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| Details |
| Author: | Saaron |
| Summary: | Nesselos finds the unconscious Sandy in Booty Bay and heals him from his wound. |
| Rating: | T for Teen |
Nesselos walks along the dock of Booty Bay with a bounce in his step. What a delightful place! So full of all sorts of different people, and the goblin bruisers make sure nobody hurts you. They’re so kind. He always made sure to ‘tip’ them, as the locals said, whenever they did something especially nice.
Just today, in fact, a goblin bruiser had stopped a troll from punching him in the face, after he’d accidentally tripped into the fellow. What was it the goblin had said? “Not this one, bucko, he’s full of money.” Clearly a compliment in goblin culture, given how they value money!
Nesselos nearly trips again, and looks down to see his blue hoof lodged against a human man wearing a red shirt. Why is he lying on the dock? Ness leans waaay down to look, and then gasps. The red’s coming from the human, not the shirt! It’s blood!
Quickly, he reminds himself that it’s totally normal for human blood to be red, and not a sign of some horrible disease. He kneels down next to the poor man, touching him as gently as possible to try to find the source of the bleeding. It seems to be coming from a wound on his shoulder, a particularly nasty one. It’s still bleeding, so that’s a good sign. That means his heart is still beating, at least. But why hadn’t the goblins stopped this from happening?
“Hold on there, little buddy,” he says reassuringly, closing his eyes and reaching for a water spirit. The spirit answers, if a little reluctantly, and Ness carefully channels its healing waters into the wound. He then maneuvers one large arm underneath the human’s back, propping him up to see if he might regain consciousness.
Sandy's eyes open ever-so-slightly. Still in a confused daze, he clearly doesn't understand whatever is happening around him. Things are moving. The weight of his body shifts, and somehow he feels lighter, almost as if flying. A shape is standing next to him. Horns. Tentacles. Blue(-ish?).
"You came back!.." he whispers, before closing his eyes again with a sigh. He places all of his weight on the Draenei supporting him, slipping into unconsciousness for a little longer.
"Came back?" Ness says, dipping his face closer to stare carefully at the human's unconscious face. No,he thinks. He definitely doesn't look familiar.
Looking around and seeing no sign of assistance on its way, Ness shrugs and slides his other arm under the man's knees, picking him up as carefully as if he were a child. The weight is slight, anyway - the man is not even as heavy as a half-grown ravager.
"It looks like something took a chomp out of you," he explains to the unconscious man, as he carries him toward the cleanest inn he's found in the bay so far. He keeps up the low chatter as they approach, just in case it's comforting. "You didn't try to make a pet out of one of those raptors, did you? If so, you're lucky it didn't come back. I'm just going to get you somewhere safe, then I can put out some totems to draw out any infection. It's better to do that before the wound closes, I think."
Continuing to slip in and out of unconsciousness, Sandy probably looks pretty odd to the person carrying him. He stares at Ness, then closes his eyes, then stares again, shifting into a more comfortable position in the Draenei’s arms, closer to the one he’s in when he asks Jhuuthun to carry him, then closes his eyes once more. He mumbles about raptors and how cute their tiny little arms are, and how he wished he had feathers like them, before sighing as if falling asleep. Sandy looks okay, at least, even if the wound looked pretty deep.
The human, his eyes still closed, asks softly, almost inaudibly: “Am I rotting right now?”
Ness pauses in alarm as he’s passing through the door to the inn, leaning his head in to hear the soft question. “No, little buddy, why would you be rotting?” he asks gently.
"Because of my moooom…" Sandy answers, just as softly, insisting very much on the 'o' in mom, which morphs into a 'owww' as he tries to move in a way that hurts his shoulder.
Ness shoots a desperate look to the goblin at the front desk, and the guy shrugs, tossing a keyring at the draenei. Ness ducks his head to catch it, more or less, on one of the horn protrusions of his forehead. “Thanks!”
“You better be good for it!” the goblin says, as Ness trundles up the stairs.
Sandy opens his eyes just in time to see the key swinging around Ness's horn. He lets out a chuckle at the sight.
When Ness gets to the room, he looks once at the door, then at the human, and sighs. Carefully, he sets the human down against the wall, unlocks the door, and then lifts him again to place him gently on the bed.
“I hope I didn’t jostle you too much,” Ness says fretfully, moving the fabric of his blood-soaked shirt around to get a better look at the wound. It did look like a bite mark, and a deep one at that. But why would he think a fresh wound would rot?
"I'm okay, you did great!" Sandy says, still chuckling at the key thing. He curls up on himself. Ouch, bad idea, he goes back to the position he was set in, accidentally hurting himself a little more as he does. He keeps falling in and out of consciousness, probably speaking a little bit incoherently for someone who doesn't know what just happened. "I don't want to be undead. I like being alive…"
"Undead…" Nesselos repeats in puzzlement, trying to piece things together. "You're alive right now and I plan to keep you that way."
Ness conjures up a totem that connects a flickering green tendril to Sandy. "That should draw out poison, if there is poison."
