Healing Hands [Solo]

by **Ayatah** on March 5th, 2013, 9:27 pm

|| 81st Spring, 512AV || The Scattered Bones' clan home. ||

”I am blind, Aya. There’s nothing you can do about it.”

She brushed the words off as if they carried little meaning, let alone the detrimental truth behind them. Instead, Ayatah shrugged - though realised the act was pointless, seeing as the woman in front of her could not see it.

”The healers are taking in the rest of the patrols who were --“

”Blinded?”

This time she could not ignore that word, but her reply was still strained. ”Ye-es.”

Her cousin smiled, blind eyes searching the darkness in front of them for Ayatah’s face. It had been nearly a whole season since the djed storm, but such grievous wounds do not heal quickly. The number of blind Myrians were thought to be amongst the hundreds, but there was an unspoken thought between all of those that could still see: What do we do with them? Blindness was highly uncommon, and should a baby be born with milky eyes that could not see, they usually died of some sort of illness before their first name day. It was normally a sign of weakness, or frailty. Never before had so many healthy adults been blinded, and without any physical wounds or causes.

”The healers cannot do anymore than you. My blindness cannot be healed through poultice or ointment, you know that.”

It was strange to hear Roseane speak so calmly and lowly. It was like she had already accepted defeat - and that was not a trait that ran through the Scattered Bones lineage.

The words hung in the air like a foul smell, and Ayatah could not think of a response right now. Her cousin was right, she knew. But there was a desperate determination in the half-Eypharian; one that wanted to cling on to the impossible hope of restoring Roseane’s vision. Without her eyes, she was…

Useless.

She pushed the word out of her mind, momentarily glad that the other woman could not see the disgusted look on Ayatah’s face. How could she even think of her cousin like that? But then again, what could a Myrian do without their eyesight? Their culture was one centered around daily chores that kept their clans alive and their people united. Hunting, fishing, building, repairing, teaching, healing… They all needed eyes.

”Aya, we should just be thankful that you are safe, and that no other Scattered Bones clansman was caught in the storm. Even Bennik, and everyone thought he was with you at Zinrah.”

Where was the fight? The struggle? Myrians as a whole were a fierce and strong people, and Roseane had embodied those two traits wholeheartedly. She had been a ferocious hunter, deadly with a longbow and handaxe. But now she was defeated, beaten by a physical impairment caused by a thing she could not fight. Other than her blindness, there was no other physical damage to Roseane, unlike Ayatah who had watched (or rather not watched) her pureblooded comrades literally disappeared into nothingness. Armour and weapons had fallen to the ground like dismissed child’s toys, and Myri only knew where the Myrians who had worn and held them had gone.

”You’re right.” She said eventually. When she had finally returned to Taloba, Ayatah and her company had been battered and bruised, having been attacked by wild fauna, and even the jungle itself. It had taken twice as long to return to the Myrian city, and more than once Aya had though they would not make it. After spending a few days in the healer’s lodge of the military, she had witnessed firsthand the pain and suffering the djed storm had bought to the families of those who had disappeared.

Disappearance. It was a terrible thing. Crueler than death, and yet more hopeful at the same time. There had been no dead bodies, so she could not honestly say that her comrades had joined Dira. But then… There were no signs of life either. There was no other way to describe what had happened, and yet Aya could not shake those pained expressions from her memory.

|| Ayatah's speech || Ayatah's thoughts || Others' speech ||

by **Ayatah** on March 6th, 2013, 12:50 pm

But to simply accept what had happened did not sit well with Ayatah. She had spent her entire life arguing against ignorant points of view that implied she was useless or am abomination. She was used to being scrappy, it came second nature to her. And although her people had no idea what had hit the jungle at the start of the year, or what caused it, there was a child-like stubbornness in Ayatah that wanted to fold it’s arms, pout and refuse to give way until answers were found.

”Do you not want to fight, to try and cure your blindness?” The words came out harsher and snappier than she intended, and Ayatah winced at once.

”I do. Myri knows I do, Aya.” There was a pained look across her cousin’s face, and Aya wondered whether Roseane knew what expression she was wearing. ”But what can I do? I can’t read, I can’t travel, I can’t fight. I can even see the faces of my children. Do you know how hopeless and endless that feels?”

