Chapter Text
Two weeks, its been two weeks since Damsel found the image that wrenched itself into her mind. A gorgeous mountainous landscape stretched out over the horizon, surrounded by pine forests and accented by the breathtaking colour of the setting sun. She was overjoyed when she saw it was an actual place and not a painting.
The only problem was that it was at least seven hundred kilometres away and without a car or even any mode of transport (roller-skates don’t count), she would have to be content with simple images and reviews from hikers that walked the nature trails nearby.
But the longer she thought about it, the more the idea became ingrained and a desire, a want, formed in her gentle heart. She stewed, she planned and collected every bit of info she could until a solution presented itself on a silver platter.
The local car dealership was closing down and gave ridiculous discounts on any vehicles still in stock, one of them being an old, beat up RV. A week later it stood proudly in the parking lot of their apartment. Now she simply needed to gather the courage to tell Fury about her plans.
Fury is sat on the living room couch, holding a mug of tea and listening to Damsel ramble while her thoughts were somewhere else. She wasn’t one to be vain but the way she saw looked like a walking corpse was bothering her more and more the last few weeks. So much so that she started actively avoiding mirrors.
Luckily, Damsel’s obsession gave some reprieve, in the past weeks it had become somewhat of a ritual where Damsel would rattle of her amazement at the mountain range and Fury listening bemusedly. She chalked it up to her fascination with the new world they now found themselves in, something she could never find any interest in, afraid it might spit her back out.
Damsel was going on about how it looked in different seasons, a waterfall that was absolutely beautiful and how the stars were so much more visible there than in the city. Fury’s ears perk up as Damsel continues on, the phrase ‘when we go there’ sticking out like a sore thumb.
“What do you mean, ‘when we go there’?”
Damsel blanches, obviously caught in her scheme.
“Well, you see, I thought it would be nice to get out of the house a bit.” She looks towards the window overlooking the parking lot. “So… I bought a van so we could go together.”
Fury blinks.
“You what?”
“Yeah! Here look, you can see it over there!”
Damsel excitedly skips to the window, gesturing for Fury to follow along, immediately spotting the van. It has definitely seen better days, the bumper is rusty, the green colour has been sun bleached down to a pale mint and the windows have think layer of dust on them. One good thing is that the tires look brand new and Damsel assures her that all the internals are working properly.
The look on Fury’s face is a mix between incredulous, confusion and amusement.
“And who’s going to drive that metal box? Neither of us can.”
“I passed my exam last month!” Damsel beams back, grinning ear to ear.
Total bewilderment covers Fury’s face, her deep sunken eyes staring at Damsel as if she spontaneously grew a second head.
“Even then, I can’t just go outside. You know I don’t look like the people out there.” Her mind races, trying to come up with any excuse to stay safely inside.
“We can go at night! We’ll sleep during the day and visit all the pretty scenes when it’s dark and no one is around.”
“Damsel,” Fury says, a finality in her voice. “I’m not going with you. I’ll keep the apartment clean but I won’t leave.”
Damsel’s face falls and she mutters a soft sound of reluctant agreement as she stands there looking like a kicked puppy. Her big, misty eyes looking up a Fury as she meets them with her signature scowl, already fearing what is going to happen.
The time it takes for Fury to break is measured in seconds.
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The inside of the RV can generously be described as utilitarian. Fury can’t help but be at least a little impressed with how they managed to get everything stowed away in such a small space. There’s even a small stove that they’ll probably never use but the fact that it’s there is nice.
The problem however is that Fury’s body is simply too big to comfortably fit so they’ve had to permanently fold in the dining table to make space for the bed, just so Fury had somewhere to sit and fit her tail as Damsel drives.
Even now, Fury feels the walls of the RV closing in on her. They had to draw the curtains and she’s taken to habitually checking if they’re still drawn to put her mind at ease. She’d never thought that she’d miss the concrete walls of the apartment but now she knows that thin, metal walls are far worse. She’s exposed, like something could burst through them at any second, or worse, that she could rip through them without even noticing.
Even getting into the RV was stressful. With Damsel scouting ahead to see if no one was around, the absolute nerve wracking minutes she spent alone near the entrance constantly on guard and ready to sprint or hide. A feeling of resentment and exasperation at Damsel’s begging weighing on her like a millstone.
