Jack. A word with a great variety of meanings and applications, all traceable to the common use of the word as a by-name of a man. "Jack" is a shortened form of the name "Jackin" which is derived from the name "John." There is also a theory that it is Celtic in origin, meaning "healthy, strong and full of vital energies." Whatever its origin, it is most often used as a general term for any man of the common people.

-'Encyclopedia Britannica' and 'English words of British Origin'

Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick,
Jack jump over
the candlestick.

- A Nursery Rhyme c.1815


"Lyndon?"

The thief jerked awake to see Eirena smiling gently at him with Kormac frowning disapprovingly by her side. The Keep looked a lot emptier then it did when he'd first sat down, only a few snoring soldiers remained along with the wounded. Where had everyone gone? How long had he fallen asleep for?

"Was- did I? What?" He babbled at her, rubbing his face. She frowned at him as he struggled to wake himself up, feeling incredibly groggy.

"Perhaps you'd like to go to bed?" She offered.

"Go to bed?!" Kormac bellowed, as he was wont to do. "He should be helping the rest of us get food for these poor people, not lazing about." Kormac continued irritably."There's no time to rest just yet!"

"Now Kormac, it wouldn't do for us collapse out on the battlefield would it? We should all be resting. At least until tomorrow. No one is awake to assist us after all." Eirena explained sweetly, "We can last one more night." Kormac immediately deflated which Lyndon found highly amusing. Hah! Whipped already!

"How long did I sleep?" Lyndon finally managed to ask without sounding completely delirious. "I suspect you might benefit from some lazing about Kormac, perhaps it will improve your wretched mood." He added sourly. He should have known Kormac would stop being nice to him as soon as the thrill of their victory wore off.

"Were you going to check on Jack again?" Eirena asked, interrupting Kormac's indignant sputtering. Sometimes he suspected that she could read minds. "I think you were only asleep for a half hour or so."

"That long?" It had felt like only a moment. He got to his feet and stretched, feeling cold, sore, and impossibly tired.

"Yes, I suppose I should go make sure he hasn't bloody drowned in my bathwater." He said lightly, "Then I'd never get clean."

"Gods, you are insufferable." Kormac hissed at him.

"So you've said before." Lyndon called back as he headed toward the armory. Kormac and Eirena followed, stopping at Haedrig's forge to remove their heavier armor. The blacksmith was nowhere in sight, Lyndon supposed he had either gone to bed, or with Shen somewhere to drink.

His stomach rumbled and he had a sudden thought,"Oh!" Lyndon shouted, spinning on his heel to face the Templar. "I had an idea!" He continued brightly.

"Oh great..." Kormac muttered, working at removing his weighty chest armor with Eirena's help to lean it up against Haedrig's forge to be cleaned later.

"Do you remember the dead pack beasts we saw out on the battlefield? I was thinking... perhaps, because it's so damned cold out there, that the meat might still be good. And we could go get some and bring it back!" Lyndon explained hopefully.

Kormac looked at Eirena then back to the thief, thinking. "Perhaps... that might work... if the meat is frozen and uncontaminated." He replied thoughtfully.

"That is a very good idea Lyndon!" Eirena said with a smile. "We can go out first thing tomorrow!"

"Ahh, not all of my ideas are bad eh, Templar?" He said with a wink and a grin, and headed down the armory staircase.

Kormac merely sighed in irritation.


For a long time there had been only numbness, but now there was pain.

Jack stripped slowly, groaning in agony, peeling off gore soaked armor, piece by piece. His crossbows were hung by their loops of leather with great care on the edge of the bed post. The rest of his bags, quivers, and pouches were piled in a chair, these were the only things he was careful with, the rest of it he dropped rather unceremoniously to the floor. Much of his armor was horribly damaged and sticky. What should have been protecting him was practically shredded. He lamented this briefly, upset that he would have to get new things tailored.

The table where Leah's books and possessions were still sitting caught his eye. The candles were lit, lighting the room gently, her diary even lay open, as if she had just been writing in it, the pens scattered about. Feeling weary, he closed his eyes against the sight and turned away.

