aftermath ║ one on one w/ avior.

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

Taking the scrap Arrana applied it to her cheek, adding a quick, "thank you," as she did so. Her breath gradually showed as she sat down. There was nothing wrong with resting after combat, although they'd need to keep moving after a bit. Her headache was coming back. In response to the growing throbbing she leaned her head back, staring up at the roof of leaves. She exhaled, pulling the gauze from her face as she did so. The leaves were blurred together, forming some sort of abstract harmony. Forcing a smile she shifted her weight a bit, leaving more of her body against the tree. A warm hand touched her forehead as she rubbed it, grimacing slightly. The hand moved down to her eyes, then decided to remain on her lap.

If they could go maybe four more miles after an hour, or however long it took her to feel better. If her headache got worse then it was serious. She hadn't had much medical training, but something all the solders had been taught while sparring was to avoid attacks on the head since it could put a fighter out of commission. Naturally this rule applied to the troops of ankalima. She couldn't guess how many lives each side lost, nor did she want to. All the high elf wanted at the moment was a sense of safety, something wartime could never grant. Not even the queen was entirely safe, the army had heard of three assassination attempts already. All she knew was that they'd all failed, and the assassins were executed.

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen let himself sit down across from her on the ground, idly running his fingers through the fallen leaves and twigs strewn across the forest floor. The ground was still cool and felt good contrasted with how sweaty the young wood elf felt, the trees above shading it from the sun. He looked over at Arrana, noticing the slightly glazed look in her eyes. A little unfocused, though that wouldn't come as a surprise. She was probably just tired. He picked up the jug again and opened it up, leaning forward to hand it to her. A drink would probably do her good right now. Had one of her wounds gotten infected? Without medical care available, that could potentially slow them down. Hopefully she'd be able to keep from passing out or lagging too far behind until they got to the city, where they could find a real medic.

"Here," he offered, brows furrowed in vague but noticeable concern. "Are you alright?"

[i just put my whole soul in another response and now this one kinda sucks im sorry]

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

(it's fine)

She took the water, slowly extended her hand to take the jug. Not wanting to hog the water Arrana took a few sips then handed it back, mumbling, "just a headache..." The paid was subsiding now, however slightly. Blinking several times as the blurriness began to fade she added, "You weren't hurt were you?" She could feel her cheek bleeding again, although it was substantially less than when she first received the cut. Her breath was cooler now as she blew out her breath. She leaned forward to get up, then realized that she was falling forward rather than standing up.

Her head hit something that must have been Arlen's ankle as her eyes closed. The throbbing came back as she pushed herself back up, hissing some sort of apology. She couldn't believe this, her arm and now some sort of concussion. It could be exhaustion, but that meant that they would have to wait that much longer to receive legitimate treatment. Gritting her teeth Arrana stood up, the world spinning for a bit as she held herself up on a tree. No, some headache wasn't going to stop her.

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen frowned, taking the water jug back and setting it back down on the ground. ”No, I’m alright,” he replied, his words cut short when she suddenly fell down at his feet. Surprised, he was quick to stand up as well, instinctively reaching for her elbow to help her up but stopping before he could touch her. He’d never liked physical contact. He didn’t want to overstep any boundaries. ”We need to get you to the city and have a medic discern that,” he said, tone dead serious as he looked around. They were still a ways away, and they couldn’t afford any long breaks. The sooner they got there, the better, but Arrana was in no condition to travel without help. ”Don’t over exert yourself.” He held out one gloved hand, letting her make the choice. ”If you put one arm around my neck I can support your weight and we’ll cover more ground.” It occurred to him briefly that it would be so easy to leave her here, almost helpless, and cover more round at his own pace. He would never see her again and within a day or so animals or rogues would finish her off, in all likelihood. But the necklace he wore seemed to weigh down on him even as he thought that, a reminder of her promise to him. And his promise to her, even if he hadn’t spoken it out loud. He couldn’t do that to someone he’d allied himself with.

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

Arrana frowned, there was no way this was more than a headache. Well, no, that's what her already exhausted brain was telling her. Mutely she nodded, talking his gloved hand and leaning her weight on his side. Her arm followed what he's suggested, looping behind his back and over the opposite shoulder. She realized that she was leaning on Arlen's wounded shoulder, readjusting her weight to try and accommodate for the fact. With dull eyes she looked at him and said, "Let me know if this hurts you and I'll walk on my own, okay?" She didn't want him getting hurt, not to mention the fact that if they both ended up in her condition they wouldn't make it anywhere.

Closing her eyes she allowed her legs to take a step forward, then another, then another. Her breath matched the pace of her feet for some time, occasionally speeding up or slowing down. She could feel the aching pain going away after a bit, but remained by Arlen's should the pain return and cause her to faint. She could feel the ground sinking beneath her feet, or she was simply dragging them behind a worn out body. Her eyelids were heavy from the need of sleep, and she could feel herself nodding off every so often. The sky was dark now, the stars and the moon giving them some form of lighting.

