Flashback One Unique Snowflake [Eshe]

[Ollic Rimesage]

Eshe calmed his nerves by reassuring him that it was just a cold and not some flesh eating virus, consuming her liver and spleen with utmost ease.

After she had blown on the water, the liquid rippling in the process, she guzzled the thing like she truly didn’t have a tomorrow. This made Ollic smile, a toothy grin that spread all over his face, having him look like a cat yawning after an enormous meal.

But then the girl started to cough, her nose crinkled up to show her disgust for the taste of the supplements he had given her. She must not have tried honey before, that or the two did not taste well together. Her tongue searched her lips for any remaining hints of the honey, curiosity sprouting like plants from within him. She didn’t like it at first, yet now she was trying to lick up every last clue of its existence.

He may be an extent off of the humans as a subculture, but Ollic remained doubtful of every being with them. Humans were far too weird! They didn’t like the snow like he did, or at least they weren’t used to it like he was. They didn’t like the taste of honey or lemon water, and they wore too much clothes in such beautiful weather like today.

“Thank you Ollic! I feel better already,” Eshe said to him, her face lighting up in some hint of relief as well as admiration. She looked like she could be interested in medicine, giving this time as a perfect moment for Ollic to strut his stuff.

“That’s not all I know,” he told her, taking her hand and leading her to the couch next to the crackling fire that spit out embers of light. “I also know that you can bleed from your eyes if you have severe irritation and inflammation of your iris.” To clarify, he added, “The colour part. You’re iris is the colour of beauty crystals.”

He didn’t know how old Eshe was, but he was sure that he was most likely going to scare her with the image of blood spewing out from an eye, so he apologized, hanging his head slightly and telling her how awkward he can be at times.

He really wished someone could share such an admiration of medicine and health as he did, and perhaps this girl did, he just didn’t know it yet.

[Eshe Czardas]

Eshe's jaw dropped. You could bleed from your eyes!? They were perched on the couch now, her own eyes wide. The mental image was horrifying. He certainly knew a lot. The girl wondered just how much he knew. It was warmer now, the fire crackling. "Ollic, will you teach me some stuff? I want to know how to do everything you can! And I wanna know everything you do!" She had completely ignored Ollic's apology. Her face was filled with childish wonder and curiosity. She wanted to learn from him, how to take care of people and make sure they'll be okay. There was so much knowledge to be unlocked, and she wanted to get started right away! Eshe didn't know how long her family would be in Avanthal, probably only a year or two. Better begin now.

[Ollic Rimesage]

Ollic was utterly surprised. Eshe wanted to learn from him? She wasn't completely appalled at Ollic's thought process around the idea of bleeding sclera or totally bored by his lecture on eye hygiene?

Ollic's lips pulled back into a grin, showing his intimidating white teeth; no one could brush as well as he could. Perhaps this girl was indeed the one Ollic was searching for who could share his aspiring knowledge and growing interest about medicines and human anatomy.

"Well, "Ollic smirked again, quickly jumping to his feet from their numbing position of rest lying on the couch. He went over to the bookshelf just to the right of the fire place where he had all of his novels and texts organised and stored.

One book was not in its place, Ollic had noticed, his brain sending coherent signals, telling him to adjust it so that it was in alphabetical order like the rest. He removed it from its place and put it in the correct area so that it was stationed with the other titles that begun with that same letter.

Then, Ollic proceeded with retrieving the object he had initially set out to find. A notebook, its writing utensil cleverly attached to it by a thick strap of ribbon.

He returned to the couch, a skip in his step, where he landed lazily onto a few fluffy pillows. He handed Eshe the pad of paper and the pencil to match,

At first, she looked down at the gift she had been given, confused, but then Ollic told her that it was best to take notes, for his mind was full of knowledge and gruesome stories of ill patients exposed to many different viruses and diseases. It would be important to write down everything he said as to not forget.

He may only have been eleven years old, but to misjudge his experiences as a son to a family of medical experts was highly unwise.

"So," Ollic started, eyes as crystal as his new friend's before changing to a dark seaweed green. He was full of delight and self-interest for finding the diamond in the rust he had always asked for, but his feeling of dedication in teaching such an intrigued pupil shown out brighter than the other.

"You want to learn about medicine, eh?" Ollic tried his best to mimic his father's voice, adding in actions and gestures to add to the feel.

A giggle from the girl in front of him, his only criticizing audience, was probably the best response he could have been willing to ask for.

"Well to begin with, there are around two hundred and six bones in an adult human body. Your dad and mum are full of bones Eshe!" he announced, elation welling up inside of him the way a bartender would fill up a frosty mug with beer.

