Arka

VAAU: Ren wakes up after running in the night under the full moon. He finds Martyn asleep next to him in the rising sun. He smiles at the tender sight, but then notices a figure approaching them. It's shubble, the spirit of death. her mask is the skull of the wolf and the plants on her are all dead. she ignores him completely but goes for martyn and picks him up. ren knows that the spirit of death only appears to guide someone into the afterlife. it stuns him for a while that she took martyn - he shouldnt die, he's a vampire! regardless, it sends him into action and he grabs her leg, holding her back from leaving. "please dont take him from me," he begs, "he's everything I have left." Shubble only smiles and waits patiently for ren to pull away, then continues walking - not away, but into the big tree they're next to! Ren sits up; he hadn't realized that they had slept next to the spirit tree! he had told martyn to come to the spirit tree but he had refused repeatedly - it must be a sign. shubble places martyn on the small raised platform within the tree and moves back, coming out of the tree to stand next to ren and watch what happens next. ren watches as the spirit tree vibes rise and examine martyn before taking hold of his hands and feet and start glowing, and the green glow starts to trail down his veins until they're all glowing along with the tree. they're interrupted by a wolf that approaches and turns into another spirit, the spirit of animals. once again, ren is treated as though he isnt there. "smallishbeans," the spirit of death greets him. "my beans arent that small anymore, shelby," the animal spirit replies, and then tilts his head towards martyn. "littlewood?" he asks, calling martyn by his spirit name. "yes, and his friend ren," shelby says, and ren's presence is finally acknowledged. they tell ren it's going to take a while. ren says okay and sits down. joel asks if he'll need to eat. ren says he's had practise not eating for a long time. joel comments that doesnt sound healthy. ren replies that he wants to stay by martyn's side. he obstinately stays by martyn's side until he falls asleep the next night. he's nudged awake the next day by joel in wolf form; he's brought ren some raw meat as food. ren eats, and watches martyn. he already looks so much better, like there's life in him again. the death spirit appears out of nowhere. "you should go home," she urges again. "What if he wakes up?" ren says. "He's going to be here for weeks. You can return again tomorrow."

Chap 2: ren returning to tell martyn stories n stuff. he helps to look after martyn. martyn wakes up and looks so much better. he gets support from joel and shelby before he's allowed home. he's meek and thanks ren for staying with him. he touches the plants and smiles and says he can hear them again.