26. Frozen moment at the first sight
He'd been injured, hurt so badly he couldn't even bring himself to move. He laid there, his breathing becoming shallow, his heart barely beating. This was the end. After all this time and all the battles he'd been through, after his father had given up so much to let him live, he was going to die at the hands of some random monster.
In the end he just didn't have the strength to go on. His last thoughts were of how pathetic he would look when he was found, if he was found. Would anyone even care enough to drag his rotting carcass all the way back to Aquaria and bury him?
He felt a sweeping numbness take over his body which he could only assume was death. His will to fight and live faded slowly away into the night and he resigned himself to his fate. Just when he was sure the end had come he felt a warmth spread through his chest. His heart suddenly beating stronger and he could breath freely again.
Life was slowly returning to him and he fought to open his eyes. He could feel hands resting on his chest and someone whispering words beyond his comprehension. Suddenly he knew he was still on the battlefield. His life was still in danger, he had to act.
He lashed out at the person next to him with his clawed hand. He felt her flesh tare at the same time he realized he was mistaken. Their eyes met and locked on each other, hers in shock and his in recantation. She was no enemy.
He leapt to his feet and looked down at the girl sprawled on the ground. Sophia was looking up at him, her face full of fear and blood. He took a few stumbling steeps backward. Suddenly he felt sick, the air around him was thick and he felt his chest tighten. He didn't know what to do and suddenly panic took over and he ran.
He ran away from her, and away from the feeling of doing something so utterly wrong. He ran until he reached the river. He needed to get clean and remove the filth that tainted his body and soul.
He removed his claw as soon as he reached the water throwing the gauntlet aside and letting it fall on the rivers muddy bank. He sank to his knees and began the tedious process of unwrapping the bloody bandages from his arm. The blood was not his but Sophia's and he practically shredded every last stitch of thread to get the stained cloth off him.
Even in the dim moonlight he could see the blood, her blood, that had leaked through his heavy metal claw and covered his fingertips. How could there be so much blood when it had taken no more that a moment to inflict the wound upon her skin?
Yet he felt like he was covered in her blood. He even thought he could smell it on his skin as the cool night wind dried the fluid to his flesh. He stumbled into the river until it came up to his wast and submerged himself in the cleansing waters. Coming up for air he looked down at his hand and found the blood still there. Almost gone but still there.
He began scrubbing at his left hand with his right not caring how hard his fingernails dug into his skin. He stopped when he realized that his efforts were wasted, no amount of scrubbing was ever going to make him come clean.
He had reacted like a wounded animal not used to human contact. He'd lashed out at his Saviour without much thought almost as if she had been the one to injure him as opposed to the one who healed him. She had shown him kindness and in return he had only pain to give. The cuts on her face would heal soon enough but they would leave their mark.
Three cuts on her right cheek forever marring her perfect skin. They would always be there even years after she no longer had contact with him or his planet. She would be god only knows how far away and yet every time she looked in the mirror she would be reminded of him. Every day she would relive the pain. Every day she would hate him.
He washed his hands again, harder this time. He scrubbed at his skin until his hand was raw and yet he could still see the blood, her blood. Maybe he would be forever marked, his skin permanently stained so that just like her he would forever remember this day.
Not that he ever could forget. He could close his eyes and he would still see her sitting there, her hand held up to her injured face, her blood rushing through her delicate fingers. She had looked up at him in utter horror as if she had never been so deeply wounded in her life. Her eyes held emotions he had seen countless times before, shock and fear. But there was something else, there were tears waiting to be shed and what could have been either hurt or disappointment. He wasn't sure which one stung the most.
What he had done today had been terrible and wrong. Worst of all it could never be undone. One mistake, one bad judgment call, one moment frozen in time, and because of that his life would never be the same.