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Tweak says, "DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!"

Ayla of No People (_ayla_) wrote in mirage_rpg,
@ 2008-08-09 09:53:00

Entry tags:

ayla, complete, day 10, yvaine

Day 10
Who: Yvaine & Ayla
What: Healing Session
When: Mid Morning
Where: Yvaine's Room
Rating: G
Status: Finished

Ayla woke early, though it was hard to tell with the storm still raging outside. Sitting up on her bed, she looked around the dark cave. Sparse light filtered in through the singular window at the back. She'd never had a window in her cave in the valley, and that was only one of the differences between this cave and that one. Still, it was more familiar than a room such as Rusty's was to her.

She crawled to the firepit where she'd banked her fire and built it up again. She needed to make some tea for Yvaine and get it to her. The dressing on her leg probably needed to be changed as well. She would prepare everything and then take it with her to the star woman's room. She boiled willow bark and snake root for the tea. Instead of the snake root going on the outside, it was going to heal from the inside.

It would still take several weeks before it was completely healed, but Ayla was sure she would be able to walk with no problems at all. As the water for the tea boiled, she cleaned herself up and put on a new wrap. Being in a cave with a fire always made her smell a little smoky. Not unpleasant, just... outdoorsy. She plaited her long blond hair back in a single braid down her back and went back for the tea.

With soaked leather, dry gauze and tea in hand, she left her room and headed to Yvaine's second story room. She shifted everything in her arms in order to knock on the door.

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fallen_star
2008-08-10 03:06 am UTC (link)

Yvaine had spent the last few days since her arrival in her room, gazing longingly at the stars around her. Her leg ached, but the tea brought to her door each day helped. The crutches were strange, but she used them, and they helped keep pain from searing up her broken limb. Her skin never itched, and she never touched her leg. The bandages stayed in place.

Sometimes the star woman sang tragic songs of great loneliness, songs she used to sing with her sisters when she lived in the sky above Faerie. Other times she would weep. Occasionally she would accomplish both. Once, when she finally felt well enough to venture outside, she moved into the hall where she heard a great racket all about her. It took a moment to realize it was coming from outside as opposed to within.

When she peered out a window, she noticed a fierce storm outside. It was so strange to see them from this angle that she simply watched it for a moment before she hobbled her way down every stair, walked down the hall, and opened the door. A spray of cold rainwater and wind attacked her, sending toppling onto her rump in the mud which, in turn, sent pain spearing through her leg. Despite the beauty and enigma of the storm, she realized it didn’t agree with her one bit, so she found a way to slam the door closed before hobbling her way back up the stairs. It had been easier to go down them.

Yvaine decided she wouldn’t leave again until it was over. Each day she opened her door to listen for the rain, and each day she heard the pattering of the water and howling of the rain on the building. Her own room was sound proof, save for knocks upon her door when Ayla left the tea.

Normally, Yvaine would give the cavewoman time to leave before she got up to get the tea. Some part of her figured she wanted her privacy, just as she knew Ayla knew the star would want hers. Today, however, she hobbled to her feet, grasping the crutches, and walked right away to the door. The cavewoman stood there, holding healing objects in her hand along with the tea. A small smile passed over the star lady’s lips, and she invited the golden haired human into her room. If she had only had the tea, she might not have, but it was obvious she was here to change the leg bandage.

Unlike a human, stars didn’t pass toxins out of their body through their pores. They could get dirty from outside things, but they didn’t sweat or collect oils on their skin the way a creature of the Earth did. In theory, if that was the reason for changing the bandage, there was no need, but there could have been other reasons, like a need for tightening it, as the swelling had gone down quite a bit, so the wrappings were looser.

“Thank you for the tea. I still have your containers if you wish to have them back.” Yvaine said softly, motioning to them where they lay beside the doorway.

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_ayla_
2008-08-11 08:36 pm UTC (link)

Ayla greeted the small smile with one of her own, albeit a bit more enthusiastic than the star woman's. She stepped inside as she was motioned in and glanced to the place where her wooden cups were lined up nicely. She nodded. "Thank you, I'll take them when I go."

She motioned for the star woman to sit and then crouched beside her to look at the offending leg. The cast had loosened considerably and looked ready to fall off. But she could smell the poultice that had been applied was starting to rot. It didn't smell horrible, but to Ayla's trained nose, she knew that it was time to come off.

