[[ Author's Note:: Another long chapter. Hang in there, the real action is starting soon! ]]
A few hours after Kuu shared his memories with Evan, Vyyr was able to get up and move around. He was still stiff and very sore, but relieved that he could move again.
Evan had been thinking to himself the entire time. COULD he remove the fang? It clearly needed to get done, and he couldn't take him to Vivian the town Doctor. She was good at what she did but she was a terrible gossip. But Leanna had been an apprentice for Vivian for a while, until she decided she preferred farm work over doctor work. She had basic knowledge; he was sure she could do something about it.
As Vyyr came out of the room, Evan looked up. "I think I am going to have Kuu take me over to talk to Leanna." He said. "She doesn't know about you yet, but she does know about him. She likes Kuu, so I think she'll be fine with you, too."
Vyyr nodded. 'You don't have to do this, you know.' He said, watching Evan carefully.
"I know, but I want to. If I don't do this, it could get a lot worse. You could end up paralyzed for life." Evan said.
Vyyr made a face at that. 'I do not want that.' He said simply.
"Neither do I." Evan said. He turned to Kuu. "Teleport me to town?" He requested, putting it simply.
Kuu chirped in response, before taking Evan's hand. Evan closed his eyes and braced himself for the dizzying sensation of the teleport. He still had to bend over and catch his breath before he thanked the Enderman and went into the trading post. As the bell rang to announce his entry, Dan waved a hand.
"Welcome back! How've you been?" He asked. "I see winter treated you well."
"Been good." Evan said.
"I hear Leanna was helping you out with your crops." Dan said.
"She was. She's part of the reason they were so successful. She really does know what she is doing. Where is she, by the way?" Evan asked.
"Out back getting the early spring planting done." Dan replied.
"I needed to ask her something." Evan said.
Dan's eyes practically sparkled. "Oh?" He questioned. "About time you asked the girl out. I've seen the way you've been looking at her!"
Evan flushed. "N-not... That I had.. I ..." He cleared his throat. "Just had... a question."
"Sure you did." Dan smirked. "You two have fun, now."
Evan went out back to find Leanna who was, in fact, hard at work planting.
"Evan! Nice to see you." She smiled. "What brings you here?"
"You were an apprentice to Vivian for a while, right? How does she feel about Endermen?" He asked.
"Oh no, what happened to Kuu? Is he allright?" She asked in worry. "As for Vivian... I definitely wouldn't go to her. She'd probably treat him, depending on what was wrong, but she's a terrible gossip. The whole town would know as soon as she was done, and that would not be a good thing. I know he means no harm and is a sweetheart, but..." She shook her head. "The rest of the town wouldn't think so."
"It's not Kuu, actually." Evan said. "A different Enderman."
".. Another one? I should start calling you the Ender Whisperer." Leanna smirked.
Evan got a good chuckle out of that. "Guess you could say that. Anyway... He's an older male. He has something embedded in his spine. It needs to come out, because he just got over being paralyzed for almost a day."
"I should probably take a look at it." Leanna mused. "I'll be right back."
She opened the door. "Hey, Dad! I'm going over to Evan's for a bit!"
"Allright, you two have fun!" Dan called. "I expect grandkids!"
Evan flushed bright red.
"Dad!" Leanna scolded. "Really?"
Evan awkwardly lead her towards the treeline, where Kuu greeted her with happy chirps and purrs.
"Nice to see you too, buddy." She smiled and hugged Kuu, who chirped his delight at the contact. He liked Leanna; and not just because she'd been his first time.
"Allright, Kuu, teleport us home?" Evan asked his friend.
Kuu chirped and put a hand on each of their shoulders. Leanna was used to teleportation by now; Kuu had taken her home after a lot of her visits to Evan over the winter.
She recovered quickly. "So where is this other Enderman you told me about?" She asked.
Evan pointed towards the couch, where Vyyr sitting. The elder chirped a greeting. "He's the one." Evan said.
'And you are Leanna?' Vyyr asked. Leanna just stared, dumbfounded. '… You didn't tell her about my pendant, did you? You sly old dog.' Vyyr smirked lightly. Evan blushed.
"How..." She started.
