30th Summer 517 - after everything in the jungle
"Can I help?"
Merevaika looked up to find a blue Akalak standing above her. For a second, she almost panicked, forgetting where she was, what she was doing here.
The memories flooded back - of her wandering hopelessly through the jungle, searching for a ruin that only existed in her dreams and blindly following madness that only resulted in injuring herself. That was why he was here. She was here. This was the Panacea, the healing clinic in Syka. This Akalak was the healer here, which she could tell from the almost glowing gnosis on him.
He was here to help her.
"How can I help?" he asked, changing the question to something he didn't know the answer to by just looking.
Merevaika looked down at her leg, then slowly tried to push herself up, hands squashing into the bed she had lay on. He shook his head at her movements, trying to both keep her down and help her up at the same time.
The woman mirrored his shaking head, finally settling into a reclined position on the bed. Reaching down were she lay, she rolled her leg up, allowing the infected wound, and the makeshift bandage that she had tied over it, be clearly visible. Beginning to untie the bandage, she was stopped by the Akalak, who moved over to do it himself.
She heard a deep exhale as he looked at it. His fingers prodded lightly, wiping away the dirt that had inevitably built up, and he took a good look at the snake bite. After what seemed like eternity, he looked up, and Merevaika was ready to hear that she was going to die, or some other horrible news like that.
All he said was, "How old is it?"
Merevaika held up a few fingers, changing her mind every few ticks, then eventually shaking her head with uncertainty. "Morning, today, I think?" she stated, even though she knew it had to be the morning she was referring to. It had been early on in the day, most likely before midday.
He seemed to decided that it would be the best estimate he got. As he took a closer look, examining the redness and the pus that had started to build up, his questions began to increase.
"Do you know what bit you?" At this, she shook her head, because other than a snake, she couldn't tell him anything about whether it was poisonous or common to the region or not. "What did it look like, then? Even if we can't give it a name, it will be helpful for reference, at least for the future.
"Green snake," she forced out, after having struggled with the words for a bit. Her hands then moved out, trying to show an approximate length, "Long. Like a vine. It looks like a vine. Very look." That was not how it was said, but she didn't really care.
The doctor nodded, mentally writing it down, it seemed, as he was still staring at the bite. "What symptoms have you experienced?" Then, realising from the blank expression from Merevaika's face that she didn't know what symptoms meant - or what experienced was either - he rephrased his question. "What have you felt, after the bite? When did it go red, is it sore, stinging? How hard is it for you to walk?"
Merevaika explained, gulping over the words, as much as she remembered about the things happening. How it had hurt, but she had ignored the pain until she had managed to forget about it. How it was hot to the touch, and now she was too. About the lethargic feeling she was having. Her limping. The blood.
"You must have not boiled the water well enough, or else the infection got in after anyway. It definitely seems to be some sort of infection, at the very least. But it could be a reaction to the bite - I hope it's not poisonous." Then he asked her more questions, about where the bandage had come from, the water, how she had boiled it. Merevaika did her best to answer the questions, but she didn't really care for it. Surely, it didn't matter to him? As far as she knew, a healer could just place his hand on her wound, bring forth his healing power, and fix it, without having to know what it was ever.
With all his questions, it seemed like he wanted to write a detailed report on exactly what had happened.
"Well, I'll save the rest of my questions for afterwards." He had more questions? Merevaika didn't know what else he could ask. "This won't hurt a bit. Keep still."
A chime later, and her leg was feeling a lot better. Merevaika got ready to stand up and walk away, but he stopped her even before she could get up off the bed.
"Best you stay here over night. If it is poison, you'll want to stick around until all the venom gets out of your system. Until then, it can still hit you hard, so I want to be able to keep an eye on you." Merevaika opened her mouth to protest, but nothing came out. "Besides, there are more things I want to ask you. Firstly, what were you doing in the jungle in the first place?"
Looking for ruins that had been shown to her in a dream by the son of Caiyha, which may or may not have just been figments of her imagination. It sounded a bit stupid to say aloud, and besides, she didn't know the words necessary for that.
"Explore," she simply stated, aware it was a weak excuse, but it was close enough to what she had actually been doing that meant she didn't have to worry about lying.
"Exploring?" His eyebrows raised in doubt, and his gaze flickered back to the things on the floor beside them. Other than her clothes and the necklace around her neck, it was everything she had taken with her into the rainforest. Namely, a knife and some rope. And everything she had come out with: a bag made from rope and leaves, with three green pieces of unripe fruit sitting inside. "Is that all you brought with you?"