She pulled a stone dagger from the thong at her waist and began to cut the leather off the broken leg carefully. She pulled it away and set it aside then washed the leg gently with a damp piece of leather. Then, she re-wrapped the leg with gauze and the wet leather for the cast. When it dried, it would be quite stiff and hold up even when she decided to walk.

When she finished tending to the leg, she handed Yvaine the cup of tea she'd prepared for her. "It is healing well. You will not even know it was broken in several more weeks." She smiled as she sat back on her heels. "Is there anything else I can get for you? Food, or water?" She didn't know what stars ate, but she seemed to do well enough on the tea. Perhaps she was hungry.

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fallen_star
2008-08-15 11:10 am UTC (link)

Yvaine sat upon the smooth surface of the glass black floor which reflected the distant stars glittering along the walls and ceiling. Having never even received a wound before her fall to Earth, the star woman knew nothing of procedures to take with broken bones. She didn’t watch the people along the ground to learn how to heal each other; she watched them for their personal interactions, for their personal reactions to things. It was obvious she didn’t know about how to care for her own break, and she definitely hadn’t know that when the bandage begins to rot, and it becomes so loose it’s falling off, that it’s time to change it. Who would have thought something could rot in just a couple of days, anyway? Perhaps it was her venture just outside the door into the storm that did it. She hadn’t exactly come out of it dry as the moment she entered.

Ayla was so gentle with Yvaine as she tended the broken limb. She never once felt pain from an accidental bump of the leg or anything. In fact, the star thought that she might have only felt pain at the cave woman’s hands when she had set the bone so it would heal better. Ever since then her leg had been doing better. It still hurt, but now it was more of an annoying ache.

The new bandaging, though not yet completely dry, already felt better. The tighter bond helped keep the bone from moving as much when she moved, keeping them firmly together. Yvaine was pleased to hear that it was healing well as she took the tea. She would hate to have a broken leg forever. Then again, humans healed in time when they hurt themselves like this- usually anyway. She tried to keep herself from thinking about the times people had died from falling. Stars must be sturdier than humans to survive such falls from the sky, though it seemed they were doomed to heal like the immortal creatures. “I’m glad that creature… the golem?.. brought me those sticks with which to walk if I’m to be like this for a few weeks. They really do help.” She sipped at the liquid, not minding it much now that she’d been drinking it for the last couple days. The sensation of the tea traveling down her throat into her belly wasn’t quite unpleasant, but it was simply strange.

A slow smile spread over her lips at Ayla’s inquiry. “Oh, no. Stars don’t eat and drink the way people and animals of Earth do, though I know it doesn‘t hurt us to do so.” Yvaine responded, indicating the cup of tea. “We eat darkness and drink light. There is plenty of darkness here, and there is light enough. I’m sure once the storm has passed I will be able to have a better taste of light.” The false and distant stars in her room offered plenty of light, but there were much better sources to be had when under a clear night sky.

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_ayla_
2008-08-15 09:32 pm UTC (link)

Ayla nodded at the correct use of the name for the men made of earth, stone and wood. "They will help you heal faster because you are not putting so much weight on your leg. Weight puts stress on the break and makes it heal more slowly, and sometimes crookedly." Ayla spoke while she worked with re-bandaging the leg. She didn't look up much, concentrating on her task.

Ayla did look up when she began to speak of her diet, however. It was strange, the idea of eating darkness and drinking light. How could someone subsist on such a diet? But, Yvaine was different from herself. She was not a human, she was a star and she supposed that even though she looked human, it meant little. So Ayla merely nodded. "If you have need of anything, though, please do not hesitate to ask. I am more than willing to help in any way I can."

After she had finished tending to her leg, she realized that she had little need to remain in the star woman's company, but it was company that she enjoyed. Ayla didn't often have women to speak with, and she wondered if the star woman was lonely. Perhaps she would want her to stay and make conversation? She wasn't sure how to ask, though. She hesitated a moment, not getting up from her seated position just yet.

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fallen_star
2008-08-16 06:07 pm UTC (link)

Yvaine was quite glad that she had refrained from putting weight on her leg whenever she could avoid it. From Ayla’s description of the effects weight had on a break, the star shuddered to think what would have happened if she hadn’t been found. She wasn’t exactly a vein evening star, but she decided she didn’t much like the idea of having a crooked leg and a limp that would inevitably go with it.

