[For Sam] Healer & Dragon

[carrythetorch]

It had all gone wrong this time. In retrospect, Lio thinks maybe he'd been going too hard. He was on the brink of exhaustion, and his latest raid on livestock had been met with more resistance than it should have, almost as if someone had known he was coming.

He'd gotten away, thankfully, but not before he'd taken a number of blows -- arrows shot from crossbows with enough power that they'd pierced even through his scales. He'd ripped them out in flight and set the better part of a fallow field on fire before he'd flapped high enough to disappear into the cloud cover. That had been what saved him. It wasn't long before he couldn't keep himself aloft any longer, too much pain, too much blood lost.

Even maintaining his full draconic form is too much, and as he plunges to the Earth and tries to slow his descent with his wings, he fizzles back into his human shape, a lithe, slender man. His clothes are dark enough that the blood soaking them isn't obvious from a distance. He lands in a crumpled pile not far from a road through the woods, just off the trail in the underbrush. And that's the last thing he knows.

...

When he opens his eyes next, he's warmer than he expects to be. There's soft blankets beneath him and over him. He can smell something clean and earthy, herbal maybe, and light spills in setting the whole room in a comforting brightness and-- wait. He's in a room. The last thing he remembers is falling, and, oh.

He sits up all at once, hissing at the way his body protests the movement. Where is he? Has he been captured? Except no, if he'd been captured he'd be bound. Or dead. Maybe staked through to the ground. Not wrapped in soft blankets and tended to. "Where am I?" He asks the question mostly to himself as he blinks against his bleary vision willing it to clear, willing his eyes to focus.

Comments

[carrythetorch]

"Is that so?" Lio murmurs, while he chews on those words. It's not a surprise that the elements might want the life of a dragon saved. Their numbers are dwindling thanks to the fear and hatred that has been stoked in this land. Kray Foresight is to blame, and even the thought of that name has a little spark of rage kindling in him before he quells it. Not the time.

Instead he focuses on this healer, head tilting to the side. "You're the strangest person I've ever met." Dragon or human alike. But he holds out a hand towards him to take the dried leaf. "Thank you again."

He'll owe this human a debt after this, and dragons aren't ones to leave debts unpaid. For now he slips the leaf into his mouth chewing. Galo remembered his objections to having his senses dulled. It's a strange warmth that spreads through him.

[barenakedspirit]

"I've heard that one before." He says with a grin on his face. Strange. Weird. He soaks that up and shrugs. "I am strange. The strangest traditional stickler of a healer most people will ever meet." His eyes are bright. The insults - as they sometimes are - just run right off his back.

"And yeah. They woke me up because they were really scared for you. It's not often the Earth itself communicates as fast as plants do. Or united with the others." He strokes his chin and reminds himself to shave tomorrow. He has to look presentable and official when he arrives in the village. He scratches the side of his neck as he says, "Not something you roll over and ignore."

He'd bolted out of bed, grabbed his gear, and charged off in the direction they told him to go. "So you know for the future." He pulls a fresh leaf out of his pouch and turns it over, exposing the faint blue lines underneath. "You see it out in the wild like this. Just be careful it hangs out next to a hallucinogenic plant and you eat the wrong one. You won't die."

He coughs into his closed fist. "But you're not doing anything but staring at the sky for a while." He'd sat and studied pictures of plants while guarding the tripping balls Aina. By luck he hadn't chewed on it with her. Luck.

[carrythetorch]

Lio's eyebrows lift. Yup. Definitely a strange guy, but damn it, he's really starting to like him. He feels the start of another smile, and he shrugs one shoulder. "It's a good look on you. That's all." The strangeness, the kindness, the odd mix of magic and tradition.

But ah. Then he owes the elements his thanks too, doesn't he? He's glad to be alive, after all, and he wants to get back to his people to make sure that they're okay too. He'll be patient, since he doesn't have much choice on that. There's no way he can make the journey home until he's more healed. Changing forms right now would likely kill him.

Lio looks from the leaf to Galo and blinks before ducking his head with a short laugh. "I know the plant." He's seen young dragons get into it as well. It has an effect more or less like catnip on his kind, and there's something endearing about watching a fully grown dragon roll around like a kitten. "Probably better to avoid that."

[barenakedspirit]

"Good." He'd felt the need to explain that just in case. Galo puts away the leaf and climbs to his feet. He's almost sorry for breaking the closeness but he needs to check how much of the draft is left in the kettle. He circles around his pack and touches the kettle.

