Prince of Penance

This Chapter has violent an graphic descriptions of blood. Reader descretion is advised.





Chapter Twenty Two: Vengeance Of The Dragon



Gruffi plodded down the steps to the Palace courtyard with a soft sad sigh. He would miss this Island, and the people in it. The royal family had been kinder to him and his kin than any royal Gummi family he had ever met, and some of the people he had made friends with here were such good people that it was hard to say good bye.

But it was a world of decadence that wasn't his own. There were vipers here, hidden snakes that now coiled around his family and squeezed them in their clutches. There was venom here, and pain. Death and gloom hung over their heads like a thunderhead threatening to break hell over their psyches.

There would be no healing for them, no relief from the Gusto shaped hole in their hearts, until they were home again. Even Tummi had declined joining the navy permanently, his dream, in favour of returning to Gummi Glen with his family.

Everything just hurt still, for them all. But at least he, Gruffi, could feel the pain now and allow himself to feel it. It was much worse being an ice statue.

Ice is sharp and cuts and hurts those who try to touch it. And I need to be warm, to hurt, so I can hurt with my family as a family. So we can hurt together.

It didn't exactly make sense. But Gruffi understood and accepted it.

"Are you sure I can't convince you to remain?" Misti said, eyes damp with her tears. "To stay with us? At least for Bryton's coronation."

"Our home is Dunwyn," Zummi said immediately, speaking on their behalf, "We have an obligation to return to it. A duty. And our home is calling us."

"Well my heart and thoughts go with you," said Misti, eyes damp. "If I could go with you, I would. But my son is all I have now. He needs me here."

Gruffi nodded in understanding. She hugged them all one at a time.

"The servants will bring your things to the boat. There's no need to carry them."

"No, we're Glen Gummis," said Gruffi. "We came as Glen Gummis and we shall leave that way."

He hefted his sack, and almost broke down immediately when Misti kissed his cheek, and their tears mingled. He'd been crying a lot since yesterday, but her gentle sorrow, and her obvious pity, were too much for him to bear. He had to get away.

"All is prepared your Majesty," said Karse heavily as he approached them. "Prince Bryton will be waiting to send you off at the pier."

"Thank you Admiral," Gruffi said, trying not to grit out his words. He still felt animosity towards the bear, but managed to cover it. "We are grateful for all of your help and we..."

A loud thunderous alarm bell suddenly pounded in his brain. It echoed throughout the island, it wailed through the streets, and it caused the Queen to put her hand to her mouth in horror.

"The alarm!" she said with a cry. "Oh Karse the alarm!"

"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" Karse shouted, and ran to his pony, pole vaulting onto it and galloping out of the Courtyard. "TO ARMS!"

The Glen Gummis all immediately dropped their packs to follow Queen Misti, who ran after Karse with her skirts in her hands.

"Wait for me!" she cried. "Wait!"

"Your majesty wait for us!" Gruffi shouted, following after her. "Come on!"

Screams of fright echoed through the city as Gummis by the hundreds fled the shoreline towards the center of the island, their homes abandoned.

"The alarm bell is only sounded when humans attack," Misti told them, huffing as she ran. "But humans haven't attacked the Island for a hundred years!"

There were sailors and soldiers everywhere by the bridge which lead from the street to the docks. Prince Bryton was there, and he and the soldiers were keeping everyone at bay, preventing them from going down to the pier where the sailors were scurrying around in panicked action.

"Your Majesty!" Karse said to Misti once she had arrived. "The lookout spotted something large approaching the island from the east under the water! Its moving fast!"

"ADMIRAL!" the lookout shouted down from his tower, his voice rippling over the crowd of people in a shriek that was layered with levels of hot white fear. "ITS THE KRAKEN!"

All sound and motion stopped for a moment, when Gruffi could do nothing but stare out towards the sea, and the dark shape that was moving towards them like a shark to its prey.

"It's never attacked the island before!"

"What do we do?"

"Stay calm, don't panic everyone!" Bryton said. "Mother!"

"The Kraken," Misti breathed. Then she stood up and her eyes went cold. "TO ARMS! Admiral Karse, harpoons at the ready! We shall deal with this monster once and for all, if I have to go into battle myself to kill it!"

"As you command My Queen!"

At once about twenty men flung themselves to the pier, the sailors arming themselves with whatever sharp implements they could grab, the soldiers with harpoons and spears.

"We shall drive it away," Karse was saying. "Catapult! Ready!"

The Kraken was approaching at a fast clip now, its target was obviously the island. The seas were frothing and crashing in violent defiance of the crowd of sailors waiting to do battle.

"FIRE!"

The boulder flew through the air and landed with a splash in the water, two inches from where the Kraken had just been. The boulders kept narrowly missing the barrelling figure in the water, where they flew, as if by magic. People began screaming, chaos erupted at the pier.

"Catapult ready!" Karse cried again, raising his sword.

"Its too late!" cried the lookout. "ITS GOING TO CRASH!"

