Oh hey, guess what? Another one!

(Lmao, biology is my favorite science, so yeah. And, yeah, his kin are one of several carnivores, and my ‘vampiric’ race, lol)
(Nice! I hadn’t realized Jackie was a shapeshifter too, lol)
(Ooh… cool)
***

De’Tearion didn’t wake or even react to Jackie picking him up and moving him. He also seemed colder than before.

When Jackie set him next to the fire, it seemed to stabilize his temperature a bit. Then, when she laid on him, it further helped and he started to very slowly warm back up. His breathing, which steadied as he warmed up, seemed unfazed by Jackie’s weight.

(Cool. Most of my races are shapeshifters, lol)

De’Tearion still didn’t respond, but, the purr seemed to help in a way. Mainly, it calmed his heartbeat a bit, as if soothing him despite his comatose state.

He continued to warm up slowly over the next few hours, but he otherwise remained asleep. He was still most certainly ill, but the warmth from Jackie seemed to keep it at bay.

(You want to do a time skip eventually, to when he wakes, just for simplicity’s sake?)
(Also, my phone’s about to die, so if I vanish, you know why, lol)

Three days later, De’Tearion finally stirred. With Jackie keeping him warm, he had stabilized somewhat during his coma, so he wasn’t as dangerously pale or cold. Though, he was still quite haggard, and he’d also developed white streaks in his hair.

His eyes slowly opened and he glanced around, a bit lost until he remembered where he was. He then started to shift, wanting to roll onto his side. Unfortunately, he had something on top of him blocking his way.

His eyes narrowed slightly and he lifted himself onto an elbow. On his chest lay a large feline. He rose an eyebrow in sheer confusion, not remembering Jackie having a cat, and one this big. After a moment, he sniffed the air to pinpoint where Jackie was, and he realized that the feline was Jackie.

“Mercy have me,”he said in his native language of chirps and clicks.

De’Tearion then settled back down, taking a deep breath and trying to ignore the lingering pain from his recent incident.

(Lol!)

De’Tearion heard Jackie’s noises, but ignored them. Being as unfamiliar with cats as he was, he didn’t know what she meant anyway.

As minutes passed, he fought the growing drowsiness in him. He needed to stay awake. That much was clear. If he slept, he died. But, he needed the cat to move as well, because she was making him drowsy. First things first though, he needed context, so he had a better idea of how ill he was.

“Jackie, how long have I been unconscious? And, would you move, I beg,”he croaked.

(I noticed, lol. I have my own little shitheads that inspire me, grin)

De’Tearion was unfazed by the change in weight when Jackie morphed. Though, when she stood, a part of him was saddened. On impulse, he lifted a hand so that it brushed her calf as she walked away. It was a soothing touch to him, and one he needed as Jackie headed off.

He didn’t say anything in reply to Jackie’s words, instead just watching her and nodding when she mentioned meat. What else could he do? Explain that he’d suffered this before, twice? That would only make things worse, and De’Tearion just wanted a moment of peace. Unfortunately, he didn’t want to spend that moment alone, but Jackie had volunteered to hunt for him, and he needed sustenance more than company.

(Lol… looks toward the nine watching cats in the distance… I’m doomed. Snickers)

De’Tearion fully sat up as Jackie dressed, and avoided looking at her so she’d have adequate privacy. He was staring into the fire, brooding on his health and past, so he didn’t even notice when Jackie approached.

Her kiss startled him and he flinched away, confused. Her smile relaxed him a bit, but he was still completely bewildered. When she vanished, it ripped him apart.

For some strange reason, De’Tearion couldn’t help but remember Mina. The many times he’d kissed her on the forehead. The many times he’d kissed her. She had meant everything to him. She had become his life. And… now, he was roaming lost, with a catfolk woman tending to him.

That part reminded him of an old friend, a sorceress that had healed him and guided him along the first steps to get out of the maelstrom caused by Agatha’s death. She had moved away eventually, and De’Tearion missed her as well.

With Jackie… it was like both of them were combined. The care of a healer combined with the tenderness of a compassionate woman. And more, a woman that was broken like he was. Mina was a princess, pampered from birth, and gentle at heart. But, she hadn’t been broken. Not even the sorceress had been, though, she had known a troubling life.

