Blood and Water (♠ Blue Suit ♠)

Tome crept silently across the porch and caught another dark figure at the corner of the house, sending the knife right through the person's throat and dropping it carefully to the ground. The next was a good five yards from the house and noticed him, and even his speed wasnt enough to keep the other man from shouting to whatever accomplices were left. Tome was on him a moment later and slashed the man's throat after a brief knife fight. Blood spattered across his skin and clothes, but he ignored it.


There was one on the roof with a bow and arrow and Tome had to throw his knife to take the man down. The body hit the ground with a loud thump and Tome made a dash for the last man he'd seen disappeared inside the door. He hit the door at a run, didn't bother with silence, and grabbed the man by his head, giving a sharp twist and letting the body drop to the ground after his neck snapped. He stood breathing carefully, spattered with flecks of red and with the hardened eyes of a soldier and killer.


He looked at Fawn, saw her cowering in the corner of the couch with her hands over her ears and her eyes hidden in her knees, and was glad she hadnt seen. "Are either of you hurt?
 
Mia had positioned herself in front of Fawn as she saw someone slipping inside the house. Her fingers clenched strongly around the knife again, her knuckles turning practically white because of the strength she was using. She scooted back to her just a bit, bending just a little, ready to attack. Mia had never had attacked anyone before, at least not with a 'weapon'. So she could just stand there, watching the man cautiously in case he charged against them.


Her chance to strike never came though, nor did it came for the man either. Suddenly, Tome had already appeared by him and had snapped his neck, the lifeless body falling to the floor with a thump. Mia glanced at Tome with a fix of strange relief and panic. Her eyes darted from the various bloody stains he had got on his body, before they raised and met with Tome's cold and killer ones. She heard his question but she didn't answer, instead she looked down to the corpse, wondering just how many other bodies were to be found outside. She took a step to the side and quickly but painfully let go of the knife, her muscles had gone numb because of the strong way she was holding it after all.


Instantly she bended down to pick it up, her amethyst eyes lightly wide. She forced her hands to stop shaking before taking it between her fingers. Was she truly that scared of Tome? No.. Not really. He had done what had been expected of him. He had protected his little sister. Then what was it that frightened her so much? The fact that she would have been forced to even kill a man as well. So she did the thing that she was better at, pushing her fear away and making sure that it was locked away. A sigh escaped her lips before she finally straightened and looked at Tome "And you? Are you alright?" She finally asked.
 
Tome watched her steadily when she looked at him, picking up the body as she fumbled her knife, and got it over his shoulder even as she enquired towards his health. His arm was bleeding, probably caught by the arrow the bowman he'd killed on the roof had shot, but it was fine. "Fine." He said simply, unused to anyone caring about battle injuries, and just started to walk out with his burden. "Stay put, Fawn," He said softly as he got to the door. "Don't move. I'll be back in just a moment."


He left after that, rounding up the bodies and moving them away to the side of the house where they wouldn't be seen by anyone looking out. Once everything was settled and he was sure it was safe, he would take them away. When they were taken care of, he went back into the house and straight up to the bathroom, washing off his face and changing his clothes so that Fawn wouldn't have to see. She knew he fought, knew he killed when he had to and was ruthless in combat, but he didn't like having her see the evidence so brutally.


When he came back down, he passed Mia and went to his sister's side, putting his arms around her to quell her shaking. "All right," He said gently, "It's all right. It's over now. Come on, let's get you to bed while I clean up, yes? It's okay. You can open your eyes now." When she lifted her head, her eyes were still full of fear, but relief as well to see him - mostly - unharmed, and she clung to him like a baby monkey, all thin, gangly limbs and as much strength as she could manage. He shushed her softly and picked her up, carrying her towards the stairs to put her to bed. He would clean up the blood and patch his arm once she was safely lying down.
 
Mia watched him going up the stairs and just when he disappeared on the second floor she slowly dragged her feet to the kitchen and left the knife there. Without it, without all the weight it represented she finally allowed her arms to wrap around herself tightly. She shuddered for a moment before she squeezed her eyes shut. She... Had been scared. She felt herself starting to hyperventilate and slid down to the floor, hugging herself even tighter. It always worked, she just had to keep herself together.


