Is it over? ((Invite?)) • 5 days after the battle

((I couldn't sleep until I got this out, if I tag you you're welcome to join... If you don't want to then I guess this will be a solo.))

The sun was shining, she knew that much. She could feel the warmth of it on her skin, even though the light seemed muted even through her eyelids. Teresia lay in her bed, hands at her side, bandages all over her. Leg from an arrow, torso from gun shots and yet another arrow, hand from a ninja star. It was no wonder that her body felt like she had been run over by a fright train.

It was five days after the battle between Concordia and Camp Bast(ards), Tere hadn't opened her eyes - hadn't woken - since she passed out into Ashton's arms. Five days. She could hear whispered voices of worry but she couldn't distinguish who they belonged too. Every time she felt like she might begin to surface, she would be pulled back down into the current of nothingness, the painless, the blackness.

That was what she was feeling now... That slow build to waking, she tried to fight for the surface but it was just out of reach. Someone was holding her hand. Who? She couldn't tell. Again she began to feel the blackness trying to swallow her whole.


@ashton
@calloway
@emberlynn

((Again, I'm not forcing you to join if you don't want too.))

Jason....was not the one holding her hand. He stood at the foot of her bed, arms folded. He was clearly pissed that she was laying there as wounded as she was. He himself had some wounds but they weren't terrible, not in the sense of blood loss and disfigurement. Just...his first scars of war. Luckily, the one under his right eye had healed without stitches and therefore didn't scar. The blade the person threw...was obviously sharp.

He had been here intermittently, dividing his time between Accalia and Tere. He had to make sure to divide it evenly- he didn't want something to happen to one of them and for him to feel like he hadn't been there enough for both. He let out a little breath, his blood boiling. If it was up to him, he would form a plan of counterattack. Enough of this getting their asses kicked and waiting until the next time.

It was time to take the fight to them.

Ashton had carried Tere back to her home the instant that he believed it was safe. The long trip had been grueling, especially since she was so injured and had lost so much blood. He thanked the gods every minute that the healers had gotten there in time. Ashton had been at her side ever since then, not leaving for more than a few minutes at a time.

For the moment, her brother was there and standing by the door. Tere appeared to be waking up, though she had done that more than once. Grasping her hand tightly in one of his, he ran a cool cloth over her forehead with the other. "Tere?" He called softly, hoping that she would actually wake up this time.

There was that voice again, calling to her. She tried desperately to wake, to answer it, the current of darkness though, it held tight, pulling her down, pulling her away from the pain, away from that voice. A voice she could hear but it was to distorted by the darkness to pin point who it was. Still, she tried... The water on her head felt cool, the sun though she could still feel it. She tried again. Tried for the light. Tried for the voice.

She fought the pain, pain that as she got closer grew more intense. She tried, the darkness of painlessness was luring her back she didn't know what she wanted, the pain and the voice or the darkness with its promise of feeling nothing. They pulled at her subconsciousness they battled... "please..." her voice was rough, scratchy. Still she wasn't fully awake nor fully unconscious... She was in that limbo between states... Tears started to stream down her cheeks as she fought for that voice.

Jason would look to Ashton, scowling as he held her hand. He had let the male come in while he was there but so far hadn't seen this level of devotion. He would unfold his arms and walk around the bed, holding out his hand. Time to assert himself and make it known that he was quite protective of his sister.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced. I am Sergeant Jason Calloway, Tere's brother."

Yeah, gimme your name. The feeling of his shield on his back and his sword on his hip helped boost his confidence.

Ashton smiled at the boy softly, replacing the rag he held to Tere's forehead back into the bowl of water before accepting the offered hand. "Tere has mentioned you before. She's quite fond of you." Fond might have been an understatement. Teresia loved her sibling, probably would have died for them if she had been given the chance.

"And the name's Ashton. Ashton Drake, son of Demeter. I'm surprised we haven't met before now in the last few days. I've been with her as much as humanly possible." Maybe the boy had been there the whole time and Ashton just hadn't noticed it. It didn't matter. He'd stay with her no matter what.

Now it wasn't just one voice, it was two. She again found herself struggling through the darkness, reaching for the surface, reaching for those voices. As she got closer, she could hear now, make out who they were. Ashton, she wanted to smile. He hadn't left her, he was there with her right now. She hopped the smile showed, hoped that she wasn't as frozen on the outside as she felt on the inside. And Jason was there. That one was actually kind of shocking to her. He was there though, so she wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. She had missed spending time with her brother.

