16 June 2012
I had to find shelter to at least look after this vixen. There was no way she was dead. No way.
I kept running, every step with a stronger purpose. I ran across many areas, where more desctructive violence violated my eyes. And I then realised that the glory in this battle came at a price - the price of other's lives. Though I had known deaths were possible, I had never taken in as large a scale as this.
I spotted a village in the distance. Supplies, I thought. Medicine. Safety. I spurred myself on.
However, when I got within hearing distance of the village, there was no noise. Silence had eerily descended on the occupants. I listened much harder, but couldn't hear a nearby heart beat.
Murdered. Every one of them.
Chatter caught my ear. They pricked up in alarm as a male voice said something about 'missing someone', and they didn't say it like it was their wife. I got the message and fled.
After ten minutes of wandering I found the perfect spot in a huge tree - the entrance was practically invisible to even the expert eyes. I only managed to find it after almost falling down it.
I gently lowered myself into the tree, making sure my grip on the vixen was firm. Someone had hollowed out the tree before us, so the extra space was helpful. However, there was a strange piece of writing on the inside of the wood, chiseled out with extreme accuracy. It read:
'The tree shall protect when the sea rises again.'
I lay the vixen down underneath the message and reluctantly took my hands out from under her. Such soft, smooth fur...!
I quickly grabbed some leaves from the outside of the tree and quietly jumped back into the hole in the trunk. Carefully sewing them together, I wrapped the makeshift bandages around the vixen's wounds. I also took some berries and slowly fed them to her, moving her jaw with my hand so she could chew and not choke on a full pile.
She wasn't dead. I knew she wasn't. Her attacker had been stupid - he had checked in completely the wrong place for her pulse - I felt her neck and wrist for confirmation, and her heart was still beating, though very slowly. Good.
I sat back and waited for signs of recovery.
After several hours, the vixen let out a small groan. I stopped thinking about temporal paradoxes and knelt beside her, in case she needed a bit more help.
Her eyes strained open in a great effort with the little strength she had. They were striking turquoise.
"Wh - where..." she murmured.
I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Opuss Battle Royale, safe in a hollowed-out tree."
Her head turned to look at my hand, still on her shoulder. Her eyes were half-shut. Every movement she made caused her more pain.
"I..." she began. "I was..." She looked down at my bandages around her chest.
"Who...?" she asked.
"Flex," I whispered in respect to her.
"Ne... Nexa," she replied. Then she groaned in pain.
"My... chest..."
"I've tried to fix it as best I could," I explained.
"I..." she said again. "I need... to leave... must defeat... everyone..."
She shifted to her hands and tried to push herself onto her feet. However, her weakness caused her to fall back down, dejected.
"Don't push it," I warned.
She slipped even further down the trunk, breathing heavily. "I... can't..."
All or nothing, I thought. "I'll support you," I said, offering my hand. She stared and eventually weakly grasped it. I pulled her onto her feet.
She took a step and collapsed into my arms, due to her horrifying injuries.
"Difficult... so... difficult..." She passed out from the effort.
I had to somehow heal her. I knew one way, though it was risky. But - I had to try. I had to wake her up from the endless nightmare of pain. We had to survive.
OBR - Awakening • Opuss № I