I had experienced a few blackouts while growing up. I lost the memories of the minute before each time and woke up with no physical discomfort. Let's just say I was pretty lucky in some areas back then. No such luck now. My gut was probably bruised even more, it felt like there were cotton balls in my ears and my mouth was completely dry. The sand was hot, itchy and everywhere. White hot pain shooting all over from my chest, which was starting to feel off. Not to mention the splitting headache that had my stomach rolling . . . oh no.
Gasping, my eyes shot open and I thrashed against whatever it was apparently holding me in place until I couldn't hold back any more. My helmet and mask were ripped off and a large hand gripped my head, forcing it in a different direction just as I started heaving. Puking with a dry mouth was just nasty. No saliva to help wash the taste out. There was some sort of conversation going on but I was unable to focus. Hacking, I turned my head to see Damas holding me bridal style and glaring, not at me for once. Following the direction of his glare to his current ire was a group of monks, who were sending me looks distaste. They were all wearing clothing that was some kind of rubber and orange metal. Any visible skin covered in some kind of white paint and markings on their faces, possibly showing rank. The one up front with face marking representing a sun however, looked like he wanted me dead. What did I do? All I did was keep their King alive and help kill of the metalheads. Wait, is it because they can sense my dark eco?
The King let off a growl, "My reasons are my own. Not another word." He tightened his grip and strode past the monks before any of them could make another remark. It's been ages since I was carried. I felt like a child again. 'No. Show no weakness.' And yet, I am now in a city full of hardened warriors. I decided to just remain quiet and see where the Sand King is taking me. Taking that moment, I glanced over to where I've been bitten. The blood flow has slowed down, but now purple gunk was swelling up and . . . hardening in a fast pace. Maybe that's what got the monks in such a bad mood.
My mind had a tight grip on a few questions. What happened to me two weeks ago? Why did the eco act like that from the amulet at the beginning? How are my glasses still in one piece and how much longer will it be that way? Will the future be stable? Is my eco stable? Will I ever be able to go home?
We only went a short distance from the garage before turning to the right into what looked like a med bay. The room itself looked like it was carved right into the rock wall. But the one thing that stood out was that there was no one inside. Surely after the skirmish outside, some would need to see a medic. Damas paused only slightly before gently dumping me onto the nearest bed and stalking out a different door. After two weeks of sleeping on hard ground, I couldn't help but start dozing off. But four things in particular were keeping me awake; 1: I am in unknown territory, 2: there was some serious shouting going on outside, 3: a familiar sensation was making itself known, and 4: my bite wound was just about gone.
Upon a door slamming open, my body jerked into a sitting position and my talons shot out, tearing up my fingertips again. Gritting my teeth in pain, I flopped over and stuffed my hands beneath my chest. 'Go away. Go away. GO AWAY!.' Thankfully my nails shrunk back down just as a hand gripped my shoulder. I just instinctively swung around with full intent to swat at whomever touched me only to have my wrist in stuck a firm grip. "Easy now." It was the Sand King and he's back with a crowd; medics, a different group of monks (Hey, is that Seem?), and warriors being escorted in either on foot or stretcher.
"Behave." That was all I received before he went elsewhere. The heat was getting really unbearable. Deciding that I will have to take the risk, I shed all of my gear off while keeping my dagger hidden beneath me. As the pieces came off, it became more noticeable that my skin was finally healing. Instead of the usual black and blue, it was a marinade of yellow and green. Tis' about time. The shirt was ruined, had to go. At least the sports bra was fully intact. My side was a bit rough to the touch. Just a newly formed scar. Dark eco works fast to keep the host alive. Well, there was one more thing I needed to achieve true happiness. Water. I'm so frigging thirsty, I'm surprised that I woke up earlier and stayed awake. My musings were cut off when Damas and what looked to be a medic stopped at the end of the bed. Female, heavily tanned, five foot something, shoulder length brown hair, green eyes, no visible scars, and knee length white lab coat. Nothing special.