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

But it didn't crash; it jumped right out of the sea. The sailors parted ranks in fright as the mammoth serpentine beast launched itself from the water, its slippery scaled body reaching a height that no creature that massive should have been able to reach. Its ragged tail left the water and the entirety of the beast was seen for barest mind breaking seconds before the creature landed ,with a squelch upon the stone pier like a water logged coil of rope. The massive creature struggled, and then let out a shriek that echoed up the island like the sound of two ships crashing together. Wood splintering, metal and the sound of a thunderhead, all in one great shattering harpy wail that crashed through Gruffi's brain like a canon blast.

"By the Great Gummis! Its beached itself!" Karse said hotly. "It suicided! The great brute!"

The creature was writhing in obvious pain. It lurched forwards, scrambling with its chubby body to reach the crowd of people just four hundred meters away. Misti was clutching Gruffi's hand now so tightly that he felt her nails digging into his shoulder; she had been restraining him from going forward to join the sailors on the pier where they stood at the ready with their weapons. He hadn't realized he'd been trying to go, he just had.

"Surround it!" Karse shouted. "We'll hurry its passing! Aim for its belly, that's the only place without those blasted scales!"

Gruffi felt his breath hitch watching the creature fumble upon the stones like a beached whale. It was dying, its breaths were ragged and pained.

"Its over," Misti whispered to Gruffi. "Its going to be over now."

Gruffi nodded vaguely, chest hurting from trying to breath. The sailors approached the monster.

Suddenly it gave a lurch, shrieked like a dying thing, and a torrent of blood erupted from its mouth.

"Oh Great Gummis don't let the children see that!" Grammi shrieked, holding Cubbi's face to her skirts. "Good heavens, Admiral do something!"

"What should you have me do? Hold a blanket up before the crowd?" he said with hot sarcasm. "Cervus, flank the beast with your militia from behind, prevent it from escaping again back into the sea!"

Gruffi felt his stomach twist in agony. He clutched Misti's hand and his eyes watered. It couldn't die fast enough. It was suffering, but he willed it to die, to go away, to dissappear forever, and end his pain. His agony.

"Its dying now, it can't breath properly outside the water..." Karse was saying sickly. "Lets end this once and for all! Gummis, weapons at the ready!"

But the creature rolled over, so fast that the sailors that had been approaching it with the intent to stick it with their harpoons had to run away from it to a safe distance again. Its pale belly protruded up to the sky, it gave a sickening wrenching whine of pain...

Then a torrent of blood shot up from his belly as a hole was ripped open by something sharp and pointy from inside its body. All motion ceased on the pier and all noise died, saved for the whimpering pain of the floundering beast.

"By the Great Gummis!" Bryton declared. "By the Great Gummis alive!!"

The sharp object in question was a dagger, and that dagger was followed by a hand, that pushed up through the flesh of the beast like a ragged infant trying desperately to free itself from its dying mother's body. The arm was slick and blood red, and paused in its pushing as if in contemplation. It then pulled back into the creature, and the creature jerked as the dagger was used once more to cut an even larger hole in its body, a fountain of blood bubbling up from the massive wound that was created.

It was clear to all that something inside the creature was fighting its way out of its body by force. Something was making war with the creature, and the creature had already lost the battle. The Kraken gave another shuddering lurch of pain, and more blood poured out from its mouth, leaving a wide puddle on the stone street that caused the sailors to take many disgusted steps backward to avoid touching.

Then something slimy, something slick, wet and thin pulled itself from the wound. Two arms followed by a head and a long furry body. The figure climbed out of the wound to stand upon the belly of the creature, blood soaking its fur, the puss and ichor from the wound clinging to its slimy body. For a moment in time the figure stood on the monster's back as if it was the Kraken's newly born offspring, dementedly trying to figure out where it was, and what to do next.

It was Gusto.

"By the great Gummis. Its not possible!" Bryton croaked. "Its just not possible!"

Gruffi didn't dare breath. It was like a nightmare and a miracle all at once; his heart had stopped pounding in his chest and his brain wouldn't function.

Gusto turned his head, red blood dripping from his fur, to look towards them, a dazed tragic look in his eyes. For a moment he stood there, nude and wet and bloody, a young titan out of a Grecian myth. He was a nubile god of the sea triumphing over the monster he was ready to consume, dagger poised as if ready to begin slicing off chunks of flesh to feast upon.

Suddenly, Gusto lurched sideways as the creature shuddered again, and rolled off its fat body onto the ground, dropping the dagger and landing with a splash upon the blood soaked stones.

Gruffi started forward, but was being held in place by Misti and Karse, who were staring at Gusto in shock and horror. Nobody moved. Gusto stood to his feet again, slipped in the puddle of blood, stumbled forward, then bent and wrenched, expelling the content of his stomach.

Gusto...

A fire filled Gruffi's belly, and he wrenched himself from Karse and Misti's grasp when they, for a moment, were distracted with covering their eyes rather than viewing Gusto vomit. Fancy people had weak stomachs. But it didn't matter. Gruffi ran for his dear life towards Gusto and the creature, and only paused a moment when his feet hit the bloody puddle; as if he had to think, to decide.

