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 Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 4:59 pm
Tomorrow Everything wasn't fine. Tomorrow's flight through the air was cooling to his face, the sweat dripping down it mingling with the rainwater that surrounded him as gravity took hold of him and pulled him from the clouds to send him hurtling down, back to earth. There would be a whislting noise, like that of a shell flying through Normandy air - before a massive thud, a dustcloud erupting from outside the compound walls, the ground shaking as Gaia accepted the son of Odin back to her. As the rubble and dust settled around him, John clawed his way out of the crater of dirt, his hand gripping the grass to pull himself out. His hair was matted, his clothes torn and slashed. A massive gash went across his broad chest, blood oozing from it still, staining his dirty shirt and spilling along the ground as he pulled himself closer to the compound. Each pull pulled the wound open, exposing the cleaved bones and the nicked heart and lungs within. His arm had been sliced clean at the shoulder, the blood pumping weakly from the open score. The wound looked burned, as if he'd tried to cauterise it with fire - but he hadn't done a very good job. Crimson liquid squirted from the wound haphazardly - his life-blood draining. It had been worse an hour ago - the blood had poured from the wound like a neon arc across the sky. His skin was pale, clammy, cold with sweat and bloodloss. His massive body, usually burning with power, could now barely drag it's sorry weight towards the doors. He'd been defeated. Again. He had challanged Maximos, not by honour, but by personal reasons - he'd called him a coward for not fighting, for not doing what came natural to him. And Maximos had cleaved his left arm off as simply as a man would slice a loaf of bread. But it hadn't been Maximos. It had been something else. Something that John had never seen before, something...eternal. And, be it lack of blood, be it the sudden and sharp realisation that he had no place acting towards Maximos like he had, forcing his ways upon him, be it the fact that he had been defeated so utterly - John Tomorrow was scared. Scared of death. He'd looked it in the face many times before, had even died - but he'd never actually seen what death looked like. And it frightened him. "...Am...ber..." He groaned, pulling himself forward once more, the trail of blood and dirt on the grass leading behind him growing larger. He needed to see her. If he died now, if he expired before seeing her, her and his children... It was the only thing that was keeping him going.
One of the guild's scouts spotted the incoming Tomorrow as he plummeted half dead to the earth.
He went to tie his belt above the wound to act as a tourniquet, but to his shock found that the arm had been cleaved clean from the shoulder.
Shouting for a guard, the two men lifted the massive man and stumbled to the Infirmary, a trail of crimson left in their wake as they carried the wounded warrior.
======
It seemed that the fates did not see rest in the future of any of the Dark Sakura's healer's.
Patient after patient was streaming through the doors of the infirmary these days, most of which seemed to be critically wounded.
Some of the field healers and relief workers had been sent for as the regular staff were ready to drop from exhaustion. There was even one or two who had been admitted themselves after they started showing signs of mage shock.
First Sunstrike... then Vahn... now Tomorrow.
It had been a hectic week to say the least. It had only been a couple of days since the Avatar of Flame had been carried through these doors.
Now the Avatar of Thunder and Lightening was on their doorstep, bleeding his life blood all over the earth.
They had been alerted by a scout as to the tribal's situation.
A stretcher was waiting as a healing team relieved the scout and guard of their burden and ushered them away to clean off the tribal's blood that was already drying on their skin.
A familiar face peeked down at Tom, as he might recognize one of the healers who had patched him and his wife up the last time he'd shown up at their gates, with their children in his arms.
"When are you going to drop by for a visit, in one piece and not full of holes John?"
She winked at him and pressed a wad of gauze over the bump of mangled flesh that used to be his arm and then quickly replaced it as it only took a moment to become saturated with arterial blood. It was a miracle this man, even if he was a god... wasn't dead.
Inside he would be knocked out with anesthesia. One he was put under, he would be given a stimulant to counteract the shock his body was experiencing
White mages would tend to closing off the severed vessels and veins, smoothing the hacked off bone protruding and coaxing muscle and flesh to weave over the gaping open sore, while others closed the gash in his chest and hooked him up to IV's for blood transfusions, antibiotics and pain killers.
