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smolghostbot · 2 months ago

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Contralto The Hero

OK I'm doing it I'm sharing the Contralto story finally it's only been cooking for <checks watch> six actual months

Started life as a little glimpse of canon Contralto after the Dark AU, as a palate cleanser for myself. Obligatory “I’m Writing An Injury But Am Not A Doctor” so don’t come for me please <3

Word Count: Something like 4k this is a long one

CW for very injured tiny who receives medical care, and mention of parental abandonment. I promise it’s a soft one though.

======

“Hello? Is anybody here? I’m a hero, I’m here to help! Can you hear me?”

Contralto knew she had heard a distress call from somewhere in this building. It was an abandoned human store, not that the sprite could tell what was once sold here. She made her way through the walls of the building, following the occasional musical hum she heard, a sign that a sprite needed help.

It didn’t take long before she tracked the hum to the very back of the store, in a spot where the boards had been rotten by water damage.

“H-hello?” a weak voice called, instantly getting Contralto’s attention. It sounded like a soft voice… a child? In an abandoned place like this? Contralto shook off her worry, a hero has to be brave, especially if a kid is in danger.

“I hear you! Where are you? I can’t follow your song anymore,” called the hero.

“You sound… above me… Help me… please…” called the voice. Contralto quickly made her way downwards, using her pins to rappel down a vertical beam, until she finally saw the injured sprite she was trying to find.

In front of her was a child, probably less than half Contralto’s age. They were lying on a board, which had splintered, probably from water damage. Contralto’s eyes went wide as she looked further down the child’s body, and saw red covering the child’s leg. It seemed like they fell right into a splinter and tore their leg. The hero went temporarily light-headed before composing herself. She had helped many sprites, usually just ones who were lost or hungry, but this… this was an emergency worthy of a hero.

“It’s okay, it’s okay… I’m here now…” said Contralto warily as she approached the child.

“Please… my leg hurts… I haven’t been able to move…” cried the child.

“I know… I know… It’s okay, I know how to help,” said Contralto, as she hesitantly looked closer at the injury. It was bad, for sure. “How long have you been here?”

“I don’t know… I was lost, and trying to get out of the building… I was weak… then I tripped, and…” the child started to say, before they started tearing up. “It hurts…”

As they began to cry, Contralto instantly began to soothe them. “It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m going to cut the splinter off, but I don’t know if I can remove it from your leg. But, I know somebody who can help… do you trust me?”

As Contralto worked to detach the splinter from the board, the child nodded from their spot on the ground. “Please, whatever you need to do, it hurts…”

It wasn’t long before the child was freed from their spot on the ground, but there was still a messy splinter stuck in their leg. Contralto quickly lifted the child, being careful of their leg, and began to run as fast as she could towards the entrance she came in on, all the while speaking to the injured child. “Okay, you need to trust me. I know a human, a nice human. He’s big and strong and can help remove this. We’ll get his help, and then you can stay there for a night to recharge and heal up. Okay?”

“A… a human…? But… we’re not supposed to…” started the child, before Contralto interrupted them.

“I said to trust me, I’m a hero, I wouldn’t do anything to put you in danger, okay? This is a good human, I promise,” Contralto said, and the sprite in her arms simply nodded.

As they exited the building, Contralto was suddenly very glad that she had brought her rat companion with her. As she approached the sleeping rat, laying there with a little saddle on his back, she shouted out to him. “Bari! Wake up! I need you to help carry them!”

The rat huffed before standing up and walking over to Contralto, and the sprite carefully laid the child on the rat’s back, before covering their knee with her cape to form a makeshift splint. “Okay Baritone, we’re going to walk slowly, but still try to hurry, okay? We have to keep them as still as possible.”

She knew the rat couldn’t fully understand her, but she always tended to be more talkative when worried. As Contralto walked to her destination, walking alongside Baritone, she spoke to the child riding on the rat’s back, getting some basic information about them. Their name was Trill, they were definitely still a child, and most sickening of all to Contralto, they were left behind by their settlement, forcing the child to fend for themself, which eventually led to them tripping when trying to get out of the building.

