Echos of a fateful meeting

[Sebastian Arcturis]

Leti seemed a lot more at ease with a name and Bastian could understand that. The other man's amusement at the absence of people suggested there were others sometimes at least. But he didn't push.

He wasn't too concerned about somewhere more comfortable. Nice as it might be he was used to sleeping on the road. Perhaps not so heavily injured but it wasn't his first thought. Moving certainly was the last thing from his mind.

Sebastian couldn't help a faint amused smile. Rest. Don't go anywhere. He would have to eventually but...not right now. He shifted slightly and pulled himself up to lean against the tub to get more comfortable or to at least ease some of the soreness briefly as Leti vanished again. He used the movement and the ache to wake himself up slightly, inspecting the bandages and his wounds. He was too tired to put the pieces together just yet. It wasn't exactly resting like he was told.

He paused his inspection when Leti returned, glossing over the blankets to the food. His stomach growled. It smelled as wonderful as any food might smell after not eating for days. Bastian wasn't convinced he could feed himself either but being fed was...awkward. An admission of how incapable he was. But he was hungry. He nodded and took the offered mouthful slowly.

And realized he wasn't just hungry. He hadn't eaten in days. Tired might have been the overwhelming feeling moments before but now...starving was closer.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Leti would have been lying to himself if he didn't admit he had gotten a bit attached. He was the sort of healer that kept trying until there was truly no hope. So seeing the man move around and talk put his heart at ease more than the awkwardness of getting to know a ...intimidating... stranger. He knew the man wasn't from the village and that likely the man would need to return to ....whereever that is. Still he wanted to at least see the man off well. He was surprised that the leg didn't seem to be giving the man too much trouble. It had been badly broken but leti jad been forced to focus on the more fatal wounds. It did seem to have mended straight but leti doubted that bastian would be able to walk on it just yet. Not without a lot of pain. Considering where they were leti hoped bastian wouldn't try to sneak out into the night. Even going downhill the steps to the base of the mountain would be quite the ordeal. 
Leti didn't like the idea of the man taking a tumble in the middle of the night. 

He watched bastian eat the soup with an encouraging face. It was good to see him able to stomach the food but he didn't want bastian to eat too quickly and become sick either. It wasn't grand just the same sort of lentils and veggitable soup any peasant would make but that was all the better. Likely after days of little more than goats milk even the bread might be hard for him to keep down. He brought another spoonful to bastian's lips once he was ready. For leti it was normal to see even the strongest of men laid weak by illness, so he was unfortunately oblivious to any ego bruising.
He quietly helped bastian eat for a bit. As eager as he was to know more about who bastian was and where he came from he wasn't going to distract a starving man from food for a bit of conversation. Leti wasn't bothered by the silence anyway. Once the soup was finished he handed bastian the bread made soft with broth sure that he could likely manage to nibble on it without help.
He set the wooden cutlery aside as his eyes sweeped over bastian again. 

[Sebastian Arcturis]

Everything bothered him. His back, his shoulders, his chest, breathing, his leg...he was compartmentalizing the pain as best he could. Which meant that the breathing got to bother him first and foremost until he got used to it. The leg...well he had tried weight on it while getting out of the tub and the memory of the searing pain was enough for him to fight that battle another day. As long as he didn't move. Hopefully it healed alright without a splint.

He would no doubt test it later, if only to get an idea of how recovered or not he was. But he imagined it would hurt. Whether he could actually walk...well that would be anyone's guess. He was still quite unaware of where this cave was located, but a mountain wasn't an obstacle, it was a challenge. One he certainly wasn't ready for.

He didn't let the bruised ego bother him for very long. Food was important and if he couldn't feed himself then this would have to do. Lentils and vegetables was rather grand to someone who needed food. And compared to some of what he ate while traveling it was better than his own cooking. Meat would have been nice but he wasn't so confident in his ability to keep food down. Therefore the offered bread gave him some pause. But he was still hungry so he shifted so he could take the bread in one hand. He considered it fot a silent moment, let his stomach settle.

Silence didn't bother the warden either. But certainly he did enjoy conversation. Sometimes. He coukd tell Leti was...curious? Or maybe still just ancious. He did seem to be attached to Bastian as his charge. He started to realize it was likely Leti hadn't just been falling asleep next to him but doing...well, everyrhing else with him and for him.