There's enough for Lio when he's ready to sleep again. But it reminds him of an important thing. He kneels at the edge of the pool at the center of the room and turns back to Lio. "Hey, let's get all that blood off. I'll redress all your wounds and decide which ones to work on in a couple days."

He taps his fingers on the stone edge of the pool. "It will take about a week and half to get you back in tip top shape. I'll be able to work on you more as you regain strength. But, you should be doing well enough to take that village trip with me this evening or tomorrow. Depends on when you feel up to you. Keep in mind I did a bit of big healing on you just now."

[carrythetorch]

Lio remains seated for a moment, watching Galo move about. He's feeling worn out now, but better. The healing has taken, and some of the pain from that wound is gone, even if a soreness is left from the effort of the healing Galo's magic coaxed his body through. Slowly he rises, tentative but steady. Ah. Good. That's good.

The dragon perks up at the offer. Getting the blood off sounds amazing. Maybe it's the wild creature in him, but smelling of blood is never a good idea. It draws the wrong sort of attention. "That sounds like an excellent idea."

He resettles by Galo, looking down into the pool. "I'm ready. I don't want to hold you up." He's also stubborn, despite the fact that Galo is right. He will need rest and more of that pain draft before he goes anywhere.

[barenakedspirit]

"Tomorrow morning." Galo decides as he smiles sheepishly. "I did a lot of healing on you and I think I should rest a bit before I have to be 'civilized'." He makes finger quotes with a roll of his eyes. People should be grateful he toes the lines of tradition enough to even put on something over the tattoos.

He reaches for a cloth on the bench and dips it in the pool. Galo partly rings it out. He turns to Lio, holding it as he says. "...It's going to be a bit cold." Then he sets to work, clearing away the blood. First what he healed. Then he'll redress the wounds that still need his healing.

The cloth is cool but it's the temperature of a river in the spring time.

[carrythetorch]

A nod in agreement. Tomorrow. Good. That gives him one more night to regain some of his own strength as well. Lio can't bite back the smile at Galo's treatment of the word civilized. Ah. That's cute. A wild mage, is he? Wait. Stop. Cute isn't something he needs to be thinking about any human, no matter how much kindness they've shown him.

And Galo is still showing that kindness, the gentle touch of that cloth. He hisses at the chill at first, but settles down. It's soothing really, now that he's used to it.

He's silent, watching Galo, still puzzling through what to make of him. It's a long quiet moment before he pipes up, a bit out of the blue. "I've decided I trust you." Surprise? "And if you're serious about putting things right with dragons, I want to help."

[barenakedspirit]

He blinks then he grins like the sun came out. “Yeah, I’m serious! I’m do what it takes to help! You can count on me to help fix things.” Lio decided to trust him and that will make things a little easier.

A fire mage and healer following the old ways. “So we can plan out that trip while you’re healing.”
He says as he works on redressing his wounds. “You’re healing fast. Might have to cut the estimate of time in half.”

If it’s less time than he thinks...his visit to Kray will happen sooner than later. Yeah, he nods and peels some dressing away from a wound near Lio’s shoulder. It is healing faster than he predicted. But only so far. “But to be safe, I’m only cutting the time if I’m absolutely sure you’re on a faster track. Right now, you shouldn’t sling around anything big but, you know that.”

[carrythetorch]

Lio can't help but smile in response to that grin. How could anyone not smile in the face of something like that? The enthusiasm is almost contagious, though Lio's reaction to it is more sedate than Galo's exuberance. "Okay. Then... good."

And there might be a brief smugness in the lift of his chin at that. "I'm tougher than I look." Most dragons are, or well, tougher than their human forms look. Dragon forms look indestructible, and sadly that is not the case. They're all too mortal, in the end.

"I'm behaving. I'm being a good patient." He has to be. He has to heal enough to make the journey back to his people. He's no use to them broken and battered on death's door.

[barenakedspirit]

“I know you are. And that’s a relief. I’m just warning you. Part of the rules. I treat. I warn.” Galo shrugs his shoulders. Lio had seemed like he would fight him then changes his mind. Fine by him.

“Doubt we’ll see any trouble tomorrow. Probably hear some stuff. That’s about it. Hoping the apothecary is back from their trip. I want a few of the plants they grow to bring back here. I grow only native things here. They have some plants people have been grabbing too much of from the forest. I’ll put that right.”

He finishes redressing the wounds as he says. “Want to help the replanting? If you’re slow and careful you should be fine.”