Ness moves over to the head of the bed, again channeling healing waters into the wound. Excess water mixed with blood splashes onto the mattress beneath.
"What did your mom do?" Ness asks gently, keeping his eye on the healing wound.
Sandy stares at the totems. He's seen the Horde using this type of item, but he's never gotten to see one up close. Plus, the Draenei ones look so much different. "Poisoned teeth?!.." he whispers.
Not only is the water healing his wound, it also feels refreshing to have a wave like this around him in the summer of Stranglethorne. Refreshing, as well as a good way to wake up. He sighs with relief from how nice this magic feels right now.
"My mom… She bit me," he begins to make fuller sentences, the shock from the pain and of the situation as a whole slowly dissipating after hitting him hard like a wave on the shore "The Forsaken mom," he adds.
“The Forsa… ooooh,” Ness says in sympathy. “That’s right, I heard about it. A lot of the humans up north were…” He reaches to pat Sandy comfortingly on the shoulder, but then reconsiders the idea of patting him on an open wound. “But don’t worry, I never heard of anyone turning Forsaken from a bite. Did she… lose control?”
Sandy looks at the Draenei, finally realizing this is not who he thought it was earlier, although he should have known since the voice didn't match from the beginning. "Oh! I thought you were someone else, sorry! I'm Sandy!" He pauses, touching the wound with his hand and watching it closing. "I… she… no. She did it, uh… as a joke."
Ness winces. "I guess some humor doesn't…" he searches for the words, "…translate well to other cultures. Anyway, I'm Nesselos! I just saw you passed out and bleeding and I…" his eyes widen, "I didn't kidnap you, did I? I only meant to help!"
Sandy sighs. "Honestly, it doesn't translate well to humans either!.." he sits on the bed, looking at the totem once more, finally seeming to reach his usual energy. "I don't know! Did you want to kidnap me, Nesselos? Mom - the human one - always said I'm really lovable so I guess I can see why people would want to kidnap me!"
Nesselos laughs. "No, no… I mean, yes, you do seem really lovab… not that I'm trying to say…" Ness shakes his head. "I just get carried away sometimes, trying to help, and don't think about how other people might see things until after. You seem better, now?" Ness hesitates, but then can't help adding a little advice. "And maybe… you could talk to your Forsaken mother about cultural sensitivity?"
The human crosses his legs, chuckling at the first comment. “I think you did great! I still feel a little dizzy but… I don’t think that’s the wound’s fault! Thanks for all your help, Nesselos!” He grins, scratching the back of his head. “I… don’t know if I’m ever going to see her again… I mean, I’ve got flowers to give her! But that wasn’t a really nice first meeting, you know?”
Nesselos sits down at the end of the bed, his weight causing a noticeable shift in the mattress. He looks at Sandy curiously. "First meeting? You'd never met your Forsaken mother before?"
"No, I was adopted by my mom very young so I never knew my birth parents!" He says, making a little jump as Ness sits by his side, accompanied by a little 'whoa!'. "I only met both of them, separately, recently! It went much better with my dad, though! I've got no scars from that meeting!"
He takes a look at his wound and at his ruined shirt. Cress is going to kill him for not taking care of something she made for him! He's got other things to worry about right now, though. "So you're sure I'm not going to turn into a Forsaken?"
“I’m sure,” Ness nods, to give more emphasis. “That was a nasty mouth - no offense to your mother - but I took care of possible infections. And I don’t think being Forsaken works like that. I think it’s more of a necromancy thing.” Ness then looks sadly at Sandy, having at least worked out the basic details of the situation by now. “I am sorry that your birth mother is one of the living dead, that must’ve been a shock. Is your birth father one, too?”
"Oh that's right, I am probably safe!" Sandy pauses, then looks at Ness, worried once more. "Uuh, I think I did necromancy once, or twice." He pauses again. "Maybe a third time, actually! Depends on what you count as necromancy, I guess! That doesn't make it more likely for me to change, right?"
He nods at the second question. "My father is alive and well, yeah! He's great, too! With Sirie - my birth mom - she never told me she was undead! And we exchanged letters and all, so that was a really surprising, uh… Surprise."
"Oh, wow, that would be," Ness's eyes are wide. "Did you like her in the letters, before you met? And on the other thing, I don't think it's being a necromancer so much as…" Ness trails off suddenly uncertain. "Hold on, are you saying you're a necromancer?"
"Yeah! She was nice in her letters! She gave me a bunch of advice and sometimes we didn't agree on some stuff but that was okay, she was still nice!" Sandy shakes his head vehemently. "No, no, no, I'm not a necromancer! But like… I did that ritual in Draenor and now I can see the dead. And there was this one time my Company and I brought a lich back from the dead so we could kill it forever. Oh! And once I tried to help a nice old man in those creepy, undead woods, thinking he just needed some assistance living there. Turns out the things he wanted me to bring him were to bring that huge giant undead monster to life!.. I should have known when he asked for "zombie juice" honestly."
"That ritual in…" Ness blinks at him. "You're an Auchenai? That is the opposite of a necromancer… such a difficult calling. And killing a lich! I did not even know they recruited non-Draenei as death priests. You must be very special."