They had only understood some of his pain. Jackie… understood far more. It frightened and relieved him at the same time. It also brought him to tears. He curled up into a ball, tucking his face into his knees as he cried.

(You have no idea, lmao!)

De’Tearion lifted his head slightly, glancing around when he smelled a deer. It wasn’t his first choice for a proper meal, but he doubted Jackie would appreciate his request for a human victim.

After a moment of absently watching, he wiped off his face of his dried, flaking tears. Though, he stopped when she spoke.

“I beg, stop calling me that. I prefer being called ‘De’Tearion’,”he said softly, lifting his head fully.

He gazed at her with sad eyes.

He made no move for the deer, despite the obvious pain he was in.

(2 and 4 are amateur numbers, lmao! But, yeah, it is never a dull moment with these psychotic furballs, lol)

“Thank you,”he replied.

De’Tearion hesitated at her question, turning away. Did he dare explain his experiences with starvation? Did he dare explain that history was repeating itself, for the third time? How many times would he nearly die from starvation before he finally found peace?

“Hold me, I beg,”he said shakily, fighting tears.

(Snickers)

De’Tearion chuckled at her attempt to hold him from behind. It cheered him up a bit that she had even been willing to try. And, it was something he also greatly appreciated. If Jackie knew how rarely he’d been comforted in his life, she’d probably break down in tears alongside him.

His breath hitched slightly when she said his name and a small smile spread across his lips. He then folded his arms on top of his knees and rested his chin on top of them, relaxing a bit.

With Jackie’s arms around him, it became much more obvious how skinny he actually was. With his exoskeletal shell, it was difficult to discern, but De’Tearion was truly very thin, even for his naturally slender frame. If he had been human, he’d be nothing more than skin and bone.

(Eh, depends on the day. Sometimes it’s a massacre, sometimes the nerds have already run themselves down for the night and they actually sleep through 3 am, lol)

De’Tearion sighed shakily. He didn’t want to talk about it, but there was no hiding it now.

“No, ‘tis caused by my inability to find peace. I have no motivation to eat most times. My appetite has grown smaller and smaller over the years. I know this for… this be the first time not I have suffered this. This be the third time I have starved myself to this point. And, I have no purpose. No reason to continue…”he trailed off as he took a deep breath.

He debated saying more, then decided that context would serve both of them better in the end. Even if context meant great pain for him.

“The first time I starved was related to my grief, and my need to avenge Agatha. The second time was influenced by my lingering grief as I sought to further discover my love for Mina, a human princess that reminded me of Agatha. Yet, avenging Agatha cost me Mina, and I fled from her hatred. I have no one else, nothing else,”he said quietly.

(Um… depends. Usually it’s a couple at a time, with ‘supervisors’, lol. But, other times, it’s most of them chasing each other)

“How can it be broken? I have been fighting this for nearly three human decades, and every opportunity, especially those that nearly succeeded, has failed. Why continue when there be no solution?”he questioned.

De’Tearion paused at her words, shrinking away from them. Every time he found hope, it was crushed. And, every time he found friendship or even love, it was destroyed. He couldn’t do it again.

“‘Shattered’ be a more fitting word,”he commented, his shaky voice barely audible.

(It can be, but it’s also fucking hilarious, lol)

De’Tearion snorted,”My rage has been with me my entire life. It will take more than merely ‘trying my best’ to be rid of it. It will take more than me to be rid of it.”

His breath became shaky as he fought against another wave of tears. It was humbling to know, to experience, the weakness of his will. He couldn’t be alone. He couldn’t survive alone. Agatha had always been there, but he had still been alone. No one had comforted him, protected him, loved him despite all of his flaws. Mina had been willing to take that role, until he’d betrayed her. Then, he was alone once more, figuratively and literally. That had emotionally crippled him, likely beyond repair. He needed someone, possibly more than he was already aware.

But, how could he explain it all? How could he ‘break the cycle’, as Jackie said? His every attempt had failed, and he didn’t know how to fix it, or avoid it. He was helpless, sinking into quicksand and screaming for help, even as his mouth and lungs filled with debris.

He was unaware of Jackie’s next words as he fought the rising surge of troubling thoughts. But, had he heard them, he likely would’ve fully burst into tears, just because it described him so accurately at the moment.

(True, lmao!)