Now, even if Mia wanted to think of herself as strong, she had never seen someone kill a man just before her own eyes. She had seen people being pretty badly beaten down, flowing blood coming out from the worst punishments. Her own body being the reminder of that. However, even if they were left on the verge of death, they had the possibility to get better, to heal. Those men had not been given that chance, they had not been lucky.


She shook her head before opening her eyes again, her head spinning. She had to get herself busy... The wound. If Tome allowed her she would help him to patch up his wound. She pushed herself up, slowly pulling her hands from her arms, the nails which had dug into her flesh, lightly stained by blood. She had become good at that after all. With that in mind, she slowly headed upstairs.
 
Tome left Fawn's door mostly open because he couldn't be bothered to close it, too focused on her. He checked her room to be sure no one was inside, settling her gently in bed and petting at her hair until she finally let him go. He had to reassure her over and over that it was done now and no one would hurt them. He was a soldier, after all. A warrior. No, a weapon. It was what he'd been raised to be, and he did it well.


When Fawn had calmed, with the promise of him returning to sleep in her room with her that night, he got up to check the rest of the house. He was sure her room was empty, so he secured the windows and closed the door behind him, nearly walking straight into Mia as he walked out. He looked at her a moment, then turned and just moved into the next room.


"You're sure you're all right?" He asked her as he checked his own room to be sure it was empty, then moved on to hers next. Mia was shaking, perceptible to his eyes, and he'd seen the signs of battle trauma before. People like her weren't used to fighting, or danger, or death. He was. "You should sit down. Drink water and take deep breaths. It will help."
 
"I'm fine" Mia said in a tone of voice which sounded much more firm that she had actually expected. She took comfort on that, for that gave her a feeling of confidence. She then caught a glimpse of the wounded arm and almost made an attempt of stretching out her hand to reach it but she suppressed the impulse "I'm fine but you're wounded, right? Shouldn't you get that treated? It doesn't matter how much of a..." She struggled for a bit to come up with the concept ".. warrior you are. You still need treatment. Your body does, at least" Mia's amethyst eyes shone for a moment with a feeling she was particularly familiar with when she saw any of her fellow slaves injured, concern.


"I can help you with that if you'd like. Judging by the blood stain it seems that the wound is located on your upper arm, almost reaching your shoulder. It's not a place really easy to treat by your own" She wanted to do that much at least. She felt the strange need to help, she just wanted to feel herself useful and do something instead of trying to 'calm down'.
 
((Dang it -_- had it all nice and type out and my computer turned off without warning me the battery was low. Lost all of it))


Tome paused long enough to look at her skeptically over his shoulder. "You think you're be able to take a needle to me?" He asked, an honest question said without threat or irritation. He gestured vaguely at her as he checked the closet to be sure no one was hiding inside, and thought he would have to check the roof again. "Your hands are shaking." He would be better it off doing it himself and just using a mirror if she couldn't make the tremors stop.


"I still don't know if it will be stitches or not." He shook his head as he walked past her out of the room, stopping at the top of the stairs and glancing back at her. "Wait for me in the kitchen. I have to dispose of the bodies." He didn't so much care about anyone finding them, since they'd attacked his home, but he didn't want them around for Fawn to see. He would take them out to the woods and let the scavengers have them.
 
(Happens to me a lot X_x But its my browser the one that unexpectedly closes, not my computer the one that turns off. The post was still good either way xD )


Mia huffed a bit when Tome was gone of sight again and obediently walked down to the kitchen. She glanced down at her hands and her brows furrowed when she noticed she was indeed shaking a bit. She hated that side of her. It had been the same before. She took Tome's previous advice and poured herself some water, drinking it slowly as she sat down on a chair. She took it in long sips, taking her time to get her body to understand it was no longer facing danger.


The next time she poured herself some more water she was surprised by how quickly she finished it that time. Then she poured herself some more and the same. Fortunately, her tremors did stopped at the end. She was okay, it was all okay. She set her empty glass of water down on the table as she laid her cheek on the palm of her hand, brushing her fingertips against the cold glass, as she waited for Tome.
 
((I just sat there glaring at the computer going "T~T It's never as good the second time, you evil piece of trash. . ." xD ))


Tome took his time, dragging all of the bodies far into the forest. His arm bled more, but he knew that if he'd needed stitches he would've torn them already by stitching it first, and it was better this way. He could bear it - he'd seen much, much worse, and lived to tell the tale. When he got back to the house, he had bled all the way to his hand and he just pulled off his shirt since it was stained anyway, using it to mop up the blood so he wouldn't drip on the floor.


