Chapter 119: Wounds Untended

It had been a long time Since Saph had a dream. Years at least. This one though definitely wasn’t a premonition or anything of the sort. This was a good old-fashioned nightmare, it had to be. It felt too familiar. That realization didn’t help much as she laid there trapped in a prison of her own damn making. She could smell the stench of burning flesh, the walls closing in around her tighter and tighter in perpetuity. It felt like she should have been crushed long ago, and in a sense, she already had been. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t see. Yet she knew where the walls were, and they just kept squeezing tighter.

It was cold and dark. But worse, she was completely alone. She had no clue what to do. It felt like she was stuck, yet she could move. So she kept moving. There had to be someone down here with her. There had to be. As she kept moving, stomaching the claustrophobia just a bit longer, she saw a light at the end of the tunnel. She continued moving forward with renewed vigor, scraping herself on the walls. But it didn’t matter. The light was a way out, and she had to reach it. There had to be someone out in the open. Just as she let a cautious smile creep onto her face, her horns jammed in the corridor. She cursed violently, trying to wrench them free, mourning the chips and scratches she was surely making in her beautiful horns. But they were stuck. She was completely helpless alone in the dark with no way out. Yet the light kept coming nearer. It was a nice orange glow that reminded her of a setting sun. She stopped fighting, waiting for the light to reach her instead. She just had to wait a little then she would be free.

Then came the flashes of heat radiating off the light. Before she knew it, fire washed over her, broiling her skin off as she roared out in pain. She thrashed and squirmed, trying to move, but she was stuck. Every movement tore at her burnt and ruined skin as it crackled and fell off. Her roaring defiance turning to a whimper, not daring to try and move again as the fire kept coming. ‘It’s just a dream. It will be over soon. It’s just from the tunnels, this won’t ever happen!’

A blinding flash of white light filled the impossibly cramped tunnel, burning through her closed eyelids as she screamed once again, and she was joined by a choir of voices all suffering the same fate. She didn’t want to know who was doing the screaming, nor should she have known. But she did. Friends, family, kids and loved ones. Her mother and father and all the siblings she hadn’t seen for years. Many of the racers she used to know, her friends at the keep. Her newest family and friends. And one by one the voices grew quiet. ‘Make it stop. Don’t leave me!’

She was so alone, yet they all suffered together. She was helpless, as were they, and soon they were all gone, leaving only her own sobs and pleads to fill the air. Then came the chittering, and mad cackling as hundreds of little legs started crawling up her burned body. They were everywhere, yet she couldn’t turn to see them, and by the gods did they hurt. Like little needles dipped in acid as they walked over her. She fucking hated spiders, especially the small ones, and especially when you couldn't run from them. She couldn’t take it anymore, real or not. As she twisted again, scraping her face on the sharp rocks, a sickening cracking noise emanated from her horns as her head turned so she could see the little bastards. Like a black carpet crawling up her ruined skin making for her face.

She closed her eyes and mouth and prayed as she felt someone grab her by the wings, yanking her out of the little tunnel. She thought for a split second that she had been saved before she howled in pain as her wings were ripped off, leaving her squirming on the ground like a wounded animal. The spiders took the chance, crawling over her face, in her mouth & nose, and down her throat, legs still burning as if covered in acid. Someone screamed out her name, the voice quickly switching to a gurgle as a body hit the floor. The world went black as she screamed her lungs out. A new pain struck Saph on the side of her snout, her eyes shooting open once again to reveal several faces standing over her. “There we go.” A familiar voice went, Jacky, looking very pleased with herself.

“Is everything alright?!” Esmeralda questioned worriedly, holding Saph by the shoulders. Saph tried to move, finding herself pinned down. She strained against the restraints, and with a roar of effort, she sent Tom flying to the floor. Sitting up in the bed, it took Saph a second or two to realize what was going on as she looked around at the four of them, breathing hard. She looked down at her hands, running her fingers along the skin, finding it smooth as ever. Yet she still felt like it should hurt. Everything should hurt, and she could still feel the crawling as she moved to frantically try and brush the spiders off. She could swear they were still on her as she swiped at herself, accidentally digging in a thumb claw and drawing blood.

“It’s okay… ssshhhhsss,” Essy tried, holding Saph by the shoulders, trying to force the younger huntress to look at her. “There is nothing there. You’re fine, okay. Everything is fine.”