“I won’t hesitate to ask if I have need. I thank you.” Yvaine had spent the centuries watching life happen below her. People, humans, having adventures, falling in love, interacting with one another. Some humans were dreadful creatures who scarcely should have been permitted to be around others, while some people were so kind. Ayla was surely one of the kind ones who deserved all things good. The star woman suspected the cavewoman had had to struggle much, though, for she was much aged within her despite how few years she must have lived. Then again, if she remembered correctly, life before buildings had been incredibly tough on human beings. That alone could have aged a person greatly.

Yvaine realized she was curious about this woman who had shown her such kindness. The star was used to being surrounded by billions of her sisters, and her mother always shown beside them all. She was never alone, yet she was, even then, a bit lonely. Most of them didn’t share the same desire to watch the earthly activities. They only wanted to know about how their own lives moved and formed and shimmered. Life on Earth in Faerie was so different than in the sky. People didn’t shimmer and shine, though some sang. Some voices were so very sweet in a strange way, completely unlike the voices of stars. “Were you much revered as a medicine woman in your homeland?” The star woman found herself asking. This was the first time she’d met and seen a human up close, and it was the first time since her fall that she’d initiated conversation to ease the loneliness she felt at the absence of her family.

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_ayla_
2008-08-17 11:54 pm UTC (link)

She glanced up, her blue eyes widened slightly. She had to think about the best way to answer the woman's question. "I do not think I was revered, although the position itself is very highly revered." It was difficult to explain the reasoning behind that remark without going into a lot of detail. "May I start at the beginning so that I can truly explain to you?" She waited for consent before continuing.

"I was born to parents I do not remember. When I was very young, five years they said, there was an earthquake. It destroyed my home and separated me from my family. I walked for a long time, but I was so young, and I didn't know how to care for myself. I was thirsty and hungry and tired." As Ayla spoke, she used her hands. It was a long habit borne of living with people who did not speak verbally.

"I was attacked by a cave lion, and even though I escaped, my wound was severe and I collapsed." She lifted the hem of her wrap to show the four parallel scars from the lion's claws on her left thigh. "Iza found me, and she cared for me even thought I was one of the Others and not Clan. I lived with them for many years. Nine, I think. Iza was the medicine woman and she did not have a mate, but she had a daughter, Uba. She taught me and Uba to be the new medicine woman when she passed."

She paused for a moment, thinking of Iza and Uba brought painful memories. She missed them very much. "In the Clan, there is status. Clan leader has highest status. Then Mog-ur and then Medicine Woman. Normally, the leader's mate has highest status among women, but not if there is a medicine woman of Iza's line. I was a medicine woman of Iza's line and therefore highest status among women. But, it was not me that they revered as much as the position. I am of the Others, and different."

She hoped that she was making sense, and not rambling too much. She looked up at the star woman to check for her reaction.

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fallen_star
2008-08-19 04:12 am UTC (link)

Yvaine was surprised that only the position was revered and not the woman in that position. It didn’t quite make sense. It was like revering the moon only because she’d given birth to the stars, not because she was magickal and beautiful and perfect in every aspect, mentally and physically. The stars loved their mother on all accounts, in all degrees, because of who she was along with what she was. “Of course.” The star woman consented, her nearly invisible eyebrows cinched together, only apparent because of the creases in her face.

The story of the woman’s life filtered through the star’s mind, creating pictures. Yvaine liked the motions of the cavewoman’s hands, it was like watching the story even as she heard and thought about it. Her brows rose as she witnessed the apparent scars on Ayla’s thigh. It was a strange story, but she understood it. In reality, now that she thought about it, the story wasn’t so strange. She’d seen similar stories pop up all over the earth. One kind soul would bring in the outcast. Said outcast would prosper among the others, yet the others wouldn’t let it go that he or she was an outcast, so they never really were accepted. It was angering and frustrating to the evening star.

Yvaine’s face contorted into a thoughtful frustration. “Well, that’s just stupid. If they knew what was good for them they should have accepted you among them. After all, you are the one who controls if the sick live or die. Imbeciles.” Then, more softly, “It sounds like you’ve had a difficult life.”

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_ayla_
2008-08-21 01:16 pm UTC (link)

She was glad that Yvaine had understood her story. But, the star woman didn't understand the traditions of the Clan. "I was accepted, and I was even able to perform the most sacred of ceremonies at the Clan Gathering for the Mog-urs. But, it took a long time for them to let me, a lot of convincing. You see, I look so different from them." She paused for a moment and decided to compare.