She spend some time bored, only hearing the sound of the tires on the road before she dared to take a peek out of the curtains. Other cars driving by, the trees next to the road melting into a green haze as they fly by. It all feels so strange and unfamiliar to her. Every time another driver even glances in their direction, she ducks away, tail going rigid in preparation for danger.
Eventually, the novelty of staring at the outside starts to fade and she can’t help but spot her own reflection in the window as her eyes glaze over. The gaunt face and crown made of spikes jammed into her flesh staring back as she remember her face from before her desecration.
Damsel meanwhile is keeping her eyes on the road ahead, her hands steady on the wheel in a ten and two position, just like she was told. The vast landscape stretching out before her.
As she turns a corner in the winding road she sees it, just in the distance, a vast mountain range stretching out in all directions, pine treees obscuring its base and the midday sun turning it into swathes of light and dark. The sight fills her with awe and she stares for a moment before her eyes snap back onto the road just in time to make a turn.
“Look! Were almost there!” She says excitedly, looking back at Fury who quickly stops peeking through the curtains, as if she’s caught doing something bad.
“Oh, I see.” Is all she says, her flat tone and unimpressed look on her face putting an immediate damper on Damsel’s mood.
“Yeah, don’t worry, it’s still very pretty at night.” Try as she might, disappointment is still very clear in her voice.
Damsel turns into a small parking lot not even thirty minutes later, itching to stretch her legs a bit and take some pictures with a floral patterned disposable camera she bought as one of her many preparations. She turns to Fury as she parks the car
“Can I go on a walk and take some pictures?”
“Sure.” Is all Fury replies.
A nagging fear that she’s just bothering Fury with her presence has nestled in Damsel’s chest, slowly eating away at her already meagre self confidence. She barely looks at the mountains as she tries to take some pictures.
Back in the RV, Fury is stretching her shoulders. Accompanied by the satisfied clicking of tendons and pops of air bubbles in cartilage. She moves over to the legs, her ankles in particular crackling like sparks of electricity.
While the van is big enough for her to fit, it is a far cry from comfortable. Her hunched back is screaming for some relief as she moves herself to the floor and start to twist her torso further and further. A series of sequential cracks followed by a satisfied groan indicating her success.
Lastly, she moves to her neck. Whatever position it was in during her travels have left it in a horrible kink. She twists it as far as the muscles will go, then grabs her horns and yanks it further, almost twisting it a full 180 degrees. The sound similar to a falling tree, wood splintering with a loud snap.
Panting comes from the far side of the van.
Her head twist back with the same horrific snap reverberating through the RV as Fury makes eye contact with a small dog. It’s teeth bared and low growls telling Fury to stay away.
Only the tiniest movement from her sends the beast sprinting away like it’s life depends on it. Scared whimpers echoing through the parking lot, getting the attention from all those present. Mainly Damsel who, having just bought some snacks from a vending machine, sees a dog sprinting away from her van.
With mounting horror she realises that she forgot to close the door.
Sprinting back, Damsel nearly crashes into the van as she jumps inside with wide eyes, just in time to see Fury’s expression change from bewilderment to something darker, more hopeless.
“I’m so sorry! I thought the door was closed and I would be back soon so there wasn’t really any way this could happen -.”
Fury turns around and curls up on the bed, not even bothering with an answer. The tip of her tail swishing to and fro in annoyance.
“I’m fine, I’m happy. That’s the only thing that’s important right?” The temperature in the van drops below freezing with how cold and detached Fury’s words are.
“Just drive to your mountain and then we can go home.”
Some hours later, as evening falls and with the van parked on nearby camping grounds, Damsel busies herself with the skilful preparation of some instant noodles. Fury hasn’t moved a bit, the only sign of her being awake is the occasional wipe at her forehead, leaving streaks of red on her hands.
“I’m really sorry about what happened, I should have paid more attention.”
“It’s fine.” Fury answers curtly, still unmoving.
“But I really like that you’re here with me. Are- are you happy to be here?” Damsel interlocks her fingers and stares at the back of Fury’s head, desperate for approval.
“I told you, it’s fine and I’m happy. When it’s dark we can go to your mountain and then we can go home.”
“O- okay.”
The rest of dinner passes in silence.
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As evening comes, Damsel and Fury make their way to the nearby nature trail. The trees sway gently in the winds and the setting sun bathes everything in a soft glowing orange, giving the forest an ethereal touch to it.
