Fandom: Visionaries

Rating: M for sex and violence

Pairing: None official

Disclaimer: Don't own them. None at all. Not even the action figures. Otherwise more episodes would've been made.

Feedback: Please do, even if it's just to teach me proper grammar.

It's been weeks since Fergyl helped Leoric escape after the epic "rescue" failure. The older knight seemed to recover nicely, with little damage beyond rope burns and some muscle ache from the terrible procrustination he'd suffered under Darkstorms' orders. However, Fergyl couldn't help but notice how tired and estranged the noble leader had become. Not only that, but each time he ended up alone in the room with the younger knight, he'd find an excuse to leave, creating a visible distance between them and until one or the other left, Leoric would actually shiver, as if the room was freezing cold.

The wolf-shaper took pride in his skills of tracking and observation, so he decided to look for a logycal explanation. Nothing came up, except the fact that during the next run-in with the Darkling Lords, Virulina seemed to deliberately avoid fighting Leoric and the noble knight seemed to help her to her feet when she was knocked down. That left too much room for speculation, and using the staff of Wisdom for personal goal was out the question, so Fergyl took the next best option- he cornered Leoric down in one of the cellars, locked the door behind them and demanded answers. What he didn't expect was for Leoric to actually panic. His tan face turned ashen, breath quickened to an unhealthy pace and the knight actually leaned on the wall for support, still trying to put as much distance as he could between himself and the scout. A wrong step sent him to the floor, and Fergyl was quick to catch him, only to feel the shivers, so strong that even the armor didn't hide them.

"What happened to you? It started with your captivity, so I assume the Darkling Lords are at fault." The younger knight whispered. "And don't tell me is was nothing, because I can see you hurting and now you avoid me like the plague. Is it because I walked away and now you can't trust me anymore? Because it's my fault that you've got captured? Or it's simple because you can longer bear the company of someone such as myself, but if that's the case, then why won't you send me away?" There was so much sorrow in his voice that Leoric couldn't ignore it. He found his voice and replied hoarsely:

"No, dear friend. My faith in you is as strong as ever." It's myself I don' t trust, he added mentally.

"Then talk to me. Tell me what's ailing you. Allow me to heal your sorrow."

"I can't. Don't ask me to do it." Leoric tried to pull away, unwilling to utter the words that would make the ordeal true. He could already see the disgust at the weakness he'd be forced to admit. It happens often, so don't let it burden you too much. Just let it pass, get over it, and one day avenge yourself. The voice in his mind reminded him.

Fergyl saw the indecision on his face, but he wasn't about to let go, not when he saw his mentor and friend dying slowly from the inside.

"I've seen you recover after Fears' venom. You didn't lose hope even when we've almost drowned in that dungeon. What have they done to you?" The last one was almost whispered.

"Nothing out of the ordinary." It was as if it wasn't the Spectral Knight who replied, but someone else, someone hateful and broken. "Happens to the finest, unless they're strong enough."

Fergyl tried to think about how he found in that strange contraption- nothing unusual, Darkstorm was known for being creative as far as pain was considered. Tormented expression- nothing odd here either. Scent... not blood, something else too... Virulina's perfume? The woman was as vile as her master, so... the musky, bitter scent, armor askew...

"Surely not... women can't do that, right?" Did he just ask it out loud?

He felt Leorics' shivers turn to full blown shakes.

"Not her. If anything, she helped me put things into perspective. My debt to her is greater than you can imagine."

The look on Fergyls face must've been one of total shock, because the older knight finally laughed, which scared the younger man more than anything.

"She put my clothes and armor back on, convinced me to drink some water. Then she said that now I might understand why she joined Darkstorm- to be on the harming side, not the hurting one. With all my tendency to forgive, protect, charge head on, I'm as foolish as a girl who follows a love on first sight. Virulina actually asked if I was in love with you or any of the other knights, because I do stupid things each time one of you is threatened. Forget maidens in distress, we're the maidens..." The more he spoke, the easier the words came out.

"Put the armor back..." Fergyl was young, too young to remember the horrors of the dark time between the age of Technology and the Age of Magic, until some semblance of order was set. But he still heard the stories of women taken by the wondering bands... A terrible picture rose in his mind. The musky scent was the scent of male arousal. What a terrible way to bring a man down.

"Which one of them?" He asked, tone suddenly unfeeling.

"Does it matter?" Leoric looked at him with concern. "I forbid you from seeking vengeance."

"Surely you don't plan to forgive them!" Fergyl cried out.

"What's the alternative? Give you a name and have you rushing there, getting killed or worse? You're by far the fairest male knight, your innocense surpassing even that of Galadria. If D... if they could find me appealing, then think how you'd look." Leoric actually raised his hand and caressed the scout's cheek.

"You speak as if you..." The younger knight looked at his mentor and commander with slight fear, unsure what to make of the touch.

"I saw rape victims before." There, he finally named the act. "That's what the Spider of Fear showed me in my dream- it was you. A terrible dream, with you being bound, threatened, crying for help. I couldn't chance losing you."

"I'm here now. And I'll stay until the nightmares cease."

"And then what?"

"And then I'll send Virulina some flowers. Wolfsbane or Lion's Tooth or something."

The joke was lame at best, but they both laughed at it.

That night, Lioric finally let out his sorrow, pressed against Fergyl, sheltered by his warmth, until the pain receided and sleep claimed him. That night no nightmare disturbed his rest, as he breathed in the scent of innocense untouched from the youth by his side. But many more nights shall pass before his soul will be mended enough for him to sleep alone.