"The Clan are shorter, stockier and more heavily muscled. They have hair all over their bodies. They have brows that prodrude along with their jaws, though they have no chins. Their noses are bigger and wider, and their legs are bowed. They all have brown eyes unless they go blue with age and blindness. Their forheads are more flat and the back of their heads are bigger." She demonstrated all the differences with pantomime on herself. "I am tall, with long shiny pale hair, blue eyes and a high forhead. I have thin limbs and a long neck. I developed a little later than they did. They never thought I would be a woman or have a baby."

At the word baby, she nearly choked on emotion. But she controlled it and looked back at Yvaine. "My life was not any more difficult than anyone else's. Even here, life is hard. I am unfamiliar with many of the things here, and no one knows the time I came from. No one understands." She clasped her hands in her lap after she stopped speaking. She was a little pleased that Yvaine was displeased on her behalf, but there was nothing to be done about it now.

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fallen_star
2008-08-23 03:55 pm UTC (link)

The more Ayla detailed her explanation of the appearances of the clan of people who had taken her in, the more Yvaine remembered having seen people who were like that a very long time ago. The star happened to have an excellent memory, and she had a passion of sorts for people-watching. She also knew that history often repeated itself over the years, and some people were overly predictable. Ayla’s life with the Clan wasn’t something she hadn’t seen before, but she was extremely pleased those people had accepted the cavewoman in time, at least to some extent.

At Ayla’s reaction to the spoken thought that they hadn’t thought she would ever have a baby, Yvaine’s brows creased together in sympathy. Enough people had given birth outside, in the plain sight of the star woman’s vibrant blue eyes, for her to know about it. Her mother, the Moon, had attested to a very different way of birthing each of her daughter stars, so human births seemed very messy and strange to her. It also seemed incredibly painful, and she couldn’t fathom why anyone would want a baby until she saw the way mothers held their small bundles and looked upon their faces. The star woman once thought she might like a baby of her own, but every star in the sky was barren, unable to have children. Only the moon was capable of such a thing.

“You’ve never had a child?” She asked soflty. Yvaine looked over the slender woman, and thought it would not be impossible for her to have a child. She wasn’t so narrow hipped that a child couldn’t fit past. She’d seen smaller women give birth to large babies. Then again, she couldn’t be entirely certain as perspectives from the sky were highly different than perspectives from the ground.

“I suppose not. Life in the sky is incredibly simple, though. I had it very easy in comparison to those I’ve seen who lived on Earth. Life will probably be a bit more difficult for me, and it certainly hasn’t started off easy.” The evening star noted, motioning to her leg. “Though, it could have been worse had you not found me.”

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_ayla_
2008-08-23 11:46 pm UTC (link)

Ayla shook her head. "No, I had a child. Durc was his name." She took a deep breath. When she had explained this to Jondalar, he had been upset and called her baby an abomination. She didn't want the same reaction from Yvaine, but somehow she didn't think that she would because the woman wasn't exactly human herself. Letting the held breath out slowly, she began to explain.

"Because my totem was the Cave Bear, a man's totem, they didn't think I would ever have a child. But when my totem stopped battling, I knew I was pregnant. I was so happy that I didn't even mind what Broud was doing to me anymore. But my pregnancy was difficult. I was very ill and I bled when I shouldn't have. I had to rest a lot. My labor was also very difficult. My son was part Clan and part Others, like me. His head was very large and when I gave birth I was much younger and a little smaller."

"It took a long time, but he finally came. But, they told me he was deformed. They said he would have to die. But I couldn't let them kill him. He wasn't deformed, he was just different." Her hands moved as they had before, and she watched them idly with her head bent slightly. "I begged them to let me keep him. By then they knew I was the woman who hunts and they knew I would be able to take care of him until he was of age to be a hunter."

She paused again, and knew that she was probably giving the star woman a little more information than she bargained for, but once Ayla got going it was difficult to stop. Especially because she was telling the story to someone who could not exactly relate to it, and needed all the details to fully comprehend the story.

She smiled and nodded about the leg. If Yvaine had walked on it, or hadn't found someone who could help with her leg, she might have walked with a limp or possible pain for the rest of her life. She wondered if she was taking up too much of the star woman's time, but she was enjoying the talk, even if it was she doing all the talking.

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fallen_star
2008-08-24 07:35 am UTC (link)

Yvaine had been about to go to sleep before the cavewoman had come. That’s what she’d been awaiting, though. The star woman knew humans were day walkers most of the time, and the tea always came at a specific time in the morning. The tea wasn’t very good when it was cold, so she usually stayed up to drink the tea before going to bed.

