ZEXION'S POV:
The dawn arose over the barren, dry, desolate land. The ground was cold, raising fog into the warm sunlight that pierced the dying atmosphere. The sunlight's warmth on my face awoke me. My eye blinked several times until I was used to the blinding light. I tried to move my arms. In an instant a piecing pain shook my body until I let out a gasp apparently loud enough to stir Lisica at my right. I tried to keep quiet, but no will could keep quiet in such a pain. It felt as if my arms were being pulled right from the sockets. I dropped my head, trying to regather the energy that had just been sapped by the pain.
"Lisica" I whispered. "It's morning..."
She made a sleepy groan and just gripped the side of my jacket tighter. At this point, the bottom of my jacket was propping her head up against my right hip.
"Lisica, time to get up." I spoke a little louder.
Yet again, another groan, more emotion in it this time.
"Good morning, Lisica." I spoke, trying to give the kindest tone in my voice.
"Ugh... Hi." She lifted her head groggily.
"You had best go make sure the others are awake. They'll need to prepare breakfast."
"Uhh... Alright. I'll check on Simha too. I'll be back with some food, I promise." She got to her feet as I still had my eyes closed. She kissed my cheek and dashed away. I opened my eyes and watched her in a mixture of surprise and delight as she scampered off. I closed my eyes again, letting a small smile cross my face.
I could hear everyone slowly awakening for the day. Firewood being dropped into a pile, Lisica speaking to Siimha, Aetos making her usual rowdy comments to Tora, Dominix freaking out over a bug that crawled across her paw as she awoke, typical. I heard Tora and Aetos head out to go hunting. Dominix jogged after them shouting "Wait up!". Simha and Lisica are all who remained in camp. I heard a fire begin to crackle. I just listened to it all, as if I didn't exist. I heard footsteps approach. I lifted my head weakly to see Lisica under Sinha's arm, helping him over to me.
"Zexion..."
"... How are you feeling? Recovering, I hope." I replied sighing.
"Yes, but it's slow... you...err... it did some serious damage."
"... I see."
"I feel better in terms of energy. I won't be up to par until about 5 days from now. Even teavel will be slow until then."
"...Well, we'll need to rest as long as we need to. You need to be back to full strength... Unless you want to just leave me here. There's no time to waste."
"We won't be wasting time if we are waiting on out leader!" Lisica spoke sternly. I lifted my head to look at her and she glared at me.
"...Okay then..." I sighed.
"However, I think I could spare the energy to free you by later today. I am too stiff from the cool night to do anything exerting alot of energy right now. Perhaps around dinner, I can try. Do you think you can hang on until then?"
"Does everyone like to hint to a 'no pun intended' joke lately?" I sighed with a slightly amused tone. "Yeah, I'll be here when you are ready."
"... Okay. Lisica, please help me back to the fire. The heat may help loosen me up."
"Would you like me to try and help loosen anything?" Lisica asked generously as she helped Simha away. I just hung there, like I had a choice at all. Lisica helped Simha onto the ground near the fire. I could hear his weight fall to the ground with a wince and gasp. I heard something about getting Simha onto his back or something, but I zoned out from exhaustion.
I closed my eyes, tired, as if I didn't sleep at all last night. I daydreamed about last night, me and her.
Tora and the others had returned from hunting. I overheard that they caught only a few small mice and a rabbit. Lisica rose from Simha's side, where she had stayed for a while, since I heard no footsteps for a few hours, and grabbed the catch from Tora and set it down by the fire.
"Dominix and Aetos, can you clean that and get it cooking? I have to change Simha's bandages."
"Uhh... How do we do that?" Dominix asked.
"Forget it, Lisica. I'll take care of cleaning it and getting it going."
"Of course, I should have asked you instead." I heard Lisica comment with a slight dumbstruck tone, no doubt only allowing her green eyes to open half way in a look of annoyance at the stupidity she was just hit with.
I was weak from hunger again, but it wasn't as bad as the previous night. The cool night began to fall as the sun was starting to set behind me.
"Oh, Zeeexxioon." I heard a voice call for me. I knew it was Lisica, but it was happier than normal. I lifted my head to see her walking towards me, holding a cloth pouch again.
"I have food for you, but it's not a lot. There was hardly enough to go around."
"... It's okay. As long as everyone else was fad a fair share, I'll take whatever scraps are available." I spoke adamantly.
"Well, there's about half a serving of what the others had, but it's enough." she spoke as she fed me the first piece. As she approached me, I heard her stomach growl.
"Lisica... did YOU eat?" I looked at her concerned.
"Yes, of course..." She brought another piece to my mouth, I denied it.
"Lisica, I heard your stomach just now. You haven't eaten...Eat what you have there."
"...but, you?"
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I had enough yesterday to last. Eat, Lisica." I spoke sternly.
"Humph... alright..." she eventually gave in with some minor bickering.
"Good. You are in much more need of food than I."
