Log Date: 11/3/95 Log Intro: Rayek and Ekuar have come with several other elves to the Festival of Flood and Flower, but Rayek has barely dared to emerge from Savah's private quarters in her house... fearing, uncharacteristically, that he no longer has a place in the village where he was born. But Savah and Ekuar, knowing that Rayek needs attention, arrange to have a healer come to check on him. But that same healer has been learning of Rayek herself, and she brings with her the one who's been providing her information.... ---------- Savah's Chamber A small cozy chamber with a window covered with beaded curtains and a low ledge circling the entire room to serve as seating and table space. In the center of the room, a circular bed set below the floor level makes a comfortable place to sit as well, soft mattress and plentiful pillows an enticing and restful sight. The colors are soft dreamy golds and all the shades of green growing things. On the ledge is a model of the fabled palace, made for Savah by Ekuar the stoneshaper and a vase full of pale blue windflowers . Contents: Tiny cat Obvious exits: Hall Brightfire has arrived. Ktai has arrived. Ktai looks at you for a moment. Rayek, as the other elves enter, is standing by the little Palace, one hand lifted to it reverently. But his face is lined with weariness... and he starts instantly, sensing the arrivals before he turns around. Petalwing oooooh! /Hellohello highthings!/ Brightfire looks at you for a moment. Ktai smiles faintly at the preserver, then looks to Rayek quietly. Brightfire actually smiles slightly at the preserver, and her rough voice replies, "Hello, bug." To Rayek, she inclines her head, offers an introduction: ** Brightfire. A healer. They said you were tired. ** Rayek tenses, at the sight of Ktai and a stranger, and frowns warily past them, as if looking for Savah or Ekuar. "I... assume 'they' are Savah and Ekuar." Brightfire sends openly ** And Mender. ** Ktai steps back, knowing she is most probably not a welcome sight. Brightfire looks at you for a moment. Rayek's voice is low and rough-edged, itself, suggesting tightly-drawn nerves rather than simple disuse. "Ah. I... see." He does not quite meet Brightfire's gaze; there is, indeed, a kind of tired lifelessness to his demeanor. Ktai looks to Brightfire for a moment, then looks back to Rayek. Brightfire studies the dark-skinned elf for several moments, then slowly steps forward, offering him a hand. ** I am not a strong healer. But perhaps I can help, some. ** Ktai stays back, fretting with her hands silently. Rayek does eye Brightfire, then, and after a moment's consideration, perhaps by way of consent, he nods towards the small, glowing sculpture that looks like the Palace. "That... will probably boost your magic." Rayek looks no less tense, however, and the set of his mouth and the tension at the corners of his eyes suggests barely suppressed embarrassment. Brightfire, curiously, drops her hand for the moment, and walks over to the little Palace, slowly reaching out to touch it. Sheer surprise laces her sending: ** It tingles! What -- is it? ** Rayek pauses. The healer might, this close to the little Palace, catch something in his stance and gaze... shame? Grief? But it is gone quickly, and all he says is, "It is a piece of the Palace of the High Ones." Ktai remains silent, watching, fretting. Twice in as many minutes: Brightfire's voice sounds, this time a reverent whisper. "The Palace..." And then she turns back to Rayek, having, indeed, sensed that shame or grief, and she once again offers her hand. ** Would you like to sit, or lie down? It may be more comfortable. ** Rayek frowns.... whatever he can do to make this pass quickly, he thinks, tense and irritable. Without voicing a reply, he sits down at the edge of the sleeping pit. Rayek, under the healer's simple visual scrutiny, veritably radiates exhaustion. And days-old pain, centered around his bandaged right ankle. Ktai bites her lip and watches silently. Brightfire frowns a bit at Rayek. ** How long have you been pushing yourself, goldeneyes? ** She sits next to him at the edge of the sleeping pit, and healing fire sparks from her fingertips, Bright's hands moving first down to the bandaged ankle. Rayek says shortly, "It has been necessary." His mouth tightens, a little, at the contact of magic to his flesh. Ktai watches, quiet. She knows that one tiny move on her part could cause him to feel cornered... and she does not want that... no, she does not want to hurt him at all... Brightfire's concentration is largely focused on the slashed ankle, but some acerbic part of her replies to his absurd statement. ** Necessary to drive yourself half to death? Foolish, Goldeneyes. Foolish. ** Slowly, under her hands, torn flesh begins to mend itself, weaving back together. Rayek, used to being called foolish, simply scowls, and mutters, "Do what Ekuar has brought you for, healer." Ktai watches from her spot, frozen to near-stone by sheer will. Brightfire looks up, briefly, through shaggy hair. ** I am. ** Healing fire breaks for a moment as her concentration does, and the sending is tinged with an oath, fire spluttering back to life as she resumes paying attention to her work. A layer at a time, cells reknit, pain from the accelaration washed away by the healer's touch. It is several minutes, far longer than it would take Leetah, before the last layers of skin are restored, but for once, Brightfire's power does not feel drained, nor is she left exhausted. ** The little Palace, ** she half send-murmurs, surprised. Rayek starts to droop, just a little, as at last after several days his right foot no longer seems to drag as if someone had tied an iron weight to it. Rayek blinks several times, residual awareness of the healing fire leaving him muzzy for a few long moments before he finally says, "...... yes." Ktai smiles faintly, allowing herself some small twinge of happiness at his obvious ease. It is quickly replaced by concern as she watches his reaction. Brightfire blinks faintly, then associates Rayek's word with her sending about the