Kitty
After weeks of beating anyone can lose his or her morals, and Hartia is no exception. When Hartia's secret is no more the Elders' give him to Flameheart. Please R&R! I suck at summaries! Future SLASH! Orphen (Krylancelo)/ Hartia!
Disclaimer: I do not own Sorcerer Stabber Orphen! Never have owned it… and never will!
Rating: M
Warnings: Abuse, insanity, blood… and tones of TORTURE! Poor Hartia…
Genre: Angst/Drama/Romance!
A.N: Thank you Xelena and BloodThirstyAngel for both your reviews! Hope you can forgive me for taking forever!
Chapter Four.
Body and Soul
Leaning down by the fire Orphen placed Hartia down on his sleeping bag. The red-head stirred at the warmth of the flames but didn't wake. Orphen shot Majic a look that made the blonde quickly usher a very reluctant Cleao and Dortin through the trees.
Pulling away Hartia's robes Orphen couldn't help but hiss in a breath. Scars fresh and old, welts and terrible bruises lined the unconscious redhead's body covered in dried blood. Orphen cussed violently at the sight and quickly put hand above Hartia's chest.
"I heal thee, scars of the setting sun," he whispered causing a calming blue light to appear before it enveloped Hartia prone form.
When the light faded the obvious wounds had vanished but the bruises still showed clearly over Hartia's pale skin, Orphen growled knowing Flameheart had something to do with it. Orphen pulled the smaller man's robes back over him before he felt a sob rise in his throat.
"Hartia… what did he do to you?" he asked the air.
Hartia felt himself regaining his senses and for the first time in who-knows how long he found his body wasn't aching. His eyes fluttered open wanting to know what was happening but everything was bleary. Slowly he started to make out a figure, the smell of salty tears reached Hartia but he knew he wasn't crying. When his eyesight cleared Hartia saw Krylancelo, the man from his memories, the man's eyes were closed and tears were streaming down his features.
Quickly, against Hartia's better judgment, he jumped up and crawled onto Orphen's lap. The larger sorcerer gasped and opened his eyes, looking down he watched as Hartia looked up at him, his brown eyes showed little recognition, but his brown eyes showed something Orphen couldn't decipher.
Before Orphen could think twice he wrapped his arms around Hartia and pulled him closer. The red-head didn't seem fazed and curled into Orphen's chest before nuzzling his neck hoping this would give more comfort to the brunette.
'Why is he crying?' thought Hartia confused. 'Did I do something wrong?'
"H-Hartia I thought you were gone," whispered Orphen looking into Hartia's eyes. "I thought you had left me," he said sighing.
Hartia was confused; he must have hurt this man more than he thought. The words Orphen spoke confused Hartia, had they been close? He couldn't remember.
"Hartia?" Orphen asked when Hartia didn't answer.
Hartia cocked his head to one side in confusion; his asked a silent question that hit Orphen hard.
"You remember me right?" Orphen asked feeling panic rise in his chest.
Hartia blinked, he was lost in his reeling mind. Remember? Him?
"Shit!" Orphen exclaimed letting new tears fall as realization hit; Hartia's memories were wiped clean. Orphen pulled Hartia back into an embrace and began to sob, if only he had looked into the stone! He could have stopped this from happening.
Hartia buried his head into Orphen's neck before sighing; Orphen shuddered as Hartia's warm breath fluttered over his neck. Mewing, Hartia yawned and curled further into Orphen's warmth, letting his tired body relax.
"Master?" asked Majic as he peeked through the trees. Orphen sat by the fire holding Hartia's sleeping form while staring at the stars.
Orphen turned to his young apprentice and nodded his head.
"Come" he said.
Majic entered the clearing holding his own sleeping figure; Cleao had fallen asleep after babbling about how cruel Flameheart was. Dortin trailed behind Majic out of the trees.
"How severe are his wounds?" asked Majic almost instantly.
"I healed them," said Orphen quietly looking down at his love with sad eyes. "I shouldn't have let him go back… I should have stopped him," Orphen whispered as tears formed in his eyes.
"Hey," said Majic moving next to his master's side "You couldn't help that, he wanted to go back… you couldn't have helped it"
"I could have trusted him… looked into that blasted stone. I should have had faith in him" said Orphen lowering his face into Hartia's crimson hair.
"Master… you acted as anyone would in your situation…" said Majic hoping Orphen would calm down.
"H-He can't remember me," whispered Orphen, his shoulders beginning to shake as sobs racked his body.
"What?" asked Majic letting his green eyes widen. "What?" he repeated when Orphen didn't answer.
"Flameheart… h-he beat Hartia so much that Hartia's mind… he couldn't take it" said Orphen looking over at his blonde companion.
Majic felt his blood run cold at these words,
"B-But… how? I mean, is that possible?"
"Yeah…" said Orphen sighing "To release itself of the pain… Hartia's mind shattered… he has the odd shard of memory but the rest… they're not exactly lost, they can still be put back together but it could take years to bring him back totally"
Majic felt his shoulders slump in shock,
"That's… terrible," he whispered.
Orphen nodded, but something was nagging at the back of his mind,
"Majic… you know what's really scaring me" he muttered.
Majic's head shot up at this,
"What?"
"I'm hoping that… in Hartia's weakened state… Flameheart could've…" Orphen swallowed loudly, his voice wavering.
