A/N: Hope that you are enjoying the story! Special thanks to Bebus for all your help and thank you for reading!

Chapter 3: Healing

It took Merrill the better part of the night to transport the wounded alien to her cave. After she had carefully moved the woman out of the ship and tried to stabilize her wounds with various healing spells, the elf went to work on finding materials to make something that could be used to carry the unconscious form back to her cave without causing more harm. Merrill could feel a light breeze on her cheek and a chill in the night air. She lit a fire in the cover of the craft to keep the woman warm and to ward off any interested predators and then went to work salvaging what she could from the alien craft.

After an hour of sifting through the strange items that were strewn about the interior of the ship, the elf was able to construct a makeshift gurney. The rummaging process was overwhelming and she had never seen so many alien looking contraptions before. The curious elf wanted to take time and examine all of the new and wondrous things, but she knew that her patient was waiting and that the trip back to the cave was not going to be easy. She glanced at the pieced together gurney and smiled her work. Walking back into the night air, the elf was comforted by the cool air and freshness of the wilds. The air in the ship was a bit too warm and acidic smelling for her comfort and the physical activity made her start to sweat. She approached the woman lying next to the fire and again drank in her unusual beauty; she looked strangely peaceful and very vulnerable. "Nothing will hurt you I-" she reached out, as if to caress the strange blue skin, before catching herself. Merrill straightened, reassuring herself as much as her charge, "I promise I will keep you safe."

Between the spells, the emotions of the evening and all of the exercise, Merrill's energy was spent but her work was not yet done. Her muscles burned in a way that reminded her of her time spent fighting alongside Hawke, but she felt alive and needed two feelings that had been a distant memory for her. She had been able to focus on the needs of someone else for once and felt an overwhelming sense of responsibility for the woman's care. There was something about the helplessness and beauty that made it impossible for Merrill to not want to care for the creature. With a new found determination, Merrill concocted a strength potion from the pouch of herbs she kept with her and then consumed the bitter liquid. Almost immediately her exhaustion vanished and her muscles flooded with renewed power, and Merrill was finally ready to move the beautiful creature back to her cave to fully care for her.

When she finally returned home, the smell of death permeated the air of the cave and served as a reminder of the darkness that had soiled her soul. It was a vile smell that was stifling and putrid; it was the smell of something sinister and evil. The body of Terras was gone, as was all of his blood that had been spilled during the accident, but the arulin'holm blade was still lying on the floor at the base of the Eluvian. The mirror was now whole, but was no longer glowing or calling to her. The sight of the relic now brought a sickening feeling to the elf as she understood the cost of activating it. I need to cleanse the cave and purge all of the evil here before she wakes up.

With great care, Merrill secured her patient in the bedding that Terras had made next to the fire and away from the Eluvian. Merrill's spells were wearing off and she knew that her charge needed attention if she was to regain consciousness. The blue woman looked like she had hit her head on something, probably during the crash landing, as a deep gash above her eye was oozing purple-bluish blood and a large bruise was forming around it. There was also a significant, penetrating wound on the left side of the woman's upper torso that was still bleeding and looked painful. The blood worried Merrill; she looked nervously at the Eluvian with an almost hateful glare. "You stay away from her!"

Getting right to work, Merrill put a large kettle of water on the cooking fire to boil so that she could clean and properly dress the wounds of the alien. The injury on her side was the most serious and needed to be tended to first. Merrill quickly found her strongest healing solution; one made mostly of elfroot and a very small amount of lyrium to bolster the natural healing power of the herbs and carefully administered it to the mysterious alien. A sudden light emanated from the woman when the potion touched her skin. Merrill gasped at the sight of the glowing beauty before her. Not able to stop herself from touching the creature, the elf could feel a slight vibration as warmness ran across the alien's skin and extended onto Merrill as well. Feelings that Merrill could not find words for flowed through her and she could not pull away from the glowing form in front of her. Beauty… You are the living form of splendor…

As the potion set into the wound, the glowing subsided, but the emotions within Merrill remained. She refocused on the wound and reached into the pot of boiling water to remove the sterilized compresses she had prepared. They were still warm when she pressed them onto the woman's injuries. Merrill applied pressure and held the compress in place to help stop the bleeding and then dressed the wound in clean bandages. "Well, hopefully that will do for now. I guess I do not need to worry about you moving around too much," the elf laughed nervously at how naive she sounded. She could not get the picture of the woman's luminosity or the feeling of the glow running across her skin from her mind.

