TW: Angst ish

"Let me tell you a story," The storyteller murmured as he sank to the ground, one arm wrapped around his waist as if he was in pain. "It is the story of a monster that was born with the wrong soul. His body was designed for killing, long claws hung from his hands, teeth so sharp they pierced his own lip, a voice that could only produce the sharp click and guttering growls of their language. Any creature with eyes, ears and half a brain could tell he was a monster born from darkness. Black skin rippled with the muscles underneath as his glowing eyes illuminated the area around him. The ground around him seemed to suck up the feeble light whilst the darkness enveloped the pathetic rock they call home in a comforting blanket of nothingness."

"This was where they existed. They didn't live. Living was when life was exciting, full of emotions, and had others that made your life worthwhile living. The monster only knew this because he had seen it in others. He had never known what emotions where before the first time he left the rock. Mortals lived. They hugged and played, loved and were loved back, cared for and defended each other. That is what he wanted."

"While his body was that of a monster, his soul was more. As well as the eerie light, his eyes shone with an intelligence not seen in those surrounding him. His time in the mortal world was sat listening, trying to learn their language. It took him a long time, but he grasped the basic words, using what he knew about his own language to work out how words translated. Understanding was one thing, yet he remained incapable of reproducing the sounds he heard, let alone string them together in to recognisable words." The storyteller stopped telling his story for a moment, tensing his muscles as another wave of pain spasmed through his body. A hand gently stroked through his hair as a concerned looked crossed the face of the scientist, whose lap was currently being used as a pillow. Once the pain had died down, he continued his talking.

"The monster yearned for such a life. He wished to know what love and friendship felt like, but it was never an option for him. Others of his kind didn't recognise such things to be important, didn't see why he should wish to feel emotions. In their minds, if they needed them, they would have evolved with them. As it was, they had survived generations without and saw no reason to change now. There was one who saw the monster in another was."

"This was a new kind of creature to the world of monsters. It had lived among mortals for years, even took the shape of one of their males (despite having no gender itself), yet they had never ventured from their world. They saw differently from others, living creatures appeared as a glowing light that represented their soul. It was only once it knew the creature well enough would it be able to see its solid form. In this new world, it saw only dark shadows creeping round, all identical to each other. That was, until it saw this monster, who was a beacon on light, enclosed and trapped by the shadows around it. The soul looked much like one of a mortal and out of place in this world, yet was the same creature as the walking shadows. The soul seer noted this as an opportunity, approaching the beacon creature with as much caution as curiosity."

"The monster felt rather than saw them approach. They appeared from the void in which it had hidden itself, showing themselves to only this monster, and offered a deal. Ten years in the human world with a human body to fit its soul. Should the monster prove that it deserved to be human still, it would remain human for the rest of a mortal life span. The monster gazed in wonder at the floating saviour in front of him, and accepted the offer. A new darkness surrounded him, this one darker and more alone than that which had surrounded his home. Pain invaded everywhere, twisting, pulling and pushing his body into a new shape. The magic that flowed through his body supplying energy stuttered and confined itself to his blood. His eyes burned as they changed shape and had the colour pulled out of them, leaving mortal eyes of the deepest blue. The stretched smile of his mouth was fused back together into a smaller mouth, sharp teeth biting each other until they were ripped from their places and replaced with smaller, more rounded ones. Black skin peeled off and fell to the ground around him as new, tender, tan skin took its place. Soft, brown hair forced its way through his scalp and coated his head. Sharp claws retracted into fingers with short nails. The darkness around him rushed in and coated his body in dark clothing. With his bubble of privacy gone, the now-mortal-monster looked around to discover he was now in the human world. The soul seer floated next to him. It told him his name, then left. The mortal was tired, so he lay on the soft grass that felt so strange in his new body. It brought him the joy of new senses. He would have thought it smelt sweet, if he had known that's what the smell was called. All he knew was he liked it, that he wonder why he people had only evolved with four senses. Tiredness hugged his mind, dragging him down into the thoughtless nothingness that made up his dreams."

