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Post by desna on Nov 30, 2008 16:36:47 GMT -5
A week, maybe two, she didn't remember. How long was it since she last made the walk from the shelf to Shai?
The snow in front of her blurred and moved, it wasn't supposed to do that. Her mind felt like it wasn't there, just as well because her legs were dead weight. They plodded through the snow with all the grace of a penguin on land at a quarter of the speed. She hadn't even realized she was stopped until a concerned nose poked it's way into her hand. Pikatti's big blue eyes peered up at her full of concern, his eyes were lowered and over all he looked like he was just about ready to drag her back to the hut. Under the thick fabric of her scarf she smiled at Pikatti and patted his head trying to reassure him. Everything was fine, they couldn't go much longer without supplies, it was a necessary evil that she leave her bed.
What started out as a slight cough started to eat away at her, first it was the inability to keep food down, then fever and then pain, everywhere. It was all she could do to take care of the plants and care for Pikatti. She wouldn't let all of her hard work go to waste because she wasn't feeling well. All in all if kept her at home, it should have kept her at home but as stubborn as she was she wasn't going to drain all her supplies, they needed fresh fish and other staples. In her mind this break from the schedule was bad so onward she trudged through the snow.
It happened like a flash, one moment she was standing, the next face first in the snow, her fur lined cap on the ground beside her. At her back she could hear the jingle of Pikatti's harness as he panicked. His jowls secured themselves on her thick coat and tried to pull her back up. With a groan Desna got to her knees breathing heavily, her face flushed and her scarf having slid out of place. " I'm- okay....." She breathed huskily but her lung wracked hopelessly and she bent over in a coughing fit, her eyes were bleary and she couldn't even descern the snow from her hat as she grabbed it, forcing her to grope around in the snow to fetch it an tug it back on her head.
The rest of the walk to Shai was uneventful, it was tiring as well, she'd tripped over herself several times and was forced to stop. What usually took her an hour and a half at a brisk pace took her nearly double that time. By the time she was in Shai she was hot, cold, exhausted and about ready to curl up into a ball and cry. Currently she was leaning against a wall, hopelessly lost in a city she knew like the back of her hand. Bundled up in her clothes as she was it'd be hard to decern who she was, The only real thing setting her apart from everyone else was the polar bear dog who sat dutifully at her feet waiting for her to catch her breath as she fought the spots back from her vision.
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Post by aden on Dec 2, 2008 0:45:16 GMT -5
Aden had been keeping himself occuppied as best he could in the time following the send-off celebration. The city seemed somehow less active with a good portion of its warriors out at sea and without the constant construction on the captured Fire Nation vessels. Coupled with the loss in population due to the past two sieges, it felt like things had slowed down to a crawl and that the people of the tribe were just happy that things were relatively quiet.
For Aden in particular, however, things had felt particularly quiet for a while now. He was relegated to primarily maintenance work on city utilities along with his father which didn't require such extensive hours as the initial rebuilding efforts after the siege. His spare time he spent partially at the training fields where he both furthering his own training as well as helping to instruct a younger batch of benders. The rest of his time he spent at home with Tuli and occasionally running errands with his mother.
One thing missing from his routine, though, was a certain girl who, for the previous few weeks, had managed to hound him often enough that he'd become acclimated to her presence. And yet, Aden hadn't seen Desna around town for over a week now. He began to wonder if perhaps she was nursing some new plant or if something had happened to her.
His parents had noticed too and his mother in particular began to pester him about why Desna hadn't come to visit in a while. But the young warrior didn't know where on the Shelf she lived or if she had any relatives in the city that might shed some insight. Aden couldn't recall anything he'd done or said during their last meeting to make her purposefully avoid him either. There didn't seem to be much he could do other than keep an eye peeled and see if she came back.
It was midday, and Aden found himself once more playing go-for for his mother. She sent him out for some fish and a few sea vegetables harvested from the ocean floor as well as some whale oil. He carried the leather pouch for the oil over one shoulder as he walked and scanned the sparsely dotted market street for some sign of Desna's little sled-based herb stand.
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Post by desna on Dec 2, 2008 1:39:21 GMT -5
Pikatti nudged her with his sad blue eyes looking up at his master, Desna felt a pang of sympathy and forced a smile though it was wasted under her scarf. She extended her arm and smoothed his fur, or at least tried to, her hand didn't make it that far, she was waving in air until Pikatti moved himself closer to her and whimpered. " Its-s'okay.." Desna murmured squinting her eyes finally thinking that it was a bad idea to leave the hut, she couldn't even figure out where she was in the city let alone where to go in order to get the things she needed.
