Remnants & the meaning of survival (drabble)
To first start, this is after an event that happened in a private roleplay with a friend of mine on Discord.
This is Bellum doing his best to help a remnant of Valkyrai (or Valkyries) that are a species made by @thelonereni
Characters that I reference are owned by me and @omegamanrp
To give a little background of what happened;
A demon had found itself through an object that belonged to the physical world found itself to the world of dreams and possibilities that the Valkyrai called home. In that object lay a demon, a demon that wasn't supposed to be there, as the object had been meant for another.
The demon though, didn't care, and laid its roots in the minds of the vulnerable and gullible Valkyrai.
Xossa, when visiting with Fenris, saw the damage that the demon had made over what could only be weeks or months in the souls of the Valkyrai, and traced its origins.
There they found the demon, and the demon, when found out, fought them. Bellum was summoned, and as he took over, he fought the demon as best he could, but those that had been too affected for far too long came back as husks of themselves. As puppets coming to defend their puppeteer.
As Bellum defeated the demon, It in a vindictive streak killed those that were far too effected, dragging its victims with it to the ether.
Of a thousand lives, only a group of 20 or so remained.
Bellum looked at the piss poor excuses of what was the last remnant of the colony that Fenris belonged to.
Out of a thousand inhabitants, only 20 or so survived. And they looked horrible.
They looked malnourished and exhausted. Like they hadn’t had any sleep. The worst part, they were all female.
The only male of the colony that survived was Fenris.
That left himself and Xossa, well himself by proxy, as the only living males.
Shit.
He had managed to find them finally, and it looked like they had tried, oh so very much tried to seclude themselves. It had taken a lot of time because of how they had managed to scatter at first, then find each other, somehow. They looked lost, afraid and angry. Angry at him.
He was in his Valkyrie form, and they had at first been happy to see him, thinking him another survivor. But then glared at him when they recognized him, at least somewhat. They only knew that he was there, fighting and protecting the lot of them.
“You were there, with Fenris.” One of them finally blurted, her angry eyes looking at Bellum with so much hate, that he could almost nearly cut his armor on her ferocity. Good, maybe there would be a chance for one of them at least.
“I was.” Bellum said, keeping it simple and to the point.
The muttering of 20 voices could be surprisingly loud, and none of it good. Bellum didn’t care.
He could hear they all blamed Fenris on what had happened.
“If only Fenris didn’t go out into the world,” he heard, “if Fenris hadn’t opened the door,” he heard more.
Again, and again he heard something similar to that. They all blamed Fenris for a lot.
Because he was a convenient target.
He was so glad he had made Fenris and Xossa stay away from this. They didn’t even know he had found this lot. Because he felt like this was a task that only he could do.
“Quiet.” Bellum ordered. His voice even, but reverberating around the poorly made clearing in a forest that was okay in its density, but piss poor in camouflage. It was alright, sure. But it nowhere near any resources the group needed to survive.
No berry bushes, no-where to drink really. Well there was a stream, but it was a good way back. It would be a long way to go for any source of water. They didn’t even know of ways to gather water safely.
How they had managed to survive for this long was by all means a miracle.
“Alright you little shits, listen up.” Bellum said as he made sure to tower over all of them, making them all see him as he got the axe he used before. The form of the axe that they could recognize. It wasn’t to attack them. An axe had a dual purpose, both in peace and in war. So, he would use it how it could be used in this case.
“You all have a choice. A choice if you don’t want Fenris, Xossa, and me by proxy to be the last remnants of your kin.” He started slowly, his voice edged with a quiet fury that made them all whimper and cower. Good. They were listening and they were scared. Good. He would use it.
“You have a choice to survive. No, you don’t have a choice actually. You now gotta survive. So shut yer yaps. It's time to buck up and adapt. Because if you don’t, you’ll be footnotes in history that very, very few will remember, if at all. Besides, all of you were dying a slow death anyway.” He growled at them all, poking at them, making fun of them.
It stoked the anger he needed, he saw most glare, a few cower.
“What happened was a tragedy, But tragedies have a way to open the eyes of the sheeple that follow orders and don't ask questions. You followed your matron blindly, and got fucked for it. You followed your codes and your way of life blindly, and you got yourselves killed for it. So chose. Live. Or die. Adapt. Or be remembered as fools that buried themselves 6 feet under."
Bellum wasn’t an orator by any means, but he had his moments at times. Because his speech got the reaction he wanted.