The leather and fabric pulled painfully at cuts and scrapes, dried blood, and all manners of slowly rotting entrails sticking it to his skin. Skin, that felt disgusting beneath so many layers of grime. There were patches of dried blood and dirt that covered his body in irregular mosaic patterns. At the moment, he couldn't tell what was a bruise and what was merely filth, but he supposed it didn't really matter, it all hurt anyway. Swallowing back the pain as best he could, he tried to catalog his injuries, but tallying anything in his head only made it ache worse. There were some nasty burns on his legs, the backs of his hands and one side of his forehead and cheek. He couldn't remember when he had gotten them, but he was fairly certain they hadn't been there a day ago.

Diablo then. His armor was so ruined he was lucky he hadn't died.

Jack fished around in the pocket of his cloak that had been draped over a chair and got the little brown bat out. It flew into the room freely and wedged itself into the bookcase. Jack assumed his ferrets had hidden themselves in Lyndon's bag again and didn't worry too much about them. He had not seen the raven for some time, perhaps it was gorging itself on the battlefield with its brothers and sisters.

Despite all the carnage he had seen in his life, the thought made him feel just the slightest bit ill.

Naked now, Jack put his hands on the edge of the bath, breathing in and out slowly before he moved. It was getting harder to breathe, the pain was very bad, worse than anything he'd ever experienced before. He closed his eyes and tried to focus long enough to make some of it fall into the background, as he usually did when injured. Gradually identifying each source and willing it into something more manageable. It was only a partial success.

He climbed over the rim carefully, then sank into the hot water all at once. A stuttered moan slipped out of him before he could stop it. Gods, it hurt. Tense muscles unclenched in the sudden heat and despite how good it felt to finally be properly warm, the more practical side of him wished it were an ice bath, it was better for sore muscles and prevented swelling.

He forced himself to relax by inches, trembling all over. The pain was getting worse by the minute. Jack observed the shadows that drifted off his shoulders like steam with detached interest. He would have to find a way to make that go away.

His ribs hurt, he gently felt where most of the discomfort was coming from and yelped slightly as the exploratory touch became excruciating. He blinked black spots out of his vision and concluded that at least one bone was definitely broken, every breath was stabbing misery, like slowly gouging knives piercing into him. He fought the urge to shallow his breathing, that was how one drowned in their own lung fluid. A slow, lingering death.

The hunter cursed himself for his carelessness, if he'd been a little faster, Diablo wouldn't have slammed him into the ground... Or maybe it had happened when an Oppressor had charged him? He wasn't sure now. Jack vividly remembered the piercing sensation of something giving in his chest, but couldn't place when or how it had occurred. He was very glad the bat had not been crushed and killed, it had been in his pocket yesterday, he was certain of it.

Jack sat very still for long minutes, head down on his knees, soaking up the warmth and breathing as deeply as he dared. The heat made his head fuzzy so he quickly washed himself before he became too lightheaded to do so. Scrubbing with soap revealed skin he'd almost forgotten the color of, and many other rather interesting colors that mottled his body, bruises in varying stages of healing.

Cleaning the skin over his damaged ribcage was a new level of torment he didn't think was possible to experience. He'd never broken a rib before, safe to say it was the worst pain he'd ever felt.

That done, Jack's hands were trembling and suddenly he felt much too hot. He wanted to get out of the water, but he wasn't done yet. He dunked his head carefully, wincing at the heat and then worked soap into the stringy, filthy mess of his hair.

The water that ran off his head when he rinsed it was nearly black with dirt and ash and old blood. He was glad his hair was dark so the filth could at least blend in. He should really just cut it, then this would be less of a problem. He deliriously wondered if Eirena was any good at cutting hair, not that he particularly cared how it looked afterward. Lyndon was always preening himself like a proud rooster, perhaps he would be good at it. Jack found this funny for some reason and laughed a bit, but stopped immediately as the pain in his chest became too much to bear.

