Of Spirits and Ice.

[Ashen Rain]

~(And more is what you shall receive!

Chapter 3: part 2)~


“I found her in the forest,” the young farmer stated. She could see sweat dripping off of his brow, and by the look on his face she could tell he was worried. “Please,” he pleaded, “You have to help her.”

Milynn, still somewhat shocked, nodded grimly and motioned for him to come inside. She pointed to the back room, which he hurriedly carried the pallid woman into. Milynn followed and watched as he set her carefully on the bed, fearing the worst as she drew close to the girls side.

The Shaman elder grimaced in sympathy at the sight. Even in the pale light, she could see the fairly deep gouges across the girls frame. Thankfully, they had not broken the inner wall of the young woman's stomach, but she wasn't out of trouble yet. By the looks of wounds, Milynn summarized that the pale girl before her had been attacked by a large bear- though how she had escaped without any other injury Milynn did not know. She frowned suddenly, peeling back the torn cloth of the girl's dress in hopes to get a better look in the dim light. How, she wondered, had the girl gotten attacked by something like a bear, if the only bears near by were sealed away in the dark forest?

“Arthur,” she asked quietly. “Where in the forest did you find her?”

Arthur was standing over by a small set of drawers in the room- he had moved there after he had set the girl down, probably to find a candle Milynn guessed.

“Just, in the middle of the forest,” He muttered distractedly. “The one I had gone into earlier.” Milynn nodded slightly, and turned back to the girl. Arthur wouldn't lie to her, she knew, but then how had the girl gotten injured. Better yet, who was she, and how had she gotten into the forest in the first place? She peered up at the girls face for a moment, but could tell no true details in the dark. The only real thing she could make out was a plain and silvery pendant that hung lifeless around the young woman's neck.

Arthur seemed too concerned with getting the woman help, rather than wondering where she had come from. She saw him out of the corner of her eye, busying himself with a match. Wondering for a moment if his haste would cost him anything, she heard a curse, and looked back to find that he had dropped a candle in the midst of lighting it- he had probably burned himself. Milynn frowned at him as he proceeded to relight the candle, and bring it over to rest on the stand next to the bed as if he had forgotten ever being burned at all. He seemed confused and distracted in the situation, and Milynn didn't like the way he was now staring over her shoulder.

“Arthur,” she whispered, quickly catching his attention.

“Yes?” He asked, looking toward her. “What is it? What do you need?”

She frowned, turning her head and glancing at him. “For one, please back up. You're making me nervous. If you'd like to help, then maybe you can get something for me. You remember the cabinet in my bedroom? In there I've got-”

“Right,” he interrupted, turning toward the door. “Cabinet. Got it.”

“Do you really?” she stated cynically. “Great. Then why don't you come over here and heal her yourself.”

Arthur paused, turning to stare at her. “... What?” he asked, confused. “But... You're much more skilled than I am. What if I...”

“Arthur,” she called again. He looked at her, still somewhat disconcerted. “You're a smart boy. You've learned a lot in your lifetime, even for how old you are. You're also smart enough to realize when you can't solve a problem on your own. If you want me to save her, you need to listen to me- and I really mean listen.”

He looked on at her for a moment longer, before closing his eyes and shaking his head. “You're right,” he muttered, letting out a sigh. “I'm sorry. What is it you want me to do?”

Milynn's gaze softened a bit, and she smiled lightly. “I need you to clear your head. I know this is unlike any wound you've ever seen before, but if we're going to save her, you need to calm down. In the cabinet, get the special soaked bandages, ones that will help stop the bleeding. You know where they are, and I'll need plenty of them for this.”

[Ashen Rain]

~(And even more!

And since this is the end of chapter three, and I have chapter four ready to type up!...

I'm heading off to bed. Why? Because I'm mean, and I like to leave you all in suspense. =D

Chapter 3: part 3)~


He gave her a quick nod, and headed out of the door this time, turning the corner into her room until she could see him no longer. She returned to removing what scraps of clothing she could from the girls middle, only now noticing the dirt and grime in her wound. As Arthur entered the room again, delivering the much needed bandages, she sent him out to light a fire in the living room and heat some water so she could wash the pale woman's injury.