After hours of work, smelling like slave and bandaged... Tomorrow and his IV's were wheeled upstairs to a room in the back of the upper level ward. His missing arm would be healed over, a nub of shiney new scar tissue to mark where it had been severed. And a faint pink scar lay hidden under bandages across his chest. As with the others, minor bruises and cuts were left to heal on their own accord, with only the salve to speed their process.
Amber would be sent for, and a guard was posted outside the sleeping giant's room.
No self respecting healer was letting Tomorrow out of bed for at least a week.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 1:04 am
The woman's words fell on deaf ears as John simply stared at the moving surroundings. Death craned over him as the people fought vainly to save his life, as his grip on the world slowly sank into the depths of shock and nightmare. It had never been like this. Never this bad. Even in Durem, as buildings tumbled around him as he fought a sinister evil with the power to destroy a city, had it been this bad. Her face flashed over his eyes. Alita. The psychic with the power of a god. He remembered her taunts as he was tortured, projecting images of a future she would steal from him into his mind as her little minion toyed with his internal organs. She had been beautiful as deadly, the only marr being john's own burned hand print into her face when he'd tried to stop her, so long ago. That face stared at him now, grinning cruelly and cackling at his predicament. But then it would change. Her brown hair turning the darkest shade of black, her clean pink skin turning an ashen white, her maniacal eyes boiling into two colors of black and white. Her thin lips twisted into a sneer as Maximos lifted his sword and cut into his chest, cutting deep, carving out the thick, dense flesh and muscle before gripping his palpitating heart with his white hand, black fingernails stabbing into the muscle and causing him to scream out in pain. Maximos pulled back hard, the arteries of John's heart stretching like rubber bands before snapping off the red pump one by one, pop pop pop pop! Maximos grinned menacingly at John as the white hand melted, revealing the shining metal gauntlet beneath, the razor-sharp points digging into John's heart, squashing and slicing it as his voice rang out into John's ears, cold as ice and like freezing poison for John's soul. Iiiiii'll come forrrrr yooooou... It rasped, like rusty razor blades over John's skin. Iiiiii willllll take yourrrrr sooooul...Suddenly the darkness surrounding them faded, to bring them both - back to the Dead Forest. John's clothes were tattered and worn, his arms normal. Sweat was pouring down his face as he watched Maximos present his sword once more. Maximos Thor, God of Destruction and Thunder, you are in violation of the 1st mandate, of Judas Act, grand divine interference. As well as the 3th and 8th mandate, assuming a mortal avatar, voluntary unnatural extension of a mortal life. How do you plead? Then things moved so quickly...so quickly...and Maximos was upon him, his oh so sharp sword singing out to slice off John's arm before taking his head off at the neck, John's massive body becoming covered in the blood that spurted from his severed neck as his head watched from the ground as Maximos danced among that red rain... John was trembling so badly when he awoke that the entire bed was shaking. Sweat poured from his body, soaking his bandages and bedsheets. His eyes were wide, not because he was in shock, but because when he closed them the light was shut off - and he lived in the darkness...
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 12:34 pm
A healer who had been monitoring John's vitals stepped into the room when she noticed he'd woken up as she passed through the hall. She wore green robes, the mark of a natural healer and not a white mage. Smiling at John softly, she picked up a cloth from beside his bed and dipped it into a basin of cool water. Dabbing at his forehead she spoke softly, her voice soothing...
"Welcome back to the land of the living... you had quite a close call there."
She busied herself with changing the sweat soaked top sheets and plumped up his pillows before fetching the herbal infusion that would eliminate all dreaming and allow him to heal in peace. The same infusion they'd given to Sunstrike.
Hooking the packet up to an IV drip in his remaining hand.
She left the bedside lamp on and exited the room quietly, leaving the tribal to heal in peace.
No more dreams, just warm, drifting sleep.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 1:49 pm
Wake.
The single word echoed out, the steady drop of some unseen liquid resonating within the darkness.
Wake.
Repeated, the word seemed strengthened, more forceful, purposeful even. The darkness seemed to swell now, as if the eyesight was being strained. Staring forward, into a single yellowed eye, the familiar face staring back. A gaping pit stared back from his left socket.
You goin' to sleep the whole day away? Not gonna even bother to ask what the hell happened?
The grin that matched the sarcastic tone was met with the a nearly confused silence. The one eyed figure was completely vertical, standing on the ceiling... or was he the one on the ceiling?]
