A/N: This story is rated M for a reason. There will be plenty of swearing and sexual content, but above all else it is rated M because of insestrial rape, mutation and gore that will be implied and possibly depicted in future chapters. It is not glorifying these acts, simply telling a story of one struggling to forget his past. You have been warned.
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy and I look forward to any C&C I will receive. :)
Chapter One: Rain
The beach was quiet. Large waves beat against the shore, and angry black clouds circled overhead, a warning of what was to come. The regular cawing of gulls and clacking of crabs was nowhere to be heard, the animals retreating to whatever place they could find in anticipation of the storm. The wind was howling, and underneath that sound there was something else, a low groaning that most people would have just ignored and thought it a trick of the wind.
K'ode followed the sound, glancing out to sea every once in a while. He reached up, pinching the bridge of his wide nose with his thick, pierced fingers and let out a frustrated sigh. His long, fire coloured dreadlocks swayed in the wind, beating against his back and shoulders. The young druid took in a deep breath and stood listening for a moment before changing his course slightly. His bare blue chest and short leather kilt were wet with spray from the ocean, but the druid barely noticed as he continued on his path.
Ahead was a familiar figure, a friend to the druid for years. The other male raised his hand in greeting, and K'ode did the same. Both their faces were filled with sorrow and anger as they met, clasping each other's forearms. "Brother," K'ode said quietly, looking down at the slightly smaller troll.
"Brudda," Ganjaru replied, setting his jaw as the two allowed their hands to drop to their sides. Ganjaru's forest green hair was blown into his eyes, and the shaman batted it away, tucking the unruly strand behind his pointed ears. He studied K'ode with pale pink eyes, and finally sighed. "Joo lookeen faheem too." It wasn't a question, but a statement filled with regret.
K'ode nodded. "Yes…" he said quietly, feeling his throat close as he began to get caught up in his emotions. "I… he's been gone for a while. I thought maybe he…" he trailed off there, looking towards the ocean. Another groan filled the air, and the shaman and druid walked side by side towards the noise, knowing what they would find and where. "It's been so long… I didn't think it would happen again…"
They walked for a few more minutes in silence with only the wind, waves and groaning to fill their ears. "Ah sweaha keeleem," Ganjaru growled, clenching his fists. "Neva fuckeen hur' heem again, da fuckeen bassard. Fuckeen assho', neva happeen no mo'. Jus' fuckeen keeleem…"
K'ode bit his lip. "No. He needs to. His right, not ours… as much as I would like to," he finally said, glancing ahead of them. "It's gotta be him." The druid exhaled slowly, trying to control his emotions. How could they let it get this bad?
They continued along the beach, their large bare feet leaving deep tracks in the sand. Somewhere over the ocean thunder growled, causing Ganjaru to look almost nervously towards the sea once more. "De elemens, dey angry. Dey know shit likedis be happens…" Ganjaru hissed, pulling a pipe out of the pocket of his skinny leather pants. He stuffed it with herbs from a small pouch hanging from his slender hip and lit the bowl before bringing the pipe to his lips, inhaling deeply.
Once more a groan met their sharp ears, louder this time, and the two picked up speed, now practically jogging, sand kicking up and spraying the back of their legs. Each troll panted slightly though it was out of fear and panic rather than weariness. Puffs of thick grey smoke blew out of Ganjaru's mouth with each breath.
It had started to rain.
It was light at first, clouds squeezing slow fat droplets to the earth as the two males crested a hill. K'ode's breath caught in his throat and he picked up the pace, running towards a figure lying face down in the sand near the base of a palm. "Zane! Zane!" the druid called, visibly shaking now as the rain began to pour. The figure did not respond.
"Shit shit shit…" K'ode muttered as he reached the figure, dropping in the sand to his knees. Huge drops fell from the sky in sheets now, surrounding them in dense grey blankets. It pounded in their ears and dripped in their eyes, dulling their senses.
"Da cave!" Ganjaru yelled, his one hand pressed to his forehead, the other pointing inland. The pipe – flame extinguished – still hung from his lips. K'ode nodded, picking up the limp figure in his arms and staggering to his feet. Water began to drip red, leaving dark streaks down his blue fur. As quickly as he could, K'ode walked in the direction of the cave, Ganjaru following closely behind.
By the time they reached the tiny cave – which in reality was just a sheltered outcropping of rock – all three of them were soaked to the bone. K'ode blinked water from his thick eyelashes; whether it was rain or tears he could not tell. He knelt and gently laid the figure on the floor before peeling off his cloak and balling it up into a makeshift pillow. With shaking hands, he placed it under the figures head.
"Zane?" Ganjaru said quietly, taking a seat crosslegged on the ground beside K'ode. He inhaled deeply. "Disses bad," he whispered, his eyes flicking to the mouth of the shelter before looking at the druid with fear in his eyes.
"It is," K'ode agreed solemnly, his jaw made of stone as he looked the barely conscious troll laying in front of him over. "Zane? It's okay… we're here. We got you. You're safe…" he murmured gently, running his fingers lighting through the trolls fuchsia hair. Ganjaru took over, shifting near Zane's head and running his fingers over his locks gently as he spoke soft and quiet words to him.
He was naked, and even though both Ganjaru and K'ode knew what had happened already, all it did was confirm their fears. Zane's eyes, usually emerald and bright, were puffy and red. His left was especially angry looking, the skin around it swollen to twice its size, enveloping the orb completely. His fur was dark in places, nasty bruises covering his hips, neck, face, buttocks and legs. Three deep, fresh claw marks were engraved on both of his sides, the wounds gaping now that most of the dried blood had been cleared away by the rain. K'ode winced and touched one gingerly, recoiling as Zane flinched automatically.
The skin on his back, knees and elbows was rubbed raw, puckering in bloody welts. K'ode turned Zane's hand over – two of his knuckles were split open, the rest swollen and uneven. With a deep, wavering breath K'ode leaned over to check Zane's gentials, afraid of what he would find.
The area was unmarked, save for six cuts carved into the shaft of his penis, spelling out a crude, connected 'LM'.
K'ode winced and gagged, motioning to Ganjaru to look. "It's bad," he warned quietly as the shaman looked over, his face growing pale as he caught a glimpse of the carvings. The shaman reached up and rubbed his eyes, pushing them with the meat of his palms as he tried desperately to think of what they were going to do.
"Nah gun beleevus," Ganjaru said finally. "Ef'ee tellem whodunit. Dey nah gun belief. Call us liah, poor, gahno fammy, us again dem, again 'im, dey neva ting twice 'bowdim. Dey jus' ting us dumb, crazy." He let out a long, painfilled sigh. "Canna leddis happen again…" He shifted , lifting Zane's head into his own lap and draping the almost dry cloak over most of the pink haired trolls body to keep him somewhat warm.
Slowly, K'ode nodded, his eyes focused on nothing. Ganjaru was right, of course. No one would believe their case. Zane groaned and rolled a little, blood trickling from his split lip. K'ode reached a finger out and wiped it off, trying to hold back his anger and guilt and focus on healing what little he could. The druid's fingers glowed faintly with green light as he tried to close some of Zane's open wounds. He hoped the minimal training he had in healing was enough to do the job, at least until the storm let up and they could get him to a real healer.
"Praey," he said finally, looking at Ganjaru. "We tell Praey. She has gold, she can help us! She'll believe us… he's her son…"
Ganjaru bit his lip, anger filling up inside of his chest. "Yah," he replied quietly, clenching his teeth. "Bud de basserd dat did dis issir life mate…"