Without thinking about how stupid it looked, she fished the necklace out from under her top and held it towards him, as if it made a difference. "And this."
He stared at it, confused, trying to figure out if it was just an ordinary necklace or if it had some divine or magical or mystical powers that actually gave Merevaika a reason for pointing it out.
"What does it do?" he finally asked, deciding it had to be the second, or else he was dealing with a madwoman.
"Nothing." That answer had been far too blunt. It would have been a better idea to lie, to claim it was some magical talisman and risk the questions, than to look crazy. Now he was probably going to tie her up and throw her in a cage where she couldn't hurt herself or others.
"So you went into the jungle with some unripe fruit, some rope, a knife and... an ordinary necklace? To explore?"
It was too hard for her to admit that she had only found the fruit as she was trying to get out.
Her silence forced him to speak again. "I'm sure you know now from your injuries that it's dangerous out there. Once you've healed up, please don't go wandering around there alone, understand? Take some proper equipment with you, and someone to look out for you. What if next time, you don't make it back here? You need to be careful, alright?"
Be careful? Merevaika wanted to laugh, but she was far too angry to do that as well. He was speaking to her as if she were a child, who didn't know it was dangerous. As if she was someone who ventured out there, unequipped, all the time. As if he believed she couldn't look after herself and needed someone to protect her.
"You know Sea of Grass?" she asked, and he blinked a few times, a little confused about what it had to do with anything, before nodding. "I travel from Riverfall to Endrykas in it. Half season. Alone. Just two walahks - without Strider." She decided to ignore the guide that had gone with them. That wasn't her point. "I still alive. I know how to look after me."
The Akalak had another glance at her things, doubting hard, but he didn't mention it. All he said was: "The jungle and the plains are different beasts. Even if you can tame one, doesn't mean the other won't eat you up whole."
Her boasting had come so easily. So why couldn't she tell him the reason for her sorry state and the lack of items with her were because of the son of a god telling her to do that? Maybe because it sounded ridiculous. Especially considering the outcome. Maybe it would make the Akalak think Alcor wanted her dead.
"Have some rest. I'll go get us something to eat and drink for when you wake."
She didn't sleep while he was gone. She couldn't.
She just didn't know why she couldn't.
"Can I help?"
Merevaika looked up to find a blue Akalak standing above her. For a second, she almost panicked, forgetting where she was, what she was doing here.
The memories flooded back - of her wandering hopelessly through the jungle, searching for a ruin that only existed in her dreams and blindly following madness that only resulted in injuring herself. That was why he was here. She was here. This was the Panacea, the healing clinic in Syka. This Akalak was the healer here, which she could tell from the almost glowing gnosis on him.
He was here to help her.
"How can I help?" he asked, changing the question to something he didn't know the answer to by just looking.
Merevaika looked down at her leg, then slowly tried to push herself up, hands squashing into the bed she had lay on. He shook his head at her movements, trying to both keep her down and help her up at the same time.
The woman mirrored his shaking head, finally settling into a reclined position on the bed. Reaching down were she lay, she rolled her leg up, allowing the infected wound, and the makeshift bandage that she had tied over it, be clearly visible. Beginning to untie the bandage, she was stopped by the Akalak, who moved over to do it himself.
She heard a deep exhale as he looked at it. His fingers prodded lightly, wiping away the dirt that had inevitably built up, and he took a good look at the snake bite. After what seemed like eternity, he looked up, and Merevaika was ready to hear that she was going to die, or some other horrible news like that.
All he said was, "How old is it?"
Merevaika held up a few fingers, changing her mind every few ticks, then eventually shaking her head with uncertainty. "Morning, today, I think?" she stated, even though she knew it had to be the morning she was referring to. It had been early on in the day, most likely before midday.
He seemed to decided that it would be the best estimate he got. As he took a closer look, examining the redness and the pus that had started to build up, his questions began to increase.
"Do you know what bit you?" At this, she shook her head, because other than a snake, she couldn't tell him anything about whether it was poisonous or common to the region or not. "What did it look like, then? Even if we can't give it a name, it will be helpful for reference, at least for the future.
"Green snake," she forced out, after having struggled with the words for a bit. Her hands then moved out, trying to show an approximate length, "Long. Like a vine. It looks like a vine. Very look." That was not how it was said, but she didn't really care.