The surrounding area was not entirely visible, let alone recognizable. Perhaps he just didn't care at the moment.
You really had me goin', ya know. This whole-- 'I don't want to fight anymore' spiel. You really know how to get a guy goin', eh?
Laughing loudly, the figure reached and grasped both sides of Vahn's face, pulling on the cheeks. As both hands touched, the flesh seemed to pale, becoming stricken as if the mere act was causing a severe strain on his body.
This was probably due to the fact that there was a extremely thin and nearly translucent yet apparently powerful barrier separating the two. A world of blackness with no light to see with. A world devoid of anything that could resemble life.
You got lucky. For the both of us.
Letting go, the figure flung Vahn backwards, arms becoming encompassed by the barrier once more, and the sardonic laughter echoing out into nothingness.
The negative energy built up from the encounter with Tzenidaar was just enough for the Chaotic Fracture to become apparent once more-- the warnings given by the old Priest coming to mind.
Falling backwards, as if right through the surface of a black lake, light flooded his vision.
Halogen lights to be exact.
Back in reality, the ethereal realm of the mindscape left behind... along with the Other.
And with one firm grip, Vahn yanked out the iv's, already sitting up on the bed, head pounding and a ton of questions needing to be answered.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 2:13 pm
Lysira blinked as Vahn sat bolt upright. The man looked as if he'd just seen a ghost... One fine brow arched as he tore the IV's from his hands. Shaking her head she reached a hand out and flicked him in the center of his forehead.
"Binding art number thirty-eight."
Vahn would find himself paralyzed as he would fall back against the pillows. Lysira crossed her arms and stared at him studiously, as if she were weighing what she saw.
"I didn't save you, for you to get out of bed half recovered, idiot."
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 2:52 am
Amber was going stark crazy, like a caged animal. With Amelia and Adamus in tow she had searched for her partener. The wound on her shoulder had been healed completely and was now only a little stiff, but her confidence remained in tatters. Why had John left without saying anything? Had he just abandoned her? Her twins could sense something was wrong and they had become clingy and whined almost constantly. It was a sound Amber couldn't bare to hear and so she nuzzled and nursed them, filling their waking time with love. At the time John crashed back down to earth a small brown mongrel dog, with a sleek and curly coat was sniffing around the gardens. Her ears pricked at the whistling sound and her body became poised. A short and sharp bark eminated from her throat and from within the bushes where they had been playing two even smaller puppies came scruying out to greet their mother. In slow motion, and with gritted teeth the larger mothering dog transformed back into Amber. The two puppies wagged their tails and blinked up at her as in a crackle of lightening which surrounded the two small figures they too returned to their chubby little toddling forms. " Mama?" Amelia blinked up at her mother with a confused expression on her face. The two were devloping quickly. Amber smiled, that was the canine within them, and probably something to do with their tribal heritage as well no doubt. The smile faltered as one of the DSG staff approached her with the summons. Colour drained from the woman's face as tears welled up in her eyes and she scooped her precious litter up into her arms and ran towards the infirmary. ------------------------------------ Amber hadn't been allowed to see Tomorrow straight away. She summoned a rune-pen (a special spell she had designed to keep her broad safe, much like a play pen) around her children and created a ball of glowing energy for them to play with. The two children growled and chewed at the ball to their hearts content, perfectly unaware of what exactly was going on. By the time Tomorrow came around and it was okay for Amber to go in the twins were curled up asleep in their mother's arms having grown tired of playing.
Slowly and carefully Amber stood up, making sure to try her best not to wake her babies and walked into the room where John lay. Amber hated hospitals, they reminded her too much of the research centre where she had been kept. As the machines around John hummed, whirred and beeped, doing their jobs, Amber couldn't help but twitch and growled involountarily.
"You jerk..." she whispered tearfully at the figure who lay in the bed.
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 3:04 am
Even with the magic potions, John's minds continued to whirl when he slept, bucking and rolling like the roaring ocean. Horrible images, monsters he'd slain, people he'd fought, thing he'd witnessed, kept playing over and over in his head, as if to magnify the futility of living. His face was constantly contorted with pain, sweat dripping from his brow as his remaining fist balled tightly.
