(Here's another chapter! Here we go again..)
Don't own a thing.
Ashrah had been through a lot in her life. She'd fought for her life countless times, even escaped hell. She could handle, or she thought she could handle, anything. Well, handle anything better than the average person - or, in her case, demon.
Having a half un-conscious, multi-souled, delirious man to take care of however, was almost too much. Especially when said man was literally having an argument with himself. Ashrah didn't know what to think of it at first; it was overly...it was just too much. She didn't know how to react.
Then she actually started to listen to what he was saying.
It wasn't exactly what she was expecting...
"..is all your fault, you know."
"The hell it is.."
"We can't believe you are so pathetic!" There was a pause, as if Ermac didn't like what he had heard from himself. Ashrah felt her mouth fall open. She was seeing Ermac argue with himself, wasn't she? She wasn't going insane, was she? She continued to watch, hoping the answer would come to her.
"What?" Ermac ground out. Ashrah felt the hair on the back of her neck stand. She hadn't heard Ermac sound that angry before. What was she going to do if he started to get physical? Break it up? Before she realized it, she was giggling. The thought of someone fighting themself was...odd. Odd enough to be funny.
It took Ashrah a moment to realize she was being glared at and stopped laughing. When she looked at Ermac's narrowed eyes, however, the giggles returned. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, a voice was telling her that it was no time to be laughing. The man was critically injured and there she was laughing at him! Sure she was a demon, but she didn't enjoy others pain.
She took a deep breath, looking at Ermac again. "You need to rest," Ashrah said as she placed a hand on his shoulder, hoping the gesture was seen as it was meant. "Just clear your head."
Ermac chuckled, wincing afterward, and closed his eyes. "That's..hard when we have a head full of voices.."
"Try anyway." She said as gently as she could, which, wasn't as easy as she thought it would be. Why had the comment pissed her off? Maybe because she knew he had more than one soul and he seemed to think she somehow didn't understand that. She cleared her own head; there was no need to get so defensive, especially when the man could die.
Ermac kept his eyes closed, and seemed to concentrate on his breathing. It had gotten better, but not even close to normal. Ashrah watched for...she had no clue how long, but it was a while. Finally, he went to sleep. She sighed, placing a hand on his forehead and frowned. The fever hadn't faded; if anything it had gotten worse.
The demon stood, heading outside. She grabbed a small towel, saw a small stream nearby and dunked the small piece of cloth into the water. It wasn't much, but it was about all she could offer at the moment. She wringed it out and stood. Ashrah felt something akin to disappointment gnaw at the back of her mind as she stared at the small hut. What was she disappointed about? Well, besides the fact that she was practically being forced to watch over someone she didn't particularly care for. That wasn't it, though. That brought more anger than anything.
So what was it? She thought a little bit longer, and then realization hit her. She felt ashamed. Ashrah had wanted to hear something personal about Ermac; her chance being when he was delirious from fever. Instead, he had started arguing with himself…
What a strange man, she paused, not sure if the term man was correct. Maybe men would be better? She didn't know for sure. It was starting to aggravate her, her aggravation giving way to more shame. It was none of her business. Hopefully after Kenshi came back with that doctor she could leave, never seeing either of the strange warriors again.
The thought gave her something to look forward to. Her smile died before it even formed when she stepped into the hut again, however.
Ermac was still. Too still. Ashrah dropped the rag and ran to his side, falling to her knees. The impact with the hard, wooden floor and her knees produced a sickening thwack but she ignored it. Awkwardly, she placed her fingers onto his neck, checking for a pulse. She was relieved he still had one, but the sigh would have to wait.
"Ermac," she called as she shook his shoulders. A moan escaped his lips and the sigh she was holding was let loose. Ashrah slumped back onto her hind end, letting her arms keep her upright behind her. She took a moment to gain her composure before deciding to get back up and retrieve the towel she had all but thrown down. She hoped it wasn't dirty from being on the floor.
She got her feet under her, ready to stand, but instead of the one, fluid motion that she always used to stand it was replaced with an unsteady wobbling. Her knees protested, not allowing her to rise any further than half her height, and found herself falling forward.
The demon had less than two seconds to react. She held her arms out, hoping they would support her enough so she wouldn't fall on top of Ermac. The last thing she needed was to kill him…
That was a funny thought…
…but it would have to wait for later. Her plan worked, and her finger tips and toes kept her from landing on the injured man. She resisted the urge to giggle – she was doing that as of late. It looked like she was doing push-ups. Ashrah looked down, noticing her veil wasn't covering her face from Ermac. She then suddenly became self-conscious; she didn't want him to see her, and she didn't know why. Ashrah then felt foolish. He was out cold so his eyes were closed, therefore he couldn't see anything. Simple logic.
Suddenly green was all she saw and logic was nowhere in sight. She was closer to his face than she thought she had been, his eyes that much brighter. Ashrah bit her lip to stop from gasping in surprise. Of course he would wake up when she didn't want him to…in her strange position.
He looked…surprised. Who wouldn't be? She was on top of him. Or, almost. In any case, Ashrah started to move away from him, feeling completely stupid. In their proximity, she randomly noticed his eyes weren't solid green. A slightly darker green outlined where his sclera and pupil were supposed to be, giving him a much more human appearance up close. Ashrah noticed dark lashes flutter against the vivid color – she also noticed she was staring...