No, there was no decision needed. He propelled himself towards the other bear madly, then against all thought or sanity pulled Gusto into his arms, blood and filth squelching between them and onto his clothes, the ichor from Gusto's drenched fur staining Gruffi's hands, his cheek and face as he pressed their heads together, crying. The vile smell of the Kraken's filth filled his lungs and he breathed it in, endured for a brief moment what Gusto had endured for as long as he had, shared in the hell and misery of his lover, and just allowed himself to feel hurt.

Two slick hands wrapped themselves around his waist holding him there weakly. Gusto felt like a skeleton, like skin and bones, and his breathing was ragged.

"Oh hon..." he croaked. "Hon hon hon..."

"You're alive, you're alive, you're alive," Gruffi repeated over his sobbing. "Alive alive..."

"Yeah.." Gusto said. "Yeah.." Which seemed all he could say. "I am."

Both of them jumped in fright as the creature gave one last shuddering, gasping ragged hiss and died, its body rolling sideways again and showering them in one final thick curtain of blood.

Gruffi closed his eyes, determined not to look at the mess they were, and let Gusto pull him from the filthy thing away towards the clean stones. Then both of them hissed as they were suddenly drenched from head to toe in clean cold water from a barrel that Chummi was now holding over both of their heads.

"There you go lads," said the hearty bear. "Nothing a good bath can't clean up. Aye good sailors, get your hoses and we'll clean up this mess. That thing'll be easy to drag out to sea, nothing but a thick skinned sack of blood n' guts 'tis. You two lads go on and get yourselves cleaned up and rested, earned yourself a rest up..."

A million things were happening all at once. The sailors converged upon them now with water hoses and buckets to clean away the blood. People were cheering, chanting over and over in victory of the creature's death. Gruffi stumbled along with Gusto away from the sailors back towards the waiting crowd down the street. He was very consciously aware of Gusto's ragged breathing, and that a large amount of his fur was missing from his skin. Gruffi pushed this back in his head and tried to think logically of getting his lover away from the crowd back to the Palace.

But he was cheering inside. His heart was hurting for his lover, but he was cheering inside. His was rejoicing for all his pain turned over and all his ache of mourning passed away.

Gusto was alive. He was breathing. He was with Gruffi again. He was going to be all right.

He was suffering, and shuddering with ever ragged breath of air he took in. Gruffi pulled away to look Gusto in the eyes. Those eyes were covered in a white slimy film, his face was drawn and his nose was caked with red and black goo. He looked like death, like bloody death.

"Are you all right...?" Gruffi said faltering.

Gruffi had never seen anyone survive such a thing before, and it hit him like a punch to the gut. It was nothing like he had experienced before, and for a moment he was unsure of what to do. Never in Gruffi's organized world had this ever happened before. He always knew what to do, always.

"I'm fine," Gusto said hoarsely. "Just get me away from people..." he said with a hiss. "Away from them."

But the crowd was moving towards them now, and it was all Gruffi could do to hold Gusto upright so the bear wouldn't collapse, let alone try to escape the crowd.

Bryton was the first to arrive, his hands simultaneously outstretched and then pointing forwards towards the creature, and back, shock and complete awe in his eyes.

"How...how is it possible?" Bryton said, the moment he arrived. "H...how did you survive for three days inside that thing? W...was there air?"

Gusto's eyes dilated and he stiffened, hiccoughing threateningly.

"Oh there was air..." said the bear hugely. "Yes...there was air all right..."

"Gusto..." Misti said, sobbing softly and moving hesitantly towards him to put a hand towards his face. "Brave sweet Brother..."

"No...no don't touch me!" Gusto hissed, and she jumped back. "I...don't know what this slime will do to you...but its responsible for all this..." he rubbed the bare spots on his fur. "I...I just...I...I remembered who I was finally. I remembered when I was just ready to die...you know? But that damn compass kept humming...never did find it...and then Gruffi's dagger. Oh where is it? It saved me, where is it?"

Gusto suddenly looked stricken, and Misti sent her page to go get his dagger from the pier with a description of it, then she summoned servants to bring a pony and her best carriage to bring them home to the palace. Gruffi just acted as a crutch for his lover, letting him lean on him and talking softly to him about how silly he had been to think Gusto was dead, how silly he had been to cry and be sad when he was alive.

"No, not silly," Gusto said. "Not silly...Simply wonderful. Yeah...I like that."

Grammi and the other Glens were the next to talk to him, on the way home on the carriage, welcoming him back with tears of joy and chattering conversation. But after a few moments it was apparent that Gruffi and Gusto were lost in their own little world, joy at being reunited at last keeping them from paying any mind to anyone else around them.

"Come on hon..." said Gruffi firmly. "Lets get you back home, and cleaned up."

"Yeah...home. Gruffi? I...kinda want to stay here for awhile..."

"We're not in any rush now..." Gruffi said. "Its fine hon...we'll stay."

Gusto nodded and leaned on Gruffi's shoulder with a soft sigh. It would be all right now. It would be all right.


--Yes, there is more, and sweet fluff to come! Will round out this story nicely with the chapters afterwards. Yes, I loves my fic, I loves writing my fic. :3