The group of 20 nearly all grabbed the nearest things, sticks, stones, dirt even and threw it at him. He took it all in stride, they cursed him, they cursed Fenris. They blamed it all on them.
“At least all of you are alive.” He barked at them all finally. The thrown objects were getting annoying.
“You are alive enough to feel that way, aren’t you? You are alive to speak your damned minds, to speak ill of the only one that actually cared about you all enough, right?” He barked at them, and that made the crowd wince. Even those that were trying to flee away.
He had seen them trying to slink into the background, and he stomped his leg, making a wall in front of them made out of a dark stone to show that he was watching.
They all feared him. They didn’t like him. They absolutely hated him for that. Because he spoke the truth. Spoke it in such a way that it cut deeper than any wounds they could get. Gnawed at them deeper than any hunger pang could.
It hurt, because he said what they needed to hear.
That was alright. He didn’t want them to like him. Just fear him enough to listen.
“All done? No? Too bad. Shut up and come on. You can’t survive and eat on empty words you worthless louts.” He commanded as he made them follow him.
There were a few that tried to resist, tried to make empty excuses. But he did drag them by the foot or the hair. Pulling them like children. Showing that he had no damned patience for them as he taught them how to survive.
And oh how he put them through the grinder.
He made them learn how to gather food, track food, how to grab food from humans or where they could find it in the wild and what was edible.
He drilled into them the facts and common sense of this world. What to look out for, and what to trust.
But most of all, he taught them how to hunt.
Bellum wasn’t perhaps the best when it came to survival, but he knew enough. Knew enough to teach. And teaching had a way to broaden his horizons on it too. Made him realize things that he hadn’t before.
He was.. Well, he wasn’t kind about it. He was actually rough, cruel even in many ways.
He made them all work with everything on their own. He didn’t teach them. He guided, and that was it.
The only time he helped them was him bringing a dead stag for them to butcher.
All of them had gone green and picked their corners to puke.
He made them clean that up too. All of them. And participate in skinning the buck to boot.
They all whined, complained, and made ugly noises of complaint when they had to dig out the foul, the organs and toss them where the scavengers could eat.
He made them dig latrines, make their own tools.
He only showed them how to do things. How to hide, how to make homes.
It took days, weeks to months. He always had to go for a while, and if the survivors didn’t do as he wanted, or tried to slack off? He made them carry a pack of rocks or carry stacks of logs, sticks, everything. He made them go to get water in crudely made buckets of water with rope that was poorly made and frayed. It hurt their hands, hurt their shins, even as the weight dragged them down so much they had to carry on the ground and walk bit by bit.
If they got used to it, more weight. More buckets.
He made sure they learned how to make salves, how to perform first aid.
He made them bleed on the altar of his training grounds of survival, so they wouldn’t bleed when they got tested.
Then, atop of all of that. He made them fight him. And there, he showed no mercy. They weren’t to use any moves. They were to fight him with pure physical brutality.
They all limped away, crying and cursing him the first time. And even the next time, he forced them all to participate, even when they were bruised, hungry and tired.
That was how he worked them over. They got used to it, got used to the cruel and unforgiving work.
He treated them like survivors of a post apocalyptic event, which this was in their case.
He forced them to adapt. To learn. To have the tools in hand so they could do their best.
One night, one of them got severely ill. She was bedridden, sweating and barely able to get up.
She was fading.
He made one of them that was very good at identifying herbs and medicinal fruits on the fly and to get what she needed from the wild. The Valkyrie that this one needed to save had a horrible infection that was killing her.
“If you don’t get the medicine she needs, she won’t make the night! So move!” He barked at her, and it lit a fire under her ass as she flew like she had never flown before.
Bellum sat, and waited for her to return.
He was left alone there with the victim. The poor Valkyrie looked at him with bleary eyes, pained whimpers escaping her. The infection was internal. Something she had eaten, or something that had gone wrong in her work. He wasn’t sure. He knew he could help her, but he didn’t.
Not right away. He would if the Valkyrie he had sent from the makeshift compound that he had made the survivors make in the real world wouldn’t return.
He wasn’t going to let them die.
But he had to make them believe that there would be no safety net.
Would be no hope of him stepping in to save their asses.
Only this way, would they survive.
Relying on a higher power had made them weak. Had made them compliant and meek.
Now though, there was no luxury for such things.
Either they adapted, or they died.
