Breakdown (Nira'lia)

by **Wrenmae** on October 18th, 2012, 4:47 am

Zan bobbed, more to bounce and move than for any emphasis.

“His tent? I dunno about tha-oh! Oh! Oh! You mean the cloth and canvas he sleeps under? Yeah! I know where that is! Um. Um.”

It shifted in on itself, shuddering and spinning with the concentration of thought. “It’s with the blue-skins…err, I mean, the blue fabric skins…err, the Zeltovons. Zeltivons! Zeltivans! Right. Zeltivans. Green tent, big one, corner of the camp. Most of his stuff is still packed, so don’t go snooping eh? Not a lot of good stuff in there, or at least nothing a healer could use…I mean, unless you use weapons to heal, which, I dunno, could happen? Anyways, yeah. That’s where it is. I’ll just. Yeah. I’ll just stay here and keep guard? Yeah. Guard. I mean, shyke, sure. I can, I mean, I know how to go down someone’s throat, should work for other fleshba-err, people, animals, I mean…that sort of thing. You think you can help, then, Ni-ra-li-a?”

He seemed earnest, far too energetic and impulsive to be anything but honest. There was another emotion as well, beneath the surface. A kind of shuddering nervousness about being out, about protecting its master with little more than its shuddering water body. Even so, it masked it with jokes and over excited jabber, talking almost to fill the silence with substance, so nothing else but that light hearted muttering could exist.

“Well? What are you waiting for? I can’t stick around here all night! I mean. I can, I guess, but I don’t think that would be best. Nope, not best at all. I mean, look at me. I mean, you know who I am, errr, what I am, but no one else will. People are really superstitious. Like. Really superstitious. So, I mean, maybe hurry?”

by **Nira'lia** on October 31st, 2012, 2:25 pm

The Konti’s eyebrows were knitted in confusion as she listened to the familiar. Now and then she nodded her head as she tried her best to keep up with his words. The uneasiness was evident in his tone, he spoke so quickly and his thoughts seemed to distract even himself.

“A-alright… alright, Zan, you go hide for a bit. I’m going to call someone who can help Wrenmae back to his tent,” the Konti said with a huge smile. With that, she pulled away from the two and hurriedly ran back to the main camp. There seemed to be fewer people awake. A number of Knights and Zeltivan stayed by the fire, and others were creeping back to their tents. A lot of those who had been present just a few bells ago had already retreated for the night.

Nira’lia scanned over the mass of tents, searching for the one that Zan had described. Soon enough, she found it, the green tent that stood by the corner of the camp. It appeared to be fairly isolated, and it was the only tent of its color around the vicinity, thus the Konti assumed that it was Wrenmae’s.

Knowing that she had to hurry up since it wouldn’t be safe to leave the unconscious man, Nira’lia approached the nearest person. It was a young squire, and she recognized him as one of the people she had judged as without the plague. The squire recognized her easily as well. He seemed to be strong enough to carry Wrenmae back, and that was enough for Nira’lia.

“Hi, uhm…” started the Konti. Concern was displayed on her face; the young man seemed to notice this. Gingerly, she pointed towards the woods, at the direction from where she came from. “A friend of mine… uh, he passed out, and I need help getting him back to his tent. That’s his tent over there, the green one. Could you help me, please?”

As expected, the squire was willing to help. Nira’lia led him back to the spot where Wrenmae was, and she just hoped that Zan was out of sight by now. Soon enough, they found their way back to the spot where she had come from.

“He’s over there!” she said when they were some yards away from the unconscious man. Nira’lia said it in a voice louder than necessary to warn Zan. Soon enough, there they stood before Wrenmae, who lay still on the dirty ground.

by **Wrenmae** on November 2nd, 2012, 3:22 am

With help from the squire, Wrenmae was lifted from the forest floor and carried back to his tent. Inside, his gear lay up against one wall. Bulging packs and bags set against the eerie shape of his mancatcher. Zan was nowhere to be seen. The squire laid the unconscious hypnotist down and turned to Nira’lia for instructions. Without anything else to have him do, she let him go. Alone with the unconscious man, it took only a few moments before Zan crept out of his mouth, bobbing just above his master’s body.

“Thanks bunches Ni-Ra-Li-A,” he said, bobbing forward and hovering in front of her eyes, “Truth be told, I was going to duke it out with a fox if worse came to worse. You know. Man to man…errr, Sarawanki to…woodland…creature. You get the picture.” Brushing back from her, he zig zagged through the limited area of the tent before settling over Wrenmae’s slow rise and falling chest.