Finally he took small bites of the bread. It felt a lot heavier and after a while he decided that might not be the best idea. Maybe later. His arm was tired anyway. He let the rest of the bred and his hand rest in his lap, eyes half closed, convincing his stomach to calm down and stop making uneasy noises. It was suddenly a lot of food to digest. Not something he had down in a while. Bastian hoped maybe if he could sleep he wouldn't feel nauseous. He tried to take a deep breath, still not quite used to that coming up short.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Leti watched the man struggle with his newly filled belly. He wished there were more he could do but he had done everything he could think of so far. Even if the man didn't wander out of their cave and take on the mountain decent leti knew he would have to see to it that man didn't wander their home too much. It was much bigger than one might think.
Either way leti had spent so much time looking after the man that the prospect of simply watching him rather than physicaly tending to his needs seemed like a big step. 
In truth despite this being a healers hut of sorts they rarely had patients staying with them. It was afterall quite the tretcherous journey up the mountain for the sick or injured. Only famillies with deathly ill members ever hauled someone up here for the sake of constant care. 


"Where are you from?'' Leti finally asked getting to the heart of his curiousity. He so rarely got to hear  about what happened beyond the village bounds. Traders often came to and from the village and they always had a dofferent air to them than those born here in the west. But traders usually kept to themself and werent keen for a chat. Actually even most of the villagers thought leti was odd for still being curious about what went on outside at his age. Most had thoughg his curiousity was the childish sort that would die out once he realized how dangerous the world is. But it hadn't, in fact it seemed to grow stronger by the day. He sometimes dreamed of following in his father's footsteps and becoming a field medic. Seeing the world, going where the danger was and helping people, it all sounded so exciting.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

He felt quite familiar with the stone healing room, at least. And clearly, despite every indication Leti had slept here, the lack of beds, and the fact he had retrieved food from elsewhere indicated there was more to the space. From here, it seemed like a cave. The food also indicated that either Leti had prepared it before hand or there were others here.

He wasn't as familiar with the constant eyes on him. He'd been raised in the castle, with plenty of eyes, but he'd been raised as a servant. A soldier. A guard. His father checked in on him only enough to make his constant presence known and ensure the boy was excelling at his training. But he wasn't used to so much attention, even just the watching. But he tried to keep his discomfort to himself.

The question made him blink. "Ethion," he breathed. The main city where the castle resided. Sebastian didn't have a problem sharing, not really. He just wasn't sure how much longer he could stay awake. "You?" He was curious, but it was more of a means to understanding his surroundings and be more confident in them than understanding the world. Sebastian had seen a lot of the darker sides of the world. The dangers and what he needed to do about them. He supposed being stabbed was exciting. That was one way to look at it.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Leti was actually a bit surprised to find out the man was from ethion. That seemed so far away. Ethion seemed like the place where everything happens. He couldn't help but feel even more curious. But he noticed how tired bastian was and decided to real in his curiousity. "Born down the mountain in greyshollow. " he answered as though it were as mundane as one could get. 
He reached out to pull one of the blankets over and lay it around bastian. " but, we can talk more latter. "  he wished he could make it a bit more comfortable for bastian but it was clear that the man needed sleep. He took one of the blankets himself clealry intending to go back to sleep nearby. 

[Sebastian Arcturis]

Ethion was nearly the opposite side of the island. But Bastian didn't think very much of it. Throughout his childhood, or training, more apt, he had traveled the length of the island. He had been on previous missions around Greyshollow but never visited the village properly, nor had he ever stayed long. As much as Bastian had been around much of the isle and was familiar with his homeland, he had never seen all of it. He aimed to try, wanted to know.

Eventually that would entail a visit to the village Leti had been born in. If he was less tired, he would have asked about the place. About where they were now. About the implications of him saying 'down the mountain.' It was a logical connection to make they connection there. There was nothing mundane about Leti's words...he just didn't know why.

The blanket was a small comfort. Not because he had a problem (or even thought to have a problem) with how little he was wearing in front of another, but because it was a little cold. He could barely keep his eyes open before the blanket and the slight warmth provided encouraged him to give in. He attempted to mumble a thank you but it came out as a faint appreciative moan.

It was the easiest he had ever gone to sleep in his life and while he jad noticed Leti had brought more than one blanket and knew what that implied he didnt think anything of it now, letting himself drift to sleep.

It was just as deep as before, his chest rising and falling in a heavy steady rhythm, however, this was more fitful. He twitched and moaned intermittently to his dreams, but was just as dead to the world for easily another twelve hours.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Leti watched bastian fall back to deep but fitful sleep. He settled in next to Bastian and wondered what the man was dreaming about. It almost seemed that the poor guy was having nightmares. Well who could blame him, Leti didn't know what had happened but it couldn't have been nice for Bastian to end up face down nearly dead in the dirt.
He fell back asleep after a while but of course he woke long before Bastian.

