Completed Cat in the Streets (Arianthe Swansong)

[Wyatti]

When Arianthe reached out to her, Wyatti stared, forcing her eyes to focus before the heavy cloak was draped over her. She stared at the woman carefully, and felt the chill of winter subside. She was still cold, but nowhere near as she previously was. She watched the woman's expression change, from anger, to pity, to worry and then questioning.

Wyatti, now a girl, tried again to push herself up. She placed both her hands firmly beneath her, clinging on to the last of her strength. With a final push she managed to sit herself up, but her head was swimming, her thoughts disorganised. Transforming had taken everything out of her, and now she found herself paying the price. She rested her head on the cold wall and breathed softly. She felt tired, exhausted, her eyes growing heavy even with the human next to her, the nice human.

Arian the Swan song?

She was not quiet sure if she had heard the name clearly. But at the moment it really did not matter. Rest, calm, warmth, food, those were the only thoughts on her mind. She eyed Arianthe carefully, and began to think her own thoughts.

"Wyatti," she spoke as she tried to shift her weight "That is mine, apparently."

She winced in pain, her hand darting to her side, her face creasing, her jaw clenching. She glanced weakly at Arianthe, before turning her gaze away. She did not want to appear any more weaker in front of the human, she did not want to ask for any more help. Or, more over she was too scared to. Fear, worry, confusion, it still haunted the Kelvic, but slowly it was fading. Tiredness consumed her, and as the chill of the winter continued to surround them, so did the press of sleep. Her eyelids closed for a few seconds, before slowly opening again and repeating the process. Her eyes closed for a final time, the tension that was previously present vanishing. It wouldn't hurt to sleep, would it now? Just sleep, sleep...

[Arianthe Swansong]

Arianthe shook Wyatti's shoulder abruptly since she looked like she was about to drop off and, in her condition, that was dangerous.

"Don't fall asleep." She said it sharply, a little too sharply and she regretted the harsh tone. Her voice softened, "Look, I can not say that I have much experience of this sort of situation because I have not, but I really want to help... with that in mind, you have to help me. Where are you injured?"
Arianthe couldn't help wondering what the level of understanding of the girl was. Was common what she was used to?

[Wyatti]

Wyatti jolted up, flinching and slapping away the Arianthe's hand. It was instinctive, one driven by fear. Her eyes stared, becoming narrowed, a low growl forming in her throat.

"Why do you want to help?"

The Kelvic had no issue fluently pronouncing those few words, her speech was good to say the least- her vocabulary limited however. She continued to hold onto her side, trying to push down the pain from the wound. She did not want to look, she was too scared to, but she could feel the slit in her side perfectly well. She could feel her warmth leaking out from there, just as it did at various other points, but there was most painful.

Self control did not last, and the look of agony filled her face. She found herself breaking down inside, no longer understanding on why after all the pain, the torment that a human finally turned a hand towards her, not in anger but in kindness. Wyatti turned her eyes to the ground, and no longer able to make any form of eye contact. The scene was overwhelming for her. She shook, whimpering quietly, her lips trembling, before finally the girl cried. She raised dirty and blooded hands across her face, and struggled to find some form of composure. She could not, and after what seemed like an age she turned her head to Arianthe once more, her eyes looking at the human as if she was the last bit of light and hope she could cling onto before scumming to a deep darkness and despair.

"I just..." she was shaking her head as she spoke "It just... it all does."

[Arianthe Swansong]

Arianthe smiled sympathetically, or empathetically since that was perhaps more correct, she knew what it was like to all hurt - to feel like you might die of the pain, both emotional and physical... wishing you would die of it, and feeling so painfully empty, mourning for a child that never was. Arianthe bit her lip and shook her head. She would not think about that - she would not think of her unborn child, since it was only bad memories. They could not hurt her now and if she let them, she was living with the ghosts of her past. Ghosts which she had tried so very hard to let go of completely.

"I can help you." she sounded a lot more authoritative and sure of herself than she felt, "I can take you to see someone or," Arianthe paused, feeling that Wyatti would have to go rather too far to a doctor while her room was in the university lodgings just around the corner, "You can come back to my rooms and I can have someone come to you. Can you walk?"

Arianthe looked at Wyatti, doubtful of her last question. The child looked like she might have trouble standing up, but she was small and light with hair that looked too old for her face, since it was of a grey-ish colour. Arianthe found herself wondering exactly how old the Kelvic was. She seemed so innocent and sweet and... so scarred. However, no matter how scarred, Arianthe knew from experience, it could be overcome, and she would help the girl overcome.

"I can help you walk."

[Wyatti]

"I can help you."

It was not an if or maybe, it was a can, a will, a certain fact. And the way the woman conducted herself, Wyatti noticed was full of certainty and care. Wyatti listened to the offer, thinking and choosing her answer carefully. It could be a trick, a lie, another human with the want to trap her. But if that was the case why was Arianthe so gentle, calm, soft, and so far sounding true of word? Or better still remove the collar that had been previously strangling her? Wyatti rubbed at her eyes. What did she have to loose? Outside she would eventually catch her death, it was a fact. With the human there was chances, options, even if there was others involved and even if it turned ugly, there would be a chance of escape eventually.

She swallowed, and gave a trembling nod "I... I will go with you. But I do not think..."

She glanced down at her swelling ankle taking the small attempting too flex it, wincing and gritting her teeth. It was done, the words were spoken with no going back now. She looked upon Arianthe, leaving her fate in the hands of the human and making herself ready to try and move.

[Arianthe Swansong]

Without much warning, Arianthe helped Wyatti up and supported her with all her strength. Although Wyatti was small, Arianthe was not of any great strength so this was easier said than done especially since the girl seemed unable to do much at all.

