Hurts so Good [Whitevine Healing Center]

by **Sliver** on November 27th, 2012, 1:10 am

Hurts SO Good
54th of Fall 512 A.V.
Sometime mid morning

"If this is another subject of one of those trials you Icewatch put your recruits though, so help me Mor-"

"Severely dehydrated, lost a lot of blood, keeps slipping in and out of consciousness, need to get her elevat-"

"Does it matter how? Look at her!"

The voices were loud and intermittent in the Kelvic's memories, vague swirls of color and light infected her vision, a quiet background to the pain and weariness that had sunk into every fiber of her body. She knew there were several Icewatch members overseeing her transportation, and was somewhat aware of the fact that they were being driven out by the doctors and attendants trying to tend to her.

She was very much aware of the cold when her clothes were cut from her body in order to assess the seriousness of her injuries. She was turned and examined, heard voices of dismay and hushed horror. Shifted and probed they asked questions she could barely mutter the answers to, and even then most probably ended nonsensically. On a scale of one to ten how much does this hurt?. Koi Fish. Sliver truly tried to help, but there was nothing she wanted to do so much as sleep, and all of the fuss, the rough cloth that cleaned her, the freezing water poured over her body, it all kept her from that one great goal.

She heard a nurse wretch when they saw the condition of her shoulder injury, probably filled with dirt, debris, and pus, and she heard whispers of what had gone on in the woods that the Icewatch seemed to quick to dismiss and discard. Her wounds were inflicted by human hands not animal's, and she couldn't imagine what kind of rumors were circulating the Healing Center that day while they tried to figure out what had nearly killed the newer watch member.

She recalled gentle hands putting water and mashed food down her throat, and her body expelling all but a few sips of water. Mostly she just knew the blackness of exhausted sleep, and the pain that brought it on, as well as hummed through her body when she awoke. Though she was given teas and salves, it did not stop, and Sliver even believed it grew worse and worse.

For her more lucid moments, those attending her said she caught ill in the forest, and apart from all of the injuries and her deteriorated condition, was now fighting some kind of virus as well. Sliver didn't enjoy fighting things too small to punch.

by **Sliver** on November 29th, 2012, 4:11 am

She didn’t realize how much people cared.

The Kelvic had never been in any traumatic situations in a community of people that had known her. Nearly her entire life had been as a transient: Friends and allies were temporary ones at best. If she was gravely injured she had to limp to the nearest help which was always dealt with in an impersonal manner. That wasn’t to say the doctors were unprofessional when treating her, for they most certainly weren’t, it was the after part and her recovery that was the part that she didn’t expect.

First there were the twins.

They were so silent that she often was too delirious and tired to notice, but they were there. Usually it was just one, but sometimes they would hold each of her hands, and she even heard the mumblings of prayers. This scared her more than anything, for if the cocky and playful demeanor of the twins could be ripped apart, exactly how bad was her condition? During this time she realized how to tell the twins apart. Usually she was in and out of consciousness, sometimes waking up on her own, other times on the clock when attendants would have her sit up and eat a small amount as well as drink. Without the use of her sight, a tricky sense that could easily be confused, she realized it was the smell of the twins that revealed their true nature. Shylir smelled of pine and freshly cleaned cotton and fabric. Yilarra smelled much the same, but the resin in which she used to polish her weapon hung about her presence when she sat alone next to the wolverine. Being able to discover this small bit of truth even in her weak and sickened state pleased the Kelvic to no end. When she was mostly lucid and awake they talked to her, gave her encouraging smiles and their playful personalities returned, even if they were a bit muted with worry, and Sliver realized with startling clarity how close they had become when after being asked to leave she addressed them both correctly, and Shylir smiled and kissed her forehead, Yilarra squeezing her had affectionately before leaving. Sliver recalled the twins doing this to Kennen and Simon sometimes, in fact it was the only public display of affection they allowed themselves other than the rough and flirtatious kind, and long after they left Sliver’s dark eyes hung on the ceiling reveling in what it felt like to have her own small family, even un-bonded.

Of course this was in between the height of the fever. During this time a wet cloth was applied to her forehead and she struggled, sometimes needing to be restrained. In the height of delirium she saw visions of the hunter, bleeding and reaching for her. She transformed more than once to the utter dismay of the doctors that had worked so hard on stitching up wounds that were almost certainly ruined by her change in shape and form. Usually it didn’t get too bad and it was just the feeling of extreme heat or cold emanating from the Kelvic, she would want more blankets even though her body was fiery hot, or the very touch of the rough wool would have her thrashing to get the fabric away. Her nights were filled with tossing and turning, and even though she could wander around her small room sometimes, usually she had barely enough energy to sit up, let alone get up and walk.

