thequeensown | You ever had one of those days?

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You ever had one of those days?

[audio]

[There is the sound of someone/thing shifting around and a breathy gasp. Could that have been pain you heard there?]

What .. Where?? What's going on ..[another gasp and groan] Merciful Goddess .. Where in the stars am I?

[video kicks in as well..how nice of it!! My, but this young woman doesn't appear in good shape at all, does she?? Her clothes are nearly shredded to nothing and she is covered in both filth and blood. Beneath the grime it is quite plain that she is .. not well.]]

Hello? HELLO? Can ANYONE hear me?? [her eyes widen as she braces herself against the wall with one hand, doubling over as if in pain] Oh, Goddess .. the argo- [she retches to the side, messing on herself and the floor. Her eyes jerk around the unfamiliar room.]

I don't know .. what kind of magic .. brought me here .. but if anyone can .. hear me .. Please .. My name is Talia, Chosen of Rolan. I must get a message to Queen Selenay .. Lord Ancar .. he's .. he's no-[she hiccups a pain filled sobbed, trembling] Must be a fever dream .. dying .. Goddess save me, I'm dying .. cold .. I'm so cold .. [she appears to be seeing things that aren't there now, which is never really a good sign, is it?]

Selenay! Rolan found you? Oh, thank the stars .. Don't let Elspeth .. It's a trap .. mustn't trust them. [her knees give out now and she topples to the ground with a cry, barely catching herself with her hands.] He found you .. Oh Rolan .. I knew you would. I knew you'd find them .. you've done well, my love. [she looks to be slipping away now, her gaze distant. If you are magical sensing of any kind, you will possibly be picking up her projections of pain and grief as she is now unable to keep herself from doing so.]

Rolan .. I'm sorry .. ngh .. I can't .. can't keep warm. Find another .. Protect them .. I love you .. [have a very pain filled gasp and sob as she doubles over on herself and finally begins to relax] Dirk .. doesn't hurt anymore. Numb .. going to sleep, he said .. I'm just going to sleep ..

[audio clicks off on her final sob, but video stream continues as her pupils dilate and lose focus before her eyes flutter closed. Her elbows collapse, dropping her to the ground and her fingers loosen enough for a bottle to roll free from them before the video feed clicks off as well]

[OOC: Tags will be slow, as it's the first day of school and we're sorting things out here at the house. Back tagging is totally okay, so comment when you can. I'm fine with puttering with a post so long as someone is responding. Talia will not be responding verbally to anyone by way of the communicator, as she is physically unable to do so and wouldn't know what it was anyway. As noted in the post itself, she is projecting pretty strongly with her empathy, so anyone gifted enough to pick up on it and track her down is more than welcome. For those in the know, she has been raped and tortured physically, mentally and magically and has attempted suicide with her worlds most potent poison, argonal. She is on deck 6, room 7395. Thanks, bbs!!]

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[Remy does his best to quickly hand her over to Kevas.]

Be quick, Kevas. And thank you.

[He looks to Vanyel. He's got a lot of explaining to do.]

[Kevas nods and scoops Talia into his arms rather easily.]

Yeah yeah, just save da hero a drink when dis all be ovah.

[And with that Kevas wastes no time running towards the stairs. He might not like it, but taking her to the robo-doc is probably her best option seeing as he has no idea what's wrong with her.]

[Talia isn't certain what is happening in the world around her, as her entire focus is on a point of light that is beginning to appear before her. She knew what it was, even as it engulfed her, and that it was something likely only to be visible to her. The brightness expanded until a woman stood before her, and Talia knew then, even if she had suspected before, of what she looked at.

'You've a choice to make, Herald,' she intoned, her voice moving through Talia. 'On where your path leads you now..The same choice granted to other Heralds who have passed through before you, and those that will pass through after.'

Talia knew this woman and instead of any sense of fear, she welcomed her and was welcomed by her. She knew the choice she had to make, and she hesitated, scared. 'To go back as a Companion, retaining the full lot of your memories but unable to share them with those you know. To return as a Herald, in another time from whence you've come. To pass onto our own haven,' the figure gestured past her into the welcoming warmth and light. 'Or .. to go back.'

