Heirot

Soran's ears weren't working so well through the splashing of water around him, but he thought he heard the faintest cry up ahead. He focused on coordinating his limbs and getting to the wall. It took him a minute and a half to finally find ground under his feet. The floor of the cave was flat and sandy, with patches of smooth rock in between. He walked up to knee depth, gasping. "Mizuki," he shouted, swinging around to look over the shallows for some sign of her. His eyes froze on a still form lying in the fetal position on a dry patch about 100 feet away. He started forward, his heart leaping to his throat. "Mizuki!"

She heard him, but it took what seemed like forever for her to respond. She felt terribly hurt all over, and when she opened her mouth no sound came out at first. She strained her vocal cords to make any kind of sound, just something to let him hear her. After minutes of silent screaming, small, faint low key groaning sounds came out of her mouth. She stopped, panting. She swallowed trying to get her throat wet, it felt so dry. When she tried again, her voice sounded like a constrained cry, almost as if she was being choked.

Soran ran through thigh-deep water, using his arms to keep balance as he scrambled over to Mizuki's body. He heard faint groans as he reached her side, like she could barely speak. It made his stomach knot up even worse. He crossed over in front of her and climbed onto the island, falling to his knees in front of her. She was alive. Relief filled him in a trembling rush, but he couldn't tell how hurt she was. His eyes flicked over her, pausing at her wrist, which was resting at an odd angle. He looked back up into her eyes and touched her cheek with an unsteady hand that was, unfortunately, cold and wet from his swimming. "Thank god...oh, thank god," he gasped still trying to catch his breath.

She gave him a weak smile, so relieved that he was alright... and she wasn't in this terrible darkness alone.

"It...hurts..." she said in small gasps. Was she dying? Her mind was in such a jumble from the fall that she couldn't concentrate and focus her power. But she had to know... Was there enough light to see her reflection in the water? To see that dreaded dark cloud looming over her head? She felt hot, maybe she was running a fever? All the drama and terrible gore finally having reeked its havoc in her mind and now attacking her body. Either way, Soran's cool, wet hand felt good on her face.

On reflex, her eyes started to frantically search the cavern they were in. "Oh... it's blue..." Her eyes fixated themselves on one of the many sources of blue light that emanated in the cavern. Mushrooms? How odd.

"Mizu, tell me where it hurts," Soran said, worried by her behavior. Every time she spoke, it was like her voice was hurting her. "You don't have to talk, just point."

She was silent for a moment. Where she was hurt? It felt like everywhere, but maybe those pains were all minor? Her wrist was the bigger problem. Gingerly, she lifted it up to him, wincing all the while.

Soran looked down at her wrist knowingly. How was he going to splint a broken bone in a cave with no supplies? He reached out and took her arm very lightly, moving to sit beside her. Lifting it, he locked her elbow between his knees so she wouldn't be able to jerk away and hurt herself worse when he set it. He looked down at her, gently touching his fingers to her wrist. He didn't need to warn her; she knew what had to happen, but he still looked at her for the go-ahead.

She unconsciously whimpered. He had to set it, No supplies but he had to. She crooked her finger into her mouth to keep from biting her tongue, and nodded to him. More pain, necessary pain but still, more pain.

Soran felt for the fracture, found it, and pressed it back into position with a firm grip. The only up side was that at least he knew what he was doing, but that didn't make it fun. When the worst was over, he cautiously released his grip on her elbow and lowered her hand carefully back to rest on the rock.

With her voice sounding strangled, her cry was not pretty to hear. Small tears trickled down her face, but she was grateful when he released her arm and set it back down gently. She wanted to test it, but was afraid to and couldn't find the energy to lift her arm and merely move her wrist.

"Thank you..."

He took a deep breath and held it as he looked at Mizuki's face. He hated to see her in pain. He reached out and stroked back her hair, giving her time to calm down. He wished he knew what to say to her. He also hoped she wasn't hurt anywhere else, but he couldn't ask her to move until he found a way to support her wrist. After a minute, he reached down and pulled off one of his waterlogged boots. It made a sucking noise as it came free, and he poured several cups of water out of it.

Settling down to business, he released his armblades and began using them to cut the flat soles of his boots into shape for a splint. The wet leather was surprisingly easy to work with, and after a moment, he'd constructed a fairly ergonomic cast for her wrist. Touching her very bruised-looking arm, he lifted it up carefully and fastened the splint in place, then bound over it with his laces and then with fabric from his shirt. It didn't look very impressive, but at least it was sturdy.

Mizuki looked from the makeshift wrapping on her wrist, to Soran in a look of wonderment. "You... ruined you're clothes..." It didn't come out the way she wanted. His clothes were already ruined. The look on her face turned to puzzlement as she examined the wrappings. Would that really work? She tried to twitch her hand, and sure enough, it kept everything in place. It would work for now. She swallowed again, trying to loosen up her dry throat. There was water, she needed to get to it, which meant she needed to get up and move.

Using her better arm, she pushed out beneath her slowly, trying to sit up. It worked easy, just every movement hurt slightly. She was so bruised up from the fall, it was a miracle that only her wrist had broken. She sat still for a moment, wondering if she'd get dizzy or nauseous, but nothing happened. That was a good sign. She needed a drink.

"Water...?"

Soran licked his top lip reflexively, as if almost drowning a minute ago hadn't given him enough information about what kind of water they were surrounded by. It hadn't even occurred to him to think about it, but now that he checked, he tasted no brine in the moisture on his face. It was fresh water, but that didn't necessarily mean it was safe to drink. Unfortunately, from the looks of things, they were going to be down here for a while. If the water wasn't safe, they were goners anyway. He didn't have a cup, and somehow he didn't think it would go over well if he afforded her his remaining boot as a cup. He padded barefoot across the rock and jumped down into the knee-deep water next to it.

Reaching down into the water, he trapped a pool of it securely in his hands and brought it back up to Mizuki. "It's fresh, hopefully safe," he said, holding his hands out to her.

Tentatively, and very aware of her situation, Mizuki bent her head and placed her lips into the pool of water in his hands. She drank, and coughed suddenly. After having a dry throat from the dust, the sudden cool water seemed to burn her throat. But, it helped much.

"Thank you." she said, her voice easier coming out. She stared for a moment, not saying anything and it was a mistake, she had allowed herself to remember... everything. She grabbed Soran hands with her good hand, and buried her face his his palms, trying hard not to cry and vomit again.

Soran balked slightly as she suddenly seemed to lose all her composure. He'd known it would probably come, but it still left him with his stomach in knots and his mind in a silent panic as to how to help her. He slid his hands to cradle her cheeks lightly and tilted her tear-streaked face so that they were looking straight at each other. He gave her what he hoped was a calm look, but it showed as his classic guarded expression that he wore when he was masking emotions. Still, that was better than nothing, right?

He wanted to say "We're okay," but it wouldn't have been true, and the elf was not the type for comforting lies. Instead, he said, "Do you want to rest? We can figure this all out later."