Throughout the day he went about working on the sorts of chores that had piled up while he had been focusing on healing Bastian. He still checked in every so often to see if the man had woken or needed help. Leti would have liked to place the man back in the tub so he could use his gift to help ease his pain. He knew that suddenly waking back in the tub might be a jarring for the guy, that and he didn't want to risk waking him. Right now rest was important. Though he was relieved the man had woken long enough to get some food in him.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

He was running. But not from something. To something. He'd not been taught to avoid screams but to seek them out. Relentlessly, if he had to. Only he wasn't used to traipsing full speed through a forest and kept nearly tripping. But when he finally looked down, there was never anything there. And then back up and the forest was gone, replaced by vague faceless leather clad figure. Bastian reached for his blade that wasn't there.

"You think you're so noble don't you," the figure rumbled, voice far too deep to be natural. He was holding Bastian's sunforged sword, looking it over like one might look over disgusting article of clothing, but he held it almost reverently. It didn't make sense. "Fighting a war you don't understand with toys you don't understand."

The warden took a step forward, but he didn't seem to get any closer. He didn't need a weapon to be brave. This felt familiar. And also entirely wrong. Had this happened?

The figure laughed and Bastian realized he was missing an arm. And then the memory of the brief fight hit him in the back. Again.

---

Bastian started awake, sitting up with a sharp breath and immediately collapsing back against the pillow. Hadn't he already done this? He couldn't quite remember. Glancing around the space was like shaking off a dream, only not the same one. He knew this place. Sort of. The tub, the herbal scents, the blanket. There had been a young man too. A young man with white hair.

He got an arm under him slowly, easing himself up. His ribs hurt and even barely sitting up had him feeling faint and far too warm. Suddenly waking anywhere was a little jarring. He put most of it down to the trauma that had put him under. He at least had that figured out. Another mystic hunt. One that was going to last longer than just one fight.

Uncertain what time it was, the man tried to keep his panting and his pain groans to himself. Considering her couldn't walk anywhere...might be best he try to get back to sleep. But he ended up taking in the surroundings of the room with a tired but critical gaze, recommitting it to memory and then trying to sort out what was dream and what was real while he tried to cope with the pain in his leg and chest.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Feleti heard the man startle awake from where he had been working on herbs. As soon as he entered the room he could see the pain on the man's face. He moved to sit beside Bastian and pulled a small bottle from a pouch at his side. "Good Morning, Bastian..." He could see the man eyeing his surroundings in a dazed state but he was glad that at least this time Bastian hadn't tried to crawl around. He popped the cork from the bottle and held it out for Bastian to take. "Here, drink some of this. It should help with the pain." It likely wouldn't be enough to numb the pain completely but it would help, and it would make for good cover. Even he knew that using his gift openly in front of a stranger was dangerous, at least this way the man might take the pain easing as being from the medicine. Which was partially true.

Feleti took some rags and soaked them with the ointed water from the tub. He then nonchalantly pushed aside the blanket covering Bastian and began laying the rags over the worst injuries. "You.....didn't seem to sleep very well....do you always have nightmares?" He asked in a sympathy filled tone.
He placed a hand over the soaked rags on the man's chest and focused his energy on numbing the pain.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

If he had been someone who believed in fate (well, alright, he did a little but not that much) he would have thought simply thinking of the man had summoned him. The simple answer seemed to suggest it was normal enough waking hours and the young man had been in the next room.

"Morning." The guy's name slipped his mind at the moment, as did most of the conversation from yesterday. He had a vague understanding the pale blonde had been looking after Sebastian while he was unconscious and he did recall some conversation had taken place... It was enough that he took the offered bottle and only studied it a moment before taking a few sips. He didn't focus on the taste.

No sooner had he done so than the man was pulling back the blanket. He jumped, relying on his training to stop himself from grabbing the young man's arm, though his grip on the bottle tightened out of reflex. He wasn't a particularly distrustful person, but part of his job was guarding royalty. It left him on edge...all of the time. Bastian set down the half empty bottle and braced himself as Leti (there, name came back) placed the wet rags against his skin and the bandages, holding his breath.

He grimaced at the question. "Almost always," he said quietly, letting out the breath he was holding. Or at the very least annoyingly vivid dreams. The man was a little confused by the hand on his chest, but he had never been much of a healer and he understood some were a little more...whimsical. He tried to relax again as the sharper edges on the pain faded and then much of the rest along with it.