Needing to check for other signs of injury, Merrill started to gently undress and clean her patient's body. The woman was wearing a simple ivory dress, covered in a sleek light blue robe made of a material that was both very strong and silky to the touch. It was now torn and caked with blood, but Merrill imagined how elegant the woman must have looked before sustaining all of her injuries. The robe against her blue skin gave her a refinement and softness that was so contrary to the fashion seen in Kirkwall. As she removed her garments, Merrill gently washed the textured skin and lightly touched the creature to assess for internal damage. She found many bruises and abrasions, but nothing that looked life threatening. When she was sure that the wounds were tended to, Merrill wrapped her charge in a light sheet that would keep her warm and give her privacy until her clothes could be mended and cleaned.

Now that her guest was secure, Merrill knew that she still had work to do in the cave. A quick inventory of her medical herbs and potions was in order to make sure that she would be prepared for when the woman awoke. Her attention then went to the Eluvian and a wave of hatred for the relic swelled within the elf. Never before had she harbored such feelings for the mirror: even after the destruction of her clan, she still did not see it as innately evil. Knowing that it required the blood and sacrifice of innocence, Merrill could think of no other word to describe it than maleficar. She no longer wanted to look at it, but part of her could not bring herself to destroy it. Instead she decided to cover the Eluvian with one of her sheets. With the reflection from the Eluvian covered, Merrill returned to her task of cleansing the cave of the evil that still lingered with its walls. If she wakes up, I do not want her to see me as a monster… I do not want her to know…

It had been over a day since the elf had rested, but she wanted to clean the clothes of her guest. The smell lingering in the cave of the previous night's atrocities also needed to be purged. She decided that burning some fragrant herbs would both cleanse the air and help with the woman's healing. Merrill went back to her supply of dried herbs and flowers and decided on a mix of lavender, sweet grass and blood lotus to burn and drive the deeds of the Eluvian away. Hunger had also set in, so the elf brewed some fresh tea and heated up some stew. "Oh, I do hope that you like my stew…" Merrill sat beside the exotic woman and breathed in the incense in the air. A smile formed on her lips as took in the sight before her. The alien's presence seemed to enhance all of the elf's senses: her food tasted sweeter, the air smelled refreshed and fragrant, she could hear the calling of the animals in the forest, and her vision was filled with the radiance of her patient, the only sense left unfulfilled was touch and Merrill yearned to complete it with the woman's skin rubbing up against her own. When she had been treating the woman's wounds - and the treatment left no doubt that it was a woman - she had been too busy to appreciate the form, but as the yearning bubbled through her, she remembered just how wonderful the body beneath the sheets was: slender and beautifully curved in all of the right places.

She is wondrous… Merrill's hands were drawn to dark blue of her facial tattoos. Her hands instinctively started to gently trace them as she tried to mentally take in every detail of the woman. Merrill had never felt skin like hers before; it was both textured and soft and the blue color radiated serenity. Her guest's heartbeat seemed strong and her breathing had a regular rhythm to it. A protective instinct coursed through the elf as she watched the rise and fall of her patient's chest. Without thinking, Merrill started to hum a long forgotten Dalish tune that her mother had once sung to her when she was small. The words were gone, but the melody had endured. For the first time in months, Merrill felt something other than loneliness or guilt: she felt nurturing and affection whenever she looked at the sleeping form next to her.

Speaking in hushed tones, Merrill curled next to the woman and whispered softly, "You will be alright… I am here for you and will not let anything happen to you… rest…" The exhaustion of the past few days was finally too much, Merrill's eyes started to droop and her body screamed for sleep. She rested her head on a pile of blanket that she had brought over with her and feeling secure and fulfilled, the elf was finally able to fall asleep.


