Snippet #2217673

The morning dawned unusually cold. Whether it was the snow, or the gloomy atmosphere of the town, it was difficult to say. The sun was painfully bright as it rose over the tops of the mountains, shining down on the layers of snow that glittered like freshly-cut gemstones. Patsy had the windows of the town hall cracked, to let in a fresh exchange of air and to provide the ill within with some respite from their fevers. It did little to help. Adrien's lonely return hadn't helped much either, even with his promise that the tribals would soon be on their way to assist. The night had come, and gone, and no one had shown. Wary anticipation of their arrival grew to a palpable extent, with the town divided between hope and fear of what was to come. Those who had been affected, but not gotten sick themselves, were eager to find a solution to the problem, even if it meant calling on the help of witch-craft wielding tribals. Yet, there were still others who held to the old ways, greeting the thought of tribal assistance with little more than a turned-up nose, and muttered curses.

Patsy was exchanging water, dumping the old, dirty water out back, and preparing to fill it up with clean water to boil, when she heard a cry come from the top of the wall.

"They're coming!" the watchman cried loudly.

Men and women, those who were healthy (and it was a poor few) began to gather at the front gate, watching as a dozen and a half figures emerged from the trees, clad all in white, and carrying with them burlap sacks bursting with supplies.

At the head was Ajani, her head free of a hood. Silver-blonde hair glinted like starlight in the rising sun, and she kept her eyes forward, on the gate, her expression stern as she clasped the hands of the children around her. Upon coming within ten feet of the wall, the company halted, regarding those on the other side.

"People of Blakestown," Ajani addressed those who stood before her. "Tribe Vanduo has come to help heal you of the sickness that has taken hold. We bring medicine, and healers, and food, but no weapons. There is no reason to fear. There are only women and children and an old man among us."

"Where is Illiam? Radimus?" the people whispered among themselves. "Sick." Others replied. "How should we know to trust them? Who sent for them?"

"CLEAR A PATH!" Patsy hollared, barreling through those assembled, and immediately opening the gate. She looked over the women who stood, waiting patiently for instruction, and smiled to them.

"Thank you for coming to help us." she said. "Please."

And the gate was opened wide.

Ajani could feel the stares of the colonists as she lead her people through. Even still, she nodded her greeting, encouraging the others to do the same. Silent protest was written on many of their faces, but the majority looked eager, relieved, hopeful to have someone else who might solve the riddle this illness had caused.

Ajani addressed Patsy, refusing to look around for Adrien. That would come later.

"Where are the sick?"

"Along this way, lass. Too many to count."

And the Vanduo healers came, like angels from the forest, to set about healing Blakestown from the fever that had taken it.

"They weren't here to hurt us in the beginning, n'they aren't here to hurt us now."

Adrien's reply was late, but he came to the front of the crowd to greet the Vanduo. It wasn't so much as a greeting as it was reassuring himself that they weren't going to be attacked. The crowd seemed worried enough to be sated at their presence, and those women and children who bore the same characteristics as some of the colonists seemed nothing more than peaceful and cooperative.

The townspeople had begun to listen to him, although slowly. He'd taken it upon himself to visit those who were sick beforehand, and lend aide. They had begun to see that perhaps, he wasn't a horrid traitor. He could only hope that their trust extended to him enough not to attack those he'd brought in to help. It seemed that way as they entered, and just a little weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

"W'as all th'meanin'a this, boy? Y'told us they were comin'. What makes y'think they can help more than we can?" A man said, taking Adrien by the arm.

"Y'could hit the sick with pebbles and it'd be helping more than we are right now, Porter." The boy replied. The man let go of his arm, and Adrien ran to meet Patsy. He looked to Ajani, with a hopeful smile. "Patsy. Say y'lead someone to Elleanore quick, and I'll go check on Cavis and Xander?"

"I'll stay with Ellie," Aja insisted, offering a quick smile to Adrien. She turned back to look at the other women.

"After me," she instructed, and they went as a group towards the town hall. Upon disocvering the number of people who had been taken with illness, Ajani quickly broke the women into smaller groups, assigning children to work with them, and they moved about, finding someone to care for, and kneeling at their sides to begin the ardurous process of giving them back their health.

Patsy lead Ajani back to the room that Ellie was staying in, and upon seeing the girl, feverish and restless, Aja immediately turned to grab another cloth, making her way to the young woman and laying it over her brow.

Then, oddly enough, Aja simply took her hand, closed her eyes, and began to murmur softly under her breath.

