HE SAYS "OH BABY GIRL, DON'T GET CUT ON MY EDGES I'M THE KING OF EVERYTHING AND MY TONGUE IS A WEAPON" His ears flatten irritably as the mare speaks. There's a dozen biting retorts upon his tongue, and plenty more threats of bodily violence on top of those, but with a formidable effort Volterra manages to bite them back. If this woman is intending to heal his daughter, then it is not wise to antagonise her further, else she might take it upon herself to rub arsenic into Otem's wounds. It prickles his masculine pride to allow such an insult to go unpunished, but he supposes that as Otem's father, it's his job to put her first - and that includes allowing his ego to be deflated slightly. The spiked mare quickly moves to apologise, and Volterra's ears slowly lift themselves from their position against his scalp. "No harm done," is his response, although his deep voice is still slightly stiff as an aftereffect of his wounded pride. The woman offers her services, although she states that she is only able to lessen the pain, not remove the wound itself. Volterra wonders at what sort of Rift-born healing magic is incapable of actually healing, but he supposes an anaesthetic is better than nothing. He's surprised to see that Otem appears to be deferring to him on this, as she'd never hit him as the sort to simply follow blindly. He takes it as a good thing that his daughter trusts him enough to make this decision for her - a niggling voice in the back of his mind tells him that nobody should ever trust him again after he failed to prevent Isopia's death, but he firmly forces such musings away for a different time. "It may make sense for you to have the pain lessened, as at least that will enable us to travel further in search of a healer." He stops just short of commanding the Rift mare to go ahead, intending to allow Otem to make the final decision, however he reminds himself that she'd trusted him enough to make the choice for her and that it may appear weak to refuse to do so. She is his child; he will do anything for her, and that involves choosing what's best. After a swift internal battle, he offers the Rift mare a jerky nod. "Do it." Ordinarily he would leave it at that, but such a command might not go down too well with the feisty spiked woman and he doesn't want her going anywhere near Otem in a bad mood. "If you wouldn't mind - my daughter and I would be very grateful." The words are hastily added on, and are genuine despite his initial anger at the stranger's comment. |
otem
You'll remember me when the west wind moves upon the fields of barley You can tell the sun in his jealous sky when we walked in fields of gold The pain in Otem's shoulder seems to disappear entirely when the odd looking mare opens her mouth: the girl had never heard anyone speak to her Father like that. Anyone who came close usually received more than a handful of bruises for their verbal errors in judgement, and Otem very much doubted that now would be any different. Part of her wanted to groan at the mare, because as odd as she looked and as much as Otem was pretending that she wasn't hurt that badly, the truth was her shoulder radiated pain and the clotting blood made it feel like someone had stitched her wound shut far too tightly. But if her Father put this mare in her place, she'd probably use the magic on herself, or retract her offer to heal all together. But apparently her Father was in a generous mood, for instead of beating the mare back to her senses, he simply allowed her transgressions. But why? You Pandora hooted into her mind, alongside an image that radiated warmth and love from her sole remaining parent. Ahhh yes. Love and sacrifice. It wasn't only Isopia who was capable of demonstrating those emotions for her children. "Thank you. That's very kind of you to offer. I'm Otem by the way. This is my dad Volterra, and that's Pandora." The filly nosed towards her owl as she stepped out of Volterra's shadow. Otem wasn't trying to undermine her Father, but the strange Rift mare was quite right that both of the Helovian's had completely done away with manners. And like Volterra, Otem too was worried that the mare might do more harm than good if they continued to be rude. The autumn-coloured girl continued forward, halting and turning her body so that her wound could be seen. Even if this mare couldn't heal the wound itself, Otem would happily take a respite from the pain. "So you live here? You were born here?" The words were almost a whisper, as if the filly couldn't believe that such a thing was even possible. |
She didn't know whether to sigh with relief or smile with amusement. Either way the stallion's obvious irritation to her remark seemed to be the only repercussion. She stared with a blank face as he spoke to his offspring, wondering if all parents are like this. But no time to ponder and morn her own childhood. She closed her eyes with his curt permission, only squinting them open to shoot a quick glance to the feathered mare as she introduced her little group. She needed to concentrate if she was to do this right. Her healing powers only came with the tear in the Rift, so she hasn't had much practice. She inhaled deeply, gathering her concentration and strength until the orbs hanging from her shone with such brilliance that it would be blinding to look straight at. "Close your eyes, Otem."
She moved forward, becoming closer to Otem until she stood next to her. The light engulfing her became warm, swirling around her like dust left by a fairy. It was exhausting to hold onto the power, but she clenched her jaw and sent the magic forth. It first swirled around Otem, becoming concentrated around her skull and the wound area. Her aim was to block the receptors in her brain that screamed with pain. She could almost feel it, and her own shoulder twitched with the sensation. With a final burst of blue light, she sent all of her strength towards the filly.
It was like watching a newborn learn his legs as she opened her eyes and moved away from the feathered girl. Her glow had dimmed until it was barely visible. She was sure it won't be so draining after more practice, but she has never been without her light before. It was her security blanket, and she watched as it left her and disappeared into the stranger. It left a faint glow about the feathered girl, and with a tired sigh, Moä let her body fall to the ground. At least she was able to move away from the two. She felt naked, left without her light and weak from her effort.
Remembering Otem's question, she nodded her head. "Born and bred. It's my home, and I couldn't imagine being anywhere else. I am Moä. Has your pain lessened, Otem? We can have another go at it if you need but you'll have to give me a minute." She took a deep breath, letting herself lay on the ground for another moment before stretching out her legs and pulling herself up, her muscles trembling from exhaustion. But she will be damned if she was left compromised with the filly's sire standing there. She liked the girl enough, but the man left a sour taste in her mouth. Maybe it was those like him that have the natives all riled up. In any case, she doesn't regret her offer, and softly smiled as she leaned her body into a tree.