TELOS TOU KOSMOU // Callahan X Reader

6

There were many a legend of things that lurked in the wilds around the city.

Frequently in the tales of heroes past and present, beasts proved valiant foes for the focus of the story. There was the tale of Themioryion, a hero who's quest was to slay a three-headed dragon - only to discover that his charge was in fact not a dragon at all, but a young hydra who's full set of seven heads hadn't grown in fully yet. Needless to say, Themioryion met his end to a dragon with more than three heads.

There was the fair lady Nomiki, who had been captured by a fiendish sphinx and had to be won back by the swift-footed Archeron (who was able to outrun the sphinx instead of having to answer it's riddles). The story of Mellaides was one favored by the poets for the sheer drama of it all - it was easy to turn a years long fight against a minotaur into an epic, after all.

As you looked down at the brown eyes peering out at you from the brush, all sorts of creatures flashed through your head - each equally likely to be hidden there, and all likely to kill you in the next few moments. Your instincts were competing against each other in your head - did you run, or did you slowly back away? Was it better to make yourself appear like a threat, or meek? How long would it take to get back to the palace-

The bush rustled again, as the thing began to move forward, a pair of antlers popping out of the leaves. The soft brown eyes became a whole human face as the creature stepped out of the bush, nose twitching as it curiously looked at you. What caught your attention the most though, were the two hooves where his feet should have been.

All the tension that had sprung up in you dissipated at once - it was nothing but a satyr. Half human, half deer and not much of a threat to someone alone in the woods like you were.

You stayed still, letting his curious gaze sweep over you as he hovered near the cover he had just emerged from, nose still twitching. For a moment, you just looked at each other. He was a smidge taller than you, probably from the fact that his legs were that of a deer and not a man. Soft brown fur merged into skin around his midriff, partially covered by a worn olive green tunic. Faded white spots were scattered around his skin like freckles - he was young then, probably around the same age as you.

It was his face that drew you in the most though - there was something kind about it. Everything about him was soft - the slope of his nose, the shape of his eyes, the way his hair flopped over onto his forehead. Soft, until of course, you counted the sharp antlers that grew from his head.

It was a moment before the satyr relaxed some, the tension fading from his body language as he realized that you were no threat. The curiosity stayed in his gaze though as he raised a hand in greeting.

"Hello." You returned, raising a hand in greeting as well. You had heard before that some satyrs understood human language and were capable of speech, but you weren't sure how common something like that would be.

You were mildly surprised when the satyr waved, offering you a placating smile.

"Oh." You said. "You can understand speech?"

The satyr nodded, making some sort of signal with his hands that you didn't understand. When you didn't react, he did it again, slower.

"I'm sorry." You apologized, unsure whether to watch his hands or his face. "I don't - I can't understand what you're trying to say." You were sure the symbols meant something, you just didn't know what.

The motions weren't like anything you had really seen before - not that you were an expert on visual languages.

The satyr stopped his motioning, fingers twitching in the air as he hesitated.

"Can you speak?" You asked hesitantly, unsure of whether or not the question would offend him.

The satyr shook his head.

"But you understand what I'm saying?"

He nodded, taking a step closer to you so that he was within arms reach now. Slowly, and making sure that you were watching, he pointed to the knife that you were holding and the herbs in your hand, raising his eyebrows in question.

It took you a moment to understand, but when you did, your own eyebrows shot up as well. "Is this your patch?" You asked. It made sense now, how everything you could possibly need was here - it had been planted here.

The satyr nodded, smiling at you again.

"I'm so sorry." You said, glancing down at the herbs that you had already cut and gathered in your arms. "I didn't know - do you mind if I take what I have now? I won't cut anymore, I just needed some fresh to start working on a cure..."

The satyr blinked at that, brows furrowing in confusion.

"A cure." You repeated, unsure if it was a language barrier or if he had just misheard you. "For the silver death? I'm a healer," You said, gesturing to your tunic and the herbs you were carrying. "And the caesar's asked me to work on a cure, as one of his champions has fallen ill."

The satyr blinked again, still obviously confused as to what you were talking about.

You found yourself just blinking back at him, confused as to how he didn't know. This new plague had ravaged it's way through the city already - surely, if he lived around in the area, he had seen the bodies being dumped into communal graves outside the boundaries of the city. He couldn't possibly not know...

"Do you not know?" You asked.

The satyr shook his head, confusion still written plain on his face.