Sandy opens his mouth, closes it to take a few seconds to think, then opens it once more. "Well, the Auchenai we've met looked pretty much like necromancers to us! And I'm not very special, though!" He says, smiling. "The Company I'm working for is. I'm part of the Cobalt Company!"
He pauses a second. "And, uh… what about you? I've heard of Draenei and the Broken and Lost Ones. That's kind of like us humans and Forsaken, right?.. Do you… have someone like my mother?"
Ness looks like he might cry. "I knew things weren't going well in Outland but the Auchenai…" he shakes his head sadly. Then he takes in the rest of what Sandy has said, and perks up. "Cobalt? I think you work with my cousin Erixa, then. I haven't heard from her in a while. But no, no one so close to me was Broken, only killed. I did have a friend who… " he frowns, "…it was a different kind of corruption. I had to just… remember who he was, and let him be gone forever."
Sandy looks panicked at the sad eyes Ness makes, shaking his hands as if trying to take what he said back. “Oh, don’t worry! I’m pretty sure there are still some good Auchenai… I think!” The quick movement sends pain in his shoulder - clearly, the water healing has been useful, but not enough to make the pain completely disappear. He lets out an ‘ouch’ and calms down. “I don’t think I’ve met an Erixa, yet? I’ll keep an eye out for her, though!” He pauses, thinking about his next question. “A… different corruption, you say?”
"Careful," Ness raises his hands as if to coax Sandy to calm down. "And yes, it was more of a… demon situation. And then he killed a whole vill…" Ness pauses, and gives a weak smile. “Anyway, completely different from your situation. And maybe if your mom is nice in letters, she could just be a letters-mom. Not an in-person mom.”
"Oh, whoa…" Sandy says, looking sadly at the Draenei. He mutters under his breath. "Those warlocks going bad, always ruining it for everyone!" He then sighs. "It does seem different, yeah…You think so? A letters-mom could work, if we think about it! Especially if the letters-mom is undead and you're not! "
Ness nods, back in safer conversational territory. "Exactly! Then if she makes a bad joke, you can just roll your eyes instead of nearly bleeding out on a dock." He pats Sandy firmly on the unharmed shoulder. "You seem like a great guy, I'm sure you'll sort it out, Sandy!"
Sandy giggles. “Yeah, jokes that end in blood definitely aren’t my favorite!” The healing process has been so good thanks to Nesselos‘s magic that Sandy almost winces as the Draenei is about to put his hand on his shoulder, already having forgotten which one of the two is supposed to hurt. “Thanks, Ness - can I call you Ness? I’m hoping you’re right and I’ll be so great that my birth mom won’t have to do this type of stuff anymore!” he grins at his new friend.
“Of course,” Ness smiles at him. “All my friends call me Ness. But just remember…” he tries to formulate words for what bothers him about Sandy’s last sentence. “From what you said, I’m sure it wasn’t you. Sometimes people just do bad things, and you have to figure out… whether it’s something you can work around or not. Like letters only, so no bites, right?”
Sandy stares at the ground, clearly lost in thoughts after hearing Ness’s thoughts about this situation. “But if my mom’s the kind of person who does bad things like that, does that m—…” He shakes his head. “You’re right, I don’t want to give up on her, but I can’t just keep… getting bitten like that! I’m pretty sure there’s nothing really important inside a shoulder, but we never know!” Sandy is wrong, as he often is, there’s an artery in there. Arteries are important! He carefully gets up, both to make sure the totem is still doing its magic if it needs to and to protect his shoulder from any more hurt. “Thanks, Ness! I’m glad you healed me with that… magic of yours!”
“Anytime,” Ness smiles at him, then he tilts his head, thinking. “Though I hope this doesn’t happen again. But anytime something else happens, too, I’ll be happy to help!”
Sandy smiles back. "Yeah, let's not do this again! You're a great healer, if you ever want to join Cobalt, I'll give you my recommendation! The lieutenants trust me a lot with the recruitment process!" He grins.
He begins to turn around to leave, but seems to be suddenly struck with realization. "Oh! Here, take this!" The young human opens his backpack, taking out a bouquet of red flowers. "That was for my mom but uh,… I can always send her pictures of flowers by mail!" He pauses, holding the bouquet towards Ness. "… Also if you want money for the healing, I can give you some!"
“Oh, thank you!” Ness says in surprise as he accepts the flowers. “They will brighten up my home! And no need for money, but… I may try to join Cobalt soon. I’m sure your recommendation would mean a lot.” Ness beams at him.
“Great, just let them know Sandy sends you when you go to your interview! Thanks again for the healing!” He grins at the shaman as he pats his own previously gravely wounded shoulder. Oops. Bad idea. He smiles brightly one last time at the Draenei, waving goodbye, before leaving the room. The young man’s smile disappears as he exits the inn and looks in the general direction of Sirie’s house. He puts a hand on his shoulder as if still feeling the pain of the bite, and scurries away to the Gryphon master.