Adrien, however, had taken a different route. He had to check on Xander, who had been tending to his own father for the last few days. The illness hadn't caught Adrien, but he wasn't so sure about Xander. After Ajani had smiled and shoved off to help Ellie, he took down the stony path, and most of the rest of the villagers had dispersed. Though, some followed the tribal women and children. Some, out of curiosity. Some, with offers to help. Some urged the tribals to come to their own homes, tend to their own children, their own family.

Eventually, Adrien's feet had taken him to Xander's house. It wasn't the best looking thing in the village, and even though it'd been newly crafted, it seemed worn. It wasn't long before he'd ascended the porch, and slammed a hand on the door a few times.

"Xander? Y'in there?" He asked.

The door swung inward, and the smell that emerged was the same kind of smell that seemed to permeate the entire village. Illness. Decay. Neglect.

Inside the living room, Xander's mother sat rocking slowly back and forth, staring at the floor, her hands nervously wringing in her lap as they so often did. She didn't look up as Adrien entered, and she didn't seem to acknowledge that he even existed.

"It's so quiet." she murmured, her eyes closing.

"So peaceful."

"Mz. Roan?" Adrien asked. Cautiously, he approached her, before taking a seat next to the woman. He raised a hand, drew it back at first, and then placed it on her back. "We've found a cure for th'fever. The tribals are helping us. Can help your husband, now. Are you sick, Mz. Roan?" He asked. "If you are, it's nothing to worry about now."

She didn't acknowledge his touch, simply continued to rock in her chair.

"Sleeping. They're both sleeping. It's so quiet."

Beyond, the bedroom she and her husband had shared at one point was ajar, and Xander's father's figure was prominent beneath the single white sheet that covered him up to his chest.

His chest... wasn't moving.

Adrien's brow quirked.

"Alright, Mz. Roan. I'm going t'check on them, okay? Sit tight. Holler if you need help. I'm just going to be - " He pointed down the hallway that lead to Xander and Mr. Roan's rooms. " - Right down there."

Slowly, he stood, and made way for the rooms. At first, he slowly opened the door to Xander's room, only to see that he was sleeping soundly. His chest was rising and dropping. Maybe he'd bother his friend later. It had been a long day, but he'd sure as hell be happy to hear that help arrived.

So Adrien pushed open the door to Mr. Roan's room. At first, he regarded the man with a passive glance. He'd known help had arrived. Everything would be alright. Roan had looked paler than usual, though, and that stringent crease that always seemed to be in the middle of his brow had eased. Mr. Roan didn't stir. Slowly, he walked toward the man, and pressed a pair of fingers to his neck.

When he'd found out that the man wasn't breathing - wasn't stirring - that the man didn't have a heartbeat, he recoiled back in surprise. He had never seen anyone pass from the fever. Perhaps it was the first, and perhaps it was too late. Perhaps his help hadn't come soon enough. The thought alone made him shiver, and withdraw from the room. It was the reason why Xander's mother had been so shaken.

He moved across the hall, to Xander's room. Abruptly, he entered, and he'd taken the boy by the shoulder.

"Xander. Wake up."

Xander startled, his hand snapping up to snatch firmly around Adrien's forearm.

Bleary, his eyes bright with fever, the young man shook his head before letting his upper body fall back against the mattress.

"Scared the shit outta me, Dree." he muttered.

"You're sick, Xander." Adrien said. He knew that help arrived, and it wouldn't last, but... No smile had come to his face. "Th'tribals came. They've got a cure. You'll be fine."

His lips pulled together, as if he was restraining himself from saying something. At the very least, though, he'd wanted a smile from his friend before he relayed the news.

"Well, that's all well and good." Xander muttered, throwing his arm over his head. "Mum's alrigh'? I didn't get a chance t'see her before I passed out on the bed."

He looked like he was getting ready to stand.

"Nae, sit down - lay down, Xander. You're sick."

His head lowered, and stared at the ground. His hands wrung together, in the same guilty fashion that Mz. Roan's hands had. "Your father passed away." He said. "Your mum doesn't look too good, but she's not sick."

Xander let his arm fall down to his side, and he stared up at his friend.

"Yer shittin' me."

He looked wan.

Adrien didn't meet Xander's eyes.

"He's still in there. In'is room. I'm sorry, Xander."

Xander, without waiting, got himself up out of bed, pushing Adrien to the side and stumbling into the room. He ignored his mother, throwing open the door,and staring at the still, unmoving chest of his father's body.

"I'll be damned." he muttered, slumping against the doorframe.

"The sonofabitch is finally dead."

Adrien quickly followed after Xander, and stopped in the doorway. His chest twisted with guilt, and not long after, he stepped away, urging Xander to do the same. "You're sick, Xander. Lay down. 'Ll have one of the ladies come treat you, and when you're well, y'can talk to your mum. Sound right?"

Xander remained silent for a long moment.

