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 Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 1:11 pm
Kyil had carried Mikaril back to the cave he had found. Yet even in exhaustion he did not lay down and rest. His Master had proven a heavy burden, but he did not lay him down to the side in preference of his own comfort. Once it was that Kyil had succeeded in safely delivering Mikaril to the back of the cave, he removed his armor. The sweating he had seen worried him and he wished to cool him down as quickly as he could...
And Kyil continued to worry over Mikaril. Even when the worst of the sweating tapered off, there were other things that preoccupied Kyil's mind. Keeping him warm enough. Keeping him comfortable enough. Ensureing that he did not dehydrate...food... in the days that would pass Kyil would be forced to very grudgingly leave Mikaril alone in the cave so he could venture out and obtain neccessary things to tend to him. The lovely necklace he had stolen would be taken and used in bartering first for coins...then they were spent on things he prayed Mikaril would not be angry for him over.
A pair of blankets, for Mikaril to lay upon and be covered by. After cleaning his own clothing he had choosen to bundle the beautiful pink outfit into the satchel so that it could serve as a headrest. Kyil spent a few coins obtaining soft foods like mushrooms, berries, and herbs as well as a bowl so that he could mash them into paste with a bit of water, and it was this that he carefully fed to Mikaril as he lapsed in and out of consciousness. He was diligent in his watch over the poison weakened drow, sleeping as little as he dared and remaining constantly watching for any signs that his health would turn. He used the bowl and rags to clean Mikaril as the sweating would return from time to time, and did his best to provide some form of comfort when he appeared to have poison induced nightmares. Constantly he spoke to him. Hopeing that perhaps his voice would make it through to Mikaril and bring him some form of calm.
"I am here Master." "All will be well Master." "Everything is okay Mikaril" He gently and lovingly whispered to the drow to reassure him. He only hoped that he would indeed be well soon. When it was that Kyil did sleep, he laid beside Mikaril upon the stone floor, his hand wrapped lightly about Mikaril's own so that any movement or twitch would awaken him without hesitation.
Kyil had even taken it upon himself to clean Mikaril's armor with what he found amoung his belongings. After which he laid it near to the recovering drow so that it would be at least within reach should he waken unexpectantly.
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Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 8:10 pm
Had Mikaril been conscious or in a state of comprehension during any of this, he might have resisted, but as it was, he was paying dearly for his moment of foolish pride in thinking he could stave off the poison until he could deal with it on his own time. Had he been able to think it, he would have been swearing on the entire Boneyard that if he got so much as a splinter in the forseeable future, he would get it looked at immediately.
But in the meantime, he floated along in a sea of hot, agonizing pain, with various shadows and oily colors drifting before his glossy eyes. He heard sounds that he didn't know if they were real or not, only that he wished them gone. His eyes seemed to constantly sting with sweat, though he slipped between feeling hot enough to just ooze away like a candle, and cold enough for his blood to begin to sprout frost. On top of it all, he continued to feel the sensation of a horde of rats trying to gnaw their way out of him, little teeth tearing at his insides and causing him to impulsively curl up.
Several times he became aware of Kyil coming and going; sometimes speaking to him in what must have been soothing tones, but the words seemed garbled, as though he was underwater. Several times he could feel food being spooned into his mouth, but lost count of how many time he had actually been able to swallow it. One of his hallucinations had tried to make him believe that Kyil was his sister Haellara in disguise and she was attemtping to feed him a mixture of spiders and nightmare paint, of which he had thrashed about and thrust it away. But it had not been the last time, and it happened only once.
But the strangest thing that happened during those grueling few days was that at one point, he had had a nightmare that had stood out more vividly than the rest. His mother, Matron Dilayne, seemed to drift about like a ghost, hovering about him with a frantic look on her face, as though she wanted desparately to tell him something. But as she opened her mouth to speak, there was a gasp of despair, and her mouth opened impossibly wide, as though her skin had been turned to rubber. Bright pink mushrooms blossomed from her mouth in a ghastly bouquet, and her eyes turned into two vivid red ones that wept eye juice. Haellara towered over her, her face a mask of demonic glee, and she reached out with a huge, long-fingered hand and pushed down upon the unfortunate matron's head until she was crushed into brightly-colored powder, dusting the face of the maniacal drow as she laughed an ugly, gutteral laugh that went with her demonic face. As more hallucinations came and went, he often heard that gutteral laugh in the background, time and time again.
