𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 — druskelle

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 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐀𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐒 a broken man. Just one glance at his sweat and blood-ridden face was enough for Aleksa to see that his honour, his pride and his conscience had been snapped like a flimsy little twig beneath a muddied boot.

 When the Druskelle had entered the arena and spun the wheel that would determine his fate, Aleksa had known that the Fjerdan would never be the same again. He had to fight wolves. Aleksa had done her studying beneath the Black Heretic's eagle eyes, he'd made sure she knew every little detail there was to know about the Fjerdans, the Ravkan's and Shu's... everyone.

 Wolves were sacred to the Druskelle; they were bred for battle like war horses and treated as more than a mere animal. They were companions, partners on the battlefield. The Druskelle would each find their own and present themselves to the animal as a friend. Whether they made it out without a scratch or a bite was another story entirely.

 But in Hellgate, you either fought for the win, or you died. You either picked up the blades buried below sand, dust and blood, or you watched as your own mingled in the ashes. Matthias Helvar had won; he'd snapped the jaw of one of the wolves, prying it open as though it were a snake, while the other had been stabbed by a rusted blade.

 The man had stooped his head, remaining on his knees as he likely prayed for forgiveness.

 Aleksa had seen the way Nina's hands had rattled, the way she gasped and swallowed with such harshness she almost made herself vomit. She'd argued with Kaz, threatening to squeeze his cold black heart until it was no more than a sliver of useless flesh; she'd gone to him on numerous occasions and begged for him to help Matthias and he'd refused every single time, for what could Matthias have offered him? Now, however, Matthias Helvar was useful.

 They had all managed to slip their way through the crowd, twisting and turning through damp hallways all the while Nina readied her hands to slow the beating hearts of the guards in their way. They got by without a hitch, and now Kaz was fiddling with the lock sealing a beaten and bruised Matthias away.

 All it took was a heartbeat, and the look clattered into his awaiting palm.

 The cell was shrouded entirely in darkness but Aleksa could see the lump of a man sprawled out over his thin cot. He looked a mess, even through the tinted haze Aleksa could see the bruises lining his flesh, the blood still soaking his knuckles and cheek.

 Then, she blinked as Kaz tapped his foot upon the ground. Just one click. Aleksa pried a bonelight from the pocket of her coat hidden dutifully beneath the scarlet cloak billowing at her back. With just a single shake, the room erupted with an awful cold-green glow. The bonelights were strange little things, made from the dried and crushed fluorescents of luminous deep-sea fishes, and while the green made Aleksa's eyes water, they were far easier to haul than a flickering lantern.

 To be entirely fair, it wasn't as filthy as Aleksa thought it'd be. She stepped in first, ignoring the little look Kaz had given her. It was as cold as a glacier, but she supposed for a Fjerdan used to barreling through snow, it was nothing. There was a stack of old and ratty blankets towards the far side, right beside a bucket that had a bloodied rag tossed over the edge.

 This was a luxury for someone living out their sentence in Hellgate. This is what they competed for; a cell of their own, blankets with holes in the fabric, clean water and a bucket for their waste. Aleksa dreaded to think what the regular cells looked like when occupied.

 "Well, he looks a sight." Aleksa couldn't hold her tongue as she spied Matthias. He was asleep, or unconscious, she didn't quite know or care... but his back was to the wall, giving her a splendid view of his swelling face.

 There was something within her, something rather awful, that was quite delighted at the sight. He'd probably helped capture so many Grisha, burned them at the stake like a witch of old. She almost wondered what he'd do when he'd inevitably find out what kind of Grisha she was.

 Aleksa was quite looking forward to the heart attack she'd give him.

 Nina tutted at her words and moved closer, her hands at the ready. However, before she could so much as begin her attempt at healing the broken ribs Helvar likely had, or the wine-coloured bruises dotted over his chest, Kaz flung out his cane that Inej had managed to sneak beneath her cloak.

 He kept it before Nina like a barricade, "Inej will assess the damage."

 "I can —"

 "I need you to work on Muzzen."

 Ah... poor Muzzen, Aleksa thought. The sorry sod had agreed to have his face manipulated until boils and breakouts were smeared over every inch of flesh; for Kruge, of course. He'd be a stand-in just in case a guard or two decided to pay the poor Druskelle a visit; they'd find his face entirely unrecognisable for it would be smothered in firepox.

 Muzzen took centre stage then. His cloak was shed from his shoulders, hood sliding away to reveal his newly shaved head. His trousers had been traded for the very same ones that Matthias was wearing; each leg ruffled and frayed.