—

“Clay the Human! Clay the Human! You have to help!” shouted Contralto as she burst through the tiny hole in Clay’s apartment wall. Clay, the human who was watching TV, quickly turned towards the spot in the wall where his little “neighbor” had appeared from several times in the past.

“You know, Connie, some people start with a ‘Hi’, or ‘Is now a good time?’”

“I told you to not call me that! My name is Contralto!” the sprite angrily shouted.

“And I told you to stop calling me ‘Clay the Human’, so we’re even. Now, what’s this emergency?” Clay said, expecting something small. In the few months he had known Contralto, he had been asked a few times to help her in her quest to be a hero to spritekind. Clay didn’t even know that the little things existed before he met her, but it turns out they were everywhere. He sometimes wondered about it, but decided he simply didn’t care enough to learn more. He would help, because he wasn’t heartless, usually offering a bit of food, water, or shelter for a night, but he was a live-and-let-live type of guy. Whatever they got up to outside of his apartment wasn’t his problem.

“It’s… pretty bad, they need help! Bari!” Contralto shouted as she turned and called something, with a quick whistle that Clay could barely register. To his surprise, in walked a rather sizeable rat with a striped fur pattern, with a nervous sprite sitting on a saddle on the rat’s back.

“There’s a rat in my apartment. Great.” Clay deadpanned, before looking closer and noticing that the sprite on top of the rat’s saddle seemed particularly small. He was terrible at ages, but compared to Contralto… was that a child? And their leg seemed to be covered in a deep red fabric. Was that…

“Contralto… what’s going on here?”

“You have to help them, their leg is cut badly! I did all I can, but you have human medicine, you can help, right?”

Clay stared incredulously at Contralto.

“I’m not a doctor, Contralto! I barely graduated high school! What do you expect me to do?”

“Please, I’m not asking you to do brain surgery, it’s just a bad splinter! Surely you can help them?” said Contralto, staring at Clay, her lime green eyes shining wide and brightly. Clay sighed, he was terrible with kids, but he couldn’t let one be injured on his watch, human or otherwise.

“All right… get them onto the table, I’ll go get my first aid kit…”

Clay walked away, and when he came back, Contralto, the rat apparently named Bari, and the small sprite were all on his table, the kid sitting down with legs outstretched and leaning on Contralto for support. Clay took a deep breath as he placed the first-aid kit down, noticing the scared look on the kid’s face.

“Okay, uh… kid, what’s your name?”

The small sprite seemed nervous to speak as they whispered to Contralto, who then spoke to Clay.

“Sorry, they’re still a little scared. It’s okay Trill, you can trust Clay. I told you, he’s a nice human. I wouldn’t let a mean human near you, I promise. I’m a hero, remember?” Contralto said, shifting her focus to the young sprite, apparently named Trill. Clay instantly noticed just how much gentler Contralto’s tone was when speaking to them. Who would have guessed she was good with kids?

“Okay, yeah, it’s… nice to meet you, Trill. My name is Clay.” spoke the human in a soft tone, trying his best to not intimidate Trill. “I just want to take a look at your leg and we’ll, uh, fix it up for you, okay?”

Trill nodded, but still leaned on Contralto, clearly both for physical and emotional support.

Clay took another deep breath, knowing he was well out of his depth here. “Okay, so first, we have to remove the splinter. Then, we clean the wound, put disinfectant on the injury, and then wrap it up in something more… effective. I don’t, uh, know if the kid needs stitches, but that’s way out of my league.”

Contralto nodded. “Okay… disinfectant…” she repeated the word slowly. “Which is…?”

“It’s like, this goopy stuff… it hurts a bit when you put it on, but it’s important to clean the wound, especially if they got it outside or somewhere dirty. How did this happen?”

