[Zephari] Running from the Sun

[Kyo]

The girl cried out and the coyote-man flinched as if he'd been hit. He felt like he wanted to cover his ears so he would not have to hear such a sound again. He hated that noise, the sound of a person in real hurt, in pain. At the same time he also felt like he wanted to hold the girl closer, as if somehow that might help her. Protect her. Involuntarily, his fingers tightened around her. Then he panted out a breath and made himself relax. Squeezing her might hurt her more, hurt her... her chest, her lungs. Make more blood, and he didn't want that.

They began the walk back. It was strange how much longer it was to go now that he was no longer in coyote form, and now that he was tired and the girl was leaning on him. His legs felt shaky, but he gritted his teeth and made them work. He was aware that he was very very thirsty, and he didn't know why. The hot sun, maybe. But he had just been in the water, and he thought he might have even swallowed some. He tried not to pay attention to his discomforts, instead watching the girl and their surroundings.

His biggest fear was that they would not make it back. Not many of the big predators came this close to the city, which was why it was safe enough to be outside the walls... but sometimes they did. If any were nearby that saw or smelled weakened prey, he did not think he would be able to fight them. Brother might try and if Sister was close enough she would help too. But he didn't know if that would be enough.

His next biggest fear was that the girl would die. He didn't know why he kept thinking this like it was going to happen, but he did. He couldn't stop. What if she fell and hurt herself more? What if something was very wrong inside her and there were problems? What if what if what if~? He didn't like thinking this way, and he knew that the girl was probably safe now that she was awake and out of the rushing waters. But still he worried, the thoughts gnawing and picking at him like flies on rotting bones.

It was a good thing, he thought, that the girl was able to talk, though he didn't know how to answer her question. "Do I know you from somewhere?" Again he remembered something: seeing her smile, spinning around, dancing like the human-forms did. But he couldn't think where or why. Still, it was something to think about other than the bad thoughts.

"I... I don't know," he grunted out, shaking his head slightly. He glanced up, at the city. Closer. Not close enough. He wanted to be there right now. "I know you. Don't know name, but, ah... I'm friend." He didn't have the words to explain his quick-flashes of memory. The smile, the dancing. As they continued forward he adjusted his grip, trying to keep them both on their feet and walking steadily. He felt so weak right now, but he could not rest. "I'm sorry," he panted out, trying to explain, "I don't speak good. Bad, ah, conversation."

[Zephari]

"I... I don't know, I know you. Don't know name, but, ah... I'm friend" the kelvic responded, trying to keep a positive face, but obviously worried about her. She knew he was trying to be nice, but saw his worry through the smile. He knew just how bad it was, and so did Zephari. While niether of them knew exactly what was wrong, they both obviously knew the the benshira was really hurt, if only based on how much blood she had coughed up and how hard it was for her to walk.

"I'm sorry." he said, then pausing to think. "I don't speak good. Bad, ah, conversation." he admitted, looking slightly sad. Zephari gave the best smile she could, pushing it past her pained expression. Well I certainly could have been rescued by a worse person.

Walking was difficult, both of them were dead tired from the swim, and the man was panting after just a few minutes. Even though the city had grown significantly closer, they still had a ways to go before they were even within eye-shot of the city gates. Zephari's chest pain grew worse, and sharper. Running her hand along her ribcage, she felt a ridge a few ribs up, right over her left lung. Oh no... I must have a broken rib! shuddering at the realization, she stopped walking for a second.

"Kyo, stand still for a second" she asked, then walking around to his other side so that her bad rib wasn't pressing against him. Once she had her arm up over him again she started to trudge onward again.

"We need to get there soon, I think I have a broken rib. It hurts so much I can't tell if anything else it broken though." she said, her eyes wide with fear. Pressure was building in her chest, which meant she was still bleeding, but she didn't know from where. Not waiting for the man's response, she urged them forward, bringing them over the ridge and into view of the city gates. It was beginning to get hard to move her legs and she was stumbling badly. Eventually she stumbled and fell, her entire weight falling onto him. Please yahal just a little farther, we are so close!