"Feeling better now?" He asked as he walked into the kitchen, going straight to the cabinet under the sink and pulling out a box with medical supplies inside. "Let's see those hands." He didn't think he'd need stitches, but it wouldn't hurt to make sure she was steady anyway.
 
(Lol xD Guess you're right on that one)


Mia looked at him and stood up, stretching out her hands with a rather satisfied yet sort of childish look on her face. She felt strangely proud about the fact that she had got them to stop. Her eyes stopped on his wound before going down to the box he held in his hands "Will you let me help you now?" She asked as she looked up at him.


She was pretty confident on how to treat a wound. Sure he was bleeding quite a bit. But she was sure that if they cleaned it up, disinfected it and then wrapped a bandage around it, it would all be okay. It was a good thing then that she had been grown used to wounds and blood a long time ago.
 
Tome sighed, fought the urge to roll his eyes, and just pulled a chair out to sit backwards in it, leaning his chest against the back of it and setting his elbow on the table. He gestured to the wound with his other hand and just kicked out another chair for her. "If you think you can." He said, shrugging. Her hands weren't shaking anymore, so if she had actual knowledge of first aid he could let her help him. If she didn't - Well, he would be finding out in a minute or two, now wouldn't he?
 
Mia nodded and proceded to take his arm between her fingers "First, you've got to keep it elevated" She said as she softly raised his arm, keeping it stretched. His wound was on his upper arm after all, keeping it in that position was to prevent him from bleeding out and to keep his blood pressure normal. She then took out what seemed to be a clean small rag from the box "Can you keep your arm like that for a moment?" She asked before she approached the sink, soaking the rag in water before squeezing it a little and returning to his side.


She pressed the rag against his wound for several seconds before carefully rubbing it against the injury. She didn't even look at him again, just focusing on treating his arm. She also cleaned the spots which had been stained by the blood after she was done with cleaning up the wound. For a moment she felt rather taken aback by the bunch of scars he had got all over his body. She hadn't imagine that a person like him would have such things on his body. He was a king's son after all. Nevertheless, she immediately shrugged that off.


She then disinfected his wound with the same rag before taking another small cloth with her hand and pressing the wound with it again. Fortunately, it didn't seem he would be needing any stitches. She kept it like that for a few minutes before taking some bandages "Would you please keep pressing this against your wound?" She told him before wrapping the bandages around the wounded area carefully, firmly but not tightly tying it up as she finished "All done" She finally declared.
 
Tome stayed quiet and patient throughout the whole procedure, though part of him wanted to say that he could hold a crouch for hours and could very well hold his arm up for a few minutes. But speaking would only make her slow down and he wanted this over with as fast as possible. The sooner he could get back to Fawn and make sure she was doing all right the better. She'd been scared, of course, for herself and for Tome - and even for Mia, he suspected. He needed to reassure her.


When Mia had finished, Tome moved his arm a bit to test that the bandage would stay on, then nodded and got to his feet. "Good job." He said, scooting the chair back in. "Thank you." He gestured at the medical kit as he picked up his stained shirt and started walking out. "That can get thrown back under the sink. If you need anything, I'll be with Fawn." He knew Mia was still probably afraid, and if she needed to sit with them he would allow it, so long as she could keep her voice down.
 
Mia looked at him and nodded "Don't mention it" She said before she turned around to take the medical kit. Just then the floor seemed to disappear below her feet for a moment and she had to reach out for the table for support. A sigh escaped her lips before she placed her hand on her forehead. She closed her eyes before prying them open. It took a while for her vision to settle, but when it did she finally stopped seeing things around her blurry. She reached out for the box and took it. If it was because of her lack of sleep it was really affecting her on the most inconvenient moment.
 
Tome spent a long time comforting Fawn again, reading a story to her and lying next to her on her bed until she slept, reassuring her until she could calm enough to drift off to sleep. The ordeal had tired her, and he was happy at least that it meant she wouldn't have to worry anymore. He shifted carefully off the bed so as not to wake her, and just sat next to her for a while, wondering whether or not he should leave long enough to check on Mia again. He wasn't heartless. He knew she was scared, too. Just, his sister came first.
 
