Between the Veil and Crown

Kylin 18

He was conscious, but his eyes wouldn't open.

As he let them remain as they were, he became aware of the fact that he was stiff. Very stiff. Immovably stiff.

Still, he was going to try moving himself.

It took a lot of work, but after several minutes, he felt his left arm respond. He rested for a moment, the went back at it, this time hoping for a response from his right arm.

He was out of luck there.

But his legs moved, however slightly.

He rested again before trying to get more movement out of his body.

And so he continued this pattern, moving himself by centimeters. But his eyes never opened and his right arm never responded.

He didn't know when, but he became aware of the fact that his progress had not, in fact, taken the course of an hour or a little bit longer as he had thought. No, instead, he was falling asleep after every effort. For how long, he did not know. He did not have enough of his bearing to even tell what time it was.

Initially, he attempted to fight this. To open his eyes and look around and not fall back asleep. It was a losing battle, he found, and just gave in.

Finally, his eyelids reluctantly opened and he was able to take in his surroundings. The first thing he saw was the ceiling. It looked to be of stone. When he had established this fact, he attempted to look to his right. He wasn't able to go more than a slight movement to the right before something impeded his movement. He waited a couple of seconds before trying again.

Still wasn't able to.

Deciding to try later, he moved his head to the left. His neck worked in that direction. After he took a moment to celebrate that in his mind, he focused on what his eyes were actually looking at. There was a table at his side with a basin on top of it- there appeared to be water in it. There were a couple of wooden chairs, both vacant. There was also a door, slightly ajar. From what was visible at his angle, it appeared to open into a hallway. The room was lit by the soft glow of a couple of dim ball lights, attached to the stone walls.

If he wasn't mistaken, he was in the med bay of the Rangers' headquarters.

What brought him here?

As he reflected on this, flashes of attacking the giant carnivorous flower in the forest assaulted his mind. He quickly turned his attention back to the door, realizing there was something in those memories he wasn't quite ready to face. He had gotten what he needed for the moment.

Thankfully, he did not have to work too hard to distract himself from the memories, as Amelia slipped into the room.

Her hair had been hurriedly tied behind her head, her eyes wide as she peered down at Kylin. Her face was pale, her brow creased with worry. She wore a plain black dress Kylin recognized as one she wore when doing extensive healing work. "To hide the stains," she had told him- something she had learned from his mother.

When she saw that he was awake, her face relaxed, though it remained pale. She settled herself the chair closest to his head, neatly placing her hands on her lap. Behind her, Selim entered the room. However, he remained at the doorway, leaning against the frame his arms crossed. Unlike Amelia's relief, Selim's expression made it clear that he wasn't too pleased to see Kylin again.