Gilan paced the length of the main room of the tiny cabin, waiting for Astrid to regain consciousness. He mentally kicked himself for not telling Will about her abilities. Once Will had realized it was her, he, of course, immediately blamed himself for not seeing it. Gilan glanced at him. He was sitting in one of the wooden chairs by the table, head in hands, elbows on knees; his misery was almost palpable.
Alyss had shown up shortly after they had brought the elfmaid back to the cabin and was now sitting in the room with her. Halt was in the room as well, watching her injuries to make sure they didn't open up again. He had told both Gilan and Will to get out on account of the moping and pacing in the small space.
Gilan now walked over to the bedroom door. He had barely touched it when he heard a voice from inside, "Not yet, Gilan," Halt said from within. Gilan sighed and resumed his pacing.
Inside the tiny bedroom, Astrid was just becoming aware of her surroundings. She blinked several times, her eyes adjusting to the midmorning light streaming in through the window. Alyss sat on the bed beside her, stroking her forehead with a cool cloth while Halt reclined in a chair at the foot of the bed, arms crossed, taciturn as ever.
Halt had cleaned her wounds and stopped the bleeding as best he could, but the bite mark on her left fore arm still welled with blood. Her arm was the only thing he hadn't bandaged yet and Alyss was dabbing at it as well.
Astrid knew better than to try to sit up right away. She also knew that she wouldn't feel the full impact of her wounds until she was completely awake. Slowly, her whole body started to throb, pain flared through her in waves emanating from her back and right side. She gingerly rolled onto her left side, careful not to move her arm. Almost immediately, the burning sensation in her lower back ceased and she sighed in relief.
There was not much to the room. The bed, a chair, and a small dresser were the only furnishings. She could hear pacing in the adjacent room through the closed door and occasionally there were voices, one deep with remorse, the one who shot me, she thought, and one with a more agitated note that she recognized as Gilan.
"I'm glad you're awake and not in too much pain," Alyss said, raising her hand to dab at the bite again.
Astrid smiled tightly as she caught Alyss's hand. "Thank you, Alyss," she glanced at Halt at the foot of the bed. Alyss took the hint and, standing to exit the room, dropped the cloth in the bowl beside the bed on her way out.
As soon as the door closed Astrid was pushing herself into a sitting position, her back as straight as she could keep it. Halt watched her intently as she situated herself and began pulling off her bandages. "You should leave those on," he mused.
"If you were my physician," she said meeting his eyes, "or if I were human and therefore unable to heal myself, I might heed your words, but you are not my physician and I am not human, you are unfit to counsel me in medicine." Both of Halt's eyebrows rose as she spoke. "Now, did you put any kind of salve on my wounds?"
His posture didn't change as he listened, nor when he replied simply, "I made no attempt to advise you on decisions made regarding your injuries. It was merely a suggestion to be taken or rejected at your discretion. The only salve I used was to protect against infection."
Astrid removed the last of the bandages from her midsection and nodded, looking at the bowl of water on the floor, "I appreciate your effort, but it must be washed off."
He stood and walked to the bed, picking up the bowl with the cloth on the way. Gently as he could, Halt wiped the puncture on the upper right side of her back clean of the salve. As he worked, he noticed her apparent lack of modesty didn't bother her at all. She just sat patiently, half-naked on the bed, like she did it every day.
Shaking his head he pushed her forward and started wiping at the gouge in her lower back. "I'm trying to be gentle," he said after she had jerked away from his hands a few times.
"It's not that. I could care less about the pain." Astrid's voice was light, elated as if she were laughing. "I'm ticklish there is all."
She received no response as he finished removing the salve from her back. Halt tossed the cloth into the bowl, water sloshing over the edges, and exited the room without shutting the door behind him.
Astrid was preparing to morph when there was a knock on the half open door. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Gilan standing in the doorway, eyes wide in shock. "I am fine," she said dismissively.
Morphing wasn't as painful this time, she knew what to expect and braced herself for it, but white hot lightening still seared through her whole back, right side, and left arm. She ground her lengthening teeth together and managed to stay silent throughout the change. Testing her paws, Astrid judged that it was not time to leap out the window and dash into the forest.
As she was pushing past Gilan who was still standing staring at her, she said without looking up, "You really ought to stop gawking at me with your mouth open. It's not very attractive." At this Gilan shut his mouth and blinked.
Astrid limped into the main room and sniffed out the front door. She turned and sat by the door, tail lashing as she looked around the room. It was small, fitting a small kitchenette, a fireplace, and a table with a few chairs. Will and Alyss were sitting at the table talking in low voices and Halt was leaning against the wall near the fireplace watching her. There was no fire in the grate, the mid morning sun was warming and bright enough. The strong sunlight splashed against the wooden walls making them look lighter than the really were.
Tired of waiting, Astrid cleared her throat, attracting the attention of everyone in the room. "Will somebody please be kind enough to open the door? I would do it myself, but I do not seem to have thumbs." Now they were all gawking with their mouths open.
She rolled her eyes and cleared her throat, which for a tiger is more like a half roar combined with a purr. "The door, someone?" she said impatiently. Halt was the first one to shake himself out of it, and walking to the door, he pulled open for her. She stalked out with a muttered "thank you" and made her way painfully to the trees.
Slowly, Astrid pushed her way through the woods to where she had left her pack, wishing the entire way that she could run and stretch her limbs. After almost half an hour of the laggard pace, she reached the small clearing with the tree she used as a storage space.
She quickly morphed and pulled the thickly woven canvas bag out of the tree. Stripping out of her dirty leggings, she fished a new pair out of her bag and tugged on a pair of knee high boots over them, the leather of which was supple and stretched to fit her feet. Then, she rummaged around until she found her spare tunic. Fawn brown, thin and by human standards "daringly cut", but it was soft and comfortable so she slipped it over her head and laced up a wide, fitted leather belt around her waist over it. The belt was a utilitarian sort with straps sown onto it to hold weapons and such. Another belt, this one much thinner, went around her hips and held an assortment of pouches. She also pulled out her cloak, a simple, light, silvery gray affair that draped loosely around her shoulders, but didn't weigh her down. Lastly, she slid two short daggers into the two loops on the back of her belt and shoved a slender dirk into her right boot. Standing, Astrid slung her pack on under her cloak, flicked her hood up over her head, and took off back the way she had come.
As she walked, she whispered to the shadows, summoning a healing darkness that swirled around her as she pushed through the bushes. Tissue and muscle were being sewn back together, slowly but surely. Astrid's eyes, normally light cobalt, became a dark stormy gray as she whispered the words of magic. She directed the magic to focus mainly on the wounds on her back, sending just enough energy into her arm to jumpstart the healing process. If someone were to watch closely, they would see a faint cloud of shadow slowly being absorbed into the silver clad figure at the center.