Wonderful sights of nature are revealed through many twists and turns in the path. The rustling of the trees, the singing of birds and the soft roar of the nearby waterfall are all accompanied by the earthy, fresh smell of pine resin and freshly trampled ground.
Fury’s eyes methodically sweep from side to side, taking in a view so unlike anything the apartment or the flesh covered dungeon that she once called her home. She spots a fallen tree a bit off the path, clusters of mushrooms doting the parts that aren’t overgrown with moss.
“Something rotten can still be useful after all.”
Observing a cluster, she gently pokes one of the mushrooms with her fingertip. It’s soft, squishy flesh easily giving way as the stem snaps and the head falls to the forest floor. Fury’s face falls with it as disappointment overtakes her.
Some thirty minutes later, as Damsel is excitedly taking in the views, eyes darting around as if trying to take up as much of the scenery as possible. The backpack that she took with her jingling every time she turns too fast. Fury is dutifully tracing her steps like a soldier following orders after mentally tuning out. Her slow, heavy steps reverberating through the soft forest floor.
“Listen, do you hear that?” Damsel says excitedly, already running ahead and turning a corner, a beautiful, near pristine pond with a small stream flowing into it meeting her eye. The water almost mirror like in its reflection, the moon already faintly visible as the sun dips ever lower below the horizon.
As Damsel is excitedly taking pictures, Fury walks to the edge of the pond and closes her eyes, the sounds and smells even relaxing her as her shoulders drop and she stands there for a moment, her hair spilling forward as her head hangs completely relaxed.
The flash of a camera pierces through her eyelids and her eyes snap open, instantly meeting her reflection in the water. She stands there, her face mockingly staring back, before she gets down on her knees, fingers entering the water where her neck is reflected and she squeezes, the water rushing through the gaps and her mirror image distorting. A trail of blood gushing from her forehead.
She grinds her teeth as she begins to ferociously claw at her distorted form, water and mud and rocks flying in all directions. Blood drips into the water. Every time she stops her visage comes back to taunt her. Damsel watches in shock.
As the pond returns to its once pristine condition, the only ripples ebbing out from the stream and Fury’s limp hands she breaks the uneasy silence.
“Why do you still put up with me! Why did you have to drag me out here just to look at some stupid rocks you happen to like?”
Taken back by the sudden accusation, Damsel shoots back. “I thought you wanted to come with me?”
“I did because otherwise you would have that sad look in your eyes and I can’t stand it when you do!”
Damsel is silent for what feels like forever, gathering courage as she rubs her arm uneasily. She closes her eyes and breathes in.
“Why are you so mean now?”
“Because I’m terrible! I’m a monster, you’ve seen it yourself. The only thing I can do is drag you down. If you had any sense you’d leave me here and forget about me.”
“That’s not true! You’re amazing and beautiful and strong and-”
“SHUT UP!” A flock of crows flies away at the sudden outburst.
“Not everything will always go how you want it to. Not that you have any idea what that’s like. You had to kill one person. That is nothing compared to the absolute hell of having your divinity ripped away, of finally having what you want only for it to be denied to you forever!”
Fury’s piercing gaze full of rage meet Damsel’s large, scared eyes.
“You had it easy.”
The last sentence is said with such force that the muscles in Fury’s jaw and neck twitch.
Damsel stands there, stunned, a look of deep sadness in her eyes. The icy sting of betrayal pierces through her heart like a knife.
Her mouth is dry, her heart beating out of her chest and the only thing she can see is Fury’s wild eyes and maniacal grimace staring back. Sweat runs down her back and her knees shake as she speaks the words.
“But you seemed so unhappy lately. I thought something like this might cheer you up. And you think it’s stupid? I just wanted to make you happy for once.”
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A single crow caws in the silence between Damsel and Fury. The distance now seeming to grow wider and wider.
Damsel’s words hit Fury like the stone from a sling, the realisation of what she just said dawning just as fast and violently. She cringes as she doubles over and pulls at the nails embedded near her hairline.
“No- Wait- I mean-” she stammers as Damsel’s eyes bore holes into hers, her details already smoothing over like a smudged drawing.
“I didn’t mean it like that! I- I- ARRGGH.” Fury’s roars in frustration. Terror of being so far from home and unable to help Damsel grips her mind like a vice. It tightens with every moment that passes.
Lines in Damsel’s face disappear, her skin pulling taut more and more like animal hide ready for tanning. Her rosy colour replaced by the off white of printer paper.