Not as special as the water skin Damas tossed onto my bed before disappearing again. Lurching upwards, I tore the top off before chugging the water down. I kept a close eye on the medic who started to poke and prod my body, more so on my side. Had to keep swatting the hands away from my ears. Don't care. 'Nobody touches my hearin' aids. Mine.'
"Stop that. What's wrong with your ears. Deformation or were they cut off?" Another swat. "My ears' fine." The woman looked a bit frustrated but decided to leave the ear part be. After dealing the discomfort of being prodded at, especially on my side, she left. Free from any attention, I clutched my abdomen. 'Damn it! I was hoping the stress would let me skip it.' Why did the child bearers of my people have to evolve this way?
"Why didn't you tell me you were in pain? Where's the wound? And don't think of lying to me! I can smell the blood." Damn, the medic was quick, already having pulled my kilt off in search of the source of blood. Enough was enough.
"Knock it off!" I swiftly punched the woman in the face to gain some breathing room. "It's just my bloody cycle. Nothing to get upset about!" Oh, punching the medic was something to get upset about. Multiple Spargans saw that as an attack and lunged forward in attempt to restrain me. Not like I was going to let that happen. Calling up the red and blue ecos once more, I was ready to evade.
The blue eco helped me immensely in avoiding being grabbed. The red eco was only to aid me in pushing the Wastelanders away. They would've been too strong for me otherwise. Because of the current location, weapons weren't pulled out. But they did manage to herd me into a corner.
"What's going on here!?"
Damas left the room for only a few minutes to see if the battle damaged the front gate before admitting himself to the medics. The woman did a decent job but he doubted she was properly trained.
Returning to the medical ward, he was greeted by the sight of multiple Spargans in a corner. It wasn't the first time a Wastelander had to be restrained, either from lashing out in pain or weren't in the right of mind at the time. "T'is the lass you bought in Lordship. Going to need your help on this one. Able to channel two colors at once."
The King bit back a curse. It had to her. Pushing his way through the crowd, he seized her by the scruff of the neck before she attempted anything else. Ignoring the sounds of distress, Damas shoved her down while taking hold of the wrists. "I thought I told you to behave."
"That crazy woman needs work on her bedside manners." Her glare wasn't very intimidating. Her eyes were bloodshot and the wrists would not stop shaking, most likely from fatigue. Damas looked to the sidelines to see the medic with a blooming bruise beneath her right eye. Figures. "Tenth time in a row Dolly." The newly identified Dolly shrugged, "Did what was needed."
"Needed?! She was trying to strip me in front of," "To gain access to whatever injury is down there." "Not an injury Ragdoll!"
"ENOUGH! Seem, take her back to the cot." Damas yanked the exhausted female back up to her feet, ready to push her to the monk only to look down upon hearing something clatter on the floor. It was a Seal of Mar. Colored differently but a relic of his family.
"That," He grounded out, "had been part of my family since the beginning, until a century ago," the King forcibly turned her around, "where did you get it?" The tone of his voice left no room for argument.
"I," she wrenched out of his grip to pick up the Seal, "blame this thing, for everything. Take it, it fucked up my life," and promptly shoved into Damas's hand. "Now, since I'm working on the last bit of energy here, I need to get back to my shelter."
"Back to bed you mean lass. You're staying put until I say otherwise." Dolly came back. "Jen, not lass Ragdoll. My supplies t' deal with this particular bleeding are still over there. And whoever said I'm staying?"
Damas took that moment to speak. "You are able to withstand the storms, use multiple ecos at once, even identify the eco by scent, and you may have the potential to tame the most temperamental crocadog we have." Jen appeared to have no interest but Damas saw a glint in eyes and decided to reel her in. "Spargus would do well to have you here. Plus," she was looking more interested, "we have a bigger variety than just fish and cactus."
"Done."