you the chance to help yourself. You grasp that hand and he tightens the muscles of his arms as you use his strength and stability to get yourself back up to your feet.Â
âI am loathe to leave you down in this terrible placeâŚbut if youâre too frightened to face herâŚâ he offers.Â
âIâm notâŚâ you say. âO-or at least I wonât beâŚnot with you there.â
He graces you with the first real smile heâs given you since he suddenly appeared before you and you think you may no longer need the sun if he can continue looking at you just like that.Â
âCome,â he says. âI want you to be part of this discussion.â
You follow Halsin, dwarfed in his shadow as you ascend the craggy steps, your soft leather shoes uncomfortably soggy and embarrassingly loud as you go. It feels almost surreal to be acknowledged by Halsin. Even more strange that he remembers youâthat he seemed to have come to seek you out before anything else.Â
There are more questions than answers immediately available, and youâre not sure youâll have the nerve to ask those questions when all is said and done.Â
When Halsin reaches the top of the stairs, he stops and looks back at you, giving you a calm smile as you quicken the pace of your last few steps to catch up with you.Â
Now that youâre in better light, his brow faintly tenses and he reaches out for you. You go utterly still as he places two of his fingertips under the very tip of your chin, using the most minute bit of pressure to turn your face.Â
âYouâre hurt,â he says. âI didnât see it in the darkness of the cells.â
Youâd forgotten about the injury on your faceâitâs not one youâd actually gotten to see before you were imprisoned, but youâd felt it throbbing for the entire day you were there.Â
âItâs just a bruise,â you say.Â
He removes his hand from beneath your chin and draws those same finger tips carefully over the curve of your brow. You wince slightly as he touches the most tender part and shakes his head.Â
âThereâs a split in your brow,â he says. âIt will scarâŚâ
You heave a little breathy chuckle. âPerhaps it will make me look more distinguished,â you say as you meet his hazel eyes. âYou certainly wear them well.â
His heartbroken expression eases up and he shakes his head, hesitant amusement on his face. âIf I wear them well, then youâll be exquisite as ever with your own,â he says. âStillâthat you were hurt because of my absenceââ
âThe fox was caught sticking itâs nose where it didnât belong and was appropriately punished for it,â A familiar, haughty voice interrupts. âDonât let the little bandit fill your head with untruths.â
Halsin takes your hand in his and pulls you slightly behind him as he also moves to block you from Kaghaâs sight. Itâs a protective measure, but he doesnât force you to hide. Instead, it feels like heâs asserting his position as your protectorâas the protector of any who are weaker than himâwhile allowing your agency to remain intact should you wish to take the lead.
âI donât want to hear about your paranoia KaghaâIâve heard enough of it to turn my stomach,â he says, that gravelly voice gaining an almost abrasive quality. âTell me why I shouldnât turn you outâor hand you over the shadow druids youâve been cavorting with?âÂ
You watch as Kagha goes pale and your stomach churns with a dizzying mixture of nausea and fear.Â
The shadow druids. The order of druidic magic that lay closest to the dark. The drow, the deep gnomes, Shar. Everything that represents the terror youâd once experienced crammed into a too-small cage.Â
How could she? How could she want to work with them?! And then to have a nerve to call you a fox in the hen house.Â
âI didnât do anything,â you say, your voice quiet but steady. âI was only looking for a way to convince you that we neednât go through with the riteeâŚâ
âBy snooping in places you DON'T belong,â Kagha says.Â
âPerhaps it is you who does not belong here,â you snap.Â
âI couldnât have said it better myself,â Halsin growls. âYou do not deserve to remain here, yet it is Nature who will determine what becomes of you. One thing is certain: my teachings have clearly not made the difference here. You are to start anewâbe made a novice once again.â
âYou canât do thatââ Kagha starts.Â
âI am the First Druid in this Grove and I will do whatever I see fit to protect the people who call this place their home!â Halsin booms. âKagha, you failed me. You failed everyone who relied on you!â
âThat fox is an outsider. Ever since you pulled it in by its scruff it has done nothing but consume priceless resources and shrink into the corner like a frightened rodent. If you so crave balanceââ
âEnough!â Halsin barks. âI will hear no more of this.â
âButââ Kagha says.Â
âI said enough. Get out of my sight before I lose hold of my humanity and tear you to shreds,â Halsin snarled.Â
He says it loudly and deeply enough that it echoes in the stone chamber. Even you flinch a bit at the sudden fury coming off of him. You can almost smell it coming off of himâthe adrenaline, the willingness to fight and gnash at Kagha.Â
Kagha has the good sense to dip her head in deference.Â
âUnderstood, First Druid Halsin,â she says.Â
âGood,â he says, his voice a low rumble in his chest. âNow. Apologize.â
Her head snaps up again and her gaze slides over to you, sharp as an arrowhead. The silence between you carries the same anticipatory nausea of waiting for a cobra to strike. You can sense quite well that Kagha may be properly chastened for her actions in the grove, but her opinion of you seems to remain the same.Â
Pathetic, you remember. Thatâs what you are to her.Â
âItâs fine,â you say. âIâm just happy to be free again.â
âNo,â he commands. âIt is not fine. You did what was right and were punished for it. Kagha. Will. Apologize.â
Your heart stutters and pounds in your ears. You know Halsin means well. You know he is angry on your behalf, and that he wants to see you treated kindly, but you donât like confrontation.You think that ferocity is meant to be directed to Kagha, but youâre not entirely sure. Flashes of terror and confusion climb out of the burial ground of your mind. Memories of a cramped cage, the smell of blood, the sound of pained mewling, angry shouting in a language you donât understand and the pain of punishment when a command you didnât understand was not followed.
