[Flashback]The Healing Hands of the Island(Open)

[Jaeden Kincade]

41rst Day of Spring, 507 A.V. He couldn’t remember all that had happened. He was on a simple fishing ship as he headed out to the deep seas, east of the Sylira region. He had expected to gain a new perspective, something new. All he had managed to experience at first was a complete sense of nausea from the constant motion of the boat. On the fifth night out at sea, Jaeden was hung over the port side of the vessel, throwing up the supper that had been served. He couldn’t even remember what is was. As he stared down into the deep dark waters of the ocean below, he noticed a movement that did not seem to coincide with the nature waves. Before he could react, something had burst through the bottom hull of the ship. Jaeden couldn’t be sure what it was as the initial shock wave that had been sent through the wood of the ship had jolted his body violently. So violently that he had been thrown twenty feet into the air. He fell back down to the deck of the ship, as it began to split in half at it’s center, sending slivers of wood flying everywhere. Several splinters slashed across his body, adding new pains to the ones already present within his body. Another shockwave radiated through the half of the ship Jaeden rested along, his mind fading in and out of consciousness. The second wave suddenly broke part of the ship away, carrying Jaeden with it as it splashed into the waters below. As Jaeden’s vision began to grew dark, and his body began to ignore what he tried to tell it to do, Jaeden made one last movement as he hooked his arm over the piece of the ship he now floated upon, hoping that he would stay along it as he began drifting away. The sounds of the ship being hammered further by whatever grand creature had stumbled upon it and the terrified screams of the crew not already dead, where the only sounds that lulled Jaeden to a state of unconsciousness. There were so many times where he had awoken and slipped unconscious once again as he drifted out in the sea, with nothing but vast waters in sight. He thought such to be he end. Jaeden awoke again, however, his body racked with pain as the morning sun began sliding over his skin. His body laid along the beach as waves washed up over his skin. His arm draped over a large piece of wood, originally a piece of the hull of the ship he had been sailing upon. Cuts and gashes lined his body, stinging with the contact the saltwater of the ocean made with every wave along the shore. Jaeden’s mind couldn’t be sure because of the pain itself, but he could swear that he had more than a few fractured bones down the length of his body, though he could still wiggle his fingers and toes. His worse pain came from his left leg, as wiggling his toes was all he could do with that limb, and only at the cost of great pain. Where was he, he wondered, and would there be any who would greet him with less hostility than the open sea had?

[Alice]

Jaeden still hadn’t regained his full conscience for the pain numbed his thoughts. His body was starting to activate its self-healing mechanisms which caused a feeling as if his brain was wrapped in cotton. Everything he could see was the bright blue sky arching over him, only stained by a few white, fluffy clouds.

Suddenly a loud noise stung in his head. A high-pitched scream. Light footsteps followed. Then a silhouette overshadowed his view at the sky. After a while he could recognized a pale face framed by silky, sugar white hair that tickled his skin like soft feathers. The eyes, however, as blue as the sky, carried a strange look. At any other person that eye color would have looked bright and clear as crystal, but these were somewhat misty. As if something foreign clouded her mind.

That, however, didn’t prevent her from looking worried. Then her lips moved. Jaeden understood two sentences. “Hmm, but you aren’t what I’m looking for. This must be the wrong place …” Then she seemed to mutter something to herself.

After a while the face disappeared as did Jaeden’s conscience. Syna’s gentle light kept his body warm and the sound of the waves soothed his dazed mind. Slowly everything faded into black …

--------------------

The next thing he realized was that he was lying at a very soft underground and that is body was feeling very heavy. Pure white blinded his eyes, should he decide to open them too quickly. The room was flooded with light that fell through a pair of large windows with round edges. At the windowsill stood a porcelain vase with colorful flowers in it that spread their fragrant scent through the entire room. Jaeden was lying in a simple bed under a white blanket. His left leg was a thick silhouette under them, thicker than he remembered it to be. He found himself unable to move it at all, although the pain had diminished a lot. His lungs ached with every breath he took as two or three broken ribs were secured by bandages around his chest. His left wrist felt stiff as well, but apart from that he could detect no major injuries.