But then her voice, like a beacon of light stabbing into a black, black place, came out to him.
When his eyes opened, she looked like an angel surrounded by a halo of light, their children tucked safely into her arms, sleeping the sleep of the innocent. It took a few moments to register that the light was only the room-light behind her...but for a few moments, he really did think that he'd slipped into Valhalla.
"...Amber..." He groaned, his normally booming voice weak, as if something had sucked the life from him.
The right arm moved, lifting slowly, dragging IV drips and machine tags along with it. The hand was limp, the fingers sluggish, as he brushed the finger gently over Amelia's sleeping cheek - before the hand dropped without warning, hitting the bed hard.
He was weak. It had been years since he'd been this weak.
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2007 12:04 am
Unlike most people, Vahn reacted to what was done to him, without disregard for acknowledgment.
If she had struck him with some method of binding, then struck he was. He wasn't able to ignore or pretend it never happened, simply because he didn't like it.
However, he was genuinely confused as to where he was, since he could vaguely recall the forest never being this clean let alone having the comforts of a bed and linen.
"Where the hell am I?" He growled out.
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2007 8:49 pm
"Relax please, and my spell will not strain you so..."
Calling in a healer to carefully replace the IV's, she plumped his pillows and sat down on the bed's edge.
"You're in the Infirmary, at the Dark Sakura. Welcome back Vahn...."
Pushing her bangs out of her face she smiled softly.
"If you promise to stay in bed and not tear out your IV's... I'll answer what questions I can. I'm sure you have a lot of them yes...?
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 1:09 am
"I'm going to tear out your vocal cords and wrap them around your face if you don't let me out of here right now. I've had my fill of unwelcome hospital stays."
Memories of the treatment received from Yaits and the resulting baggage came to mind.
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 11:54 am
Lysira blinked, her eyes a little wider than was normal... Watching his sleeping face, she'd nearly forgotten the rumours about his temper. Vahn was like fire... unpredictable and destructive.
"I'm afraid that I can't let you do that... I'm not really into pain y'see... But if you'd just relax, then I can answer your questions and I can take you to see your friend..."
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Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 12:34 am
"Friend?? You still haven't even told me where I am..."
His list of friends weren't exactly long.
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 5:31 pm
Lysira would simply sit in silence, with her eyes closed while he ranted and raved and refused to listen to her. Twice she had told him where he was and twice he hadn't heard her... or the more rude, had simply ignored what she told him. It was like talking to a wall, and Lysira didn't lower herself by talking to something so unintelligent. The man had been here before, he knew the Guild's mistress well... she had no doubt that he could make the connections, all he had to do, was settle down and open his ears.
Whenever he decided to address her civily, she would deign to acknowledge him. Until then, he could yell, cuss and threaten until he realized his barbarish manner was getting him nowhere.
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 9:54 pm
Lady Minx And Fae almost fell as she was glomped, unsure about how to handle the situation. All of her children had been fairly reserved, the only one who had tackled her usually sometimes Tellus when she was excited. But she managed, neither one falling, even if she had to lean against the desk to do so.
She looked at the girl curiously, her lips forming a small moue. "You didn't think I would. Then I wouldn't get to see you." She smiled then, a soft sad smile, but a genuine one. "I missed you too, Natalie. I decided to consider the offer a little more seriously."I'm going nuts at home, with nothing but the twins to occupy my time, and even then I don't get that since Dante is such a Mister Mom.
There was a sigh, as she looked at the girl and remembered the other reason why she was here. Tellus used to have hair so pale blue that it seemed whitish' blond in the right light. And now, she was gone... Lady Sierra
"What offer is that Fae-samma?"
Natalie blinked up at her with huge baby blues as she hugged her middle tight.
The child seemed happy that Fae Decker had returned. Extremely so as she smiled brightly and clung to the petite woman excitedly.
Fae looked at Natalie and moued. "Honestly, I don't remember. But I did remember you..." She sighed, and rubbed her forehead with her fingers. It had been a long few months since the wedding.
"Lady Sierra once spoke of something called Guardian?" She shook her head again to clear any cobwebs. "I'm sorry...I must be confused."
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 11:53 pm
He seemed to finally shut up, muting himself as he stared away and to the side.
A low growl seemed to be kept within his throat, as he looked away.
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