Ollic continued, digging into his mind as deep as he was allowed, trying to recall all he had learned. Just a few chimes ago, or perhaps a bell or two, before he had been kicked out of the house, he had been reading about the endocrine system. He decided to exploit that area freely with the girl, for she would be overcome with changes shortly too.

''There is a system in your body among the others," Ollic started, but thought best to stop and allow Eshe to catch up on her writing before asking, "do you know any other systems in your body?"

[Eshe Czardas]

Wow, his teeth were really white. It reminded her of the snow she had fallen in outside, a pure, pure white. He jumped up, smiling. Eshe wasn't sure if she was supposed to follow him or not. She decided on the latter, staying where she was on the couch. He was rearranging something, at least, that's what she thought he was doing. Eshe couldn't be sure. Pulling out a thick notebook, Ollic almost skipped back to the couch. He handed her the paper and the pencil. The girl looked down, confused. Then he explained what it was for. "Notes. Got it." His eyes had changed to a deep, emerald, beautiful green. She nodded at his question, giggling. Two hundred and six bones!? Eshe's jaw dropped. She almost forgot to write it down, her words akin to scribbles on the paper. Systems? Any other systems? Her mother and father weren't scholars, just merchants. But... They had told her about one, she remembered. Maybe two. "Err... Mommy said there was a really, really important one. She said it was how we breathed or something. Is there one that tells you when something hurts?" Her crystalline eyes were squinted in thought, mouth pulled up on one side as she wrote something down. Hopefully she was right about one of those.

[Ollic Rimesage]

"You're right!" Ollic praised her with complete and genuine happiness. He hoped he didn't sound like he was being sarcastic. He despised those that liked to make fun of the lesser fortunate or of the more ill-minded and he tried with all his might to state himself as one who was kind and supportive to those who are brought down to lower levels.

"The system that makes you breathe, that's called the Respiratory system. I like to remember it by naming my lungs Tory and by adding respect. You are respecting Tory. Respiratory system."

Ollic watched Eshe write, observing her hand strokes as if they were those of a famous artist who sold painting among painting for thousands of golden Mizas. Her upward strokes were delicate, her downward strokes still needing improvement, but hey, she was still very young, much like Ollic.

“The other system you are talking about is called the nervous system,” Ollic’s words stumbled over each other as he said that word. Nervous. He didn’t feel confident in elaborating, but he did so anyway, knowing that the only way you could teach someone is by giving them the whole truth.

“My mum says that my nervous system is broken,” he told her. “I only remember it so well because I get scared around people a lot and it hurts me to be scared.”

The silence nibbled at the air, Ollic in somewhat of a stupor after telling Eshe so much about him. It was true what he said, yet he wished it was nothing but a lie or perhaps a dream. He didn’t like to be afraid around people and hated looking like a cowering child, but he just couldn’t help it. He always had to take Lillian Root tea to calm his nerves and that was his medicine since he was nine.

He was still in a daze, looking into space when he realized Eshe was still in front of him. “Sorry,” he told her as he continued on with the lesson, trying to act like nothing important had happened.

“Another system in your body is the immune system. It helps you fight off colds, like the one it looked like you were going to get. It’s a good thing I saved your life,” he stated, his award winning smile flashing in the fire light.

Suddenly remembering something, Ollic couldn’t help but make Eshe scribble down all his words with lightning pace, abusing her fingers with cramps as he mentioned that the skeletal system held all of your two hundred some bones.

“Do I need to slow down?” Ollic asked her, cringing in sympathy.

[Eshe Czardas]

A warm feeling of triumph spread through Eshe. Her parents hadn't given her false information! She wrote down the way to remember the respiratory system. Resp... Respect... Respecting Tory. There. The next one written down was the nervous system. She spelled it wrong, spelling it like 'nervus'. His nervous system was broken? His gaze went straight through her, but she didn't notice because she was scribbling that too. As far as she was concerned, he was just waiting for her to finish writing. Immune system... She managed to spell that right. "You saved my life!? Wow, you must be a really good doctor!" Eshe stared at Ollic, face filled with awe. Her hand was starting to cramp, but she was determined. Her tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth, brow furrowed in concentration. She may have only been seven, but the girl had a good grasp of words. When she finished, she put down her pencil and flexed her fingers. "No, you can keep going. Just give me a moment."

[Ollic Rimesage]

"You saved my life? You must be a really good doctor!" Her words lifted up Ollic's heart. All he had ever wanted to be was a doctor, trying to rise up to the station of potential his parents had always deemed him worthy of.

