"Ow," I said, plainly.
"You bet 'Ow,' you jerk! You had us all worried to death!" the voice retorted.
I opened my eyes. Then, I scooted back in my bed a few inches. The Selkies were a very, shall we say, chummy race, which is to say that Selkies weren't exactly worried about personal space, nor do I think that they realize how much the female body's intrusion into this space can... cause a man to feel on edge. This scoot was intended to help me feel as comfortable as it was to make her feel comfortable.
The second thing that I noticed was that I was, in fact, in a bed. I could tell that I was in the dwelling of my close friend's, Skott, for two reasons. For one, the room that I was in was covered in the dissaray of colored cloths that one would characterize as a Selkie sickbay or hospital. The Selkies never seemed to notice that bright and vibrant colors weren't the most relaxing of colors to wake up surrounded in. The vibrant reds, yellows, oranges, and so forth were quite welcoming, though. It's as if the Selkies weren't as concerned about your coming to, as they were about you feeling the warm Selkic energy welcoming you into the world, almost wishing you a clean bill of health. The other giveaway was the mass amount of magicite research books in a heavily medical area. Sometimes, Skott would use his knowledge of magicite to aid his father in the areas in which magic was more useful than the common perscription. Though, moreover, since the hospital bed was usually empty, or moreover, silent, Skott would do his research in this room instead of in the open.
Not getting the hint, Kay leaned forward so that her face was next to my own.
"If you EVER do something so wild as that," she said, referring to my rescue attempt, "I swear, I'll tie you down to your bedside, and make sure you don't ever do anything like that again!"
Which reminded me! The child who I hoped that I was not too late to save!
"Umm..." said a figure that was in the bed next to mine, "I really want to thank you for saving me..."
A shy young lad was sitting next to me. He seemed better off than I was. Or maybe worse. His face was flush, and he looked a bit heated
"Here," he said, presenting me with a box, "I want you to take this!" He shut his eyes as he jammed his present into my presence.
I may not be the best person at accepting gifts. Generally speaking, I don't much care for gifts. I feel, regardless of the feelings of the provider of the gift, indebted to them. I guess this came from growing up in a household where gil was a serious thing. Waste of money was frowned upon by both my mother and my father.
"Actually," I said, putting on my best "older brother" smile that I could, "I'm not sure that I can accept this. If this is a 'thank you' for your rescue, know that your smiling face is reward enough."
"Bu-" he began.
"And," I continued, "if this is a 'get well soon' gift, know that I have every intention of getting better soon, and that it only takes a few days of rest and the best wishes of my friends to get me back on my feet."
"I-"
I smiled again. "Don't worry about it," I said, handing him the box back.
Kay turned to me, an agitated look on her face. She took the box and handed it back to me. She then hit me, somewhat sharply, over the back of the head.
"Ow!" I managed to let slip. I had managed the habit of quickly drying any tears that start to flow from my eyes when I'm knocked in somewhat sensative areas before one could notice them.
"Just take the thing!" she exclaimed.
Thinking that I understood the situation more fully, now, I decided to accept the gift. Slowly, I pulled the cover of the box from the bottom. Inside was a picture, or a sketch, really. It appeared as though a charcoal brush was used in the drawing. The picture showed a Clavat standing with a child in his hand, running from a goblin. The realism of the sketch was remarkable! The goblin's armor was well-textured, and there was evidence of advanced shading technique used on the back and foregrounds of the picture. So great an artist as I could have pretended that I was, I was truly impressed with the detail of the sketch before me.
"You?" I asked, dumbfounded.
Blushing, the child replied, "Yes. I hope that you like it."
Kay and I laughed at that remark. This was, easily, professional work. Only extremely finnicky or picky people could find fault in this picture, and the fact that it was an incredibly young lad that drew the picture made it all the more impressive.
Just then, Skott's father walked into the room. He was wearing the traditional doctor uniform, the robe with the snake devouring its own tail, the Ouroborus, on its back, and the white and red sash across the midsection. Skott's father, Jan Moo, was the town's only doctor. As such, work was always to be had, and he had developed a large degree of experience and skill.
Wasting no time, he rushed to my side, felt the heat from either side of my face, and marked a few, quick notes. Smiling, he turned to his other patient, performing the same actions. After scribbling down a few more notes, he turned back to me and said,
"Well, there seems to be no more fever. I'd just recommend resting here for the rest of the day, and" he added, "there's a corner over there where you can see some sunlight reflected from the town's crystal. It's supposed to have a healing effect."
Turning to the little boy, he said, "And, I think that you're about ready to get on out of here. All of the symptoms of miasma poisoning seem to have disappeared from the two of you surprisingly quickly."
