Knights of Anathaeum A little rest and a lot of patience (Post Skirmish recovery)

[Arbok]

The road back from the Border Skirmish was long, painfully so and when the wounded had been returned to their rooms Arbok found herself in what seemed like endless days slowly being fed and healed, almost too weak to empty her own chamber pot.

So when the time came when The Order deemed she was well enough to have visitors she almost threw up in a surprise fit of coughing.

So today, Arbok sat on the sil of her window and waited. The day was drab. It seemed like the dull but relentless rain would beat off the the stone forever.
She didn't look the same anymore. Forcing the change had torn open her body in a way it shouldn't have. The healers did their best to explain it but Arbok knew little of magiks and when they had left she knew only that the magical wounds inflicted by the ethereal creatures that had appeared had effected her. Made her connection weaker. Dampened her soul.
the result was her body was a myriad of scars now.
She had reservations about being seen afterwards but she wanted more than anything to hear friends.

From the door came a knock.

"Come in."

 

[Gruki]

Lifting the catch and taking a breath, Gruki eased the door to the Mending Room open. 'Arbok?' She poked her head through the gap. 'Are you dressed?' The room was dark and dreary. She realised she probably should have asked the question before taking a look, but Arbok didn't seem to mind. Or at least she didn't appear to mind.

'I brought breakfast. Thought we could... y'know.'

Nudging the door open with her backside, Gruki reversed into the room, a steaming tray of foodstuffs in her hands. Outside, the rain was bucketing it down. It was loud in the Mending Room but not in a bad way. If anything, it was strangely comforting. Here they were, inside, warm and dry and about to eat. What more could you ask for?

'How are you feeling?' Gruki asked, setting the tray down on the sill between them. 'You look a little brighter! Well, I mean, you would if it weren't so bleak outside,' she grinned, averted her gaze.

Was that bad? Did I say a bad thing?

Arbok

 

[Arbok]

"Yes, I'm dressed, well, dressed enough."
Bedclothes, long and concealing but lightweight. Arbok had not the will to clothe fully. The malaise had set in with her hard and it showed to Gruki as she entered.
Her hair was uncombed despite its impressive length and unbranded against Arbok's usual habit and weariness had dragged her paler than usual features into a gaunt mask.
Still she smiled a little when she saw her friend.
"Breakfast, sounds wonderful right now Gruki and, I still feel like red hot anvil run-off."
Her body, which could not be said to be sitting upright, slumped forward as she spoke.
With her hand she gestured for Gruki to join her on the ample sil.
"What did you bring?"
She didn't want to be told she looked better. Aside from the day of the Skirmish she was certain that she had never looked worse.

Gruki

 

[Gruki]

'Eggs, bacon, sourdough bread and, um, coffee.' Gruki smiled, fidgeted some. It wasn't much by her family's standards. 'Just a few things to help you recover your strength,' she explained, looking down at the plate, then, up at Arbok. 'Don't hold back on my account. I made it especially for you.'

There were two cups of coffee, though.

Taking one, Gruki wrapped her hands around it as she settled in to her seat. A steamy cloud rose to fill the space between them, giving Arbok some modicum of privacy if she wished to eat. Gruki hoped she would. Arbok had lost some weight since the battle, though, of course, that was to be expected.

Gruki still had nightmares about it, and she hadn't even been wounded.

'You, uh, doing okay?' Gruki wondered. 'I would have visited you sooner but the Monastery's been all aflutter lately. That business with Lord Dunstable really shook things up,' she said, kicking herself mentally as she gazed across at her friend, noting the scar tissue. Wounds she had helped patch in the immediate aftermath. 'Sorry, that was...' She struggled to find the words.

Arbok

 

[Arbok]

Arbok, quicker than she thought she would, helped herself to a piece of stiff bacon, then the coffee.
"Oh, bless you. I've been eating oats and curd for days."
She slurped and chopped and winced a bit then chopped some more.
Upon hearing about Lord Dunstable she stopped and put her cup down.
There was silence for a moment.
"Did we fail?"
She had often wondered at the point of the battle. Why then and why there? The land held little except hills and trees. It was practically identical to many others but maybe that her own sense of personal failure trying to excuse itself.

Gruki

 

[Gruki]

'What? N-no, we didn't fail!' They hadn't lost either. It had been weeks since the battle. The situation had changed. 'Lord Dunstable's still at odds with Lord Järnberg, thanks in part to cult involvement. The Masters haven't told us anything, but I suspect they're the reason why he chose to bring the battle to us when he did.' Conventionally-speaking, his actions made no sense.

Campaigning in the dead of winter. Attacking the Order's allies for no other reason than because he could. Not to mention working with cultists.

It's insane. Gruki still struggled to come to terms with what was happening. Her fellow knights had shared their thoughts on the matter, but everyone seemed to have a different take. Hugging herself tightly, Gruki looked into Arbok's eyes. There was something there, behind the windows to her soul. Guilt, maybe.