Saph wanted to protest, but she didn’t have time. She snapped her head back and forth to try and find the little bastards. She could feel them. She moved to rip off the blanket, her head being forcefully turned back to look at Essy.

“They are not there. Everything is fine,” Essy reiterated in a firmer tone. Saph stared wide-eyed at her friend for several seconds, breathing rapidly.

“You okay in there?” Jacky questioned, tone growing worried.

“Just give her a minute,” Essy went, holding out an arm to keep the others back, still having her eyes locked on Sapphire. “It’s okay. We are here. There are no spiders. No fire and no caves… Everything is fine.”

Saph finally broke down, the adrenaline leaving her system as she began to cry, Essy moving to embrace her. She didn’t know why she was crying. It was over; she was out. Her crying turned into a nervous laugh ever so slowly as Essy held her tight.

“Want a candy?” Tom tried, looking at her hopefully. She took a deep breath before looking back up wiping her eyes.

“No thanks…”

“Shit, you really had it rough then,” Jacky replied jokingly. It was easy for her to see just how worried Jacky was though.

“Nightmare or vision?” Esmeralda questioned after a bit longer.

“God, I hope nightmare… I was so alone.”

“I’m sure it was,” Essy replied, moving, patting her gently on the back. The others joining in with the little group hug, even if Tom ended up rather awkwardly squeezed between Saph and Jacky. “And you’re not alone.”

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Tom had to concede that Lothal clearly wasn’t the only one who needed a hand right about now. He had been here for months by now, but he had never heard anyone make such a racket at night. Kokashi had been on guard duty and had obviously heard her, and he had himself been up late looking at a problem they had hit for the firing pin spring. She had started roaring and screaming in her sleep. He had woken Jacky up and they had gone to have a look. Saph had been there for him when he had it rough, the absolute least he could do was repay the favor.

She had been writhing around on her bed as if she was possessed or something, screaming about fire and spiders, letting out grunts of effort looking like she was trying to break free of something. They had gone to pin her down to keep her from hurting herself just as Kokashi and Essy arrived, the guard having decided that this was beyond his expertise.

To her credit, Essy had quickly figured out what was going on. She just wasn’t much help when it came to doing anything about it, apart from helping them hold her down and telling Kokashi to keep curious snouts outside the door. That only reaffirmed Tom’s belief that this was definitely not normal. Apuma had talked about them having premonitions at times, but Jacky had said that they did sort of dream; it was usually more memory than dream though. At least as far as he understood it.

Pinning Sapphire down was quite the task. She wasn’t Jacky levels of strong, but she had him beat for sure. In the end, Jacky had smacked Saph rather hard, which had done the trick, snapping her Awake. Tom had eased up a little now that she was awake to see what would happen. That was a mistake, as she sent him flying, landing on the floor with a thud that had him appreciating the half gravity around here.

Essy had proved her worth though, calming Saph down enough to let her return to her senses. She apologized profusely, for hurting him, even though it was quite clear she hadn't been in her right mind. Tom did his best not to let on that he had landed on his tailbone, which had been rather painful. She had still been on edge to the point that when someone sneezed outside the door she damn near launched herself out the window. After everyone had calmed down sufficiently, Essy had gone outside and told Kokashi to get everyone back to sleep. It had been quite the commotion after all.

Tom, Jacky, and Essy had stayed with Saph for a while. Saph explained her nightmare to them, failing to find anything else to talk about then and there. It sounded pretty fucking horrible, and judging by Sapphire’s demeanor, Tom was fairly certain that she had been playing down the worst parts of the experience. It didn’t really help that she had clearly been lucid too. That was apparently very common for them when they did eventually get a dream or whatever it was. That made him really rather grateful that he didn’t have many bad dreams anymore, and the ones he had were positively mild compared to that. It made him wonder, though, just how badly the trip down to the caves might have affected Jackalope. She had not mentioned much about being scared down there. Yet surely she had been. Granted, perhaps the experience of being thrown against a wall overshadowed the rest. But Tom should really do better when it came to those kinds of things. Distractions were not a reliable long-term solution. He knew that much.

Saph had not wanted to go back to sleep, and he couldn’t really blame her to be honest. Essy had eventually gone back to her room, swinging by to check on the children, leaving the three of them alone to just chat about whatever they could come up with. Jacky brought up some fond memories from when Saph had been new at the keep, clearly trying to go for some happy thoughts to wash away the depressive mood.

