Mature Content Warning
This thread has been marked as mature. By reading and/or participating in this thread, you acknowledge that you are of age or have permission from your parents to do so. The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: Attempted suicide.
Khalys' attempted suicide has failed as per
this dice roll. She will die if she does not receive immediate medical attention, and depending on the severity of her injuries which will be decided in a later dice roll, she might die even with treatment! This thread is all welcome!
Khalys' body had healed, but her mind had not. Kailoh was all she could think of most days, but every good memory was interrupted with
flashbacks to his death. She couldn't take it anymore. She had followed
@Arsenio and
@Tamar to the vale, to help them with their claim. Their claim... theirs, when it was meant to be hers. It felt like a betrayal. No one had even asked her if she was okay with it.
Tears filled her eyes, and Khalys began to climb slowly out of the vale. Her face was set into a twisted, pained grimace, yellow eyes narrowed and nose wrinkling slightly. She had made her decision. If she could not be with him in the tunnels, she would be with him at
the place they had met.
Her legs shook — she was out of the vale but now had to find the place where he had been held. They'd never revisited it, and she did not remember exactly. Eventually, she found herself on a ridge, and there, far below, a glimmer of dull silver, a metal cage caked with rust.
She took a long, deep breath. Counted to ten, even.
"Kailoh... I... I'm so sorry." She let her tears fall. She looked out to the horizon, where a brilliant sunrise shone, all golds and pinks against a deep blue sky. It was beautiful.
"I will be with you again." And she jumped. In the few moments before she hit the ground, Khalys felt a sense of peace, a sense of finality. This was it. This... this was the end. She wouldn't have to grieve him anymore. She hit the ground with a sickening thud. Blackness overtook her.
Ashlar couldn't move as he watched the shape falling from the mountain. He had been hunting further out than usual, and happened to look up just in time to see something. He was frozen, horrified, when he realized what that something was. Some wolf must have fallen.
It took him a few moments to shake the numb shock from seeing this, but as soon as he did, Ashlar took off for where the wolf would be. He dreaded what he would find because it was a long way down, but he had to try and help if he could.
They weren't moving. He felt like he might be sick. Ashlar stepped towards her and blanched at the scent of blood, but forced himself to think of what Gannet would do. He would try his best. He began trying to check, to see how badly she was injured and if she might respond, by nosing her gently. She was still alive but he'd never treated a wolf hurt this badly. He wasn't sure he even could.
It was only fate that had placed Arsenio outside of the vale that morning. He had been itching to explore the neighboring territories, their future hunting grounds. Khalys’ scent had captured his attention when he had reached the mountain. He wondered if she had been doing the same - scouting their home’s vast wilderness and what surrounded it.
The redstone man had trotted along lazily for a while, thinking of Tamar and the land that they intended to claim. With the scent of Khalys leading him, he wondered how she was faring since the death of her mate and the crushing of their plans together. Arsenio could not imagine the horror that she had endured, the heartache.
When blood overcame the scent of the woman, Arsenio found himself more aware. Something was wrong. He tracked the smell until he came upon the wounded figure of Khalys and a stranger who loomed over her. Fur rose along his neck and shoulders.
Did you do this? What happened-
But Khalys was still alive, if only just. Arsenio stepped forward. Worry found his features.
Please… do you know healing herbs? Anything?
N-no, I... she...
Ashlar stumbled back in shock as another wolf appeared. She hadn't responded at all. He was afraid that the man would attack him, assuming he had attacked her, but the next question helped. He did, but not like this. He didn't know how to heal this.
I... yes. But, um, I've never t.... I don't know if I can.
He was still frozen and he couldn't concentrate as a result from it. He just kept seeing her fall. He should have done something. It didn't matter that that was impossible, that there was no physical or realistic way he could have. He should do something now. Why couldn't he do anything?
Death came swiftly for her; bones were shattered, and she had massive internal bleeding, likely organs ruptured. There would be nothing that could save her. She was not even aware of Arsenio and the stranger beside her as she took her final, choking breath, still lost to the blackness of unconsciousness. She would know peace now, at least.
The boy stammered bashfully, as if he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar before supper. Arsenio did not have patience for it. He could see the severe damage that had been done to the woman – to Khalys. The mercenary felt his heart sink into his chest as the figure of the woman he had only known for a short while took her final breath and submitted to the darkness.
What a terrible omen, he thought grimly.
Arsenio glanced toward the stammering figure and splayed his ears.
It’s too late… she’s gone.
And he would be left with carrying that news back to their numbers in the vale. Guilt found him, as it so rarely did. The vale was supposed to have been her claim. She would never see its fruition. She would never know how strong their group could have been.
Will you help me move her? Somewhere else. Somewhere peaceful.
If the stranger would not help, then Arsenio would be there for a long time, working to lay Khalys to rest.
Too late. While he had been unable to think or do anything, she had already passed on. Ashlar looked at his first failure with a sense of horror. The sorrow and guilt would have kept him there for eternity, it felt like, if the other man hadn't spoken. The healer forgot that he was there.
Ashlar nodded, then moved mechanically to follow Arsenio's lead and help however he could. At least this he could do, though a small sorry
did escape him, barely audible. Maybe it was to her, maybe it was to him, maybe it was to all of them. He should have known what to do. Baba would have done something.
I think we could wrap this up if you'd like to toss a final post on. I waited to see if The System would hear back about whether or not they could reverse Khalys' death. :( <3
Do not be sorry.
The words arrived gruffer than intended. Arsenio eyed the stranger with a cold stare.
Sorry would do nothing to return the woman’s life to her body. She had journeyed to the afterlife. The redstone figure hoped that she would find her mate there, that she would know peace. Their claiming of the vale would rest bittersweet on his tongue.
I only need your help… then you can leave.
Not that Arsenio had authority over the unfortunate passerby, but he did not believe that he could cleanly relocate Khalys’ body from where it was crumpled. The mercenary nodded gently to the other man. He did not wish to move her very far – just beneath the trees and in the shade. Life should grow where she could not.
Arsenio gripped where he could and lifted her with a grunt.
Ashlar flinched as the man spoke, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the scene. It would haunt him afterward, and despite the unlikelihood, he would live with the what could have been done for as long as he lived. His first witnessed death and it had shattered the illusion that through healing he could always make a difference.
He didn't acknowledge the next words but they cut him deeply. Ashlar was somberly quiet as he helped the man, following directions and assisting with his tail slung low. He didn't deserve better than cold words. He'd failed.
When he was done he would do as the man said and depart, leaving him to his mourning without lingering. He would find a place of his own to hide away and break down, a place where he could pull himself together before he returned to the Rise. They wouldn't understand what happened here, Ashlar knew, but he would carry it with him regardless.