#character: ruven aeli

[hopepetal]

Art of my DND character Ruven's death, drawn by the wonderful Bee @applestruda! This moment was so crazy in game.

Fic under the cut!

Ruven sighs in relief as Tarnish strikes the sculk thrall down. He pockets his wand, looking down at Lil Buddy, who winds around his legs purring loudly.

They're annoying, his familiar comments. Sorry I can't help more.

Ruven giggles at the sensation of Lil Buddy's long fur tickling his skin. It's alright. Just stay safe, okay?

I'm safer than you are, Lil Buddy responds.

Ruven rolls his eyes and scoops Lil Buddy up. “Whatever,” he says out loud. Looking around, he realizes Dragon isn't there– probably hiding somewhere. “Where's...?”

Before he can finish his sentence, Windsor's voice interrupts him. “Hey guys, you should come see this!”

Slowly, the party makes their way into the room Windsor had called from. Ruven sets Lil Buddy down to let him explore, his hand going back to his wand as he looks around.

The room overlooks an enormous cavern. Ruven takes a few steps forward as he gazes at the area, the rest of the party chatting quietly behind him as he descends the first few stairs, following Lil Buddy.

His familiar sniffs the ground before looking back up at Ruven. There are strange aberrations here. Be careful.

Ruven raises his gaze, doing a quick sweep of the cavern. His eyes land on a tall, spindly creature with bony, spider-like legs. He tenses up involuntarily– spiders have always scared him. One time, Rhel had bought a plastic spider and put it in his bed, scaring him so much he cast a fire spell on it.

Rhel...

Ruven bites his lower lip, clenching his fists. Pull yourself together, Ruven. Now's not the time.

He tries to focus on something other than the memory of his sister's body.

Lil Buddy looks concerned, which is a little strange for a cat. ...we should rejoin the rest of the party. I don't like this.

As Lil Buddy says that, Ruven hears Windsor's voice ring out over the cavern. “Delta, are you seeing this shit?”

The spindly sculk beast turns around slowly with a low, chittering, creaking noise. Ruven remembers the sounds he heard in his dream, ears twitching as he freezes up. His hand tightens around his wand.

Darkness descends upon the party. Ruven is once again reminded of his dream as the rest of the party yelps in shock. Even with his darkvision, Ruven can't see through– magical darkness, then.

He feels his breathing begin to pick up as his chest tightens. He's always hated the dark and it's all-encompassing nature. His darkvision made it easier to ignore his fear, but he can't do anything against magical darkness.

A low rumble emanates from the creature. Ruven can't move as it builds and builds in intensity, into a terrible otherworldly scream.

The only thing that Ruven can see through the darkness is a neon teal beam of concentrated energy as it pierces through his chest and shatters his eardrums simultaneously.

For a moment as he stumbles back, Ruven is in more pain than he thought was possible.He chokes on the blood bubbling up in his mouth as he raises a hand to his chest. There's a bloody hole where his skin should be, and the only mercy Ruven is given is dying before he can feel the full extent of his agonizing death.

And then...

Then...

He's floating.

Floating? How strange. He didn't... he didn't know he had Levitate.

He can't hear the rest of the party. Shouldn't they be fighting? What was happening? Did the creature manage to deafen him as well?

He can't feel his body.

Why...?

Why can't he feel his body? Where is everyone? Why can't he move?!

All his senses come back in an instant.

“What...?” He manages to get out, his entire body screaming in agony as he tries to move.

Dragon's face lights up with relief. “You're okay! Were you... were you dead?”

Ruven blinks. “Uhhh... I think so? Maybe? Yeah…” He suppresses a shudder. So that was death...

Vel turns and runs without a word, and Ruven remembers that they're in the middle of combat. He goes to stand up, but Dragon stops him. “You are not going back into combat like this.” He cuts Ruven off when he tries to protest. “Nope. No buts. You need to get out of here.”

Ruven sighs. “Okay, well–” He realizes that his head is lying in Dragon's lap, and he scrambles up with a yelp of shock. “Oh! Oh gosh, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!”

Windsor runs past the two. “CAN WE DO THIS LATER?!” they yell, eyes wide. “WE GOTTA GO!”

The next few moments are absolute chaos. The party begins to retreat, but to their horror the creature begins to follow. Before anyone else is able to attack, it lets out another scream.

Goodnight. Lil Buddy's voice echoes in Ruven's mind as the familiar disintegrates, the half-orc passing out for a moment before dragging himself back to consciousness.

He’s deafened again as he drags himself back to his feet, his ears ringing. Dragon glances over at him before dashing toward the sculk creature with his axe, managing to land a hit.

Ruven stumbles back as Tarnish hands him a potion, saying something he can't hear. Pain shakes his every step as he stumbles after Vel. The worst of the pain starts to fade as he quickly eats the berry Dragon gave him, washing it down with the health potion.

His ears still ringing, he collapses at the top of the staircase Vel had run to. He takes in deep breaths, trying to calm his racing heart. Emotions threaten to overwhelm him as he rubs his chest.

There's a soft pressure on his legs. Ruven looks down to see Miri standing there with her paws on him. The cat tilts her head, tail flicking back and forth. Ruven's breath hitches as he goes to reach out to pet Miri, before hesitating. Was it really alright for him to...?

Miri sniffs his hand before rubbing her head against him. Ruven can't help it; he begins to cry, his hands shaking as he gently pets the cat. “Thank you,” he whispers, though he can't hear himself say it. “Thank you.”

The rest of the party slowly gathers in the room after Delta finally kills the sculk beast– all looking worse for wear. This had been one of their hardest fights, being down a wizard from the start and half the party deafened by the screams of the enemy. Ruven doesn’t want to think about how close they all came to dying. 

He summons his familiar back during the long rest. Lil Buddy says nothing, and climbs into Ruven’s lap.

Ruven closes his eyes and rests.