He was staring back, seemingly just as fascinated. Her face was open to him. She felt her face begin to warm, quickening her efforts to make distance between herself and him.
"What…"
Ashrah did not want him to finish the question, so she quickly righted herself, sitting on her bottom, being sure to keep off her throbbing knees, and placed the cool rag against his warm skin. He flinched away from the cool cloth, too shocked by the cold touch of the rag to finish his question.
"This should help." She said, not caring how obvious it was that she was trying to change the subject. Ashrah moved the rag to his bare collar bone, hoping absent-mindedly it really was helping in some way. She looked at Ermac's masked face, noting his eyes were shut in an almost serene sort of way. It was helping. Well, maybe not physically, but apparently it felt good.
After a few more moments of the circular motion on his upper chest, Ashrah stopped, thinking he was back to sleep. As she moved the rag away a gloved hand grabbed her wrist. She couldn't help but gasp in surprise.
"Don't stop," he ordered in a heavy voice. Ashrah knew he was out of it; she could tell by the way his words fell out of his mouth.
But she couldn't help but redden at the command. She wanted to slap herself. There was no way in hell she could be attracted to someone she had hated for so long –even if he had spared her life. She wasn't that kind of woman – demon, whatever. She'd never really had anyone she had been romantically involved with, and she liked it that way. Ashrah looked at his long fingers around her thin wrist and felt something flutter in her chest. Black against white…
It was nothing more than surprise. She still couldn't get her head around Ermac – one of the strongest opponents she had ever faced – lying on the floor, not even able to stand on his own. He had always been "the demon" to her; something horrible and evil and stronger than she had imagined.
Her thoughts made her sick.
"I'll be right back. I need a bucket." She removed her wrist from his grip – easier than she thought it was going to be. Not letting that bother her, she stood and headed back to the stream, finding a bucket on her way out of the door.
Ermac watched the woman leave, not knowing how to process his discovery. She didn't look anything like he had first imagined. Dark headed with deep brown eyes and a full pair of lips. No, not the demon he was expecting. He had seen a glimpse of it when he fought her, but that seemed like ages ago. She was so…human.
Far more human than he was.
He began to shake his head but thought better of it. The last thing he wanted was to get sick from too much movement. Nausea had made itself present, probably due to the constant dizziness brought on by the fever. Ermac looked at his hand, forming a weak fist. His hand had acted on its own. He was so disoriented…
A sudden shiver wracked his body and he did his best not to curl up. He wished Kenshi would hurry up; he was having trouble staying conscious.
Ashrah stepped back into the hut with a bucket full of water and the rag draped over the side of it. She knelt down beside him again, wringing the water out into the bucket. The cold cloth touched his forehead and he did his best not to flinch like he had the first time. It helped him concentrate on something besides the pain in his sides and the dizziness in his head. He felt his breath grow steady and for a moment he was almost comfortable.
Cool, slender fingers brushed against bare skin, and Ermac shivered. The comfortable moment had passed, but he was craving that cool touch. It helped keep the nausea at bay, and cleared his head. He swallowed, noting how dry his throat had become.
He coughed, not ready for the sensation, and realized too late that he couldn't stop coughing. He sat up. Panic tried to take him, but he quickly regained himself. After a few more coughs, he stopped. His sides were beyond hurting; he could only sit there, clenching the fabric of his pants legs. He heard Ashrah say something, but didn't think it important enough to find out what.
"Dammit," Ashrah spat out as she leaned forward, placing her hands on his back. "That blind bastard better get here soon…"
If Ermac didn't know any better, she sounded as if she was concerned.
The thought was short lived, however. He felt his body sway, and everything went black.
Kenshi felt his chest tighten with every step. The blind man easily dodged trees, stones and the occasional animal. He had found the doctor – Taro, as the small village called him – and was headed back to his hut. The older man's arms were securely around Kenshi's neck. The geezer couldn't make the trip up the mountain fast enough, so the warrior had thrown him on his back and told him to hang on. He had never carried anyone this way, and would have felt foolish if it weren't for the fact that his best friend was in deep trouble.
The older man shifted slightly, Kenshi feeling it in his shoulder blades. "How much longer? I don't know how much more I can take…" Kenshi would have rolled his eyes if he still had them, but kept his tone as gentle as possible.
"We're practically there." Just as the last word left his mouth, he could feel the hut close by – being blind gave him strange senses. He could sense familiar people, places and things, even if he wasn't touching and or talking to them. Being blind had its advantages.
But eyesight would be nice…
Kenshi entered his hut and gently placed the doctor on the floor. "How is he?" Kenshi sensed something was wrong, and bit his bottom lip. The woman was holding Ermac's limp form up, apparently having difficulty. Kenshi took the unconscious man from her and laid him down.
"He…just fell out." Ashrah said in a quiet but apprehensive voice.
"Well, come do your stuff." Kenshi said to the doctor without turning his head. The older man walked to Ermac, pulling out bag. As he got to work, Kenshi moved aside, taking a seat in the corner of the room, listening to the doctor's movements. He could hear Ashrah move to the other side of the room, not sitting down.
The rest of the evening consisted of the quiet sounds of the doctor operating on his new patient.
(…well, that wasn't as funny as I anticipated. Uh, it'll get funnier next chapter? J I hope you all enjoyed it and want to find out what happens! If not, that's ok. lol It is really hard writing in a blind man's POV, btw. So if I get anything wrong, bear with me!)
Red