Jack didn't linger in the bath, he felt over heated and his chest ached from his heartbeat that had not yet slowed itself. He groaned deep in his throat as he got out of the wooden tub, every movement producing worse and worse pain. He stood very still and waited for the room to stop rocking like a boat in turbulent waters, before he knelt down to dig through his spare clothes.

The bathwater wasn't clear anymore, but it was hot and would probably still be alright if Lyndon was really as desperate as he made himself out to be. Jack hoped the other man would not be long, he really wanted to lie down. Though he supposed Lyndon wouldn't care if Jack fell asleep while he was in here. The hunter preferred to sleep away from others, he didn't like to be so vulnerable when other people were close. But he found that at the moment, he didn't care if the entire Keep stared at him while he slept, he was just so tired.

He pulled on some clean pants, savoring the coolness of the fabric against his burning, aching skin. Wincing and breathing hard though his nose, he managed to get his spare tunic on, but left it open, exposing his chest. The wound on his ribcage leaked blood and he pressed a square of damp fabric against it and closed his eyes against the pain.


Back downstairs, after another physically draining descent of the stairway, Lyndon knocked on the door lightly and waited a few moments. When he didn't receive an answer right away, he felt a slight amount of worry. He shouldn't have joked about Jack drowning earlier... Perhaps he was already sleeping? Well, it wasn't like he couldn't just pick the lock and take a bath anyway. Jack very likely wouldn't even wake up, then Lyndon might be able get a look at the spoils he'd kept on his person. He suddenly thought better of going through the man's things, remembering the generous gift the man had given him.

The lock clicked, startling him and the door cracked open revealing one turquoise eye, peering out critically, then the door opened wide.

"Hey." Lyndon offered in greeting. Jack stepped aside to let him in.

Getting a good look at him now that he was clean, the scoundrel couldn't quite decide if Jack looked better or impossibly worse then he did before. His hair was dripping and he smelled much better. But his now clean skin was covered in bruises and cuts and his face was ghostly pale with dark circles beneath his eyes. A sort of black smoke hung about him, and Lyndon recognized it from when the Demon Hunter had previously been in physical danger. Something within him activated it... and it seemed to do something for him.

The scoundrel had never really asked about the more unusual abilities Jack had, preferring to politely ignore them.

Gods, he looked half dead. But... he didn't appear to be suffering too badly, so maybe he was alright? The thief reasoned that he probably looked so poorly because he was tired. Jack would probably be fine after he slept a while. Lyndon closed the door behind him and carefully removed his worn, gore splattered duster. He wondered if it was even possible to clean it, he hoped so. He really liked this coat.

The black tunic the hunter was wearing was open at the front and Jack held a cloth to his side, it was a little bloody, but it didn't look too bad to Lyndon. He'd definitely had worse. He was damned lucky to have gotten through all this with just one wound and a decidedly grim rainbow of bruises on every inch of skin that Lyndon could see.

Lyndon was lucky too, lucky to even be alive.

"Are you hurt badly?" Lyndon asked quietly, inquiring anyway just to be sure.

"Broken rib, it'll be alright, it was a clean break." Jack answered softly, kneeling down to wind bandages around his chest with slightly unsteady hands.

Gods, a broken rib? That sounded a bit more serious... and really, he just wasn't looking very good at all. Much too pale.

"You look a bit... peaky." The thief continued, "Do you, ah, do you need any help? Do you want me to get Eirena... or-or Kormac?" Lyndon asked hesitantly, setting his amulet and rings aside carefully on the bookshelf.

"No." A firm reply.

"Right then." The scoundrel muttered, expecting an answer like that.

The hunter got shakily back to his feet with a wince and went suddenly still, just sort of staring at Lyndon.

In the candlelight, the ever present dark circles under his eyes seemed more pronounced than before, making Jack's face appear gaunt and skull-like. And he was just standing there like the risen dead and staring at him, or rather through him and swaying like a late night drunk. Gods, when was the damned fool going to sleep? Nothing was stopping him, just go to bed already! Lyndon was just about to open his mouth to ask if he was alright when the hunter spoke first.

