[Flashback] ..and we'll always be together, right?

[Rista]

Timestamp: 20th of Fall 502 AV Location: Wind Reach Staus: Closed, tag Phoenix The sound of soft breathing swept trough the room like an invisible wave, or like the sound of feathers ruffling in a breeze. It was dark in the large room, bedtime was over since long and in the mid of night most of the young children of the nursery was sound asleep. Most, but not everyone. The sound of rustling sheets could be heard over and over again as a small, black-haired girl shifted restlessly in her bed. Her mind was hazy with sleepiness and the small limbs tired after a long day of running and playing, but even so she couldn't relax. Thoughts rushed through her mind, troubled thoughts that no five year old girl should have to have. She was worried, but even more than that she felt an oppressing need weigh down on her young mind, one that simply couldn't be ignored and would have to be dealt with unless an unfortunate accident end up taking place. She had to pee. Slipping out of her bed as quietly as she could, the small copper-skinned girl padded over the stone floor of the sleeping hall, off towards the small alcove where the potties had been placed. Rubbing her eyes and yawning widely as she relieved herself, the small half-breed girl listened to the sound of sleeping children. The calming, peaceful sound was interrupted now and then by a muffled cough. It made the child frown deeply and her strange black eyes were unhappy as they peered out towards the room, longing back to her bunk - or rather, not her bunk. She had no intention of continuing to toss back and forth like this. After cleaning herself off Rista quietly slipped back across the room, holding her breath in her attempts to be quiet. When she came to her bunk she crawled up in it, only to push herself up on her feet and reach up over the edge to the next level, where a small frame lay wrapped tightly within a warm blanket. "Karva?" she whispered urgently, hoping to catch her brother awake. When he didn't move, she frowned and began to climb up into the bed, her movements deft in a way that showed upon much practice as she crawled up into the upper bunk. Rista curled up on her knees next to the warm lump, a chubby hand reaching out to sneak in under the blanket and find his hair. Patting it softly, she could feel his body shake as he tried to suppress another cough. "Karva are you ill?" she tried again, concern wrapped over her childish voice as she looked down on her only known relative. "You are coughing, aren't you. Does it hurt?" The source of her worries didn't come so much from this recent weakness of her brother's, but rather the fact that she couldn't do anything to help make it go away. Overall there was very little Rista was capable of doing at the tender age of five, but even so she still would have liked to do something for him. He was always helping her when she needed it. Without waiting for a reply the little girl shifted and stretched out onto the bed, nestling herself comfortably in under the covers and wrapped the arms around the warm body of her other half, secure in the feeling of having him close. Now she felt much better...

[Phoenix]

It was an affirmation to how deeply weary he was that the deep, wet coughs that raked his frame barely woke him at all. It was the kind of sick that permeated your body without notice, making you more and more tired until one morning, you just didn't want to get up. The coughs started after that. Curled into a ball as his body tried to regenerate the energy spent on fighting off the sickness, Karva didn't wake until his sisters hand found his hair. As she slipped in behind him, he tried to turn and look at her, the effort of turning his head over his shoulder and opening those odd, bleary eyes sending another cough rippling through his chest. "I...sorry. I didn't want to get you sick. You're supposed to be asleep." His voice was weak, and didn't hold any of the usual calm firmness that Rista had come to love and depend on. Of course his worries were focused on her instead, the fact that she was still awake piquing this worry as his brow, covered in a thin sheen of sweat, crinkled in concern. "If they catch you here, you won't be able to go out and play. Not if they think you're sick too." Karva was aware that he wouldn't be able to hide this in the morning and had seemingly already come to terms with the fact that he would be torn away from his beloved sister. If it protected her, though, it was worth a trip to the infirmary alone. Only in a childs mind did something like having to be taken in for being sick seem like the end of the world. Only a child would hide in fear of attracting the attentions of an adult for something other than praise. As Rista stuck out an arm to wrap around his torso, Karva curled further in on himself. He was cold, finding that only by staying completely covered could he eek the warmth from his mattress and blankets that he needed. However, to the touch he burned. To the sickened boy, his sisters arm felt like fire against what he thought was ice cold flesh. The fever had taken him. Jumping away from the burning touch of his sisters flesh, Karva bit down on his lip as he tried not to cry out. But it was no use. In the quiet of the nursery, his muffled scream startled many children into reality and they too began to cry. It wasn't long until the sound of hurried footfalls permeated the cries.