"His pendant." Evan said. "He says he can get one for Kuu, too. But I want to get that fang in his back taken care of first. That allows us to understand him, and if he didn't already know how to understand our language, it'd allow him to understand us."
"... Neat." Leanna said. "So, what's his name?"
'I am Vyyr.' Vyyr said, simply. 'I assume you've come to look at my back?' He questioned.
"I did want to take a look at it, yeah.. see if I can do anything about it." Leanna said.
Vyyr nodded, before turning and crouching down so she could get a closer look at it. She straightened afterwards, and nodded. "I think we can do it." She said. "But there's the question of finding a way to ease the pain of the removal."
"Do you have anything that can do that?" Evan asked.
Leanna shook her head. "No, but my Dad says Luka makes the strongest Moonshine in the entire Kingdom. He doesn't sell it to Taverns, since he calls it a 'liability.'"
"Do you think it would work?" Evan asked.
"Well, if it is strong enough, it shouldn't have enough water to do any actual harm." She said, thoughtfully. "And it might numb him enough for us to do it. From what you've told me of Kuu, he'll heal quickly so he shouldn't bleed too much. That is the problem with using alcohol to numb a human; it makes them bleed more, and faster. But an Enderman seems to heal within minutes of injury."
Evan nodded. "From what I have observed, yeah. He healed completely from fighting another Enderman within a few hours." He said. "More minor injuries heal in minutes. I've seen him bite his lip by accident, and within five minutes it's as if he never did."
"So it should work." Leanna said. "Think you can take me by home? I'll come by tomorrow with the supplies we need to get that fang out of his back."
"Sure." He said. "Kuu?" He looked to Kuu, who chirped pleasantly and teleported them back. Leanna went inside, before Evan went to the Blacksmith's shop.
He pushed the door open as the bell rang to announce his entry.
"Ey, Evan!" The burly man greeted him with a smile. Evan noticed he had sharp eyeteeth. "What can I get for you today?"
"Leanna says that you sell the strongest Moonshine in town." He said.
"Strongest Moonshine in the entire kingdom." He corrected.
"I'm looking for something really strong. But smooth." He said.
"I have quite a variety for you to choose from." Luka said, as he started setting out bottles of various colors. "How much are you looking to get?"
"I have a few friends over, we're looking to get pretty wasted." It was actually... not that far from the truth. He DID have friends over, and they were planning on getting at least one of them very wasted. He was just about to say more when vwoomp! There was Kuu.
Instantly, Luka tensed, staring Kuu down. His fingernails looked oddly thicker as his canine teeth lengthened a bit. Evan, though, didn't notice. He was too busy focusing on the fact that Kuu had just up and appeared inside the Blacksmith's shop. Kuu let out a startled growl, before taking a step back, a bit unsure.
"Kuu!? What are you doing here?" Evan gasped. Kuu always avoided the town; he had yet to reveal himself to anybody but Leanna! Evan had to wonder what possessed him to reveal himself to Luka now. Kuu, though, looked at him completely confused.
"... Is he friendly?" The man asked, his voice gruff. Almost growl like.
"Wha...?" That was not the question he had expected from the man.
"I asked you is he friendly? Will he attack?" Luka asked.
"Yes, he is friendly... No, Kuu won't attack. He's... a friend." Evan said.
'Not smell human!' Kuu chirped, almost indignantly. He looked almost sulky at Evan's scolding tone.
"What do you mean by that?" Evan asked.
Kuu pointed at Luka. 'Not smell like human!' he insisted.
Evan gave him a funny look, but looked back at Luka. The blacksmith looked surprisingly relaxed. "Well then, if he means no harm he's welcome to stick around. I was defensive, because I've been having trouble with an Enderman around. She's got a few nasty scars on her and smells like a female."
That got another odd look from Evan, but the man didn't skip a beat. "But the old scarred one comes by here sometimes, so I'm used to 'em."
"Old scarred one?" Evan asked. "Do you mean... Vyyr?"
"Oh! You know the old bastard?" Luka let out a laugh; speaking of the Enderman with such familiarity that Evan suspected they were friends. "Interesting old fellow. You should hear the stories he tells when he's had a bit much to drink."