This was so different, though. Having Ayla actually tell her first hand accounts of the life she’d lived- even if it was only a small part- was so much better than simply watching the way things were on the earth from the sky. Sometimes Yvaine saw things she couldn’t comprehend because she couldn’t see everything she wanted, and she couldn’t interact with humans the way she wanted. Frankly, the evening star had always wished for an adventure of sorts like she’d seen below. Hadn’t a witch in Faerie once told young girl, “Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.”? Yes. Now that she thought about it, that had been what had come from the old woman’s lips. Too bad she hadn’t heeded the advice, as it was a good tip for all.

Yvaine could see that talking about Ayla’s child, Durc, was difficult and painful, but she couldn’t help her intense curiosity. It wasn’t necessary for the evening star to inquire about Broud. It was a man’s name, she thought, and if he was put into a story where a woman was pregnant… She’d seen it before. It was sad, but often times the women loved the children they poor from such stressful situations. It was sad to think that Ayla had been much younger when she’d had her first child. After all, she would have been a child herself, wouldn’t she have been?

However, she didn’t understand one thing. “Deformed how? A large head doesn’t seem like a deformity to me.” Then her voice softened with a note of sympathy. “Did something happen to Durc?” So it was mid-morning. How could Yvaine resist such a fascinating story of a life she would never be able to live, no matter how long she lived below the stars instead of among them? Besides, she had heard from the human’s conversations that talking about things was a healthy way to relieve stress and to get over bad feelings.

“Things like this never happen in the sky. It’s interesting to hear the stories of other’s lives.”

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_ayla_
2008-08-24 01:57 pm UTC (link)

"It was not his large head that they determined to be deformed. It was his long neck, his high forehead and thin limbs. He didn't look like a Clan baby, but he didn't look like a baby of the Others, either. Because he was different, they thought he would be a detriment to the Clan. But he grew up strong, and healthy. Only I knew he wasn't deformed. Just different." She explained this all very passionately. She loved her child, and she had wanted him so badly. She couldn't let them kill him after all she'd gone through to get him.

She knew that the woman was curious about her life, and she really didn't mind talking about it. It was painful, yes, but forgetting him would be more painful. She liked to talk about him, and remember him. She shook her head at the next question, though. "Nothing happened to Durc. At least, not directly. You see, I was cursed with death. Those cursed with death are dead to their people. I was no longer alive, just a spirit." She knew now that it was impossible, but it was the way the Clan lived, it was what they believed.

"I knew that if I stayed, the Clan would be uneasy. And I knew Durc would never be able to let me go. I had to leave. Iza told me before she died that Broud would find a way to hurt me. She told me that I needed to leave and find my own people. The Others. And he did hurt me. He took everything I had away from me." But she had won. Because Broud had hated her so much, he made himself look weak. His hatred of her made him make some bad decisions. In the end, even though he had cursed her with death, Ayla had made him look stupid. He had lost face with the rest of the Clan.

Ayla couldn't imagine life as a star. It seemed like such a bland existence. There was no love, no children. Just sisters and a mother. No friends, no interaction. Eating and drinking light and darkness. She could understand the star's curiosity. Ayla was curious herself about other cultures and the way they lived and believed different things. But she realized it was getting late.

She had overstayed her welcome, and she knew she needed to let the star woman rest. She stood up and went to gather her cups. Maybe next time, she would listen to what Yvaine had to say. She knew that even in her bland existence, she must have some good stories to tell. And Ayla was a sucker for stories. "Good day, Yvaine." She smiled, and then exited the room that so resembled the night sky.

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fallen_star
2008-08-24 08:44 pm UTC (link)

Yvaine thought that Ayla’s son sounded perfectly fine. She couldn’t imagine why anyone would find that to be a deformity. Then again, people often feared what they didn’t understand, what was different. Perhaps the cave woman’s easy acceptance of the star was due in part to what she’d faced, being different and having a son who was different from the Clan in which they lived.

When Ayla explained the next segment of her story, Yvaine felt sad for her. She had been completely cast out from her Clan for stupid reasons. They were idiots. They lost a perfectly good medicine woman because of their prejudices. However, a look seemed to pass over the cave woman’s face that indicated she hadn’t been the only one hurt by what happened, but she might possibly have gotten the better over someone else. The star woman figured it was Broud from the way she talked about it, and she was pleased. Ayla was strong.

A soft yawn stretched Yvaine’s mouth for a moment, and she knew it was best that the cave woman leave her to rest. “Thank you.” She smiled at Ayla and wished the younger woman a good day as well. When she left. Yvaine lay down to sleep until that evening.

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