Suddenly the door opened and a short young woman entered – although young was relative, at least she looked as young as every typical Konti. Humming softly to herself, she crossed the room and poured fresh water from a glass she carried with her into the vase. Then she came to Jaeden’s bed and inspected him, determining if anything about his condition had changed. Until then she hadn’t realized that he had woken up.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden’s eyes only managed to open to a small sliver as the light simply filtered through, making his vision of things nothing but white glows and blurred shapes. His body felt pain, although not as much as before, despite the soft bed he laid upon as a subtle groan escaped his lips. His head slowly began to turn, examining his surroundings as his hand attempted to move at first to instinctively reach for where it hurt and shield it, as a subtle groan escaped his lips. “Where am I?” Jaeden said weakly, his eyes struggling to close again, and just sleep through the pain. His gaze traveled further, seeing the snow white blanket that covered him, but not the injuries along his body that it hid. He could feel the tight wrappings of cloth bandages around his chest and waist, restricting the movement that would otherwise agitate his injured ribs. His eyes then looked to how the blanket fell over his legs, and the obvious difference between the left and the right. His left leg had been broken, that much he was sure of. It was likely broken in more than one place, considering the amount of pain he felt from it previously, and even know. His gaze then caught sight of the woman who stood over him, beautiful to the point of being angelic. Those sky blue eyes gazing over him with an investigative look of sorts as the long white hair hang like silk and came close to tickling him once again. He felt he had seen her before, almost as if in a dream, only then to realize that she had been the one who had found him on the beach. Had the pain and bandaging not kept his wits somewhat together, he would have mistaken this moment for a lucid dream, or his arrival in the afterlife to await his reincarnation.

[Alice]

About the KontiSorry, was probably my fault, but the girl in the room isn't the screaming girl at the shore. Should be clear now.

Although his voice wasn’t strong enough to scare anyone, the girl visibly jumped when suddenly confronted with the patient being awake. Her eyes widened with surprise and Jaeden could discern pale green color, just bordering to being light grey. Also, her hair did tickle his arms as she bent over him to look into his face, but rather than swaying over it like reed, it bounced … Long white curls were framing her pretty, yet just a hint too round face. For Konti standards she wasn’t considered beautiful … but a human would probably find her prettier and more to his tastes than the slim exemplars.

She was inspecting him with a calculating look. Then, as if she had forgotten her manners, she hastily backed away and bowed in respect. “W-welcome to the Opal Clinic, Sir”, she spoke in sweetly accented Common. “How do … you feel?” Now watching him from the edge of the bed, she appeared as if desiring to take a closer look but at the same time shying away from that thought. Her hands nervously folded into each other.

Eventually she had the sudden idea of sitting down at the next chair and carried it over to Jaeden’s bed. “Well … I’ve found you, you know, lying there at the shore, together with some barrels. While I was collecting herbs. That was, uhmm, I think two days ago. You are still in the middle of your recovery, though. So please do not try … you know, to leave your bed or something like that.” After explaining all that to him in a confusingly erratic voice, she took a deep breath and waited for Jaeden’s reaction. Obviously she wasn’t used to communicating with a male human – or that funny way of speaking was hereditary.

[Jaeden Kincade]

His head still swam from whatever they had given him for pain, and while it likely helped a great deal, there was still that throbbing pain in his leg that slowly snapped the haze from his mind. His had finally rose, shield his eyes somewhat as though he were trying to rub away a headache. Pain stopped his breath for a moment as he grunted through a twinge of pain. “Opal Clinic? In what lands?” Jaeden then just paused for a moment, looking at her. “Sir?” Jaeden then released an exhale. “Not many have saddled me with that before.” Jaeden then said as he released an exhale, the twinge of pain in his leg finally fading, his mind becoming more clear by the moment. “Call me Jaeden please. Apart from the pain, I feel a little thirsty. Any chance you could possibly bring me a little water?” Jaeden then tried to sit up slightly, finding it too painful at the moment for even that. He then blinked a couple of times when she mentioned how she had found him. “Yeah, I was on a ship, just trying my hand at deep sea fishing when something under the water attacked the boat.” Jaeden shook his head slightly. “I don’t know what it was exactly, but it ripped the boat apart. Two days? Really?”

