Shrike's Heart (#2)

[idolpro]

The woman before you is beautiful—fair of features, with lovely golden skin and luxurious long black hair, petite. You have the immediate and distinct impression that she's just let go of your hand, and she steps back, and smiles.

It's not quite a happy smile.

"I'm sorry," she says. "There's just nothing I can do, as things are. But the way is there; it just needs to be lit."

You open your mouth—maybe to say something, or to express confusion—but you have to cough, and taste something metallic, spattering black blood onto the ground in front of you. Then you realize—blood seeps from opening wounds in your arms, your chest, your stomach, your face. It rims your eyes and trails from your nose and you feel like you're dissolving—

—and you fall through the ground like it's the surface of a lake, and go down, down, down.

> Wake Up

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[nihilmancy]

With who? I want to save you. I want to save him.

[handpuppets]

[ he coughs—a spatter of blood escapes his mouth, as he does, but he manages to speak. ]

The village—the ones who came to the village, the soldiers. I thought...

[nihilmancy]

Would there be medicine, in any of those buildings? Just nod if there is, and move your head in the direction I need to go.

[handpuppets]

Maybe—if're not burned yet. Surely they left—

[ he coughs hard, again. ]

Maybe they left us something.

[nihilmancy]

Mm. I'll check.

[She has a theory about what happened here, and it is terrible to acknowledge, but... what else did she expect, loving the person that she did? If she cannot look this in the face, then she is a hypocrite.

First she is going to approach the man and his brother, inspecting them for wounds, and then tear off strips of her clothes to bandage them, trying to find something to keep their heads elevated, and in a posture to avoid shock and further bleeding.]

[handpuppets]

[ You do that, inspecting both of them, and—well, the boy's dead. That much is clear to you, though the man clearly hasn't noticed yet. Or maybe he's just in denial.

You can do a little, though, for the cost of 1 WILLPOWER, as healing is against the will of the Void—there's a bloody wound through the man's chest, like from an arrow, which is difficult, but a long strip from the hemline of your shirt can be wrapped around it. ]

[nihilmancy]

[Not going to mention that to him. Instead she quietly binds his wounds. But she has no way of knowing if he will survive, especially if he has internal injuries.]

...Stay quiet. Try to count, ah, up to one hundred. If you lose track, start again. I'll be back to look for medicine.

[handpuppets]

S-stay awake, right...?

[ he coughs, again, and a thin trickle of blood runs out the side of his mouth.

a little further away, but not far, are those buildings, and the smell of smoke. ]

[nihilmancy]

...Would you prefer somebody stay with you?

[handpuppets]

[ he... hesitates. ]

If someone...

...as long as someone does. I don't... I think I don't want to be alone.

[nihilmancy]

I will, then. Those girls will find someplace safe for your brother, where he won't be exposed to the elements. They're looking for medicine as well.

And I'll protect you. You won't be alone.

[handpuppets]

Long as I—

[ he coughs again, and it sounds dry and painful; a glob of blood splatters against the ground in front of him. ]

...long as someone stays. Just for a little bit.

[nihilmancy]

...I will. I'm here for you. I won't leave you.

[handpuppets]

I—know. I know—

[ and then he starts coughing again, hacking—it sounds really bad, and there's a lot of blood coming up with it now— ]

[nihilmancy]

...If you want to rest, you can. We'll look out for your brother. I promise.

[handpuppets]

Than—

[ but he doesn't quite finish that thought. ]