[carrythetorch]

Lio waves a hand at him. Fine fine, warn away. And oh Lio had considered fighting and fussing and breaking away as soon as he could trust his legs to carry him far enough. It's not his nature to trust easily, and he's still wary about the idea of Galo finding out his true nature; he's no fool.

But Galo has earned at least some of his trust, and more than earned his cooperation. Now he's more concerned about making sure no one else finds out what he is and that Galo is helping him. He won't bring trouble to this healer's door.

Sitting still as long as he needs as Galo finishes with the bandages and dressings, glancing down at himself. Less full of holes now. That's good. "I'll help. You'll have to instruct me, but I'll help."

[barenakedspirit]

Galo nods, “I will! For now, rest a few more minutes then you can ask me all the questions you want. In prep for tomorrow.”

He reasons it should be a solid trip. On his own he would have already been traveling down to gather what he needs. But he has Lio to consider and the long term preparation of leaving his domain for a while.

Necessary as it is - the trees rustle their agreement - he wants to do what he can for the forest before he goes. He has medicine to prepare and plants to stock up on. Galo glances towards the window. It’s noon.

“Inside or outside?” He asks, as he climbs to his feet. He wants to feel the world around them and the sun.

[carrythetorch]

"Is that a promise?" All the questions he wants? He has so many, Galo. What a dangerous offer to make. So Lio will behave and stay right where he is, resting. See? He is a good patient who is not biting the hand that feeds him. Or heals him.

His attention is caught by the rustling of leaves, and he turns towards the trees. It's still remarkable, that nature loves this idiot as much as it does, but that's not something that can be faked.

But oh! Lio is on his feet quickly -- a little too quickly, and he winces, but he's steady at least. "Outside. Definitely outside." He wants to see the sky. He's a dragon. He's always more comfortable under the open sky.

[barenakedspirit]

Galo takes a step towards Lio when he winces and relaxes. Lio has been responsible. He doesn’t need to hover even if the day before Lio has hovered between life and death.

He nods, then he walks towards the door his staff simply back in his hand. In his domain simple things like this are possible. Once he leaves it he will be more limited. Capable of some things but greatly cut off from his power.

But what is necessary is necessary and he was trained to operate without it. The door opens and the sunlight spills in. Wind tugs at him, and he briefly feels Aina’s scouts brushing the boundary of his domain. Nothing dangerous found.

Good. He walks into the grass beyond the flat stones at his door way. On the outside, his house looks like it is a mound of dirt and stone partly covered in trees and plants. At a glance people would dismiss it. He turns to Lio as he says, “yeah, it’s a promise. I don’t know how long this journey to the dragons will be. You need to know all you can! If it’s something healer specific and I can’t answer because pact laws and all. I’ll tell you.”

[carrythetorch]

Lio steps outside and exhales a soft sound of relief. It feels good to be under the sky again. He couldn't take wing if his life depended on it at the moment, but still, he's a creature of the open sky. He tilts his chin up just a bit to bask in the light. It's warm.

He wants to go curl up and sun himself on a rock. Probably not the sort of thing that would seem like normal human company behavior, so instead, he turns to face Galo and follow along into the grass. That'll do for sunning too. He'll resist rolling in it.

"They're closer than you expect," he deadpans in response. "But I'm trying to figure you out. How am I supposed to explain you to the dragons?" How is he supposed to explain Galo in his own mind is the real question. "I thought the old ways were mostly lost."

[barenakedspirit]

Galo sits down on a flat rock and lays his staff across his lap. The time for answers has come and he knows it might not be pleasant. “My parents were fire mages that followed the old ways. They were wiped out by a dragon when I was five.”

He looks away, his expression pained. “I don’t know why. I was saved by Kray Foresight and resolves to save lives too ever since. I turned away from my studies as a fire mage and walked open arms into the healers. But I wanted to follow my roots. Traditional is what we were. What I knew.”

He gestures to the forest behind him that rustles in agreement. “I could hear fire when I was with mom. I remember that pretty clearly. Sang to me. I asked and dug and looked. I felt a pull and I wasn’t going to let it go. I was needed.”

Then he found it in the circle. “...I found Burning Circle. We all obey the old ways. Captain taught me how to ‘talk’ to the world around me. I was...ten? Something like that. So I talked. They need saving as much as people do. Just talk slower.”