[Rista]

She was startled by his violent reaction to her touch and flew up once again to sit on her knees. Hurt by the rejection and worried over the heat that radiated from Karva's body, Rista moved her jaw wordlessly for a moment before she remembered how to speak. "Silly, I don't get sick" she scolded with the voice thick from barely held back tears and half reached out her hand to touch him again. She hesitating only as she remembered his pained cry from before, the small hand hovering longingly over his shoulder without touching it. "If you are feeling bad you should tell me so I can keep you company. It's no fun playing without you anyway, since the others only tease." Very carefully she reached for his hand, fighting the urge to hug him and hold him close as the rising wail of the other kids in the room brought the attention of the adults. The dark-haired girl turned her head and watched warily as the people on night duty came hurrying into the room, bringing lights and frowning faces into the room to calm the distraught children. She didn't call for them, instead slipping lower into her brothers bed to try and remain unseen and thus get to stay with him longer; her hand squeezed harder around his burning fingers, not allowing him to let go even if he complained or resisted. It didn't take long until she was spotted however, and with eyes black and stormy with defiance the girl stared back at the grim looking man that walked up to their bunk. "You again, Rista?" he said with tired voice. "How many times have you been told to sleep in your own bed? Get down from there, now." His frown deepened when she shook her head in silent refusal, unwilling to separate from her twin for even a second. His jaws could be seen working for a long moment as he swallowed down tiredness and irritation, the effort put in to keep the voice calm and patient while dealing with the notoriously stubborn child tremendous. His eyes moved over the top bunk, and upon seeing the red hair of the older twin his face brightened slightly. "Karva, tell your sister to get down" he tried instead, knowing the pair of children well enough to understand who had the most power of the two of them. The boy was usually reasonable, and the times the mongrel girl didn't fold to his calm patience were few and far in between. "Don't talk to Karva!" Rista suddenly exploded, her loud voice starting a new wave of wails from the other kids that had no idea what was going on. "He's sick, so don't bother him!" She slipped closer to the edge of the bed and held the free arm out to the side in a blocking gesture, trying to keep the other from looking at her twin. The desire to protect Karva was as strong for Rista as shielding her was for the brother, fierce enough to make her stubbornly disobey the adult man even though she knew the consequences for it. Not being allowed to play or skipping a meal was a cheap price to pay for the safety of her beloved brother, and the small face of the girl was hard and determined as she stared the man down.

[Phoenix]

"Sick?" Concern immediately swept the irritation from the Yasi Aid's face, the curled the corners of his mouth slipping away as a crease appeared between his brows. "Karva, you know you're supposed to tell us immediately." A petulant shake of his head was the elder twins only reply, small fists closing on the edge of his cover as he pulled it up and over his head. As the protective darkness enclosed him, Karva weakly rolled over onto his other side, trying to hide his cocooned from against his prostrate sister, knowing without doubt that Rista would try and protect him. "Karva, please.." Trying to make his voice warm and coercive, the Aid went up onto his toes, to be able to reach over the edge of the upper bunk, and reached once more towards the boy. "You can cooperate or not but either way, you're going to the Infirmary." When the sickly redhead didn't respond, the man sighed and took a handful of the blanket, yanking it away. Undoubedly, Rista would react negatively towards this, though she would be ignored for the most part; any attacks or screaming would be fended off and shushed, his main focus on getting the boy from the room before he infected all Yasi. As his warm safe place was ripped away, Karva, who had finally fallen asleep, sat bolt upright. With wild eyes he stared around the darkened room as if he had forgotten where he was, his gaze flicking quickly from object to object until they found Rista's face once more. Tears began to well, threatening to spill over as Karva bit down on his lip. The effort of suppressing a sob turned it into a sharp gasp which then called forth the thick, wet coughs that shook his entire frame. "I don't feel good, Ris." He whispered finally, collapsing back against his pillow when the coughing finally subsided. Hopefully, his sister would see the pain in his eyes, understand that this was has hard for him as it was for her. They didn't need any words: The younger twin hunched over her older brother, each with their gazes locked as they communicated silently in a way only twins could. Let me go his eyes seemed to say as his mouth formed the words "I need to go, Ris. They'll...they'll make me better, and we'll be playing soon." A glimmer in his eye seemed to say You need to be strong for the both of us. With the gravity a child should not possess, Karva turned towards the aid and nodded his head. "I am ready." It was as if those three words took all the energy he had. With a long, windy sigh he laid back on his pillows and closed his eyes. Shocked at whatever luck befell him, the Aid quickly called for an assistant, eager to get Karva out of there before either of the twins decided they had some fight left in them. While the Man stepped away from the bed, Karva's small, clammy hand crab walked over his coverlet, stopping only when his extra warm fingers twined with his sisters. "We can do this. You can do this, Ris. It's no big deal." The first man returned with a large, muscly dek. Wordlessly, the huge man lifted the sick child from his bed, cradling him like a mother would a baby against his chest. Karva looked extra frail amongst all those muscles as he turned his face into the Dek's chest and coughed once more, as if the movement had stirred up the sickness in his chest. As he was being carried away, Karva kept his eyes on Rista, reaching his arm around the deck's shoulder to extend his hand towards her when he could no longer see his face.