palace, and lifts a hand again, reaching out, slowly, to cup Rayek's cheek, if he will let her, to once more send healing magic questing through him, an attempt to lessen the exhaustion that the desert elf so obviously feels. Ktai bites her lip, afraid of his reaction, ready to aid the healer if need be... Rayek can be felt in the healer's senses, just a bit, to reel in an eddy of weariness as the primary pain in his body is finally eliminated... but with an effort, he straightens himself, as if determined not to display such weakness. At Brightfire's touch he stiffens, teeth clenching at the involuntarily memory. Another, darker hand has touched him so.... Rayek growls out, huskily, "I... my ankle... is fine. Thank you." Brightfire sends openly ** Your ankle is fine. _You_ are not. ** Ktai watches intently, fearful that something untoward might happen. Brightfire's healing fire is held in check, barely, as she watches the dark elf. Brightfire locksends ** Your friends want you healthy, Goldeneyes. I can help. Will you let me? ** Rayek regards the healer through slitted, suspicious eyes... but weary ones, too. And abruptly, he bows his head. Ktai blinks, her eyes gone round. Rayek frowns to himself. He promised Ekuar he would rest... shuddering briefly, he grumbles at the healer, "Do it." Brightfire nods a bit, and healing fire rises once more, far more easily than Brightfire is accustomed to, and her eyes close in concentration as she searches out pockets of exhaustion within Rayek, looking to cleanse him of them. You sense in a locksend, Brightfire's sending, intertwined with the healing magic, runs through you, as gently as Brightfire knows how -- which, considering the brusque wolfrider healer, can be a bit rough around the edges. ** Relax, ** she suggests. ** Show me ** Ktai stands silent, watching with a mixture of emotions on her face. Unaware of this, she bites her lip as the emotions flow from worry to love and back to worry. Ktai closes her eyes briefly at a send, but opens them again with no other reaction. Rayek trembles, slightly, aunder Brightfir's ministrations. His breath turns ragged in his throat. Ktai brings a hand to her mouth, yet remains still, silent. She -mustn't- make him feel cornered! Brightfire's hand, cupped against Rayek's cheek, turns gentle, half an embrace, as soft fire washes out through fingertips, still more easily, more thorough, than is usual. You locksend to Brightfire, Rayek sardonically pauses as if not quite certain what, exactly, he is supposed to show you. But his mind, now that you are in sending contact with him, radiates exhaustion all the more clearly. Layers upon layers of it, heightened and aggravated by events of recent days. Physical weariness, mental, magical... and emotional. Brightfire locksends ** Let it go, Goldeneyes. ** Brightfire nods, eyes still closed, an encouragement to the desert elf. You locksend ** ** to Brightfire. Rayek exhales, roughly... trying without much success to relax, under the glow that illumines his haggard features. Ktai watches, taking solace the only way she can: knowing he is being helped, and will once again shun her. This she knows, this she is prepared for. It won't hurt so badly... Brightfire blinks slightly, eyes opening to focus briefly on Rayek. The palace the problem? And then, abruptly, Brightfire can feel the power starting to fade, as her magic is taxed beyond even the help of the little Palace. Healing fire splutters, and she sends quickly, urgently: ** Do you want to sleep? ** Rayek almost laughs. ** Sleep... ** Sleep. Without dreams, preferably... Rayek adds, ** I... have slept much, these past days... ** Ktai watches, her face now settling on one emotion: worry. Sleep. Without dreams. Brightfire can try. As her healing power cuts in and out, she takes a breath of concentration, trying to actually reach for the power source of the little palace, channeling that into herself and out again in soft golden fire that flares a final time, a burst that will leave Brightfire wiped out, but hopefully Rayek asleep and dreamless as well. ** Much but not well, I think, Goldeneyes... ** Rayek gasps, at the sudden flare of power... does she truly reach for _the_ Palace? Something makes him wince, a memory, perhaps, that gives him a ghost of a headache before he suddenly sways to one side. "I...." His voice has suddenly thickened, slurred. Ktai looks, worry etching lines on her face. Not _the_ Palace. Not intentionally. Her consciousness follows Rayek's, coaxing him into sleep, magic searching out the places where dreams seem to come from, requesting quiet for the night. ** Rest, Goldeneyes. Let the world turn without you tonight. ** Rayek gives a slow blink, as his mind suddenly.... slips, seeming all at once wrapped in a soft, muted kind of fog. His gaze, just before his eyes drop shut, fills with yearning. Brightfire's hands fall away, healing fire dying utterly in one dark blink, and she moves to shift Rayek into the sleeping pit, the gesture almost beyond her. "Sleep," she whispers, rough voice muzzy. Ktai watches, a mixture of worry and love on her face. Quietly, she finally moves to assist Brightfire in moving Rayek. Rayek goes limp, head lolling backwards, black hair spilling back from his face in a long and tangled wave. Ktai sighs softly, and pulls a light silk sheet over Rayek's sleeping form. Brightfire watches the dark elf for several moments, assuring herself that he's relatively all right, then pushes, with difficulty, to her feet. Ktai instinctively reaches out with her own magic, and steadies Brightfire. Ktai makes a small motion towards Rayek, but pulls back, as if having thought better of it. She turns to Brightfire. ** Where would you like to go sleep? ** Brightfire rocks a bit, startled at the support, then adjusts, and sends, wearily, ** We may as well go. He'll sleep now. I hope it helps... Camp. Beyond the well... ** Ktai nods quietly and affords the sleeping Rayek one more glance before she helps Brightfire out. Ktai leaves the room. Ktai has left. Brightfire leaves the room. Brightfire has left. [End log.]