Warmth was all around. It hugged Brrda's shoulders, pinned tight over his body, wrapped its fingers around his neck. Sweat gathered on the inside of his thighs. As awareness came to him in a painful way the warmth became hotter. Hotter as his eyes opened and found only blinding light. Hotter as he turned and felt his bare flesh scrape against something rough and scratchy. Hotter as he reached up to wipe the beads from his face. Hotter as he breathed it in. He fell into a fit of coughing as the blistering heat touched his lungs.
The demon! His mind blared. At once he snapped awake. Despite feeling fever draped over his forehead and nose, he moved with a start. His muscles tensed, his fingers curled. A low growl echoed in his throat as he tore away from the binding heat.
He stumbled over something, but managed to see the flower-colored cloth he had tossed away. Glass shattered around his ankle as he fell backwards, destroying a knee-high structure and slamming his tail bone. Pain split up through his back, and seared in his bleeding leg, but he couldn't let it slow him down. With a grunt he spun to his feet and loped across the strange gray floor, feeling his knuckles burn as they crashed over it.
There was a cry from behind. Its pitch was similar to that creature. To... the demon!
Brrda turned on his heels. Several feet away was the owner of the voice, but it was no demon.
She was a tall woman, nearly six feet tall to be exact. Her skin was tight on her muscles, but she was not particularly buff. Though her voice had sounded more frustrated than angry, her body was poised to strike. Both hands were balled into fists, and her teeth were clenched together. There was a slight hunch to her shoulders, like a cat ready to pounce. Her brown eyes were fierce, and fixed on Brrda in a way only predators knew.
The Savage Savior prepared to fight, but before the springs in his legs could release he spotted Retsis behind the woman. The Secland Tiger had her back to Brrda, her large, orange haunches nearly eclipsed the rest of her, but he could see that she was alive and awake, but more importantly: calm. The tiger turned back to look at her master, her mouth and nose covered in fresh blood. Peering further around the woman, Brrda could see that his feline friend was feasting on the body of a small goat, much of its fleece still untouched and snow white.
The woman said something, again in that bizarre language. Brrda snapped his attention to her, but took notice of her hands which were now opened, palms turned slightly towards him.
"Ssh ssh ssh," the girl pushed air through her teeth.
Brrda stared at her, unsure of what to do.
Retsis seems not to mind her...
Even as he pondered the matter, Brrda could feel the heat leaving him. He realized suddenly that it had never really been there at all, except for the fever that raged on beneath his skin. More aware now of his condition, Brrda began to tire. Blood from the glass cuts had wrapped around his leg, and his muscles and lungs still ached from the marathon flight from before he'd passed out. The welts and burns on his body licked with pain, though the blisters seemed to have become mostly numb.
"Ssh," the woman breathed again. Now she motioned with her fingers for Brrda to come near. He hung back for a moment, but she Sshed again. The sound was comforting, and he recognized it as one he made himself when faced with an enraged but usually friendly beast.
Reluctantly he obeyed, taking a cautious step forward and then another. The woman backed away, yet still motioned, and though confused, Brrda followed again. She pushed open a door behind herself and tiptoed into the room, beckoning the whole time for Brrda to follow.
This room was different from the last. Instead of the scratchy gray floor it was covered in slippery white squares. Strange structures lined the walls, all blinding white in color. The girl sat on one structure, a deep bucket with a lid, kind of like a pelican. She lowered her fingers into a pool of cloudy water, which spat steam into the air, and splashed lightly, still motioning for Brrda with her other hand.
The pool reminded Brrda of the healing hot springs back home. He wondered if this water could also heal his wounds. A little more hastily than intended, he lowered himself into the water, allowing it to fill in all the crevices and folds of his body. The sensation was nostalgic, teleporting him back to a time which seemed now to be an entire life ago. Though these waters did not set about sewing his injuries, they did, at the least, seem to soothe them. He let out a sigh, and sunk down to his neck in the water.
A sharp string shot up his leg. He recoiled fast, splashing water over the edge.
"Ssh," the girl breathed. Again she reached into the water and rubbed the still-bleeding cuts on his leg. It stung for a moment, but her fingers were soft and ultimately seemed to make the blemish hurt less.
Brrda tilted his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. At first he reflected on the events leading up to that moment, but the calming steam convinced him to leave it all behind. He answered its request, breathed deep through his nose, felt the woman's tender hands massage the pain from his lesioned skin.
A smile crawled onto his stoic face.
For the first time since he'd been dropped in this mad world, Brrda was at peace.