"Oh..." Lisica began as she swallowed a piece. "Simha says he feels much better. He's going to try and free you after I 'finish feeding you' ." Lisica ended with the "air quote" motion of her hands.
"Great."
"Zexion!" we both turned towards the call. It was Simha, he was slowly walking towards us.
"I feel well enough to give freeing you a chance. Are you ready?" Simha bellowed.
"I guess... but you seem much better. How?"
"Lisica here is quite the caretaker. That's all I have to say. Alright, let's get you free."
Simha stood 10 feet from when I hung, and held his hands out before him, palms opened downward. He closed his eyes and focused. I could feel the daggers in the rock begin to shake. In the meantime, Tora, Aetos, and Dominix gathered around as well. I heard the sound of metal on rock as the daggers began a slow slide out of the stone. Simha began to tire. I heard his breathing pick up as well as he let out small grunts of exhaustion. Nearly there.
After a few minutes of silent struggle, the daggers slipped free and formed into one dagger in Simha's right hand. I fell forward in a crumbled heap.
"Zexion!" Lisica shouted and dove onto her knees beside me.
"NO! Don't... touch... me" I managed to utter through a winced face. My back and shoulders were not in control. They were twitching with such an intensity, my arms would occasionally jump, so would my legs. The pain was just spotted everywhere. It would jump around to where each muscle was screaming from stiffness. It felt as if a bolt of lightning struck my back, and the electricity was dancing around my body.
"Why... what's wrong?" Lisica's eyes were jumping around at the twitching limbs of my mangled body.
"My back...and shoulders... they're in a spasm. Just don't touch me. It'll only... make things... worse." I managed to build up the stamina to speak between grunts of pain. Lisica remained there as my body slowly began to wake up, or calm down... whichever.
After wincing uncontrollably for the last hour as my spine felt like it was folding in on itself in the opposite direction, the spasm began to settle. I dared not even try to move, afraid to start another. My breathing began to slow and settle out. "It seems it's starting to calm down now. It's about time." I said in between exhausted breaths, my face half coated in sand from the ground I fell upon.
**START OF AUTHOR'S NOTE**
This is a little different. Lisica is based off a VERY close friend of mine. So her and I decided to RP this next part together over Instant Message and I would add the responses without editing anything. So, for those of you reading this, this following section is in alternating viewpoints of Lisica and Zexion. You'll be able to tell who is who from the dialogue and attitude of the characters. Each new "paragraph/dialogue chunk" is a new viewpoint switching between Zexion and Lisica. Please bear with me as I try this out. I hope you enjoy this test, and please give some feedback on it if you would be so kind.
**END OF AUTHOR'S NOTE**
I sat next to Zexion, wanting to help him. But I knew moving him or even touching him would cause him pain, so I did nothing. I didn't know WHAT to do. All I could think of doing was staying with him, and giving him encouragement. "I'm glad you're starting to feel better!" I told him, happy he was feeling some sort of relief, even if it was just a small dosage.
"Thanks... It's just sore now... I suppose I could try to sit, but I might need some assistance." I spoke, as I planted my palms on the ground beside my shoulders, and began to push myself up off the ground in a sort of "push-up" style movement. My arms got to about half way up, and my muscles then just refused to flex any further. I leaned my weight to one side, allowing me to fall onto my back this time. It was a better way for my spine to sit. I could feel the vertebrae beginning to align themselves again. I felt relief after a few minutes. "That's better." I sighed, glancing over to Lisica without moving my head with a slight grin.
I blinked, staring at him for a second, before shaking my head. Smiling, I said, "You try to sit, but you end up lying on your back... Way to fail, Oh mighty Zexion." I winked at him, letting him know I was just kidding. "I'd help you sit up, but you seem oh so very comfortable the way you are now, so..." I laid down on my stomach, kicking my feet up into the air lazily, and resting my head on my arms. "If you get to be comfy, I get to be comfy too!" I announced.
I snorted jokingly. "Oh, really? Well, I'm getting feeling my back again, and all I feel is rocks digging into my back now, and it hurts frankly." I placed my hands down on the ground again to lift myself up and my arms just gave out, causing me to fall to the ground with a slight thud. "... Great... This is going to take some effort." I sighed closing my eyes.
I rolled my eyes at him, and smirked. "That's what I'm here for, isn't it?" I got up and plopped myself in front of him, sitting down, my feet on either side of his. I reached over and grabbed both is hands. "Ready?" I asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be... I hope..." I grasped her hands and at once we attempted to stand. I got about 2/3 of the way up, and my feet slid out on the sandy ground, causing me to fall backward, still grasping Lisica's hands, taking her down with me. Next thing I knew, I was on my back again, nearly hitting my head on the large rock about 3 feet from my head behind me, with Lisica lying on top of me, head hovering over my chest, her hands braced against my shoulders. I just looked up at her for a moment, dumbfounded, and a little embarrassed of what just happened before I spoke. "...Uh... sorry. Knees gave out." I grinned awkwardly.