It took the Valkyrie he had sent out hours. She had come at the 11th hour so to speak, when Bellum thought that she wouldn’t make it, now that it was dark and the stars in the sky. The others having made a fire to cook the night's food, she had come. She came hurling down at the dry muddy ground, choking on the dust, but holding in a poorly made bag, fruits and herbs that would help to reduce the infection and inflammation, and even help with the pain.
She was gasping and gagging, her body shaking with exhaustion as she crawled her way to her friend, and to him.
He didn’t move. He only judged.
She in return, gave him a heated snarl that held defiance.
Good.
He left after that, giving her the chance to make the medicine that her friend would need.
Even exhausted, and unable to stand. She had worked on the medicine on a mortar and pestle, made her friend drink it, then collapsed.
Her friend had survived.
The makeshift colony, all celebrated.
Good.
They should celebrate the life they could get.
The training he had in mind for them was almost done.
There was a topic that he was… Loathed to approach, but had too.
“Mates.” Bellum began finally on a winter morning that made the Valkyrie all there stand with their arms around them, in fur coats that had been better made thus far after months of them needing to make everything by hand.
But they still didn’t have it perfect just yet.
“You will all need to find mates. And no, you can’t see Fenris. And no, not Xossa either. If you do, I will beat you all enough that you will be bedridden for days.” He threatened, and one of them in the front, a harsh tone in her voice spoke out at him in defiance.
“We’ll try anyway.”
That got a good laugh out of the few that had gotten better at fighting him. They couldn’t defeat him yet, but they were getting good enough. He wasn’t perfect, nor a damned master. But what he had was raw strength and street cruelty with a few tricks. Even that was enough for now. But they were getting better.
“Then I welcome your ass whooping.” Bellum growled. His tone disapproving, but his eyes glimmering with silent approval. If they had the balls to challenge him openly, he had hope for them yet.
“But back to the topic. Mates. You need to find mates. And not just because you can’t go to Xossa or Fenris. But because it will kill you.” He said seriously, and that made them all listen intently.
“And I won’t kill you. But in the future, your choices will. I will admit, I don’t know jack or shit about your biology. But I know inbreeding will kill you. Maybe it won’t kill you right away, but it will kill you all eventually. Your kids will be malformed, perhaps have flaws that will prevent your survival. Even stillborns will be a regular thing.” He said, and that made all of them gasp and clutch at their stomachs.
“Mhm.” Bellum agreed, his tone serious.
“So, a new rule for your own survival. Diversify.” Bellum stated bluntly.
“If you can breed, you can survive. Pokemon are a plenty. Even humans may be willing to give you the time of day, but I don’t have to tell you that you all have to be cautious there.” He told them firmly. He had gone over how humans were more a threat than a boon in many ways for Pokemon. Especially for them since they resembled a group of Darkrai, and they were rare as shit out there.
“I have taught you how to defend yourselves, even if you didn’t want to. I have taught you to survive the harshest things I could think of, and you came out okay.” Bellum said, giving another grunt.
“What I can’t help you with, is this. I can’t give you what you want either way if you want it or not and I refuse to to boot.” He grunted, and that got them at least laughing a little.
“So, fuck who you can. But don’t be dicks about it. Find someone you like, or you can stomach at least, and maybe try it. To some in the wild, love need not apply. But that is the exception. Not the rule.
So, be careful you idiots.” He said, finding himself rising to the air, the dogtags around his neck jangling with the movement.
It was clear to them all that Bellum had taught them everything he could. How to tan hides, how to survive on their own. Everything he could think of.
They were all glad to see him go. They didn’t like him. They hated his guts. And they had to suck it up that he was there because he was the only thing keeping them alive, if not healthy up to this point.
He had been a cruel bastard in their new life.
But he had also taught them so much. Made them better than they were. Now, they weren’t remnants of a colony. Now they were.. Well a band of survivors in a world that was cruel and would stay cruel.
But together, they would have a little bit of home.
As he left, they all watched him go. Watched his figure fade in the distance.
A few had regrets, feeling like he could’ve done more, or they could’ve gotten more out of him, if they tried.
One or two wanted him as a leader. Even if they hated him, he had been a surprising rock in their budding community.
The rest were just glad that he had bothered to teach them at all.
After a while, they stopped milling about and went back to work.
There was still so much to do, and all of them had their jobs to do.
There was no rest for the weary after all.
END.
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