“Ok. So you’re a fleshba-…errr, a people doctor, right? You…make broken things new? Mend? Do you think I could trouble you to do that to my master here? Not to sound too harsh about it, but his life is tied to mine. That fellow goes under and it’s the afterlife for my kind for me.” He paused, turning, shifting, “Ya know, I just thought. Do we go where you guys go? I mean, do I just kinda cease to be, or do you think I go with gods, or whatever…maybe it isn’t important. But hey. That’s why you’re here, to make discussions like that completely pointless in the situation. So yeah. Mend! Mend! Mend!”

He didn’t seem to understand the process all that well, soaring up and over her head, around and around.

“Do you need mood music? Lighting? Should I dance? I can dance, you know. You might not be able to tell, given my form, but I assure you that I know how.”

by **Nira'lia** on November 2nd, 2012, 8:29 am

The Konti giggled. “I doubt any foxes would approach the camp… but of course, I believe you would have fought for Wrenmae if you had to. And yes, I’m a people doctor.”

Nira’lia had no answers about his questions about the afterlife, which was fine because the Sawaranki quickly changed his train of thought. In the end, she realized that Zan wanted her to look after Wrenmae. Considering her oath to Rak’keli, and because this was what she really did, Nira’lia had no whatsoever complaints about that.

“Well, uhm… it doesn’t seem like there’s anything wrong with him, Zan. He looks quite healthy, which I find strange considering all the sickness in the camp. But he’s healthy, that can’t be denied. Look, he does not even have a fever. A really lucky person, if you ask me. It appears that he just needs to rest to give his body the time to recuperate from… from whatever is going on. I don’t know what’s wrong, and it would be very difficult to mend something you don’t understand.”

She smiled at him, her eyes twinkling with definite hope. Despite what she had said, she reached forward placed her hand on Wrenmae’s arm. She felt the mark on her shoulder tingle warmly, and felt Rak’keli’s divine power surge forward and unto Wrenmae. At the same time, she sent Rak’keli a hopeful request. She asked Rak’keli to help the man heal well.

Physically, he wasn’t in any critical position. It almost seemed like he was simply sleeping. Since Rak’keli’s power could also aide in the healing of mental illnesses, including depression, she hoped that her Gnosis mark would help. However, she was well aware of the boundaries of her mark. Most of the work would come from Wrenmae himself if he wanted to get back to normal soon.

“I’ll watch over him, Zan… it’s likely that one of these days, he’ll just open his eyes and be back to normal. There are other sick men in the camp who are being moved by the squires during the day, I’m sure they won’t mind moving Wrenmae as well. You’re going to have to be wait until he wakes up on his own… would that be alright with you? I’m sorry; it appears like there’s not much I can do for him right at this moment…”

by **Wrenmae** on November 3rd, 2012, 6:33 pm

Zan was inscrutible, measuring emotions more in the sweeping landscape of his body than any features on a face. For awhile, he simply hung between them, bobbing on invisible currents of Djed.

Finally, he sighed, a strangely human sound for the familiar.

"So, wait and be patient, huh? Lame. Lame. Lame. I'd sooner watch paint dry. I'd sooner be paint drying. I'd sooner DRY paint. I dunno, I mean, you're the fleshmender Ni-ra-li-a, so I guess I gotta go by what you say. But hey. Hey. Hey. It sounds really boring."

Up it came, hovering in front of her face, bobbing around her eyes, "How about this. Huh? Huh? I can play hideaway on your person and keep in the know about the camp and such. I can't get sick cause, well, I mean, how does water get sick? I mean really. Anyways, like I said, I'll totally help you out and stuff. I promise I can make myself useful."

Briefly Zan bobbed within inches of her nose, nearly touching it, then bounding back.

"I gotta have something to do, I mean, really, it's the whole run of this life, right? Mizahar is so big, so expressive, so interesting, so...I dunno, Mizahar-y, I don't want to spend all my time with Sleeping Madman over there. If he wakes up, sure, fine. We go back to our delightful rapport...but till then, can I just, I dunno, travel around with you? I promise I don't take up too much room. I'm portable! How many of your friends can say they're PORTABLE?"

Down Zan went, settling on the ground and for a moment, he was a small glass vial with swirling blue contents. Then he was Zan again.

"You carry me around like your good luck charm till Wren is all on the mend, and then I'll go back with him! You seem like a good conversationalist, and your hair is like the color of light, so you have that going for you."

It was hard to tell when the familiar was serious or not.