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen nodded at her words, keeping his hand entwined with hers to keep her in place. He wrapped his other arm around her waist to keep her upright, trying to keep from disturbing any of her wounds too much. It actually was a bit more painful than he’d expected, but he had endured worse. Either way, he was insistent that she would not be walking on her own until she felt she was in good shape. Still, compared with the sharp chill in the air, her warmth was nice. The two laboured for what seemed like a long time until finally night fell again, which was when Arrana’s fatigue seemed to finally take over. If they kept going like this, with him nearly dragging her along, it would be all too easy for him to accidentally dislocate her arm. Besides, his steps were beginning to wobble, exhaustion starting to take its toll on him too. They’d have to stop for the night and travel more tomorrow.

He stopped and looked around for someplace to shelter them from the elements, finally spotting a large pine tree who’s branches swept low to the ground, brushing against it in some spots. He made his way towards it and pulled his arm away to lift up some of the branches to reveal a sort of cave formed by the thick boughs that fell low on all sides. It wouldn’t be safe if there was a lightning storm, but otherwise it would protect them from rain and cold and the scent of the pine needles might help mask their own from any predatory animals. With some difficulty, he made his way inside, still pulling Arrana behind him, then moved to lean her gently against the tree trunk, using his arm to brush the needles off the ground first. ”Alright. We’ll rest here for tonight.”

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

She could feel herself fading into that dream world as Arlen pulled her into some shaded area. Well no, it wasn't shaded, it was dark out. There wasn't a sun to cause shadows to fall on them. Looking back to her companion Arrana began to nod. There wasn't any point in going further than they needed too in this state. She could see her breath crystallizing as sleep-glazed eyes stared at the stars. If she fell asleep she knew what she would see. Nothing but carnage, the stink of bodies and blood, just the thought of it was enough to force her body into some sort of sitting position. If she did end up entering whatever nightmares awaited then she'd have to spend hours there, watching allies die before her eyes and being unable to help them.

Despite her efforts Arrana felt herself fall asleep quickly, her form still slouched against the tree. Arrows flew inside of her head, and bodies fell to the ground. She wanted to scream, to somehow move and escape, but her body was too tired. Fatigue had consumed what energy she had left. All that was left was to wait for morning to wake her up, and find some way to get her out.

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen leaned back against the tree trunk, staying next to Arrana as she began to doze off. Hopefully he wouldn't do the same. Someone had to keep watch until morning came, and asking his companion to do so was out of the question. He was definitely in better shape right now, so he could only hope he wouldn't be too tired tomorrow. He glanced over, watching how restless her sleeping patterns were. That didn't come as a surprise; no one could possibly get rest after what she'd seen. The nightmares were in the back of his mind, too, which made him glad to be awake. He felt no desire to relive the battle, which was probably what she was doing right now.

He hesitated, debating whether or not to wake her. The night was only about half over, but surely being tired tomorrow was better than living out the nightmares. And she could still rest, maybe even fall back asleep. If he could just pull her out of this nightmare, maybe next time would be better. Making his decision, he leaned closer to her and rested his hand on her shoulder, wanting to ease her out of it gently. "Arrana," he whispered. "Wake up. You're dreaming."

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

Someone was pulling her out of the combat. Needless to say it was exactly who she expected, Arlen. She stared at him for a moment, eyes half closed and blurred with sleep. She blinked a few times, familiarizing herself with the darkness before reaching up to her shoulder to grab his hand. Arrana held on to it for a bit, pursing her lips as the images faded. She could still feel the leather glove, a sign that her companion didn't trust her... or he had some sort of need for the gloves. She let go of his hand mumbling, "you should get some sleep."

Her posture straitened once again as the tormented brain began to function again. Her head was cleared of the visions, but not of the experience. She couldn't shake the feeling of utter loss, and the fact that Nimithil had appeared repeatedly while she was sleeping didn't help. Arrana pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping both arms around them in a form of a make-shift comfort device. It was still dark, but if all went well then morning would come soon. Then they could get to a city and hopefully avoid sleeping on the ground again. There would be actual food, beds, clothes, medicine. All that mattered at this point was getting to the town, the desperate need for her survival.

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen let out a heavy breath of air, tipping his head back to rest against the rough bark of the tree. ”I don’t sleep much anyways,” he assured her, though if he was being entirely honest, he could probably rest for a few hours. He’d probably need it for tomorrow, but someone would have to stay awake, and he couldn’t leave it on Arrana to take hat upon herself. Not in her condition. ”I’ll be alright.” He looked up at the dark underside of the tree, absently pulling at the necklace and running his fingers up and down the leather band. He glanced down at his companion.

”Are you alright?” It was pretty obvious the nightmares had shaken her, not that he blamed her at all. He knew for a fact that that would be waiting for him if he slept at all. Just another reason not to, he decided. He’d always been loyal to his allies to a fault, marching into battle whenever he was needed, but now- it seemed to pointless. Couldn’t they just put aside their differences? How many lives had been lost already? Sighing, he tried to pull his mind away from the topic and proposed another question, this one directed on a more physical level. ”Are you feeling better at all?”