Trill once again whispered to Contralto, who spoke in their stead. “They tripped into a bad splinter while running somewhere… it was pretty wet wood… even before the, um…”

“Say no more,” said Clay, raising one hand as he reached into the first aid kit and pulled out a tweezer with the other. “Like actually, don’t, I get super squeamish. Now, um… I’m going to try to be gentle, but… this is probably going to hurt. But we can’t let that thing stay in there.”

Trill gulped at the tweezers which were almost the size of them, but nodded their head, looking to Contralto for support.

“Clay will help you, I promise. And I’ll be right here to support you while he does!” said Contralto, as she grabbed Trill’s hand. Throughout the entire procedure, Contralto continued to cheer on the child she was helping.

“You’re gonna be okay! You’ve got this Trill, you’re being so brave right now!”

The process was relatively quick, but far from painless for Trill, who audibly yelled in pain. However, the miniature operation was a success, and the splinter was removed.

“Now then, Contralto, you’re going to do what I say, and help dress the kid’s wound, okay? I don’t think they’d appreciate me touching them any more than I have to.”

Contralto instantly straightened her back and put her hand over her heart. “Anything to help!”

Clay began to nervously walk Contralto through cleaning the wound, and then put a small glob of disinfectant on the table. The entire time, Contralto spoke softly yet firmly to the child, still surprising Clay.

“Okay Trill, this is going to hurt, but it’ll heal up the wound quickly and safely, okay? I wouldn’t hurt you if I didn’t think it would help you, I promise.” Contralto gently spoke to Trill, as she prepared to apply the disinfectant.

“You did great, Trill! I’m so proud of you! You’re acting like a real hero!” continued Contralto, as the child winced in pain.

Finally, the wound was wrapped up properly using a small piece of gauze, which was more like a cast at the small sprite’s scale, and Trill began to relax a bit.

“Okay…” said Clay, breathing a sigh of relief that the process was relatively painless, “So now that the kid’s leg is fixed, I guess you’re heading out, huh Contralto?”

“Well, I am, but…” said Contralto, seeming unexpectedly anxious, “I was actually hoping you could… watch them for a bit? Like… overnight?”

Clay’s face shifted to a completely neutral expression as he looked to Trill, then back to Contralto. “Uh… you’re being serious right now? I’ve let adult sprites spend the night here, but I’m not exactly a babysitter.”

“Can we…” Contralto said, as she motioned for Clay’s hand. Knowing what she meant, Clay put his hand on the table. Contralto leapt onto it, before scrambling up Clay’s arm. He couldn’t resist the instinct to shudder a little bit as her boots ran up his arm, before she stopped near his shoulder and began to whisper to him.

“Listen, Clay” whispered Contralto, her tone missing her usual bravado, a sign to the human that she was being particularly vulnerable. “I’ll be honest with you, Trill’s settlement moved, and they were kind of… left behind.”

“What?!” replied Clay. The kid couldn’t have been older than the human equivalent of like, 7? 8? Who the hell abandons a child that young?

“Listen, I know, I promise you that’s… not normal. Leaving an innocent child… if I ever find those parents, I’ll…” Contralto started, before sighing, “Anyways, there’s a settlement I know of that might take them in, but it’ll take me a while to get there and get things sorted out. So… I figured maybe you could watch them overnight?”

It hurt Contralto to have to tell a white lie. After all, despite being a human, Clay was her only real friend. While she could bring Trill with her now, there were reasons that the young sprite would benefit from staying in Clay’s home for the night. Reasons that no human, not even a friend, could be allowed to know.

Luckily, Clay didn’t question the story. He was silent for a moment, before he sighed. “You owe me so much for this, Contralto. Okay, is there anything I’d need to know?”

“No, trust me, just make sure they eat something later, but they’re a strong and brave kid, they can take care of themself,” Contralto promised.

“Okay, fine… Go then, and you better come back as soon as possible, understand?

Contralto stood at attention again, putting her hand over her heart. “Hero’s promise! I’ll be back by tomorrow morning to pick them up!”