Finally one day, the voices and sounds began to quiet, the bright colors began to lose their luster and fade to gray, and the gnawing rats grew tired of their sport and fled one by one. He began to regain his focus, and the smoke-filled world of dreams gave way to the ceiling of a cave, and the noise gave way to an eerie quiet that was broken occasionally by the shuffling sound of someone up and about nearby. It came back to him slowly then; the inn, the box, the poisoned nail, the angry female, and finally his tumble into an alley and being carried off by....... He carefully brought his head up as high as he could without getting dizzy and peered around the now-familiar cave. "Kyil....?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:05 pm
There were many difficult times during the long wait for Mikaril to recover. Kyil awoke so many times at the first twitch of Mikaril's hand. Only to suffer through a nightmarish fit. At times he merely held Mikaril's hand and spoke to him. Attempting to cut through the nightmare and calm his friend. Other times, when they grew too violent, Kyil crossed Mikaril's wrists and sat himself on his frinds lower legs so he would not hurt himself with his thrashing.
Reguardless of the nightmares and the mumbling and the fits...Kyil worried most about how little he could get Mikaril to eat. Little bits here and there were fine but...without him waking enough to make a effort to eat he feared his friend may waste away before he would recover.
He may have worried...but it was hardly the looming sense of despair he felt when out on the street. He was not alone so long as Mikaril lived...and he was needed, for he was certain his friend would be dead otherwise.
To pass the time, Kyil worked on their cave. With a small piton and hammer he made holes in the walls of the cave so he could insert makeshift pegs of oval stones that proved to be good for hanging their things off the floor. Kyil had even begun to collect strips of plant weed from the shores and he wove them into mats while wet. Once they were dry and brittle, he placed them outside the enterance of the cave, so that should any creature wander close he would hear the dry crushing sound of the leaves being stirred.
He really had no idea how to improve their cave...but he did try. A stack of scavenged wood served as both firewood for cooking..and a seat when he performed smaller menial tasks. Such as now...
Kyil had been quite careful with the spending of the coins he had recieved. He still had well over half of them left. For only a few coppers he had purchased a fishing pole from a general store. For bait he merely gathered beetles and slugs that crept through the lower streets..and wah-la! Fish!
Of course... they were ugly scrawny fish...and he rather wished he had something other then salt to rub into them...but...it sort of worked he supposed. It was as he was busy scraping the scales off one of the fish he'd caught earlier that day that he heard the weak and soft calling of his name. Jerking his head up, Kyil droped the fish onto the flat stone he had been using, dipped his hands into a bowl of water, then dried them on his pants legs as he crossed over to where Mikaril laid.
"Master Mikaril? Are...are you awake? I am here!" He whispered, fearful that perhaps it had only been another fever dream.
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Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:40 pm
Mikaril let his head fall back down after he spoke up, taking a few deep breaths. The last thing he wanted to do now was overdo it again and wind up being sick on himself. He was certain that Kyil had gone through quite enough these past few....days?.....without worrying about something like that. He was certain that it had been Kyil who had ensured that he had survived his bout with poison and pig-headedness.
He heard Kyil's quiet but hopeful response and wondered just how worried Kyil had been all this time. Knowing him, it was a wonder he hadn't worried himself until he was almost as sick as he was. He knew how much Kyil tended to worry about him, with little or no thought for himself. Guilt jabbed at him again, and he decided that if it wa the last thing he would do, he would will himself to heal fully.
Raising his head once more, he spoke up. "Yes, I'm awake. How long was I asleep?" He had other questions besides that one, of course. Like how much of a bother had he been? And was the angry female still looking for them? And why did the cave smell like fish? But for now he was content to let Kyil know that he was at least able to converse, even if it was for just a little while.
He still felt troubled by his dreams, the one with his mother in particular. He had had nightmares before when he was younger, mostly thanks to his sister and her chemical endeavors, but none had seemed so.....symbolic. Had his mother really been overthrown by his sister? Or was it just a coincidence, a scene composed of fragments of his previous nightmares? He tried to remember any older ones that involved his mother and the reviver mushrooms, which to his knowledge Haellara liked to reserve especially for him, but nothing came to mind. He began to worry; he had heard of dreams manifesting themselves as present happenings, but how was he to know for sure?
Remembering just then that worrying was a reverse path to healing, he put it as far out of his mind as he was able before turning his head slightly to peer into the shadows and to where he had thought he'd heard Kyil's voice coming from.