'You didn't fail anyone, Arbok. You made it back, alive if nothing else.' Gruki sat a little straighter. She had never been good with words, but she could see the pain on her friend's face and it hurt to behold. 'A lot of people are glad you did. Syr Farren in particular.' Gruki tried a smile. A bit of warmth on a rainy day. 'You saved her life, y'know? Do you remember?'

Arbok

 

[Arbok]

"Barely, I remember running in to help her, then there was a soldier with an axe... I think I killed him but then... well, then I remember laying on the ground in more pain than I thought was possible."
She mean to sound bitter but she couldn't help it. Nice as it was for Gruki to say and maybe it was even true but that didn't mean she felt it was true.
She helped herself to some of the cheese, it was soft and sweet, sponge in her fingers.
"I'm glad Syr Farren is well."
She had almost forgotten the details but she remembered rushing to Syr Farren's aid but a lot of it was so much murky grey in her mind.
Putting down the cup she rubbed at her temples.
"It, gets hard to remember. Some days are better than others, today... today isn't good for it. I'm sorry. How is, everyone?"

Gruki

 

[Gruki]

At least she hasn't lost her appetite, the she-orc thought, pleased to see her friend eating solid foods for a change. The memory loss... the confusion she could have done without. 'Don't apologise,' she smiled, brushing away a fiery forelock. Gruki had been taught medicines and wound treatment by Syr Josai, among others. Rudimentary stuff, for the most part. How to keep people alive long enough to see a real doctor.

That sort of thing.

'We're all fine, last I checked. Just worried about you.' Gruki grimaced. 'For a while there... for a while some of us thought you might not make it.' Arbok's flesh had been a vast scrawl of scars and torn muscle, well beyond her ability to administer aid, though, Gruki had tried her damnedest to help following the retreat and subsequent counterattack.

'If you're feeling up to it, maybe we could go see a few of them?' Gruki smiled, sipping her coffee. The steam cleared her sinuses, pushed out the cold that had found its way inside. 'Or I could bring them here? Whatever you feel up to. No pressure.'

Arbok

 

[Arbok]

For a while Arbok didn't expect to either but she had told no one of her glimpse at the edge of the beyond and how she was tempted to simply fall into it due to the pain of her healing.
"Visit the others?"
That sounded amazing.
Arbok agreed and after finishing up her breakfast she doned a long tunic with jacket and boots to take to the outside.
"Who shall we see firs... firssss... *cough, cough* first?"
She didn't want to waste the good intentions of her friend. Gruki always tried so hard to be welcoming so she forced herself to stand and walk to the door as if she really had the strength to do it.

 

[Gruki]

'I-I don't know.' Gruki stood abruptly. It was good to see Arbok up and about, really, but it was also kind of concerning. 'Shouldn't you... shouldn't you be taking it slow?' She asked, making a few fruitless attempts to help her friend dress. She could do that much on her own, at least.

Walking Arbok to the door, Gruki placed a hand on the latch.

'Are you sure you don't want me to bring them here instead?' The tall half-orc worried. It was all well and good wanting to do something, but the jury was still out on whether they should.

Searching her friend's eyes imploring, Gruki sighed.

'Okay!' Opening the door, she stepped out into the corridor beyond. 'Let's go see who we can surprise. Feel free to lean on me if you need to.' A smile, playful and unabashed. 'I can take it!'

 

[Arbok]

Gruki was right, Arbok was running on 90% bravado and 10% pain tolerance.
"I'll be alright."
She didn't know if bravery was such a good idea but she was going through with it.
"Thank you Gruki."
She reached out and put her hand on her friends strong soldier and didn't remove it. As soon as it was there, she could feel Gruki take a portion of her weight but didn't buckle. She was strong as an oak.
"How about, ngh, Alouette or eh that brother of yours isn't back yet is he?"
Her laugh was short and tired but she made her way into the hall all the same if slower than usual. She was so tall and even the slightest wobble had her feeling she would topple right over.

Gruki

 

[Gruki]

More than once, Gruki thought she might have to stop her friend from falling. For all her stoicism, Arbok was clearly struggling a great deal, to stand, let alone walk. 'Don't mention it,' she replied, a hand hovering at the small of Arbok's back, to guide her, if nothing else. 'Roki's back, yes.' And Alouette was around somewhere. Maybe in her room?

Gruki could have done with one of her knitted scarfs right about then.

'Let's get somewhere warm first, though. I heard they're serving mulled wine at the Knoll. Fancy a quick trip outside?' Another proposition that she was likely to regret. Oh well. She'd make it up to Arbok and the healers somehow. 'Heck, if it gets too much, I can always give you a piggyback ride.'

The she-orc smiled at her own joke.

Arbok

 

[Arbok]

"Sure... I can do that!"
Arbok was half trying to talk herself into it. By the bottom of the stairs she was sweating like a bryar hog and still had one hand on the wall.
"I'm good, I'm good."
She said to Gruki's proposal to carry her. The idea was preposterous. Not that Gruki wasn't strong enough but Arbok's legs would be dragging on the ground.
"Come on, times wasting... to the Knoll!"
Mulled wine was a worthy goal, especially since water was all she had to drink for weeks aside from the coffee Gruki brought.

Gruki