Aven awoke with a start. The memory of the warning lights flashing and seeing the planet getting larger on the view screen, as it pulled her ship into the atmosphere, made her gasp. What happened? How did I live through that? She reflexively brought her hands up to her chest and her eyes widened with the realization that she was still alive. She fought through the haze of her memory as she tried to remember the exact events that had brought her here: The ship took off from Xalantia… I was escaping from the horror of the massacre at the monastery… There was a planet that I had told the ship to take me to… The ship entered and asteroid field and was hit… There were flames and damage… The warning lights flashed and an alarm started to sound… I saw the planet approaching… There was a sharp pain in my side… Pain… Darkness.

A rush of fear went through her, as she slowly started to regain her senses. I am not in my ship... Where am I? How long have I been out? She knew that she had been moved from her ship and that her surroundings were not familiar. The memory of the monsters that had taken all of her friends from the monastery and transformed them into hideous creatures raced through her mind. She closed her eyes, almost afraid to look around and see their twisted, perverted faces staring back or worse, hearing their screams. She held her breath, waiting to hear the wailing sound of her sisters, but wherever she was, held only quiet. Honing her hearing and listening for the slightest noise, she picked up on the rhythmic breathing of someone or something next to her. A cold rush of fear ran over her and Aven slowly opened her eyes to see what was making the sound.

Afraid to alert her possible captor that she was awake, she tried to hold still and let her eyes adjust to the low light levels of wherever she was. She could feel the warmth of a fire burning next to her and she could see the shape of a humanoid form close by. Alien, but not unpleasant smells were wafting through the air around her. She tested her arms and legs and found that they were not bound. Aven ran her hands across her body and in doing so, met with another terror: she not wearing any clothes. What have they done to me?

Panic started to overtake her at the thought of being stripped and somehow violated by an alien. What if these are the same monsters that invaded my home or something worse? What if I crash landed and am going to change into one of those… things or be used for some other evil purpose? Aven felt like crying or fighting or running away, but fear seemed to immobilize her. Tears started to well up in her eyes, but she was too afraid to let herself give in to them.

Quiet your mind… Think… You are not a child… Find out where you are. The asari tried to reign in her thoughts and in doing so was able to focus on her surroundings. She inhaled deeply and held her breath, concentrating on what to do next. As the adrenaline started to wear off, she realized that her body was very sore, especially her head and side. She slowly moved her hand to where the pain was in her torso and could feel a bandage over her wound. I am hurt, but someone took care of me. Running her hands over her form, Aven inspected the rest of her body and its condition as best as she could. To her surprise and relief, she found that it had been cleaned, her wounds appeared to be tended and she was tucked into soft bedding. These are not the actions of those things… or a monster.

The crash had taken its toll on the asari, as had being in one position for too long. Aven could feel the pain from the wound in her side, plus the ache in her muscles from all that they had been put through. The worst though, was the headache which made her vision pulse and a wave of nausea run through her. Aven knew that she needed to stretch and decided that she would chance a look around from a sitting position. She started by moving her feet lightly and then her arms. She kept her eyes trained on the form that was too close for her to feel comfortable, but it was not moving. Aven then rolled her shoulders and neck, trying to remove some of the stiffness in them. Within a few minutes, the asari had been able to pull herself into a sitting position, with her legs stretched out and her back supported by the fire pit.

I think I'm in some sort of cave. The flicker from the dying fire was casting odd shapes against the walls, but from her new position, Aven could see that there were rock formations surrounding her. She was housed in something that nature had created, not in the artificial constructs of asari or others. The cave seemed well lived in and the asari took notice of a large shelf that was slightly leaning against a wall for support, as it was stocked with all sorts of random shaped jars, dried flowers and herbs. Aven desperately tried to find clues as to who the inhabitants might be and what their intentions would be towards her. Not seeing anything that looked threatening or dangerous, Aven was filled with a sense of relief, for it looked like the sleeping creature next to her was by herself and that no one else was in the cave.