“Yeah yeah miss city girl. I still remember when I got you to ask Wiperna how to milk the bull.”

“I didn't know it was a bull. I never had to deal with cattle before.”

“Still, if there is only one thing to pull you should have been a little suspicious,” Jacky countered with a laugh.

“Which is why I went to ask rather than do it. You would just have yanked the thing and gotten kicked in the face.”

“And no one would have known,” Jacky replied, laughing even harder as Saph started chuckling a bit. Tom just shook his head, wondering what the fuck he was doing here.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Nah, if you have to be embarrassed then we need to take you to the capital and put you in front of a crowd of a couple thousand. That should do the trick.”

“Why? People better get to know the legend that is Jackalope Furlong. You know if I ever end up famous, I’m gonna call myself ‘goldstreak’ just to one-up you.”

“Silverstreak refers to a water skim. If the light is right it looks like you are trailing silver. So unless you want to do that with a lake full of piss, I wouldn’t recommend it.”

Jacky replied with a slight grump, though she was smiling wide. Tom guessed she was more than happy to take a hit for Saph’s sake. The two were rivals for sure, but they cared an awful lot for each other.

“Well, it’s not like I can call myself Rambo. No one would understand that.”

“Rambo?” Saph questioned, tilting her head.

“Oh! Can we watch it again? We’ll keep the volume low. She needs to see that one,” Jacky pleaded, looking to Tom who just smiled cautiously

“Maybe something with less tunnel fighting.” ‘And PTSD,’ he thought to himself. They probably needed something a bit more fun. “What about a cowboy movie?”

“You know I still haven't forgiven you for calling me that,” Jacky responded, having lost some of her enthusiasm.

“Oh come on. I think that would do the trick. It’s fun, there's guns and explosions. If you don’t love it… I’ll… hmmm.”

“I’ll take that as a free card.”

“Ahr shit... You do still owe me a trophy though...”

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Luckily for Saph’s imagination, Jacky definitely loved the Magnificent Seven, at least once the guns came out for the first time. Saph had to admit it was quite interesting, and even fun at times. They had gone to Jacky’s room and sat on the bed all curled up with blankets, all snug and comfy. It didn't hurt that Tom was warm as ever, even if it wasn’t exactly cold at night anymore.

It was fun to see humans living so differently. Those little villages and all those horses. It was completely different, once again, from the other movies they had seen. Though judging by the whole problem being the local’s inability to defend their home, perhaps they could learn a thing or two about stonework.

It was a noble fight though, one Sapphire hoped they would not have to repeat here. Tom filled in a bit as per usual, to help them understand what was going on, but she was starting to follow along a little with what was being said. That was actually quite fun. When Apuma got back she would need to pester Tom for some more English lessons. It was pretty evident that Jacky hadn’t picked up much aside from swearwords and a few catchphrases, so Saph’s chances of being the first dragonette to understand English properly were still pretty good. She would have to beat Apuma though; that was probably gonna be tough.

She did manage to catch Tom off guard a few times, asking questions about what things meant rather than waiting to have it explained. When the action really kicked off, he hardly needed to say anything. They cheered for the heroes and cursed the villains together, Jacky ending up having to apologize for sinking a claw into Tom’s wrist when Faraday died. That was probably the first time Saph had seen her angry about an explosion. To be honest, the scene caught her off guard too, and the bad guy sure as shit didn’t expect it.

And that Gatling gun. Tom insisted that the one they were building was even better, but damn talk about cheating. Saph had to give it to them, the movie had been quite nice. And it had been a very fine distraction. She wasn’t stupid she knew what they were trying to do. She also knew they had another long day tomorrow, but she still didn’t want to go to sleep again. She didn't even want to think about it if she was honest. She didn’t want to be alone either, laying in a dark room where she couldn’t tell what was hiding. Perhaps she should see about getting put in child watching duty again. At least she wouldn’t be alone in there… or perhaps a night candle or something.

