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 Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2023 6:09 pm
Maritza's eyes snapped open on the tail end of a scream. The frantic, pitiful thing was almost as loud as the ones in her head and even when hands reached out to calm her she couldn't hear their words. There was no more barrier between dreams and reality; all of that faded with the crash. Screaming, shrieking, begging, pleading, orders, explosions, pain, FEAR....It was a never ending cycle that left the former engineer a sobbing mess in her cot. Every time she tried to curl her body in on itself to find some shred of comfort the burns would scream and so would she. Patches of horrid black skin buried down through tissue and fat causing a sense of numbness that should have hurt, but didn't. It was the others that stung, that pulled her from sleep when she desperately needed it, and the hands...the hands that touched her caused more pain with their touch than any sense of healing.
Even crossing her arms across her chest brought no sense of comfort because the left one was completely useless. Maritza reached out for a figure she couldn't identify in her dreams, tried to ask about them during brief bouts of consciousness, and only the right could grasp at the air they should been in. The left hung limp on the cot, amid murmurs and curious probs of healing salves. And then...she was dreaming again. Unknown to Maritza an infection had settled into her burns and the poor fisherman who had found her couldn't keep up with her care. He'd taken the chance of leaving to find aid, but by the time he'd returned the infection was so bad that the healer had no choice.
They'd taken her left arm, but in the process they'd been able to inject her with enough healing magic to save her. The burns would take time, many would leave scars, but the infection was fading. Once word had spread that an airship had crashed and port had some of their survivors the fishermen put two and two together. Their little village hadn't seen the crash, nor were they in the loop enough to hear of it for quite some time, but a few bodies had come ashore. The fact this woman was alive was a miracle, but now he had someone to get in touch with!
With the healer staying by her side, the old man made his way toward the village and it's Belrean refugees.
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Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2023 6:41 pm
(1/10)
In the end, although Zadia was able to smooth some ruffled feathers and convince the captain to investigate, they did not find anything of notice beyond debris. With no further leads, they returned their focus to Isaia. The boy was... not in the best condition, but not on death's door; but with the burns on his arms, and a shattered knee, moving him was not advised. Though Zadia had wanted to accompany him to search for Maritza, the fact of the matter was that the rescuers and caretakers of the injures were simply too short handed, and if there was family there to help - it was selfish to expect a volunteer to watch over them instead.
So, Uquin and Zadia took turns watching over Isaia, with Zadia taking the further excursions out, since Uquin was a healer after all.
Soon, if Isaia recovered as quickly as he had been, he would be stable enough to return home. It was a prospect Uquin dreaded, because it meant - well. Giving up the search, for now.
He rubbed the heel of his palm against his good eye, to force some of the headache back. Zadia was sitting by her brother's side, and Uquin was pondering where to search. IT would be the last attempt, for now, and - he feared he would pick incorrectly.
"Uquin? Healer Uquin?" He glanced up, squinting, and saw a nervous looking Yaeli boy, probably one of the crew of the ship that had rescued Isaia. Beside him was an old man, exhausted and dirty from the road. "Yes. I'm not familiar with all the ... survivors here, but I may be able to point you in the right direction. Are you family?"
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2023 7:07 pm
The older Matorian lifted the brim of his straw hat and really gave Uquin a long, cautious look before speaking. "Oh, no, I ain't lookin' for no one. I came because I found someone." He twisted his calloused, gnarled hands in front of his chest. "We were out fishin', same as everyday, and we found some folk. We didn't know about the crash, but I...uhm, I got a healer for the one that was breathin'. She's at my house now. Lightning woman? On the thinner side with crystals on her arms? That's the one you're lookin' for, isn't it?"
While the fisherman was doing his best to relay the information a lone healer was doing hers to tend to Maritza. A few wooden window coverings had been propped open to let in fresh air and while it felt good on her exposed skin the breeze only caused Maritza to sleep all the more. She'd woken long enough for the healer to go about her exam and to work on a few more of the burns, but when the woman returned to her bedside with some warm brother Maritza was already fast asleep.
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Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2023 7:15 pm
(2/10) 'The one that was breathing'. Most of those they found had died, but one was alive - Uquin's breath caught, and he quickly straightened up from where he was half bent over a map, hastily rolling it up to put back in his bag. "Yes. With... with smooth crystals on her forehead?" He asked, stepping closer. He could see that the man was guarded, likely startled to see a leaf man looking for a lightning woman. If he was willing to be petty, he might withhold more information just out of an old bias against hybrids.