He holds up a hand as he adds, “I am not gonna ask the dragons why my parents were taken out. It’s done. Nothing will bring them back.” But why does he keep dreaming of it since he decided this path?

What are the elements trying to tell him? “All that can be done is to stop the loss of life and tipping balance now.”

[carrythetorch]

Rocks. Even better. Lio finds himself one to sit on, the dark surface warmed by the sun. And despite his best intentions of acting like the human being he's currently shaped like, instinct is far too strong and he lies back, stretching himself (gingerly given his wounds) more like a cat than anything else.

Warm. Warm is basically bliss.

But he focuses as Galo speaks, frowning at that information. His family was killed by dragons? And he's still willing to offer help?

It's the name that Galo says next that changes everything though. Lio jolts upright, unable to hold back to small pained sound. He shouldn't move like that yet. Kray Foresight. The entire reason his people are hunted and murdered like beasts -- and worse, captured and taken somewhere he doesn't know, never to be seen again. That monster. Galo knows him, was saved by him.

He wants to run, but he forces himself to breathe and to listen. This man was a fire mage, is a fire mage, healer or not. Another deep breath to steady himself. "Dragons... are like humans. They're people. Some are good. Most are good. But some do terrible things. I'm sorry about your family."

[barenakedspirit]

He surges off the rock when Lio jerks up, “Hey, relax!” He subsides when Lio doesn’t do anything else, settling back on the rock. He grips his staff a little tighter.

What has set Lio off? But it seems to be clear once Lio speaks. “Good to know.” He says. Dragons are like people. Something about that makes the trees whisper. He doesn’t hear what they’re saying. Not yet. “Came out of nowhere according to accounts. Was the only survivor.”

He doesn’t like talking about this. “That’s why it surprised me when you said some fire mages remember and pass on the old ways. I remember they abandoned them after that. Good to know some didn’t and understood what you’re telling me.”

He nods once, “I believe you. Gives me more to think about on what exactly is going on.” More whispering but he can’t tell what it is. It sounds like a warning. “...I hear you but I don’t understand.” The trees surge towards them, the whispering so loud that even Lio will be able to hear it.

‘Beware...your savior...lies...betrayal...’ Galo’s face goes white. He opens his mouth to refute it and shuts it, hand over his face.

“...So, Lio.” His voice is quiet. Careful. “How is Kray involved in this. The trees are warning about it.” He sounds tired and angry for the first time. “If it had been anyone else, I wouldn’t have listened.”

But the elements never lie. Never would lie.

[carrythetorch]

Lio looks a little too much like a cornered wild thing for a moment, but he's calming down, reminding himself that wherever Kray Foresight is, he's not here, and that's enough. If he needs to, he can get away, regroup. He still looks defensive, every wall that had started to come down from being around the healer -- who is remarkably disarming -- back up in full force.

"There aren't many," he concedes. Humans who understand what dragons are, fire mages who know that their very beings should be linked together, they're nearly gone now.

He looks up startled at the sounds the trees are making. He doesn't understand it, but he can recognize the forest speaking, and clearly Galo can understand what they're saying. Lio draws his knees to his chest, arms around them, watching the healer. He is in no way prepared for that question. His heart stops in his chest. The forest knows.

Lio sits up straighter. "Kray Foresight is the reason for it! He's spent years feeding rumors about dragons attacking, stoking fear and distrust, organizing hunts and sending his men out to hunt down and drive innocent dragons from their homes."

As he speaks, an edge creeps into his voice. Lio has made it a rule that the dragons who follow him do not kill unless they have no other choice. Lio will make an exception for Kray Foresight. The anger at everything Kray has done is rising in him, where his voice and his form are shaking with it.

"His forces have killed so many of my people." He's too furious to keep up deceptions at this point in time. "Our elders. Our children. Gone. And worse, worse is what happens to the ones he takes. Most we never see again. The few who have escaped... they didn't last long, but they told us. They told us about the experiments. The torture. And I don't know why. I can't figure out what he wants."

Lio's eyes have gone serpentine, slit pupils in the midst of irises that burn the impossibly bright magenta of dragonfire. Though they haven't taken full shape yet, the shadows of wings arch behind him.

[barenakedspirit]

Lio’s changing shape is a shock but that isn’t as bad as what he says. Kray. Kray who saves him and made the village he lives near.

Who did so much is a liar. The forest hisses with anger too, now free to say all it has tried to tell him. To warn him of for years.

‘Liar. Betrayer...murderer...’

