Keeping Vigil (ic story)

[Aliryl]

Day 1

She knelt there by the bedside watching Darek as all she could do, feeling completely useless, for the first time in her life she cursed her family for being thrown out of Heartwood.  She tried to make sense of his murmurings but the words were incoherent just jumbled together with little meaning or context.  She grew agitated the longer she sat there watching him, her mind playing tricks on her with the thoughts that came into her head.  They had said his memory was not right, he would probably not even know her when he woke. She tried to plan out what she would say, what if she needed to convince him that he even knew her?

She could hear the sounds drifting through the windows from the tavern.  They were going to attend the event that night.  Darek had been working on his swordplay to be a better opponent in a confined space and she had been looking forward to exchanging insults with the other women.  We make a good team she had said a few nights ago, but none of that mattered now and soon the sounds became more of an irritant than anything else.

Another jumble of words.. She looked over and saw beads of sweat forming on his forehead, moving closer she felt to check his temperature.  Warm, too warm? She was not sure but was worried, what if he gets a fever?  Deciding to act on it she left the hospital to go in search of someone who could help.  Heading towards the tavern she noticed it had become quieter inside, the contest was over and most seemed to of gone home.  As she entered she could not see anyone who would be able to help so sat at the bar and waited.  Kalam, the bartender began asking her a few questions but she was in no mood for them.  For some reason he began to ramble on about being a good citizen, she ended up snapping at him and saying she could not care less.  Eventually Railen walked through the door, Aliryl almost knocked her over with her eagerness to get her to help Darek.  They walked together back to the hospital, with Aliryl looking on as Railen checked his temperature and concluded that he did seem a little warm.  Railen then said she would go and find Maddeline and left to look for her.

It seemed like long moments before Maddeline walked into the hospital, her medical kit strapped over her back, she began to check Darek and calmed Aliryl's concerns.  Aliryl said she regretted not having the healing skills of her heritage, that the magic they had was taken away from them when they were removed from Heartwood.  Maddeline began to show her how to tend to the drain attached to Darek's side and to administer the medicine.  Warning not to allow anyone else to get it, along with the other side effects if misused.  Aliryl just watched quietly, taking note of what to do.  When Maddeline had finished she commented on how strong Darek was and how he would manage to pull through.  She also regarded how he was a good person and has many friends, Aliryl quietly spoke about being more than friends.  Though they had only been together a short time, the thought of losing him came as a stark reminder of how much shorter a human's life can be and how fleeting a moment in her life she would have with him.  But she was still young and yet to loose a lifetime of friends, so the thought did not sit with her for long.  Maddeline finished up what she was doing and said her farewells before heading back home.

A few moments later Darek began to stir and opened his eyes, she moved to be in view of him and hoped he would recognise her.  She spoke to him and asked how he was, he did not seem to be in much pain, but the medicine had mostly seen to that. She then asked if he knew who she was, to which he responded that he did, her hopes rose for a moment until he said her rank but not her name.  She told him that they were friends but he asked how that could be, Grenediers were not friends with Scouts.  Inside she felt a light go out and a heavy feeling fall over her, what if he never remembered?  He then began trying to get up saying that the Baron needed him, she replied by saying he had enough other Grenadiers to do the work.  He said names of men that were no longer in the army, and when she said the Commander had ordered him to stay there, he spoke of Eason.   
His temperature began to rise again and this time his murmurings were spoken  in Drow. She could not believe what he was hearing at first and wondered how he knew the language.  He kept saying the same words over and over again, before saying he was not drow, almost pleading with someone who was not there.  She replied to him in the same language and it seemed to calm him down again, he went quiet and when he next spoke he had no recollection of what had just happened.  He tried getting up, saying he had to return to duty before seeing the drain in his side, saying he did not need it.  Aliryl kept telling him what it was for and that he could not get up but needed to stay where he was. He seemed to tire then and closed his eyes, asking to be left alone. 

She watched him quietly for a while before moving back into the shadows to keep vigil over him.


(ooc sorry for no pictures, this is a recollection of last night's events).