You donât want this display; you do not want to be the vehicle of this lesson. You donât want to rock the boat unless the situation is absolutely dire; especially now that youâve proven just how little efficacy you have when you insert yourself into the matters of people who do not like you or simply have more investment in their own interests than in the interests of the collective. It feels like a leg snare waiting to lock down on you and youâre not sure you can escape it this time.
The tension between Halsin and Kagha sings at a tenor that pierces your ears. Or is that your adrenaline? Youâre not sure. Whatever it is, your muscles are sore and aching; wound tightly and ready to spring at the first sight of danger; the first sign of movement toward you.
Halsin spares a glance your way, perhaps sensing that growing tension. Your eyes dart up to his as your body starts to tremble, not with fear, but with the urge to act. You are a small, scrappy creature locked in a stand-off with a larger predator.Â
His expression softens, looking almost apologetic.Â
âEasy, little one,â he says as he reaches his hand out to touch you.Â
Your mind is more feral than human by then. Just before he can actually touch you, you drop into a crouch and dart away from him, your heart hammering painfully against your sternum like an animal backed in a cage. You feel that wild urge to scratch, to gnaw, to snarl.Â
His expression drops into one of worry, his guilt clear in his expression and in the way he bends at the knees, lowering himself and making himself small like one might when trying to calm an injured animal.Â
âYou are safe, dear one,â he says. âYou are safe.â
You donât believe him. It doesnât feel safe here, not anymore. Perhaps never again.Â
A sound comes from behind you and you lurch forward, losing your footing on your slick, damp boots, falling hard onto the palms of your hands before you get back up to your feet and fly through the old temple and scrambling out of the door.Â
You simply run, your mind a blur of colors and raw, terrible fear. You canât even register and savor the feeling of the sun on your skin or the sweet, salty breeze coming off of the lower cove. You run, and run, and run until familiar sights bleed into unfamiliar ones; until the wound up tension in your muscles gives way to trembling exhaustion.Â
You donât immediately recognize where you are, but you find a little alcove tucked into a glen of oak trees, their trunks fat with age and their canopies heavy with acorns and boughs full of leaves.Â
The sun shines through the eaves, coloring the long grasses in deep emeralds and dappled yellow light. You sit against one of the trees, feeling the steady presence of Sylvanus as you gulp in desperate, exhausted breaths, your heart still hammering loudly in your ears. You rest your head back against the tree and close your eyes for just a moment. You breathe, and then you breathe again. Distance from the grove gives you a moment to realize just what being in that place was doing to you.Â
The politics, the prejudice, the precarious balance between the available resources and the people who needed them most. You always do better on your own. Thereâs a reason the form of a fox comes to you most naturally; they arenât pack animals. As it so happens, apparently, neither are you.Â
So why had you stayed so long?Â
The fear of being captured again, perhaps.Â
Or maybe it was the Teiflingsâyouâd found a little group of friends among them; enjoyed sharing a drink with Dammon once in a while.Â
But neither of those seem to ring true for you, in reality.Â
No, what really seems to be the reason is the other part of foxes that makes the most sense to you.Â
That they tend to find a mate, have a family, and remain with them for life.Â
A reality youâd spent the last several years trying to avoid. Because there was only really one person keeping you at the grove. And that person was Halsin.Â
Heâs justâŚ
Heâs everything you wish you could be.Â
Heâs everything you wish you could have.