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 4:55 pm
Kyil exhaled a deep sigh of relief. As Mikaril laid there upon the makeshift bed, he immediatly reached out to gently touch his forehead to test his tempeture.
"It has been a week Master. You have been very very ill. I am relieved that you have finally woken up. I did not doubt that you were strong enough to overcome the poison, but I worried about how little I have managed to get you to eat and drink. Are you thirsty master?"
Kyil calmly and softly spoke, despite how quickly his heart was beating in his chest. Awake! Finally!
"Are you thirsty? I have something that would be very good for you to drink if you can manage it master."
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 6:37 pm
"A week??" Mikaril blinked in surprise. Had he really been lying there in the grasp of poison-induced nightmares for an entire week? It almost seemed to him as though he had had only a single night's worth of bad dreams. It felt so unreal.....but he remembered all of the times where it seemed as though he had just rested his head for a moment and then waking up to discover that many hours had gone by.
He let his head fall back a few inches. "I must have been one Hell of a chore; I've seen drow having regular nightmares and how they thrash about and yell, and over half the time I was scared to death." He lifted his head back up and let out a long sigh. "Forgive me; I was stupid to ignore the warning signs. I suppose I have a secret fear of appearing weak, since for so long I was made weak by my......status in the House. I must have really put you through Hell this past week." He lowered his head all the way back down, staring at the featureless ceiling rather guiltily.
Now that Kyil mentioned it, he was feeling thirsty. He imagined he must have sweated half the water in his body away; it felt that way sometimes with ordinary fevers. His armor probably looked like a pot of soup.... He turned his head and saw with a small smile his armor lying there in a neat little pile, neater than he ever would stack it by himself.
He nodded at Kyil and with a little difficulty propped himself up on his elbows. "You've done so much, and I hate to trouble you for one more minute, but if it wouldn't be to much trouble, I would love a drink."
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 7:54 pm
"Yes Master." He replied at the surprised exclamation from Mikaril. "It was no chore Mikaril. My concern with only you surviving...building you a burial cairne would truely have been a chore though." Kyil attempted to lightly brush aside the task of tending to Mikaril with a smile. He refrained from lieing and telling him that it had been a easy task. At the same time he would not bring himself to go into detail explaining how badly Mikaril had nightmared the past seven nights.
"There is nothing to forgive Mikaril. This is clearly my fault. If I had been content with your begining lessons the prospect of thieving from a tavern never would have come up and we never would have ended up in that room. Please, don't trouble yourself over it." Kyil had become so...familar with touching Mikaril that he moved without thinking. His hand reached out to grasp the others and hold it firmly between his palms. Kyil bent his head, his eyes closeing as he spoke.
"I will be strong for you when you must be weak. I will not question your will and never will I deny you what you desire. Whatever it is that you must have I will sweat and bleed so you may have it. I would trade my life for yours with no hesitation. You are as dear to me as my own heartbeat, and your wellbeing is just as important as the blood in my veins. You are my Master and I cherish each moment that I have spent in service to you. There is nothing I wish for more then your happiness Mikaril." Kyil opened his eyes and formed a faint smile upon his lips before he would scoot back. Upon releaseing Mikaril's hand, he would turn and collect from his own nearby bundle of objects the skein he had spoken of.
"It is a bit bitter, but it will be good for you. I have crushed berries and mixed them with water and a herb that will hopefully help completely flush any other toxins's in your system...." Turning back, Kyil gestured one hand towards Mikaril's head. "I will hold you if you permit?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 9:46 pm
Not sure if he fully believed Kyil, Mikaril decided to let it go. Chore or not, he had come out of it, and the obvious happiness radiating from Kyil was enough to convince him that his friend had thought it all worthwhile. He still found it awkward, being down and bedridden when he still believed himself the stronger of the two. Something pulled at his mind just then, a shadow of a memory that had happened recently. Something to do with Kyil and their botched robbery......what was it?
He found himself shaking his head (and his vision) at Kyil's insisting he take the blame for what had happened, but he once again let it go. He knew he had thought this before, but it wouldn't surprise him in the least if one day Kyil blamed himself for the whole bloody elf/drow war. His eyes widened in surprise at Kyil's sudden impulsive touch, but he did not pull his hand away.
He listened to Kyil as he pledged himself, feeling more awkward by the minute, but making himself listen, knowing how much it meant to Kyil. When he had finished, Mikaril watched him retrieve the skein and return with it, but as Kyil gestured to his head, Mikaril held up his hand. "I just have something to say first. I know you want me to be happy and are willing to follow me wherever I go and in whatever I do, but because of your sincerity, I also ask that you protect me from myself when it becomes necessary, like this whole thing recently with the poison. I value your judgement, though I might not always see it at first, and I ask that should the time come again, you be the voice of common sense when it seems as though I am doing something rash."
