#;amnestically

          Of all the wounds he treated, acid burns were the most common. 

          It was understandable-- sometimes you couldn’t help but get stuck in the downpour-- and he was cheaper than a lot of other healers. At times he even treated burns for free, if it was evident the patient in question didn’t have the funds to spare. 

          Unlike most citizens of the Boiling Isles, Gale actually ventured out into the rain often. There were certain herbs and creatures that only came out when it rained, and they were affective for a wide variety of ailments-- not to mention readily sought after in general. So with a shield overhead, he picked away at the plants on the ground-- least that is what he had been doing-- until he heard a faint cry through the downpour. His hearing was more sensitive than most, and even then he only barely heard it-- but that was at least enough to know which direction it had come from.

          Letting out his Palismen, from where the little guy usually chilled in his bag when he went ‘acid-rain-herb-hunting’, Gale called forth his staff and quickly flew towards where the cries where coming from. Making sure his hood was pulled well over his head to hide his horns.

          It didn’t take him long to find her, (or at least, the mass of wings he was fairly certain was them--) and once he had-- he quickly cast a shield spell over her to block further rain. Hopping down from his staff, he started to inspect the damage before anything else. 

        “Oh, t-that’s an easy answer.” He just continued to smile, as he levitated a jar out of the cabinets-- and brought it over to the ground. “You were gunna step on the l-little guy right there. See?” Yep. It was an average house spider. Which, he was now coaxing into a mason jar-- still in the levitation spell-- using the lid to encourage the small insect forward. Since this house was technically a cave, he got them every once in awhile. Once the spider was successfully trapped in it’s little glass container, he started to set the girl down. 

        The Isles were filled with beasts other than himself.

        He knew this, and often times when he ventured out into the woods-- those demons knew of it as well. Perhaps it was their instincts? Some force that told them of the danger, concealed behind a witch façade? While it was a question that lingered in the back of his head, it wasn’t a propriety right now. Especially right now. 

        It was easy to get lost in these woods. Tree’s started to look the same after awhile, and if you got turned around-- it was hard to tell where you came from. So when Alice hadn’t returned from herb-gathering in a reasonable amount of time-- alarm bells rang. Although he didn’t listen to them right away. He’d just go and check on her. She probably just got distracte-- 

        Rational thoughts screeched to a halt, as he took in the situation. A large, obviously carnivorous-- demon, loomed over her. His instincts to protect her pumped adrenaline through his veins, and made him forget himself for a moment. A moment was all it took however, to blind someone. To make them forget walls that had been built to protect both of them... 

        His body quickly cracked and shattered-- as if he were made of glass. The new cracks emitting a white glow, although he didn’t stay like that for long. Only half a second, whilst his body fell apart, the broken chunks of his body were consumed by the light-- and barreled right at the assaulting creature. Force strong enough to move it several feet from where it had been. While the light on his form wasn’t blinding, it did obscure anything that was actually going on with the new mass. Said mass, started to quickly expand. Soon becoming larger than the creature itself-- and pushing it down with a large forming hand-- body progressively starting to take shape. 6 limbs, all with 3 different variations. Clawed hands in front, lions paws, and then hooves for the back legs. Large wings-- unfolded-- formed, and actually were higher than the treetops in this area of the woods. A long tail flicked back and forth at the end-- like a housecat that had caught a mouse.

          He’d pinned down the creature pretty well-- front hands trying to restrict the upper body, while the secondary paws tried to make sure the rest of it stayed still. A low growl resounded through the hair, but it wasn’t clear who it was from. This thing was far too wiggly... If it got loose-- it’d go after Alice, and then try and run for it. With that thought in mind, white glowing jaws opened slowly. As they came down on the creature’s neck-- the glowing finally cracked apart and fell away-- like a thin shell that was being shed. Whatever didn’t fall off, evaporated off of his body. A dark grey, coupled with mane and tail that matched his typical hair color. He bit down harder-- and the beast’s struggling finally stopped. 

          As Alice spoke, his mind finally came back-- somewhat. Jaws carefully lifting off an away from the bloodied beast. Mostly, it was filled with guilt for having to do that in front of her. His mind hadn’t quite connected all the dots yet. His reply came at a much more rumbly volume, but it was unmistakably his voice, if a small bit deeper because of the lengthened vocal cords. 

         To say that Alice was hitting the nail on the head, probably was a vast understatement. At first, he admittedly didn’t know which tale she was talking about-- digging in his memory to find it. Once he had, despite his face still being a smile, nerves and anxiety crept into the corners. Was this her way of telling him she knew?  But-- but how could she? He hadn’t taken that form in about a hundred years-- 

          ... Then she added that last tidbit, and that anxiety melted into a sorrowful understanding. She had been right-- he was the beast-- yet the revelation of her thinking of herself as one... When he genuinely was one, was... It was a sad, sad irony. Especially since she looked nothing like a beast to begin with. More like beauty, honestly.

Take this old magical man-- 

Send 🥀 for what my muse would say at your muse’s graveside || Accepting!

The day would come, he knew it would-- which is why he was sitting in his room, quill in hand-- yet the paper in front of him was blank.

He'd written similar letters like this, for the kids he'd taken in before. Something to remind himself of what he thought of them back then. Things to compliment them on, and things he hoped the kids got to experience once they left his home. He always wrote these a few months into their stay with him. Yet, he was having so much trouble with this one.

'I hope now, you can be free from--' No no, that made it sound like her life was all bad-- and it was sure to get better. Especially if he were in it somehow-- wait, why did he think that?

'How long has it been--' No no, that wouldn't do either. He didn't want to leave her, like he'd done with the others-- wait-- he knew remaining around them was stupid... Made it hurt all the worse, and they'd eventually figure him out-- since he hadn't aged a day since around 150 years ago.

'How is it up there? I wish I could joi--' Titan, what was wrong with him? Alright... Maybe it'd help if he went along with his usual script?

'I hope your life brought you solace, Alice Angel. Your mother and father implanted poison into your heart, and I was happy to see it prosper in spite of that from afar.' Typical stuff for an abusive household situation. Although here, is where it started to veer. 'I wish I could have helped you more. I wish I could have shared laughs with you more, gotten hugs from you more, and above all make you happy-- but I couldn't. No matter how badly I might want to, I had to keep you safe. Not only that, but I can't bring happiness. Not for long.' At this point, he was getting carried away in his writing. 'I didn't want you to be brought down with me. I don't want you to have to run for your entire life, just because you stayed. I don't want Belos's men to hurt you, just because your with me. I don't want Belos to take someone important away from me AGAIN.' When had the tears started?

'I can't stay with you. I know this-- but for some reason, I didn't want to go. It hurt to think about. Where had I gone wrong? Did I get too attached, because we're similar? Or was it because I'd grown too lonely after all these decades this time? Even so-- even if my age wasn't an issue-- I still couldn't stay. I'm not good enough, despite what you must think. I'm not good enough for yo--'

Finally, he stopped writing. A tear hitting his hand, jolting him out of the hyper-focus he'd been in. He set the quill down, only to notice his hands were shaking. What was this feeling? It was an ache in his heart, that permeated through his body. He didn't like it-- wanted it to stop somehow-- wanted to not think about all this.

So, that's just what he did. Picking up the paper, he gently crumpled it up-- walked out of his room-- and tossed it into the kitchen's garbage. He'd... he'd try again later. Much, much later...