B̸̢̿ř̸̨o̸̰͌ḵ̸̛ē̷̩n̷͍͆ ̸̥̏S̷̥̀t̵͎̂r̵̈́͜ȋ̶͓n̵̰͑g̷̛͕s̵̙͑

23.

(I hope y'all are staying safe during all of this! ❤️ I've been trying my best to keep this story a goin! <3 hope y'all enjoy)

You stretched and yawned, letting out a huff as the ship softly swayed you back and forth, looking out the window, you saw that you were at another dock. Sitting up and rubbing your eyes, you decided to get dressed and see if you could go out, remembering that you saw some cute looking stores and a cafe along the street.

After taking a shower and slipping on a comfortable sundress, you put on some flats and made sure to grab your satchel before heading up to the deck. The wind softly caressed you're hair as your face drew up to smell the salty air. Sighing, you smiled and made your way to the bridge that led to the dock, carefully making your way over, you spotted Dualscar speaking to two other trolls, once he noticed you walking over he smiled. "Is it okay if I walk around the town a little? It's been a long time since I've been out and I'll be sure to be back before dark." You smiled nervously and he chuckled "Okay lass, just be careful." You nodded and thanked him before heading off, your eyes wandered through the market, excitedly rushing through the vendors and making your way to a small boba shop you had spotted earlier. Quietly walking in, yo u were met with a range of delectable scents, ranging from berries, cake, cream, and coffee. You looked up at what they had and you decided to order one of your favorites, deciding to take it to go so you could walk around more. While in line you felt an odd sensation, but you shrugged it off, nothing was going to bring you down, especially when you felt this free.

It had been about three hours since you left, currently you were sitting in a small field writing in your notepad. Licking some of the leftover snack off of your top lip, you saw that it  started to grow into nighttime. You put your notepad in your satchel and threw your container away, gasping as you accidentally ran into someone. "Oh! Sorry, my deepest apologies!" You looked up and saw that it was a teal blooded troll, he smiled. "Oh it's quite alright, say, do you know where the nearest restroom is? I'm fairly new to the area and I've been too sheepish to ask anyone." He blushed a little and you nodded politely, remembering that you had seen one on your way to the cafe, you decided to walk with him and chat since it was on the way.
"I'm fairly new to the area as well." You smiled, he hummed as you both kept a steady pace. "Is that so?" His smile evident. You nodded and motioned to the ship. "Woah, that's yours?" You laughed. "Oh goodness no, it's my...partners ship." He have you an odd look. "Partner?" You tucked your hair behind your ear and blushed. "Y-Yeah, we aren't....technically together but....I like him, quite a lot." His smile seemed to falter a bit. "Oh, mind I ask what does he look like?" You hummed and blushed as you thought of Dualscar. "Well, he's almost two feet taller then me, he has a quite flattering build and the most....captivating eyes I've ever seen...sorry, I think I'm just embarrassing myself more." You blushed more. "Oh it's fine, I have a little flush crush myself." He chuckled and just happened to look over at the dock, seeing the high blood helping with some of the loading. "Y-You don't happen to mean him-" his eyes seemed to turn to ice. You smiled and nodded. "No, that's him." You giggled before noticing his face. He grabbed your arm and drug you into an alley, making you scream out and thrash around, tears welling in your eyes as his claws dig into your arm. You managed to push yourself away, slipping onto the ground and pushing yourself back from him, now partially out of the alley. He growled "You're going to be a big help-" He then smirked and approached you in a highly threatening manner. "No! Stay away from me!" You cried out and attempted to stand up, but he yanked you by your hair as his claws drug across your arm as he attempted to subdue you, covering your mouth and taking out a blade, bring the cold metal to your throat. "Now, play along princess or ill slash your throat faster then you can think." You nodded shakily as tears rolled down your face. He dragged you onto the dock, chuckling before yelling up to the ship since no one was out on the dock anymore. "HEY HIGHBLOOD, I GOT A DEAL TO STRIKE UP!" His eyes half lidded as he heard footsteps. "Captain says to leave the dock as we're leaving in the morning and aren't willing to exchange gear or supplies." You heard a familiar voice on the deck, but didn't see anyone, as they were probably getting ready for bed, the voice was one of your troll acquaintances that you would talk to in the mornings most days. He grinned and looked down at you. "Now-" he started, your eyes widening as he took the blade away from your neck. "Here's where you come into play my princess." Feeling his claws slash at your arm, making you scream out in pain. "DUAL! PLEASE HEL-" You tried to yell out while your mouth was uncovered, but he shook you and covered it quickly. Hearing a rush of footsteps on the deck. "OH DUALYY, I HAVE YOUR LITTLE MAIDEN AND SHES PRACTICALLY DYING TO SEE YOU!" Your head began to spin, your legs growing weak as you shakily looked up at the deck, seeing the familiar figure and many others. But Dual knew how to play many games, feeling his anger swarm as the troll smirked and practically fondled you in front of him. He let out a deep growl before speaking. "Vwhat does a lovwlife scum like you vwant?." His teeth were bared as the troll chuckled. "Ah ah ah, if you don't remember-" You yelped and tensed as he groped your chest. "I have the advantage here." Looking at Dual with pleading eyes, his eyes filled with rage. Soon he smirked and calmed a little. "You vwanna knovw somethin bud-" he started, his teeth baring as he grinned. The other troll tensing. "Never come unprepared." Dualscars tone darkened, feeling the teal blood behind you tense before falling to the ground. Clenching your eyes shut and covering your ears from the loud blast that came from behind you. Your head spinning as you felt Dual pick you up, feeling the anger resonating off of him as he took you to the bedroom.

