Memoir of Xayah - The lost sparrow and the lonley fox

[13]

A sound, the wet smell of a fur, her senses woke up form that calling and so did she. She slowly opened her eyes and saw something in her foggy sight. She moved her arm and grabbed the stranger, felling her soft fur that caressed her skin.

« Calm down, dear, I am here to help you. »

It was a warm and motherly voice. It was not an animal ready to attack. The stranger also spoke the Zhyun dialect, a plus. Vastayas had too many dialects, and she could not understand most of them. The common language was familiar to her. She would not have a communication problem.

She left her arm and leaned down, relaxing her muscles. She opened her eyes and could visualize the figure in front of her.

She was a short Vastaya and looked like an otter. Her whiskers seemed the ones of a goat, and around her face, there were garnet growths similar to some small pectoral fins. She wore a turtleneck light green vest with two large half sleeves adorned with darker edges. On it, she had a pastel yellow sleeveless jacket.

« It was you who rescued me? » asked, hoping finally to answer to that question.

« No, I am here because who found you requested my help. Poor thing! She was desperate, and I can understand why. »

A half-dead end, she had not seen her savior, but she could tell she was female and a Vastaya. No one of her kind would have helped a human, or at least that was the practice of her tribe.

Her interlocutor looked inside her bag and took out a bottle filled with an ointment, along with two long smooth splints. She also picked some pieces of fabric, and they were well cut and sewed. One of them was longer and bigger.

« Are you able to sit? »

She nodded and obeyed, holding a spasm of pain.

« Mh, I am surprised that she was able to heal so well the minor injuries. That arm has a terrible angle. I think the bone is growing in the wrong way. »

Her suspicions were correct, that pain was not normal. Probably her savior decided just not to worsen the injury and to keep her alive. She already did so much. She could forgive her that mistake.

« I have to check if there are other fractures but, because I do not see other bruises, I do not think so. I could hurt you, but... »

« Do not worry, it will not hurt as when you break my arm again. » she said.

The Vastaya was surprised. She did not want to make her worried and nervous, relying on her medical ignorance.

« I know how it works. I had already seen it when I was with my tribe. »

It was when they liven inside that lush forest, and now it was only an empty and wild field.

The woman nodded, and she began to touch her hand and her wrist with her soft paws. She instinctively flinched, felling her touch too close to the fracture.

« Does it hurt? » she asked calmly.

She shook her head, biting her lips. The forearm was pulsing more than before. The idea to break the bone gave her nausea, and she could not even bear the thought to tighten that point.

« It is just a reflection. This point gives you all the pain. » she said, pointing the purple area on her skin.

The Vastaya checked her elbow, then her arm and her shoulder. She did not feel other pain but, the one that was coming from the fracture.

« Fine, I think we can go ahead. Relax while I prepare something to ease the pain. »

She nodded and tried to lean on the wall, taking deep breaths. She had to rely on one single thought: that infernal pain would have been over. One quick and precise gesture and after everything would have been more comfortable.