"Come on... I don't live far from here."
Arianthe did not wait for a response and was already helping Wyatti in direction of her rooms. The cobbles were rough underfoot and she was unevenly stepping around with no small difficulty. With her small knowledge of medicine, Arianthe knew that, at this point, it was important to keep the girl awake. She could barely read her aura and it was much too conflicted and dark to show any definite emotion... anyway, Arianthe's skill in auristics was only minor.

"Tell me about yourself. Where do you come from? Do you have any parents?" Arianthe was worried she had opened up some unhealed wounds and did not know too much what to say since Wyatti's aura had visibly darkened with the question, "I mean... you don't ahve to talk about it. Do you have any hobbies?"

[Wyatti]

Wyatti struggled to move, her legs weak no longer the strength to support herself, let alone walk. She wanted to rest on the ground, not move and sleep the eternal sleep, but Arianthe made her move regardless and kept her awake with words and questions. She slipped, barely able to keep herself concious. The Kelvic's head swum, the street a blur of movement, voices and echoes becoming fainter. But she still looked on ahead, pale and glassy eyed, her limbs turning cold.

"Tell me about yourself. Where do you come from? Do you have any parents?"

Arianthe's voice rung out in the near silent void that begun to consume her. Wyatti's head lifted, her lips parting momentarily but without any immediate sound escaping them. For a moment her mind was a haze, caught somewhere between waking and sleeping, before the haze turned darker and into shadow. She remembered mother, barely, a protective creature until the very end, until the last moments when he raised a hand to kill and then...

Something flickered in her eye, a memory, deep and recent memory that could not simply be covered. He wore her skin, paraded about in it and less than a few days after, here was Wyatti being near dragged along, her life energy draining out with the specks of blood left behind showing her trail. Her head sunk, and she slowly shook it, not wishing to remember the recent events. Wyatti shook her head again on the question of hobbies, not knowing really what they were or what counted as them. Besides, she was never really given the chance to develop any interests, too little time and too many rules to follow.

"I... I was not allowed," she breathed, was only answer she could give.

Not long now, please, not long, not much further... please.

[Arianthe Swansong]

Arianthe nodded encouragingly at Wyatti's few words. In a couple of minutes, she'd be back at her room and a minute after that, Wyatti would be in bed. They had just turned around a corner and the entrance to the University Student Lodgings was a few metres away.

"Do not worry Wyatti." she said gently, "You are free now. You can do anything you like and, until you are well again, you can stay with me." Arianthe paused, knowing she should perhaps have suggested that Wyatti stay with her indefinitely for she did not seem to have any money or anything of value, but Arianthe's room was small and it would be difficult to share. A loft space, only one bed, a few nice pieces of furniture, a wardrobe, some ornaments, a dressing table and a wash basin. She shared other facilities with other students. Then again, since Wyatti was a Kelvic... she probably did not need a bed. Arianthe shook her head and decided that she would deal with that issue once Wyatti was better again.

All this time, Arianthe could have used auristics to try and govern what the child was thinking but her emotions were so clear on her face that they really were not needed. Anyway, Arianthe had not had anything to eat since the same time the day before because she did not have the time, and she knew perfectly well that she should not use magic in any sort of weakened state.

"How old are you?" asked Arianthe finally with a smile, trying to keep the Kelvic occupied.

[Wyatti]

Wyatti could barely hear Arianthe, her voice had faded just like the others that surrounded her. Buildings and people flickered in and out of sight, their image being only momentarily ingrained on her mind, making them appear almost ghost like. The world took a turn once more, a brief darkness creeping in from the corner of her eyes. She felt her limbs growing heavy, each waking moment becoming a greater toll. But the Kelvic stayed awake, she had to stay awake.

"How old are you?"

The Kelvic glanced up at Arianthe from behind her hair, catching the smile and the few words that were spoken. For a while she was silent, her mind slowing down and struggling to find an answer. Everything was a challenge, from thinking up numbers, to simple breathing and finding the strength to take the next step. Her brow creased slightly as she tried to summon the memory forward.

"Winter, the end last winter," she could not think of the exact date at the moment it "Then, sometime."

She shook her head as she felt herself becoming delirious, the people and buildings dancing in front of her eyes, before she lost her awareness of it. Soon after that noise began to fail, no longer registering it in, her touch fading along with her aches and pains. She could not hold onto memory, the world around her simply slipping from her hands like sand. And then she took another step, her mind having grown thick with fog, capable of only shouting out one order to her.

Keep walking, what ever you do, do not stop walking, for the moment you stop walking you will not be getting back up.

And so, the Kelvic obeyed, dragging herself forward with every step, no longer knowing where she was going, no longer remembering the path was taken. For everything had slipped into nothingness.

[Arianthe Swansong]

Arianthe realised that Wyatti was slipping away. Keeping her awake and aware had obviously turned out to be a lost cause. Doubling her effort, in next to no time, she had reached her loft room and let Wyatti drop down onto the bed. She took a moment to look at the picture she made, lying there. The room was pretty but simple. A simple wooden bed with simple linen sheets, a couple of pillows and a blanket of colourful patchwork and white layers of gauze in curtains around it from the ceiling, next to the bed, a little table with a glass top on which a couple of books, a candle stub and a faded rose were lying. On the opposite side of the room was a desk covered in papers and next to this a simple dressing table with a white wash basin and jug. Inside the room was also a wardrobe and a chest of drawers. The walls were painted white and the floorboards had likewise been painted white. White curtains hung by the one large window in the room. The little Kelvic looked almost wilder in such an environment, almost more sick and corpse-like.

Shaking her head of these thoughts, Arianthe went to the door. Wyatti needed food and she needed a doctor... and fast.

"I'll be back soon." she murmured, loudly enough for Wyatti to hear if she was awake, "In the meantime..."