“I don’t have the words! Please! Stop! I can be happy, see?” Fury hooks her fingers into her cheeks, pulling the corners of her mouth upwards in the facade of a smile.
Damsel loses one digit on each hand, the flesh and bone absorbed into the greater meat of her forearms. The nails only seeming like superficial decorations on a mannequins hand. The space where her nose is supposed to be is now a flat plane. There are no cracks or pops, only the sound of wind and her personality being sanded down to nothing.
Fury wades through the water towards Damsel, whose clothes even started to abstract, the cotton threads already replaced by paper fibres. Fury puts her hands on her shoulders as she drops to her knees, blood seeping through the shirt and into Damsel’s skin.
Her eyes, once vibrant and full of wonder, now dull and lifeless. It isn’t long before before she’ll lose herself. Fury knows this.
“You can make me happy.” A desperate lie. “But you can’t understand, no one can.”
A light shines from Damsel’s paper eyes and while she still isn’t back to her full self, her further abstraction has at least stopped.
“You can make me understand if that makes you happy!” The joy in the robotic voice falls flat, like an advertisement trying to genuinely wish you happy birthday.
“How? Words can’t tells everything I’ve done, everything I’ve been through.” Fury’s grips tightens, her claws poking holes in the fragile, soaked paper of Damsel’s shoulders.
“Then show me if that makes you happy.” More of a personality this time, the inflection and cadence sounding more human, more emotional. The dip in tone at the end almost making it sound like a challenge.
“No, I can’t- I won’t. I won’t go through that again.”
Silence falls over them again and Fury averts her eyes, refusing to come to terms with the reality of what Damsel is asking of her.
“Please, if you want?” More details return to Damsel’s face, her nose returning to its rightful place, faint smile lines making her look more human. Her lips gain their previous fullness and when Fury gathers the courage to look up at the words, sparkling eyes with a desire burning in them meet hers.
Fury’s claws, now digging into the reformed flesh of Damsel’s shoulder, fly back to cover her own exposed heart, her shoulders deflating as she tries to make herself smaller and smaller.
A hand reaches out to hers, soft skin against exposed flesh and tendons, and pulls it towards Damsels face where a faint hand print of dried blood is left on her cheek. The now rising moon reflected in her large eyes, overflowing with a want for connection.
“Can you do that for me? Make me understand.” It doesn’t sounds like a question but it’s the last push that Fury needs. Her arms fall limply by her side and she heaves a sigh. Dead eyes staring through Damsel.
Wordlessly, Fury starts to unwind. It starts with strips of skin sliding away from her arms like the skin of an apple, long strands gathering in the space between them. She gently takes one of Damsel’s hands and pinches the skin on her finger, disconnecting it from the underlying muscles until it too unravels like a ribbon.
Travelling up her arm, Fury takes care to diligently separate Damsel from her skin, removing clothes and sinew as she goes. The raw musculature underneath glistening in the moonlight. Fury’s skin follows suit. Her dress sliding to the forest floor as if she simply stepped out of it.
Lidless eyes meet again as Fury starts to unravel the muscle fibres from their chest. Starting with the pectoral, the strands hanging limply against the ribs like macabre curtains. She moves on to the abdominals. Six packets of wiry muscle bound together simply let go and slough onto the heap of skin between them.
Damsel loses the ability to keep herself upright but Fury’s hand grabs the side of her neck before she can fall, her large thumb gently resting on the exposed teeth of her skull, her fingers curl around the side of Damsels neck as she guides her forehead to rest on her clavicle.
The powerful beating of Fury’s heart continues as she rips it from her chest, the aorta anchoring it to her body. Damsel follows the motion only to be stopped by her still intact ribcage. The breaks are smooth and she drops it onto the intermingling pile of viscera between them.
On feel alone she curls her fingers around her heart and pulls it free from its cage. A spiderweb of connective tissue and veins maintain the connection between it and her body. Looking up at Fury she pulls herself closer with her one free arm, trembling with excitement.
Fury places her heart in Damsel’s hollowed out chest, the size difference is staggering. Damsel’s chest overflowing with the ever enduring muscle mass as Fury pulls her onto her lap, chin resting on Damsel’s head.
Damsel very carefully, almost frightfully, places her heart into the abyss that is Fury’s chest. A hollowed out husk only slightly fulfilled by the presence of Damsel’s heart.