Talia was scared. Bright hellfire, she was scared. She didn't know what would happen if she chose to return, but she knew it would be painful. She had suffered any number of internal injuries and had been beaten severely. She had been tortured with blades and healed again, only to have it repeated .. flayed, starved and hit with any number of spells she couldn't protect herself against. And what the jailers had done to her .. She shuddered before the being, fearful. She would be going back to that pain and no promise of rescue; just a lingering hope that she might be.

'What should I do?' she finds herself asking and is given a sad smile in reply. 'I cannot make that decision for you, Herald .. I can only will you to listen to your heart. If you return, there will be trials .. there will be pain .. but we would not send you back without any hope of an end to it.'

It's left there and Talia paces in the light, fretting. No, she can't understand the reality of having been pulled from her world, nor is she told. She thinks about seeing Dirk again .. and Rolan and Elspeth. She knows the choice that she'll make.

'I made a vow to always serve if I was able .. to help those weaker or in need.' she swallows and looks to the figure. 'If there is hope .. then I am strong enough ..' The figure nods, 'Then be strong, little bird ..'

And she is gone, spiraling back from the light and into the darkness. She groans softly in Kevas' arms, barely registering the motion as he runs, but that she registers it at all is more than might have been hoped for a few moments ago. The poison, however, continues to wind its way through her system and will kill her before much longer if it is not neutralized.

[OOC: Please don't hate me for the delay. ;__; I honestly had no idea if Van or Remy were going to go, or if I needed to start a log post, or what. And then work/life caught me and I couldn't get to her tag last night. Moving the post forward, but please let me know if you care to continue in a log, cause I can totally open one in the log comm (conversely, I'm fine continuing in here). I've contacted Mana to see if AMU can be involved, but no response yet. :)]

[Kevas bounds up the stairs as quickly as he can. He's not slowing down for anything right now. Any second he wastes brings Talia another moment closer to death and she's not dying on him. Not if Kevas has anything to say about it.]

Hold on ladymon we almost be dere.

[When he reaches deck two Kevas is in full sprint down the halls. He bursts into the infirmary and sets Talia down on a nearby table before he starts yelling at AMU to help her.]

[OOC: No hate <3. You're fine really, though I think it might just be easier to keep things contained here. It's alright. :3]

[OOC: Roger that msg to my inbox! I apologize for my shoddy AMU interjection; I will keep it vague, lol!]

[Talia, in some distant place, hears the voice soothing her. She cannot understand the words, but the tone, the inflection is there, although she can't respond. She doesn't know when she is set on the table in the infirmary, and even if she had been awake when she was brought to AMU, she'd have had no idea what to make of it. It's most likely that she'd have thought it some sick continuation of Ancar's torture.

AMU is quick and without emotion, checking heart rate and brain activity even as it discards the remnants of clothing that are in its way. In moments it diagnoses a poison that no one outside of her own world would have likely been able to. It was a startling level of efficiency, but one it had been engineered for. After setting the type of poison it administered a series of hyposprays, halting the spread of the argonal through her system.

A second series of hyposprays are set to her bare skin as AMU begins a scan of her system. It begins clinically listing her injuries and probable causes, most of which are likely far from pleasant to hear, but correct.

It's when the next injection hits her skin that she jolts conscious, screaming. Be prepared to have a struggling, hysterical and completely disoriented woman on your hands. (although I am aware that AMU will also assist .. and freak her out even further)]

[Kevas grabs her and holds her down, mostly to keep her from hurting herself than anything else.]

Ladymon calm joorself please! I only be tryin' to help!

[He's doing his best to sound gentle despite the situation. This is exactly why he didn't want to bring her to the infirmary. In the condition she's in this may actually cause her even more trauma.]

It be alright! I swear to joo I be here to help.

[It's probably a good thing that he's not in his original body at the moment.]

[She's alone and she doesn't recognize the voice or its tone. She can tell it's trying to calm her, but she can't believe it..can't!! There is a tinny sounding voice over her and her wide hazel eyes dart up and take in a figure unlike anything she's ever seen.