"Lyndon...?" Jack murmured wearily. His voice sounded wrong in a way the thief couldn't put his finger on.

"Hmm?" The thief answered, eyes glued to the Demon Hunter. He was breathing heavily and a light sheen of sweat was beginning to form under his eyes and nose, catching the light slightly.

"I'm tired ... I think I'm going to lie down." He appeared to bow beneath a sudden wave of exhaustion then, and sank towards the floor. "Jack!" Lyndon rushed forward to catch him around the shoulders and Jack went down hard on his knees, but at least he didn't crack his skull off the stone floor.

His eyes were rather glassy and Lyndon tried to help him to his feet as best he could. "The floor's not really the best place for that." Lyndon said with a weak laugh."Come on now, up we go. You've got to help me, you're heavier than you look..." But Jack didn't respond, he merely tilted and collapsed against him, suddenly limp.

"Jack?" The thief called, worried now and shaking him a bit. He was unconscious, and was breathing very shallowly and rapidly. Lyndon felt a sudden, sharp needle of fear.

This was much worse than he thought. Damn it to Hell!

"Ei... Eirena!" He called for the enchantress, before he remembered that she was probably still upstairs with Kormac. He needed to find them both right away. Lyndon knew that he was simply too tired to try to move the Demon Hunter, and also thought that he likely shouldn't move him, he had no idea how badly he was hurt.

He laid Jack down carefully on the floor and left to get help, fear enabling him to run when, a few minutes ago, he had trouble even going down the stairs.


Kormac bent over the Demon Hunter, examining him while Lyndon hovered anxiously in the background. At first glance, Jack looked very bad. Eirena had run to get a bowl with which to conjure some clean water.

"He said he had a broken rib." Lyndon offered, chewing his thumbnail and pacing with nervous energy.

The Templar sliced away the carelessly wrapped bandages and gently felt the bones. This produced a wretched moan of pain, but Jack didn't wake up. Eirena returned quickly with an armful of supplies and laid them on the floor carefully, then immediately conjured a warm fire on the cold logs in the fireplace. Bless her, it was warmer and he could see much better now. Kormac straightened and rolled his sleeves up.

"Either he lied to you..." He addressed the thief, "Or in his exhaustion he simply hadn't realized how badly he'd been hurt, he has four broken ribs and three cracked ones." Kormac finished evenly. The scoundrel paled and cursed under his breath, "Daft bastard." and continued to wear a hole in the ancient carpet. Lyndon had wasted valuable time, Kormac concluded. It was easy to see in an instant the hunter was bad off. He should have gotten help much sooner.

But... perhaps it hadn't been that easy to see at all. Kormac was more angry at himself than at Lyndon for not noticing his friend's distress either. The man's pain tolerance must have been astronomical to not only continue moving in his condition, but to hide it from him so completely. Him! A Templar trained in the healing magics! Men with bones broken like this were not supposed to be able to run or bend. Jack would have done both while killing that wretched abomination. And this didn't even count the burns, cuts and bruises he could see.

Kormac thought briefly on what Captain Haile had asked the hunter, "What do they make people out of where you're from?" By the light. What indeed!

"What is this black smoke?" Kormac questioned, watching wisps of it drift from the Demon Hunter's prone body.

"I don't know, it started happening some time ago. When he was hurt it would just... appear." Lyndon tried to explain. Kormac nodded and decided to ignore it for the time being and focus on what he did know.

He observed the racing, thready pulse, beating in the man's neck. Dehydrated. He needed water.

"He needs water." Kormac said suddenly to Eirena. He was glad she was here, she wasn't bad at healing herself and he could use an extra hand. He tried to ignore the scoundrel, puffing and grumbling in concern behind him.

"I'll get it." Lyndon quickly offered, but Eirena conjured some in a cup before he could do anything. The thief appeared a bit crestfallen, but Kormac could not pay him any mind.