But you canât. Because at the end of the day youâre just some animal, fleeing the first offer of help and biting down on the hand that feeds you. Thereâs regret in this moment. Regret that you will never get to inquire about the expressions on Halsinâs face; about the reasons he came to free you so quickly.Â
But the regret gives way to exhaustion and as you soak in the speckled rays of sunlight, feeling truly warmed for the first time in daysâperhaps even weeksâyou drift into a dreamless sleep.Â
Itâs the quiet sound of metal against wood that wakes you.Â
The manner in which you wake is not a lurch; not an abrupt burst of movement that feels like youâre gasping for air. Itâs the slow, soft blinking of an afternoon nap becoming an evening laze. In breathe in through your nose, slow and deep, faintly aware of the feeling of soft fur against your bare feet.Â
You feel swaddled by warmth. Wrapped in the familiar scents of clove, moss and tobacco.Â
You finally open your eyes and find a fire crackling before you, hemmed in by stones half-darkened by clay, as if someone collected them recently to guard the oaks from the danger of an unkempt flame.Â
You donât put it together at first that youâve been moved; specifically that youâve been laid down within a comfortable bedroll. That the smell infused into the furs is comforting because of the man sitting not even a few feet away; the source of the sound of metal against wood.Â
You crane your head up to find him. Halsin Silverbough quietly focused on a block of soft wood, whittling away at it. You just watch him for a few seconds, almost dazed that heâs here with you.Â
âIs this a dream?â You ask.Â
His knife slips a little clumsily, he hadnât noticed you were awake. He drops his hands into his lap and turns his head to smile down at you.Â
âDo I often visit you in your dreams, dear heart?â he asks.Â
Hearing that gravelly timbre and that tender pet name sets your blood on fire. You feel a flush rising to your face and you canât keep from bringing the covers up to hide the evidence. His eyes crinkle with mirth and he lets out a pleasant, easy laugh. The easiest youâve heard him laugh inâŚwell, ever.Â
âForgive me for laughing,â he says, setting his little project aside. âYou gave me quite a scare when you ran off like that. But I suppose I canât blame you for reacting that wayâŚI know how hard it is for you when tension is high. Forgive me for being inconsiderate of those feelings by making you the instrument of Kaghaâs repentance.â
Youâre quiet for a long time, unsure what to say. You finally settle for, âHow far did I run?â
His brows rise a bit and he heaves out a bit of a grumbling breath as he thinks about it. âHard for me to ever tell how long a distance is, but weâre somewhere near the goblin camp at that old temple of Selune,â he says. âLucky for us that I cleared it with a group of adventurers today. Otherwise, I fear I would have made things much worse for you by tackling you down before you could get too close to their camp.â
You bite the inside of your lip, trying not to imagine your body tangling with his. Your face is red enough.Â
âIâm glad youâre okay,â you say, still beneath the covers. âI was so devastated when you didnât come back from the goblin camp.â
âIâve been worrying about you since I left,â he says. âI wasâŚI wasnât behaving calmly when I found you. I wasnât acting in a way befitting a First Druid.â
âNo one is above their own natural drives,â you say. âAnger is a natural reaction to disobedience.â
He looks at you, his brow creasing. âYou think I was angry because Kagha disobeyed me?â he says.Â
âItâs as good a reason as any,â you say.Â
He inhales. Hesitates. Then inhales again before saying, âYou asked me about the scars on my arm. Why I didnât want to forget them.â
âYes,â you say. âBut then Kagha came backâŚâ
âI know,â he says. âBut Iâd like to answer that question now. Now that Iâm calm.â
Thereâs something in his gaze that feels heavy and significant. You slowly rise from your position tucked away in the bedroll, letting the furs fall away from you. You notice, now, that your damp boots have been placed on the other side of the fire to dry, along with your socks. A small act of care a lesser man may have never thought to do for you.Â
You turn to face Halsin and he turns to face you.Â
âWhen we found youâŚthat day with the drow,â he says. âYouâŚreminded me of something I went through as a young adept. A time in which I was kept as an unwilling guest in a drow lordâs estate. As time goes on, itâs easy to forget those things that have happened to me, or to minimize what I went through.Â
âIn truth, I admired you. I admired how you snarled and gnashed at my hand when you were barely the size of my forearm. I admired the way you reached out for care when I housed you while you got back on your feetâŚfor a while I feared that you were never going to heal. But then I realized that you were strong in a different wayâŚin a way that I was not.â
âIâm not strong,â you say, shaking your head.Â
