It had been awhile since the wars began and Kankri had been separated from his guardian figure. During his time away, he had met Meulin and became quite attached to her. Occasionally, he sent letters to Porrim, often with no response and it had begun to worry him. He was especially distressed as of late and it was most certainly showing.
Meulin had been doing her best to convince Kankri to go and see Porrim, though his fear of drawing his anemies to her kept him from it. He had made a fair amount of them over the years and he did not want to risk endangering her. Meulin was determined though, yet she was not aware of the unsettling feeling in the pit of Kankri's stomach.
Kankri did want to go and see his guardian and make sure that she was alright but it was always possible that he would be followed and that things would go astray. He did not want his enemies to get to her.
But...if he didn't...would he ever see her again? What if she was in trouble now? Or dying? A million things ran through his mind, though the last thought he had disturbed him greatly and had decided it for him.
"...alright." Kankri murmured, giving into the suggestion Meulin had made. "I will go.." he looked down to her. "Will you come with me?" he asked, knowing she could take care of herself yet worried for her all the same.
Meulin nodded, sitting up to press a kiss to his cheek. "Of course I will accompany you!"
Several hours later:
Kankri arrived with Meulin at his side at Porrim's home, the last place he knew her to have been. Something was off, Kankri knew, as soon as he entered the house. Things were quiet and the place had been wrecked, the furniture upturned and slashed to pieces. Scratch marks covered the room in no specific pattern, Kankri stopped upon seeing the destruction. Shocked and angered, he did not know how to react at first.
Meulin gaped at the sight, latching onto Kankri's arm. That action brought Kankri out of his reverie, he didn't exactly shake off Meulin's sudden grip but his arm slipped free of her hold as he bolted further into the hive. He searched frantically, tearing through the destroyed hive. "Porrim? Porrim?" his voice echoed through the silent house. It wasn't until he reached the top of the stairs that he heard sound of stirring, he tensed but kept moving toward the sound abandoning all caution.
Whoever it was that did this was surely gone, he burst into several rooms upstairs though he found all of them empty save one.
The sight he was provided with horrified him greatly, greater than he could ever imagine. Porrim..she lay on the ground, covered by numerous items. Items that hid her wounded state for the time being, Kankri strode over to her and started pushing them off of her. Her skin was pale, paler than usual. He gritted his teeth at the sight of her torn dress and the bright jade colored blood that had stained the floor beneath her.
Fury bubbled up from the pit of his stomach, but he couldn't act upon the instincts that wanted to take over. She would not want that...never would she have wanted that.
Instead, he tucked his arms underneath her and lifted her. "Porrim? Can you hear me?" he whispered, he could feel tears wanting to fall. They threatened to fall, but he wouldn't allow them to. Not while he was here.
"Please wake up.." he murmured, choking back a sob that wanted to spill forth. His voice, however, broke as he looked down at her now. Not even the fact that her blood was staining his clothes seemed to phase him at that moment, he lowered his head when he received no response from her. He believed her dead, he rested his head on her shoulder with his eyes shut tight as a few tears rolled down his face. Red tears that mixed in with the jade blood, he wanted to scream and track down the ones who did this to her.
To tear into them and make them beg for forgiveness for destroying the only one who would take him in, who did take him in and raised him. The one who had offered him a safe place to grow without fear, though his existence had been a secret until he was old enough to fend for himself.
Now, his guardian was dead. Or so he believed.
He was surprised when he felt her cold hand on his face, his cheek. He lifted his head quickly, looking down at her. "Porrim...?" he questioned, watching her intently.
She had opened her eyes just enough to glimpse upon him, though she remained silent. Her words were choked back by the pain she felt, she had nearly bled out when Kankri had arrived. She studied him quietly, her vision fading in and out of focus. She didn't quite recognize who was holding her, though she had felt warmth fall upon her shoulder.
She had wondered who could've found her in the wreck of her home? Was it those who had suddenly come into her home, wrecked it and come up to kill her? Had they come to finish the job? No, surely not.
She had heard them well enough, they intended to leave her to bleed out and bleeding out she was.
Kankri looked over her, he could spot numerous wounds but it was one to her torso that was the worst. It didn't quite hit any vitals, but it was sure to kill her in little time at all. It couldn't have been very long since the attack.
If he left now, he could probably track Porrim's killers but...would he? Could he leave Porrim to die alone to avenge her?
"Porrim...?" he uttered, recognition flaring to life in her eyes as they focused upon him sharply.
She said nothing, but she knew who this was now. She wanted to hug him close, at least he was here now.
Even though had he been sooner, she might've survived but what was done was done. He was here now and she, at least, got to see him once more.
Kankri hesitated in speaking again, frowning. He did not want to engage her in conversation, lest she waste her energy in trying to respond to him. He couldn't let her go, not without hearing her voice one more time.
He wondered briefly if she knew who he was, the recognition that someone was there was clear in her eyes.
"Porrim...do you know who I am? Do you recognize me..?" he questioned.
She smiled, that surprised him, and reached up to rest her hands on her face. She ran one through his dark hair, tears gathering at the corner of her eyes. "My baby...Kanny.." she replied weakly with her last breath, her eyes closing. Her body went limp in his hold, her straining muscles finally relaxing as death took her.
Choking with his grief, Kankri clutched her close and buried his face into her shoulder as his tears fell unchecked. He screamed, his heart aching with the sudden loss of his guardian. He had heard Meulin draw close, had felt her hands lay upon his shoulders and hear forehead rest against his back. She did not try to pull him away, Kankri would have refused to leave as it was.
Devastated and hurting, he held her close for who knew how long? The hours had passed as he cried, begging her to come back to him. That he needed her, his thoughts were all twisted and irrational though deep down... He knew that she would not be coming back, that she was gone for good.
It wasn't until he managed to pull himself away from her and dried his tears that he glanced back at Meulin, she had offered what solace she could with her presence. He was grateful for it, gently laying her body down, Kankri turned to Meulin. He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her for a moment before releasing her, pushing himself to his feet. He held his hand out to her, which she took and stood as well.
"Come.." he murmured and she nodded. With one last glance at Porrim's body, he gathered up the photo books she kept and lead Meulin out.
He would have to have something to remember her by..before he set the house on fire. He knew that it was her wish to be burned when she died.
It wasn't long before Kankri and Meulin stood in the house after setting it alight, watching it burn up with everything in it. He stood there, watching it burn for hours, it wasn't until it was near dark that he turned to Meulin, firelight reflecting in his tired eyes. "Come on...we're going to hunt them down.." with that said, he turned away from the smoldering cinders of the house and took Meulin's hand into his own.
He would live, for Meulin since she was all he had left now, and live to track Porrim's murderers to avenge her death. He would chase them down to the ends of his life, until he found them and delivered punishment upon them. Until that day, he would wait and bide his time patiently with Meulin by his side.