Majic's skin paled,
"Oh…"
Orphen shuddered at the thought and pulled Hartia closer, cradling the smaller man.
"Please, let me be wrong," he whispered to the sky.
Orphen woke up the next day to find his arms empty; instinctively he panicked, his eyes shooting open. But he relaxed when he saw Hartia a few feet away, glaring down at Leki. The blue pup was growling at Hartia and the red-head was doing the same except he seemed to be hissing.
"Leki" snapped Orphen at the wolven pup.
Leki backed down but the blue pup's eyes showed the gleam of hatred and Hartia just smirked smugly.
"Hartia" said Orphen in a warning tone.
Hartia froze; he looked up at Orphen with frightened eyes as he lowered himself to the ground. Orphen blinked in shock.
"Come here" he said.
Hartia seemed hesitant but soon obeyed; when he got in striking distance of Orphen he closed his eyes and lowered his head as a sign of submission. Orphen moved forward and scooped Hartia into a hug. The lost sorcerer blinked in shock and stared at Orphen like he was insane.
Orphen kept a smile on his face even though on the inside he was screaming, promising that Flameheart would die a slow and painful death. Hartia's behavior showed how often he was beaten, and it scared Orphen.
"Hello there" came a voice breaking through Orphen's thoughts. He looked up along with Hartia to see Cleao.
A flash of recognition went through Hartia's eyes and instantly he began to get frightened again moving closer to Orphen. Cleao blinked before moving towards him, coeing, but Hartia let out a frightened sound before scrambling behind Orphen and peeking around him as a child would to a monster.
Orphen laughed at this. But Cleao frowned before kneeling down,
"Come here Shrimp-man" Cleao said, giving the sorcerer a friendly smile. When Hartia didn't budge and tried to hide further behind Orphen, Cleao snapped angrilly, "Oh! He's so stupid!" she yelled stamping her foot.
Orphen smiled before pulling Hartia out from behind him and onto his lap,
"Nah, I think he knows evil when he sees it"
Cleao's jaw dropped before her face began to grow red,
"How DARE you!" she screeched.
Suddenly Hartia hissed dangerously causing Cleao to jump back with a yelp, Orphen looked stunned along with Majic and Dortin who were just getting back with water.
"What was that about?" asked Dortin putting a bucket down next to the fire.
Hartia turned back to Orphen and snuggled into his lap, which he was too big to do. Orphen chuckled,
"I think he thought Cleao was threatening me," he said, "Just as Leki does when Cleao is threatened"
Majic blinked,
"Why?" he asked, "Why would he do that?"
"Maybe he remembers a time I showed him kindness and he wants to return the favor," said Orphen smiling as he patted Hartia on his head, but he stopped as a rumbling sound filled the air.
Hartia's eyes were closed and he was asleep but the rumbling sound continued. Majic blinked before voicing his question,
"Is he… purring?" he asked.
Orphen closed his eyes as a small smile played at his lips,
"Yeah… he is," he whispered before he continued patting Hartia's head.
"He's like a big cat," said Cleao creeping closer to look at Hartia. Orphen nodded in agreement, Cleao reached over to pat Hartia also but pulled away quickly as an obvious growl rumbled in Hartia's chest.
Orphen laughed before tapping Hartia on the head,
"No. You can't bite Cleao, Hartia" he said as a warning.
The growling stopped as Hartia looked up at Cleao with wary eyes, Cleao reached over again and patted Hartia tentatively. The red-head stayed still for a few moments before he relaxed and went to sleep again.
Cleao beamed before moving closer,
"I think he likes me," she said with excited eyes, a small growl sounded behind Cleao and she looked around to find a very jealous puppy.
Majic and Orphen laughed as Cleao blanched when Leki chased her away from Hartia. Hartia woke up and watched the scene with mild amusement before he got off of Orphen and wandered over to the bucket of water near the fire.
Orphen stopped laughing and watched Hartia lap the water as an animal would. Orphen grabbed a cup and gave it to Hartia who looked at it as if it was a puzzle,
"Take this Hartia" he said "Use this," he said putting water in it.
Hartia blinked and touched the mug with hesitation before peering into it. He looked even more confused and looked up at Orphen for answers. Majic came over and watched Orphen gently take Hartia's hand and forced his slender finger to curl around the cup.
When Orphen left it so Hartia could hold it himself the red-head seemed to panic as the cup slipped, it fell and smashed, making Hartia cringe and look up at Orphen with frightened eyes.
"Shhh" shushed Orphen grabbing another cup and putting water in it.
This time reaching forward with two hands Hartia took the cup hesitantly, he looked up at Orphen who smiled approvingly. Orphen acted as if to have his own cup and acted as if to drink from it.
Hartia looked down at his own cup and tried to follow suit but most of the water dribbled down his chin in the attempt. Orphen laughed quietly at this and wiped away the excess water. Smiling at Orphen's silent praise Hartia wiped his face further with the back of his hand.
Majic laughed at Hartia's childlike antics,
"It's like he's learning everything all over again" he said grinning.
Orphen sighed and pulled Hartia into an embrace,
"He has slight memories of these things but he needs the odd push in the right direction," said Orphen closing his eyes.
The blonde apprentice nodded and left his Master to his thoughts, and attempted to save Cleao from an envious wolven pup.
A/N: Uh… yeah! What do you think? Boring? … I hope this is good enough for you all? If not; tell me! Like to see something in particular happen? Feel free to throw some ideas my way!