Now is my chance… if I strike, I can probably get free. The thought made her flex her arms and ball her fists in anticipation for a conflict. She reached inside of herself and focused her energy until her body was glowing in a biotic field. She narrowed her eyes, thinking about discharging her full force on the form before her. Before she could release the singularity though, a sharp and cutting pain ran through her torso. The suddenness and the intensity of the agony ripping through her, made her biotics fail. The blue glow of her powers faded as quickly as they had been summoned and her hand went instinctively to her side and the source of the anguish. Tears came back into her eyes and more than anything, Aven wanted to scream out and have some form of release. The asari took in a deep breath and held it, hoping that the pain might stop if she ceased all movement. The damage had been done and she could feel her wound starting to rip open. A sticky, wetness on her hand from the injury, told her that she was bleeding again. Stupid… I am hurt… What am I going to do? Help me… please!

The pain was quickly becoming more than she could bear and she could feel the blood flowing freely from her wound. Her vision started to blur and a sickening feeling welled in her stomach. I cannot do this alone… I need help! The creature that was next to her still had not moved, but Aven knew that she needed its help if she wanted to live. With the few remaining seconds of consciousness that she had left, she let out a curdling scream that echoed throughout the cave. Aven slowly slumped over as her cry left her lungs and her consciousness faded.


Am I dreaming? Did someone just scream? Merrill woke up and quickly scanned her cave. The covered Eluvian immediately came into her view and anger, coupled with fear welled up within. She jumped to her feet on full alert, ready to face whatever had made the noise. Not seeing an immediate threat, she went to her patient. She's moved… oh no! The scream came from her!

Blood was pooling around the wounded creature and Merrill realized fully what had happened. Without thought, she went to work on the gaping wound. As gently as she could, Merrill lowered the woman back on the makeshift bed and then summoned a healing spell to help stop the bleeding. She pulled off the blood soaked sheet and bandages and started preparing fresh, sterilized ones to take their place. Her stockpile of supplies was in order and it only took the elf minutes to find the right combinations of herbs and materials to craft a strong healing potion to apply to the wound. A trace amount of lyrium was again one of the ingredients and when Merrill started to spread the potion over the wound, the strange blue glow appeared again. Merrill was ready this time and held the compress in place, while the warming effect took hold of both of them. "You are going to be okay… but you need to be still and rest."

The blood was starting to clot and the potion also seemed to be working. Merrill changed out the dressing again and skillfully applied a fresh one to the woman. She placed the new bandages firmly around her patient's torso, but made sure that it wasn't so tight that it would impede her breathing. Now all she had to do was wait to see if the bleeding would stop.

Merrill poured a cup of hot tea and then took hold of one of the woman's hands. The blue hand was quite a bit larger than Merrill's and the woman's fingers looked delicate and long. She was not wearing any jewelry, nor did she need to in order to bring out her beauty. The alien form felt warm in Merrill's embrace as the elf gently caressed the fingers of her patient. She had light calluses and Merrill could tell that she used her hands in her daily work, but nothing that was too harsh. Merrill could feel the roughness of her own skin against the smoothness of the woman's and wondered if the stranger would recoil from the touch. Without warning, the blue fingers curled around Merrill's and lightly squeezed them.

Shocked by the action, Merrill looked up and into the green eyes of the alien woman. They were emerald, with flecks of hazel and held an intelligence that Merrill was immediately drawn to. The elf did not release the hand that was now holding hers as she spoke to her patient in a warm, friendly tone, "Hello, my name is Merrill. Please do not be afraid… I won't harm you." Merrill's eyes widened, as a smile formed on her lips. The woman did not seem to be afraid of her and was not pulling away. "I found you in some sort of metallic boat… you were hurt and I needed to take care of you. I brought you to my cave… I guess it's my home, actually."

Aven had started to regain consciousness and in doing so, realized that she was once again lying down on the soft bedding and had been tended to. She could hear a melodic sound coming from someone or something next to her, but she could not understand what was being said. Her body was still in agony and remembering what had happened previously, she was afraid to reopen her wounds yet again. She felt the soft touch of the other's hand and with what little strength she had, wrapped her own fingers around the smaller one that had cared for her. She opened her eyes slowly and was relieved to find an interesting little creature sitting next to her.