OOC NoteSorry if this one seemed a little rushed Kyo, I just want to bring in Caelum as soon as we can, I think we can probably bring him in after your next post, but if you disagree please tell me. He's just waiting on my que to jump in.

[Kyo]

The young woman smiled at him, and maybe that was a good thing. But he could tell that she still hurt. As they walked, her breathing got sharper and sharper, like it was hard for her to get air. He didn't know what that meant. Was there still water in her lungs? Or maybe... maybe more blood?

That was the confusing, frightening part for him. Where had the blood come from, before? The girl didn't have any noticeable cuts or scrapes, and he had never known that someone could cough up blood from inside. But she had. How could she do that?

It wasn't enough to get her just to the city, to the blue men, because what if they didn't know what to do? No. She would need something more. She would need a doctor. A doctor would be able to make her better, right? They had to.

A flutter of motion came from beside him and Kyo looked to see what was happening, fearful for any change in the girl's condition. He watched anxiously as she put her hand to her side, then shuddered and slowed to a stop. "Kyo, stand still for a second." He didn't think to question her, to ask her why or what was happening, he just stopped. Did she need a rest? But no, she limped painfully to his other side, and he automatically held out his arm, looping it behind her so she could use what little strength he had. They started forward again, but something was not right, even more than before.

"We need to get there soon," she said, and when he looked over she looked afraid. "I think I have a broken rib. It hurts so much I can't tell if anything else is broken though."

Broken rib. He knew that bones could break and snap, but he didn't know how serious a broken rib was. Ribs were in the chest; was that why she'd been bleeding? Because something was broken inside her? But how had that happened? Could the water have broken her or... or something else? When she fell? And how bad was it? His breathing picked up, partially because he was scared like she was, and partially because they started walking faster. His legs were wobbling beneath him, and his arms shaking.

Just as they began to see the gates it became too much. The girl was having trouble walking, and that made it even harder for him... and then she stumbled, and he unthinkingly grabbed her, trying to keep her up. Her full weight was too much, and one of his knees buckled. They both went down, though Kyo tried to make it so the girl didn't land hard, and not on her side. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he said, wiping one hand over his eyes, panicking now. He didn't think he would be able to get her back up. He didn't know if he should try. They needed to get to the city, it was so close... but what if moving her hurt her more? He didn't want her to hurt more. What if they fell again?

A doctor. She needed a doctor, not to walk and maybe get more hurt. She needed one now. Kyo scrabbled to his feet, legs already beginning to shake again, and said, "You stay. Rest here. I find help. I find help, help come to you." He paused, not knowing if he should leave her, and knowing he couldn't do anything else. With another whimper, he turned and started back towards the city, moving as fast as he could, a wobbly sort of run-jog. He told himself that she would be okay. She would be okay without him. He would go fast.

--

It was not hard to find the doctor's place. Caelum's place. He had been there before, earlier, when his leg was bad. Now he needed Caelum to come with him. He had not known who else to go to.

The coyote-man burst in through the shop's front door, panting, and then looked towards the counter, where the sun-man had been the last time Kyo had been here. "Caelum!" Kyo gasped out, "Caelum, help! Need help for friend. Broken... broken rib, hurts. Help, come. Need care soon."

Should he find the sun-man --the Ethaefal-- he would lead him back through the city and out the gates, doing whatever he had to to get Caelum to come with, to follow, and they'd go back towards where Kyo had left the girl.

[Caelum]

Caelum

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The proprietor Alements was crouched beside an overturned table. It was cherry wood and sturdily crafted in what at a glance seemed a simple fashion with four straight legs evenly spaced at the corners. An accident involving one of Caelum’s deliverymen that morning had dropped a full crate of dry goods, including some of the new stoneware, onto one corner of the table, causing one of the legs to crumple beneath the force of impact.