Between the two of them, they managed to get Jack to drink.

"Do you want me to get more?" Lyndon offered again, fretting.

"I want you to wait outside! I need quiet!" Kormac finally snapped at him.

"He is only worried Kormac." Eirena indicated calmly.

"I'm not worried!" The thief interrupted. "I'm just..." He went very quiet and looked deeply frustrated.

Kormac ignored the both of them and rubbed his palms together briskly to kick start the energies he would need. After a moment, he creating a small light that brought warmth to his hands. He held them both out just above the wound and visualized the bones coming back together as vividly as he could. He had not recently reviewed his anatomy books, and had seen far too many non-human rib cages as of late, so picturing what was supposed to be in a human body was slightly difficult.

He sensed something move and there was a gasp of pain from Jack. He didn't seem to be fully unconscious, but he wasn't really awake either.

"What are you doing?" Lyndon questioned bright eyed. "Healing him, obviously. Knitting bones back together is delicate work, please step back!" Kormac urged him. There was another cry of pain, worse than the first. It was a miserable sound to hear. The light in his hands was getting warmer, like slowly heating metal, but Gods, at least it was working.

"You're hurting him." Lyndon accused angrily, folding his arms tightly in distress.

"Eirena?" Kormac murmured, "Yes... I'm trying." She acknowledged, lightly resting her fingers on the Demon Hunter's head, closing her eyes.

"He's in a lot of pain, but there's nothing I can do about it until I'm done." Kormac explained for the thief's benefit, hoping to stop his inquiries. "Eirena will do all she can to ease it." Lyndon backed away and started pacing again.

Another wrenched, gasping cry echoed in the room as he worked, he could feel his magic working better now. What the Order had taught him, despite his fears about their unknown motivations, their techniques worked. It was an exhausting magic though, it relied heavily on the user's own energy. He was already very tired and could feel sweat forming on his brow and running into his eyes, but he made no move to wipe it away. Jack had saved them all and now he desperately needed his help. Kormac had not been there for the final fight, but for this he would give Jack everything he had. His all would be the least of what he owed the Demon Hunter.

He tried not to look at Eirena's beautiful, porcelain hands, her eyes closed in concentration as she used her magic to lessen the hunter's pain. He could not afford a slip in concentration. Kormac released a breath as another bone reformed itself. There was more than one break on each bone and it was incredibly tiring to heal. This kind of healing magic, mending broken bones, was the most difficult to do and the one he had the least practice with, but he would try his best.

Gods, Jack was not like them. To bear such pain. He was not like them at all. Was this what it meant to be a Nephalem? No one could deny what he was. No normal human could have accomplished such a feat.

Kormac could see the scoundrel pacing, and chewing on his fingernails like a sheep in a grass field, in his peripheral vision, and decided he had had enough.

"I cannot focus with you hovering about! This is very difficult! If you care one jot to help this man, you will go outside!" He shouted at him, his tone demanding no argument.

"But-" Lyndon began.

"Outside! There's nothing you can do now!" Kormac exclaimed in frustration.

Lyndon's face hardened and he glared at the Templar angrily, though his eyes had worry and hurt in them as well. Kormac felt much too tired to feel any kind of guilt.

"It's alright Lyndon, don't worry, he'll be fine." Eirena said gently to comfort him. The thief softened and left, closing the door heavily behind him.

"You should not have shouted at him, he is only concerned for Jack's well being." Eirena admonished, not looking up from her task.

"Probably just concerned about getting his bloody payment." Kormac muttered angrily, exhausted by the magic. His hands felt so hot, like he had been holding them over a stove.

"A few weeks ago, I would have agreed with you, but we both know that is not true." Eirena retorted a little sharply.

Kormac didn't reply, a little sheepish that she was angry with him. Over that degenerate of all things.

"They are good friends, you do not watch them together." Eirena continued.

"I've seen Jack get angry at him plenty of times." Kormac shot back.