"I can accompany you? I am also a healer, even if it - even if it is someone else."
Whatever it was that convinced the old man, he allowed Uquin to accompany him back. It wasn't the longest trek between Yael and Matori's outermost villages - the fishing village was small, mostly older Matori with a few middle aged faces, but less children than he'd seen in the larger settlements of Matori.
His heart was pounding in his throat. The man had been hesitant to share too much information with him, other than to admit the woman wasn't lucid when he left.
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2023 7:30 pm
The village healer was an older woman with a shock of silver hair piled high on top of her head. During bouts of lucidity Maritza might see her with a scarf around it, sometimes without, but the woman's wrinkled face remained a fixture. She'd just finished cleaning off her hands when noises of approaching feet drew her to the doorway. For a moment she looked back to Maritza who, for once, was sitting up in bed. Her battered body was propped up against a mound of pillows, with a thick blanket around her frame, but she was awake never the less.
Taking a deep breath, the woman made her way outside to see an odd sight. "Welcome back, Yurle." She smiled to her fellow Matorian, and to the Talean...came an strange look. "You're the one that's come to see her? Yurle...did you give you a proper description, didn't he?"
Curiosity drew Maritza's eye toward the doorway, but she remained in her cocoon of comfort. For once her bandages weren't bothering her too much and if not for the activity outside she might very well be asleep once more.
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Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2023 7:38 pm
(3/10) Yurle was a pleasant old man, and on the trip had been a pleasant companion. Uquin couldn't find it in himself to find anything to complain about, if this man had saved and sheltered his wife. Still, he had done his best not to harass him with questions, even if he was ... jittery for most of the trip. Now, as they approached, Uquin had to resist the temptation to walk past this woman in his eagerness to get to his wife. It was... impolite at best, disrespectful at worst.
"A thin lightning woman. She has a series of sharp crystals on her shoulders, and smoother crystals below them midway to her elbow. Smooth crystals on her forehead -" He mimed the pattern on his own forehead. "Burn scars on her right arm. I also advised Yurle that I am a healer, and if this person is simply a very close match to who I am looking for, I can still... lend a hand to give you some rest, before I return. Is that... agreeable?"
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2023 8:14 pm
"It is." She nodded and briefly looked past him to Yurle before the older Matorian stepped up.
"It's alright, Ayla. He's bein' truthful."
She took a deep, steadying breath and turned back to Uquin. "May I give you a word of advice before you walk in? Regardless of whether this is the person you're looking for or not...her injuries were grave. They still are, without proper care. If you need a moment to process them please let me know." Her voice was soft and empathetic, quiet enough that the patient inside couldn't hear. She gave them a moment to sink in before stepping back through the open doorway into the small one room home.
"Ah, you're still awake. You have a visitor."
Maritza raised her head off the blanket padding her shoulder and looked toward the doorway. Her eyes, only days before glazed with fever, were now keen to see what was happening even if her body was not. Her hair, once shaved so close to her head, had grown into an unkempt shag and a few new scars came out around her neck.
"A visitor?" Her voice was small and hoarse from night terrors.
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Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2023 8:29 pm
(4/10) Ayla. Uquin filed the name away for now, and instead glanced at Yurle, offering him what he hoped was a warm, thankful look for his support. He made to move forward, but stopped once more at the older woman's advice, allowing a flash of worry to cross his face. Now...with the promise of his wife in the next room, it felt... impossible to reign in his emotions. Like the frayed nerves of the past few weeks would finally snap at any moment if he tried to reign them in any more. A million possibilities ran through his mind, and yet when he stepped inside he still felt as if his legs would give out.
There she was. Maritza. She looked... terrible. Even as thin as she had always been, she'd lost more and looked - brittle. He hadn't seen her this ill since - since - the triplets. But she was alive. Her coloration was sickly, skin a bit waxy in the way someone shaking off an infection often looked, and bits of skin he could see looked brutalized.
Her arm. Her arm was--
Uquin slipped his prayer beads from his pocket and rubbed his fingers over the smooth stones, more to reassure himself than to focus magic as he typically did. "Maritza." He said, instead, stepping into the small home, having tugged off his boots hastily before stepping further. "Isaia is alive. You don't have to worry, love, Zadia's with him now. Lioe's got Marcella back at home. You just focus on resting up."
