Squirrelly Days - Rammu

020 - Kion

Hearing a faint ringing, Kion lay perfectly still as his body felt impossibly heavy and cold. Unable to do anything else Kion's mind focused on the ever-growing ringing in the otherwise deafening silence around him. After a few moments, the ringing transformed into an all-consuming sound that broke into a flood of blinding white light as his eyelids managed to crack open despite their immense weight.

Over time, the blinding white dimmed into blurry images, and the ringing in his ears mellowed to a soft voice.

'''

Moring: Try not to move, just let yourself re-ac, reacc- *flustered utterance* get used to the world again. You were stung by a scorpion and brushed up against a bush with leaf resin that acts as a powerful sensory toxin that got into a fresh cut on your leg. I'm going to put some liquid in your mouth and hold your head up. Please try and let it sit under your tongue for a while then swallow.

'''

Kion felt his head being lifted and did his best to follow the instructions. As the liquid sat beneath his tongue, he began to feel his body warm. By the third drink of liquid the warmth had faded into paralyzing pain, however by the fifth drink the pain had subsided to numb pulsations.

After the tenth and last, according to Moring, his vision cleared to the point that he could tell he was back in the Gathering. Perhaps in his room, though perhaps not, he couldn't quite tell.

'''

Moring: When you feel like you can speak, try and tell me what you remember.

'''

After what felt like it could have been hours, the numbing sensations around his body lessened to the point where he felt able to speak. At first he was unable to produce anything more than a faint whisper, but as he slowly recounted how he had pushed Chyla out of the way of a scorpion which had also resulted in him scraping his leg, his voice had climbed to a near normal volume.

'''

Moring: Why didn't you tell anyone that you were stung by the scorpion?

Kion: It wasn't a dangerous type... I didn't feel it was necessary.

Moring: How did you know it wasn't dangerous?

Kion: The color and the shape of it's stinger.

Moring: Have you ever been stung by one before?

Kion: No.

Moring: Then you didn't know it wasn't dangerous.

Kion: I don't understand.

Moring: Everyone's body can react differently. Even if something isn't known to be very toxic, like in this case, that doesn't mean it can't be to certain people. This is especially true when you mix toxins, as you never know for certain how they are going to react. Even the medicine I gave you could still kill you, though unlikely.

Kion: You sound much older than you look.

Moring: *scowl* To be honest, I'm just copying mother. I'm fairly certain I understand everything I'm telling you, but in truth, I'm simply paraphrasing her words.

Kion: Is there anyone else in the room? I can't quite tell if there's someone sitting in the corner or not.

Moring: No, we're alone. Unica is nearby in case something goes wrong, but she's confident that you'll be fine.

Kion: What about your friend?

Moring: She "should" be in the library studying, but I'm sure she's snooping around, or at least trying to. As for your friends, I'm not sure. Though Viv is just outside the door, she's been very insistent on staying near you, so she was placed in charge of watching over me.