"... As for scars, on that one you said you were having trouble with... what did these scars look like?" Evan asked. He felt curious. A scarred up female; was it the same one that had attacked Kuu? Had Kuu actually managed to deal some damage to her?
"Looked like she was on the bad end of a big set of claws." Luka said. "She was missing two fingers on her left hand. She looked like she was looking for something. Sniffing about everywhere. She charged me when she saw me, but I scared her off."
Evan's entire form stiffened. Missing two fingers? Evan's blood ran cold. Why would the female missing two fingers be here!? This was not good. Kuu caught on to his nervousness quickly, letting out a soft growl and looking around defensively. Evan quickly shook it off so as not to disturb his friend.
"I guess this makes my request easier to explain." He said, changing the subject. "You know Vyyr... so you know about his... problem?"
"That he's crippled?" The man asked. "Yeah, I know about that. He says my drink lets him feel young again, for a time. So you're getting this for him?"
Evan nodded. "Leanna and I have figured out he's got a Dragon's Fang embedded in his back. We're going to try to remove it. We thought your Moonshine might numb him enough for us to do so without causing him too much pain."
"So you're gonna need a full bottle. I have it in flavors. Vyyr seems to prefer the strawberry. Tell you what, I'll let you have it on the house this time. I'll come back with you, maybe lend a hand if I can. Been a while since I've seen the old cripple." Luka gave a wolfish grin. "Been wondering what he's been up to lately. Might as well let your friend... Kuu, was it?"
The name got a confirming chirp from Kuu.
"Let him have a bit too. It'll be amusing, trust me. You ain't seen nothing until you've seen an Enderman get drunk." Luka finished,
He brought out the bottle, which he handed to Evan. He stepped out, turned the sign to closed, and moved to follow them.
"You can have him teleport us." Luka said. "Vyyr's teleported me over to his place before. I'm used to it. Like any proper man, he doesn't like to drink alone."
"You know where Vyyr lives?" Evan asked in surprise.
"Yup, a cave five miles out of town." He said. "Other side, though, so about ten miles away from your place. It's nicely furnished. He's even got a bed in there. He has a lot of belongings. I swear the old guy's a bit of a hoarder." Luka laughed. "But the place's clean enough, he keeps everything organized and out of the way. Well hidden, too. You could walk right past it and not even know it is there. The old fella's made himself comfortable."
Evan nodded. He then looked to Kuu. "Teleport us home?" He requested. Kuu chirped and did so.
"Whoo! That never gets old!" Luka said, shaking his head a few times.
As soon as Vyyr caught his scent, he looked up quickly. He stood stiffly with a friendly greeting chirp. 'Luka! I wasn't expecting to see you here!' he said.
"Hey there, ya old bastard!" The wolfish man grinned. That had a staticy laugh from Vyyr.
'Good to see you, you smelly old drunk!' Vyyr greeted back with a smile
Definately friends. There was no doubt about it. Only friends greeted eachother in such a manner.
"I expected the worst when Kuu popped out of nowhere behind me." Evan said. "He said he 'didn't smell like human.'" Evan shook his head. "I don't know what he meant."
'That's because he smells of wolf.' Vyyr said simply. 'It is a bit confusing, until you get used to it.' He shrugged. 'The boy probably got confused. Thought you were alone, and got curious.'
Kuu nodded vigorously. Yeah! What he said!
"Well, we're actually going to be doing his... surgery, if you will, in the morning." Evan said to Luka. "So if you want to stick around and help out you can stay here for the night. You'll have to sleep on the couch, though. I don't have an extra bed."
"That's fine with me." He said. "I have a bit of catching up to do with Vyyr, anyway. Been a whole winter since I saw him last."
Evan cooked a meal for the guest, and as night fell he settled down to sleep. Vyyr and Luka stayed up half the night talking, but eventually Luka slept while Vyyr rested with Kuu on the long bed in Kuu's room.
About two hours after sun up, a knock at his door announced that Leanna had come, bearing all her supplies. Her black horse, Satin, was tied to the hitching post in the front yard and she had a satchel of supplies.
"Did you get the Moonshine?" She asked.
"I did. Apparently, Luka and Vyyr know eachother. He came along, to offer a helping hand where he could."
"More like a bit of moral support." Luka put in, from where he sat on the couch. "Don't know much about doctoring n' stuff."
