be the lightning in me
05-28-2021, 05:51 PM
She was as amazed as she was perplexed by the smaller woman’s deft paws and keen intelligence while she tended to Indigo’s wounds like she had been born to do this. She was given another direction: go retrieve some moss and soak it in water. Again, Em forced her body to move, limping over until her paws touched the cool water of the river. She wasn’t sure how much to get, so she grabbed as much as she could carry and dunked it into the clear water, then brought the dripping moss back to the healer.
“Here,” she said plainly, setting it with the other medical supplies. Duo-toned eyes followed dexterous paws while they cleaned and stitched Indigo’s stomach back together. She flinched for the giant purple man, her ears flat to her skull, uncertain of what to do. She had caused this. She had brought this pain to him. It was exactly what she had been trying to avoid, but now the deed was done and the consequences had to be faced. Her eyes lifted momentarily to the ridgeline, to the grass swaying in the breeze and the world beyond. She could leave. It would be so easy to just get up and go.
But Emersyn didn’t. She couldn’t. She had to at least know Indigo would live. Get him back to his pack… the Hallows? She couldn’t remember what he had said. Maybe this small healer would know. She cringed when the woman’s paws drew groans of agony from Indigo, each one like a sucker punch of guilt to the gut. He asked for her name, and Em froze up. Her mouth hung open, caught between giving the truth or telling a lie. How could a question as simple as her name be so complex? Nobody knew her real name; the world knew her by another, the name she had been given when she’d been sold off like goods. She had never spoken her real name since that day. Did she trust him enough to give him that truth? Or did she shut him out with the lie, like she had done to everyone else?
She met his deep blue eyes again while he panted through the pain, waiting for her response. She had done this to him. At the very least, he could know who to blame when it was all said and done. ”Emersyn… My name is Emersyn,” she said, words slow and voice trembling while she spoke the name that tasted foreign on her tongue. Realizing that she was little help to the healer, Em instead moved around to sit near Indy’s head, lifting a slow paw to rest it on his crown and run delicate claws through his thick fur. She was doing her best to comfort him through the pain, the same way she had done when she held her dying friends in the arenas.
She began to hum a quiet tune while alternating between watching the healer and scanning their surroundings for any threats, her paw moving to trace gentle paths through his fur and across his cheek. Ears pricked up when he spoke again, asking her to tell him a story. She glanced down to meet his gaze, seeing the desperation for relief in his eyes. Em didn’t fancy herself a storyteller by any means, but in this one specific circumstance, she figured she could try. But what sort of stories did a wolf with nothing but pain in her soul tell to someone looking for reprieve?
”I don’t have many good stories to tell…” she confessed with an apologetic smile. ”How about I tell you about this empire of beautiful wolves that lived in beautiful marble palaces?” Emersyn looked back up to keep an eye on their surroundings while she told Indigo her tale. ”It’s a pack a long, long way away from here. There’s an old city, made entirely of granite and marble, perched along a cliff beside a shimmering sea. All of the wolves that lived within this city were gorgeous, sporting richly colored fur with intricate markings and details. In the summers, pups would play on the beach while the adults lounged around the berry orchards, and in the winters, the days would still be warm enough to take a long stroll along the coast. There was never any snow, nor cold, and even the rains felt warm and gentle.”
She paused long enough to take a breath, glancing down to make sure he was still doing okay. ”Stay awake, big guy, and I’ll tell you more about it. But you gotta stay with me, okay?” There, something for him to hold onto. And then, just like that, it was done. The healer stepped away to clean herself off, then returned and said they had to transport him somewhere safer. Em nodded, then added a grim, ”He has friends.” It was a simple confirmation of her fears. She knew exactly how many were after her. He would not be the last. Now that the adrenaline in her system had begun to ebb away, fatigue returned in force to the weary fae. She looked between the smaller lady and the giant Indigo, wondering just how she’d be able to pull him along. But she had no choice; she would have to.
”I’ll make it work.” She got back to her feet, just barely keeping from wobbling as she did, and waited for the healer to provide her whatever stimulant she had to keep her going. She only prayed that the Hallows weren’t too far, or they’d all be dead by sunset.
Current time: 09-19-2024, 11:38 AM
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