The doctor nodded, mentally writing it down, it seemed, as he was still staring at the bite. "What symptoms have you experienced?" Then, realising from the blank expression from Merevaika's face that she didn't know what symptoms meant - or what experienced was either - he rephrased his question. "What have you felt, after the bite? When did it go red, is it sore, stinging? How hard is it for you to walk?"
Merevaika explained, gulping over the words, as much as she remembered about the things happening. How it had hurt, but she had ignored the pain until she had managed to forget about it. How it was hot to the touch, and now she was too. About the lethargic feeling she was having. Her limping. The blood.
"You must have not boiled the water well enough, or else the infection got in after anyway. It definitely seems to be some sort of infection, at the very least. But it could be a reaction to the bite - I hope it's not poisonous." Then he asked her more questions, about where the bandage had come from, the water, how she had boiled it. Merevaika did her best to answer the questions, but she didn't really care for it. Surely, it didn't matter to him? As far as she knew, a healer could just place his hand on her wound, bring forth his healing power, and fix it, without having to know what it was ever.
With all his questions, it seemed like he wanted to write a detailed report on exactly what had happened.
"Well, I'll save the rest of my questions for afterwards." He had more questions? Merevaika didn't know what else he could ask. "This won't hurt a bit. Keep still."
A chime later, and her leg was feeling a lot better. Merevaika got ready to stand up and walk away, but he stopped her even before she could get up off the bed.
"Best you stay here over night. If it is poison, you'll want to stick around until all the venom gets out of your system. Until then, it can still hit you hard, so I want to be able to keep an eye on you." Merevaika opened her mouth to protest, but nothing came out. "Besides, there are more things I want to ask you. Firstly, what were you doing in the jungle in the first place?"
Looking for ruins that had been shown to her in a dream by the son of Caiyha, which may or may not have just been figments of her imagination. It sounded a bit stupid to say aloud, and besides, she didn't know the words necessary for that.
"Explore," she simply stated, aware it was a weak excuse, but it was close enough to what she had actually been doing that meant she didn't have to worry about lying.
"Exploring?" His eyebrows raised in doubt, and his gaze flickered back to the things on the floor beside them. Other than her clothes and the necklace around her neck, it was everything she had taken with her into the rainforest. Namely, a knife and some rope. And everything she had come out with: a bag made from rope and leaves, with three green pieces of unripe fruit sitting inside. "Is that all you brought with you?"
Without thinking about how stupid it looked, she fished the necklace out from under her top and held it towards him, as if it made a difference. "And this."
He stared at it, confused, trying to figure out if it was just an ordinary necklace or if it had some divine or magical or mystical powers that actually gave Merevaika a reason for pointing it out.
"What does it do?" he finally asked, deciding it had to be the second, or else he was dealing with a madwoman.
"Nothing." That answer had been far too blunt. It would have been a better idea to lie, to claim it was some magical talisman and risk the questions, than to look crazy. Now he was probably going to tie her up and throw her in a cage where she couldn't hurt herself or others.
"So you went into the jungle with some unripe fruit, some rope, a knife and... an ordinary necklace? To explore?"
It was too hard for her to admit that she had only found the fruit as she was trying to get out.
Her silence forced him to speak again. "I'm sure you know now from your injuries that it's dangerous out there. Once you've healed up, please don't go wandering around there alone, understand? Take some proper equipment with you, and someone to look out for you. What if next time, you don't make it back here? You need to be careful, alright?"
Be careful? Merevaika wanted to laugh, but she was far too angry to do that as well. He was speaking to her as if she were a child, who didn't know it was dangerous. As if she was someone who ventured out there, unequipped, all the time. As if he believed she couldn't look after herself and needed someone to protect her.
"You know Sea of Grass?" she asked, and he blinked a few times, a little confused about what it had to do with anything, before nodding. "I travel from Riverfall to Endrykas in it. Half season. Alone. Just two walahks - without Strider." She decided to ignore the guide that had gone with them. That wasn't her point. "I still alive. I know how to look after me."
The Akalak had another glance at her things, doubting hard, but he didn't mention it. All he said was: "The jungle and the plains are different beasts. Even if you can tame one, doesn't mean the other won't eat you up whole."
Her boasting had come so easily. So why couldn't she tell him the reason for her sorry state and the lack of items with her were because of the son of a god telling her to do that? Maybe because it sounded ridiculous. Especially considering the outcome. Maybe it would make the Akalak think Alcor wanted her dead.
"Have some rest. I'll go get us something to eat and drink for when you wake."
She didn't sleep while he was gone. She couldn't.
She just didn't know why she couldn't.
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