That being said, he made his body relax and let Kyil hold him. An ironic thought chose that moment to blow through his head; not so long ago, he wouldn't have let anyone so much as put a hand on his shoulder, and here he was letting someone hold him like a child.
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 5:33 am
Needless to say, Kyil knelt and listened to Mikaril with a gaze that bespoke just how intensely he was paying attention to him. His head even nodded slightly as Mikaril would, in a manner of speaking, give him permission to act when he knew that Mikaril was not behaving wisely.
"I will do my best to know when to intervene then Mikaril. I only wish I had acted sooner. If I had managed to get you to the potions shop a bit quicker you may not have suffered as much as you already have." He earnestly responded. Still, there was a hint and flicker of a smile upon his face. The fact that Mikaril had not refuted or refused his words was...very heartening. It would mean that perhaps he had found a place after all...
There was a slight pang at the thought though, and Kyil fought the urge to look over his shoulder at the city. He still wished his Mistress would reclaim him...but... it really did seem unlikely that her interest in him would return anytime soon.
Kyil's mind was easier to focus after Mikaril gave him permission to help him. Scooting forwards, he slipped a arm about his shoulders and helped his friend lean up against him so he could drink from the skein. "It is slightly bitter." He warned before placing the bottle to his lips and tipping it up gently. It felt strange...tending to someone in this manner. Kyil had never served another in this type of way before. He found it appealing in it's obvious nature that Mikaril honestly did need the help. Serving a actual need over a whim...it had...a more fulfilling sensation to it.
"I had to trade off the gems for the anti-toxin that I found Mikaril. As well as the necklace in order to purchase things I thought you would need. I hope you are not upset. I did not feel it was wise to risk stealing something. Since I'm not...very skillful yet I did not think I could risk getting caught while you were incapable of caring for yourself."
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 8:19 pm
Mikaril was unable to supress a smile as he heard Kyil begin to call him 'Mikaril' again instead of 'master.' He had always thought of Kyil as more like the little brother he had never had, rather than a piece of property. Knowing where his heart and his background had laid for so long, he was more than happy to let Kyil have his way in calling him whatever he wanted, but he still liked it when Kyil called him by his own name; it brought him back to when they had first met, and Mikaril had been so eager to show Kyil what he had been missing.
Speaking of missing....Mikaril found himself pondering as he drank. His nose wrinkled; Kyil hadn't been kidding about the drink's bitterness. But if it would help, he would drink as much of it as was necessary to regain his strength. The sooner he was up and about again, the better. But what was he overlooking? There had been something odd about that robbery....he remembered the box and the angry female...there was something else. Something....
He listened as Kyil told him what had become of the gemstones and the jewelry. He understood and wasn't the least bit angry or upset. There was more where that came from in a city such as this. Had it been him, he probably would have sold them straight away; the last thing they needed was an angry female hot on their trail, especially one that could-
His eyes suddenly widened as it came to him and he found himself pushing the skein away so that he could speak. "The cage! I remember now; that female put a magica cage around me, and you...." He looked at Kyil with an expression of confused awe. "You made it vanish somehow. And then reappear to contain her. How did you.....do that?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 8:45 pm
He was drinking a good portion of the mixture. This made Kyil smile down upon Mikaril. Surely this would speed his recovery. It might taste bitter, and leave his stomach gurgling...and turn his urine a strange color...but it would flush the rest of his system of the traces of the poison and lead to a much quicker recovery. His happy expression remained in place as he did not recieve a berating from Mikaril over the loss of the gems or the selling of the necklace.
Mikaril seemed done with the drink, so Kyil twisted the stopper back into place. He was relculant to merely scoot away from Mikaril, as he honestly would have preferred to have kept his head in his lap. However, as Mikaril would recall the mystery that had faded a bit from Kyi;s mind..he blinked.
"Oh..ah...yes. That..." Kyil looked down at his hand which had touched the cage. "When you were within I remember grabbing at the cage. I wanted to pull it off you somehow and get you out of it. The moment I touched the cage I felt a strange....energy filling me. It was really quite pleasent. I also..well... It was strange master. I knew what the cage was. What it's purpose was and how long it would remain in effect and how it was set off. When the female threatened us it just...seemed to make sense to put the cage on her. So I did. "
Kyil flexed his fingers, then held them down towards Mikaril.
