Darius examined the elves as they stood in front of him. They're definitely twins. They also seem elven, but something is off. Some of their teeth seem to be unusually sharp. That, and most elves in video games don't have this level of muscle. Maybe the elves in this world are yoked? The pair were shorter than him. Around 6'0". They had the expected pale skin and elegant features of most fantasy elves, but their hair stood out. One had black hair that slowly faded to white, while the other had the inverse.
"So.... you think you could take me somewhere to get new clothes?" The twins both reassumed their battle stances. "Come on guys. This again? If I wanted to hurt you I would have a long time ago." At that they relaxed ever so slightly. Faelar spoke, "What are you? I've never seen a human who can do what you just did, but you don't have the eyes of a demon." "I'm just a guy who has no clue where he is, and is in desperate need of new clothes."
The twins looked at each other and took a few steps back to speak in very audible whispers. "I think we should take him with us." "Have you lost your mind Fenris. We can't just bring him back to the village. We know nothing about him, and considering what he just did, he'd be too dangerous to bring back. Not to mention what would everyone think?"
"Look, they already hate us for simply existing. Who cares what they think. We just met and he's already done more for us than anyone in the village outside of gramps. And more so than that, we owe him a life debt. I'll see it repaid whether you're with me or not." Faelar took in the determined look in his brothers eyes and knew he was right. Then he watched as his brother took a step towards the strange man.
"We'll help you. We can take you back to our village. Our grandfather should be able to get you what you need. By the way, my name is Fenris and this is my brother Faelar." "Nice to meet the both of you. Though, before I say anything else, I have to ask. You're elves, but somethings seems different about you. You seem to be something more." Fenris's eyes seemed to darken. "It's complicated."
"I seem to have struck a nerve. I didn't mean to offend. It was just curiosity." "It's fine." With one more look at his brother, Fenris set off in the direction of their village deeper into the forest.
Their journey was rather uneventful, at least to Darius it was. They encountered two more bark beasts, which he handily killed by tearing the arm from one and beating both of them with it. They saw a few goblins as well, but they stayed far away from the group. Afterwards they continued on until they came to a great river that curved and split part of the forest off from the rest. Darius immediately had the feeling he was being watched.
"This is the border to our village. There's a drawbridge a few paces down river that'll take us across." "You referring to that one that's not open?" The twins looked in the direction Darius was pointing to see that the bridge was raised, blocking their way home. "I told you Faelar! They sent us out here to die! This proves it. There aren't even any guards posted to raise it. Or maybe they're hiding simply to watch us suffer. This is the last straw. I'm leaving."
Faelar rushed after his brother. "Fenris wait! I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this." "Hold it you two." They both turned to look at Darius who was staring at the bridge. "Come over here. I have an idea." They both walked back to stand beside Darius. "What idea could you possibly have that could get the three of us across fifty yards of raging river water?", asked Faelar. Darius moved to stand in between them. "You see that tree over there?" They looked in the direction to which he was pointing. Not waiting for them to respond, Darius grabbed both of them and jumped across to the other side of the river. They landed on the other side of the river with plenty of room to spare. Darius landed on his feet and to his surprise the twins both landed just as nimbly.
Darius made his way over to the tree in question. "Quite a fascinating sight. Has a hidden allure to it don't you think." Again, not giving them time to process what just happened, he put a hand on the tree and disappeared. Their observer never saw him move. From their perspective, they went from being hidden high in the tree to immediately being in front of Fenris, Faelar, and Darius. "What the hell? When did I-"
"It seems we had an observer fellas." "GAEL! You slimy bastard! You raised the bridge and left us out there with no way back!" The sight of the elf cemented in Darius's mind that the twins weren't the norm. He had similar features to the twins, except he was a hair shorter at around 5' 10". His teeth weren't sharp like theirs, he lacked their muscle mass, and his hair was pure white. Regaining his composure, the new elf smirked at them. "I was just doing my job. You know, keeping out monsters and demons. It is my sworn duty after all, and I take it quite seriously."
Fenris raised his fist to strike the still smirking elf. Faelar grabbed his arm and moved between the two of them. "Stop." "Why should I? He deserves what's coming to him." "Think brother. You attack him and regardless of the reason, everyone will take his side. They already view us as monsters, do you want to prove them right?" "I told you I don't care anymore. I know what I am, what we are. And that's all that matters." Darius watched the exchange curiously but remained silent. Gael had other plans. "Honestly I thought you'd die out there. Didn't expect to see you back in one piece. Perhaps your human friend had something to do with that."
He eyed Darius with a smirk. Unable to get a reaction from him he went back to the twins. "Anywho, it's too bad. Maybe if you'd died out there, you might have been able to see your whore of a mother again." At that, something in Fenris snapped. What little restraint he had, left him along with Faelar's grip. Faelar had been caught off guard by the vile words spat at them by Gael. In this moment, the rage in his eyes mirrored his brother's. Both of them flew at Gael with the intent to kill, but Darius was faster. Before they could land a blow, he caught both of their arms, spun, and threw them into the trees at their backs. Gael's smirk dropped from his face and was replaced with anger.
"Why would you interfere in something that doesn't involve you human?!" "Because, had I not stopped them, you'd be dead." Gael's face again changed, but this time to one of skepticism. "They wouldn't dare. That'd seal their already pathetic fate." "Look, I don't know what's going on here, but I do know a murderous look when I see one. They had death in their eyes. They definitely would have killed you had I not been here, and honestly, for a second I was tempted to let them."
At that, the look on the elf's face turned to fear and his voice became shaky. "This.... this just proves my point. They're just monsters. Nothing more." He jumped to his feet and ran deeper into the forest. Fenris and Faelar got to their feet, still ready to fight. Darius began walking towards them. "Hey. I understand that whoever that little shit was, he deserved what you were about to give him. But some battles aren't worth fighting. If you need to release the hate you're feeling, do it to me. I can take it, and it won't result in you getting hunted by your own people."
Fenris looked to Darius before falling down to his knees unable to raise a finger against the man who had just stopped them from doing what would have gotten them executed or worse. His eyes filled with tears he didn't want to let out, but he did anyways. In an effort to regain control, he punched the ground over and over and over again. "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Meanwhile Faelar was making his way over to Darius. His fist were balled so tightly his hands were starting to bleed.
His head down, with tears falling from his eyes as well, he slowly raised a fist leveled at Darius's chest. He let his fist hover in the air until the tension left his hand and he rested it on Darius's shoulder. "I'm....we're...thank you for stopping us." "Your welcome. Believe me, I know first hand about being put in a situation you can't win. I know it's hard, but you gotta endure. If not for yourself, do it for your brother." "You're right. You know, I didn't trust you. Even when Fenris did, I looked at you as I would any other human. But you're different. I see that now, and I'm sorry for treating you no better than our own people have treated us."
"It's fine. Trust is a hard thing to earn. Now go check on your brother. I'll wait here until the two of you are ready." "Yeah. Good idea." Faelar started towards his brother but stopped and turned around to face Darius again. "As Fenris said, we owe you a life debt. I'll.....We'll see it paid in full." As Faelar left to go check on his brother, Darius thought to himself. So it's just two brothers against the world huh? Hated by their own people for being different. I guess regardless of the place, some things never change.