[Flashback] The Boy in the Grass (Bolden)

by **Laria** on July 31st, 2011, 11:40 pm

29th Day of Summer, 504 AV.

It was a typical day in the Sunstorm Pavilion of Endrykas. The people were milling around going about their daily tasks. Most of them included the horses in some way. The Amethyst clan were renowned for their horsemanship among other things, and they needed to ensure that all their beasts were in fine condition. There was feeding to be done, as well as grooming and training, and mares needed to be checked to see if they were in heat.

Among them wandered Laria, a young Drykas girl. At just 12 years old she was still learning the ins and outs of horses, and she regarded the creatures with utmost respect. Today however, her offer of help had been declined by her father. He was in an irritable mood after one of his prized stallions had developed a mystery condition that had left the equine sullen and grumpy.

The girl had decided to find her own entertainment. She had recently taken to searching for herbs in the grasses. She regarded it as a kind of treasure hunt, something that was both fun and helpful, for the herbs would ultimately be of benefit to the Opal clans, the healers of the Drykas people.

And so she had ventured a little way off from the Pavilions, not quite into the Sea of Grass, but near enough that the people of her Pavilion couldn’t see her. They wouldn’t notice her absence; they were too busy with their work. She was walking, watching the ground for any signs of unusual looking grass. They usually turned out to be herbs. She wasn’t good at identifying them yet, but she gathered what she could.

She had a small handful of various herbs after about a Bell. Laria glanced round her, making sure she knew where she was. She nodded, certain of her direction from the Pavilion and turned to resume her work. Something in the grass a little way off caught her attention. It was an unmoving dark mass and curiosity got the better of her. As she neared, she dropped her herbs in shock.

It was a young boy, not much older than herself. His leg seemed ruined and there was blood on his face. He seemed dead to her. Laria rushed over to kneel next to him, and relief washed over as she saw his chest rise and fall with breath. She gently laid a hand on his arm, unsure of what to do. He needed help, but now that she had found him, she didn’t want to leave the boy on his own. What if something that wasn’t her came along?

by **Bolden Denusk** on August 1st, 2011, 12:02 am

Dark curls tumbled over the thirteen year old's forehead and clung to his neck. Blood seeped from his head in two places. The smallest cut was just over the eyebrow and the deeper one was at the back of the head. A rusty crimson pooled around the boy's head and he murmured unintelligibly.

The femur on the right leg was broken in four places, with bone, muscles and tendon bursting from the skin obscenely. He wore no shoes, no shirt and just light breeches, with a sword still strapped to his back.

The boy opened his eyes, though he wasn't fully conscious. His amber gaze tried to focus on the pretty young girl that knelt beside him. He reached out his left hand to touch a strand of the girl's long golden hair. The confused young boy grasped Laria's hand and held it fast, as if drawing comfort from its warmth.

"Palomino. Your hair is palomino colored."
Bolden said quietly, his voice wavering and uncertain.

"Where's my sister? She said she'd go riding with me toda--" His amber gaze unfocused and his eyes slid closed again.

Bold clutched at her hand as his injured leg jerked in pain and seeped more of his life's blood to the dusty ground beneath him.

by **Laria** on August 1st, 2011, 12:22 am

His forehead was bleeding quite badly, as head wounds tend to do. The girl couldn't see the wound at the back of his head, so she assumed he had knocked himself unconscious when he fell. She avoided looking at the boy's leg, the grisly wound made her feel squeamish, and it took a lot to usually achieve that.

She wondered how he had gotten here. Did he have a horse that was now running free? And how had he received these awful injuries in the first place?
Laria tried not to think about the last question.

She froze next to him as his eyes opened. They seemed fuzzy, as if he wasn't seeing properly. Her eyes followed his hand as it reached up and touched her hair. She swallowed and said nothing. He didn't sound like he was in pain, but wasn't that what bodies do? Try and mask it? She let him hold tight to her hand, and she gently squeezed his back, trying to offer what little comfort she could.

Not moments later, and he was unconscious again. She understood that he needed to get back to a Pavilion quickly. Laria was obviously smaller than him, but she didn't see an alternative, and she was relatively strong for someone so small. Handling horses had helped with that.

She carefully removed his hand from hers and then shifted to a better position. She carefully slid her arms under his torso and knees, trying not to look at or jostle the leg wound. She stood, teetering a little under his weight, and began to stumble back to her Pavilion.

