The Winglies of Hellena

Chapter Four: Stitches

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, or the original plot. They are copyright to the makers of The Legend of Dragoon.

Lily walked down the hall where the cells were, and looked at all the Winglies watching her. Neither hate nor love was on their faces. She was neutral to them, which was better than what any of the others were. She was the one that came to heal their wounds after they were beaten, the one that brought their food and their water. She stopped in front of the far cell and looked down at the Wingly lying on the floor on his face while a little girl petted his hair like you'd pet a dog. She slowly shook her head at the bloody mess that his back was. From what she could see of his face, he had a huge welt forming on the side of it. His lip was split open and his nose was bleeding as well. The crimson eyes were closed, and there was a tension at the graceful upturn at the corners of his eyes. He must have been hurting badly, but he wasn't making a sound.

The girl looked up at Lily and backed up to go sit with the others as she slipped in. The guards behind her waited outside to make sure none of the Winglies tried to make a break for it. But it didn't matter if they tried. Hellena was packed with guards roaming everywhere. Lily set down her bag as she kneeled down next to Lloyd, taking out a bottle of disinfectant and pouring it over his wounds. A sharp hiss was heard from the Wingly and he jerked away with an almost feral growl, eyes snapping open to glare at her. The guards tensed, but they had no need to interfere. Recognition dawned in the crimson orbs, and he asked quietly, "...Lily, was it?" Lily nodded her head and motioned for him to lay back down where he was. He stayed put, though, and simply looked at her. "What did you put on my back that makes it burn like acid?"

"It's a disinfectant. It's supposed to sting," Lily replied, waiting for him to come back over.

He finally did, slowly returning to his position on his stomach, folding his arms and resting his chin on them as he looked up at her. "I thought there was supposed to be disinfectant that wasn't painful," he commented.

"There is," Lily replied dryly, "But that's not what I'm supplied with. They insist that I use this kind because of the fact that it hurts." She took out a bowl and a bottle of warm water, pouring it into the bowl and soaking a cloth as she began tenderly cleaning the blood from his back.

Lloyd snorted. "Oh yes, I should have figured that." He winced only slightly while she cleaned up the gaping mouths of the whip wounds on his back, gritting his teeth against the pain. He closed his eyes until she had finished, and when he heard her taking out something else from her bag, he opened his eyes and rolled them upward to see her taking out a needle and surgical thread. He gave a slight sigh. "I doubt they have painkillers either?"

Lily brought the thread up to the needle and slipped it in with expert practice, and smirked down at him. "What, a big strong man such as yourself can't take the pain?"

"It gets annoying," Lloyd replied shortly.

"I'm teasing you," Lily said with a smile. "Now hold still. I'm going to start sewing these up." As she worked at sewing up the gaping wounds in his back, she thought to herself, I wonder what happened to him out there in the woods? What could have impaled him like that? It wasn't a weapon, there weren't any signs that it was a sword or a spear. It's none of my business asking, but maybe I could anyway. Come to think of it, I don't know his name either. But you're not supposed to get to know the slaves. You get too attached to them and when they are sold or they die, you feel more pain than is necessary. "How did you get that chest wound?" she asked eventually. "That wasn't done by any weapon that I know of."

The Wingly was silent. He was awake, staring at the far wall, but he didn't respond to her question. She frowned slightly. "Don't want to talk about it?"

"Not with a human," was the reply.

"Ah... I see." She finished stitching up the gaping wounds on his back and stood up. "In the future, Wingly, try not to give the guards here any reason to whip you like that again. My supply of surgical thread is not endless and I don't find any enjoyment piecing your flesh together until you look like a rag doll."

"Yes, ma'am," Lloyd replied with an edge of sarcasm in his voice. Lily rolled her eyes and smirked before gathering up her supplies and exiting the cell. The little girl moved back over to Lloyd and sat down in front of him again. She certainly is an affectionate little thing, Lloyd thought to himself as she resumed her stroking of his hair. He looked up at her and asked, "What's your name?"

The little girl smiled and chirped happily, "My name's Neesha!"

"Well, Neesha, despite how nice it is to have you stroking my hair, it's distracting while I try to sleep." He smiled at her gently. "Could you please let me get some rest?"

The girl frowned, then smiled again. "Guess you do need your sleep to get your back all healed up, huh? Okay I'll go talk to someone else. Sleep well, Mr. Lloyd." She hopped up and walked back over to the others while Lloyd closed his eyes and rested his cheek against his folded arms. Ignoring the throbbing pain in his back and his head, he soon drifted off to sleep. Hey, it was one way to pass the time.