After everything seemed to calm down, Dualscar dressed your wounds, the cut being almost fully wrapped around your arm. But after it was dressed it felt a lot better. "Strip." You tensed as you say on the bed, laughing nervously as you though he wasn't serious, his eyes serious as you started to realize. "Strip lass, it's common for adrenaline to mask other vwounds in the moment. I vwant to check and make sure there's nothing else, plus I need to reapply ointment to your stomach vwound."
He spoke seriously, you opened your mouth to object, but you knew he wasn't going to take no for an answer, slowly, you got up and pulled your dress over your head. Blushing immensely as your breasts seemed to pop out, now slightly regretting the choice to not wear a bra, you first covered your chest, but he took your hands off forcefully with good intention. Seeing the smallest trace of a blush on his face as he then searched your body. You hesitantly covered your chest back up, zoning out before letting out a painted gasp as his finger ran across a cut on the backside of your right thigh. Tensing as he hummed and effortlessly slid your shorts down, making you yelp softly as the cold air now covered your entire body. "Lass, it's a moderate vwound, it's gonna have to be dressed." He spoke. You nodded as he finished taking care of the wounds, then watching as he walked into the bathroom to put up the supplies.

You hummed to yourself, sitting on the end of the bed and relaxing your arms, allowing them to fall to your sides at first, then bringing your hands into your lap, fiddling with your nails and fingers. You started to think back to what the teal blood and you had talked about, and honestly...neither you or the highblood had said anything to the other about a relationship, and quite frankly....it scared you. Slowly, you started sleeping into your own world, thinking of possible scenarios playing out terribly, and then others better.
"Ay, Lass, you okay?" A familiar voice snapped you away from reality, the seadweller now taking off his shirt in the doorway of the bathroom. You took in a deep breath and forced it out. "Dual?" He hummed as he attempted to get the shirt over his horns carefully. Walking over to him, you stood on your tippy toes and pulled away the fabric from the rough horns as he pulled it off. Shaking some, you forced it out again. "Dual would you...w-would you be..interested with a red relationship with me?" He visibly tensed and you saw his fins flicker in embarrassment, his face now more purple then before as he threw the shirt into a hamper, scratching the back of his neck. "Hhmmm, I guess vwe haven't really established it in the most traditional manner. But if I'm bein honest lass, it already really feels like vwe're together." He laughed, you blushed. "Well...true..but we haven't Em actually asked one another out, or anything such as that." You blushed and tapped your fingers together, looking down in embarrassment. Feeling your heart almost skip a beat as he let out a soft chuckle, tilting your head up as well as wrapping his arms around you and lifting you up. Pressing his lips against yours and vibrating softly as he purred, your body tensed at first, but soon you relaxed and wrapped your arms around his neck, smiling in content as he pulled away. "Okay, since you seem to be vworried about it." He teased, making you roll your eyes some. "(Y/n), vwill you be my matespirit?" You smiled more, feeling as if you looked goofy, but you didn't care, you kissed him on the cheek and nodded. "Yes Dualscar." Hugging him around his neck and smiling widely