Lucifer growled at the stranger that dared to enter their territory. It had never smelled nor seen this person’s flair before, and yet, there was something oddly familiar about them. The intrusive creature came over, then stood for a good whole minute in silence before they decided to lift William up in their arms.

When it finally dawned on Lucifer who they were dealing with, it wanted to keel over and faint. The difference was just too grand to take in all at once!...

The darkness pertained for some time, until William heard the voice of a shaken lady exclaim, “Excuse me, sir!? You can’t just dumb people on my desk like that!”. All of her fuzzing caused William to slowly open up his crusty eyes. What he saw was not Lucifer but a bald person wearing a sneer and a very demanding look.

“Then where do I put her?”, the shiny-head asked, confused by the customs of the city-folk. “Well, either you can keep holding her like that or put her down in that corner over there! You’re not our only customers you know!?”.

William’s eyes were about to pop out the moment he heard Thalgar’s voice come out of the bald person’s lips. He couldn’t believe it. But there was no doubt about it. The uncovered mug he was looking at belonged to no other but Thalgar. A much cleaner and- William took a quick glance at his outfit- Properly clothed version!?

William thought: This must be paradise… Or maybe not…

Once it was William’s turn to get looked at, he was placed down on a slim bed. The male physician felt his temperature before he noted, “... And you are saying that this has gone on for a couple of days?... This fever?”. Thalgar nodded.

“Hmm… There can be only one solution…”, the physician mumbled before he took forth some dried coriander. The woman from the reception, interjected, “Manson, I don’t believe the coriander will cut it this time… This girl's fever is dangerously high and has been for far too long. The poor lass won't hold out till nightfall… Perhaps you should suggest the Rubspit ointment instead? I'm sure this kind of fever won't be able to stand a chance against its awesome healing abilities!”.

The physician’s shoulders sunk deep before he laboriously told her, “Now look here, Prinstine, not all people can afford such luxury… It would be rude to give them false hope if-”. “But we do have the wealth”, Thalgar stated, not at all knowing the worth of the small purse he was holding. For it didn’t belong to him but to the patient.

“You do?”, both experts questioned. The pouch got viewed with skepticism. But once the pennies had been counted a different light inhabited their eyes. “Just enough, young man… Just enough”, the physician smiled. And then, without further ado, a meager amount of the Rubspit wonderdrug was painted onto William’s forehead. An hour went by and whoop-ti-do, his throbbing headache, and soreness were gone, leaving William to wonder why he had to suffer for so long in the first place. But then again, the medicine he had come across was perhaps not of the usual kind? He would have certainly without it shriveled up and died.

William rested on the bed as he got nursed with some additional herbal soup and buns. The receptionist noticed his completion and added, "In the future, you should make sure to eat plentiful and varied. We might live in the far north, which makes it a challenge to stay healthy, but it is as they say: An apple a day keeps the ailments at bay".

After the meal, they were both guided outside of the medical house. Out there on the street, newly added snow covered every rooftop and gnarly tree. Now, this was an environment Thalgar felt insecure in.

The man briefly took in the sights before he led William away into a nearby forest where Lucifer and Boros had been stationed. The cub was beyond happy to see its two-legged friend standing up like usual. Boros, on the other hand, just stared at the reunion. Filled with the same silent depression as its parent.

Thalgar witnessed the event he had set in motion with a weak smile, then he went ahead towards their base, declaring: “The hunt is over…”.

William’s mouth curved further upward, thinking: Today can not get any better!

They got home after wandering the woods for a day or two. While on the move, William sorted out his feelings. The conflicted ones that stemmed from being abandoned then shortly after being saved by the same person.

Once home, William lit up a fire that Thalgar sat down in front of. And there he remained the next 7 days, with an empty gaze focused solely on the flame that danced wildly around in his shadows...

Of course, William had tried his best to understand Thalgar’s mood, alas he was never replied to nor given a chance to be a part of the moping…

*Plop*, Thalgar was shaken out of his cage by the drop of a hat. A warm, insulated one, with furry edges and a handcrafted stitch. “Now you won’t feel cold anymore”, the perpetrator explained, hoping to mend that which seemed broken.

Thalgar stared at William before he slowly tore off the hat, grumbling, “Useless…”. A bit hurt, William took it back and said, “It’s not useless. I promise you it will keep you warm and-...”. Thalgar felt up his bald head, reminiscing about how he had spent his time stalking another man just so that he could use the other’s live-show as a tutorial.

For the first time in his life, he took a bath with stolen soap and the clothes of the common man. The experience was cruelling yet interesting, but now what? His target slipped away just so that he could play something he was not. He threw away his established identity and now he was nothing but, “Useless”.

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“I get it!... You don’t like it”, William mumbled in frustration, ready to throw the hat into the blazing trashcan. Thalgar saw the misunderstanding his word caused, and so he added, “It is not your creation that is useless… It is I”.

William muttered, “How can you be useless?...”. Thalgar closed his walls again to let the other mull about it alone, but he was quickly stopped by William’s shouting: “Then what am I!?... A shrimp!?”. Thalgar’s eyes widened themselves into two goofy blobs, “...”.

“Ah! That’s the look of pity isn’t it!?”, William hollered dramatically, just to get a reaction from the other. Even Lucifer who had just entered the space could sense his sarcasm.

“Why, just why, Thalgar? Does somebody like you, who can easily survive a meteor, suffer from the feelings of the meek and powerless? I thought you hated that stuff like you hate… Well… Being weak”.