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2023 8:46 pm
As Maritza adjusted herself into a more comfortable position the blanket fell off her shoulders, as if she were unused to holding it one handed. The flesh on her chest, where unwrapped, was heavily bruised and discolored. Her arm, or lack there of, was severed halfway down the bicep and like most of her bandages flecks of blood discolored the ivory strips.
"Before I was called infection had set in, likely due to her time adrift. She's just getting over it now, but I had to leave some of the wounds open to allow for drainage." Ayla stayed near the doorway with Yurle, both keeping a keen eye on the pair until Ayla took a step outside. "We'll be just out here if you need us."
Ever since the man stepped in Maritza seemed to be in a fog. Not the same sort she'd been in during the fever or even after one of her nightmares. This one was...harder to pin down and left her more confused than anything else. "...Who?" Her voice, so small now compared to what it was, cleared itself with a wince before gaining strength. "What did you call me?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2023 9:01 pm
(5/10) Seeing every additional wound made him feel more and more faint. He was a healer! And yet - it was as if seeing it for the first time, on someone he loved so dearly. He moved closer, barely hearing Ayla's explanations. All sound decisions, even if he wanted to shake her and scream, 'You took her arm! You took it, it's gone--'
He shook himself, and instead moved to kneel beside his wife, hand hesitating briefly before it moved to wrap the blanket around her shoulders again.
Maritza gazed at him as if she was still sick, which honestly was easy to believe with just how bruised she was. But what finally struck him was how... tiny she looked. And sounded. Even after having the children, Maritza... weak, on her death bed, had been fierce - angry. Her keen mind and the fire within her burned from the moment she opened her eyes again, until that inferno finally calmed into the warm, passionate wife he knew now.
Was it the loss of her arm? Was it - shock from the accident? Fog from the bruising inside her?
But then, stronger this time, she asked - what he'd called her, and now it felt like being struck. There was no flash of recognition at her childrens' names. No sag of relief, hearing the son who went through the accident with her survived. Just - just.
"Maritza." He said, again, fully settling onto his knees next to her.
It was fine. She was... going through so much, and - and it wouldn't be the first time he'd seen a patient out of sorts, confused and lost or even falling back into their mind until they regained themselves. (This is your wife though, and sometimes they never get it back, and other times they get even more lost until there's not even a fragment of themselves left--)
Get a hold of yourself, you useless old man, she needs you and you promised you'd never let her down again!
"Your name is Maritza. I am... I am sorry, that was... a lot all at once. Do you need me to... to remind you what my name is? It's... it's alright. I am a healer, I know it isn't your fault." He paused, but then flashed her a tired, but broad smile. "I'm just happy you're here, Maritza."
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2023 1:13 pm
The longer Maritza sat erect the more she started to list forward. It was as if her body could only keep itself up for so long and the energy needed to stay awake overpowered anything else. For a few long, stagnant moments Maritza's eyes drifted to her lap until she felt something move around her shoulders and she looked back up to him again.
"Maritza." She repeated each syllable slowly and furrowed her brow. There was no recognition there, or at the very least it was buried so far down that her mind didn't think it important. "That's...that's me...Yeah? yeah..." The former engineer nodded her head as if she were having the discussion with herself instead of Uquin.
"You look like him, but not..." She look at Uquin, really looked at him, and for the first time her eyes showed a bit of clarity. As if she were trying to discern why. A flash of a face blocked out this man's and that clarity turned to panic. Maritza's breath stilled, her entire posture going rigid as sounds of someone calling out to her jumped to the forefront of her mind before fading.
Instinctively, sharp as a viper, Maritza reached over for his hand with hers. The only problem being when she moved she moved as if she still had both hands and the twist to her torso caused her to cry out. She couldn't touch him, her arm wasn't moving to touch his face why wouldn't it move?!
"You're not him, you're not him...where is he...?!" Maritza's head would turn around to frantically look around the room before turning back to Uquin. Every time she saw a similar jaw line, or a feature that looked like his she got a brief rush of relief, then the panic came back because this wasn't him!
But it was someone she trusted. "I told him to live, that he had to if I didn't, but I'm here....I'm not supposed to be..."
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Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2023 1:45 pm
(6/10) Uquin, in any other context, would have reached out to help guide Maritza to lay down again; yet he hesitated, unsure if he should be so familiar when she was still eyeing him blankly. As it was, she didn't jerk away or slap at his hand when he adjusted her blanket, so he was tentatively hopeful.