Ayatah glanced towards the center of the Scattered Bones’ home. The children were sitting in a circle around the dead bonfire, staring up at their clan healer who showed them leaves and ointments in glass jars. Healing and fighting had dominated the children’s lessons since the start of the season; literacy and the other academic subjects had been abandoned. Three of the youngsters - two boys and a girl - were Roseane’s children, and had been hit hard by the news their mother could not see.

I can imagine that pain… Ayatah thought solemnly, a hand on her stomach. Her jaw clenched and for the second time that day, she was glad her company was blind and could not see the intense pain on her face. She had joined the patrol to Zinrah that day already a bundle of nerves and worry. It had been the third morning she had woken with a horrid sickness, where her body, for whatever mysterious reason, would reject even water. It was only when her Great-Grandmother, wise and observant as ever, whispered something to Ayatah that she realised she was not coming down with a sickness.

But that day, when the purebloods disappeared and there was only Ayatah, Tinnok and Alva the Kelvic left at the Zinrah entrance, her body had been tested and damaged in more ways than one. By the time they returned to Taloba, it was not just the disappearing Myrians that Ayatah was grieving for. Motherhood was not something she was expecting, nor something she was ready for or wanted. But when she realised what had been lost in that jungle, Ayatah had been wrought with a type of heartache she had not known possible.

I had not even had time to tell Raz…

In fact, nobody had known; nobody save for Quinneth and the healer that had sought to her other physical wounds.

”Aya. Are you there?” Her cousin’s voice was quiet and concerned, but it was enough to break Ayatah from her thoughts. And she was glad; not enough time had passed to heal that wound.

”Yes, Roseane. I’m still here.”

|| Ayatah's speech || Ayatah's thoughts || Others' speech ||

by **Ayatah** on March 6th, 2013, 4:01 pm

”Twena, help!”

The cry was from within the jungle, and shortly afterwards, the panicked face of another Scattered Bones member erupted form the dark greenery. Hunjo, yet another kind of cousin.

”What’s wrong?”

The clan healer, and Ayatah’s aunt, had left her teaching post and rushed forwards. Such emergencies were now a common thing for their people, but the Scattered Bones had been lucky in the small number of accidents and injuries.

Until now, at least.

”A tiger… completely enraged.”

The young boy bent forwards, gasping for breath and wincing in pain. A few startled eyebrows rose at his words, and even Roseane inhaled a sharp breath. Tigers never came so close to Taloba, even after the djed storm. This was the nearest that Ayatah had heard of them being to the city.

Paira was beside her healer-sister now. The two older women glanced at each other momentarily before Ayatah’s mother backed away to spread the grievous news between the rest of her family. They were both worried, and that fact alone was enough to unnerve Ayatah. Roseane stood up, staring blankly ahead with her mouth slack and brows furrowed. She was perhaps trying to imagine the scene of the tiger attack, and at least for now, Ayatah was as blind to that as she.

”Bennik -- and Lita. They - both got hurt pretty -- bad.”

It was meant to be a simple fishing trip. Her two cousins had taken their younger brother to teach him the basics of the skill. They had been gone perhaps two bells, though the creek from which they would fish was no further than thirty chimes. The jungle had grown so alarmingly quickly though; the journey took nearly twice as long now. And that was if you didn’t get lost on the way.

”Twena… Let me help.” Ayatah stepped forward, touching her aunt on the shoulder gently. Myri only know what state the other two would be in, and the healer would need as much help as she could get. She may have only spent a couple of days at the military healer’s lodge, but in that limited time, Aya had witnessed a disturbing amount of horrifying scenes.

Blood, desperation and fear….

Her aunt nodded quickly, and ordered Ayatah to gather the most basic poultices from her lodge. By the time the half-Eypharian had returned, Twena had readied herself to leave. Roseane, however, was still standing in the same place Ayatah had left her. She felt a tug of pity towards her once steely-faced cousin, now utterly helpless and a hindrance to her family. ”Tronx!” Her younger brother came running up, chest puffed out at the thought of being invited on an adventure. There would be no such luck today though: ”take Roseane to Quinneth.”