Possessed of absolutely no carpentry skills, Caelum nonetheless felt driven to make a study of the table. He was a fixer, a doer, and if he was capable of mending fractured bones then surely he could fix something so simple as a splintered table leg. He held this thought in mind for half a bell, the length of time it took for him to realize that carpentry and physicking were polar opposites. After all, even if he fitted the fractured pieces of the table leg together with exquisite precision, there was no blood in this dead wood to promote healing and encourage the knitting of the bone’s interior structure. The grace of Rak’keli wouldn’t work on a table, but imagining that left the ethaefal smiling in the sunlight from the window.


Caelum was a man who had spent the whole of his life returned to Mizahar attempting to ascertain all manner of healing methods, from bodies to minds, hearts and souls and even cities and societies. The physical aspects of most doctoring were inevitably connected to an entire network of less tangible needs.


None of this philosophy was going to fix his table, however. Releasing a sigh, Caelum came to the conclusion that with the leg splintered nearly in half he was going to require a brand new table leg and therefore a legitimately skilled carpenter. Even as he stood up from his crouch, intending to send one of his employees off on the errand of finding such a person, a familiar figure burst through the doors to Alements mains and immediately drew the proprietor's attention.


At Kyo's urgent plea and demand, the healer held up a hand for the young man to wait. He swiftly disappeared down the hall and into his sunlit infirmary where he pulled medical supplies and various medicines from the shelves and stored them into an leather bag. Elise appeared in the infirmary door way, a question in her eyes.


"Kyo's friend is badly hurt outside the city," Caelum explained to her while he finished packing healing supplies. He moved on to arming himself with a few extra knives, sliding them into his boots, and he grabbed his shortbow and a quiver of arrows from where they leaned against the wall beneath the window as well. It never hurt to be careful. "I'm going with him to fetch them and bring them back here."


"Be careful," Elise warned, worry warring with understanding in dark eyes. "And what do you want me to do with the table?"


"Get Kaveh or one of the regulars to help you move it into the empty retail space for now. I'll deal with it later." Caelum flashed his friend and employee a quick, charming smile and brushed a kiss to her cheek before passing her for the door. "I'm always careful."


Shouldering his freshly packed kit and tossing the elegant, strong length of his bow over the other shoulder, he ducked his head to Kyo and in long strides aimed for the street. "Alright, Kyo. Let's go. Tell me about this person's condition and what happened as we go."


He proceeded to follow Kyo at whatever pace the kelvic set.

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h

[Zephari]

Wincing from trying to keep herself upright, Zephari watched Kyo run into the city for help. Her breathing picked up the moment he was out of sight, making her chest pain worsen. She was now alone, and had to hold out for who knows how long. [i]How long is it gonna take him to get help? Since he can't talk very well it may take him a while to convince anyone that he isn't a madman. Yahal please help him find some one![/i

Zephari stopped trying to her herself upright, and just laid herself flat on her back. She quickly came to regret doing so, as blood flooded into her throat, almost making her choke. Seizing up Zephari curler onto her side coughing up the blood. Two full mouthfuls of blood. The small puddle of blood next to Zephari's head made her panic, making her breathing further increase in speed. As the coughing subsided a pounding head ache started to set in from loss of blood. Zephari blacked out for several seconds.

After an unknown amount of time, she reawakened, her entire chest now covered in blood. Her head was pounding so loud from blood rushing through her body that she could hardly hear anything else. Out of pure confusion and fear, Zephari let out a gurled weak yelp of pain.

It almost felt as if she was back in the water, drowning again. Only this time there was no water, just her own blood. Her chest was barely able to rise and fall from breath, feeling as if there was an Akalak standing on her sternum. Zephari was luckily stuck in a position where she was easily able to keep coughing, and keep her throat clear enough to breath.