Leanna looked surprised, but nodded. "Guess it's time to get Vyyr drinking." She said. "I wonder how much it will take?"
'I know my limits.' Vyyr said. 'And this time... I'm going above them.' He sat up, as Evan handed over the bottle. He poured himself a glass. Kuu stared the entire time. Vyyr was.. DRINKING something!? He just couldn't wrap his mind around it.
Vyyr chuckled at his expression. 'It won't hurt me, boy. Try some. You'll like it.' He said. He sniffed at the liquid. 'Ah, your new strawberry blend! You know me too well.' He swallowed the glass in a single gulp, before he grimaced slightly. 'Whew! Strong stuff!' He chirped, before he downed another two. He stopped at three, for the moment. The stuff was very strong; and just one glass was enough to get him drunk. Three would make him shit-faced... which he felt he needed to be for what was to come.
Kuu, seeing Vyyr drinking it without any harm, became very curious. He crept closer. Vyyr poured him a glass as well. Kuu looked from the strange reddish liquid to Vyyr, and back again. Finally, his curiousity got the better of him. He poked a finger in. It didn't burn. He sniffed at it and shook his head a bit. It smelled strong. He licked it. He grimaced. It tasted a bit odd, but... sweet, too. It tingled on his tongue.
'Come on then, boy – try it. It won't bite you.' Vyyr said. He was starting to look a bit tipsy. 'Trust me. Been drinking this stuff a long time.'
Kuu stared at him for a moment, before he took a breath and downed the glass. He coughed furiously, eyes widening as his tongue hung out of his mouth. He coughed again. Luka and Evan both had to laugh at Kuu's reaction. But once he got over the strange feel of the stuff, he didn't mind it so much. Evan didn't give him any more, though. He wasn't sure how drunk this would make Kuu, and he didn't want the younger male hurting himself.
The third glass worked its magic. Vyyr soon lay by the fire, eyes half closed as he purred. He purred on and on and on, looking perfectly content. Leanna approached him, and ran her hands down his back. When she got to that scar, Vyyr barely tensed.
"I think he's as ready as he'll ever be." Leanna said. Evan nodded as they came closer.
"Vyyr, prepare yourself. I'm about to start cutting." He said.
The old male downed one more glass just to be sure, then chirped in response, confirming he had heard.
Evan took a breath, readied himself, and pressed the knife against Vyyr's scar. That was when the first problem presented itself. Vyyr's skin was extremely tough. Evan had a hard time getting the knife through it. When he did, Vyyr tensed and let out a staticy growl of pain, but he did not move otherwise. The sound was downright chilling, and made Evan freeze and shiver all over. After a moment, he shook it off. Vyyr lay his head down, docile from far too much alcohol.
Then the next problem presented itself. While Evan was hesitating at Vyyr's growl, the wound had already started to heal closed. It became clear that he would have to work quickly. Vyyr's healing ability was strong, and fast. He made the cut quickly, as Leanna held the wound apart to keep it from healing on him as he worked.
It was definitely infected. Puss and blood oozed out of the incision. Evan had to press down to get it to drain. Vyyr grunted in pain, followed by a long, wavering growl. The staticy sound made Evan's face go pale, but he kept working. Evan Luka came over to help, wiping away the blood and gunk coming out of the cut.
Then, he saw it. At first he thought it was Vyyr's bone, before he realized it was actually the jagged, broken off end of a tooth. Leanna kept the cut open as Evan tried to pull the tooth out. His fingers kept slipping on Vyyr's inky purple-black blood. Each tug made Vyyr growl or hiss in pain.
"There's tongs in my bag." Leanna said. "Those should grip it better then your fingers. Hurry, it's already healing."
Evan nodded quickly as he grabbed the tongs. He gripped the fang firmly, and tugged. Vyyr growled. Evan tugged again, harder, and the fang finally came loose. The pain of the removal made Vyyr jerk and let out a long staticy keening whine. Evan let out a breath of relief as he set it aside. He would look at it later. For now, he had to get the cut cleaned out as much as he could before it closed up. He kept applying pressure, until only blood ran from it.