Once she had her wash cloth, the Shaman Elder set to work cleaning and dressing the wound- though not without her own worries. However pale the woman was, Milynn could not tell by skin tone how much blood the girl had lost. By the amount on the girl's clothes, Arthur, and now her own hands did not bode well.

“Milynn?” Arthur asked quietly. “Is there anything else I can do now?”

The shaman woman shook her head solemnly. “I'm afraid not,” she whispered. “I suppose you can go home now. Get some rest.”

When she did not hear him leaving, the old woman turned her head. The look on his face was quite serious. “She's not going to make it, is she?”

Milynn, taken aback by the question, closed her eyes and gave a slight shake of the head. “It isn't looking likely. Please, don't worry about this right now. You've done a great thing tonight, and we both tried our best.” Her eyes opened again, though her tired gaze fell to the floor. “She has just lost so much blood...”

It was quiet for a moment longer. Milynn silently wished that Arthur would leave at this point, knowing that it was only hurting him to be here. Another instant passed, and silently, Milynn watched as Arthur, out of the corner of her eye, pulled something from his pockets. She glanced up, seeing him holding out a tuft of cricket grass to her.

A sudden thought struck her as she reached for it. “Arthur, this is perfect,” she stated, taking the plants and gently pulling at the leaves.

Baffled, Arthur could only look on. “What is?” he asked her quietly.

Milynn smiled at him as she held up one of the tiny leaf like petals of the weed. “I use cricket grass in my tea to help take my aches and pains away. It thickens the blood up, and makes things run smoother.”

“And?” Arthur asked. “What does that have to do in this situation?”

Milynn only shook her head. “Don't you remember what I've taught you of herbs, Arthur? Cricket grass thickens the blood... Which means it will help this poor girl produce more of it in a short amount of time.”

Arthur frowned for a moment, causing Milynn's smile to waiver. “I... don't recall that,” he stated, looking at her curiously. “It will help her though?”

“Of course!” The old woman exclaimed. Carefully, she hobbled over to the unconscious woman. After prying open the girl's mouth, she pushed the leaf far into her throat and helped her swallow it, before turning back to Arthur. “Do you understand how much this ups her chances of living?”

Arthur, who had still looked unsure previously, suddenly smiled. “Really?” he asked.

Milynn nodded. “Of course, there is still a chance that she could pass on. But it's much slimmer now.”

Arthur sighed in relief- and Milynn did as well. “That's good to hear.” He stated.

“Yes, yes,” she agreed, nodding positively. “Now go get some rest, son. You can come see her in the morning.”

The young man nodded, turning towards the door. “Something to hope for, at least. I'll see you then, as soon as possible.”

The shaman woman waved slightly. “Of course dear. Not too bright and early though. We all need our rest!”

She could hear Arthur laugh as he exited the house. She tried to watch him as he headed home, but the night skies left it too black for her to see clearly. Milynn sighed suddenly. She hadn't meant to lie to him about the cricket grass possibly helping, but he had been so melancholy. Quietly, she turned toward the young woman lying on the bed, pondering how she would tell Arthur that she had passed on, until her eyes caught something that nearly made her heart leap from her chest.

The eyes of the pallid woman were open now, glittering in the soft candle light as they looked back into the eyes of Milynn, the pendant on her necklace now glowing a pale blue.

[Ashen Rain]

~(More story!

Chapter 4: Part 1)~


Arthur's eyes slowly opened. The sun was peeking in through his window as he lay in bed, trying to adjust his vision. How late was it, he wondered as he squinted at the bright lit sky, slowly becoming more aware.

He suddenly bolted upright in a quick motion, looking frantically about the room. The events from the night before were now flooding into his head. The pale woman, lost and hurt in the forest, running to Milynn's house and calling for help, and even stumbling back to his own home, suddenly exhausted and longing for a rest. How was he to have known that his first night home in his bed would have been spent like this? Heaving himself from the bed now, he stretched momentarily, rubbing his face a bit. Milynn had said that he could come see the girl today, and he hoped silently the she had made it through the night.

