06-25-2018, 08:58 AM
Over the past week of being basically bedridden, cabin fever had been the least of Rin's worries. If nothing else, everyone was alive- she hadn't lost any patients under her care, and all the other members had survived to see the beginning of a new week, as far as she knew. Still, all throughout the week, she couldn't help but worry about her clanmates, wondering when the next fatal or near-fatal attack would occur out of her physical reach.
She wasn't sure what she would do if someone else were to die for real.
It was only Monday- two days after the injury. Her back leg still twinged at even the slightest movement.
She had been rearranging herbs when a clanmate she only vaguely recognized charged into the den, breathing heavily, tears streaming from their eyes. Furrowing her brows, she hobbled over to the other creature and demanded to know what was wrong- was someone hurt? Was Radeken there? What herbs did they need?
The clanmate, choked up, offered only two words.
With only those two words, every part of herself that she had worked to reconstruct after the death of Starrynight came tumbling down.
She surged forth past the clanmate, as fast as her three-legged gait could carry her. They protested and tried to shove her back, and were soon joined by three other clanmates apparently desperate to prevent her from injuring herself again- even as she screamed that her own health didn't matter, that Margaery could still be saved if she could just get there in time.
She had barely made it three yards out of the cleric's den when, dizzy from both the pain in her leg and in her psyche, she collapsed and fell unconscious.
Radeken had given her grief for her dogged insistence on getting to Margaery, she recalled that much from the aftermath, but everything else had been a blur.
She was, simultaneously, powerful and powerless. Powerful, in the sense that she was certainly capable of recalling others from death, as Roy's survival and Bastille's revival had attested. Had she been present for the children's birth, Marg would not have died- she felt fairly certain of that.
Powerless, in the sense that in her condition, everyone she could have saved was out of her reach. Whenever someone left the camp, she genuinely could not know for sure they would return alive, rather than dying on the border where she could not heal them.
It had been three days, she remembered, looking up at the calendar that she had put by her bed.
Thursday, another clanmate burst into the den, making Rin wonder wearily if she was having another nightmare.
With a heavy sigh, she limped over to the clanmate, and asked what was going on. The clanmate looked up, and to Rin's shock, they were grinning from ear to ear.
They spoke only two words, ecstatic joy dripping from each one.
Just like that, the fog permeating every part of her cleared.
In the following three days, after she ensured that everyone else was in good health, she had found time to finally forge her pendant. An upside-down question mark hung from a string of thread around her neck (over her scarf), two beads- one of peridot, the other of clear glass with a golden Pisces symbol inside- hanging on the left side.
As the sun dawned on another Monday, Rin retrieved her pendant and scarf from her bedside, and put both on. Cautiously, she descended from the bed and walked over to the entrance. Her back leg seemed to be in working order again, but she knew she would have to be careful about placing strain on it.
Softly, she called, "How is everyone today?"
/tl;dr: last two paragraphs
/don't feel the need to match muse
She wasn't sure what she would do if someone else were to die for real.
It was only Monday- two days after the injury. Her back leg still twinged at even the slightest movement.
She had been rearranging herbs when a clanmate she only vaguely recognized charged into the den, breathing heavily, tears streaming from their eyes. Furrowing her brows, she hobbled over to the other creature and demanded to know what was wrong- was someone hurt? Was Radeken there? What herbs did they need?
The clanmate, choked up, offered only two words.
With only those two words, every part of herself that she had worked to reconstruct after the death of Starrynight came tumbling down.
She surged forth past the clanmate, as fast as her three-legged gait could carry her. They protested and tried to shove her back, and were soon joined by three other clanmates apparently desperate to prevent her from injuring herself again- even as she screamed that her own health didn't matter, that Margaery could still be saved if she could just get there in time.
She had barely made it three yards out of the cleric's den when, dizzy from both the pain in her leg and in her psyche, she collapsed and fell unconscious.
Radeken had given her grief for her dogged insistence on getting to Margaery, she recalled that much from the aftermath, but everything else had been a blur.
She was, simultaneously, powerful and powerless. Powerful, in the sense that she was certainly capable of recalling others from death, as Roy's survival and Bastille's revival had attested. Had she been present for the children's birth, Marg would not have died- she felt fairly certain of that.
Powerless, in the sense that in her condition, everyone she could have saved was out of her reach. Whenever someone left the camp, she genuinely could not know for sure they would return alive, rather than dying on the border where she could not heal them.
It had been three days, she remembered, looking up at the calendar that she had put by her bed.
Thursday, another clanmate burst into the den, making Rin wonder wearily if she was having another nightmare.
With a heavy sigh, she limped over to the clanmate, and asked what was going on. The clanmate looked up, and to Rin's shock, they were grinning from ear to ear.
They spoke only two words, ecstatic joy dripping from each one.
Just like that, the fog permeating every part of her cleared.
In the following three days, after she ensured that everyone else was in good health, she had found time to finally forge her pendant. An upside-down question mark hung from a string of thread around her neck (over her scarf), two beads- one of peridot, the other of clear glass with a golden Pisces symbol inside- hanging on the left side.
As the sun dawned on another Monday, Rin retrieved her pendant and scarf from her bedside, and put both on. Cautiously, she descended from the bed and walked over to the entrance. Her back leg seemed to be in working order again, but she knew she would have to be careful about placing strain on it.
Softly, she called, "How is everyone today?"
/tl;dr: last two paragraphs
/don't feel the need to match muse
tags (06/13/20):