The storyteller looked longingly up at the sweet face that was smiling down at him, clinging on to every word he said in that strange, yet soothing, accent. The scientist's trademark googles were pushed up into his hair, causing the blonde mess to stick up and out in all directions. The teal eyes that were so often covered reflected the storyteller's own face back at him. "He awoke again, to see the morning sunrise blotted out by red hair that rivalled the colours behind it. A girl was knelt in front of him. She asked if he was okay. He did not answer, because, despite years of listen and trying to learn their language, he had no idea what she had said. His blank, slightly lost look must have given something away, as she offered a hand to help him up. This he knew, as it was a gesture he had seen before. Unfortunately, in ended by him accidently pulling her down instead of her pulling him up. As she lay on top of him, while he lay on the wet morning grass, she started to laugh. As you may know, laughing can be contagious, as it made him start to chuckle as well. It wasn't as soft or light as hers but it seemed to make her smile even more. That made him feel... tingly, in a good way. This was his first experience of happiness, the first time he truly knew what it was like to live. He didn't care about any of that. All he cared about was the beauty that lay across him laughing and smiling in a way that made him want to always see her smile. Eyes that most would call rather ordinary gazed back into his, the bright green spiking as the opposite of his deep blue eyes. Hello was the next thing she said, this time he understood. He didn't know why, but mortals would often say this word to each other and expected the same word back in reply. It seemed like an odd waste of time, but he tried anyway. The attempt sounded close enough to the word, just with a slight twist on the way it sounded. She smiled again. He liked making her happy. Grasping the concept that he could really talk her language, she took it slow, first pointing at herself then saying the word Zoey. This word was harder for him; the harsh z sound wasn't within his ability, so it came out mode Soey."

"She was his first friend. Communication was hard at first, but he was a fast learner and could sort of use was he already knew. Zoey was patient with him, taking her time to make sure he understood, or trying to explain if he didn't. Over time, she introduced him to her other friends, the small group quickly becoming a close family." A look of sadness crossed the storytellers face. "Then it happened."

"One day, two of the mortal men began to fight. It started out a petty arguing and stupid punch-ups that somehow lead to all their homes being destroyed. House after house got burnt down or blown up as the two raged onwards in their battle, oblivious to the pain and damage they were causing around them. The soul seer made another appearance, pulling the two mortals apart from the fight, showing them what they had done to others. The flame haired girl that meant so much to the mortal-turned-monster lay in a crimson puddle that steadily grew around her, struggling to pull in a painful breath. The monster-turned-mortal knelt beside her, forcing all of the magic he had to heal her. He would die without his magic, yet he sacrificed all her had to try and keep her alive. The soul seer saved them both from death, and took the small group of once friends to a new area to live, each one choosing a separate place to call home rather than creating another village like they had once had. The monster-turned-mortal found the flame haired girl in this new land; she came to live with him as his apprentice. His rage at the two destructive mortals was soothed by her child like presence. He felt he should always care for her, never abandoning her to a life of solitude. She did not return such feelings of loyalty."

"It had barely been a year in the new home they had built, a new member of their odd crew had joined. This was a mute dinosaur called Teep. He had been around their old village a bit, but not often with them. He had only lost his voice during the fight, the scars coating his neck in a harsh reminded. Like the mortal-turned-monster, Teep had no love for the two mortals that fought. He too felt the loyalty towards the flame haired girl that showed so much kindness towards him after he accidentally hurt her. She took Teep with her when she left."

"The monster-turned-mortal was hurt. His mind was screaming at him, telling how useless he was, how he had driven her away, how it could only be his fault as she was too perfect to hurt anyone. The feeling of shattered emotions and self-blame slowly drove him insane, until all that was left was the fear of being alone again like when he had truly been a monster, and the rage at the two mortals for destroying their home village and family. All his energy was channelled into fighting them, destroying them like they had destroyed others. Simply so someone would notice him again. Purely for the sake of not being completely alone, ignored and insane. Far too late, he realised his ten years were soon going to be up, his time having been wasted away waging war fuelled by hatred. So now the time is up, the soul seer comes to him to change him back and send him home..."

"And I'm so scared. I don't want to go back to being that emotionless creature that only knew how to kill and destroy. I can't cope with the ever present loneliness of no one knowing I exist, feeling crushed by the empty space around me. All I wanted was to love and be loved, but I wasted my time fighting petty arguments in pointless ways." Tears were now creeping their way down the storytellers face. He looked like a child that had just been told they were going to die. That was how he felt. The scientist he was laying on carried on stroking his hair, hushing and soothing him in a way only the scientist could.
"The only reason I fought back was so you would keep coming back to my castle." The scientist murmured to him. "Rythian, I love you. I just never knew how to say it."

The storyteller gazed up at him in wonder. "I love you too, but time is up. It's too late for me." As if to emphasise his point, the soul seer now floated above them, his hand outstretched towards the monster-turned-mortal in the same way the flame hair girl had done the first time he had met her. The soul seer pulled him up into what would seem like a hug, as the monster-turned-mortal looked down at the scientist and smiled one last time. "Goodbye. Lalna, my love."

With that they were gone, the scientist left weeping on the grass in his own garden, staring at the space where the soul seer and his lost lover had been before. They had such few precious minutes after discovering it was not hate that kept pulling them together. Just enough time for one last story to have been told.

"Take care of him, Ridge." The scientist said to the empty sky, "For me."

Credit to quite_probably_lying on Ao3