Then, she was inspecting him, and Uquin had to fight to stay still, or keep from frowning. This wasn't the way Maritza would look at him when he smiled, or the teasing looks as she traced a new wrinkle by his lip. He wanted to seize upon that recognition, though, or just hug his wife close just to reassure himself she was real.
As soon as the impulse was there, though, something in her broke. His hand clung to hers when she took it, but he didn't recognize she was trying to touch him, just that suddenly she was pained and upset and panicking. He hated when she panicked. Maritza panicking reminded him of her first terrifying pregnancy, of those colder memories when they were apart, but she needed his reassurance that their children were okay and--
And that memory, and her own fragmented words, finally snapped through the fog and grief in his head. With his free arm, Uquin carefully braced Maritza, encircling her petite frame to keep her upright and relieve her just a bit. The hand that held her own squeezed it, carefully. "Love - just breathe! No; I'm not him. He's o- my son, that's why I look--. He's not here, but he's alive. You kept him safe! You'll hurt yourself if you panic-" Yes, he was pleading - but the reassured healer who would have already been readying a calming tea, or waving salts under her nose, had vacated his brain and left behind just a horrified, useless husband. He'd be mortified, later.
Would saying she was thinking of their son make her more panicked because she couldn't remember? He didn't know, but if she kept panicking she'd strain herself.
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2023 2:12 pm
The moment Maritza felt an arm encircle her she tried to pull against it, but couldn't. Some part of her brain wanted the comfort, the security that came with the act and it broke. She couldn't stop the shakes that consumed her or the way her breathing burned just like the fire that started it all. Tears were freely flowing down her widened, terrified eyes and Maritza nearly choked on a sob that she just as quickly buried into Uquin's shoulder.
"I'm so happy....He's okay, he's alive-" Her grip on Uquin's hand tightened as if he were the only thing keeping her tethered and for a moment all she could do was cry. The flashes were terrifying but he made it! He lived! "...I tried...I tried really hard...but he's okay? Why isn't he here?" If he'd made it then he should have been where she was, but-
Maritza furrowed her brow and gave the man's collarbone a sniff. She could smell...herbs and incense, teas....home. "Uquin? But you weren't...on the ship..."
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Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2023 2:21 pm
(7/10) This was better than panic, and yet worse in some ways. Uquin hated every moment that she was hurting, and wanted so fiercely to fix it. He cradled her close, but without letting go of her hand he couldn't push her messed up hair out of her face, or wipe the tears from her cheeks, so he could only rest his cheek against the top of her head and hold her as she wept.
It was therapeutic too; she was here, physical and real and warm (too warm) in his arms. She was alive - and though it felt wretched to find such happiness in her misery, he couldn't stop the relief of finally finding her.
It felt like a miracle, because he'd been convinced that they'd never find her. That for the res to their lives, Maritza would be lost to the ocean, and that every time the door opened he'd have that flash of hope, only to be crushed by reality.
But she was here. Alive. He just had to keep it that way, and help the healer prevent the infections still clearly ailing Maritza from getting worse.
"I'm sorry, he's not here, but he's with--" Uquin started to say, but before he could say more ... she said his name. His face crumpled, and he swallowed hard against a sudden knot in his throat as he pressed a quick kiss to her flushed forehead. "You're safe. You're not on the ship, love - I came to find you." He whispered. Mostly because... because speaking any louder, he felt he might cry too.
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2023 2:39 pm
Unbeknownst to Maritza, Ayla had stuck her head back in the doorway (with a curiously concerned Yurle close behind) to make sure all was well. When she saw the way they held onto one another, though, she gently pulled back and took the nosey fisherman with her.
"Where are we?" Maritza murmured. She was trying to get comfortable because she did not want to relinquish her contact with Uquin and yet...Between the two of them there wasn't an ounce of excess flesh to spare and jagged bones weren't easy on internal bruising. His lips felt cold against her skin, but when she looked up at him the tired lines of his face spoke of warmth. Comfort didn't matter much in the physical sense so long as she had that. She could try to relax and give her soul the reprieve that her mind wouldn't dream of for a long, long time.
"My arm's gone." Even though her breathing had started to calm there was still an edge to Maritza's voice that betrayed the softer tone. "I still feel it sometimes...I try to move it and it won't...He had burns too. Uquin, he had burns...did they...did they take his...?"
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