Elysian- After Stellarlune

Chapter Three- Sophie/Keefe

Sophie's POV first:

Two strong pairs of arms tugged at her, trying to pull her away from something.

Sophie tried to remember what that something was.

She yelped as something cut deep into her side. She felt the hot, sticky feel of blood against her skin. Her vision was blurred, and she could barely make out the faces around her.

"One. Two. Three. Lift!" A familiar voice said.

Just then, the pressure lifted from her side, releasing more blood into her tunic. She whimpered in pain as someone pulled her from underneath the arms, dragging her across the ground. A thud shook the ground, a little ways away from her.

"Sophie? Sophie, can you hear me? Nod if you can hear me. Someone hail Elwin!" The familiar voice spoke again.

Sophie, not really sure what was going on, nodded weakly, wincing at the pain the simple movement caused her.

"Oh thank Forkle."

"Uh, Keefe? Elwin can't come to us because he doesn't have a crystal." A different, yet still familiar voice said regretfully.

The first voice, Keefe, let out an impressive string of curses. "Shoot. Someone help me with the crystal."

Some rustling noises were the only sound she could hear before two hands slide under her, one on her back and one under her knees. Gently and slowly, she was lifted off the ground.

Despite how gentle someone was being, it didn't stop Sophie from crying out when a stabbing pain shot through her side.

"I'm sorry Sophie. This is gonna hurt." Keefe apologised before the familiar warm feathery feeling enveloped her, along with the natural agony in her abdomen.

The soothing warmth stopped abruptly, met with worried sounds and shrieks. She was bumped up and down as the person carrying her ran.

"Oh no no no." Keefe whispered. "Hold on Foster, almost there."

Moments later, she was lowered onto a soft bed, but her bliss didn't last for long. She screamed as painful ointments covered the wound in her side, trying to thrash against whatever was binding her to the cot. Blue and green breezes rushed through her mind, but they did t provide the same level of sanctuary they normally had. Sophie felt the familiar trickle of tears down her face as she slowly blacked out, the last thing she saw being a blond boy with ice-blue eyes leaning over her.

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Keefe's POV of this past chapter:

Keefe had his hand stretched out for Foster to take. He watched her lunge for the slowly shrinking opening, just barely making it.

All of a sudden, a thud sounded, paired with a scream of pain. The pure, raw emotion hit him in the gut, knocking him back a step. Even with his messed up empathy, he could still sense strong emotions, especially from Foster.

And this was from Foster.

A jagged rock had landed on top of her mid-section, cutting into her side. Fitz grabbed her, attempting to pull her, but only succeeding in making it worse and deepening the gash.

"Fitz! Stop! She's trapped!" Keefe dragged Fitz away by his shoulders.

"Okay, on the count of three, everyone lift the rock using telekinesis, and I'm gonna pull her out.

"One. Two. Three. Lift!"

Keefe pulled Sophie into his lap, away from the rock a sit dropped to the ground with a heavy thud that reverberated through the ground.

"Sophie?" Keefe looked at Sophie's face worriedly. "Sophie, can you hear me? Nod if you can hear me. Someone hail Elwin!"

Maruca hailed Elwin, beating Fitz to it. "Uh, Keefe? Elwin can't come to us because he doesn't have a crystal." Maruca reported, sounding regretful, though there wasn't anything that she could've done.

Keefe let out a string of some very colourful words. "Shoot. Someone help me with the crystal.

Fitz came over to Keefe and dug into Keefe's tunic pocket, taking out the crystal, fumbling with it slightly.

Keefe slid one hand under the small of her back, and the other hand right under her knees. She lifted Sophie up as gently as he could. Despite his efforts, she cried out, a sound that was worse than a stab in the gut to Keefe's ears.

"I'm sorry Sophie. This is gonna hurt." Keefe whispered sympathetically as he stepped into the beam of light Fitz was holding up, Marella close on his heals.

When they arrived in Foxfire's grounds, Keefe immediately noticed how light Sophie had become. He looked down to see her almost transparent, her blood still soaking through his tunic.

"Oh no no no." Sophie was pale. Too pale. She-could-fade-away-any-second-now kind of pale. And she had lost a ton of blood. Too much blood.

"Hold on Foster, almost there."

He carried Sophie as carefully as he could through the halls of Foxfire. Some prodigies were milling around the hallways, gaping at him when he came into view carrying Sophie. Marella called sone of the attention off of him and cleared up the hallway by making her hand flicker with a flame.

Keefe made it to the Healing Center without any more casualties. "Elwin!" He called as he lay her down onto a cot.

Elwin came from around the corner, wearing his spectacles with several elixirs in hand. He set the down hard on a tray, and got to work, cutting off the blood-soaked part of her tunic. Keefe wanted to look away, his stomach churning from seeing so much of it, of the blood that also happened to be on his hands. He ignored it and kept his eyes focused on Sophie.

Keefe desperately wanted to take away all of the pain Sophie felt, especially when she started screaming.

"I need to apply the ointment or it'll get infected! Hold her still!" Elwin ordered as he tried to get some salve onto her gash.

Keefe hesitantly did as he was told, pinning down her arms to keep her from thrashing. He took the opportunity to twine his fingers with hers, sending her breezes now that he had his powers back.

As tears trickled down her face, Keefe wasn't sure Sophie felt the breezes at all, but he kept sending them anyway. He leaned over her, studying her face with concern as Elwin applied the salve to her wound.

"I'm so sorry, Sophie. You'll be okay."

That would be a whole lot more convincing if Bullhorn hadn't lay down next to her, curled up warmly against her non-injured side.

"Please be okay."

Word count: 1091

TattooedTreeCorpse- running for my life