Levik sighed to himself as he sat in the hospital bed, going through various banking apps and transferring funds to a new account he had made under a Torr-owned bank that didn’t ask too many questions. Really, Levik was desperate to get out of the hospital, to go anywhere but there, but in reality, Levik was pretty stuck. A couple of his ribs were broken and he stank of burnt fur and depression.
Really, Levik wasn’t sure how to feel. He’d hoped that his father would have been proud of him. Rather than hiding away in a bunker, Levik had used his royal riches and his piloting skills to buy a large ship and ferry people away from areas affected by Corruption. Sure, it wasn’t as flashy as Kohra taking control of, opening up and coordinating communications to other races, or Tanos fighting the Corruption head on, but Levik had used his skills as best as he could.
And when his ship went down, thanks to a colossal black tendril appearing from nowhere? No one died. Levik, the master shapeshifter that he was, had made himself huge, fatty and super fluffy, cushioning the blow as the ship skidded to a halt just outside the Thresisa space port.
But no, dad was mad. So mad in fact that, well, he had basically disowned Levik. Lord Ahvra was furious that all three of his sons had disobeyed his orders, and now two of them were dead. While Levik had nothing to do with what had happened to Kohra, his dad blamed him anyway, believing that Levik’s mental instability had convinced Kohra to act out, and that had cost Kohra his life. The sad thing was, it was actually the other way around. Kohra had convinced Levik to “be a hero for once”. Tanos was off being a hero already, Kohra wanted to follow in Tanos’s footsteps, and so did Levik.
None of them really expected any of this to happen. But Lord Ahvra’s reaction was… heartbreaking. Levik thought he was doing what was right. And now, apart from the money he was trying to siphon out before his dad closed all his bank accounts, he had nothing. No father, certainly. No brothers either. The rest of his family, his uncles and aunt and his two cousins, they probably wouldn’t take him in, out of fear of retribution from his father.
Worse, Levik was worried about his mental health. He’d always been unstable, and was reliant on medication to keep himself from doing anything stupid. While sure, he’d managed to grab enough money to make himself comfortable, even without a job, for the next six months, making sure he could get his medication may have been difficult, he only had two weeks’ supply, and the stress of having to move out and live on his own was already stressing Levik up. He didn’t mind having to find a job, but technically Levik was too young to work in Spast territories, meaning he’d have to move to a neutral world.
Levik’s depression and worries were distracted as a Rethan wandered into his private recovery room. That wasn’t too strange, Levik was in a mixed race hospital within Rethan territories on a neutral world, and he did have a Rethan nurse who popped by occasionally, but the Rethan who had just come in was not that one.
“Uh… hello…”
This Rethan was smaller than normal, and they looked very tired, as if they hadn’t slept in a while.
“Oh… I am sorry… wrong room, I think…” the Rethan muttered.
“No worries. Are you alright?” Levik asked.
The Rethan glanced around, then sat down, feeling dizzy. “Not really. I have not gone Defensive Stance before. I desperately want to go to sleep, but my brain is scrambled and I feel angry. How are you… uh…” The Rethan rubbed their eyes, realizing who Levik was. “Oh. Hello, Lord Prince Levik Tou Ahvran.”
“Hah!” Levik laughed. “It’s just Levik now. Dad disowned me. I feel like I recognize you from somewhere too.”
The Rethan frowned, then bowed their head and introduced themselves. “I am Relkir Rethianos, the High Advisor and a captain of the 47th Legion.”
“Huh. What are you doing here on Thresisa?”
“47th Legion work, was initiating a new Legion alongside the Keeper and the Master of Generals. Gath is sleeping right now, recovering from their own injuries. I want to join them but I am still in a semi-Defensive Stance state and I… I do not know how I got here.”
“You might have just been in one of the rooms nearby? You’re the High Advisor, you’re pretty important, they probably gave you a private room too.”
Relkir shrugged, then glanced down at their arm. There was a broken leather strap wrapped around their wrist. “I actually think I broke out, tried looking for Gath, got lost and ended up here.”
Levik looked Relkir up and down. “Who is Gath?”
“My poten-partner. The reason why I went Defensive Stance. Tendril smashed our ship. Knocked out everyone. Caused fires. I somehow found the strength to carry everyone out from the rubble, despite being small. I do not recall any of that though.”
“You and me both, mate. I saved everyone in the ship I… kinda crashed. I don’t remember being saved myself though…”
Relkir inspected Levik some more. “You saved people? You should be proud.”
“I’m not. I shouldn’t have been a hero. It got me disowned. It got my brothers killed.”
“I… I am sorry…” Relkir stuttered. “I… I… Uh…”
“Oh. Fuck. Do you… do you know?” Levik asked.
“Yes. Retvik is gone. And… was Tenuk… Tenuk was Tanos. Your sibling…”
Both Rethan and Spast fell silent. Eventually, Relkir looked up at Levik.
“Do you need help? You said your father disowned you. I understand what it is like to have awful parents. I would like to offer my assistance.”
“Really?” Levik gasped.
“Of course. You are very brave. It is unfair that your father considered you weak and abandoned you when you risked yourself for others. I have connections all over, I can get you a place to stay temporarily, and I can arrange transport… Well, I cannot do so right now, I am too… messed up and angry and dizzy… but when we are both better, I can do… something.”
“I appreciate that, I really do, Relkir. You do look pretty rough though.”
Relkir nodded. “I have not slept and am fighting the urge to bite things. But you are small and cute and trigger my “protect the fluffy” state so I am not getting too aggressive. Frankly, I am amazed I am capable of speech right now, and this is calming me down.”
“Ah… I… I admittedly don’t know much about Rethans. Kinda thought I was one for a few months but I kept on calling myself ‘he’ and didn’t really blend in…” Levik smiled a little. “But I’m… kinda unsure what to do now. Like, what’s my future?”
“Uh… well… what do you want to do? I admittedly do not know much about Spasts either, I do not know what job would suit you. But…” Relkir paused, then smiled as well. “This is probably a very stupid question but… how well can you shapeshift?”
“Dude, I’m like, the BEST shapeshifter. I’m also mentally ill and forget that I’m a Spast though.”
“And you already are very brave… Perhaps you could follow in gladiator Tenuk’s footsteps? Not only would you be honouring your sibling’s memory, but, well, I am not that knowledgeable when it comes to the Great Arenas, but you would be the second ever Spast gladiator, or something.”
Levik stared at Relkir, then clapped his hands with joy. “Dude… You… you’re a fucking genius!”
“Of course I am. I am the High Advisor. It is literally my job to advise on things…” Relkir rubbed their eyes some more. “I am also slowly starting to get sleepy, thankfully. Do you mind if I just… sit here and close my eyes for a bit?”
“Yeah, sure. You can also joined me in bed, if you want. Dunno if it’ll help, but you can stroke my fur too, that’s soothing. Can we be friends?”
“I would like that, yes. I think we could both do with more friends, considering all that has happened…” Relkir yawned, then dragged their seat over so they could right sit next to Levik. They very gently stroked the fur on Levik’s incredibly fluffy tail. “This is… pleasant…”
“Yeah… You get some sleep, friend!” Levik beamed. “I’ll keep an eye out for you.”
“Thank you friend, I appreciate that…” Relkir smiled weakly as they finally drifted off.