As Arthur walked to his bath chamber, he realized that he was still wearing the same dirty clothes he had had on yesterday. He grimaced slightly while he peeled the blood stained and ruined shirt from his body, and then even more when he finally got a good look at it. Shaking his head, he tossed it aside and quickly made his way over to his wash basin to get cleaned up.

When he had fully dressed once more, Arthur headed out of his room. In the kitchen, his stomach growled quite loudly, causing him to pause. Spying a large loaf of bread sitting innocently upon his breakfast table, he wasted no time in snatching it up and taking a large bite out of it. This will have to do, he thought to himself. He wanted to get to the Shaman Elder's house as soon as possible.

Rushing by this point, Arthur made his way out side and to the quaint dirt streets of the village. An unsettling feeling over came him on his trip, one that made him take a second glance at the town around him. No women or children were out today, and all of the men seemed to be either out in the fields or closed up in their places of work. He wondered how the other farmers had been doing without his help, but he knew that they had done it without him before. Sighing and feeling somewhat guilty in either case, he continued on to Milynn's house on the silent and lonely road.

At the door, Arthur took hold of the handle, turning it and slowly pulling it open just in case anyone was still asleep. If a grown man had slept that long, surely an injured woman and an over tired old shaman would be capable of doing so too. As the door swung slowly open, Arthur suddenly paused. Within the house he had heard another voice- that of a man. He frowned a bit, peeking into the room. He wasn't one to snoop in on anyone else's conversation, but he did want to see if the pale girl was alright, and he didn't want to do that if it meant barging in on something important.

The sight within the house caused him to watch on for longer than he had truly anticipated. Five people were within, two seated at the small table in the living room by the fire. One was Milynn, looking haggard and and annoyed. The other was a man in a dark brown cloak, most of his face hidden by a hood save for a long white beard that spilled out of it.

[Ashen Rain]

~(N' summore...

Chapter 4: Part 2)~


The other three in the room were all men, those of which Arthur recognized as Elders of the village. But where was the young woman he had rescued, he wondered? He searched the room for her, only to have his thoughts interrupted by the words of a short and pudgy man.

“Milynn,” the man stated, turning to face the old shaman. Arthur caught a better look at him as he turned, and by his thinning hair and bushy gray mustache, he realized that this was the Merchant Elder. The man stuck his hands in the pockets of a somewhat expensive looking blue over coat, which didn't fit him very well at all. “Please, tell me again,” he continued, “Where was she found?”

The Shaman Elder sighed, pressing her wrinkled thumbs into her eyes. “I've told you already Phineas,” she muttered. “Out in the forest.”

“Oh really?” came the deep voice of another in the room. Arthur could not see the face of the man who was talking this time, but he didn't have to to figure out who he was. With his thickly muscled body covered in no clothes save for leather armor, Arthur knew that this had to be the Hunting Elder. Though the man was tanned and strong, and by no means old, he was still wise in the ways of the hunt. Other Hunting Elders before him had been young as well- but also quite arrogant. It left the position for the Elder of the Hunt open quite often, to say the least. “Then how is it that she came to have those scars on her? What creature with claws so big has ever lived in our peaceful forest?”

“None,” the third man standing in the room stated in a gravely voice- one that Arthur knew almost as well as Milynn's. His short cropped white hair and leathery skin was something that Arthur had seen every day he went out to work the fields and feed the animals. The Elder of the Farm lands was in the room along with the rest of them it seemed. “No animal like that has even been seen in the forest, Jerard,” He continued, addressing the Hunting Elder. “Not since we put the totem guardians up to keep them out long ago.”

“Donn,” Milynn pleaded, turning to the wizened old farmer. “You have to understand. I don't know how she was injured. I only took her in here to help her. She would have died had I not.”

“Yes,” Phineas nodded. “Maybe dying would have been a better thing for her to do then.”