The man in the room isn't dressed like any of the guardsmen that serve Ancar, but she's not really seeing just now. She's hyperventilating and gasps mid-struggle, doubling over and curling in on herself as the pain flares alive. She has no hope in fighting against a fit figure of a man such as Kevas.

She sobs, struggling weakly as AMU states simply that she will worsen if she doesn't remain still and that it will secure her in place if Kevas can't keep her still.

She hears Kevas says he's there to help, but it really seems too good to be true. She can't remember being taken from Ancar's cell, or how she got here. She doesn't recognize the man with her, nor quite comprehend the monstrosity that is hovering it's mechanical limbs over her form.]

Hurts .. [It's a broken sob, but she's no longer struggling. If he's here to do worse to her, there is little else he can do and she doesn't have the strength, emotional or physical, to fight him off.]

[At least she isn't fighting him anymore.]

Joo be safe ladymon. We want to help joo.

[Kevas lets her go, kneeling beside her and taking one of her hands. He needs to get her to calm down and pinning her to a table isn't going to help that. Somehow he needs to get her to trust him.]

My name be Kevas. I ain't gonna let any harm come to jah ladymon. Relax.

[Under normal circumstances, Talia would read the individual before her, but her mind has been too strained the past week. She is broadcasting, sure, but she can't seem to focus enough to read anyone or even purposefully lash out. Though she is incapable of this, the voice before her sounds comforting and honest .. she can only hope. She feels his hand take hers, one of the few parts of her body that isn't hurt in some fashion (save for an old burn in the palm courtesy of her sadistic elder brother). Her hazel eyes flutter open beneath tightly drawn brows and she looks at Kevas.]

Kevas? [Her voice is raw and thick sounding, her breath rattling slightly as she inhales.] W-where am I? R-rescued? D-don't .. re .. remember .. Ngh ..[She grimaces and there is a trickle of blood at the edge of her mouth now, but she doesn't notice.] N-need .. to get word .. To Queen .. Selenay .. They're walking into .. a trap.

[AMU continues to work, its scans sweeping her body and locating the source of an internal bleed. Talia tries her best to ignore the hulking thing, since Kevas is paying it no mind. The next hypospray causes her eyes to dilate and things to grow fuzzy. She hears something about 'operate' and 'monitor for bleeding', but it just confuses her. Her next word is an admittance she'd normally not utter to those outside her confidence.]

Scared ..

In due time ladymon. Right now joo be needin' to recovuh.

[Kevas gently strokes her hair, doing his best to keep her calm while AMU does...whatever it is that it does.]

I know joo are but everytin' will be alright. Notin' will hurt joo now.

But .. they .. th-

[His words sound so reasonable and she trusts him .. at this moment, she has little other choice. She feels his hand brush over her hair and swallows thickly, things growing distant and sounds echoing a bit more, but this time sue to the hyposprays AMU is administering.]

Thank .. you .. [The words are soft, but still spoken and then she's out, eyes fluttering closed again. Her hand goes limp in Kevas' and AMU sets to work.

It's several hours' worth of work, but AMU doesn't make him leave if he doesn't want to. So long as it is able to do its job, it has little concern in the matter; none, actually. Although non-invasive magic might have been used to heal her on her own world, she's going to be earning a series of scars this time, but she's alive.

AMU orders bed rest for a given amount of time having done all it can for the physical injuries. Bruises will fade and the fractures have been set, healing faster than normal, but still tender. Psychologically, she is worst off and that will take time in its own right. It administers a final hypospray that will wake her and returns to its own business, leaving her draped in a sheet on the medical table.

It's several more minutes before her lids flutter, eyes finally opening. She's not quite there yet, but she will be soon enough.]

[In the mean time Kevas will just sit by her side and wait for her to recover. After that little freak she had Kevas just doesn't want to leave her on her own. At least not yet. Once he's sure she'll be fine then he'll leave her so she can rest. Outside of that he's really not sure what else to do.]