Evan grabbed a healing salve from Leanna's bag. He packed as much of it into the cut as he could. It would stop the infection from getting any worse, and ease the pain. As soon as Leanna stopped holding the cut open, it started to heal rapidly. Evan was shocked to see it close up completely within a couple minutes. It looked like they hadn't even needed to bring bandages. He cleaned the rest of the blood away from Vyyr's black skin.
Finally, he turned his attention on the fang. It was still sharp, even after being embedded in Vyyr's back for so long. It was permanently stained purple black in places, and from the looks of it it was just the tip of the tooth.
'Can look it?' Vyyr asked. His cooing speech sounded slurred, and it showed; his translation pendant was having trouble picking it up. It was getting harder to understand him.
Evan nodded, and handed it over. "It needs to be cleaned. You had a pretty nasty infection brewing in there." He said. "But there it is, the source of all your pain. We got it."
'Would like keep it.' Vyyr said. Vyyr was very drunk. It showed. He swayed where he lay, his eyes unfocused.
Luka smirked. "Of course. You old Hoarder." He teased. Vyyr laughed drunkenly.
'It memory.' He said. The translation was getting increasingly broken.
"Your pendant isn't working right, old buddy." Luka said. "You're shitfaced."
Vyyr laughed again, before laying his head down. He did not intend on moving; he'd be staying right there for a long time. Healed or not, he didn't want to aggravate the cut. That, and he knew he wouldn't be able to stand, much less walk straight. If he tried to move he'd just hit the floor again. He'd gone way over his limit, and regretted the decision now.
Kuu, on the other hand, had drank down another glass; and he was very, very drunk. He stumbled about as he chirped and cooed. He purred, too, on and on. He kept trying to walk, only to stumble and stagger either to one side or the other. It was a pretty amusing sight.
He felt warm and tingly all over; though the room was spinning strangely. Kuu tried to teleport, but failed miserably. He ended up crashing into the wall and falling back on his butt. He shook his head and stood, only to stagger back several steps and fall over again with a displeased chirp.
Evan went over to his sink, pulling a lever to let warm water flow into the washbasin. He washed the blood from his hands, then sat down on the couch to watch his drunken friend try to make sense of the world.
It was hilarious to watch, though Kuu was making quite a mess in the process of his drunken stumbling. His claws kept gouging the wood floor, too. Evan would have to fix that later.
Luka's sudden hearty laughter had Leanna and Evan both looking at the wolfish man. He was pointing at Kuu. More specifically, between his legs.
"Now there's something I didn't expect to see!" He laughed and laughed.
Leanna blinked, then broke into laughter as well. "Oh my." She snickered. "I think he likes it a bit TOO much."
Evan turned beet red. It appeared that Kuu was a bit of a frisky drunk, which showed clearly with his lack of clothing. "Oh dear gods..." Evan groaned. "Not again! I swear, I've had entirely too many looks at that thing!"
"You better find him something to hump or he might start humping you!" Luka laughed.
Evan paled at the thought. "There is no way in the Nether I'm letting that.. THING... anywhere NEAR me... much less my..." He trailed off.
"He'll probably go after me." Leanna smirked. "He's had a peace if it before, after all."
That had a stunned look from Luka, who laughed. "Goodness, girl, how'd you handle it? He looks like a bit much for you."
"I have my ways." She winked. Evan flushed even brighter.
Kuu was finally starting to realize that standing was out of the question. He stumbled to the couch, where he flopped down beside Evan. Evan cleared his throat awkwardly as Kuu suddenly cuddled right up, as close as he could get. He wrapped his long but unnaturally strong arms around the human. Kuu seemed absolutely determined to get as close and cuddly with his friend as he could, and his happy purrs showed it.
Evan squirmed and grunted, before his eyes widened.
"Kuuu!" He moaned in embarassment. "Oh gods I feel your..." He didn't even finish as he covered his beet red face with his hands. Evan tried to squirm away; though Kuu had absolutely no intention on letting go. He was completely unaware of his... not-so-little problem pressing against the human's leg.
"Well, it's been fun." Luka said. "But I should probably get going. Got work to do. See you later, Vyyr." Vyyr chirped back drunkenly. He spoke something, but his translation pendant was unable to pick up on it.
Leanna stood as well. "I should get going, too." She said. "I have more planting to do for the season. I'll be back later."