"But you do not watch them talk to one another when there is nothing to fight." She chided.

Kormac grumbled. He had once, some time ago. She was right, they did get along surprisingly well. Somehow. But that did not mean that thief wasn't an annoyance and a distraction he didn't need at the moment!

They worked in relative silence for nearly half an hour more. The cries of pain had stopped eventually with Eirena's help. The bones were mostly back together now, but they were weak, he worked to strengthen them, but he was afraid that to heal them completely would take much more than he had left in him to give. Jack's breathing had thankfully eased and deepened. He was finally out of immediate danger.

"You should stop now and try again tomorrow, you're very tired." Eirena commented to him. "He'll be alright now, most of the damage has been fixed. He can sleep, as should you, and I can heal some of the lesser wounds."

"Yes, that is... wise." Kormac conceded. They wrapped the hunter's torso with bandages. Though they were mostly fixed, the bones would be a little fragile and painful for a while until Kormac had the strength to finish. He wanted to make sure they were protected until then. He lifted Jack off the floor easily and carried him to the bed, and they covered him with blankets and furs. As he straightened, Kormac felt his head swim a little and stood very still, waiting for the dizziness to pass. Eirena sat down next to the bed and held her hands out over the Demon Hunter, eyes closed, she had not seen his moment of weakness.

She looked so lovely. Kormac sighed, he supposed he should see where Lyndon went off to. There were three more beds someone had set up in here, he supposed they were for all of them.

Kormac opened the door to the armory, shivering in the colder air. He spied Lyndon immediately, curled up under a flimsy blanket in the hay next to a pile of broken swords. He must really have been worried, to stay here when he could have gone off to sleep somewhere else. Somewhere warmer. Kormac sighed, feeling a bit guilty for shouting at him. The Templar's breath ghosted in front of him, it was terribly cold outside the bedroom. He could not allow Lyndon to sleep out here.

Kormac approached him and shook him a little."Wake up scoundrel, it's not warm enough to sleep here." There was no response and Kormac rattled his shoulder again, but he didn't stir. "Get up, thief." Still nothing.

Kormac sighed heavily, feeling deeply put upon, and spoke quieter, kinder, "Lyndon, you can't sleep here." Lyndon moaned slightly, and mumbled, "I didn't do it..." and curled up in a tighter ball, still not awake. Kormac considered hitting him to wake him up, but the usual desire to punish the man was not there.

"By my faith." Kormac muttered to himself and hauled the thief up, shaking him roughly. Lyndon woke then, disoriented and shivering in his tiredness.

"What... are you doing ?" He mumbled irritably, blinking and squinting at him.

"Come. Bed." Kormac ground out.

"I was... I was in bed, you... dumb ... bastard. " He mumbled sleepily. Kormac grit his teeth and ignored him, steering him back to the room. He was obviously a bit delirious and Kormac would give him a free pass. This time.

"Jacky... he's okay?" Lyndon asked quieter, tone soft and worried.

"He'll be fine." Kormac replied as kindly as he could manage.

"Good." Lyndon finished tiredly, then spoke no more.

Kormac practically dragged the thief into the room, the man could hardly walk in a straight line. He got Lyndon inside and sat him on one of the beds, the scoundrel blinked blearily at him and made no move to remove his boots, so Kormac did it for him. Not stopping there, he pulled the filthier clothes off, grimacing at the smell of old blood and demon remains clinging to the stained garments. Kormac didn't quit until he'd gotten everything but the man's pants off. He wasn't nearly as filthy beneath the fabric. Normally, it would be more than the thief deserved, but Kormac conceded that the man had earned at least this. For once. And the bed would be much cleaner if he didn't sleep in those soiled clothes. He pushed Lyndon to lie down. He was asleep before Kormac could finish piling blankets and furs on him.

Satisfied, he went to the other side of the room and sat heavily on one of the other beds, feeling shaky and weak.

"Is Lyndon well?" Eirena asked, not looking up from the healing spell she was casting over a burn on the side of Jack's face.