"Thank you, Leti," he said, not really sure what else to say, but convinced that some amount of gratitude was necessary. For the whole not being dead bit. And for this specific moment. "How long have I...been here?" He had to pause to take a breath mid sentence. That wasn't ideal. The other pieces of conversation from yesterday fit in together as well. Bastian blamed his nightmares for how out of sorts he felt. Well, that and all the blood loss and near dying bits.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Leti continued to rest his hand on the rags as he met bastian's thanks with a gentle smile. He contemplated the question of time for a long moment before replying. He himself was a little blurry on the exact time. He had spent so much time focused directly on keeping the man from slipping away that he hadn't even noticed the change from day to night.
"Hmm, a few days....about 5 days now perhaps?" He shrugged "It's a little hard to tell in a cave sometimes..." Normally he would know because he woke each morning to make the journey down and up the mountain to draw water but he had been sticking inside the cave more the past few days afraid of being more than an arm's length away from the injured man.
It seemed that Bastian was still pretty confused but that wasn't strange considering the man had been out for so long.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

Five days. He should have been back to the city by now. Likely the spy had followed his trail and discovered the remains of the fight. Whatever that looked like. Judging from the state of himself and the fact he was certain he'd removed the mystic's arm, it was a fair bet she assumed he was captive or dead. At that point, a search party wasn't coming.

For a heartbeat, he considered no going back. But he had to. Where would he go anyway? The castle was his home, Allerick his father, the Wardens his family. Cera...she didn't know and she never would but he needed to be there. That was that.

The mention of a cave drew his attention. That explained the shape of the space. And the lack of windows. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen the sun in...well, likely five days. "A cave. Up a mountain." He snorted softly. There was way to continue the joke. To say it was through a secret waterfall entrance or guarded by a nature nymph. Something excessive. But Bastian wasn't particularly into humor or looking beyond the physical reality he lived in. Call him unimaginative or dull. Still, he recognized there was something there.

He shifted his leg slightly, testing the limb now that the pain had faded a little. But it wasn't much. And even he recognized it was likely broken. After five days, he wouldn't be walking on it. He might be here a while. Especially if he had to climb down a mountain to get home. It was an interesting challenge, if one that made him exhausted just thinking about it.

"Do you...have to do that?" Bastian asked of Leti's hand still pressed to his chest. It wasn't that he had a problem being touched. But he wasn't exactly certain of the point.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Feleti had no idea of the man's conflicted feelings about being missing for so long. Then again even he knew that it was a long time to be away from home. If he had known he would have offered the man to stay. To the young healer the stone hollows weren't just his home, they were a home for anyone that needed healing.

In a way perhaps Bastian wasn't so wrong to think such a place was fanciful. It's labyrinth passages were a sanctuary already long forgotten. Lived in and protected by healers for generations. With the war against mystics and anything they stood for, well it was just best to keep the ruins a secret. The forest was already viewed with suspicion and fear, there was no point in spooking those they meant to serve.

His face showed brief confusion at the question as he almost hadn't realized he was still doing it. Without a large body of water, touching the soaked rag directly was the only way to use his gift. Still, with what he had done already and the potion surely the pain would be ebbed at least for a little while. Leti moved his hand away with an apologetic smile.
"no.....yes....it's part of an old tradition." He stood and glanced towards the other room. "Are you...hungry?" He asked a bit uncertain of what to say.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

The man didn't negate his questions about the location. A cave up a mountain it was then. He started to get that feeling again, like he had about the tub, just something that felt...strange. His hand on his chest too. He understood it wasn't being done in intimate manner. As inexperienced as he was in some ways, he was quite familiar with how advancing on others or being advanced on felt. This...this didn't feel like that. But he wasn't sure what it was exactly.

Then again, he was more or less used to other people holding him down to stitch this or that injury. Training to be a guard and a warden had not been a gentle process. He grunted faintly at Leti's explanation of it being part of a tradition.

He knew somewhere in this forest, there were more mystics. Likely plenty of safe houses and secret places. Even in the village of Greyshollow. But most of the war they were fighting was one of the mind. The Wardens were a secret on purpose, more fairy tale and bedtime story than anything else. But people weren't stupid. Any good bedtime story had truth somewhere and everyone knew the King hated magic.

It was beginning to dawn on him just how long he would be here, just based on his leg alone. He'd broken his arm before and it had taken almost two months to heal. But there was really nothing to be done for that.

Bastian considered Leti's question and while he did, asked one of his own. "What's the tub for?" He still recalled waking up in that. Not that he had realized in the moment, but he'd put it together. Some other traditional healing, likely, but it was still strange enough that he felt the need to ask.

He was hungry, he eventually decided. He also need to take care of business before that. And he was still entirely certain he shouldn't be standing. He nodded and then added. "I am hungry. But...help me outside first?" It was awkward, yes, but embarrassing...no. Such was life. The part that had him hesitant was more the attempt at walking than anything else.