Broken Hands - Tumblr Posts

AI-less Whumptober Day 3: Sensory Deprivation/Isolation

Fandom: The Dragon Prince

Summary: What if Viren hadn't told anyone where Gren was? What if he had just been left to die? (Fun fact at the end)

Warning: Broken bones and self injuries

    Gren hated the dungeon. His arms were tired of being upright and he could swear his hands were ice cold. He began to hate the taste of bread, even though he had liked it a lot before, as it was all he was ever given. Water had never been something he was so relieved to have.

    It was lonely. Very lonely. Gren tried to talk to the Moonshadow elf that had been placed in the dungeon. Even though he only answered once, the commander called it a win.

    Every time Viren came down the stairwell Gren wondered if he would be released. He knew that there was nothing he had done to be placed in the dungeon. His treatment has been unjust and when he was free he would make sure that the dark mage didn't go unpunished for his actions.

    The worst part was the silence. The Moonshadow elf wasn't good company.  He never spoke. Viren was the one who locked him down there. He hardly spoke to him as well.

    Gren heard nothing from the room further in the dungeon. With all the screaming from before the commander assumed that the mage had killed him.

    Now he was alone. It had been a while since Viren had come down the stairs. Gren didn't know if it had been days or just a few hours.

    Eventually he started to talk to himself to fill the void. He had been isolated from everything with no way to escape.

    After a while Gren's optimism couldn't help him. He was hungry and tired and scared; scared of dying alone. He missed the touch of another human being.

    His skin crawled because he hadn't been touched in what felt like an eternity. Gren craved a hug from Amaya or Corvus. It almost physically hurt how much he missed people. He was social and extroverted.

    People were his thing. The commander loved the presence of others. He loved talking to them and loved listening more. Now all he could do was talk and listen to himself.

    The conversations started silly and short. Then they stopped being silly. They turned into talks about life and death. It turned into him finally saying the things he was too scared to say out loud.

    Time was his enemy. Time ticked on as Gren wasted away, praying someone would find him and save him.

    Eventually he came to the conclusion no one was coming. There was nothing he could do to help them find him and no way he could escape. He gave up standing and collapsed to the ground, his arms jerking up. He yelled as pain shot though his wrist and arms from the quick movement.

    Gren began to breathe quickly. His chest quickly rose and fell as he heaved. He tried to pull his arms to his chest but was stopped by the chains. He screamed in frustration and slammed his fist into the wall behind him.

    Then one of his hands slipped out of the cuff. Still panicking he kept pulling in the other one. He looked down to see why his other hand had slipped out.

    Gren had already tried to break them back when he was first wrongfully chained up. But it wasn't the metal that had broken. His hand had.

    The commander's right hand had been broken when he struck the wall. He looked at his other hand and decided he had to break that on two.

    Blood dripped onto the ground from where his hands had cut open. Gren slammed the side of his hand into the wall over and over until he felt his thumb break. He slipped it out and tried to stand.

    It took a minute but Gren made it to the stairs. Then he forced his body to stay upright long enough to get get to the door. His legs gave and he fell onto the top step. He leaned against the door and waited for a moment before starting to yell and hit the door.

    "Help!" He screamed. No awesome. "Please" he whimpered.

    "Is someone there?"

    A voice. "yes! Please help!"

    "I'll be right back! Just hold on!"

    Gren smiled for the first time in a while. He was safe. When the door was opened Gren saw his saviors. A woman he didn't recognize stood before him. Behind her was the familiar face of Corvus. Near the door the interpreter could see Ezren. He sighed knowing he was safe.

Corvus moved to help Gren up. As soon as it was possible Gren grabbed the other and pulled him into a hug. It had been too long. He held him and cried. He didn't care about his hands all he wanted was to be around people. It was nice being warm again.

"Are you okay?" Ezren said as he walked over to him.

"I am now."

Note: Did you know that it actually is possible to dislocate your thumb in a way that can get you out of handcuffs/chains? The lower joint in your thumb is what needs to be dislocated. It's kinda neat.