[Rista]

Black eyes moved vigilantly between the man and the boy as they spoke to each other, flaring with anger as the Aid did the exact opposite of what she wanted him to do. He was supposed to leave her brother alone, not stir him awake even more. Rista shoved at the hand that was reached out towards the twin, huffing and growling furiously as she tried to push it away. She could as well have tried to move a wall though, her small hands didn't have the strength to shift the strong limb of the adult man. A wail slipped from her in protest when the blanket was pulled away and woke her red-haired half up. How he had managed to fall asleep in the chaos that was going on in the room was more than Rista could understand, the crying and wailing of the other children made her head ache and only served to increase the powerless frustration that she felt. Her attention was turned from the bothersome adult and back to Karva when she heard the cough. The small girl watched in worry how he shrank back and leaned in close, resting her forehead against the burning skin of his own and stared into his eyes. None other than him knew how to read her pitch-black eyes. No one else realized how sensitive she was beneath the wild temper and the numerous pranks. His pain tore at her body as if it was she who were ill, and there was a silent plea in her gaze as she stared back, fingers desperately braiding with the feverish ones that grasped for her. Don't leave me alone they said, stormy from the emotions that swirled within. Don't... But like always the girl found it impossible to resist the quiet strength in her brothers eyes, the calm determination that always made her fold and follow so easily. "Kaa, I won't let them take you!" she whispered fiercely in weak protest, and swatted at the hands that reached for the weak, feverish boy, tried to push them away. "No! You can't take him, he needs to be here. He needs to be with me, he can't leave. Kaa, tell them!" Rista whimpered and clawed at the man that lifted her brother from the bed and felt hot tears well up, burning at her eyes without being allowed to escape. Her gaze locked with her brothers, and as he was being carried away the little girl scooted out of the bed and tumbled down to the floor dangerously quick. Darting out of reach from the hands of the Aid who tried to stop her she began running after the Dek who took her twin away, bare feet slapping against the stone floor. A faint yammering sound was pressed from her lips; how was she supposed to be strong when Karva reached for her like that, when it hurt so much to see him move further and further away from her? It just wasn't possible, Rista simply didn't have the discipline of mind to control herself. All she wanted was to be close to her brother, to hold his hand and share everything that he was feeling.

[Phoenix]