Once again her vision swam and she closed her eyes fighting back the nausea and pain that pierced her skull. It was unpleasant but after a few days she figured she'd get used to it. How long could this last anyway? She was freezing inside her parka and she was sweating all at the same time, unpleasantly she felt an odd wetness bead and roll down the curve of her spin but she could do little about it. Bracing herself against the wall she stood up again her legs nearly giving out on her.
Pikatti was at her side but it didn't help much, she was wobbling for a few moments before she caught her balance again. With a shiver raking it's way through her body she began to trudge off down the street, she was in the market right? She had to at least be near it. Unless she was near the harbor, perhaps the upper ring? Pikatti followed behind her casting wary glances at the people around them. It wasn't like anyone could tell the difference between the bundled individual and a drunk walking off a mid morning hang over.
She'd stumbled into people once or twice but managed to mutter an excuse me and keep walking. she was stubborn, more than anyone could believe and she'd never admit she was unable to take care of herself. It just wasn't her style. Right now she was feeling a sinking in the pit of her stomach, there were spots in her vision and vertigo set it. At her side her polar bear dog began to whimper at something, she didn't really know what. The world was too busy contorting for her to really think about it.
When she landed into someones chest with a thud she staggered back and held her side unable to tell who or what she walked into, it could have been a wall or a person. Neither were out of the realm of possibility. A muffled apology came from under her scarf and she side stepped the obstical and kept moving on. She'd forgot where she was headed.
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Post by aden on Dec 2, 2008 20:07:22 GMT -5
The relatively quiet market day made it easy for Aden to navigate the stands for the items he was looking for. As many times as he'd accompanied his mother and run errands, he definitely did not consider himself a savvy shopper. Regardless, he found most of what he was looking for in terms of food and at reasonable prices.
The only thing he had left to fetch was a gallon of oil. For that he headed down by the docks where most of the whalers' wares were stockpiled. After a little searching he came by a set of large silos contaning the oil he was looking for and he paid the salesman for a gallon.
Not a moment after the last drop was funneled into his leather pouch, though, did someone bump roughly into his back and cause him to drop the container. Some of the oil splattered from the opening, but he quickly scooped it up and placed the cap over the end.
"Hey," he said quickly, wheeling around to face whoever it was. "Be careful..." His voice trailed off as he regarded the rather short person who was bundled up tight and already wandering off. By their stagger he was initially led to believe they were drunk. Aden was about to mutter an insult and let the matter go, but he suddenly noticed the animal walking beside the drunkard.
"Pikatti?" Aden said out loud, calling to the polar bear-dog. It was low enough not to bring too much attention to himself, but he was almost certain that was Pikatti. That and the sled...
"Desna?" he asked a little louder and he began to walk briskly after them. "Desna," he called again, more assured that he had the right person. She didn't seem to be hearing him, though, perhaps because she was wearing a scarf and her hood was up. He reached a hand up and tapped her shoulder to try and get her attention.
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Post by desna on Dec 2, 2008 21:31:53 GMT -5
It was so hard to stand up, her legs felt heavey and horrid, she tried to tug them along and found herself just stumbling awkwardly. She nearly fell into another person, he shouted at her and she whimpered before walking on. Pikatti fell along after her trotting near Desna's legs He couldn't take his eyes off of her for fear she'd fall again.
Luckily for him he heard a familure voice, it was the boy Desna hung out with all the time, she'd knocked into him. Pikatti's ears perked and his tail began to wag. If It wasn't for Desna he's bound up to the boy and demand attention. Luckily he seemed to notice them.
Pikatti's head wheeled around towards Aden and he stopped turning around and looking up at the boy as he came after them He was pleased, as was obvious by the tongue lolling out of his mouth. Desna on the other hand wasn't aware of Aden even as he grabbed her shoulder.
Desna was a little confused, the hand on her shoulder caught her attention as her motion stopped. She squinted her eyes and finally she was able to hear Aden saying her name. Her neck hurt and she found herself unable to look back at him so she forced herself to gain some manner of clarity as she turned to look at Aden. Her eyes were tired, mostly the only thing that showed through the thick furs and clothes she wrapped herself in. It was dizzying but she put on a smile despite the scarf obscuring it.