"Two people, two times the fail..." I giggled, Hoping he didn't notice the small blush that was creeping onto my face. I looked down at him, and suddenly found it very hard to breath. "Um..." I managed to stutter. Okay, so... I fail even harder than he does. Very smooth. I thought to myself. Biting my lip, I tried to think of something to say or do, but for the first time in my life, I didn't know what to do. I should get off him. I thought. But... I didn't want too.
"How is it that I feel more comfortable now than I did before we both just fell and failed?" I grinned, noticing she felt just as awkward as I was. It did feel better, in all honesty. I guess it was straightening my spine more. I assume if she was uncomfortable, she would have gotten off me already. I wasn't going to complain, I was more comfortable at the moment. I had no idea how she felt though. A slight smile was permanently stuck on my face for a few minutes until Lisica responded.
Determined not to look like a fool, I took a second to pull myself together. "Well then. I guess we'll just stay like this." I finally said, smiling mischievously. "After all, my main priority is to make sure you're comfortable..."
"As long as you are comfortable, I don't mind what you do." I responded, sounding like such a fool. "It is getting late, don't you think you should be going to sleep soon?" I asked curiously. "This position is fine with me, so..." I trailed off, realizing I really should just shut up and prevent myself from further embarrassment.
"Oh, I can sleep like this. I'm used to being in unusual positions." I replied, purposely making a dirty joke. "I bet I can stay like this all night." I winked at him.
"Well, I can't force you to get off in my current condition, so I suppose I have no choice than to let you stay, right?" I winked back, finally knowing I felt the same way she does. I lifted my hand and placed it on Lisica's shoulder, basically forcing her to place her head on my chest. I noticed she was blushing a bit at this time and I couldn't help but grin at this. At this point, I felt no pain at all.
"Mhm... Of course you have no choice. I always get what I want." I stated matter-of-factly. "And I don't really want to get off you, so even if you wanted me off, I wouldn't be going anywhere!" I said, grinning at him. "I'm quite comfortable anyways. And apparently so are you. So it works."
"The comfortable comments are true. The others are questionable." I spoke, giving a chuckle and a smile. "Get some sleep now, alright?" I spoke, wrapping my arms around her in a sort of hug. I released the hug after a minute and just kept looking at her with that same smile that didn't escape my face for that whole moment.
"What, about you not being able to make me get off?" I mumbled, closing my eyes as he wrapped his arms around me. "It's totally true..." I trailed off. After a moment of silence, very quietly, I whispered, "You're really warm... It's nice.."
"It's nice just having you here, Lisica. And, yes I suppose the comment would be true if I even wanted you to get off anyway." I whispered back in an amused tone. "I suppose, if it would be better for you, I could get onto my side. Maybe that would be more comfortable for you to sleep." I whispered, allowing my right hand to find her left on my chest.
"I'm fine like this.. unless you think it'd be more comfortable for you... Since your recovery is important. But if it'd be worse, don't even try it." I said, shifting my head slightly so I could look at him, sending him a stern glare.
"It might be better for both of us if I move." I gave a sly wink. "Unless YOU don't want me to move. Either way, I am content." I spoke, closing my eyes, keeping a slight smile on my face.
"Who knew you could be such a flirt." I giggled. "We can try it.. I just don't want it to hurt you..."
"Alright, well... sadly, you do need to move before I can." I spoke, keeping my eyes closed and body still, while speaking through a chuckle at myself.
I sighed loudly. "Darn... Okay, well.." I rolled off him, landing on the ground beside him. "Ow... that was stupid." I commented, laughing slightly.
I smiled in a chuckle, just opening my eyes in time to see Lisica fall off me. I leaned to my left side, placed my right foot out to the side to help in turning me onto my side. It worked with little pain. I propped my head up with my left arm, while using my right arm to beckon Lisica over.
I crawled over to him quickly. It was rather cold, and I was eager to get back to his warmth. "Is that position okay for you," I asked, stifling a giggle that was caused by my dirty mind. "Or was it better before?"
"It's alright this way, Lisica." I spoke, shaking my head with a smile. "Well, it'll be better once you get over here." I finished, closing my eyes in an 'aloof' look, winking at her a moment later.
I grinned and rolled my eyes, positioning myself as close as possible, my back facing him. "Are you SURE?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow and looking back at him as if to say 'you better not lie to me'.
"I wouldn't mention it if I wasn't sure." I said with a grin, as I laid my arm down, straight out ahead of me, as if placing it there for Lisica to rest her head on. I was happy. My life changed being restrained to that cursed rock. Despite what the world was doing to us. This moment just rid every worry from my mind.
"Okay, if you're sure..." I said, placing my head on his arm, and leaning against his chest, closing my eyes. "I guess we should sleep now, huh?" I mumbled quietly.
I guess so. I'll at least be able to sleep now." I whispered back, lifting my right hand over and around her to find her right hand. I gasped it, and didn't let go. I closed my eyes and waiting for sleep to come. After a bit of time thinking, my left arm began to go numb, but I didn't feel like moving it. I just enjoyed the moment until sleep came and took hold of me.