It would have been easier to run back alone and get help, but she didn't want to leave the boy alone. Something bad could find him, or a stray horse could trample him. Slowly but surely she approached her family's Sunstorm Pavilion. The boy wasn't far from it, so in reality what felt like an age was no more than 15 chimes.

She called out as she arrived, attracting the attention of a few people. They immediately rushed to her aid, one relieving her of the boy's weight, another hurrying ahead into the Pavilion to find a place to rest him. She followed, and soon enough he was laid on an empty bed, and the pair were left alone while proper help was located.

by **Bolden Denusk** on August 1st, 2011, 5:52 pm

His leg was on fire and he felt the ground moving beneath him. He was queasy from the head wounds and kept his eyes closed, willing it to pass. Nothing could be more embarrassing than sicking up on yourself.

The nausea eased and the movement thankfully stopped.

Where was the pretty palomino he'd seen? The boy's left hand searched for her, trying to find her hand. The scared young teen needed someone or something to anchor him to reality.

Bold clenched his teeth, trying desperately not to cry out in the agony of his pulverized leg.

A worse thought struck him--what if they had to cut it off?

"Palomino?" He asked, still not quite able to open his eyes. Suddenly he asked in a cracking voice,"Where are you? Don't let them take my leg off!"

by **Laria** on August 1st, 2011, 6:07 pm

Laria was talking to someone quietly. If he had been lucid enough to hear, the boy still would not have been able to pick out words. She was turned away from the bed he had been laid on, and so she missed his searching hand.

Footsteps sounded as the third person walked away. The young girl watched the retreating figure, till a voice made her turn. ”Palomino?” What was he talking about?. Then she remembered. Her hair, he had called it palomino coloured. She slowly sank into the chair next to the boy’s bed, finally noticing the outstretched hand.

“I’m here.” She gently took his hand. Her eyes widened a little at his next words, and she flicked her gaze to his splintered leg. Her innocent young face showed concern. “I won’t let them.” In truth, she knew nothing about what they would have to do. A rider had been sent to fetch someone from the Opal Clan. They would be his best chance.

Loud, commanding steps sounded, and a man entered the room. Denar observed the injured Drykas with a stern gaze, his eyes then falling on his daughter. “Who is this boy?” Laria shook her head. She had no idea. Denar sighed and his face softened. “He stays here, but you look after him. A medic is on the way.” With that, he left, striding purposely out of the Pavilion.

Laria turned back to the boy. “Who are you?” It was more a question to herself – she had no idea if he could hear her.

by **Bolden Denusk** on August 1st, 2011, 10:19 pm

The thirteen year old grimaced a smile when he felt Laria's comforting touch. She said she wouldn't let them take his leg! He trusted his safekeeping to her and squeezed her hand with the last bit of strength he could muster.

"Bolden. I'm Bolden...Bolden ...something..."

The boy struggled to remember, frowning so hard he started his forehead bleeding again.

"Palomino, thank you for helping m--"

Bold fell deeply into unconsciousness from shock and major blood loss. But still held Laria's hand in a firm grasp.

by **Laria** on August 1st, 2011, 10:53 pm

She was unsure if his expression was relief or pain. Either way, it changed when he had taken her hand. The squeeze on her hand was faint; the boy must be incredibly weak by now.

"Bolden. I'm Bolden." He spoke his name, though he seemed to struggle to find his Pavilion name. A result of his head injury? Perhaps he just needed to rest and he would remember. A trickle of blood ran down his forehead, and Laria searched for something to wipe it away with. She came up with nothing, and her attention was bought back to the boy by his voice again.

She cried out as his words cut off, the boy falling back into unconsciousness. Moments later someone arrived in the Pavilion, breathing heavily from running. Behind her was a medic form the Opal clan, who took one look at the boy and gave a grim nod. The other woman tried to usher Laria away, but the boy was still holding fast to her hand. She gave the medic a pleading glance. "Don't take his leg, please." She had promised him, and the 12 year old would feel guilty forever if she turned out to have lied. The medic said nothing, and his gaze told her that she needed to leave.