When Mia made it back to her bed she plopped down on it, burying her face on her pillow. A sudden shudder ran down her spine as she thought of the possibility of any other 'stranger' getting into the house and she snuggled, wrapping the sheets tightly around herself. Her eyes were dropping but even if this time she was finally feeling tired enough to sleep, she felt scared to do so. She then sat back up, leaning her head against the wall as she did so. In no time, she found herself drifting off to sleep in that very position. Her light colored hair falling in wavy curls on her face as her hands were loosely clenched on top of her lap.
 
In the end, Tome couldn't bring himself to leave Fawn's side that night. In the morning, though, while she still slept and didn't appear to be waking up any time soon, he walked down the hall to knock quietly on Mia's door. "Mia?" He called softly, not wanting to disturb her but wanting to make sure she was still there and not curled up panicking in a corner. He would need to wait until Fawn woke to make breakfast, but he could at least check on Mia in the meantime.
 
Mia was curling up on the bed as she heard Tome's quiet knock. She had woken up a few hours ago, in the end, even if she had gone out like a light because of the tiredness, the fear had managed to keep her wide awake after she had woken up 4 hours later. She rubbed her eyes with her clenched fists, she looked frankly... not that good. It took her a little bit but she finally slid her legs to the side, pushing herself forward to get off the bed. She stumbled a bit but she managed to get to the room's door, pulling it open "Good morning?"
 
Tome stepped back a little and blinked in surprise, frowning slightly at her. "You look like hell." He said, bluntly and without preamble. She looked like she hadn't slept, and he knew what that looked like. "You should rest today. I'll make breakfast once Fawn's awake." He stepped back again and looked towards his sister's room. "You need to sleep." There was no arguing that point. She was exhausted and it was easy to see.


((Sorry it's short. Super distracted and transitioning between rooms lol))
 
"I can't" Mia admitted as she rubbed her temples tiredly "I've actually been having sleep troubles since three nights ago" She looked him in the eyes, her own pleading "Though I look like this I can still perform my duties, I know my own limits. If I do not get myself busy, I think it would be even more tiring" She slowly hugged herself before leaning softly against the door's frame "I'm sorry if I'm troubling you" She lowered her eyes to the floor.


(It's okay, don't sweat it ^^ The length doesn't matter at all :) )
 
Tome bit back a scoff but rolled his eyes because she wasn't looking. "Who cares about your duties? The house is clean enough and I've managed well enough on my own for the past few years - you should worry about your health." He shook his head and started walking towards the stairs, waving a hand at her over his shoulder. "Follow. I'll make you something to help you sleep." He had to take care of Fawn, and she had trouble sleeping sometimes so he knew he could do it.
 
Mia tilted her head to the side before she curiously followed him. She hadn't really expected him to worry about her health, but then again Tome always turned out to be not at all as she had thought he would be. She was also wondering what would he be giving to her. Before, when she had trouble sleeping her mother would make her a beverage which consisted mainly of a herb that grew by her house. Mia had learnt how to do it herself but she had never been able to find that herb ever again. As she thought of that she absently walked down the stairs.
 
By the time Mia followed him down, Tome had a kettle on the stove, water heating slowly until it would eventually boil. He packed some of the dried leaves and herbs from a small canister into a tea strainer and set it aside on a plate to wait for the water, a mug already waiting to be used. "I mixed it into the tea, if you were wondering." He said, because he could just feel her eyes on him. "She doesn't like the taste of medicine." No one really did, so he tried to make it taste better for her. There was plenty left, as he hadn't had to use it in a long time, so he didn't mind sharing.
 
Mia couldn't help it but let a small and brief chuckle out at his last remark "Kids usually dislike it much more strongly than adults" She declared, her eyes lowering from him to her hands. Elliot used to hate it as well and was a whole lot whinier than her mother when he had to take his medicine. Mia had to try out different ways to get him to take it. Her gaze softened as a warm smile escaped her lips "Thank you" She finally said, her eyes still locked on her long and thin fingers.
 
Tome shook his head and just adjusted the heat on the stove, leaning an elbow on the counter. "Adults dislike it just as much," He said, shrugging, "They just learn to hold their breath and swallow." No one liked the taste of medicine. They just got used to drinking a lot of water afterwards to be rid of the taste. He didn't like it either, but he'd long since grown used to doing things he didn't like, when they were necessary or not-so-necessary.
 
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