It didn't seem like Tom or Jacky minded that she didn’t leave as they sat and talked about the film. Jacky got up to play with her revolver, trying to imitate the tricks and twirls the cowboys had done. All three of them had a good laugh when she failed. It took Saph a fair amount of time to work up the courage to ask if they had room for another. Just for one night. She couldn’t remember when last she had shared a bed with someone who wasn’t a kid, but it had been years. She did consider leaving to ask Fengi instead. Hell, maybe even Dakota. She doubted Anchor would mind. He did snore quite a lot though… Shit, Jacky did too now she thought about it.

That did feel a tad rude though, to leave and then ask someone else. Besides, the two of them were already awake, and sleeping with a breathing hot stone also sounded just fine to her. The fact that the breathing hot stone was probably the last thing with a dick that would try anything in the night also helped, obviously. With the possible exception of Heron. He would likely just fall asleep the second his head hit the pillow.

“Sure,” Jacky replied as she holstered the gun to try again. “Just be warned, he’s very annoying in the morning.”

“You curl up around me like some giant snake. It’s rather hard to get out without waking you up,” Tom protested, wrapping his arms around himself to pretend being trapped.

“Yeah yeah, you and your early mornings. You better not cheat on me tomorrow. I know you are doing pushups before I get out of bed. You still won't beat me when I’m done, looking like a traitor at a hammer festival.”

“I would never,” Tom again protested, pretending like he had his feelings hurt. “Besides shouldn’t I be more worried about beating her?” He continued pointing a thumb at Sapphire.

“Hah, You can’t fly so there is nothing I can’t beat her at where you can compete”

“Archery?” Tom questioned as if that one was rather obvious. Much to Sapphire's delight as she pulled a slightly evil smile at Jacky’s reaction.

“You can do that while flying too, doesn’t count” Jacky protested after a second or two of thinking. Saph just chuckled, she might not match Jacky for strength, but she had her beat in plenty of places.

They had turned in for the night soon afterward, Tom promising to at least try and sleep in for once. It was still rather awkward though. Tom hadn’t lied about Jacky curling up around him. She even had her tail spun around his legs, and one wing lying over him like a kind of extra blanket.

Saph just laid there on the outside of the bed. Jacky was fast asleep, but she couldn’t tell if Tom was. She just laid there unable to really rest. She had heard of nightmares like that before, and those who spoke of them rarely got away with just one. Her thoughts were cut off by Jacky, who shifted around a little, seemingly in her sleep, grabbing Saph by the shoulders and pulling her in. Jacky let out a bit of a grunt as she pinched her own wing drawing it back and spreading it out again over all three of them.

Saph just swallowed once, not sure what to do. Tom was awfully warm though, and she felt safer. She was not alone here. Not tonight at least.

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Well, that had certainly been a different evening. If it was what Saph needed though, then that was how it had to be. The two of them were nice and cool too, and he had a feeling that pretty much every dude in the keep would be more than a little envious of his position that night. Shit, he still had to have another chat with Unkai didn’t he… Why was that guy so polite as to not remind Tom? Now he felt like an arsehole.

After having lived here for a few months, Tom had to admit that everyone seemed awfully social around here. With the possible exception of Kullinger, but otherwise, they all seemed very close. So it was clearly extremely important for them not to be lonely. But Saph had seemed just as cheerful and sassy as always up until her nightmare; they had even had a laugh together at his expense when they cut his hair, not to mention the little test flight. It wasn’t like she had sat sulking in a corner not wanting to talk to anyone like he had done oh so long ago. And yet, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that she really hadn't liked it down in the tunnels. Now she was having nightmares, which was clearly not normal for them, about what happened down there. He had to admit, it had been pretty damn scary even before you factor in a fear of spiders and cramped spaces. Not to mention nearly taking a fireball to the face… and technically getting shot. But based on the description, the thing that seemed to hurt her most was being alone. Of all things...

Tom and Jacky had discussed the situation the next morning as Saph went to get ready for the day. They didn’t really come up with much aside from doing their best to make sure she didn’t feel lonely. Though they both agreed that they needed to get Dakota, Fengi, and Esmeralda involved too. Perhaps Saph’s old idea of taking a day off together would have to be reinstituted a bit more rigorously. They had fallen back out of that cycle with everything that was going on. Progress was good on all their projects, so surely they could afford it by now.

It would seem that Sapphire had arrived at a similar conclusion, asking if she could join them for their little morning workout with a smile on her face. Tom had to wonder, though, just how genuine it actually was?