[It's not too much longer before her eyes flutter open, her breathing stable again and internal bits back together, albeit sore. She focuses on the ceiling for several minutes, seeming to gauge her surroundings. She can't yet use her gifts to read those that might be around and when she tries she groans, her head throbbing as if she's over-extended them. Realizing that she isn't able to scout this way she does so the old fashioned way and finds herself far to weak to do much more than shift uncomfortably. She grimaces slightly and runs a hand across her mid section, finding fresh scars there that she can only connect to that .. thing ..

What she finds next to her resting spot is Kevas, and that solidifies that she has, in fact, been rescued; even if she is lax on the details behind it.

Her voice is soft and a bit rough from misuse, but the surprise and gratitude is apparent.]

You stayed ..

[She finally woke up. That's good, Kevas was starting to worry that he might have been too slow.

He smiles gently at her.]

Course I did. Couldn't just leave jah here. I wanted to make sure joo be okay.

[His smile was the first she's seen in a good while and it is a welcome sight. She returns it weakly, but it's a smile nonetheless.]

Mmmm .. I'm glad .. [She swallows, seeming to struggle for a moment before continuing.] I'm Talia .. Chosen of Rolan .. I owe you a debt, Kevas .. [She struggles to sit up a bit more and grunts, hand moving to the scar across her abdomen. She traces the scar she hadn't had before her capture, wondering idly what the rest of her body looks like. She doesn't seem ridiculously modest, although she is nude beneath the blanket. That could, however, be blessed upon the painkillers.]

Where am I? How did you .. How did I get here? [She's hazy, but she knows she isn't in Ancar's dungeon any longer, even if she is not in Valdemar..]

Joo ain't be owin' me anytin' ladymon. Wouldn't be right to just leave jah to die like dat.

[Kevas reaches out to help her while doing his best not to get a peek at anything else. Sure he would love to look but, well now doesn't seem the best time for something like that.

And now comes the hard part. Explaining to her what's going on without freaking her out even more. He kind of wishes that Remy and Van were to help with this.]

Dat be sometin' I still be tryin' to find out. Best I know be dat we been brought here by a mon named Redd who be takin' us to da "Golden Shore". Dere be uddah mons here as well. All of us be passenguhs on board a ship called da Elegante.

[There, best to keep things simple. Mentioning that she's been taken prisoner again might not be the best of ideas.]

[He says she doesn't owe him anything and she laughs weakly. There is a tense moment when he moves to help her sit up, but she forces herself to relax and accept the aid.]

That's to be debated some other time, I think. [She smiles a bit, but her smile slips and fades as she listens to his explanation.]

Wait .. You mean to tell me that .. that we've. We're on a ship?? There are many of us and we're on a ship .. [Talia shakes her head, not understanding.] I've never heard of this 'Golden Shore' we sail to.. Is it outside of Velgarth? My .. my geography is not as good as I might have hoped it to be, it seems.

[Cue Vanyel, having rested, waiting patiently in the door to be noticed. He winces at Kevas' threadbare explanation, but there's hardly a kind way to say "You're never going back." At least Kevas, of all people, would be honest.

After a moment, he clears his throat, quietly. He's taken pains to wear his whites- the better to be recognizable to a fellow Herald.]

Heyla. Feeling better, I trust?

[Talia is barely given time to process what Kevas is explaining to her when a sound at the doorway catches her attention. Her eyes widen slightly as a new figure stands in the doorway of the unfamiliar infirmary, dressed in familiar clothing. There is no denying that she relaxes just a bit more as the sight of those whites, relief flooding her empathic channels.

She hasn't any idea she is leaking as badly as she is, but wouldn't have the strength to shield right now. It's a good thing she seems pretty relaxed right now and amped up on painkillers.]

Heyla indeed .. Perhaps not ready for another circuit just yet, but better, yes. [Her smile is tired, but thankfully not pained at the moment. Her smile slips a bit, though and she looks to the Herald expectantly.]