After explaining the situation to a very nervous Trill, and assuring them that Clay would take care of them, Contralto climbed aboard the rat on Clay’s table, who had fallen asleep a while ago.

“Wake up, Baritone! We’ve got a quest to go on! Bari! Wake up!” cried Contralto as she began to lightly brush her hand across the rat’s whiskers. Eventually, the rat stood up, and after he took a big stretch, he bolted out of the apartment with Contralto riding him.

—

Clay was beyond out of his depth right now. The sprite on his table seemed extremely shy and nervous around him, and was just sitting there humming a song with no clear melody, which almost sounded like a soft purr. He supposed maybe it was a nervous tic, and left them be.

He had tried making small talk with Trill previously, but the sprite would only nod their head “yes” and “no”. As they both sat there, him on the floor and them on the tabletop, the normally unflappable human began to really feel the awkwardness of the situation.

“So kid, uh, is your leg feeling better?” He asked, hoping again to strike up a conversation, only to get shot down with a simple nod of their head.

There were a few moments of silence before he tried again. “I could… turn on the TV, if you want? I don’t know what sprites do in their free time, exactly.”

Trill nodded their head, so Clay took the chance and ran with it, turning on the TV. “Cool. I’ll put on something for kids, I guess…” he said, as he began to scroll the streaming services he had for something inoffensive. Clay noticed Trill slowly spin themself around, but they didn’t turn the whole way around, as if they didn’t want to have their back to the human. He remembered some of Contralto’s speeches when they first met about how sprites are raised to be cautious of humans… he supposed the kid’s fear made sense.

Clay put on a kid’s movie, a cartoon he thought would be suitable for the sprite kid. He scooted a bit farther away from Trill to give them space. He noticed that Trill seemed enraptured by the movie, and stopped glancing over at him every few moments. When the movie was over, he tried to strike up another conversation. “Okay kid, it’s probably time for you to eat. I’ve got some fruits, vegetables, or just some crackers. What do you feel like having?”

There was a long moment before Trill finally broke their silence and spoke, seeming anxious as they looked up at Clay.

“I like… carrots…” They replied softly.

“Perfect, I have some baby carrots, I’ll cut up a few for you, okay?” said Clay, as Trill nodded their head. Clay slowly stood, after scooting even farther away from Trill to avoid scaring them, and walked to the kitchen. A few moments later, he returned with some diced carrots on a napkin, which he gently tried to push towards Trill, keeping his distance. The sprite wordlessly took some of the carrots, eating as if they hadn’t in quite some time.

“It’s raining out… I hope Connie’s okay…” Clay mused to himself, before looking back at Trill and quickly reassuring them, “I mean, she’s probably fine, she’s a hero after all. She’ll probably be here bright and early tomorrow.”

—

Contralto’s trek was long and difficult, though it was only a few city blocks to a human. The settlement she was looking for was behind a corner store, a rather large settlement of maybe a dozen sprites. Contralto could almost swear that the humans must have known about the place, but so far nobody had ever done anything about it.

After making the long trek, and explaining the situation to the town elder, Contralto went to head home, only to find that it was pouring rain out.

“You and your rat are welcome to stay the night. You said somebody was watching over young Trill, after all,” said the elder, but Contralto was determined to keep her promise to Clay the Human.

“I appreciate the offer, but I made a promise. I have to head back now,” replied Contralto in a matter-of-fact way.

“Very well, best of luck to you, hero.”

The quest home was even longer and more dangerous, as the rain battered the hero and her steed. Contralto mentally cursed that the one time her cape would have actually been useful, it was sitting in Clay’s apartment, soaked red.

Luckily, nobody paid much attention to a rat running down the sidewalk at night, and few humans were out at this hour even without the rain, but still, being out in the open was nerve-wracking, though it was the fastest way back. As they rounded the final corner to reach Clay’s apartment, Baritone started to slow down.