Lifting her head as high as she could, Zephari looked around for any sign of anyone, but she wasn't able to lift her head above the grass. Searching for anything to comfort her, she intinctively grasped her necklace, which was a sandstone star pendant from her mother. She laid there, grasping the pendant, moaning in pain, waiting for anyone to find her, and hopefully save her. Her consciousness started to fade again just as a pair of footsteps approached.

OOC NoteSorry for the short post, there just isn't much for me to do at this point. I myself have broken a rib, though not as badly as this. Just as a note for Caelum, she has broken her left rib that is right in the middle of the ribcage. That rib sits right over the lung and has punctured that lung, and it is slowly collapsing. If she is not treated soon she will literally drown in her own blood. Sorry for the gore but I bet Caelum has healed worse than this. Your turn Kyo. Can't wait to see how he explains this to Caelum

[Kyo]

The few moments waiting for the sun-man to go back behind and get his things were almost agonizing for the human-shape coyote. He wanted to go now. Not wait. But he stayed where he was, taking big breaths, trying to shake the awful tiredness from his limbs.

Finally they were going, and he wobbled out the door and then set off at a brisk trot. He looked to see if Caelum was there; he was, coming just as fast. Good. Good. They would go as fast as Kyo could manage, and they would get back to the girl, and she would be okay. She would be fine.

Caelum had said something back at the store, and Kyo didn't know how to say what the sun-man wanted. Tell me about this person's condition and what happened as we go. But he didn't know if he had the words for that. The young man shook his head, gritting his teeth. What if the girl was hurt and Caelum needed to know but Kyo could not tell? What if he made things bad because he didn't have the right words? For the first time he really realized that he needed all the human words he could fit in his head. Before he had always wondered why they needed so many, why they couldn't speak to one another in simple terms how he and his dogs did. Now he saw that it didn't matter if their language didn't make sense to him. He needed it. Caelum needed him to speak and yet he didn't know how.

He would try his best. How to say 'drown' with the few few words he had?

"I don't know language, no good to speak. I try. Friend..." He stopped, trying to figure out the best way to say it. "Friend bad-wash." He grimaced, panting out the words. Bad-wash wasn't close enough, but wash was one of the only words he had that was about water. "Friend bad in lake." Lake wasn't the right word either, but close. He tried to mime swimming as he dashed forward towards the gates, paddling his arms. Then he tapped his chest, making a choking noise, and put a hand to his throat. Drown. He didn't stop to see if Caelum understood.

"I try to help. I see friend in lake." He said it, trying to make it clear that lake wasn't exactly right. River. It was a river, not a lake. He didn't want Caelum to be confused. "I find friend, friend no live. Bad sleep. I help." He put his hands to his chest again and pumped, like he had when he pushed the water from her chest. "Friend try to come to city. No good. Broken rib. Hurts. Bad, bad." He made a coughing noise, trying to get Caelum to see. "I don't want friend to stay behind." He shook his head. They were at the gates, passing the gates, outside. "Friend no can come. Stay behind, rest. I find Caelum. Caelum help. Help friend live. Friend in bad condition." He used one of the words Caelum had given.

He didn't know how much the sun-man had got from that, but they were almost there. Soon enough they'd see the girl. Just... just a little bit longer. Just over this shallow stretching hill...

There! He could see her. But it was not good. She was lying on the ground. She wasn't moving. Kyo's heart lurched and he broke into a sprint, wheezing out his breaths. He was breathing so hard he could smell her blood from over here. There was a lot of blood. At first he thought she'd been attacked, bitten by some wild animal, and he let out a low moan. Where had Brother gone? He had stayed outside the city near to the girl. He'd thought maybe Brother would protect her. The dog was nowhere in sight.

But after he raced to the girl's side Kyo saw that she was not hurt in that way. He dropped down next to her, looking over at Caelum. The only reason he knew she was alive was because he could hear the awful wet sound of her breathing. He was glad for every breath and at the same time he hated that sound. He didn't know if there was anything he could do. Would Caelum need help? He would help if the girl needed it.