Where are we? This place Kevas says we sail to .. [She then shakes her head, brows knitting.] I've a missive I must deliver to the Queen .. I don't know how much time has passed and I cannot reach my Companion.. [Her brows knit as she tries to do just that yet again, but she ceases the attempt almost immediately at the stab of pain that stabs behind her eyes. She can't tell yet that there is just a blank spot there where he used to always be.. Her hazel eyes dart to Vanyel..]

My partner and I were sent to Hardorn to investigate a marriage proposal for the Princess .. He .. [Her voice cracks and the pain and grief is heavy.] It was a trap .. Herald Kris and his Companion were killed and I was captured. My Companion Rolan was able to escape with signal arrows, but .. [But she has no idea if he actually reached Selenay because she can't reach him. She doesn't touch on the things that happened to her, ignoring them for the moment (as if she could) and focusing on her mission.]

Did they stop in time, Herald? Have you heard any word?? [Hazel eyes meet silver and something familiar ticks in the back of her mind, but she can't focus enough for it all to piece together.]

[Just in time Van, Kevas wasn't really sure what to say next.

Now that he's here Kevas is just going to sit back and let him handle it. Thankfully there seems to be some sort of recognition between the two.]

[Van frowned as well, though thoughtfully, and after a moment of learning far more than anyone needed to know about Talia's surface thoughts and emotions, He set his own shields around her as well. They weren't much, and would certainly unravel under more than a light probing, but she'd thank him later.

And so would the ghost of Vanyel's headaches not-long-past.]

The princess was, last I heard, safe and well.

[Different princess, he knows, having gotten a very pretty mental image of her when Talia mentioned her- warped through emotion and attachment, but still very recognizable as not the girl who'd been Princess when he'd come aboard. Better to calm her fears, for the moment.]

Herald Talia, I'm sorry, but please try to rest. A great deal has...happened. You may not be able to reach your C-- Rolan, for some time.

You're safe enough, for now, and that's all we can expect, in the situation.

[Talia's relief is practically palpable as she breathes out a sigh of relief.]

Oh, thank Havens ..

[She hears him and though the idea of being away from Rolan is upsetting, she is happy beyond relief that he reached the Queen in one piece. She would try to reach him again after she had rested properly and wasn't fighting this godawful headache. She closes her eyes for a moment, nearly drifting off as the painkillers set in full borne.]

It will be good to see him .. [She shudders out a soft breath, tears prickling behind her lids; she was safe. She might be on an unfamiliar vessel, but her Companion, Monarch and kingdom were safe. She swallows the knot in her throat and opens her eyes again to look at him.]

Thank you, Herald ..? [She tired, but she wishes to thank him properly..]

Vanyel Ashkevron, and very pleased to meet you.

[And if she's from another time, maybe she won't recognize him! Pleasant thought.]

It's nothing you need thank me for.

Vanyel .. [She nods as if to herself, but again that name ticks in the back of her mind. She knows it, but she can't quite put her finger on it just now. Cursed drugs ..]

Well met, Herald Vanyel .. I'm a bit .. a bit tired just now .. I apologize ..

[It's rather clear that she's fighting the effects of the painkillers pretty hard.]

I'd like .. like to speak with you .. when I wake .. Need to debrief .. Find out what I've missed ..

I'm sure I or anyone else would be more than happy to answer all your questions.

[He steals a blanket from the supply cabinet and drapes it over her, for added comfort. If AMU doesn't like it, it can take the issue up with Vanyel personally.]

You should sleep.

[This earns a slight smile from her, as there is any amount of information she knows she could get from a fellow Herald that she could not get from just any other passenger. However, she will concern herself about that when it comes time.

Through lidded eyes she watches him retrieve a blanket to drape over her and she finally closes her eyes with a nod. She doesn't have the energy to argue the point, and thinks sleep sounds welcome right now anyway.]

Yes ..

[Anything else she might be considering slips from her mind as sleep steals her thoughts and concerns for at least a time.]

[ooc: Oh boy will she have questions after all this event crap! Thanks for the threading, you guys!!]

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You ever had one of those days?

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[commentlog] - mind if I cut in?

[commentlog] Not at all, darling!

[commentlog] Feel free to skip Kevas after this

[commentlog] Yessir o7

[commentlog] Okie doke!

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