Then she let out a gasp, her chest arched off the bed for a moment, as if she had taken her first breath after holding it for so long. Still, she didn't open her eyes, however, now it was because she didn't want to. At least, not quickly. She clenched her hand around the hand in hers and slowly, very slowly, her eyes began to open, seeing first the light filtering through the soft gauze of the drapes hanging from her bed and then shadows. Eventually, her eyes cleared enough and her head turned slightly to see Ashton and Jason. "Hey..." She said in that rough, dry voice.

Jason would accept the hand clasp firmly, but not roughly. He stared into Ashton's eyes before releasing the hand. As the male spoke, his fists clenched and unclenched.

"So you her boyfriend or what?"

Yeah, he got right to the point before Tere spoke. His eyes would turn to hers, and he would let a relaxed grin slide across his face so as not to worry her and to present a united front. She had been out for quite some time, and patching her back together had been a process that looked both painful and time consuming so, in a way, he was glad she was out for so long. He would fold his arms again, keeping the smile.

"Morning sleepyhead. How was your five day nap?"

Ashton shot Jason a smile that said they would talk later before turning his attention back towards Tere. "Hey there." He whispered before bringing her hand up to his lips. The relief he was feeling overshadowed everything else. For a moment he had been worried she would never wake up at all.

Tere tore her gaze from Ashton for a moment to look over to her brother. She blinked for a moment, trying to clear her eyes from the tears that had filled her eyes earlier and the sleep that had crusted the corners of her eyes before the cobwebs cleared from her mind enough to compute what he just said. "five days?!" She glanced from one man to the other, shaking her head for a moment, not really contemplating the fact that she had been out that long. She knew she had taken a few good shots, but five days? Really?

She shook her head again, sure that she had just heard things. That the cob webs were still in place and once they were cleared, she would hear what he really said. That she would hear five hours or maybe two days. She could believe two days. "It... no...really?" She asked, for the first time letting her tough girl image drop as dread filled her.

Jason nodded.

"Five days of fitful sleep. But you are alive. Busted up pretty bad, but alive.I thought you said you knew how to fight?"

He grinned broadly, obviously screwing with her. She had been right at the thick of the fighting, with little to no weapons. She had been in the brunt of the arrows, and Jason had his shield. He had come prepared for something like that to happen- everyone else, or almost everyone else was there for a wedding. He couldn't begrudge her that- she was the maid of honor. Still, that didn't stop him from flicking her shit about it.

"If I would have known, I would have come and taken care of the baddies for you."

He chuckled, again clearly giving her a hard time.

"She clearly isn't friends with arrows, that much is certain." Ashton agreed, stepping away for a moment to give the siblings room to talk. He wasn't here to step on any toes. Tere was his only concern at this point. Besides, it would do her some good to get something to eat after being out for so long and his particular brand of fruit was more nutritious than others. It would get her back on her feet sooner.

"Be back in a moment." He whispered to tere, heading towards the kitchen in search of appliances and a window to grow a few trees in. Hopefully he could come up with something useful fairly soon.

Tere smiled softly to Ashton for a moment and then turned to glare a little at Jason, flipping him the bird as he teased her about her fighting skill. What in the hell was it with the guys on this island thinking that she didn't know how to fight. She had been fighting for years, not just on land but on the sea as well. She glanced back to Ashton as he excused himself and sighed a little before looking back to her brother.

"You try fighting in a dress and tell me how easy it is, Jase..." She snapped a little. Now that she was awake, the pain was starting to hit her, as was hunger and anger... She had been out five days, what had happened? "Sorry, I don't mean to snap... Well... No I kind of do... I'm getting tired of men thinking I can't fight, but to Tartarus with that bullshit, what happened after? I don't remember past the initial attack."

Jason laughed.

"Oh bah, I know you can fight. Was a joke- I saw the shit you had to deal with, I was there, remember? And speaking of jokes- who is this kid? He your boyfriend or what?"

He certainly seemed concerned in a boyfriend way, and Jason being the protective brother he was, would need to scope this food out.

" I don't know, Tere, am I your boyfriend?" Ashton asked, returning to the room with a smoothy in hand. It wouldn't fill her up, but she didn't need that right now. She needed vitamins and other nutrients enough to replace what she had lost while he was comatose. "And don't worry kiddo, you'll have no trouble from me. I'm assuming this is your cue for me to go." Though not a coward, Ashton was not equipped to handle little brothers today. Especially not ones who still thought it was a good idea to run around with a sword and shield in a woman's bedroom.