what wounds can mend, the heart will follow

The woman’s body seemed to be quaking as she got closer, shivers raking down her spine as she seemed to be holding back something that Kiyo wasn’t privy to. Was she sick as well, trying to hold back her vomit? She wasn’t quite sure. The other heard her, twisting her neck to try and turn to see and, in that moment, the ghostly woman watched as the younger woman stumbled over a rock. A frown twisted onto her lips, her heart skipping a beat as she quickened her pace to try and keep her from going down completely. Thankfully, the other seemed to catch herself. It was as she straightened that the Apothaker could see the full extent of her suspicions.

One eye was a vibrant, healthy, beautiful honey gold, while the other was…dead.

It wasn’t dead in a way she’d ever seen before, however. Most sightless eyes were clouded to an extent, whether by a malformation of the cornea or by age related casualties, such as glaucoma or cataracts. Sometimes they appeared fine, but there was a noticeable lack of dilation in the affected eye, hinting at its lack of sight. But this eye…it was as if there was a void there, a black hole leading right into her head. Kiyo fought back a flinch, her immediate worry being infection. If the eye were to be infected, it would be in one of the worst spots. She’d seen infections that had meandered into the brain before and it was horrendous. The wolf convulsed from high fevers, often slipped into a coma, and worst off, typically didn’t wake up. If they did, they were struck deaf, dumb and blind, or at least some variation of those if not all three at once. One thing was to be sure, they were never the same again. It didn’t help that the girl was also affected by one of the ooze strains, the one that pushed crystals from what she’d deduced to be her very bones. She’d tried to pluck them from her grandchildren, but their horrendous screams of pain had quickly denied her any further attempts. Just the thought of the sound made her want to vomit.

The russet woman spoke, her words mumbled around the crystals that lined her lips like sugar. She spoke of a cure, of the hope that Kiyo possessed one, and the healer’s heart leapt into her throat when the other looked to the valley. She knew the desperation of the situation in front of her, and she couldn’t blame the woman for such thoughts. This horrible sickness had been kind to no wolf and she’d seemed to take a full force blow from it if Kiyo’s thoughts were correct. Still, she couldn’t allow her to make the mistake of ending it when there was a possibility of a future beyond their current situation.

“I will certainly try, if you’ll allow me, dear,” she replied gently, a coaxing smile of her pale lips. She slid the bag from her shoulders, the item landing on the ground with a thud. “May I take a look at your eye first?” she asked, remaining in place instead of immediately going to the woman’s side. She didn’t want to startle her, she already felt badly enough as it was most likely. They would go at her pace.