[Alice]

With Jaeden’s reaction, the Konti’s nervousness seemed to grow. Since she had never left the island, however, it was quite obvious to her that the Opal Clinic could only be situated … well, just there. “Oh, Konti Isle it is called, Sir, and Mura is the city you’re currently, you know, residing in.” Apparently the subtle plead not to call Jaeden ‘Sir’ was lost on the girl as well. Large eyes were fixed on him as if expecting him to do something ugly or shocking next. She simply wasn’t used to it … She hadn’t been prepared for anything.

Then, however, she swallowed and nodded obediently. “Good, Jaeden. I’m Hh’elea. Water is certainly available, so if you excuse me for a chime, I can … you know, get you some.” And within the next second she was gone and the door shut, the memory of her wiry frame and airy voice still lingering about the room.

Naturally, she wasn’t away very long and returned with a colorfully painted mug and a glass with fresh vision water. Being native to the island, she didn’t expect Jaeden to be surprised by the milky white quality of the water. She assessed his story with a surprised frown. “Deep sea fishing …?” Obviously the reason why someone would do something like deep sea fishing from aboard a ship was beyond her belief. Konti swam when they harvested the products of the sea. Why did humans even try to do things they weren’t made for? But Hh’elea was either too polite or too shy to ask about further explanations.

Instead she focused on what she knew. “We’re not sure about what attacked, you know, the ship either. Indeed, two days. Your body … you’ve tried very hard to reach the coast and, you know, to survive, so you got exhausted. Very much so. So you slept and your body recovered. Very easy, right? We have to keep you here for another few days, however. You know, in case the healer oversaw something.” Taking a deep breath, she went quiet and was content with staring at Jaeden for a while.

It was just then … that the memory of the beautiful, yet strangely distant Konti at the beach jumped into consciousness again. If he was tied to that bed and that room for another few hours, why not learn about the Konti in the meantime? Especially about that particular one he knew absolutely nothing about … except that her eyes saw different things.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden made it a point to take slow, deep breaths, finding it easier to concentrate on such actions rather than focusing on the pain. He had been hurt before. Many times actually, but never this bad that he could recall. Being immobile wasn’t to his liking that much either, but he wouldn’t raise argument to the ones who cared for him without having even asked. It was all too common that if he had been found on the shores of the lands he came from, his things would have been stripped from him entirely, his clothing included, and he would have been left along the shore to die. “Konti Isle. I’ve heard of it, but never been here.” Jaeden said weakly as he simply turned his head along the pillow to look at his care taker. His large hand reached out, grasping the glass of water offered. No mention or sign of reaction to the milky colors in the water were given. It was likely that Jaeden just considered it something added to help the healing process. His head tilted forward just slightly as Jaeden fought the urge to grunt in pain from doing so. He then began to drink slowly, even injured it seemed Jaeden’s thirst came first, as he downed the entire glass in one tip, letting out a slow exhale after. Jaeden then gave a slow nod as Hh’elea informed him of his continued stay. “Well, if the visitors are as easy on the eyes as you are, being bed ridden for a few days shouldn’t be too big of a bother.” Jaeden commented as he rose the one hand he could move to rub his brow for a moment. Another few chimes would pass before Jaeden blinked a couple of times, images of when he had washed up on shore flashing over his eyes. “Hh’elea, who brought me here by the way, if you don’t mind me inquiring? I feel I should thank who found me.”

[Alice]

Hh’elea stayed quiet when Jaeden tried to assess his situation. It wasn’t too bad, actually, considering the fact that he had indeed run ashore at Konti Isle. Every mainlander had at least heard from the divinely beautiful seer race. It was rumored that they were children of the Seer Goddess and the Sea God, that they possessed gifts that were too powerful for humans to bear, but that they were entirely peaceful and gentle. They treated outsiders with care and politeness, although it was obvious that they were more and saw more than other races. Dedicated to their chosen deities of worship, they spent their days in quiet studies and worshipping – a people of healers and seers.

In fact, the tales Jaeden might have heard never stated something about the downsides of Konti Isle. Nothing outsiders knew about the great probability of being unable to cope with their gift, nothing about the underlying, often difficult and tense political structures of Mura, nothing about the great tragedy of being rejected by the chosen divine being, nothing about the problems of the Konti. Everyone had their individual problems, just like other people, but the tales suggested perfection.