Other than that she was simply bored. There was nothing to do except lay in bed, and no one would let her go outside in the times she did feel better lest the chill bring any illness back from hidden corners to pounce upon her again, so Sliver relished the visits when they did come, which was fairly often.

Simon did not like coming with Kennen. If the four of them: twins and bears did come by all at once it was usually just to pop in on the way to a patrol, probably one of hers that she was not able to do at the moment, though she was the only one to complain about this injustice. So Simon came with a twin and sometimes alone. He didn’t touch her, but sat silently, sort of like a sentinel, and was swift to grab an attendant if he thought anything was wrong. They talked a little, but the chatterbox never seemed to be in a conversational mood when Sliver was awake, and always seemed as if he wanted to say something, but just couldn’t find the words.

Kennen was just the opposite. The normally quiet and thoughtful one was always talking to Sliver, even in her sleep a delighted nurse reported to her one afternoon just after the Kelvic had left. He told her about his day, what was going on with the patrols, everything from the interesting gossip to the mundane niceties of what they served at dinner and how his soap smelled of chamomile and not lavender now. When she was awake he constantly berated her about her condition, how she was feeling and what the doctor’s said, but after a bit he’d always catch himself and apologize, usually leaving soon after, but returning once she had fallen asleep again.

Honestly Sliver thought she would never understand bears.

by **Sliver** on December 3rd, 2012, 5:27 am

But this talking, this socializing, the bonding that the Kelvic experienced in her awake times over the course of several days, was only a minute amount of time compared to that in which she slept.

And when she slept she dreamed.

And when she dreamed, she dreamed of him.

To be sure the him changed, sometimes it was Khilo, sometimes it was her father, but most of the time it was the hunter, eyes changing like the aurora in the evening sky, bow poised and aimed directly for her, muscles taut on his body. Or perhaps his corpse was in front of her, slowly gushing as what lay within was transferred to the outside, steam coiling off a cooling corpse.

The most bizarre dream of all came to her at the height of her fever. She was in the clearing where the fight had taken place, a trail of blood leading off into the woods. She was immediately petrified knowing that her quarry had escaped, even injured. If he somehow found his way to his bow she was done for. Her steps seemed too slow as she went to follow the obvious trail, the woods surrounding her a haze of oncoming darkness.

To her surprise she found the hunter in a clearing at a small round table with...Farren Frostfawn? The two of them were chatting amiable over a couple mugs of ale, and didn't seem to notice her until she was only a few feet from the table. Then, simultaneously two pairs of eyes looked upon her with disdain and cruelty laced in their sights, turning back and ignoring her.

Sliver was torn, her initial purpose muddled in her dream state. Suddenly torn between killing the already bleeding hunter and trying to gain the two Frostfawn's attentions, she pulled up a chair and tried talking to them. No matter the volume or the subject of her attempted interjections, however, the two men continued to ignore her. Finally Sliver grew furious with the situation and grabbed the hunter's neck, snapping it in a single fluid motion. She glanced at Farren who seemed neither surprised nor upset, perhaps only resigned. He clucked his tongue and muttered the word "Kelvic" in that same tone when she first transformed, as if acid was coating his mouth and he needed to extricate it.

With one blink the scene changed. Darkness had set in more completely, and though the table was still there Farren was not. She glanced warily at the body of the hunter, leaning forward somewhat and saw his hand twitch. She began to back up away from the corpse, but a hand darted out and grabbed her wrist, yanking her close with one solid jerking motion. Her face was brought inches away from his, askew on a broken neck. Dead eyes met hers and a wry grin came up as Sliver felt the cold sensation of a knife thrust up into her gut.

She woke up screaming. As her consciousness crept back into reality she sighed inwardly, waiting for the poor attendant on duty to come in and check in on her, give her the perfunctory glass of water and exit in a tired and slightly disoriented manner since she had woken him or her from whatever sleep they had been catching. So she was quite surprised when a hand lay itself on one of hers and a familiar voice spoke to her in a soothing tone.

"More Nightmares?"

by **Sliver** on December 4th, 2012, 4:47 am

Green eyes examined her face in a concerned manner, the one hand not touching hers sifting nervously through dark hair. Sliver squeezed Kennen's hand, struggling to sit up. The bear put his free hand on her chest, gently pushing her back down before hastily retracting the appendage, realizing where he was touching. He coughed a bit.

"Sorry, I just...don't get up, you need your rest."

The wolverine snorted.

"I'm fine."

The bear shook his head, mouth setting in that stubborn straight line it liked to occupy when he refused to back down.

