Fool's Gold | God Tamer x Tiso

Chapter 11 - In Which Tiso Can Finally Escape His Prison

"And you're going back there? Friend, you hardly escaped that place with your life."

Tiso believes himself to be healed. Quirrel is concerned for his enthusiasm. 

-

Tiso was recovering, not as fast as he would've liked, but recovering nonetheless. Constantly laying in the same position was still getting to him, but with his body beginning to show signs of healing, his mood began to improve. He began to notice things he hadn't before, such as how Quirrel's cooking wasn't as terrible as he first believed it to be. Though he was thoroughly sick of soup at this point, he was able to enjoy the flavor much more when he wasn't forced to be hand-fed it like a grub.

Another thing he noticed was how much Quirrel could talk. Tiso had never given him the opportunity before, always being in too poor of a mood to hold any conversation with him, but now, Tiso realized he would be a lot less bored if he let the stranger entertain him with his terrible stories, and it seemed like Quirrel's library was never ending. Of course, none of them were up to Tiso's standards, he swore most of them were made up, even some of the ones Quirrel claimed to have witnessed first hand sounded too fantastical to be true. Even so, Quirrel had a way of keeping his attention.

When Tiso became lost in a story, he could pretend that he was in his adolescence, being told the legends of his colony by the elders, his dreams of greatness and glory beginning to take hold. But when Quirrel would finish and ask him what he thought, Tiso would remember that he was thousands of miles away from his colony, in this forgotten kingdom of death and infection, stuck in a wyrm-forsaken cave with a stranger, and the fantasy would evaporate as quickly as it had come.

But what he really noticed, more than anything, was the existence of a mystery surrounding Quirrel. Of course, Tiso had always known something was off about the stranger. There's no type of bug that would spend week after week caring for some injured warrior they just so happened to stumble upon without any incentive. But no matter how hard he tried, Tiso couldn't figure Quirrel out. He had asked multiple times why Quirrel was helping him, so many times that Quirrel became increasingly more annoyed each time he did. But at the same time, who was Tiso to be shocked at that? Quirrel refused to tell Tiso any more about himself, and Tiso refused to tell Quirrel about himself as the same. The only thing they shared were stories and legends, it was a standstill of information. But Tiso would persist, a true warrior always does.

Tiso didn't know what day it was when he made the most important discovery of all. Quirrel had been in the middle of sharing another one of his fairy tales, a story that Tiso wasn't incredibly interested in, and he found himself yawning. Normally, such a chest movement would've caused his injuries great pain, and he cringed in anticipation of it, but it never came. Instantly, he put a hand to his shell, gingerly feeling for the wounds in it, and over the bandages he could feel the scar tissue that had formed over it, light and tender.

A great smile spread across his lips, and the sudden sharp laugh he let out was followed with only a hint of soreness.

Quirrel paused in the middle of his story, thoroughly confused. He hadn't been telling a very humorous tale. "What's so amusing, friend?"

"I'm healed!" he exclaimed, a look of pure relief across his face.

Quirrel, however, did not share in his excitement. "You are certainly doing better, but saying you're healed might be a bit of a stretch. Let me see." Quirrel came to Tiso's side to undo the bandages, and for once, Tiso didn't fight him. He let him reveal the wound to the light, confirming that it was now completely scarred over. Tiso's smile only grew at his. He never thought that seeing a scar on his pristine shell would ever make him so happy.