The young lad frowned at the simplicity of the task laid at his feet, but obliged all the same. When he had taken Roseane gently by the hand and lead her back towards the center of their village, Twena turned to Ayatah. Time for seriousness.

”Let’s go.”

The healer was in her mid-forties, a similar age to Paira, though their lives had taken completely different routes. Whereas Ayatah’s mother had left the jungle in her youth, Twena had never set foot outside of Falyndar. Neither had she had any children, though she’d delivered all of the Scattered Bones’ babies in recent years. One sister had found solace in fighting, and the other in healing.

Ayatah, Twena and young Hunjo trekked in amongst the trees and foliage, with the youngest at the front and Ayatah the rear. Every so often, the boy would pause, investigate a tree, then mark it with his dagger, before continuing their journey. Eventually, he glanced behind to the older females, grinning sheepishly.

”We scored the trees to so we knew how to come back. But… the trees are healing quickly.” He tapped the smooth bark of one tree, indicating a faint ‘B’ that Ayatah could just about make out.

”The jungle has been acting bizarrely ever since…” She voice drifted off, and she coughed awkwardly. Yes. Ever since everything changed.

The three Myrians agreed that they needed to hurry, so they broke out into a sprint. Ayatah had made this journey hundreds of times, and yet she could instantly see how much the jungle had changed. The narrow path between the creek and the Scattered Bones’ home had been completely overtaken by moss and grass - she wasn’t even sure whether they were walking upon it or not. Trees were full of green plumage, like great peacocks. Even fungi and flowers seemed to have taken over more ground and rocks than before. The path between her home and Taloba city center had also been overrun, though luckily the buried bones that erupted from the dirt provided enough indication of where to go.

|| Ayatah's speech || Ayatah's thoughts || Others' speech ||

by **Ayatah** on March 6th, 2013, 4:46 pm

”Here…”

Ayatah barely heard the boy’s voice as he stepped out onto a small clearing. She recognized this area -- yes, I can just about hear the water… This whole area had once been open and clear, so ten or so Myrians could lie and bathe in the sun whilst others fished in the nearby creek. But they could hardly see the water now.

”Bennik! He was slumped at the base of a tree, his head limp and eyes half closed. His right thigh appeared to be missing a tiger-sized mouthful, and his chest had three long claw marks that scraped down the length of his body. Her cousin twitched at the sound of his name, and his head lifted just enough so his eyes met Ayatah’s. She thought he smiled faintly, but she could have just imagined it. ”Where’s Lita?”

A groan answered her question, and Twena peered behind a half-rotten log on the ground. ”Myri….”

The tone of her voice alone was enough to send the hairs on the back of Ayatah’s neck on edge, but nothing would have prepared her for what state her other cousin was in.

”Twena… She’s missing a hand.”

”I got the bastard for it though,” Her hand might be missing, but it seemed that Lita still had her spunk. ”Whilst he was swallowing my fingers, I slices his neck right open. See?” She raised her intact arm to point leftwards, indicating towards a heap of orange, black and red.

Twena knelt down, inspecting the wound (or rather, the stump) carefully, but her furrowed eyebrows were quickly replaced by a look of pure sadness. It was enough to make Ayatah turn away quickly.

Coward.

”I’ll… see to Bennik.”

She approached her cousin, the one who had spent the majority of his childhood defending her name and beating up bullies for her. Bennik’s skin was covered in a thin layer of sweat, and when Ayatah felt his forehead, it was warm.

”How’s Lita? And -- have you told -- the others?”

She smiled faintly, trying to remain as optimistic and hopeful as possible, more for Bennik than herself. ”Trust you to worry about your duty before yourself. Yes, my mother was sending messages to the garrison as we were leaving.” Her fingers brushed the dark skin just before the gaping wound, and Bennik took in a sharp breath, jaw clenched tightly and eyes screwed shut.

”I’m going to try and clean this for you, okay?” Was that timid sound her voice? How worrying…

Ayatah cleared her throat and tried to speak with more certainty, ”Hunjo! Fill the skins with the water, and be quick about it!” She threw the empty flasks to the young boy, who caught them and dashed off into the thickets. He returned shortly after, panting and sweat, but unharmed.