"I have several doctors and nurses who would say otherwise, Sliv, so don't pull that on me. Lay down."

She obediently acquiesced, letting her head fall back on the provided pillow, and had to content herself with staring directly upwards at the hulking man of a Kelvic, whose hands had returned to his lap. They sat there in a tense silence for several chimes, and only when it was clear the wolverine wasn't attempting to fall back asleep again, nor was the bear leaving that both Kelvic opened their mouths to begin to speak at the same time. They both stopped and laughed and Kennen gestured for Sliver to proceed. Suddenly the Kelvic felt a bit out of place and unsure of exactly what she had been about to say to begin with.

"Thank you, for keeping me company."

Kennen ducked his head down and Sliver chuckled at his embarrassed behavior.

"Really, you could be getting a decent nights sleep, which...you should be doing by the way."

The bear snorted. "I'd just be awake worrying about yo-"

He stopped short, but not in time, and even in the dim light of the room Sliver could see color rising to his cheeks. She blinked a couple times. Animals had feelings same as humans, but this translation into language was never Sliver's strong suit when it came to expressing herself, at least she didn't like to think so. Instead she raised a hand and placed it on Kennen's cheek. His eyes met hers and lay there for a moment, one assessing the other, then Kennen took her hand.

"Please don't do that again, Sliver. When we saw you...when you first got back...I thought you were already gone. None of us took it well."

She knew who us was, but at the moment she was far more concerned with how he took it. Dark eyes searched up into emerald facets.

"I'm sorry, if I had known it would be so much trouble tracking a drunkard I would have called for back-up."

Kennen shook his head, muttering to himself.

"None of this would have happened if you had been bonded."

Sliver balked. Of all the things he could have said, it had to be the one that hurt the most. What had been close to happiness and contentment soured almost immediately.

"What did you just say?"

The bear scowled. "You know what I said, and you know that it's true."

Sliver struggled and sat up, the heat of her body, the weariness, the pain all catching up to her in this moment.

"Thanks for the reminder Ken, I always enjoy being explained how bonding would help me in the watch, how its a necessary part of it, and how I need to do it. It makes me feel even better to know I haven't found one in a city completely filled with potentials, and especially now after fighting tooth and nail all alone in the woods."

"You wouldn't have been alone, don't you see? You don't understand since you've never had one, but if you did you would never be alone, and this traipsing around by yourself, putting yourself in harms way for no good reason wouldn't happen. It's idiotic and foolish, something a bear cub would do, not an adult."

His words stung, and though these same thoughts had crossed her own mind more than once, she didn't like it being brought up by someone else, stuck in her face like that. She snarled and shoved Kennen roughly.

"Do you even remember what it's like Kennen? To feel that hole inside you that can only be filled by another person, knowing you are not complete, yet not knowing why? Everything you do you question, every action, and every person you meet you have to consider the possibility, because what if you miss them, what if you don't realize who it is until too late? I know exactly how dangerous it is, I don't need some bear who has two bondmates to tell me what I'm missing, okay?"

She huffed and fumed, and Kennen looked about ready to give some retort or begin yelling at her anew, but instead, and completely to her surprise he just grabbed the back of her head and dragged her close, roughly shoving his mouth into hers for one long kiss. At first she fought it in anger. How dare he stop this argument, how dare he try to invalidate her with a simple kiss. These thoughts soon dissipated, however, as the warmth of the action flooded through her, and both his hands gripped her tightly, holding her close as if letting her go might mean losing her in reality. The urgency and desperation of the act drew her into his grasp entirely, and the wolverine melted into his grip.

When she was released, both Kelvic were panting for breath. Two pairs of eyes glanced at the ground awkwardly. Sliver reached over, finding Kennen's hand and squeezed it once. The bear rose wordlessly, sliding her pillow from behind her, patting it a couple times to fluff it up before returning it and laying her back down. His hand rested against her forehead, assessing her temperature, then he leaned down and planted a much gentler kiss upon her partially open lips, withdrawing and giving her a small smile.

"Goodnight, Sliver."

And such was how the relationship of two animals could go. Kennen walked from the room, leaving Sliver to stare up at the ceiling for a prolonged period of time, the corner of her mouth twitching as she recalled how upset she had made the bear: Amusing now that it was past. At first her mind seemed much too busy to return to sleep, but without warning the exhaustion set in once more, and unconsciousness overtook the wolverine.

by **Noblesse** on April 28th, 2013, 6:30 pm

Sliver :

True nobility lies in being superior to your former self

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out. Heehee.

Solo Hurts so Good [Whitevine Healing Center]