She slowly extracted her hand from Bolden's, and let the woman lead her from the tent. When she stepped out into the sunlight, she looked down at her clothes. Her shirt, leggings and sash were all covered in the boy's blood, along with her hands. It was also possible that she had some on her face too. She sat by the Pavilion entrance, watching the horses as she waited.

ooc :

by **Bolden Denusk** on August 1st, 2011, 11:32 pm

The medic moved with sure hands and calm knowledge, working rapidly to stem the flow of blood. He placed a quick tourniquet just while he evaluated the boy's entire condition. The healer spoke to himself as he worked.

"Open double compound fracture with a displaced ligament."
His cool hands checked for digital pulse at the ankle and nodded to himself.

The cut on the forehead was merely superficial but there was far too much blood pooling at the boy's head. He turned Bolden on his side to check the spine and found it blessedly untouched. There was an ugly ragged gash at the back of the boy's head and just a little to the side.

"Good thing it wasn't near the occipital knob or he'd be blind. Another fraction down and he wouldn't be alive."

Precursory examination done, the healer gathered mullein leaves, and boiled marigold into an antiseptic poultice. Moving with nimble fingers, the unguent, leaves and bandages were wrapped neatly around the curly little head. It gave the already naughty boy a raffish and endearing look.

The man released the pressure on the tourniquet and half smiled that the bleeding had stopped. Thankfully the boy child was unconscious, so he retracted first one half of the bone and then the other. A light click sounded as the bones slid into the proper alignment. With deft movement he sewed the ligament whole again.

Bolden murmured in pain and thrashed to fight someone touching his leg.

The healer made shushing noises as he prepared and placed the herbs and cast on Bolden's right leg. He added goldenthread and datura to the boiling water for a painkilling tea. The boy should heal as long as he was strong. He said a quick prayer to the Goddess making the proper motions with his hands for a divine blessing.

He walked out of the tent and gave Laria a reassuring smile.

"Nice work young lady. He should be fine, with nothing more than a limp and a scar. I left some tea for him when he wakes, with more of the herbs to boil as needed. Change the head dressing every sunset and I'll be back to take off the plaster in two moons."

by **Laria** on August 2nd, 2011, 9:11 am

She could hear the healer murmuring inside as he worked. She strained to pick out words, but the tent sides were blurring his voice into a single low hum. She knew that his leg was ruined. Why did she tell him it would be okay?

Word had obviously spread quickly. People who passed the young girl crouched outside the tent let their gazes fall on her as they went. It was not often something like this happened, and the boy was a mystery to them. Laria wondered if he had remembered his Pavilion name yet. When the healer stepped out of the tent, she leapt up. He left immediately after speaking, and she paused. Plaster?

She entered the Pavilion and headed over to where the boy lay before sitting back in the chair. He still has his leg. She was relieved. She watched him curiously. "Where did you come from...?" She looked round to find the tea that the medic had mentioned, so that she knew where it was. She couldn't see his head dressing, since it was not on his forehead, so she figured that she must have hit his head harder than she thought.

by **Bolden Denusk** on August 2nd, 2011, 6:26 pm

Laria was the Ankal's daughter, so the healer did the bare basics to insure the lad kept his leg -for her- sake, but it certainly wasn't his best effort either. It's not like the anonymous boy was the Ankal's son. Beggars can't be choosers after all.

The thirteen year old opened his honey colored eyes, trying to see through the haze of pain. When Bold looked down at his leg, he saw a pieces of birch bark encapsulating his thigh. It held its rigid shape, but it loosely conformed to his leg. Thin strips of the inner layer cambium of a birch tree were wrapped around it to let it move with him. The healer had rushed the job, having other things on his mind than a strange boy with no status or clan affiliation.

The boy attempted to prop himself up on an elbow to get a better look at his leg and although he was relieved it was still there, the pain made him dizzy enough to fall back hard on the makeshift bed. He put up a hand to the back of his head, wondering why it felt so stiff.

'I hit my head? It doesn't hurt, so it can't be that bad. Where's the healer with some pain killers?' he thought, his mind fuzzy with the the concussion and screaming ache in his leg.

He turned and looked at the pretty young girl, unsure of the answer. He frowned and tried to think through the haze, but the ache in his leg turned fiery and now he wished he could cut it off himself just to make it stop.

"I ..I don't know where I come from. Where did you find me Palomino?"

Having a nice looking girl around made a pleasant distraction from his injuries.

Secret :