Hh’elea, however, wasn’t perfect in the least. She watched closely when Jaeden drank, having been taught to make him drink everything, but also ready to assist if he had problems. When he finished, she leaned back with a quiet sigh and went back to staring at him with that typical dreamy look.

Upon his next words, however, her cheeks assumed a bright red color and her hand rose to cover her face in embarrassment. And how could her reaction be different when she had experienced the exact opposite for her whole life! Images crossed her mind, but all of them were insignificant compared to what Jaeden had said to her. For a while she didn’t trust her tongue enough to speak. When she felt confident enough again, words came out as a whisper: “You will be fine, then, because others are far more beautiful.”

Grateful for the following silence, her gaze wandered out of the window while she tried to gather her thoughts. Not all Konti were like this one – certainly not the other one from the beach –, but she was the first one Jaeden really experienced as a part of her natural environment.

The other one, however, was hard to put into a single category and equally hard to describe. Hh’elea stared out of the window for some more chimes before examining him with slight confusion in her features and voice. “I’m afraid I don’t understand … Well, I think I found you. I called for the others to carry you here and–” The stop was rather abrupt. “Maybe … it was one of the triplets. The three sisters running the Pearl Divers. You know, the local inn and tavern. I saw her from the distance. She looked like, you know, one of them, but they’re really hard to discern, so I’m not sure. Did she talk to you?” she asked, suddenly interested. Of course, if Jaeden talked about that particular sister, every bit of information was interesting to find out.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden shook his head slowly, or rather as much as he could in his current condition. “I couldn’t catch much, and can’t be sure of what I could. I was fading in and out of consciousness.” Jaeden replied as his gaze settled on Hh’elea’s own. “I think she said something about me not being what she was looking for and that it was the wrong place or something.” Jaeden slowly brought his thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his nose, rubbing it slightly as he let out a sigh. “No matter though.” Jaeden finally replied as his hand fell to the bedside. “If you were the one to find and call help to my side, then you are the one that deserves the thanks. If you’ve a request of me for now, or when I’m more physically able, let me know and I will oblige.” Jaeden then managed a soft smile as he looked at Hh’elea. “And you shouldn’t be self-conscious about yourself either, you are beautiful.” Jaeden replied. “If you’re to be my care taker for a short time, however, how about we make good use of our time? While I’ve heard of the isle, I must confess I know little of it or Konti. Perhaps you could teach me, and possibly bring me literature to read in times you will be busy with other things? If at all possible, I would like to at least learn the language.”

[Alice]

Hh’elea tilted her head and watched Jaeden trying to remember. Of course she would never push him, patients needed rest and quiet after all, but she was bad at hiding her curiosity. Although she tried to look only mildly interested, there was that particular glow to her features that gave her away. However, the information she gathered was of little use. “Well, most of the time she’s a bit strange. You know, wizards are like that. Creepy people, most of them, anyway. Magic is not uncommon in Mura, you know, but … but nobody makes it as obvious as Ciela.” She shrugged, not commenting on the topic of healing the woman, although that thought must have crossed her mind.

At Jaeden’s offer, she gave a shy smile. Once more her cheeks assumed a light red hue, but she quickly brushed a strand of loose hair back behind her ear and the blush had vanished. “Why, yes. Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind …” With her gaze wandering out of the window, it seemed as if she was already thinking about something particular, but she didn’t elaborate. Perhaps she couldn’t.

The situation started to get a bit awkward, because Hh’elea didn’t react to Jaeden’s next words. She simply continued staring out of the window, looking at something that was out of Jaeden’s eyeshot. Suddenly she rose from her chair. A surprisingly cool look met his gaze and then she started moving towards the door. “Right. I can bring you … books and stuff. I’ve been appointed responsible for your recovery anyway. No problem. And about the other thing …” A short phrase in Kontinese was whispered, followed by a thin grin. Then the door was shut and Jaeden left alone.

And alone he would be for the next few hours. Then Hh’elea returned with some food for dinner and a few Konti books she had borrowed from the Opal Order’s library.

Mod NoteFeel free to describe your studies in Konti culture and your recovery process until Jaeden is able to walk with crutches.