Shadewood Arrowbella half walked, half stumbled across the woods

The naiad twitched in her sleep, leaves rustling where they were piled over her small form. 

A soft whine of fear escaped her, nearly inaudible, as her legs began to twitch in earnest. 

"Speak."

"Speak."

"Speak."

Always, always demanding she heal the mental wounds inflicted by the Sea's battering. An endless night punctuated by his occasional presence and the periods of pain he brought. 

Always, always demanding she break her silence until the naiad had nearly forgotten how to speak.

"Speak and I'll spare you."

It was not his voice she heard this time. It was Cry's.

Kai sprung upwards, panicked whines slipping from her jaws as the witch whirled this way and that in search of him.

Her heart slowed, her spotted sides heaving as her pants calmed. The witch swallowed heavily, her glass orbs slipping shut as she gritted her teeth. 

Get a hold of yourself. 

It was a moment before she realized Cry's absence, frightened as she had been. Something haunted lingered in her gaze as it swept the surrounding area for him but the raven was nowhere to be seen. Knowing she would be unable to sleep now, Kai hesitantly padded into the dark confines of the timber in search of her companion. 

The dryad materialized seemingly from the night itself, cracked gaze landing on the woman at Cry's feet. She approached, sniffing the unconscious form with concern.

This woman was once her.

"I...h..help," she managed to get out, brushing her muzzle against Cry as she whisked past him into the forest. Kai's berry-stained paws led her to the beginnings of a cache where she'd stored a few rudimentary herbs. Gathering a bundle of the pungent plants in her slashed maw, she returned to Cry's side. 

She could not explain how to use the medicines, she had no words, but Kai knew the titan would know what to do simply by watching her. The witch carefully licked mud from the woman's wounds to ensure they were clean before taking the herbs in her mouth.

She chewed a combination of goldenrod, and oak leaves, smearing it on the stranger's wounds. Her eyes turned to Cry then, seeking his assistance in shifting the woman so that Kai could wrap the injuries with cobwebs. Chamomile rested at her feet, for the woman to ingest once she woke up. 

"I," she began. "I will take care of her," Kai vowed as her glass gaze met Cry's wintry one. The naiad felt she had to protect the woman, to see her healed - perhaps because she was reminded of herself when she met Cry.