"Aye, he is just... tired." Kormac answered wearily. "He was sleeping out in the hay with the swords. It's not warm enough out there." Kormac continued absently, undoing his own boots.

"That was very kind of you Kormac." Eirena said, looking at him with a smile, Kormac flushed a bit under her praise. " Well, I, um, I may have misjudged him. Jack trusts him... So I will try to as well. Despite his... shortcomings." Kormac still wasn't sure if he'd forgiven Lyndon for stealing his amulet, despite the fact that he'd had Shen set magic gems set into it. He'd still stolen it a second time! Though, thinking about it, he supposed the second time may merely have been a harmless prank so the thief could amuse himself.

"He certainly proved himself today, that he cares about more than just gold and women." Kormac added. Lying down on the bed and pulling the blankets up. His head felt heavy.

"Yes, he has a brother that is in a Kingsport prison cell that he loves and misses very much." Eirena explained thoughtfully. "He sends most of his gold to his brother's family, but his brother's wife hates him, but he is still in love with her and doesn't want her and her children to go hungry." She finished lightly, then smiled at Kormac sweetly.

"I-I didn't know that!" Kormac sputtered, shocked.

"You did not ask." She answered simply.

He turned his head and looked at Lyndon lying there asleep. Seeing him in a new light. He had never realized ...

Eirena was smiling so prettily, her face was dazzling, he tried not to think about how pretty she was, it was important to focus on his faith. He valued her as a friend, but sometimes when she smiled at him like that, his defenses would crumble and he would remember how much he loved her.

He swallowed and blinked tiredly, his eyelids felt like they weighed a thousand pounds each.

"You can rest now Kormac, I will wake you in a little while." Eirena called to him.

"But, you must be-" he tried to argue, he knew she was as tired as he was.

"I will sit up a little longer." She said, but Kormac couldn't hear her very well, everything was going fuzzy.

He slept heavily, barely moving at all.


Lyndon woke slowly, some time later, feeling disoriented and vaguely nauseous. He blinked slightly in the warm, fire lit room. He didn't remember falling asleep here. The thief tried to turn his head to see where he had ended up but found that he was so incredibly sore that he couldn't move. There wasn't any single source of pain, just about everything hurt. The only good sensation he could feel was warmth, and he was incredibly grateful for that.

He couldn't feel his shirt, most of his armor and clothes had been removed. Had he been robbed? He lay there limply, trying to decide if he cared or not. He didn't know whether it was day or night, it was dark in the room but for the fire.

It felt so good to be warm. It felt so good to lie down.

He suddenly remembered that he'd had the most ridiculous dream. They'd all been running around through a beautiful field with trees and lily padded ponds and there had been pink and purple unicorns attacking them. Lyndon wanted to smile at the memory, but he didn't want to move any muscles. They'd just killed those fat, silly unicorns like it was normal. He remembered Jack showing him a map of the place that looked as though a child had drawn it, it was covered in stars and rainbows and smiles.

The hunter had been serious as always as he had slaughtered lumbering, pink stuffed bears and smashed open gaily wrapped presents to find hoarded loot. Kormac had hacked away fiercely at angry pink daisies and Eirena had pushed on smiling clouds that shot gold everywhere at a touch. Lyndon decided that he was never going to go this long without sleep ever again. Clearly, it made him delirious. He still felt wretchedly exhausted, but everything hurt so much he wasn't sure if he would be able to sleep again.

Someone was standing over him, but everything was little blurry. Whoever they were rested a small, cool hand on his head that was immediately soothing, and at the touch, much of the pain dissolved away. He sighed in relief.

"Go back to sleep Lyndon." The voice said softly. It was Eirena.

"Mmm." She didn't need to talk him into it, he fell back to sleep almost immediately.


Notes:

Jumping over candlesticks was a form of fortune telling and a sport. Good luck was said to be signaled by clearing a candle without extinguishing the flame. -The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes

It was also from this nursery rhyme that I named my Demon Hunter. :)