Snippet #2811824

Sverre's mind and heart were suddenly a whirlwind of emotions. Disbelief that his friend had somehow survived the utter massacre and destruction of her- - their home village. He hadn't found any survivors when he looked, nor were any immediate searches the days after of any success.
Despair that he hadn't been there to comfort her, to share her pain and sorrow. He himself had sat in anguish the following morning, devastated to see everything he loved turned to bloody pieces and ash.
Relief that he had reached her in time after her foolish venture into the forest. She nearly died alone in the cold, no doubt with more arrows in her to ensure her demise.
But mostly, he felt utter elation. A joy he hadn't thought he'd ever feel again now that they were reunited.

Tears of overwhelming joy began to trickle down his cheeks, and he found he couldn't be bothered to care. "Eilin...it really is you!" He said, verbally confirming the dream come true. A broad smile lit up his face, the demon having half a mind to hug her.

Except the desire was shoved aside as a pained hiss escaped his friend, a snap of wood startling him out of his thoughts.

Right. The arrow! They could celebrate later. Eilin wasn't out of danger quite yet, and he had to finish patching her up.
Sverre shook his head to clear his mind, returning to the issue at hand. He barely glanced up as the barmaid brought the warm water and wash cloths, examining the wound when Eilin spoke.

"Yeah! Sorry. You're right. We gotta get this taken care of first." He agreed, pausing only as he watched the woman toy with the arrowhead. Thank the heavens it had gone clean through. Had it been lodged in her flesh, things would've been far worse. And a higher risk to her life.

He frowned suddenly as he looked at the arrowhead, irritated to find he only now noticed an unusual scent. That plus her waning consciousness stirred up suspicion. "Don't touch it. I...think it may be poisoned." Crap. He'd go out for the town healer as soon as he was done.

For now, he had to remove the offending object. Sverre could see the pain in her body language, and he wished nothing more that to ease it. This was not going to be a smooth fix. He regarded the now broken arrow, wincing at the splintered edges where his friend had snapped the head off. Carefully, he brought over the water and rags to place them on the bedside table before picking up the leather strap and the torn piece of cloak he had stabilized the arrow with in the first place.

"I'm sorry...but I don't think it's safe to pull yet. The splinters will get stuck in your shoulder. I...I know this is hard, but try to bear with me." He began apologetically, re stabilizing the arrow and securing it in place as carefully as he could. He didn't want to prolong her pain any more, but he couldn't think of any other viable solution that was also safe. " I'm gonna cut this end so it's smooth enough to not leave slivers and splinters. Then we can pull it out from the front." Sverre explained further as he took his knife, hoping his inhuman strength would be enough to quickly cut the other end without the need to use sawing motions.

"I'm gonna start, tell me if I need to stop." The male took the back part of the arrow, holding it as firm and steady as he possibly could as he cut away the wood just proximal to the feathers. It took several agonizingly tense minutes, but he somehow managed to carve the other side into a lumpy but otherwise smoooth-ish end without any frayed slivers or splinters.

"You ok? I think we can pull from the front now."