" Hi!" She muttered somewhat clearly trying to sound cheerful despite her illness. Desna raised her hand to wave at him but her vision went swimming and she stumbled on her own feet without even moving, once again her world was moving , it made her feel sick. She put a hand to her head and waved at Aden meekly playing it off as nothing. " Hey.. whats up?"
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Post by aden on Dec 2, 2008 23:10:20 GMT -5
When she eventually turned around and greeted him, Aden was initially glad that she sounded like her usual chipper self. He smiled a bit and even turned his attention to Pikatti for a moment. He reached a hand down to pet the bear-dog's head, but in the next moment Desna nearly toppled over.
Aden lurched forward and extended a hand to stop her fall, but she caught herself. At that point he managed to take a good close look at her face and he noticed immediately that she was not quite right.
"Are you okay?" he asked, immediately bypassing her own question. He eyes looked bleary and red, he nose seemed like it was raw, and she looked unusually pale for someone of her darker skintone. "I haven't seen you around for a while..." he added, and he made little effort to hide his attempts to evaluate her health with his shifting gaze.
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Post by desna on Dec 2, 2008 23:23:43 GMT -5
Pikatti whimpered helplessly at Aden and looked at Desna, he couldn't do anything for her and it seemed like she wouldn't listen to her own self of preservation, even when she almost fell he couldn't do much, stand next to her and bite at her parka to keep her up.
Desna shrugged her shoulders and tried to continue ignoring her own health, she closed her eyes, not able to take too much of the light, it was bright and making her eyes hurt. Her legs felt pained, her back hurt like hell and over all she just wanted to give up and head home, it was much too far to make it now though.
" I'm fine." She said trying to sound cheerful yet again but her voice cracked and she doubled over coughing into her scarf though her hands went to her mouth out of habit. How was she supposed to hide that now. Her eyes opened with a bit of effort and she starred at the ground her vision swimming awkwardly, short of groaning she nearly fell back but stood up again. " I just... have a cold."
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Post by aden on Dec 2, 2008 23:56:29 GMT -5
Contrary to her own statement, Desna was clearly not fine. Aden furrowed his brow a little bit as he took in just howbad her condition really was. Her cough sounded awful and she could barely stand. It seemed like she could hardly even keep her eyes open.
Now, Aden is the kind of person to respect self-reliance and even admire someone who can go on despite injury or disability. In fact, that was something he admired about Desna... But with something as apparently serious as this, it was nothing short of foolhardy to try and ignore it.
"I think you should sit," Aden said, and he took a step forward and attempted to slip and arm under hers for support. "This sounds a lot worse than just a cold... I think you need to go to the healing huts for some medicine." Aden tried to guide her towards her own sled where perhaps she could recline a little bit and regain her sense of balance.
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Post by desna on Dec 3, 2008 0:35:51 GMT -5
" I don't need to sit..." She argued weakly not even sure if her voice could even be heard through her scarf. One thing for Desna was that she stubborn, stupidly so. Short of being carried off she wouldn't budge until she blacked out and had to be made to rest. She wasn't on her own, she needed to be strong or she'd fall apart.
Pikatti whimpered and he tugged at her coat trying to get her to give up but she wouldn't. It just wasn't in her nature. She managed to keep herself up straight now attempting to glare at him but she couldn't manage to stare straight at her. She felt so sick it was hard to even breath but she felt like she was in control, able to handle this.
Once more her vision began spinning and on impulse she grabbed Aden's hand stumbling slightly into him not bothering to right herself. Her eyes hurt, it was like she couldn't think, all there was behind her eyes were was a blinding white light. Her lips pursed stubbornly not wanting to admit she needed help.
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Post by aden on Dec 3, 2008 15:52:51 GMT -5
Aden was torn between getting help for Desna and leaving her to her own devices. On the one hand he was not her father, or relative, or even anything more than a friend, really. He had no authority over her, and it was not in his nature to meddle with other people's affais or impose his will on them. However, on the other hand this was clearly not a typical circumstance where his scruples against interfering would take precedent.
When Desna nearly fell once more and almost took him down with her, though, Aden realized that he would have to act. As irresponsible as it would be for Desna to ignore her own deteriorating health, it would be equally irresponsible of him to allow it to happen.