”Look at you -- the healer.”

This time her smile reached Aya’s dark eyes, and she nodded slowly, ”yes, I suppose so. Let’s see if I remember anything.”

The claw marks down his chest were not deep, and no doubt looked worse than they actually were. A couple of blots of moss and a bandage would be enough to sort them out…

…But the chunk that was missing from his thigh was far more worrying. Bennik had clearly fallen down after the attack - who wouldn’t? - so there were flecks of dirt and dries leaves amongst the bare muscle and blood. They would need to be removed, but there was no way that Bennik could deal with Ayatah physically picking them out. She paused for a chime, temporarily stumped.

Water…

The healer at the military garrison had taught Ayatah how something as simple as cold water could be used to numb and clean wounds. If there was ever a situation that required numbing and cleanliness, it was this one.

[b]”I… am going to try and clean your leg with water. It’ll numb it, too. Hopefully” She licked her lips before finally nodding to confirm her own plan.

She picked up the waterskin, aiming the thin nozzle directly towards Bennik’s bleeding flesh. Myri, there was so much blood! But she didn’t have time to be scared, or worried. She had to act. Her fingers pressed down on the flat side of the skin forcibly, pushing a jet of cool water out and onto to Bennik’s open wound. He yelped and twitched, but only when the water first made contact. Afterwards, his breathes became more regular, though his eyes remained screwed shut.

”How are you, Aya? You were there when -- ah!” He made a tight fist and pummeled the ground with it. ”--when it all happened. How are you?”

Well, I’m completely traumatized by seeing my pig-headed comrades disappear. I am mourning for something I didn’t plan, nor want. And yet I am unbelievably heartbroken by what was taken from me.

”I am fine, Benn. Let’s focus on you, hm?”The majority of the foliage and dirt had been cleaned from the wound, and Ayatah knew that that was the best she could hope for, given where they were. ”Twena, how is Lita?”

|| Ayatah's speech || Ayatah's thoughts || Others' speech ||

by **Ayatah** on March 6th, 2013, 7:00 pm

There was a silence that followed, but Ayatah ignored the sense of dread that filled her. Twena was just busy healing, because that’s what healers do…right?

But Hunjo was standing over his aunt and cousin, dark eyes filled with fat tears. He’s just a child… she told herself, and yet Ayatah did not want the young lad to distress Bennik any more than he already was. ”Hunjo… Look around for some pink flowers, they’re good for pain. But don’t stray from the clearing, okay?” The order was a useless one; the flowers Ayatah was referring to grew only in dark and damp places, not sunny clearings. But it would distract the boy for a short while. Hopefully.

Her hand slipped into the leather satchel filled with plants and poultices. The wound would need closing as some point, but Myri only know how, and with her limited knowledge of medicine, Ayatah did not even want to try.

”I think the best thing for me to do is to just clean the wound and bandage it. Do you agree, Twena?”

Silence once again. This time, Bennik took note.

”Why is she so quiet? Is Lita…” His eyes grew wide and he tried to pull himself up to get a better look at the scene on the other end of the clearing. ”….There was a lot of blood…” One sister had already been blinded by the storm, and now another was critically injured.

”Benn, look at me.” She turned his face gently so he had no choice but to do as he was told, ”Twena is working. We can’t interrupt her.”

Even though it was me who spoke first…

But her cousin seemed convinced, and he lay back down against the rough tree bark. His eyes closed once again, but more peaceful now. Ayatah watched him for a moment, as if to make sure he was still breathing, then eventually she went back to her work.

Tighten the flesh above the wound to stop bloodflow…

But they had limited bandages, and despite rushing, the two healers (or pretend healer, in Aya’s case) and their little helper had arrived over a bell after the attack. Bennik’s bleeding had clotted and slowed, but any movement was sure to open the floodgates, as it were.

”Hujo, you need to go back home. Get my mother, and of the grown-ups that can help us carry Bennik. Tell them to bring whatever spare skins we have.” She paused, then added, ”and vines. Oh, and remember to mark the trees like before.”

The young boy nodded frantically before dashing off the way they had come. Perhaps it was risky sending someone as young as Hujo back out in the jungle alone, but desperate times certainly called for desperate measures. Plus, he had already survived one trip on his own.