The boy, pleased with the news, jumped up and started to make his way out, probably hoping to get back to his friends.
"Wait!" I called after him, still obeying the "reccomendation" to stay in my bed, "could you tell me your name before you leave?"
The kid turned back to smile, and, almost clumsily, shouted back, "David! I hope that we can be friends, Alexx and Kay!"
The child bowed, slightly, and then ran from the house.
"It's about time that you got up," Nathan said. He had arrived not long after David had left. With him, were Kay and Sqzaj. I was only to have, or, I should say, was only recommended to have, up to, three guests at any given time. I had met with my friends and family by this point, and my current guests were there to keep up conversation with me, and to keep me company.
"What do you mean by 'about time?' Why does everyone keep saying that I made them wait? It's not like I could control when I had awoken from the miasma poisoning."
"Yes, we understand that," Kay said, "But three days of sleep? I couldn't possibly imagine that you were really just sleeping there for that long!" It was Selkie nature to be inheritly restless. Being a Selkie meant that you were unable to sit still for too long a time at once.
"I was asleep for how long?" I shouted. What I thought that I had experienced seemed barely long enough to be called one night's sleep!
"Well," Sqzaj began, "They say that your mind loses complete focus when you succumb to miasma poisoning. Even your dreams are supposed to be obscured when you inhale that amount of miasma." As we were taught, only a few lung-fuls of miasma were all that were required for a terminal diagnosis.
Sqzaj was quite right on that last account. The void that I had seen in my dream was very odd, to say the least. Even the giant with cold hands seemed to be odd, even beyond the fact that it contained a giant with cold hands. There certainly was a twinge of eeriness of the situation.
"Ah, well," I said. "At leat I'll be better in the morning. Then, I can get back to my training without interruption."
"Another whole day?" wondered Kay, aloud. "You just slept for three! Are you sure that you can just sit there for another whole day?" I noticed that she repeated the phrase "another whole day." From the psychology that was taught by my father, many students would find it easy to conclude that Kay could not sit still for five minutes, let alone four days. Even now, as she sat in the bed where David was sleeping, next to Sqzaj and Nathan, she was kicking her feet back and forth, violently, apparently trying to keep herself active. To this, we could merely smile.
Ignoring that comment, I turned to Sqzaj. "Before I passed out, I noticed a pair of feathery hands attached to broad arms and mismatched armor. I guess that I should thank you for coming to my aid."
"It wasn't anything, really. You were just outside of the influence. A gust of wind might have blown you in, had I not picked you up."
"Really," I said, "Must you be so modest? David and I probably wouldn't be here right now, if not for you." This was probably true, and I had no problem thanking the one who saved me, even if the entire event had humbled me to an extent.
"It's the truth!" he shot back. "And besides, it was a team effort. There's no guarantee that either of you would be here, if not for our combined efforts, which includes Nathan's help, as well." When it came to modesty, and to giving credit where credit was due, I think that Sqzaj had me fairly well bested.
I spent the rest of my day of rest conversing with my friends, and bathing in the sacred light of the crystal. The crystal is the defense that we have against the miasma. The entire world is blanketed by miasma, and only a monster or a moogle was physically capable of breathing this noxious air. The miasma is a poison that teems with darkness. The crystal, on the other hand, is a powerful, holy source that purifies a large area, town sized, of miasma, making the area breathable. There was only one drawback of using a crystal, though. Every year, a caravan had to be formed to search for myrrh. With three droplets of myrrh, collected from three seperate holy myrrh trees, one would regenerate the life of the crystal. There were situations in which the crystal died out, but that only happened if the caravan sent fell into peril. Since monsters dislike the influence of the holy crystals, they tend to stay away from the influence of the crystals, and live in areas near myrrh trees, and outside of once-populated areas. Certain monsters, like the goblin that I had felled, were easy to kill. Certain monsters, like the Behemoth, were not as easily felled. This is what makes the pilgrimages so perilous. Some days, you'll find goblins, and others, you'll be surrounded by behemoths. Caravanning wasn't the easiest occupation to fill, but it was the most just, and one of the most important.
Having been out of the hospital for the first time in days, I figured that it was time to get back onto my training. My brief run-in with Ramsey had humbled me more than I would have liked it to, and besides, I still needed to return the favor, in spades. To do this, I needed to train with more than just magical opponents, I needed to train with someone who was physically stronger than I was. Agility and grace, I had. Magical prowess, I had some of. Physical strength and stamina, I was lacking. To remedy the situation, I had decided to spend this particular occasion sparring with one of my good friends, Jorti, the Lilty.
