Farseer Falling

Chapter IV

Nuadan slowly felt his consciousness creeping back to the forefront of his mind accompanied by the whispers of the spirit stones on his helmet close by. Old memories had haunted him through his fitful rest as his mind desperately worked to heal his broken body, only now when he opened his eyes did he see that he was still on the little farming world, inside of Kaira's home, tucked safely into what seemed to be a spare bed. He could hear her speaking with someone, but he wasn't yet cognoscente enough to fully figure out who. He heard a faint scratching sound and glanced over beside him, finding the covers pulled up to his chin and little Hela sitting by with a big sketchpad and colorful little drawing utensils. He recognized himself with his tall topknot and dark hair in her picture. It was a child's artwork, nothing necessarily special, but seeing it tugged the corners of his mouth up into the smallest of smiles.

"I quite like that picture of me," he chuckled weakly, his vision blurry, but at least steady.

At his voice, the girl snapped her head towards him, eyes wide in surprise before her mouth spread into a toothy grin. "Mama! Nada is awake!" He wasn't even upset at the incorrect pronunciation of his name. She scrambled up onto the bed and sat down beside him as he attempted to sit upright, hurriedly pushing the sketchbook into his lap. "Look! I drew you and Lord Caius!" She pointed to the two childishly drawn figures - an immense goliath in blue armor and his own long frame beside it - and grinned up at him.

He heard the sound of a chair scraping across the wooden floor before Kaira emerged, her face falling in relief upon seeing Nuadan and Hela there. She disappeared a moment and soon returned with a bowl. "Take it easy now," she cautioned, though whether it was a warning to the ecstatic Hela or himself, he wasn't sure. In response, the girl settled down next to him and took the bowl from her mother, pressing it into Nuadan's hands. "You gave us a scare there for a while. You must have been having quite the dream."

He didn't even bother with the spoon as his belly twisted in hunger. He drank down the soup, almost forgetting to chew the bits of meat and vegetables in the broth. Quite the dream was an understatement, though he wasn't quite sure that Kaira, even as sympathetic as she was, could quite understand what had been running through his head for the spirits only knew how long. "Did you bring me back here?" He almost had to gasp the words as Hela stared down at the empty bowl that he replaced in his lap.

Kaira shook her head and glanced back out the door from which she came. "No. Lord Atelinas did. Though, he dropped you rather unceremoniously onto the kitchen table. Hela and I moved you to the bed." For some reason, that part offended him more than anything else, and he briefly chided himself for being so petty, but the thought of being tossed around like a sack of refuse was... humiliating. He was a Farseer of Craftworld Ulthwé. "He just came back. Apparently, he is insisting on staying here to keep an eye on you," Kaira almost sounded annoyed in the fringes of her voice, but she was remaining rather neutral about the whole thing to his surprise. Then again, he supposed as he laid back with a sigh, body aching, he figured she would have to be considering that the Ultramarines were, no matter how hard they tried to act otherwise, still Space Marines with a rather mixed reputation. He realized when he moved that his armor was gone, and when he looked aside at the old worn armchair, he saw the black pieces piled up neatly on it. "I hope you don't mind," she followed his gaze. "You had a nasty fever, so I figured..." She trailed off and cast her gaze back down to her feet, "My husband sometimes gets like that when he comes back from campaigns, so I hope you don't mind the intrusion."

"Your kindness is much appreciated, elantach," Nuadan cast her a grateful nod and saw her mouth form a small smile when another scrape and the heavy sound of armored footsteps drew his attention to the doorway again. Kaira stepped aside and gave a bow when the Ultramarine rounded the corner, absolutely towering over the much smaller woman, his massive frame barely fitting into the considerably wide doorway.