by Zestari Mon Sep 03, 2012 11:25 am
Zestari noticed Kestrel walking over and averted her eyes from the griffon, not entirely sure why he was coming over. Perhaps to ensure her injuries weren’t too severe? She wondered, painfully coughing and spitting out another crimson wad of blood. He closed in, until only a few inches separated the two.
As Kestrel stood there overshadowing her, she felt her ears drop against her head, she suspected that she must have bitterly disappointed him. Somehow that thought hurt more than her injuries
She finally looked at him, catching his intense gaze as he looked straight at her. Then he knelt down beside her and bowed his head, and Zestari watched him with a slight case of confusion and puzzlement before realisation finally came to her.
She made a noise, before remembering her broken jaw and instead gave a half nod in return to the griffon. With someone she trusted as much as Kestrel, she knew the gesture to be genuine and even through the pain, she felt her heart soar a bit and her ears return to their normal erect position. She wasn’t sure why he was showing her respect. Perhaps it was simply the fact that she had stood firm with her request to spar with the griffon, perhaps it was the fact that she hadn’t foolishly pushed it further than she could cope with. The reason was inscrutable to her, but unknown to the griffon, meant the world to her.
"You did well."
She wanted to thank the griffon, but never expected him to offer to carry her to get assistance. The gesture summed up why she had asked him of everyone she knew in the wasteland to spar. It wasn’t just because he was a good fighter. It was because she trusted him utterly. The griffon wasn’t always forward with his emotion or thoughts, but Zestari considered him amongst the greatest of her friends. The pair had seen much together, she’d helped dress and treat his wounds several times and come to his assistance whenever she could in the many incidents of combat they'd been in, he also, in her mind, had done everything he could to protect her from those that would do her harm or threaten her. His stern and cautious nature had also taught her much on how to survive in the harsh wasteland.
As bad or as tough as things got if they sparred, she knew and trusted that Kestrel would do the best for her he could in whatever circumstance and direction the spar would take, but would still take her seriously where others might mock or dismiss her request. She knew her talents focused in medicine and alchemy and not generally in combat. Kestrel knew that, but had not turned her request down. The fact that he hadn’t only reinforced her faith in him as a true friend.
Slowly she shuffled right over to him and trying to minimise inconvenience to the griffon began to climb onto his back.
Between her bitten tongue and her swollen and broken jaw, trying to say anything was impossible, so she instead resolved herself to giving him a slight hug, hoping he would understand what the simple gesture of affection was for. Then she lay down, awkwardly slung across the griffon’s back trying to protect her injured side. She’d been here before in somewhat different circumstances but needing his assistance then, too.
Through laboured breaths, she nudged him and made a sound to let him know she was as prepared and as settled as she could be.