The Road to Forgiveness Be Damned

Scars of the Past Still Fester

It was the first step she took Ferreth noticed something was off. Her eyes not wanting to focus, the sluggish way her body moved, everything in her demeanor sent him on the alert. It was only when Ven began to collapse, he realized something was very wrong.

He caught her before her head hit the ground. Fear gripped his heart as he panicked over what to do. Was she hurt internally? Would it be safe to carry her back to Thal Esari if she was? What if she was already...? He couldn't bear to finish the thought. His anxiety only worsened the longer time passed.

"Ven? Ven, come on. Wake up for me, honey, wake up." He gently shook her in an attempt to wake her up. "Ven, please... I need you to be okay so just. Wake. Up!"

No response. Despite the ever so slight rise and fall of her chest, nothing would ease his worry more than seeing her violet eyes again. He cradled her close, memories of that horrible time beginning to plague his mind.

The sound of his mother hacking up phlegm and blood. Her once strong and robust body withering away to nothing. Her voice and smile so weak and frail. Her warm brown skin becoming pallid and sickly. His hope of her recovering from her illness slowly waning till the day she died. Him watching her die bit by bit while he could only stand there, feeling helpless to do anything. He forced back the tears that were ready to be shed, as well as the painful memories.

He couldn't go through that again. He couldn't lose another person he loved while he stood by, knowing he could've done something but didn't. No. He was NOT going to let history repeat itself. Taking a deep breath, he swept an arm under her legs, picked her up, and sprinted off towards Thal Esari.

Back through the forest and into the field, he ran. He couldn't stop thinking about how it was his fault she got hurt. If he just refused to listen to her, if he just brought her back by force, she would be okay. Her being pissed at him was so much better than wondering if she was alive or not.

Please be okay, he kept repeating in his head. It was more of a prayer than anything else. A prayer among all the what-ifs and maybes, something he desperately hoped for a god above to hear.

As he neared Thal Esari, his ears picked up murmurs from Ven in his arms. He looked down to see her stirring awake and his run slowed to a walk. She slowly opened her eyes, glancing around and coughing some.

"What...happened?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

"You passed out and I couldn't get you to wake up," he replied, anger beginning to seep into his voice, "so I'm carrying you back to Thal Esari."

"...I'm sorry." She averted her gaze. "I didn't mean to make you worry over me."

"Damn right you are!" he snapped, stopping his walk. "Do you know how scared I was when you wouldn't wake up?! I don't even know what the hell would've made you pass out like that!"

"Ferret---"

"You told me you would be okay and, me being the effing idiot I am, believed you! God, why do I even listen to you sometimes?! I thought---I thought you were..."

A couple tears quickly slid down his cheeks. The thought of losing her was always there but this was the closest he felt to that fear becoming reality. He never wanted to feel like this ever again.

"Ferreth." Her hand caressed his cheek, wiping away another fallen tear as she tenderly smiled. "I'm okay."

Her touch brought him comfort, which he gladly leaned into. If she was able to do that, she mustn't be badly off. For someone who claimed to be bad with people, she certainly knew how to make him feel better.

Retracting her hand, she said, "I'm okay to walk so you can put me down, okay?"

"Are you sure?" he asked. "I don't want you passing out on me again."