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 Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 3:58 pm
He was thirsty. He had been for hours now. But somehow he couldn't bring himself to leave the den. He felt weak and weary and his head was hot and swayed whenever he tried to move. He didn't trust his paws to carry him across to the water...though they probably could have if he had been so inclined.
It was fair to say that Dabulamanzi had stayed in his den, only leaving to make brief trips to water when the need became too great. He skulked as he did so. As if attempting to hide from other members. As if trying to keep out of sight of the plague. But his head hurt and he groaned in displeasure. There was a pain in him that was not caused by the well-healing wound.
The plague.
And to make matters worse, some odd-eyed little female had been poking her nose around, trying to pry him out with strange stories. When he'd refused to respond to her she'd eventually gone away but he worried she would come back. What if next time she came into the den with her sickness? The longer he could hold it off, somehow, made him feel like the longer he would live with it. If it struck quickly, surely his end would be quick, too.
He groaned again. Oh...his head hurt.
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 4:07 pm
Now that Dabulamanzi was healing so nicely, there was little reason for Eione to keep such a close eye on him. He'd been left in the general watch of healers until someone decided he had to stop sulking and contribute now that he was here.. of course, Eione still liked to check in on him and when she had heard he was showing signs of the plague, she made a point of visiting him.
Carrying with her an odd looking and strange smelling root, she poked her head into his little den. He looked very much like he was trying to hide away from the world but there was something in the air that gave his health away. She set down her root.
"Dabula," she greeted him gently.
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 4:13 pm
He startled at her voice and snapped his head around to see who it was -- a mistake because his vision span and his stomach twisted with nausea. For a moment he thought that irritating female had returned with her chirping voice. But thankfully it was young Eione.
It surprised him to realise that he was happy to see her. She was patient and kind and...well, she was just doing her job...but he was grateful. "Eione." He greeted, his eyes darting to the root she had set down on the floor of the den. "What's that?" He shifted nervously and his eyes darted back up to her face.
Clearing his throat, he continued. "I think my wound is almost healed..."
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 4:22 pm
She offered him a smile as he greeted her, almost sure she could see his mind whirl but perhaps it was just empathy, knowing he was feeling ill.
"I think you're right," she agreed, glancing down to his shoulder before picking up her root, dropping it again when she was a few steps closer to him, "I heard that you were feeling sick so I was talking to an apothecary. This root should help ease your pain."
Eione had been given a brief lesson in remedies when she went investigating ways to make it easier on Dabula. There were few remedies for earlier stages of the plague but some things were so weak, they were no use to any later stage sufferer. She, of course, had half a mind to offer a placebo and try to determine how much of this was in his head but for now she would give him the benefit of the doubt.
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 4:43 pm
He cleared his throat again - as if talking was suddenly difficult - and shifted nervously as if unsure whether to admit that he was, indeed, not feeling well. She'd obviously heard it from one of the other healers already seeing as she had brought him the herb but...if he admitted it than that was it, wasn't it?
"Yes." He said at last. "I'm sick. It's just like you said before." He patted a paw against his head. "The symptoms. They're the same."
And his head hurt.
"How quickly will the root work? Do I eat the whole thing?" Dab was already inching towards it. If it could help clear his head he'd feel a whole lot better!
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 4:47 pm
His description of his symptoms as 'the same' as what she had explained the plague to be like made her think, again, that he was perhaps bringing this on himself at least in part. But she would do good pointing that out to him. Whether or not it was in his head, his suffering was real enough.
"Yes," she said, "I brought what I was told is an appropriate portion for an adult lion, but it might not be easy to get down on it's own. Some hunters just for back a little while ago, it might be better if you had something to eat and drink with it."
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 4:52 pm
Oh. Oh.
"Well..." He hesitated and glanced at the root sceptically. Did he really have to go out there? His eyes flicked back up to her. "I don't know if I really feel up to going out. Besides, there was someone harassing me earlier. She might still be around."
That sounded lame as far as excuses went but it was worth a shot. It was the only thing he could come up with. "Maybe I'll just stay here for a bit and see if I feel better later."
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 4:55 pm
While she was hoping he would go for it- he definitely needed to eat and drink more before he made himself much worse in other ways- she wasn't about to take away the root because he refused to go. She took a couple steps back again and sat down, raising a brow at his excuse.
"You had a visitor?" she asked, "Who was it?"
It was a terrible excuse, leaving your den- where you were guaranteed to be at some times- was better than being out and about, where you could be anywhere in the pride, if you were trying to avoid someone. But Eione was more curious about who else had been.. harassing him. It couldn't have been a healer, unless they were trying to get him out and about, too.
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 5:00 pm
She was sitting down. Good. Although, when he thought about it he wondered whether he might have been wiser to accept the offer. No. No. His headache would pass and the other symptoms would fade as well.
"She said her name was...uh..." She had said her name in that sing-song little voice of hers. "She was grey and had these weird eyes. And she was mad." She had to have been mad the way she was spouting all that rubbish and talking about herself as if she were in some sort of story.
"Nettie." He said at last. "Her name was something like Nettie."
Well, it was sort of close to 'Netravati'...
"Do you know who she is?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 5:08 pm
Hmm, Eione did not know anybody by the name 'Nettie' and didn't recognize the description as any of the healers. The next most likely visitor that didn't introduce themselves and their business properly would have to be a bard. It wouldn't surprise her if one tried to pop in and cheer him up.
"I don't know her but she must have been a bard," she said, smiling, "And if that's the case, she may have just been trying to get you to cheer up a little bit."
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 5:20 pm
Cheer him up? He grumbled quietly to himself. If that was what the lioness had been trying to do then she had a long way to go before she achieved her goal.
"I would prefer that she didn't." He replied. He took another glance towards the root and ground his teeth in frustration before risking a glance towards the streak of sun coming in from the outside. "How far a walk is it to the food?" He asked after a long pause. "Do you...think there'll be a lot of others there?"
And if he ate that food he'd be eating diseased meat that had been feasted on by other diseased lions...if he wasn't sick now, he soon would be.
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 5:41 pm
Eione shook her head, still smiling when he rejected the idea of a bard trying to cheer him up. It probably was a bit early in his membership here to be trying to put a smile on his face. She certainly wouldn't push the idea on him and she didn't expect the other healers would, either- though they might not stop a bard intent on visiting with some of the ill lions who visited with the healers.
"Not far," she said, "The hunters are pretty sensitive to the limitations of some of the members, but yes- there might be a few others there."
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 6:24 am
He hunkered back in the den, thinking, and worrying over the idea. After a moment he shook his head. "I think I'll stay here today." He replied at last. "Perhaps I'll feel stronger tomorrow." Or the day after that. He gave the young female a strained smile. "Sorry." He just wasn't up for meeting others just yet. He didn't want to be faced with questions and...and disease.
Not until he was sure.
He laid himself back down. "Thanks, Eione."
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 8:41 pm
She bit back a frown when he settled back down, obviously prepared to stay right where he was. She wasn't surprised but she had been hopeful. The worst of it was he seemed to take her offering as an all-or-nothing deal.
With a sigh, she stood up and prepared to be on her way.
"Alright. Have a nice day, Dabulamanzi," she said, offering a smile, "I'll be back to check on you tomorrow." He had to realize he was getting to a point where he wouldn't be watched so closely by the healers, he was healing- even if he was starting to show signs of the plague. Eione really only checked in now to help him adjust to the idea of being stuck here.. maybe it was a self test in mind healing, or maybe she felt bad for him. Either way, she was persistent.
When she turned to leave, she left the root where it was, laying at his paws.
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