The creature was so strange looking to the asari, as she had never seen any other humanoid form of life up-close besides the monsters that invaded her home and killed her sisters. It is white, not blue… I wonder if it is well? How curious this creature is… I have never seen such a skin tone before. This alien is not like those things that killed my sisters. Aven had to restrain herself from wanting to run her hands over the strange coat of the creature. It had strange black fur on the top of its head, pointed things on either side of her face and was more the size of an adolescent than a full grown asari. Aven's gaze was drawn back to the creature's face and Aven thought immediately that it must be a she by her soft features. She had kindness in her light green eyes and markings on her face that reminded Aven of her own. The noises coming from her mouth sounded like singing, but Aven could not understand the words. She was still in a lot of pain and without a translator knew that she would not be able to communicate much to the woman next her, so she chose to save her strength.

Looking around, Aven saw a cup of liquid sitting next to the exotic creature and was reminded that she had not had any type of nourishment in a very long time. She did not want to let go of the creature's hand, so carefully she lifted the one cradling her bandaged side and pointed to the cup, hoping that the creature would understand her gesture and offer her something to drink and possibly eat.

Merrill saw the movement that woman was making and followed the direction of where she was pointing. "You are thirsty?" Merrill picked up her glass containing her now lukewarm tea and offered it to the woman.

Aven accepted the drink and without thought, consumed the contents and then handed back the cup to the strange little creature.

"Oh good… you like the tea!" Merrill's smile widened and she refilled the cup and handed it back to the woman. She could feel the eyes of the alien watching her, taking in everything that she did. Merrill laughed nervously and continued on with her banter, "Are you hungry too? Of course you are… Merrill you're so silly. You haven't eaten anything in a long time." Merrill looked to her jarred food and pointed. The woman followed her direction and nodded. Reluctantly, Merrill let go of the woman's hand, rose from her seated position and headed over to the stockpile of jars. "I wonder what you like? Hmm… maybe some dried fruit and some stew? Yes… that sounds nice." Merrill picked over some of the containers until she found what she was looking for. On her way back to her guest, Merrill picked up a pot, some bowels and utensil. She then went to work heating up the meal, all the time talking to the woman and laughing nervously as she did so. Within a few minutes, Merrill had been able to throw together a light meal and handed a warm bowl of stew to the beauty before her.

Aven accepted the bowl and watched as the creature took sips of the broth from her own spoon. The aroma of the food made her mouth water and her stomach growl and she decided that she couldn't wait any longer to eat. The little creature's huge eyes were watching her closely. Aven took a small sip and was pleased at the flavors that touched her tongue. The stew was unlike anything that she had tasted, but the warming feeling traveling down to her stomach instantly made her feel stronger. It did not take Aven any time to complete the meal. "Thank you, little one. I am in your debt."

Merrill was pleased to see the woman wolf down her stew. She didn't realize it, but she had been holding her breath in anticipation of the alien's response to her stew. A friendly smile seemed to be permanently on Merrill's face every time she looked at her guest. Then the elf heard her speak. The language was not one that Merrill had heard before and reminded her of something that would be sung by birds in the early morning. "I don't know what you're saying… but I'm glad you like the stew. You sound like a beautiful blue bird that I might find singing to me in the forest." Merrill thought of how exotic the woman was and that her voice was rhythmical and as enchanting as the rest of her. "Luin, that is what I'm going to call you, if you don't mind… at least until you can tell me your name. It is the Dalish word for blue and has its own musical tone, like you."

The two women sat quietly together being warmed by the fire. Each was in their own state of healing: Aven from her crash and what she lived through at the monastery; Merrill from the horrors of the Eluvian and the death of Terras. Neither felt the need to speak, but both were content to be with another and not be judged or threatened. They both seemed to recognize a kindred spirit within the other and could recognize the stress and sadness in their expressions. When sleep came, both relaxed and fell into a deep and restful state: no demons called to Merrill and no screams were heard by Aven.