“Come on, Bari, just a little more!” pleaded Contralto, before she decided to turn into a nearby alley to give her steed a chance to breathe in safety.

The little hero hopped off of Baritone, and the rat laid down on the wet pavement, breathing heavily. “You’ve done so good, Bari. I’ll walk the rest of the way, how about that?” Contralto said, as she gently petted the exhausted rat, who simply responded with a tired noise. Baritone was reliable and listened extremely well, but wasn’t the most in shape, especially for a long trip like this.

As Contralto leaned against Baritone for warmth, she felt herself drift out of consciousness as well… it was the middle of the day when she discovered Trill, and it was nearing sunrise right now… but she couldn’t rest until she was sure Trill was safe.

The rest of the trip was slow, as Contralto walked next to the tired, plodding steps of her tired rat companion. Before long, they had arrived back at Clay’s apartment, both wet and tired.

“Clay… Trill… we’re back!” shouted Contralto as she entered the room. Clay was missing, but perhaps he was simply asleep in his room. As Bari entered the room, the rat immediately laid down on the carpet with an exhausted huff, and it didn’t take more than a minute for him to fall asleep. Contralto decided to let him rest for a bit, and climbed onto the table to look for Trill. When she reached the top of the table, she was briefly worried as Trill was also missing.

“Trill? Trill!” called Contralto as she looked around the room in a panic, instantly worried that the child had run off after being left unguarded.

It wasn’t long before Contralto saw the bedroom door open, and Clay walked into the room holding Trill in his hand.

“Oh, hey Contralto, you’re back. Sorry to worry you, Trill wanted to sleep in my bedroom, so…” stated Clay calmly. As he moved over to the couch, he gently laid Trill down on the table, making sure to keep their leg still.

“Trill! You’re okay! How is your leg?” asked Contralto.

“Much better! Mr. Clay was very helpful.” said the sprite, with a confidence and energy that Contralto hadn’t heard from them yesterday. She noticed that they looked much better, both in complexion as well as just general cleanliness.

“We watched a movie and ate food and then he gave me a nice bath and we had dessert and then-” continued the child, who was apparently quite talkative when they weren’t in pain.

“Hey, Trill, go easy on Contralto, she looks like she’s about to pass out. You, uh, want to take a nap before you and the kid head out?” asked Clay, seeing Contralto sway back and forth a bit.

“A nap? No! I’m fine! I can’t rest until my quest is done!” cried Contralto, though in truth, the little hero was cold, wet, and exhausted.

Clay looked unamused. “Listen, Contralto, I can watch Trill for a few more hours, why don’t you take a nap?”

“I… well… a quick nap wouldn’t hurt… is that okay with you, Trill?”

“Absolutely! We can watch more movies until you wake up, right, Mr. Clay?” replied Trill.

“Sure, kid. I’ll see if I can get my coworker to cover my shift… she owes me anyways,” said Clay. After a moment, he seemed to remember something and spoke again. “Oh, hey, Contralto, you should have this back,” said Clay, as he dug through his pocket and took out a small piece of fabric, which Contralto recognized as her cape, now back to its normal green color.

“My hero cape! You cleaned it!” replied Contralto as she put the cape back on. The fabric was a bit warm, likely from sitting in Clay’s pocket, and smelled like he had washed it thoroughly. As the sprite’s eyes began to droop from the warmth of the fabric, Clay quickly held out his hand for her to climb on as he rolled his eyes. “Come on, little hero, you can sleep on the couch.”

Contralto complied and sat on Clay’s hand, and was quickly placed down on the couch as Trill happily began to talk to Clay again. The kid would be just fine for a few hours…

“Thank you, Clay… You’re the best…,” Contralto murmured, as she quickly drifted off to sleep.

#should i have split this? probably. but it's fine.#at this rate i really need to make an ao3 with how many long stories i have. perchance.#also. unrelated. sprite lore abound for those willing to look. foreshadowing baybeeee #g/t #giant/tiny #g/t writing #g/t ocs #oc tag: contralto

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