When Eshe had nodded her head, telling him that he was free to continue, Ollic took a double glance to see whether he should proceed or not, given that she was younger no matter if she acted of older maturity or not.

Ollic leant over the girl's paper, inspecting her notes more than the way she wrote them. Her penmanship was overall nicely done, but her spelling was off in many small errors.

He clicked his tongue, barely noticeable dimples playing out on his cheeks as he simpered quickly. "You spell nervous like this," Ollic told her, gingerly taking the pencil and pad out of her small, fragile looking hands, the two children brushing skin unintentionally. He hoped his action of control didn't seem too out of line.

It was his turn to stick out his tongue in concentration, his taste buds scraping against the roof of his mouth before they were exposed to the air of the room he sat it. He wrote it down in his boyish font, hard to read, yet still considered legible.

"N, e, r, v, o, u, s. Like that. Say it with an accent; that always helps me out with spelling," Ollic suggested as he stuck out his chest and sucked in a warm breath of air, dropping his tone of voice tremendously.

"Nervous," he boomed with an accent that sounded like he was speaking about "nehvos" instead of nervous, whatever that may be.

Ollic turned to look at his student, returning her pad of paper and her writing utensil in her possession. He looked into her eyes, visualising ice skates and a pair of red cotton gloves. The thought of a dancer simmered into his train of thought.

"Muscular system," Ollic announced getting up and starting a jog in place. "That's the part of the body that is your muscles. Muscles make you strong and that is how you were able to walk to my house after you fell."

Through heavy breathing and a minor sweat slipping down the back of his neck, Ollic knew from these simple signs that he was out of shape. Perhaps his mother's point in exercise was important.

"Now this is a tricky one," he raised his head, a finger on his lips as he tried to grasp the concept on how to explain what the next system he was to teach was easily remembered.

"The cardiovascular system," he said, trying to see what her reaction may be to such a large word. "Very complicated to say, and it was to me when I first heard it too. This system controls your blood flow. When you get a cut, red liquid comes out of this tube called a vein or an artery. It hurts, right? Your nervous system and your cardiovascular system work side by side."

He wasn't sure whether Eshe understood the term cardiovascular so he reassured her that if she didn't remember or didn't even get what it meant that it was okay.

"The body is confusing, but that's why I like it," he told her, a sly smile plastered onto his face, no more dimples, for those were saved for remarkable times of happiness.

"It gives me a sense of wonder, fulfilment. It keeps my mind off of things I don't like to think about."

Now he got to the most recent and serious question he had always wanted to ask Eshe from the moment her face beamed up at his after he had told her about bleeding eyes and how they were possible to occur.

"Eshe? Why are you interested in health? From what limb have you fallen from that you have an interest for the body so much?" He had heard a similar usage of that phrase before from his father to him, and he was convinced that this was the perfect time to use it in proper context.

He didn't not like that Eshe admired anatomy and medicine, he was just curious, out of all people he had ever met, through judging the strength and devotion of people he had observed, why this stray little lamb had a question in the field of health.

Curiosity ran in his veins as he tried to pry into people's lives. Sometimes this was a good thing, earning respect and trust from people who would have been hostile previously, other times it could end up giving him a large whack on the bum.

He hoped Eshe wouldn't mind, and he longed for a story; a tale to be told by the flame of the fire they currently sat by, pillows and blankets surrounding them.

[Eshe Czardas]

Eshe giggled. He sounded funny when he said that! She tried to copy him, and dissolved into a fit of laughter. At least she knew how to spell 'nervous' now. The pencil and paper were returned to her, and she copied down the next system. "Musk... yoo... lar..." she mumbled, sounding it out. "Muscular!" She held up the paper, the spelling of the word actually correct. The part of the body that is your muscles... Eshe wrote down the explanation. The next one... "Card-o-vacular? That's a weird word." Controls blood flow.. And there were tubes inside of her!? The girl look horrified. But it made sense. "So... The nervous system tells you that it hurts, and the card-o-vacular system makes it bleed?" It was confusing. How would she remember that, without the notes? She would just have to memorize it. "Eshe? Why are you interested in health? From what limb have you fallen from that you have an interest for the body so much?" The girl being questioned was doodling on the corner of the page. It was a small, childish flower with three petals. She zig-zagged in some grass and drew a comical sun. Eshe almost missed the inquiry. "Huh? Oh. Well, we're travelling around the continent. We're people who buy and sell things for better prof... profit. And helping people sounds fun. Mommy and Daddy can't always find a person who's willing to travel with us, and it's super-duper dangerous out in the wilds, even with a caravan. I figured that I should learn somethin' so I can try to help when someone gets hurt! Ya know what I mean? I don't want to lose my parents." She looked up for a moment and smiled, then went back to drawing. A tree, with a little stick-legged bird perched in a very, very pointy nest sitting on a lumpy round thing that could, if you looked at it hard and for a long while, pass for an egg. She colored in the bird, leaving an oval unshaded on its belly. It was all quite crude, but Eshe was proud of it nonetheless. She held it up to Ollic, telling him to look at it with a huge grin on her face.