"Okay," he told her, his tone shifting to that of a parent who was taking control of an unruly toddler, "We're going to take a trip up river." He was referring, of course, to traveling higher up into the city and against the natural flow of the canal system that dumped into the ocean after circling around each level. Aden hook his hands under her arms and practically used a leg sweep on her to start her falling back where he could place her onto the bed of her own sled.
Aden felt strange having to use his physical advantage to boss Desna around, but he couldn't really think of any other way. He honestly felt that she could be in danger of succumbing to pneumonia or some other sickness that could prove deadly if left untreated. Especially if she had been struggling with it this past week or so and wasn't getting better.
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Post by desna on Dec 3, 2008 16:09:49 GMT -5
She was just trying to catch her balance. Couldn't Aden understand that? She was fine, after all she was one of the clumsiest people she knew, there was no shame in tripping over her own feet, it was a common occurrence and he should know it, after all she managed to hurt her ankle with little to no assistance from him. Damaged her sled and jumped into a snow bank on the training grounds. Sure she fell into him and felt cold with a hot sweat, people could have temperature problems.
He said okay and she was some what relieved, she started to stand on her own but his voice changed, it was something she didn't recognize at first. It sounded wrong. Her eyes fought against the bright white and she couldn't place it. What was it about that voice that had her feeling like a much younger girl wanting to cry into someones chest.
Arms went around her and she felt dizzy again but this time it was different, she struggled lightly but didn't have the energy to do much more than jerk weakly then she was in the sled. Her mind felt odd and fuzzy. Where was she? In a sled, it was so familure. " Nana...?" Was that it? She was going somewhere with her grandmother? She'd been gone too long, Desna missed her.
Pikatti shook himself out, the harness still on him. Standing he was almost as big as Desna, on his legs he was still an impressively large pet. His nose tilted up looking at Aden, assuming he'd be following the boy but he did look back at his master curiously. A whimper came from him but he didn't turn around to investigate the girl, it would jilt the sled too much.
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Post by aden on Dec 3, 2008 20:36:16 GMT -5
Aden carefully laid Desna down on the sled and moved to pick up her feet onto the crossplanks as well. As he did so he heard her mention something about her Nana and he wondered for a moment if she was hallucinating. If that were the case than he should probably hurry up and get her to the healing huts quickly. It seemed like nothing short of a miracle that she had even made into the city in her current state.
"Come on, Pikatti," he said to the bear-dog at the front of the sled. Aden gripped the handles that protruded along the back side of the vehicle and gave a bit of a push to start the sled moving. "Let's get her some help... Mush." Pikatti seemed to catch his intention and cast one more worried glance at his master before beginning to pull. Together they moved the sled fairly quickly along the docks and eventually came to the flight of stairs that led to the upper levels.
Aden weighed the options and decided to see about some smoother transportation. Beside them ran the main canal up into the city, and Aden managed to flag down the pilot of a small catamaran loaded with a batch of fish. "Sir! Excuse me, Sir!" he called out, "We need to get up to the healing huts. My friend is very sick."
"I'm only heading toward the market," the man answered as he steered the vessel by its rear rudder toward the locks of the gate that would raise him to the next level of the city. "You'll need to find another boat to take you any higher."
"That's fine," Aden said, "Just hold on one moment." The young warrior stepped off the sled and gently lifted Desna off its flatbed. At that moment he was somewhat thankful she was so light, and he carried her over to the water's edge where the boatman managed to drift close enough that he could take her onboard and help her onto the bench-like seat along the side of the boat. Aden held off on following her for the moment when he remembered Pikatti, and he quickly went about untying the bear-dog's harness. Once free, Pikatti wasted no time in leaping onboard the ship after his master, whom he dutifully took a seat beside.
In the meantime, Aden dragged Desna's sled away from the water's edge and over into the shadow of the staircase. TThe boatman complained about him taking such a long time, but he made sure to encase the sled in a box of ice with his bending, upon which he inscribed the words "Do Not Touch."
After that, he hopped about the boat and they sailed into the first lock. Benders stationed on either side of the wall above began feeding water into the chamber to raise them up to the next level and Aden took a seat opposite Desna, watching her closely.
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Post by desna on Dec 4, 2008 0:48:45 GMT -5
Desna allowed herself to be carted about like a little doll without much struggle on her part. She was in her own little world thinking about her grandmother. It was so comfortable in the sled, it felt like when she was little and her eyes almost drifted shut, her mind beginning to fade away with exhaustion, but it wasn't comfortable. The few seconds she was actually out were ended when a bolt of pain in her head forced her into consciousness. It was painful and she grabbed her head. Why didn't she just stay home.