"I'll answer most questions you have and totally be your best friend. I could use more best friends. Were you aware that internal organs aren't talkative? Not even a little bit. All I have is captain crazy over there to widdle away the hours and I'm just dying to meet some new folks."

"So?" He bobbed in front of her eyes again, "Whaddya say?"

by **Nira'lia** on November 4th, 2012, 2:51 pm

The Konti looked at Zan blankly. She unconsciously tilted her head. His request was clear, but she felt slightly uneasy. Nira’lia was not knowledgeable about familiars and how they worked. Would he just be… there?

‘Well, I suppose I can find out…’

In the end, it wasn’t really a difficult decision. She had only met him this night, but she already liked his quirkiness a lot. Besides, she felt bad for him. His friend was unconscious, and he couldn’t exactly go running around to amuse himself. If he did, too many questions would be asked about the talkative blob of water.

And when he turned himself into a vial of swirling blue, Nira’lia almost lost it. Her eyes twinkled and her expression was the utmost model of amusement. She had never seen anything like it! She evidently had a lot to learn about familiars.

“That… that was so pretty!” she exclaimed, referring to his form as a vial. It was a random comment, but she couldn’t help it. She even clapped her hands together to make a point, a point that didn’t really matter in the long run. That particular form of his resembled something that would have been used for a pendant. It was at times like these that the girly side of her emerged.

Yes, she could use the company. And yes, for some reason, she thought he would be an excellent good luck charm.

“Of course, Zan!” she said, grinning widely. “Please keep me company while Wrenmae is getting better! I would absolutely love that!”

by **Wrenmae** on November 4th, 2012, 11:29 pm

Zan exploded outward, fracturing into drops and then back together, shifting and swinging through the air. "H'okay Ni-ra-li-a! Partners it is then!" He dodged around her head, up and down, zig-zagging, before settling above her palm, fluctuating.

"While I'm a pretty pretty bauble, I won't be so talkative, but I can see, and observe, and that'll be the up and up of our little situation. Feel free to take me wherever and if worst comes to worse, I have a few lil talents that might send sparks at the right moment, entertainment in the wrong." He settled on her hand, bubbling there, and for a moment there was a flash.

She was in a horrible place. A world too bright and full of death and misery. Suddenly, a door, a face, Wrenmae's...much younger. She was happy, elated, she'd heard of this before...how some of the kind were taken from this horrifying home planet and given purpose elsewhere. It was the start of a new adventure, it was joyous, it was...paradise.

And then she was linked with him, a bright faced little rogue with a toothy smile and wild, adventurous eyes. Together, they turned into the streets of Alvadas.

And were one.

"I'll pop out for a lil chat and such when we're alone...and I mean, I'll do that sorta stuff till Wren is on the mend or I find fun other things to do with my time. So, fleshmender, take me on an adventure and don't skimp on the fun! I'll be your temporary familiar till we part ways someday."

And in a moment, he was a flask once more, golden cork shaped like the bubbly Zan and the water within, constantly flowing and glowing with a pale incandescence, radiating from her palm.

by **Nira'lia** on November 6th, 2012, 4:41 pm

Nira’lia had seen a lot of visions through her gift, but there were those which stood out, a few memories that she stuck out from the rest. For one, Wrenmae’s myriad of memories was something that would take her days to forget.

Zan’s memory was another one of them.

At the moment that he touched her palm, she understood why he seemed so eager to take care of Wrenmae. It suddenly made sense to her why, despite all his rambling and nonchalance, he clearly cared for the man. And when she saw this memory, the feelings enveloped her as well. She adopted the emotions that he had felt, and it was akin to an intense loyalty and happiness towards a person who had pulled you out of misery.

And she felt it as well: the need to make sure that Wrenmae was going to be alright.

“Alright, Zan,” she said softly to the flask that she held to her eyes. “Let’s both do our best to help Wrenmae get better. Also, don’t spill any of my secrets!”

The last statement had been a joke. She didn’t feel strange about having someone else’s familiar around most times because she had nothing to hide. Ironically, she had no idea at this point about the events that were to transpire in the next few days.

The Konti tidied up Wrenmae’s tent before leaving, and she made sure that he was as comfortable as possible. And before she left, she patted him on the shoulder and closed her eyes, giving a final prayer to Rak’keli.

by **Balderdash** on November 7th, 2012, 6:37 am

Delicious rewards! Happy days and jubilation!

Ni-Ra-Li-a:

Loot! :

Wrenmae:

More loot! :

A wonderful little thread! Zan is so darn cute! I enjoyed reading it thoroughly

Keep up the great work you two!