Milynn stood suddenly, straightening as much as her old bones would let her. “How dare you speak such nonsense! I couldn't just let a perfectly harmless young woman bleed to death-”

“You couldn't,” Jerard muttered, pulling on his thick beard as he turned to face the door where Arthur was standing. Arthur moved slightly out of the hunter's vision, swallowing at the fact that he had almost been caught. “But I could have.”

[Ashen Rain]

~(I fear that posting up too much at a time will cause reader eye bleedage.

Feel free to comment and tell me if anyone needs a break from post to post or something.

Until then... More story!

Chapter 4: Part 3)~


Arthur peeked back around the corner to find that Jerard had turned away. Milynn was standing more limply now, her mouth wide in shock. “How could you say a thing like that?” she asked.

“Think of it this way,” Phineas stated, pointing his nose in the air. “You healed someone, as you were taught and trained to do. We're only looking out for our careers as well.”

“What do you mean by that?” Milynn asked softly, her glare at the man as cold as ice.

“You have to understand where we're coming from as well,” the merchant continued. “If you believe a girl like that is harmless, then your brain seems to be growing addled in your old age. If she stays here, she'll scare off any customers, or even people coming to sell there wares here. Our economy would fall apart.”

“How dare you be so selfish,” Milynn murmured, her eyes never leaving the merchant. “How dare you wish to end one person's life over riches and material possessions.”

“If you think he's being selfish, why not take a good look at yourself,” Donn stated. Arthur had never heard the Farming Elder speak in such a tone before. “It's obvious that she could be dangerous to us. If we just let her go free into the forest, she could return and take down our animals as easily as she would any other creature. With teeth like hers, she isn't one to go around eating berries and grass all day.”

“And,” Jerard continued, “What if there are more of her kind? If we set her free and she returns with them, we've no chance. They'll over run our village before we can do anything, and you've seen how quickly she healed. We could fight back, but she would just leave, heal up, and return the next day. It could be the end of our lives here if we don't get rid of her permanently.”

“But how do you know she'll actually do all of those terrible things?” Milynn asked in a somewhat pleading tone.

“How do you know she won't?”

Arthur looked about the room, his attention turning to the only other person who could of spoken at this point. All was silent after the words were spoken, and Arthur began to feel suddenly uncomfortable.

Milynn's eyes were now set on the form of the elderly man sitting at her table. “Please, sir,” she whispered tiredly. “You're my only hope. Your judgment over rides that of us all. As the High Elder of the village, what would you decide to have us do?”

Arthur stiffened. The High Elder of the village, a man that you could only see if something truly important came up, was sitting in Milynn's home. Though he had gotten the basic gist of the conversation, he could not understand why the Esteemed Elder was here. It couldn't be about the girl he had found in the forest, could it? Some of the events matched up, but the way the men were talking made her sound like some sort of monster, if it was even her they were talking about at all. Nothing seemed to make sense. Why were they so frightened by one person, and more importantly, what had Jerard meant by scars? The wound on the girls stomach could not have healed up over night, could it?

[Chronos]

I am thoroughly enjoying this. Keep up the good work!

[Mitsukai]

Awesome story Ashen!

*waits as patiently as possible for next addition*

[Ashen Rain]

Thank you. ^^

I regret to inform everyone though that this story is going through a major revamp. I've made all of the characters act too much alike- they have no separate actions or personalities.

To counter this, I am in the process of writing up new character sheets for them, which I will post in the character sheet section, should everyone want me to do so.

After the character sheets are done, I will be going back through all of the story I have so far, rewrite some parts, and then I shall be reposting it, and finally finishing the story line.

Sorry to make you wait for it... I'll probably be trying to repost it (since certain sections may shorten or lengthen) in the ampitheatre under 'Of Spirits and Ice, 'renewed''. So check here just in case. ^^

I suppose you can let this thread sink to the bottom now... If you'd like to see the character sheets of the people in this story, just PM me and let me know that I should post them when they're done. ^^