“... You are right... I should just slaughter you now and stop this weakling nonsense”. William froze while he stuttered, “Y-you… What? Slaughter me?”. Thalgar buried his head into his hands and muffled through them, “Yes…”.

“But why!?”, William inquired, not fleeing the grotto yet. “You should ask yourself why I wanted to help you in the first place… Do you really believe that I wanted to help you because you were cute or something?”, Thalgar chuckled in a mean spirited way, “No… I am not like other humans, who will fawn and take care of measly creatures just because they evoke warmth… I did it with the sole purpose of getting stronger… Once I knew there was potential in your core energies, I had planned to harvest them after our hunt… Hoping that they would be the ones to create peace between the forces I have consumed over the years… I was on the brink of greatness! To become more than just a beast… But then I had a foolish thought… I thought……………. What is it truly like to be a human being?”.

Thalgar let his hands slip off his face as he wondered aloud,  “... Does the food taste better?... Does it involve an elaborate shelter? Filled with fun and curiosities enough to satiate one's boredom forever? Or-...”. He sighed in defeat, “... Well, the side effects do not matter to me anymore. For it seems that I have already been thoroughly poisoned by curiosity...”.

Lucifer halted its steps, prepared to become a distraction should the worse occur. However, Thalgar never exuded his usual killing aura during his speech. Leading both Lucifer and William to believe that there was a chance at reconciling. He wasn’t just any character, after all.

William grasped his sword tightly before he explained to the deadly wonderer,“... First things first… I’ve never once believed that your sole desire was to help me, just because you felt obliged to do so… You know I had my reasons too. And some of them you still haven’t the slightest clue of…”.

“As for whether or not you should try what’s it’s like to be a human being? Well… It can entail both good and bad… To understand this, you merely have to take a look at yourself, mister beast…….. Because, you know... You were so ugly when you left me to die, that I had hoped you caught the same illness as me, got eaten by your dinosaur, then shat out like the turd you were…”, William darkly said, not at all sorry for depicting this image to Thalgar, “But you changed yourself a great deal to seek help for me… Which makes me believe that there is still a touch of the friend I had learned to appreciate, somewhere beneath that thick skin of yours… But don’t you think for a second that I will let you get away with attempted murder!… If you want to repent properly, then-…”.

William chewed on the options but couldn’t decide on a bargain, so he changed his tune, and said instead, “Either you spill everything to me now and we can resume the hunt. Or you can stay silent as I and Lucifer try to kill you!”. Hearing this, Lucifer nodded passionately while it sprung its claws out for show. Justice was ready to be served in a flash!

Thalgar grinned at the funny notion of them killing him. Then he said, “First you tell me how invincible I am and now you think that two brats can slay me without trouble?... Haha… Luckily for you, there will be no need for that… I have told you everything… Hence the hunt shall continue…. But this time, we head south...”.

“No deal… You haven’t told me everything yet!”, William stated slightly annoyed at the other’s unwillingness to cooperate. Thalgar blinked, “... But I have?”.

William wrinkled the hat he held in his hand, feeling uncomfortable having to mention: “Then tell me, why do you have a mark on your neck?”.

Thalgar was dumbfounded by this accusation. He didn’t have anything like that on his body! Or did he? Thalgar slid his hand on the area as if trying to swat a mosquito, “...?”.

William noticed the other’s confusion, so he elaborated on the matter, “I thought you wanted to keep it hidden? That’s why I made your hat extra long at the back to help cover it up… So… What does it mean? It looks to be of ill-nature to me...”.

Thalgar’s hand couldn’t feel any textures beneath it, “I have a mark on my neck?”. “Yes… It’s very faint but definitely there. It looks to be some kind of imprinted symbol”, William muttered as he etched closer to inspect it.

Thalgar’s face drooped while he tried to reminisce about his past. He came to the conclusion that, “... Something must have bitten me while I was still a youngling… There can be no other explanation… Although, it seems that it does not want to be forgotten… It is nothing now...”.

The symbol had grown distorted over the years but it definitely reminded William of something heinous. Like the slave brand, he had once seen being used by the Ravaging Shades…

*Gurgle*, a stomach sang... William quickly stepped back forlornly. Somehow the whole murder thing kept eluding his mind. Must be because he was so starved… With a hunched back, he sighed and expressed with yearning, “I can’t wait to go down south… Being up here during the winter sucks!”.

With his thoughts now on the south and his growing appetite, William got the splendid idea of visiting a town for a proper meal. Unfortunately, every last penny he owned had been spent on that darn expensive medicine…

William glanced over at Thalgar’s build. It quickly caused a conniving gleam to appear in his eyes, when he said, “Well, eh… I could use an apology or some kind of gesture that shows your newfound sincerity… So, how about putting that tree-shattering power you have to some good use? By essentially getting us some delicious food? If you do that? Then, I just might forgive you for having planned to murder me and Lucifer in cold blood”.

Thalgar stood up and rustled off his former hopelessness, “... Only if you give me that hat”.

There was a pause of reflection... William twirled the hat around his finger before he lied, “Oh I don’t know… I actually promised that Lucifer could have it if you didn’t want it”. Hearing this, Lucifer puffed up its chest in pride, then it scribbled on the ground: Want. “Sure, it’s yours now”, William said as he plopped it on top of Lucifer’s head, without any qualms.

The little dino purred delighted but the instant a zap of lightning eyes went in its direction, it quickly lost confidence and ran out of the grotto.

Thalgar stared unbelieving at William’s cheekiness. Said person faintly smirked, thinking: Bad kids don’t deserve nice things. You took away my trust, and so I’ll take away your gift... It's as simple as that.