He stares down at the grass. Unable to do more than feel hurt and sorrow. The rage of the forest around him, from the shifting roots to the cries of the animals within it. To the wind and water answering that fury with their own.

It makes him ache. Why? Why would Kray do this? He has to know. He has to confront him and no longer can he treat it as a simple visit. He will come before him as a healer. A servant of the balance.

The forest quiets and rustles as it catches on to the grief opening wide like a chasm within him. Branches curl over his shoulders and the grass grows a little taller but he only raises his head to look again at the rage in Lio’s eyes. “Lio, calm down or you’ll get caught by Vulcan and his ice mages. There’s only so much of this fire I can claim as mine.”

He says and scrubs his face. “They can’t come for you without a fight but, let’s not give them that excuse.” Galo drops his eyes to the grass again. He wants to sit and do nothing. But he has things to do.

[carrythetorch]

He can feel that anger echoing around him, and it threatens to feed the inferno already building in him. But Galo's voice, the tone of it, the way the healer has gone so quiet, it's enough that he falls silent and stops. The building of his magic begins to fade, and the shadowy hint of wings dissipates, his eyes returning to normal.

Did he hear that right? Is he reading into it? "You'd fight for me?"

How does that even make sense? Galo knows what he is know, knows he's a dragon and he's not turning him away. Ah.

This idiot.

He shifts closer then, settling on his knees beside Galo, looking at him. "Are you all right?" This hit the healer hard, didn't it? He doesn't know the extent of the connection between Galo and Kray Foresight, but the healer did mention that Kray had saved his life. And Lio does know Kray has the other humans fooled into believing dragons are a vicious and bloodthirsty enemy.

[barenakedspirit]

Kray had been his hero. But the forest is still whispering, telling him the truth in a softer, sadder tone. It feels his pain and he meets Lio's eyes as he says. "I told you. When you accepted staying here and letting me treat you, I will fight for you. No matter who is coming for you."

There's pain in his eyes. Alright? No. He isn't. His world is being collapsed but there's only forward. Always, only forward. "...and I will be. When all this is over." He looks away at the forest. He had been blind, hadn't he? He could get angry. But that won't help the forest, balance, or Lio.

Even if he's entirely justified in that anger. Galo scrubs at his face one more time and breathes in. "So, we have extra reasons I'll do the talking tomorrow." He pauses adding, "Getting angry like that, didn't open some of your wounds did it?"

[carrythetorch]

Lio is not... touchy. He's not open or affectionate. He keeps himself tightly in control because he know what can happen when he loses it. His anger had very nearly cracked that control, and now while those cracks are still closing, he's watching this human who looks so sad, in so much pain.

Who is still saying he'll fight for him. Even knowing what he is, Galo is keeping to his word.

His shoulders slump and he breathes out a humorless laugh. "Yeah, probably. But I'm fine." A little more bleeding won't kill him. What might kill him is that he wants to comfort this human. He doesn't like being the reason for Galo's pain. For all that he puts himself forth as the cold leader of the dragons, he cares. About his people. About the ones who rely on him. And somehow, he's starting to care about this healer who has shown so much kindness without expecting anything in return.

"You're an idiot," Lio informs him, holding out a hand towards Galo. Handshakes. That's human, isn't it? "I'm very glad I met you, Galo Thymos."

[barenakedspirit]

He takes Lio's hand, giving him that hand shake he wants. "Glad I met you too. Thanks for opening my eyes. I'll fix things." There's just a half smile on his face but it's something. Then it falls into something more serious as he says, "Now, let me see. Got to check you over again and fix the damage."

A little more bleeding won't kill Lio but he doesn't like healing to come undone. He could fuss at him for getting angry but he couldn't blame him. In the reverse he'd have been angry too. "You're lucky I'm all charged up from my nap."

[carrythetorch]

A nod. He's starting to believe Galo when eh says that. "You won't have to do it alone." Lio will help. More than that, Lio will defend this good-hearted idiot. There aren't enough in the world who would show this much kindness to a stranger, who would change their minds so wholly simply because a dragon and the woods presented a new and ugly truth.

He deflates though, frowning. Really! He's fine! He just got a little over excited and strained. But, he sits back on his heels looking at Galo expectantly. "I'm lucky. So let's get it over with so I can go back to sunning on my rock. Now that you know what I am, I'm not going to pretend that's not what I'm doing."

They have a lot of work to do, Lio knows that. But he has to regain enough strength to travel with Galo. And to stand up to Kray Foresight.