My Fallen Kingdoms
Through the Squalls
*Warning! Some graphic material due to the nature of medical anatomy.*
Crossed from Across the Sea of Stars
"But I will preserve the purity of my life and my arts." —Hippocratic Oath; Translation
The red place was by now, far away.
His journey had been a long one, figuratively and not. The wrappings around his middle stayed in place but Renne soon discovered what happened if his posture wasn't kept just so. For the sixth time that day, Renne stopped and carefully lifted a hand to probe against his front and left side. Renne knew his own biology well enough and was at first pleased when he found most of his latticed ribcage intact. That smile disappeared soon enough.
The criss-crossing lattice of bone gave an ominous crunch and gave way. Hot ice lanced through as he felt shards of bone slide into the soft tissue of his single lung. The reaction from that was a violent moment of harsh, deep hacks. When the spell ended, Renne was painfully aware of the support the crude binding provided. he was all too aware of the tearing hole in the left side of his lung. Bone fragments floated in a growing internal pool and Renne found it hard to let his back arch naturally. He didn't dare let his hips roll either.
The imp carried on.
Thoughts of 'Nathan, Cinder, the Tanar'ri Alus and Archie floated through his mind. Renne entered Rhy'Din City with his back straight, gait stiff and his mind on a thousand things at once. He wanted to give Archie a birthday gift. Duty called him to the Alus. Emotion cried for home lost.
Renne crawled into the Red Dragon Inn for a cup of coffee.
——————————-
The warmth of the day felt good on him.
It was a feeble warmth, but warmth nonetheless. Renne crawled stiffly under the sun and followed an honoured ritual. The beach-sand under his feet, the sea air tickling his nose — it all came back to him and he crawled from one empty place to another. Renne was stalling and he knew it. Fool. As Renne found himself running into a familiar little rockpile, the impact forced what breath he had out of him. Violent coughs from him soon painted those rocks with a speckling of silvery blue. He felt a heavy wetness put an uncomfortable weight in his chest. When the disturbing bout ended, he heard within his mind a slew of voices — some of them gently chastising and one howling with laughter. -You cannot survive without me.- Seek assistance. It is logical. -See how you falter" The Humans....- Logical. Logical...
Renne growled at the darker voice within his head. He knew he still had yet to purge the monstrosity from within but he knew he did not yet fully understand it. It was not entirely borne of anger. Was it' He wasn't sure. The other whispers, he knew and heard. They spoke of logic and its harmony with the will to survive. They told him he was not alone.
The blue creature made his faithful round and stopped at the bare-place. He frowned and shook his head as if to scold it for being empty. It shouldn't be empty — It shouldn't be a bare place of windswept earth, but who was he against the fickle will of Humans" He heard a sarcastic, disdainful whisper in his mind then. Logically, true, he should know better than to trust anyone in Rhy'Din at his word, much less any Human. Still, Renne banished the thoughts and imagined other things as thin trails of blue began to stream down his front and his back. Impending delirium over reality was a bit too tempting.
Renne turned away and crawled into the city.
His gait became steadily slower, stiffer and he found it harder to just let himself breathe. Castigating voices in his mind spurred him on and he thought about his hero-doll. When he found the Riverview, he missed the door by a good nine feet. Renne didn't chirp at the wall as his face met with it. He simply slid against it and wondered if he ought to get another tattoo.
His last waking thoughts were of the few voices he had left before he hit the ground.
"But I will preserve the purity of my life and my arts." —Hippocratic Oath; Translation
The red place was by now, far away.
His journey had been a long one, figuratively and not. The wrappings around his middle stayed in place but Renne soon discovered what happened if his posture wasn't kept just so. For the sixth time that day, Renne stopped and carefully lifted a hand to probe against his front and left side. Renne knew his own biology well enough and was at first pleased when he found most of his latticed ribcage intact. That smile disappeared soon enough.
The criss-crossing lattice of bone gave an ominous crunch and gave way. Hot ice lanced through as he felt shards of bone slide into the soft tissue of his single lung. The reaction from that was a violent moment of harsh, deep hacks. When the spell ended, Renne was painfully aware of the support the crude binding provided. he was all too aware of the tearing hole in the left side of his lung. Bone fragments floated in a growing internal pool and Renne found it hard to let his back arch naturally. He didn't dare let his hips roll either.
The imp carried on.
Thoughts of 'Nathan, Cinder, the Tanar'ri Alus and Archie floated through his mind. Renne entered Rhy'Din City with his back straight, gait stiff and his mind on a thousand things at once. He wanted to give Archie a birthday gift. Duty called him to the Alus. Emotion cried for home lost.
Renne crawled into the Red Dragon Inn for a cup of coffee.
——————————-
The warmth of the day felt good on him.
It was a feeble warmth, but warmth nonetheless. Renne crawled stiffly under the sun and followed an honoured ritual. The beach-sand under his feet, the sea air tickling his nose — it all came back to him and he crawled from one empty place to another. Renne was stalling and he knew it. Fool. As Renne found himself running into a familiar little rockpile, the impact forced what breath he had out of him. Violent coughs from him soon painted those rocks with a speckling of silvery blue. He felt a heavy wetness put an uncomfortable weight in his chest. When the disturbing bout ended, he heard within his mind a slew of voices — some of them gently chastising and one howling with laughter. -You cannot survive without me.- Seek assistance. It is logical. -See how you falter" The Humans....- Logical. Logical...
Renne growled at the darker voice within his head. He knew he still had yet to purge the monstrosity from within but he knew he did not yet fully understand it. It was not entirely borne of anger. Was it' He wasn't sure. The other whispers, he knew and heard. They spoke of logic and its harmony with the will to survive. They told him he was not alone.
The blue creature made his faithful round and stopped at the bare-place. He frowned and shook his head as if to scold it for being empty. It shouldn't be empty — It shouldn't be a bare place of windswept earth, but who was he against the fickle will of Humans" He heard a sarcastic, disdainful whisper in his mind then. Logically, true, he should know better than to trust anyone in Rhy'Din at his word, much less any Human. Still, Renne banished the thoughts and imagined other things as thin trails of blue began to stream down his front and his back. Impending delirium over reality was a bit too tempting.
Renne turned away and crawled into the city.
His gait became steadily slower, stiffer and he found it harder to just let himself breathe. Castigating voices in his mind spurred him on and he thought about his hero-doll. When he found the Riverview, he missed the door by a good nine feet. Renne didn't chirp at the wall as his face met with it. He simply slid against it and wondered if he ought to get another tattoo.
His last waking thoughts were of the few voices he had left before he hit the ground.