Saddle Tramp (A Santana x Male!OC Story)

Beyond The Sea (Chapter 5)

"His beard and his hair was long and black, and he was the biggest man I'd ever seen. When he spoke his voice was low and deep, but he just didn't frighten me, 'cause somehow I just knew he wasn't mean." -Joshua by Dolly Parton

~

The way over wasn't very eventful. It was long, and overall exhausting, the entire trip totaling about 36 hours. Which meant Marty had been left with a 12 hour window to prepare himself for the awakening of the last pillarman. After getting settled into a nearby hotel room for his short stay here, he proceeded to get ready as best he could. He'd brought his hamon gloves, which Marty had put on along with a change of clothes after a well deserved shower.
The gloves might give a bit of a bad message, since Marty wasn't there to fight, but he knew there was a very real possibility he'd need them.

~

It was very bright, and though he could not feel the "UV lamps" as the people in the white coats called them, he could tell by the sweat on their brows that the light was warm. He had felt the sun before that day in Mexico, albeit briefly. His skin quickly turning to stone under its rays, and though he had nowhere near the obsession his master had, he would be lying if he said he never thought about what it would be like to walk under those rays. To feel their warmth fully.

Time was a very tricky thing to keep track of. He knew he could always fall asleep, and awake when this building was nothing but a crumbling ruin. Perhaps, if he'd been stuck in this room, with the only signs of life the humans who would occasionally enter, and those bright white lights for years on end, he would've. But he had not. For now, it was at his best guess, a few months since his awakening and capture.

When the men with the white coats came, flanked by those holding guns, more often than not they would take something from him. They would chip off a small piece of his stone form, and though he couldn't feel it, not truly, it was still not a pleasant experience having someone so close to him. Especially when he wasn't able to fight back at all.

It reminded him of a time long ago, watching his master work away on the masks, using humans as tests. He remembered feeling slightly envious of them at the time. Not only did his masters and brother deserve the power of the masks more than him, but apparently so did humans. A species which his master constantly called 'worms'.

Though, he supposed he wasn't worthy of that power. After being abandoned what had he done? Sat, and waited for his master's to return like the loyal dog he'd been called all his life. Only to be defeated by that annoying human. Was all that waiting worthless then? After all, his masters surely wouldn't come back for him once they learned of his defeat. It would just be a confirmation of everything they had told him. That he wasn't as strong as them, and wouldn't be able to help them in their quest.

This is how Santana's days passed, stuck in his stone form, the only change in the off-white scenery being the occasional time a researcher would come in. Most of the time it was hard to distinguish the people apart. The stone giving his eyesight a very poor, and distorted view of the world around him. It was like looking through a dense fog, only able to make out shapes and light. Unless someone was very close to him.

This was how he stayed until one day (?) someone new walked in, and with their arrival, the UV lights went out. They didn't smell like the researchers, less sterile and artificial, more natural. When he (because they stepped close enough for Santana to finally see that they were in fact a man) approached, he knelt down in front of his crumbling figure.

The first thing he noticed about the human before him were his eyes, which were looking into his own frozen ones. They were a deep, vibrant green, and they looked at him as if he actually seemed to see Santana under the rock that encased him. The second thing he noticed, was that the man was speaking to him in a soft voice. Though sound traveled sluggishly through his ears, he strained his advanced hearing to make out the words.