Jacky was still pretty far from fit for fight, and Tom couldn’t match Saph in anything that wasn’t pure endurance. Not even pull-ups or pushups, and he had been completely humiliated when they tried crunches. And he didn’t even bother mentioning squats. Sadly Jacky did… The result was not even funny. It only made it worse that he was sure Jacky had only done that just so she could get to play the weight bar.

In the end, he finally found Saph’s weak point. Running. Jacky sucked at running long distances, and it turned out so did Saph. Which was to say they went for a run around the keep, with Jacky getting a piggyback ride and pretending to be a cowboy as Saph sped off. Tom couldn’t quite make up his mind as to whether or not the seemingly random wingbeats Jacky took to try and hurry him along were helping. But the tail certainly meant stability wasn’t an issue. It was almost like having a gyro on your back, even if she did take a few tries to get used to leaning into turns. Saph’s burst of speed came at a cost though, being caught within about twenty minutes, panting against a tree, much to Jacky’s excitement.

Tom had to admit it was strange to him that they didn’t make a bigger deal out of a good workout. Their reasoning being that, well, if you wanted to work, then there was plenty to do. It was rather hard to argue the point that it would make them stronger against Saph and Jacky from his position. Saph did complain, rather loudly, that running wasn’t fair. Her legs and feet were clearly not built for that and they were done for now. While Tom was rather winded by now, he could go a bit longer if he had to.

“Well my feet aren’t hurting,” Jacky chirped, still sitting pretty atop her sort of willing mount. Saph didn’t look particularly pleased, but she shifted her gaze upwards instead as a shadow blocked out the sun for a second as Jarix decided he wanted to know what the three of them were doing. He touched down in the grass rather hard, if still gracefully, standing there slightly awkwardly for a second.

“Sup big guy,” Jacky opened, tugging at Tom’s shoulders to make him turn around, the dragon looking down at them quizzically.

“Morning… I have a question?”

“Fire away,” Tom replied, sitting down in the grass with a sigh before leaning over backward. Might be half grav around here, but Jacky was still rather heavy.

“Aww come on. Yip yip.”

“The horse is tired.”

“Dammit”

“Right… Instead of running around all morning, couldn't you come help with the kids?”

“What did they do this time?” Tom questioned. Jarix swung his tail around, Tom straining his neck a little to get a better look.”

“They suck at painting.” At that, Jacky just broke out laughing, Saph clearly trying very hard not to. “You see?” Jarix went looking at Tom, clearly finding the women’s reaction proof enough. “It just looks ridiculous. They can't even figure out how to properly cover the overlaps under the scales. It makes it full of blue lines. Completely ruins the aesthetic.”

‘Oh Jarix, you magnificent bastard,’ Tom chuckled to himself while trying to be serious. He had so hoped that Jarix would take a page out of Tiguan’s book when it came to the kids. Sure he tolerated them, but seeing the black dragon act as a play uncle had just been the best shit ever. Plus it was definitely another step in making the keep a true home for him. So, if turning Jarix into another arts and crafts project was the way to get them closer to that goal, then so be it. Tom would just have to make sure they didn’t run out of red paint prematurely.

“Do we need to write Jarix across the side of your chest too?” Sapphire questioned, having gotten her giggle under control even if breath was still an issue.

“No, that’s boring. I want a nickname or something that sounds cool… Like ‘terror hunter’ or ‘sky fang.’ ”

‘Oh no, the dragon is getting edgy,’ Tom thought to himself, chuckling.

“Lightning bolt,” Jacky added, seemingly having accepted her fate as a sort of half mattress for the time being.

“We already put one of those on Tom,” Saph countered, raising her hands as if to say “duh.”

“Can we figure that out later? I wanna get this fixed before it dries,” Jarix interrupted with a hint of impatience in his voice.

“Does the deal come with a lift?” Tom questioned as he tried to get up, Jacky denying him the privilege.

“Sure get on. Seem’s you broke that ride,” Jarix replied with a slight smirk, lowering a wing.

“I’m wounded. I need help,” Jacky went, holding her arms up in the air.

“Don’t worry, the Ambulance is on its way,” Tom replied, getting up before grabbing her by the arm and pulling her into a fireman's carry.

“What the hell is an Andul… Ando… Andulanca?” Jacky questioned from her new resting spot as Saph sneaked aboard too with a quick “Thanks.”