âYou are,â he insists. âStrength is not only measured in brute force. Itâs not measured in violence and demands and power. Itâs in how you wake up every day, how you rise out of your bed and try to be better than the day before. What I experiencedâŚI shoved it deep down inside of me until the pain was forgotten, but I watched you facing yours every day.â
Youâre shocked to hear this, because in your recollection you struggled each day. In the beginning, you were frightened of everyone and everything, and the only thing that allowed you to function at all was the desire to be worth the effort Halsin made in saving you.Â
âThenâŚthen I learned of you trying to stop the Rite of Thorns, and of you winding up imprisoned again in the very place you should have been safest,â he says, his anger a quiet undercurrent as he remembers newly. âI was so terrified that you would fully retreat back inside yourself, but then you stood and put your small hands on the stone door, snarling at your entrapments just as you were that day I met you.â
You remember his smile, a brief flash when you came to help.Â
âAm I still strong if I run away from the grove?â you ask.Â
âYou wish to leave?â he asks.Â
â...Iâve realized, Halsin,â you say, your voice quivering. âIâm not well suited for the social hurdles involved with remaining with the druidsâŚand that the only reason Iâve stayed is becauseâŚâ
You swallow tightly, words lodging in your throat. Halsin is silent, ever patient as he waits for you to speak.Â
âHalsin, I have loved you for some time now, I think,â you say. âI know that I am young and that I canât hope to compete with your past lovers or even the braver druids back at the grove. I know that you hardly have the time for romance, and that even if you did, you likely wouldnât spend that precious time with meââ
âHahâŚyou sound so certain,â he says, his voice quiet and contemplative.Â
Itâs your turn to be silent, now. You bring your gaze up to meet his again and he is smiling so gently at you. âThe only reason,â he says finally, âthe only reason that I have not invited you to my bed is that I didnât want to cause you inadvertent harm by placing pressure on you that you wouldnât have the resolve to deflect. I didnât want to risk my position as the first druid making you feel as if you couldnât say no to me.â
You blink, the world coming to a screeching halt around you.Â
HalsinâŚwants you? You?
You shake your head, feeling your face begin to blaze like youâve come down with a fever.Â
âWell, I suppose itâs moot,â you say. âI canât expect you to leave the Emerald Grove with me.â
âYou donât have to,â he says. âIâve already left.â
âWhat?â you say.Â
âDid you think I packed a bedroll and a pack just to come retrieve you?â he says through a chuckle before he heaves out a rough sigh. âNo, truth be told, my heart, I have long become disillusioned with my place among the druids in the grove and with you and the ache of old pains, I can no longer say that my heart is fully in it. The adventurers who released meâŚthey are making their way to the shadowlands and I hope that if I join them, I can undo an old failure from a century ago. Finally heal the ache instead of simply avoiding it. Iâm hoping that I can be more like you.â
You feel breathless for a moment, even more so when his eyes lock on yours.Â
âIt will be frightening, my love,â he says. âThe shadow curse makes the underdark look like a stroll after midnight. But if you still feel the way youâve told me you do and if you can trust me to continue protecting you, I would have you in my tent with me greeting each day together.â
You donât speak, not because youâre uncertain, but because you want to savor this moment.Â
Halsin loves you.
The bear has fallen for the fox.Â
And he wants you by his side.Â
It is the purest bliss you have ever felt. You think you could die happily in the shadow cursed lands if it is a sacrifice you make for him.Â
You will protect him.Â
And he will protect you.Â
âDear heart,â Halsin says, his nerves coming through his voice. âYou torture me by keeping me in suspense. Please know if you donât wish for this you neednât agree. I know what I ask of you isââ
âIâm going with you,â you say freeing him from the discomfort youâve resided in for years. âOf course Iâm going with you, Halsin.â
The smile he gives you is nothing short of miraculous.Â
âNature blesses me with you,â he says. âNow come here, I need to enjoy you before I take you to meet the others. I have waited so very long for the opportunity, and I have until nightfall to make good on it, if you will have me.â
The image of your body tangled with his appears in your mindâs eye again. You rise to your feet and stride over to him, slipping your fingers into his wild hair. He cups the back of your thigh with a large hand before coaxing you to sit on his lap.Â
Where he kisses you for the very first time.
May the oak father bless you with countless others.Â
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