But now she was more awake. Aden was there, not her grandmother, her heart lurched with disappointment, it wasn't that she disliked Aden, but the memories of her grandmother hurt, she did her best to ignore it when ever she could. It made things easier. In the previous weeks Aden honestly helped her forget, the time at home she had spent in remorse were replaced with planning fun events or writing in her journal about the various things they'd done.
The self conscious part of herself wanted to know why he stayed with her, it was a small part of her being, the part that cast doubt on everything she was normally so sure of. Everyone was assuming they were in love, or dating or something. Well, it was a good question, she didn't know how she felt anymore.
Aden left and went over to the canal and she watched hazily through half closed eyes. Shortly after he returned and helped her up, well it was more like picked her up and took her over to the man who helped her onto the boat. She was set down on a small outcropping that served as a seat and she didn't do much against it though she did tug off he hat and pull her scarf down slightly. She was starting to feel really hot, common sense told her to not remove her parka but she should be fine without such extraneous clothing. Pikatti scrambled onto the boat and made himself at home with is head headed in her lap, his eyes watching the fish greedily.
Desna ignored him and let her head lull back and her eyes close. Her hair was a mess, she'd brushed it but couldn't manage to put it in her signature style. It seemed it would just be down today. Some of it hung in her eyes so when she opened them she managed to see a clump of brown obscuring the sky. It'd gotten long since she sheered it. Her cheeks were flushed and her face had indeed lost some color everywhere else, it was a lot easier to breath without the scarf though.
Her throat hurt, other wise she would have asked Aden why he was doing this but merely letting that go she stroked Pikatti gently, he was worried about her.
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Post by aden on Dec 4, 2008 23:27:55 GMT -5
Aden watched the benders operating the lock with impatient gazes. He had to fight the urge to stand up and expedite the process of raising the boat, but in all likelihood he would distrub their routine so he remained seated. Instead he simply kept an eye on Desna to make sure she didn't take a turn for the worse.
"Hey!" the boatman said, catching his attention as he pointed at Pikatti, "Keep your dog away from the merchandise." Aden followed the man's glance and saw that Desna's animal companion was indeed eyeing the pile of fish. Aden nodded slightly and scooted to the edge of his seat so he could place a hand on Pikatti's neck, near his collar.
Within a few moments the benders had the boat up even with the next level and they opened the gate for them to proceed. The boatman stood up then and moved to the front of the ship to propel it down the waterway with his own bending.
"We're coming up on my stop," he informed Aden after a minute or so of travel. The ship pulled up against the side of the canal on a side path near the marketplace, and Aden figured that it wouldn't be too hard to get another ride from here.
"Thanks," Aden said to the boatman, and he offered a thankful nod.
"No problem," the man uttered in response and he froze the water between the boat and the street to make it easier to disembark.
Aden then knelt beside Desna and patted her hand lightly to try and catch her attention. "Desna," he said, "Can you sit up?"
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Post by desna on Dec 5, 2008 0:09:28 GMT -5
The boatman seemed rude to Desna, but what did she know, she was half conscious starring at the sky with a blank look, her aqua eyes starred blankly at half of her eyelids and then the clouds after that. They were pretty and calm, much more relaxing than anything else she could think about.
She felt a bit numb and that felt nice, it was better than the hurt and soreness she'd been feeling since she left the house this morning. Remembering her grandmother added some emotional stress on top of it. She really missed her, why did she have to leave? Honestly when she was thinking about it wasn't her grandmother sick like this before she passed? It felt ironic, perhaps when she was thinking clearer she'd panic, seeing the line these two points were drawing. This wasn't part of Desna's plan, her plan was to grow old doing what she did forever, when she was older she could yell at small children running around her sled, Though in her fantasy future Pikatti never died or got a single day older and she was almost completely alone.
It didn't even phase her when she slipped into sleep. Her eyes were closed and he body slacked back against the small bench her mind drifting through a disconcerning haze. Her brows furrowed when she felt someone touching her hand, groggily she looked up at Aden trying to figure out what she said. For lack of anything better she nodded her head heavily and sat there like a sack. Pikatti went on ahead of them and hopped out of the boat trotting to the shore his stubby tail wagging as he waited for his master and Aden. On shaky legs Desna attempted to stand up. Her hand weakly holding her hat.
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