"Yeh, sure."

But he didn't go to his room. He decided to go outside instead.

"Xander!" Adrien cried, his shoulders slumping as the boy left. "Y'don't need to get yourself sicker than you already are." He said, his words turning into murmurs as the boy left his company. After a few moments, he'd gone running after his friend, stopping him by the arm. "Lay down. Will you? Even at my house, if y'want. Just lay down. Last thing I want is having t'drag you somewhere. I understand you've got to be upset about your father, but --"

"But nothin', Dree." Xander whirled and shoved the man away. "He's dead. I'm not fuckin layin in that house with his body rotting two rooms away. I'd rather freeze." he hissed.

"Then come t'my house!" Adrien begged, his brow furrowing in concern. He staggered backwards, but hadn't retaliated past that. "Radimus isn't dead! I'm not letting you sleep on a bench somewhere. Y'wouldn't even make it there, Xander. You're sick as a dog."

Tears.

Xander never thought he'd cry over the old bastard, but there it was, real salt tears that stung worse than any beating he'd ever gotten. He put his hands on his knees, growling loudly in his own agonized frustration.

"Goddammit!" he shouted angrily, standing fully, and staggering with the sudden shift in his weight. A woman had seen him, one of the tribals, and was rushing across the snow towards the pair. Xander caught sight of her, his brow knitting comically.

"An angel?" he muttered.

Adrien gave a pitiful smile to the approaching tribal woman, and steadied Xander with a hand behind his back. "Y'd like to get treated by one?" he asked, eager to change the topic. When the girl had reached them both, he nodded toward her. "He's sick. 'D like if you could take him to Radimus' house. Say Xander'll lead you?"

He looked between Xander and the girl, though his gaze ended pointedly on Xander. "I'll keep your mother company while you're gone. Make sure she's okay. Y'keep an eye on Radimus for me. He's not looking too good. Don't kill him."

"I'll try not to."

Xander accepted the offered shoulder of the young woman, who began to lead him in the direction of the town hall. Obviously, she didn't know where Adrien's home was, at this point. She was simply going to where the medicine was.

Meanwhile, Ajani was hard at work, a pile of herbs resting near her left hand on an old wooden stool that Patsy had brought over for her. She was crushing them in a bowl in her lap, adding water occasionally, watching as the paste she made turned a deep, watery green. Ellie was sleeping rather peacefully, no longer tossing and turning, and her face had lost that terrible flush.

"Just a little water at a time." she told Patsy. Other women around them were doing the same thing for their own patients. "You don't want to make them drink too much fluid. It'll make them sick. Just a couple swallows."

When the concoction was finished, Ajani rested a hand on Ellie's arm, pleased to feel that her skin was not feverishly warm, but cool. No longer shivering, the girl was covered in a thin layer of moisture.

In a matter of hours, Ajani had broken Ellie's fever.

The girl woke up, taking in a deep breath before turning to look at the woman at her side. Aja passed over the cup. Ellie, after glancing into it, lifted a brow and asked, "What's this for?"

"It purges the infection." Aja told her. "Just drink. It'll taste like a strong tea."

Ellie looked doubtful, but she did as she was bid, her brow wrinkling a little as she brought the cup to her lips, and drank deeply of the medicine Ajani had made. Afterwards, she handed the cup back, and lay down.

"Wasn't too bad." she murmured, heaving another deep sigh. Aja smiled, and rose to stand. Patsy stood too.

"She already looks better, just after a few hours." The older woman marveled, shaking her head in disbelief. She reached for Ajani, pulling her into a tight embrace that caught the other woman off-guard. "Thank yeh. After everything that's happened...yer still inclined to help us."

Ajani's eyes closed, and she returned the embrace.

Perhaps this was what Motina had intended from the beginning. Could the relationships be healing? Might they find peace?

Choosing not to linger on that, Aja pulled back, smiling encouragingly at Patsy before bending to gather up her supplies. "It'll take a day or so for her to be completely well. She needs to rest, drink and eat as much as she can tolerate. She needs her strength back."

Other women were hard at work all around her as she made her way to the front of the town hall. She needed to find Adrien, to tell him that Ellie would be okay.

But as she broke out into the cold morning air, a single man barred her way. Frozen, she stared at his face, remembering those eyes, the copper curls. He was smiling at her.

"Cute trick." he murmured, low enough so only she could hear. "Clever way to get inside, but I'm warning you. For your sake, you shouldn't rest alone. Bad things happen to girls who think they're untouchable." He chuckled, rubbing at his neck.

"You look well, at the very least. For someone who nearly died."

Aja didn't stay for any more. She brushed past him, ignoring his laughter as she all but ran down the snowy street towards Adrien's home.