It seemed like it took a year to get from the nursery to the Infirmary. The walk from his bunk to the door had to have taken over a bell, at least, the memory of the anguish twisting is sisters face burned into the insides of his eyelids. Each step that the dek took jolted Karva to his core. Away from Rista, the sickened child was finally able to let his guard drop. It was always a brave face for his little sister. She needed him just as he needed her, but she needed him to be strong and brave. To protect her. But from what? The world of course. All of the chivalry that he has mustered in his few short years was dedicated to his beloved Rista, and he was adequate protection in a way that would only make sense to a child's mind. Having been taken from the comforts of his bed, the strange weakness that plagued him felt magnified. Every muscle seemed to have been beaten with a hammer; he wouldn't have been surprised if he had looked down to find his body mottled in bruises. There was a sharp, incessant pounding behind his eyes that just....wouldn't...stop...that made it hard to think or focus on anything at all. His nose was raw from sniffling, his throat and torso muscles aching from his never ending cough. He had even started to taste the metallic tang of blood along with the phlegm. For how torturously long the trek felt, Karva was startled when he was taken from the comfortable cradle of the Dek's arms and laid on cold, crisp sheets. If he had fallen asleep, he couldn't recall, but either way his eyes that had been closed snapped open once more to take in his new surroundings. It was very stark and uninviting. Surrounding him were half a dozen rows of narrow sick beds exactly like the one he had been laid upon, each with only one pillow and the same bright white sheets. One could tell they were uncomfortable just by looking at them. The roughly chiseled stone walls were bare of any decoration, every nook and cranny crammed full of intimidating instruments, bottles and bowls. There were strange sconces on the wall that gave off a harsh, crisp light that easily penetrated the shadows in the very corner of the room. There was a fireplace at one end, but it's contents were cold and unused. Feeling suddenly very alone, despite the two adults that hovered over him asking questions that Karva didn't even register, the boy rolled over onto his side with a low moan. "This isn't good. He's delirious." Said the first healer as she felt his forehead for fever. "And he is burning up." "We'll have to give him some tea and hope he sleeps. The bags under his eyes... I doubt the poor thing has slept well in over a week." Commented the second as she straightened the covers, pulling them up over Karva's slight shoulders. The two women bustled off, each to their own duties, while Karva curled on his side. The shivers had started not long after the Dek had set him down, his teeth clacking together with each violent twitch of his muscles. He wasn't in pain so much as extreme discomfort, the type that makes your body feel completely and utterly drained. To life a feather would be like asking the boy to lit a fifty pound rock. And Rista wasn't here. Above all else, that is what hurt the most. It was all he could do to keep from keening out for his twin. If he cried, they might bring her. She had been in contact with him anyway, and could possibly already be sick... "Nnnnooooooh..." Rista could be sick. Weakily, Karva began to flail as he tried to pull the covers away, kicking and moaning as he struggled. Managing only to tangle the sheets around his legs, the first healer came back with his tea to find the boy on the verge of tumbling from the bed. "Oh!" She exclaimed, rushing over and setting the tea on a ledge in the wall, stooping to scoop Karva up into her arms. "Shhh, shhhhh, dear. You're okay." He was laid back on the stiff bed and held there by the nurses impossibly strong hands. "Drink this." He had no choice. It was either spill the boiling liquid all over himself or drink it down. For the first time that evening, Karva obeyed an order the first time it was given. "I need my sister. Rista could be sick! Save her, not me!" He tried to cry out between the gulps he was practically force-fed, the healer taking hold of the back of his neck as he tried to turn his head and speak. His voice was nothing but a whisper, hoarse and slurred. "Rista? She is fine. Probably asleep by now. She can come see you in the afternoon when her chores are completed. Drink up." She clearly hadn't understood him, but there was no fighting the rush of tea that quickly followed her words. Sputtering, Karva continued his fight to get his argument heard. But the tea was doing it's job, and quickly. It was only a quarter of a bell later before his lid seemed too heavy to keep open, his arms so heavy that he couldn't lift them from his sides. What....was it that he was worried about? Rista...Where was Rista....Where was he...? And he was asleep.

[Rista]

