08-22-05

Characters involved: Lily & Keita.

Halyard Tavern: Sleeping Chamber

The wooden floorboards in the hall creak and groan in protest as the skinny young doe creeps down the old hall. At each sound the floor makes, she halts and crouches slightly, her eyes darting around. After a few seconds she straightens up and moves on, her path aimed for a door at the end of the hallway. Lily jerks her head back and forth around the dark hallway. The window in the hall sends blocks of moonlight splashing in, causing Lily's eyes to glint up. She raises her balled up paw and raps quickly on the door, her ears turning forward.

Keita is lying semi-propped up, all a-comforted, in a sea of blankets and cushions, with a sheet drawn up to her chin and a ledger held in paw. 'The books'. The tavern records, that is. She doesn't quite have reading glasses yet so she has yet to become her mother. At the rap on the door, her ears perk first and then she looks up, squinting. "C'min."

Lily takes a quick inhale of air, accompanied by another darting look around. She cracks open the door just enough to slip in and close it behind her. "'Lo." Lily mumbles, her back pressed up against the door and her ears flopped down about her shoulders. The doe still holds the scars and dents of old wounds, yet a few news ones are thrown on, including a few new chips in her ears, as well as a gash under her left eye.

Keita's eyes widen first in joy at the sight of Lily, and then in concern at the sight of the new wounds, but rather than doing the usual, she fails to jump up and rush over to Lily. Instead, she looks dreadfully concerned as she looks across at the doe. "... Lil'. What happened t' ya?"

Lily begins to smile and relax until Keita jump up. The hare jerks and presses the back of her head against the door. "Wha'? Don' tell me yah didn' hear 'bout th' battle righ' outside?" The hare smiles weakly. "Had t'get in there an' kick ah few tails, y'know?"

Keita's eyes lose their wideness, and she relaxes. "... Ah, righ'." She grins awkwardly and shrugs. "I didn't see ya there..."

Lily runs a quick paw over the gash under her eye, her ears starting to perk. "Well, were yah sittin' on yer rum wit' an ale in paw lookin' fer me? Didn' see yah either, mostly since Ah had ah ugly rat mug in mah face." The hare winks and clears her throat. "Am Ah interrupting?" Lily inquires, glancing past Keita.

Keita chuckles, though it's weak. "Yeah... Well, I was up on the roofs. Figured on keepin' outta the main battle that way." At that she snorts, though the reason's not particularly clear. At Lily's final question she glances around the room, as if to see if there's anyone else in here that she should know about. "... Uh. No. Jus' me. Doin' some... readin', I guess."

Lily scratches at the back of her head, near the base of her ear. She thinks for a moment to ask why, but refrains from it for the moment. "Oh... well... Ah jus' wanted t'say 'hi', an' see how y'were doin'." Lily says, sounding uncertain. Her paw floats down to the doorknob. "Don' mind me... sorry t'bother yah."

Keita's ears wilt as Lily's paw stops on the door knob. "NO!" Blink. "Uh... I mean, uh. Why doncha stay around?" She nods to the end of her bed. "Uh. Take a sit fer a while?"

Lily twitches at the sudden shout, her paw jerking away from the handle. "Oh! Well, yeah, um... guess Ah could." She says slowly, stepping to the side and away from the door. "Sure. Thanks, Kei." Lily says with a nod to her, the doe slinking over and sinking down onto the edge of the bed. "Everythin' all righ'?"

Keita doesn't answer. Instead, she plants her paws on the matress to both sides of her, flat, and pushes down on them. Her ears flatten back and her face scrunches up, but this action gives her enough leverage to push herself into a straighter sitting position. She smiles shakily, and shrugs. "... Yeah. Yeah, well. Somethin'... uh, kinda... happened."

Lily sways slightly at the greater weight on the mattress. The doe glances over, watches her with interest. "Kei?" She says hesitantly, reaching up a paw to grip the other a small squeezer on the shoulder. "Wait... what? What happened?" The doe presses, looking confused.

Keita reaches her paw up to cover Lily's, and to hold it there. She's keeping ahold of her, one way or another. "Lil', I..." She looks down at her lap for a long, nervous moment, then touches her free paw hesitantly on her right thigh. Then, her ears flinching back, she leans forward and runs her paw along her sheet-covered thigh until, sudddenly, her paw drops, finding mattress. Her leg ends just above her knee. She doesn't look back up. Just... waits.

Lily takes a few cautious breaths, her eyes staying on Keita. The pink nose dotting her muzzle twitches and quivers, her whiskers rising. Finally her gaze is torn as Keita starts to fiddle with her thigh. Carefully she follows to movement of Keita until it... stops. Lily jerks her paw away after a moment when it hits her. Lily jumps up, stepping away from the bed with a cry. "W-w-what? Is that... Keita!" The doe is trembling all over by now.

Keita allows the paw that was covering Lily's to drop into her lap, a small, worried wrinkle forming in her brow. Her words come out slightly strained. "Lil'... please. Come sit down."

Lily shakes her head, her eyes glued to where the rest of the hare's leg should be. "No. What... happened?" She demands again, stepping away again. "Why... where?"

"Lil', I... I got hurt." Keita rolls up one of her sleeves, to show the bandage there. "I got 'n arrow in m' shouldah, too. It's nothin'. Lil', please. Woncha sit?"

Lily fidgets and keeps backing up. "No..." She whispers. "You said you didn't go to th' battle." Lily hisses, her eyes narrowing. "Who? Who did that."

Keita shakes her head. "I did, Lil'. I was up on the roofs..." She looks back down to stare at her leg, willing it to be there again. "I was peltin' rocks down at the vermin, 'n' one of 'em came up ont' the roof. We fought, 'n'... she got me in the leg. It-" She shakes her head again, looking back up imploringly. "It was pretty bad. The axe went pretty deep. I got a tourniquet on it... then I passed out. I guess... I guess they couldn't save it. Lil'. Lil', please don't leave."

Lily gulps and smacks her lips, finding her mouth suddenly very dry. Her lips cling annoyingly to her teeth and it looks almost as if she's snarling. "Ah'll kill 'im. /Kill/ 'im!" The doe snaps, her eyes flashing suddenly. "No. Ah have to go. Ah can't stay." Lily's eyes float down to the missing leg. "G'bye." She mumbles, turning and reaching for the doorknob.

Keita flinches at Lily's words, and as she reaches for the doorknob she pushes herself up via her arms again. But that is all she can do, and her face screws up, the embodiment of frustration. Her words are weak, but then again she doesn't expect them to change Lily's course. "Lil', please..."

Lily wrenches the door open and pauses in mid step. "Ah'll send up some food." She says without looking back. The doe exits, closing the door behind her wit ha dead 'click'.

As soon as the click sounds, Keita's face screws up even tighter and her paws ball up into clenched fists at her sides. With a sigh of frustration, her head thunks back against the head board. "Damn it! /Damn/ it!" She thunks her head back again, and with a deep sigh, she scrunches her eyes shut and just sits there. Sits, and sits, and sits.