Evan nodded. "See you both later." He said, shifting awkwardly again. Oh gods that made it worse...
"Have fun with your... frisky friend there." Luka smirked, before he left. Leanna left a few minutes later after gathering her belongings. . Evan realized he was left alone there, in the arms of an overly drunk.. and now very passed out, Enderman.
Evan tried to squirm away, but even passed out Kuu had a very firm grip. It became clear that he was not moving until Kuu woke up. Only the Gods knew when that would be. Fortunately, his... friskiness went away after a while.
Kuu slept for hours. Evan was stuck there the entire time, until he finally felt the Enderman shift. Evan felt his hold loosen.
He renewed his efforts. He was sick of sitting still. Finally, Kuu let go. He whined plaintively as he pressed his hands against his temples. Kuu opened his eyes, only to whine again, louder, and close them again. He curled up on the couch, the picture of misery.
"You're hung over." He said in surprise. The sound of his voice had Kuu whining again. His head pounded beyond belief.
A few moments later, he heard a quiet groan from Kuu's room. He heard a shift followed by a clack of claws hitting the floor. Evan jumped as Vyyr tore past him, his claws carving gouges in the wooden floor in his haste. He teleported as soon as he neared the door. Evan stared at where Vyyr had just been.
"I wonder what has him in such a hurry." He said. Vyyr had been so calm and relaxed since he met him that the sudden rush seemed a bit odd.
Evan went to the door and pushed it open to check on the elder, who was hunched over with his claws fully extended. That was when Evan noticed the three missing claws on his right hand. His left hand was pressed against the three, the sharp claws embedded deep in the trunk. The Enderman was puking his guts out. A few times he thought he was done, slowly straightening up, only to hunch over all over again. Evan knew that feeling all too well. He just wished there was something he could do; Vyyr couldn't drink anything to ease the hangover. He'd just have to ride it out.
"You look like you've been through this before." Evan said, as Vyyr finally straightened, a bit shakily. He looked like he felt a little better after disgorging the remains of the moonshine all over the ground in front of the tree.
'More times then I care to count.' He said. He stayed still for a few moments. He had to tug a couple times to get his claws dislodged from the tree before he retracted them and turned to go back inside, hands shielding his eyes from the bright sun. He stooped to get through the still open door.
He was just about to retreat into the darkness of the underside of a blanket when he noticed Kuu looking downright restless.
The young male kept shifting, his whines growing more displeased by the minute. 'You'll be wanting him outside, soon.' Vyyr said. 'Or at least a bucket.' He was too miserable to do much himself. His head pounded, his stomach was upset, and he felt like he'd been crushed beneath a ton of stone. But his back didn't hurt like usual, so there was that. After giving Evan a fair warning, he retreated beneath a blanket, curled up in a ball of hung over misery.
Evan quickly rushed to Kuu, tugging at him to try to get him to get up. Kuu whined. He refused, burying his face in the couch. No, that would not do! Evan did NOT want to have to replace his couch because it got soaked in Kuu's vomit. He tried tugging at his feet, but Kuu gripped onto the couch stubbornly. Pulling would have resulted in his couch being torn to shreds; and he did NOT want that!
Evan then tried to push him off the couch, but Kuu stayed put. He whined, which quickly turned into a cranky, staticy growl. Evan sighed and gave up.
Instead, he ran into the storage closet where he kept an extra mop bucket. He got it back to Kuu just in time. Kuu's whining turned urgent before he shuddered, groaned, and followed suit in throwing up everything in his stomach. Evan quickly pushed the bucket in the way and contained the mess. He was glad he did, too. Kuu had indulged in a lot of sweets the night before. It would have made a terrible mess all over the couch and floor. He threw up until his stomach was completely empty, followed by a few try heaves. When it was finally over he stayed bent over for some time. He finally straightened up cautiously and stood. He whined and swayed; but decided to retreat to the darkness and comfort of his room. He curled up on his bed with his pillow over his head to wait for the misery to end.
Evan took the bucket outside with a sigh before he sat down to write about the day's experience in his journal.
It ended with the note "I really hope removing the fang helped. Guess I won't know until Vyyr's done being hungover. As a note... Ender hangovers seem to be terrible."