This one time I wrote fanfiction about non-Sgrub adult Rochen whoops it isn’t nearly as sad as I’d planned
It was a miracle that she found him at all.
The sun had been up for a few hours, and yet the air was oppressively hot even in the shadows where she found the blueblood sprawled out. His canteen was empty, his eyes even more so, and he didn’t respond to her prodding. If she had chosen to leave him, he would have certainly been devoured by the hordes of the undead… or perhaps the heat of the Alternian sun would have cooked him alive. Either way, it was an easy task to leave him to his death.
Except she had covered him in her cloak and hauled him back to her hive.
And now Rochen sat next to him on the floor, carefully lying a wet cloth over his forehead. There was still a very good chance that he wouldn’t survive… most trolls couldn’t handle the desert in the day. She settled the cloth, and then hestiated.
…she wanted him to survive.
Slowly, trembling, she smoothed his hair back. It was soft. She hadn’t touched another troll in perigrees, since the last time the drones had come knocking.
He really couldn’t live. If he awoke, he wouldn’t appreciate her help. If he attacked her, she would kill him without hesitation. If he dared attempt to get to the Mother Grub, currently slumbering quietly several floors below, she would have to murder him. It would be so, so easy for this to end with his blood on the floor.
She let her hand trail along his jaw, feeling his pulse. Slow, regular. It’d be easy enough to slit his throat now, and spare the trouble of his waking. Just one quick cut, and it’d all be over.
He stirred a bit in her sleep, and she pulled her hand back as if she’d been burned.
“…a-ah…” Rochen stared down at him, trembling again. He could be anyone, he could be dangerous, she needed to kill him NOW, before he could become a threat to her charges! She was the Vigilant! She couldn’t let him live!
Except he was hurt. His skin was flushed blue, his breathing was still shallow and she hadn’t talked to anyone but the Mother Grub in a sweep. And she wanted to talk. She wanted to run her hand along his jaw, to ask his name, to know another troll again.
She slowly pushed herself up, swallowing hard. He needed more rest… and it’d probably be best if she wasn’t there when he awoke. The Vigilant adjusted her cloak and turned away.
She could hardly wait for him to wake.