 Nina clearly clocked on, and yet she wasn't quite aware that a small breakout of firepox was to ravage the little cell they were all crowded within. She raised an incredulous brow, eyes sliding between Muzzen and Matthias... They shared no similarities besides their stature and shaved craniums, "You can't possibly mean for Muzzen to take Matthias' place."

 Aleksa patted dear Muzzen's lump of an arm, "He's not much for riveting moonlight talks, Nina dearest but that's not why he's here. You're going to replicate every little bump and bruise that your little lover —" Nina scowled through the dusting of pink atop her cheeks, "— over there has. Inej?"

 "Hm?" Inej hummed, carefully prying Matthias' mouth open to assess the damage to his teeth.

 "Damage?"

 "Bruised knuckles, chipped tooth, two broken ribs," Inej said. "Third and fourth on the left."

 "His left or your left?" Kaz asked.

 "His." Inej cocked her head and the little baby hairs she hated so very much brushed against her forehead, "Has a broken finger, too. The pointer on his right."

 Aleksa grimaced, though remained by Inej's side as she scanned Matthias once more just to make certain she hadn't missed a thing. The Wraith gladly took Aleksa's hand and hoisted herself to her rubber-soled toes.

 Nina, however, paced the length of the cell, "This isn't going to work," She chewed at her nails, snagging her lip in the process as she gestured towards Muzzen's obtuse head, "I can match the damage to Helvar's body, but I'm not a good enough Tailor to make Muzzen look like him."

 "Just trust me, Nina." Kaz said.

 "I wouldn't trust you to tie my shoes without stealing the laces, Kaz."

 Aleksa's cheeks puffed up in amusement; Nina wasn't entirely off course. If Kaz Brekker deemed it necessary to steal a man's shoelaces or even a slip of scrap paper... he would. His grubby little fingers would dip into their pockets or unravel the knot in their laces and he'd be on his merry way before they could say the word kruge.

 But Nina didn't need to worry about that, after all... they only needed her to obscure poor old Muzzens face, not change it. Aleksa planted a hand upon the Heartrenders shoulder before she could pace once more and wear a hole into the ground, "You're not changing Muzzen's face... unfortunately there's about to be a very severe case of firepox."

 "Firepox?"

 "The lupine strain. Poor Matthias Helvar is going to fall ill from those dastardly wolves he just fought," In true Aleksa fashion, she tossed a false look of mourning at their unconscious Druskelle, "Shame about that, by the way." Nina smacked her arm, "Tomorrow morning, when the guards find him..."

 Kaz finished for her, delightfully darkened eyes lingering for just a moment longer than he'd have liked. That hadn't happened yet, not in front of everyone. Kaz Brekker had been able to keep up appearances by scowling and sneering at her jibes and jests... but when she'd glossed her eyes over his face, pink lips still agape after finishing her words...

 Kaz cleared his throat, "His face will be unrecognisable. He'll be quarantined for a month to see if he survives the fever and to outwait the contagion. Meanwhile, Matthias will be with us," His eyes narrowed, "Get it?"

 Nina looked unsure, but nonetheless sighed, "You want me to make Muzzen look like he has firepox?" Upon Kaz's simple nod, she expanded further, "No matter what I do to him, it won't last a month. I can't give him a permanent fever."

 "My contact in the infirmary will make sure he stays sick enough. We just need to get him through the diagnosis. Now get to work."

 Aleksa stayed closer to Matthias' cot than Muzzens' side. She was all well and good with staring at blood and guts, she was fine with watching somebody stitch themselves up with a rusty needle and fishing wire... but she most certainly didn't want front-row seats to the atrocity that would soon shroud Muzzens features.

 She peered at Matthias again... He was exactly what you'd expect of a Druskelle. Tall and lean, even despite his months in prison. From the shoddy shave work on his head, Aleksa could just about make out the usual sprouting of blonde hair that so many Fjerdans were born with. His face was set in stone, hard even despite his rest.

 She almost wanted to kick him awake, just for fun. So many Grisha had been stolen from their ranks and homes all so that men like him could assert their power. They hated those different to them, but Grisha most of all. His kind deserved far more than a boot to the ass.

 Muzzen moaned and groaned throughout the entire process as warts and pus-filled blisters scoured his face. His skin was quivering and a flushed shade of bright red when Nina finally pulled her hands away.

 Aleksa grimaced, "You've never looked better, Muz."

 Muzzen managed to grin, even through chapped and bleeding lips. His arms were spread wide, his chest bare of his shirt as Inej took Nina's place and secured bandages upon his new wounds.

 He didn't look like Matthias, that much was certain... but, really, he didn't look like a human at all. Not with blood and yellow liquid seeping from his skin like water desperate to crawl through a crack in the wall.

