human red bull. (ganymeda) wrote in mythopoeics, @ 2012-02-25 16:52:00 |
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Entry tags: | !mini-log, !zurvan, artemis, hebe |
the tenth ♥
It was cold. Desperately so. Hebe imagined, for a couple of seconds, that maybe she could see her breath, but she knew that was the lack of blood in her body speaking. Somehow thought was possible, but barely. Her eyesight had dimmed, and she knew if no one came for her in the next few hours, she would surely pass on.
Part of her yearned for her sister, the other for Raven. Would he make it? Would Artemis intercept him on the way? Plagued by such thoughts, the little princess shivered, fingers sinking deep into her bed covers.
Come quick, Artemis.
Single-minded pattern of thought, that was the way Artemis had worked since she had left Camlann. Her sole purpose was to reach that thrice damned city and find her sister. To see that blood on the journal, to know to whom it belonged to, it was enough to make even her startle and her heart to constrict. She raced the path like the world would crumble if she didn’t, barely giving time for her horse to breathe. The familiar paths seemed never ending and each lost minute meant her sister might not be… no, she wouldn't even dare to entertain the thought.
Entering the city was easier than she could have expected. There were still skirmishes but Artemis had been wise enough to exchange any of her finer clothes for ruder fabric, her longbow and an expression which spelled she would kill any and every one who was foolish enough to bar her path. The path towards their home was easy enough to do. It was when she reached the house that things got slightly more complicated.
Slightly, because the two men who had tried to grab her now laid to the side of the road, arrows on their skin she hadn’t bothered to shoot, just stab with. Cowards. Artemis shook her head with disgust before ripping the door open.
"Hebe! Hebe, where are you?" With quick steps, the woman began sweeping through the various rooms.
With her sight and mind growing hazy by the minute, Hebe heard her sister's voice cutting through like it was part of a dream. A distant call to her. Respond, she had to respond. Moving seemed so difficult after having remained statuesque for the good part of two days. Had she had the courage to call a healer, she might've saved her sister a trip. But when those men had burst into her home with axes, leaving her there to bleed out, she lacked the knowledge of who to trust.
Everything moved in slow motion, even the arm that drifted out to knocked the jewelry box from the stand next to her bed. It fell with a loud clatter, spilling its content across the floor.
I'm here, it said.
She wasn't replying, damnit. Artemis began to panic, teeth grinding against each other painfully as her pace became more frantic. That's when she heard it. A crash, something rolling on the floor. Upstairs. Her eyes opened in surprise, almost shocked before she began running all over again. That seemed to have come from the rooms. Made sense, her mind whispered somewhere in the background. She'd take refuge wherever she felt safest.
Artemis quieted it as she bursted into the room. And God help her, between the worry and rage she felt, the men who had done this would have lived not a second more had she found him. But later. She'd do it later.
"Hebe." She crossed the room till the bed, a hand covering her sister's forehead and finding it clammy with sweat. "Kitten, can you hear me?"
"Mmm," was all that the younger girl could manage between short breaths, her eyelids fluttering shut at the touch. Artemis was here. Her sister was here, and all would be well. But she'd long lost feeling in her back, which had been ripped open from between her shoulders to mid-spine. Blood caked on the sheets around her, staining blanket and pillows. But she was alive. Breathing.
It wasn't time to go just yet.
A bloodied hand reached out, slow and weak.
"Shhh, I'm here," Artemis whispered, holding that hand between her own. The injury was deep, it was a wonder how her sister hadn’t bled out. Two fingers touched the temporary scab, watching the blood flowing underneath. It would have to be taken out, stitched properly. She wasn't going to be able to do it without proper help. She would need a healer. "I'll take care of everything, yes? Don't you worry." She pressed her lips to that hand before walking to the window, opening it from side to side.
Men walked still on the streets, the one she had attacked already gone to find weaker prey. Disgusting, them and whoever had attacked her sister, a kind gentle soul who had never raised a hand against another. The woman swallowed, trying to contain the bile rushing through her stomach, through her veins, it seemed.
"You!" A woman passing by raised her head, confused and almost a little scared. "I need a healer with urgency. There will be gold for you if you bring it in ten minutes."
Ilium still worked the same way as any other region. The brunette nodded quickly and ran down the street, presumably in search of someone who could help. Artemis would wait those ten before running out herself. But right now, she couldn’t leave Hebe. She returned to the bed, holding that frail hand once more.
The whisper came like a lull, peaceful to Hebe's ears. For a fleeting moment, she thought that perhaps it would be alright to die this way, with her sister here at her side. That it would be okay to slip away. But with life still within her and a will to live -- not to mention a deep and lingering desire to see Raven -- she forced her eyes open, blinking through the haze.
"Thank you," she whispered in return, using what little strength she possessed to squeeze Artemis' hand.
"Don't talk, Kitten. Save your strength." Deep uselessness filled her, disgust for herself who was nearly seeing her sister die without being able to do anything to stop it. But wait she did and she would move not one muscle from that place. She'd wait for the healer, they would treat Hebe and damned if Artemis would leave the city before finding the ones responsible and see to their punishment.
The door downstairs creaked as it was opened again, a woman's voice calling out lady. Fast, she had been so fast. Things must be dire in the city. Artemis took out the single piece of jewelry she carried, a bracelet which had more material value than sentimental and called them up, pulling her bow close. Just in case.
"It will be fine." The words were as much reassurance for herself as they were for the injured woman.