”Do you have some sort of devilish plan?”

She rolled her eyes to her cousin’s comment, but smiled regardless. ”You obviously can’t walk, so I’m thinking a stretcher to take you back home. But we need reinforcements.”

”Impressive, Ephy.” They shared a grin, and for a moment they were children once again; Bennik was trying to pronounce ‘Eypharian’ and failing to do so. After she had spent many chimes laughing at him, he turned the mispronunciation into a nickname. She had stopped laughing after that, yet now Aya appreciated the pet name for than ever.

I'll change my name to Ephy if you let him live, Myri.

|| Ayatah's speech || Ayatah's thoughts || Others' speech ||

by **Ayatah** on March 6th, 2013, 9:36 pm

There was little time to waste for sentiments, though. Hujo would be as quick as he could, but even then, it might take an entire bell for the rest of the Scattered Bones to arrive with the equipment Ayatah needed. She needed to blot and dress Bennik’s wound, and then turn her attention to helping Twena with Lita.

Soft Moss was the staple of any healer’s kit, she had learnt recently. It grew in the usual places moss grew, and was thankfully not rare. The majority of Myrian medicines used it one way or another, as it cleaned and packed wounds. Apparently, you could also chew it for toothache, but apparently it tasted quite literally of shit.

Fortunately, Twena kept a large stock of the moss, and they had bought a fair amount with them. There would be plenty to spare for lita if she wasn’t --

Aya coughed uncomfortable, spurring a quizzical look from Bennik. She kept her eyes down, focusing on pulling the moss between her index finger and thumb to spread it out enough to cover the entirety of Bennik’s wound. Slowly, she placed it over the gaping hole in his leg, holding the palm of her hand over the moss with just enough pressure to keep it there. With her spare hand, she reached back into her satchel and pulled out a roll of bandage.

”Here, let me…” His hand slowly slid across his torso to his thigh, wincing once his fingers held the moss in place. Wanting to ease the discomfort, Ayatah wrapped the bandage around the leg, careful not to knock the wound or cause further damage. Finally, she tied it in place.

”Your leg is done. Your chest…” She leaned forward, looking at the dark scratch marks that ran from his nipples or navel, ”… just needs to be cleans. A scratch that long will be difficult to dress properly.”

She dabbed the dark skin with another small handful of moss, before discarded it into the jungle depths. Bennik was done, but there was Lita as well…

”How is she?” Ayatah asked quietly, stepping delicately towards her aunt, who was still hunched over the still body.

Twena turned to face her younger niece, and did not have to say a word. Her face said it all.

Oh, Myri no…

Lita was still, so perfectly still like statue. Her eyes were closed and she looked almost peaceful, as if she was sleeping. But she was not. Lita of the Scattered Bones had joined Dira, leaving behind her no children, but an entire clan.

”Aya, how is she?”

“We’re here!”

The rest of the Scattered Bones sounded close to cheerful, but their expressions froze in horror at the sight Lita, and just how very still she was. Behind her, Ayatah heard Bennik gasp sharply.

Nobody spoke for a while after that. Ayatah sat with Bennik, blotting his chest every so often with moss, though it needed no further cleaning. Her mother and uncle began to search for branches strong enough to carry Bennik, and eventually decided it would be better to break them clean off the tree. The deer pelts they had bought with them were tied to the thick tree branches, and finally, Bennik was carefully placed onto them. Much to Ayatah’s surprise, her idea of the stretcher seemed to work perfectly, and it was not long before the Scattered Bones began to head back to their home.

Lita was carried in the arms of her father; Paira’s own brother. Another two clansmen carried the body of the tiger. The group was completely silent, even when they arrived back at their home. The children and other adults ran to greet them, but warm welcomes became condolences as soon as they laid eyes on Lita’s body.

It was the clan matriarch who spoke first. Quinneth rose form her seating place and nodded solemly to Lita’s body. ”Our clan has suffered a great loss. But it is not the first, and it will not be the last that these harsh times will bring to us. But for now, we will celebrate her memory and be thankful for what we still have.”

Because we have no clue how long we will have it for.

|| Ayatah's speech || Ayatah's thoughts || Others' speech ||