“This is what I can show you. Try as you might, a piece of me will always be missing. I will always be incomplete. It is not your fault.”
The lack of lips makes the words odd and unfinished, but Damsel feels the weight behind them, the weight that Fury caries with her.
Damsel sits motionless, transfixed on the rhythm of Fury’s heartbeat wracking through her body. Slowly, she lifts her arms and wraps her fingers around Fury’s horns, lifting herself until they are face to face.
The soft clack of their teeth touching is the only sound heard as wide, teary eyes stare into one another. Fury’s hands wrap around Damsel’s waist and she pulls her in closer. Their hearts, beating in a foreign body are pushed together, their rhythms syncing up as one.
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Some time later, the full moon hangs high in the sky. Its silvery light casting pale shadows across the forest. The sounds of flowing streams and bristling leaves mix together with the crickets in the grass and bats flitting through the sky.
The pair finds themselves on the blanket that Damsel stashed in her backpack. Fury, already back to normal, sits cross-legged as she slowly weaves Damsel’s skin back onto her legs. Her counterpart standing in front of her, looking out towards the moon. An easy quiet holds between them.
While Fury could restructure herself with ease, Damsel’s body puts up more resistance, leaving Fury’s powers less effective and in need of a measured hand to put it all back together.
Her hands shake slightly, afraid to cause any discomfort. When she gets to Damsel’s waist, wrapping the skin back around her like a sash, her thoughts start to wander. She wonders if she’s mad at her, if they truly grew closer to each other or if Damsel notices she’s taking just a bit more time than she needs to.
Damsel’s heart meanwhile is beating solidly in her own chest again at a tempo that rivals an Olympic sprinter. As Fury puts her face back into place, eyelids settle back over dry eyes. Damsel studies the woman before her. How her rough hands handle her so delicately. How she seems laser focused on getting everything just right. How her heart is beating almost as fast as hers.
As Damsel stands before her, now fully restored, a horrific realisation hits Fury as she looks at her shoulders. The place where she held her as she was turning to paper now hold a deep red palm print as large as Damsel’s face. The fingers running down the shoulder blade and the thumb following the clavicle. Just below the shoulder blade, four tiny wounds are visible, the scars reminiscent of holes pokes in paper with a thin film covering them.
“I am so sorry, I didn’t think that could happen.” Fury speaks softly as she steps back and clutches her hands over her heart, fearful of Damsel’s disapproval.
Damsel cranes her neck, trying to observe whatever Fury is talking about. Spotting the wine-red streaks on her shoulders, she can’t help but smile.
Stepping forward and wrapping her arms around Fury’s waist, her head coming just short of reaching the bottom of her ribcage, she mumbles into Fury’s stomach.
“I like it. It reminds me of you.”
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A few weeks later, back in the house, Damsel is hard at work editing the next compilation of stream highlight her viewers have sent in. Her neck feels stiff and there is definitely something crooked about her spine now but the immense satisfaction as she order the program to render the final video is something that keeps her coming back every time.
Now though she needs something to relax again and she knows just the thing. Getting up from the chair and stretching her neck and shoulders, the marks that Fury left still clearly visible, she makes her way over to the living room where she spots her counterpart reading on the couch, tail lazily slumped over the entirety of the furniture.
Draping herself over Fury’s tail, the firm arch bending her spine causing a series of pops and a satisfied groan to escape her.
“Comfortable?” Fury asks amused.
“Very.” Damsel replies before turning around and facing her counterpart, still laying on her tail.
“But I wanted to do something else as well.”
“Oh? Show me then.”
It is their own little passcode. A silent permission to do something they’re unsure about.
Facing Fury, Damsel plants a kiss on her forehead, the other blinking in surprise.
“I never really got to thank you for what happened during the trip. So this is my way of saying thanks now.”
Her hands cradle Fury’s face as a flurry of kisses follow. One on her nose, her cheeks, her jaw, her chin, her horns, her ears. Damsel can’t help but giggle at the confused look Fury gives her when she stops.
“I’m sorry, did you not like that?” Doubt creeps in her voice as she tries to sound a little sarcastic.
“I.. don’t know. I think I do?” Fury’s big eyes look away in a moment of introspection, a blush still readily present on her cheeks. “Can I show you?”
“Of course!” Damsel replies as she leans forward, eyes closed and lips pursed. She melts into Fury’s touch as her two large hands cradle her face just like she did hers, and rough, chapped lips touch hers.