Hands caught the little girl long before she reached the door and lifted her up, unconcerned by her struggling and screaming. There was a sense of desperation over her as she kept looking back towards the place where her brother had disappeared, longing for a chance to follow. But the chance never came. Once it became clear that the upset girl wasn't going to calm down she was placed in a separate room with a caretaker sitting ominously in front of the door. Rista did her best to annoy the woman enough to escape the room, screaming and crying, asking question upon question without listening to the answers at all, only to try and tear the adult away from the door. It didn't work. The person had a will of steel, or must have been half-deaf because she didn't even flinch as Rista tried the upper levels of her register. She knew she was behaving horribly, but it didn't matter right now. Nothing mattered except the horrible empty feeling she felt in her stomach. It grew larger and larger for every second she spent without her other half, until it consumed enough of her energy to let her sink down on the makeshift bed. She couldn't even cry anymore, even though tears streamed down the flushed cheeks. The only sound that came from her were faint, exhausted breaths, gasps when her nose became too clogged to allow breathing. Rista didn't want to sleep, she told herself that she had to stay awake in case Karva would come back. She had to wait out the guard, stay awake until they fell asleep and then sneak off to try and find her brother. Chimes passed, the night dragged out. Exhaustion grabbed at her, tried to lure her into sleep. And slowly it succeeded, the red-lined eyelids slowly fell down, finally covering her bottomless eyes in a restless sleep, filled with nightmares. The following day passed in a haze. The little mongrel had to be woken when it was time for breakfast, and moved sluggishly in the line of children with empty eyes and a profound lack of interest for anything that happened around her. The food didn't taste anything, the sound of voices and the roaring of fires in the kitchens were deafening and pounded in her head. They were led to lessons, to playtime, to more lessons, then to eat once more. Rista forced her food down, and managed to slip away from the watchful eyes of the caretakers, her short legs carrying her out into the warrens where she ran around, aimlessly searching for Karva. She didn't know where he had been taken, she couldn't find her way to the Infirmary on her own. Her voice had gone hoarse from all the screaming the previous night, the throat felt sore and talking was painful. The girl only ever opened her mouth when an adult passed by. Her hand would reach out, catch a hold of their bryda and not let go until they stopped; more than once she found herself dragged along for several paces, until she finally could lift the head and look at them with pleading eyes. "Where is my brother?" she would ask in a sore whisper. She didn't separate the tall, hurrying red-heads from one another, their legs was all she cared about. The reactions she was faced with varied, from worried questions to snappy scoldings that urged her back to the nursery. She lost track of how long she had been running around, turning round and round the corners and bumping into people, getting her face slapped for bothering them or simply getting pushed away by hurried feet. No one had time for a yasi that wasn't working. At one point she caught a tall, fierce looking man with flaring fire-colored hair and extensively embroidered bryda. Beads of glass and metal clattered in his hair as he turned and looked down at her with surprised yellow eyes, the face proud and stern as he caught sight of the little mongrel girl by his feet. This time though even Rista realized her mistake, as the man quickly raised a hand to deal her another slap over the face. "I'm sorry Endal!" the girl cried out and let go of her grip, raising the hands to shield her face. "I wanna find my brother, I don't know where he is, I'm sorry!" She tensed, eyes clenching tightly together as she waited for the strike to fall down on her... But it didn't come. Her heart beet fast as Rista cracked an eye open and peered up, surprised to see that the man had lowered his hand again. The dark-haired little girl blinked and recoiled when he lowered down, knees touching against the ground as he knelt and reached out a hand to touch the top of her head. "Well now, that won't do" he said. The smile that appeared made Rista stare, she had never seen such a beautiful person before and his voice was so warm, so kind. He really wouldn't strike her? "Where did you get separated? We better find him quickly, you shouldn't be out walking on your own like this." "I..we, he got sick, and they took him away" she replied vaguely. It was hard to gather her thoughts when her eyes met with his, the yellow eyes were so piercing as if they looked straight into her soul. "Then he has probably been taken to the Infirmary" the man said, and smiled once again towards awestruck little girl. "I'll take you there, but you have to promise to stay with the other yasi after this, alright?" Rista nodded eagerly, her head bobbing up and down as if it had become partially unattached to her neck. She wouldn't disobey this golden person, how could she ever do that? He was beautiful and warm and amazing, and that serious gleam in his eyes as he took the time to actually listen to her was far more impressive to her than any threatening hands raised by the Yasi aids. She was surprised once more when the man stood up and took a steady grasp under her arms, lifting her up into his arms. Rista gasped and looked around with wide eyes, her stomach tingling and churning as her perspective suddenly was changed from passing legs to a sea of faces and garnet heads. Her arms clasped around the neck of the Rider as he began to walk, the distress she felt by being separated from her brother almost soothed from the new sensation of amazement. She was so high up! And they were moving so fast, people stepping out of the way as her rescuer walked with determined steps. More than once did the Inarta turn or blink with surprise on their faces as they saw the dark-haired little girl perching on the arm of the Endal, but no one dared to stop or question what they saw. Rista had the time of her life and beamed proudly, her attention torn between the faces in the crowd and that of the kind man. It was over far too quickly. Before she knew it they were standing by a door, the man reaching out a hand to knock at it before putting her down onto the ground. The door was pushed open, Rista tried to peer into the room in hope of seeing her brother. Was he there, really? She could see beds, but most of them appeared empty and covered with white sheets. Maybe he was in one of those she couldn't quite see? She wanted nothing more than to squeeze in through the crack in the door, but the hand of the Endal that lay firmly on her head kept her in place. "Is my brother here?" she asked and looked up at the tall man, her voice expressing the worried impatience she tried her best to contain. He didn't seem to hear her though, instead focusing on the healer that had opened the door. "Have you taken in a child here recently?" he asked, the tone of voice changing from warm and patient to short and almost snappy when addressing the person at the door. It seemed that he appreciated children far more than the adult versions...