"Since then I have tried to make the spell happen again. I have been unable to repeat it. I can't recall anything about it other then what it looked like and the fact it was a magical cage. The female called me a....spell thief... Do you know what that is Master?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 10:06 pm
As Kyil described it, Mikaril listened intently, more of the night's events returning, until he could now remember everything, including Kyil's interest in the female garments. But what interested him more was the way Kyil described how he had done what he did. "That's incredible; I wonder if you can do it with other spells too; detection spells, magical disguises, even the nasty little wards some drow put on money! If you can, you'd be a walking ward against spells!"
The very idea sent Mikaril's head spinning. It almost made him feel mediocre; Kyil would have the better of the abilities without even trying. Ah well, he mused, somebody had to be the field man. It wasn't as though he was jealous; it just seemed so odd that for so long he had thought that Kyil was....well, helpless. But here he was with this untapped power; he could probably take a few lessons from HIM.
He frowned and tried to recall any memories of when he had heard of the words 'spell thief'. The name rang a tiny bell in his head, but try as he might, he couldn't seem to quite grasp it. "I think I have, but it was a long time ago.....I can't seem to remember. I'll say this much; it came in handy." He closed his eyes and tried to recollect the elusive memory, feeling the bitter drink doing its work; hopefully he could be moving around within a few hours.
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 11:37 am
Kyil's head tilted to one side as he looked down at Mikaril. "I had not thought of that Master. I had been wondering why I could not make the spell happen again. I don't feel the same energy that I had before either. It seemed to be only that one time...yet if it happened once I do not doubt that it can not happen again."
Kyil shifted so that he could sit more comfortably while facing Mikaril. His legs he folded under him and he placed the fingertips of his left hand against his bottom lip. "I suppose that might be useful master. Will you wish to test me once you are feeling better? Perhaps...we can find a book that describes what a spell thief is? Where do you suppose we could find such information?"
His face perked up a bit, with his eyes and lips and even his ears seeming to lift as Mikaril would inform him that it had been 'handy'. "I am...very happy to hear that it pleases you Master. I am sure you will be able to make good use of this ability once we learn about it better."
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 4:23 pm
Eyes still shut, Mikaril concentrated on bringing up that one small memory that might give them some sort of clue, the rest of his energy focused on listening to Kyil and processing his words. He felt a bit glad that he didn't have many spells on his person, for untapped power, wile it had the element of surprise, might also suck away any spells for the side it was on. Unfortunately, the only spell he could think of that meant that much to him was the one that had been disguising his deformed ears from the nosy public, of which he was certain had dissipated sometime this past week, him having been in no condition to renew it. Remembering how Kyil had reacted the last time he had seen his ears, he felt a fresh surge of gratitude for him.
But as Kyil mentioned a place where they might find a book with information on spell thieves, he made a sour face and opened his eyes. "There is a place of learning that I know of that might have information pertaining to spell thieves, but........it lies in Undrek'Thoz. Specifically, the segment where my house is located." He remembered it being in the background when he had encountered a strange female drow with no eyes, but before that he had known of it as a place where things could be learned and that the learned would share, for a price of course. But if the horrible dream he had had with his mother and sister was even the least bit true, he would almost rather take his chances on the surface than go anywhere near there.
Forcing the thought out of his head, Mikaril looked back up at Kyil. "If you have any other ideas as to where we might find such information, I would readily welcome it. Did you by any chance hear anything while you were working at the pleasure house; places of knowledge, or seers who might disclose information? Of course, there's always the option of just learning as we go, having you practice with this newfound power and discover your abilities and limits."
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 7:49 pm
Mikaril appeared to be in...thought? Kyil tilted his head so he could watch the expression on his friends face. He was putting fourth some honest effort into this thinking. Kyil assumed it had something to do with him of course, as the topic of conversation included the unusual ability he had manifested just yesterday by Mikaril's standards.
"Ah!" He at first exclaimed as Mikaril would speak on this place. "Then perhaps we should check there master? Though...it is a far bit away is it not? How would we reach it? I've never traveled outside of the city before and I have heard that it is very dangerouse."
Kyil's head would sadly shake as Mikaril would ask him if he knew of anywhere else they might go. "I apologize Mikaril. I do not know of any place that we might gain the information. If it suits you though we can practice with it. We would only need to..well..I suppose find some magic?"
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