 "All right," Kaz jutted his head towards Matthias, and Nina looked ever so mournful once again, "Get Helvar on his feet."

 Aleksa shook the bonelight once more, focusing the green glaze over Matthias' broken form. Nina kneeled beside him, hesitant fingers reaching for his face but before she could heal a wound, or make his tooth whole again, Kaz snapped, "Not the face, Nina. I need him mobile, not pretty —"

 "— Eh," Aleksa shrugged, surveying the man's features. To each their own, she supposed.

 Kaz sucked in a breath, it'd been a long time — too long — since he'd had to put up with the witty little comments, the jabs and jibes... the flirting. Nina's own little interruptions often halted in times of importance, Aleksa's, however... did not. She'd spout them all the while completing the task Kaz had set, he'd swiftly come to the conclusion that her attention to detail and astute work was simply so that she had a reason to combat his sighs and eye rolls whenever she's speak of his pretty face.

 Kaz ploughed on, "Heal him fast and only enough to get him walking for now. I don't want him spry enough to vex us."

 Aleksa almost wanted to laugh. Helvar might have been a Druskelle, he might have ensnared and carried Grisha to his homeland for hearings they'd inevitably lose... but now? He was just a man. There were no wolves, no men beside him. He didn't have his ropes and his knives...

 Maybe his fists could pack a hefty punch, but what good would that do if he couldn't see the world around him? Aleksa blinked, the bonelight blinding her would be swallowed in an instant should she call to the shadows... what would he do then?

 Nina's voice was shrouded in cracks as she called the Druskelle's name. Her eyes watered as she looked at him, trailing a light finger over the curve of his jaw.

 Aleksa might have held a predetermined disdain for the Drsukelle upon the cot... but the way Nina looked at him was so very soft, full of such fondness that even Nina knew was only going to be met with hatred.

 The Shadow Summoner brought her gaze higher, merely glancing around the room to at last offer Nina some semblance of privacy as she mourned the boy she had fallen in love with, and roused the man that likely despised her.

 She could feel a set of eyes on her form as Nina continued to coo at the oversized Fjerdan... in all honesty, Aleksa would have thought it to be Inej merely keeping track of each member of their ground, feet apart and ready to dart forth should Matthias wake in a bout of anger.

 But it was Kaz Brekker who stared at her. There was something behind his eyes, hidden from the others, that made Aleksa want to move to his side just as she usually did. That was how they were, they stood side by side ready to tear Ketterdam apart brick by brick.

 She remained in place, holding her eyes to his own as her head tipped just ever so slightly to the side. A curl toppled over her shoulder and bounced in the air.

 Kaz had heard Nina and the voice she spoke in. It was nothing like Aleksa's teasing edge. Nina's was full of the utmost concern that she could muster, a lingering hint of fondness that had yet to subside in the months she'd spent away from the Druskelle.

 Kaz would hear bite from Aleksa. He'd hear honey-smothered teasing and flirtatious comments that would drop any other man to his knees. He liked it. Of course he did... So why was he almost longing for the same tone Nina spoke in? Why did he almost crave to hear Aleksa's words without that edge she so often doused them in?

 He blinked, eyes drawn back to Matthias as he stirred.

 "Nina?" Matthias called. His voice was raw, likely due to the bundles of sand he'd managed to swallow in the midst of his fight, or perhaps from when the wolf had managed to swipe a paw at his neck, leaving behind an angry red gash.

 "Oh, Saints, Matthias," Nina whispered, her voice as soft as a feather, "Please wake up."

 Matthias's eyes whipped beneath closed eyelids, and then they opened. His gaze was an almost ghostly shade of blue, light enough that even the barest hint of light could turn them translucent in a beat.

 He blinked, eyes bleary, words somewhat slurred, "Nina," Matthias uttered gently as his knuckles smoothing along the flesh of her rosy cheek, "Nina?"

 Nina's stare flooded, "Shh, Matthias. We're here to get you out."

 Aleksa stumbled backwards, her legs smacked by Matthias' own as he lunged forth. As though he hadn't been wounded at all, Matthias scrambled for Nina with nothing but fiery rage within his eyes, embers growing within his gut. The pool of stagnant blue in his gaze quivered, darkening like murky water tainted by blood, "Nina," He growled.

 Matthias's hands had pushed their Heartrender to the ground, leaving no room for her to fight, to take hold of his heart and slow his thudding pulse.

 Then, Matthias' hands closed around Nina's neck.

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DATE: 30/04/2023

:･ﾟ★don't worry, loves. aleksa and Matthias have a few things to work out before they can be besties. meme below has me bellowing

(sorry for the gap in uploads, my writing AND autistic burnout is actually crippling at the moment, send help.)

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