[Ollic Rimesage]

It was cute, Ollic thought, when Eshe pronounced the cardiovascular system. She left out important letters when she tried to sound it out and this had Ollic cocking his head to one side in curiosity.

She was so young, much like he was when he began learning about the body, and she was easily picking up the information he told her whether she would remember or care to memorize it when she was alone at home.

When Eshe explained her reason for wanting to become helpful in healing, Ollic forced a smile, one full of sadness and guilt. The way she spoke of fearing her family's death made Ollic's heart ache. He felt the same way about his, yet he wasn't more willing to help people as he was destined to. He had always been known he was going to help people and he had accepted his parents harsh attempts of control and they told their son to study about the human body and its functions. It sort of just became natural habit for Ollic to like learning. His parents were good at something and he was always in need of an idol, not having any friends and always feeling alone, cooped up in his room with a notebook, pencil and all of his text books.

He decided to say some of these important factors that had accompanied him in his life to better Eshe's judgement upon him.

"My parents are both medical experts. My mum is a mid-wife and my dad is training to be an advanced surgeon. I don't really know what I want to be when I grow up. I know I want to continue to study in the study of health, but there are so many jobs in that industry to chose from."

He was sure whether he was speaking to himself more than he was to Eshe; all he knew was that it felt good to express his feelings than to leave them constricted and bottled up inside of himself, screaming in resistance to be let free.

“There are muscular doctors called physical therapists, and there are nervous system doctors called emotional therapists. Mum is making me go and see one every now and again.” Since when did Ollic feel confident about announcing he went to see a shrink to help him with his problems?

“There are immune system doctors called immunologists who help cure sicknesses. There are doctors who specialise in the heart and I think they are just called heart doctors but I am not sure.”

Ollic rested his head back on the couch, slumping down into the sofa’s padded seats. He felt the fire blazing, the embers still sparkling like falling stars over the logs that were placed inside, protected by the barrier of a metal gate.

A serious question as now forming on the tip of his tongue, Ollic no longer really interested in teaching Eshe anything else. He had thought that all he had taught her so far was enough a girl could handle in one sitting.

“Eshe,” he spoke in barely a whisper, his eyes closing as the heat from the fire started to lull him to sleep. “Do you ever wonder what you would do if you could do whatever you wanted when you were older, ignoring the ideas of caring for parents or trying to support yourself with money?”

Ollic had always thought that the idea of money was a waste. Some people end up not being able to support themselves, eventually starving themselves by not being able to purchase food, the people around them not helping in any way, shape or form. He found bartering even more silly. Of course he understood that there needed to be order in order to keep a society and civilisation alive, but still the thought haunted his mind, toying with his ideas on life.

“I don’t think I would have been a doctor if my parents weren’t doctor,” Ollic told her, sharing his side of his story before she did hers.

[Eshe Czardas]

Eshe knew what a midwife was. Her mother had told her that they help ladies who just had children. And surgeons worked inside the body, if she remembered correctly. Even if her parents weren't scholars, they still educated her as best as they could. She wrote down all of the doctors and their specialties, looking up when he could go on. Physical therapists, emotional therapists, imm... The girl paused for a moment. Immunologists. She had filled three pages, starting on the fourth, when he said something she could just catch. "Eshe, do you ever wonder what you would do if you could do whatever you wanted when you were older, ignoring the ideas of caring for parents or trying to support yourself with money?" She'd never been asked that before. Her parents had always told her to be logical, and put your own wants last. Try to aim for the stars, but in something practical. A healer, a doctor, even an herbalist would be a good idea. She would be able to make enough mizas to support herself with a little extra on the side. Eshe tapped the end of her writing utensil against her bottom lip. She thought hard. "Well, Mommy always said to think logically. She said that I could want something, but in order to get it I'd have to have a good job or something. I think a doctor would be a good idea for that. Secretly, though, I want to be a dancer. They're so pretty when they move, and I want to be just like them!" The girl beamed at Ollic, but his eyes were closed. Her smile faded and she set the pencil down, leaning back. Maybe he was asleep.