(Fair warning, self-harm coming. Just in case, because I can’t remember if you’ve got any triggers. If it’s an issue, just let me know and I’ll change it)

De’Tearion watched Jackie warily, barely able to meet her eyes as she faced him. As she spoke, his composure finally snapped and tears started running down his face.

“You know not what you are imbedding yourself in,”he said, his voice cracking.

He turned away, no longer able to face her as he cried.

“I am more broken than my dear Agatha. I devoted my life to protecting her from the bastards of our species. They attacked her relentlessly, yet she somehow found a way to happiness through it all. I… I only fell further into despair. And… when she… when my dearest Agatha… died in my arms… after moons of watching her decay from a poisoned wound I could heal not… I…”he trailed off, crying into his knees.

A wail burst from him, a high-pitched shriek that shattered any glass within a fifteen foot radius. De’Tearion remained curled, his entire body shaking now. His arms changed into their natural insectile form, reaching into his hair and clawing at his scalp, in the exact spot where he had hidden scars. It was now clear that those scars were created by his own claws, and he didn’t seem at all fazed by the pain as his claws tore into those scars, drawing black blood.

(Too many times to count, lol. I was raised with cats, so yeah… definitely too many times to count, lmao!)

(Sigh of relief. Okay, yay, good. I just wanted to double check, lol)

“‘Tis merely you not that I am concerned about,”he commented.

“You were betrayed not by your own species. I was hated by all of my ‘brethren’ for caring about Agatha. Have you ever tried ruling over an entire species that hates you? It took me a millennium to earn an inkling of respect from those bastards, until the night Agatha died. When she ceased, they acted like she never existed, and showed me the first signs of respect in my entire life. I abdicated that night, and made myself an outcast,”he said softly.

The moment Jackie grabbed his hands, De’Tearion lunged forward with a wild shriek. He shoved her hard to the floor, freeing his hands, then held her down, his proboscis appearing and coiling in front of his mouth like a snake prepared to strike.

He paused just before continuing his attack and retracted his proboscis. He then tried to teleport away. Unfortunately, he was only able to teleport a few feet away, before reappearing on the floor, gasping in pain and exhaustion.

“Why have you abandoned me, Mercy? Why have you taken away everything I have?”he croaked.

De’Tearion sighed, then simply laid there, too dazed to move at the moment, and too depressed to motivate himself to try moving. He was barely aware that the scratches on his head were still bleeding.

(I have scars mainly on my arms and feet, lol. Mainly from cats. I’ve had dogs before, but I am not a dog person, and I’m being very serious when I say that. But, anyway, back to the cats, lol)

(No, I haven’t seen the rp, but I am very aware of Nyx, so it makes sense, lmao!)

“You misunderstand. I will be unable to handle it. I have tried to rebuild myself twice before. The first time I nearly went feral. The second time, I made a single mistake that ripped my near-success down to nothing. I cannot suffer that again,”De’Tearion whimpered.

Maybe it was her lack of fear, or even the look she had, which reminded him of her willingness to let him feed. De’Tearion wasn’t sure, but he just couldn’t go through with his attack. It was… like a window, and Agatha stared back at him, resolute… and disappointed.

De’Tearion flinched when Jackie came over with light in her hand. He then relaxed a bit as she healed him. It was actually quite shocking. No one had ever healed the scratches on his head, not even himself. And now…

Jackie took his hands, and De’Tearion breathed deeply, startled, but also relieved. Such a simple gesture meant so much to him, and there was no way for him to properly emphasize it.

“Mercy be Fate. She be the Moon, and Nature as well, yet she mostly be a form of Fate. And, her name be extremely misleading. Mercy be often merciless,”De’Tearion quietly explained.

He hesitated to respond to the rest of her words, but he noticeably focused on their entwined hands. It soothed him, and he slowly started to relax the longer their hands were together.

“I… know not who I need, except that I have had enough enemies for a lifetime. And, I have been alone for far too long. I hate being alone. There be no emphasis fitting enough to express how much I hate being alone,”De’Tearion said softly.

(Lol, I know the feeling with the cats. But, for some weird reason, dogs seem to like me, even though I can’t fucking stand them. Though, it doesn’t help that most of the dogs I had were pure fucking idiots, but I’ll spare you that very long ranting session, lol. So yeah, you won’t ever see me with a dog, lol)