Rosalina watched Calista. "Is she ok?" She asked, worried for the woman who seemed to be happy and caring before.

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

Gareth sighed softly. "I'm not sure," he added softly. "Physically, I know she is still exhausted from the healing, but I fear that everything has finally taken a toll on her emotionally," he remarked softly.
"Healing?" Darius asked and Gareth only nodded. "The only reason you are still alive is because Calista could mitigate the severity of your wound with a touch. Yet, her gift does not come without a price. She absorbs the pain of the person she tries to heal and the more severe the wound, the weaker she becomes as she has to tap into her own strength to heal another," Gareth said quietly. "She healed me once. And it nearly killed her," he added quietly.
"Oh..." Darius remarked, falling silent, feeling a bit of remorse for badgering her as he did. "I guess my pushing did not help either," he remarked ruefully.
"No it did not," Gareth remarked but said nothing more.
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Walking outside Calista glance around nervously, shuddering at going outside alone. Walking brusquely as she glanced around at the trees and branches, she made sure to avoid their wooden arms that constantly seemed to reach for her hair and dress. "Just leave me alone..." she whimpered in a small voice as her eyes kept darting about around her. Finally finding the plant which was not a far distance from their home, she picked several flowers before running back home as fast as she could in her weakened condition. Breathing heavily, she made her way back to the room where Gareth was waiting for her to return so they could apply the sap to Rosalina's wounds to numb some of the pain before he cauterized the wound.
"Calista, what's wrong?" Gareth asked her, worry in his eyes and concern in his tone as she came back rather frazzled. Her blonde hair hung in disarray and fear seemed to skip over her eyes.
"N-nothing," the woman stammered as she handed the flowers to Gareth. "What else do you need?" she asked him which told the mage all the more that Calista was not all right. She always knew what herbs he needed for healing without him having to tell her. "I will need some tygarberries and athias leaves afterwards for the balm. But I can go and get them," Gareth said quietly, suspecting that her ravishing coupled with watching Rosalina stab herself in her home drove her to the point of madness
"No, just tend to Rosalina," Calista said quickly with little warmth to her voice. "I'll get them," she added hastily before walking stiffly out of the room again.

_________________


AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Rosalina bit her lip. Some how she felt responsible. she vaguley remembered hearing screaming as she stabbed herself, but she had been consumed by the temperaty insanity she never realised who it was.

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

Squeezing sap from the flower, Gareth quickly applied the liquid on Rosalina's stomach and wrist wounds, not mentioning the incident again, although the worry was not lost from his hazel-green eyes. He knew that Calista did not like to burden others with her problems and often tried to hide her sorrows from him, although he could often detect them quickly and in the end, he often managed to get her confess her fears. Yet in essence, this was worse than before. This time he knew what was troubling her, but he didn't seem able to help her. Sighing to himself he decided to sterilize his cauterizing tools while letting the sap sink into her wounds.
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Moving closer to Rosalina, Darius placed a hand on the woman's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Don't blame yourself for this," he whispered to her.
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Wrapping her arms tightly about her, Calista headed back outside to harvest a few tygarberries and athias leaves, shivering slightly as she did so.

_________________


AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Rosalina swallowed. "What if she had seen me? When I . . . Its my fault, everything always is. I'm cursed." she saying it like she was simply saying oh well. "Nothing good has happened since we came here. Nothing, only horrible things."

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

Gareth said nothing as he continued to prepare to cauterize her wounds. He knew that Calista witnessed most of what happened since he had stayed by her side through the event. When Darius had been stabbed, she did not have time to dwell on anything, but now that the crisis had passed, whatever shield she had vanished, leaving her unprotected against the violent memories. Yet, Gareth did not tell Rosalina any of this, not wanting the woman to feel any worse.
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"You are not cursed," Darius whispered to Rosalina. "Sometimes bad things happen. Things that we have no control of," he added softly.
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Walking quickly with her eyes darting back and forth, Calista found the needed berries and leaves and quickly made her way back to Rosalina and Darius' room. Not making eye contact with anyone as she stepped into the room, she set the ingredients on the table, ready to make a healing balm when needed.

_________________


AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Rosalina bit her lip. "When has anything good happened around me? Never." She said.

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

"How about the families you aided after the unexpected flood? Many would have died if it had not been for you," Darius remarked. "Or what about the lost girl you stayed with until her mother found her?" he added. "Had it not been for you, worse things could have happened," Darius remarked.
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Walking over to the couple, Gareth gave them a moment to talk before speaking. "I am going to need to cauterize your wounds," he said softly. "And I must warn you, despite the sap I placed on your wounds, this process is still painful," he remarked gently.
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Standing at the table, Calista half-listened to Gareth speak before starting to prepare the cool balm. Grabbing the pot that was brought in earlier, she set it down on the table before starting to crush the leaves into fine pieces.

_________________


AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Rosalina nodded to both, and went to the bed, laying back to make it easier.

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

As Rosalina lay upon the bed, Gareth heated the tool with his fire before walking back over to the woman. Placing the hot metal on the wrist wound, he slowly began to cauterize the injury.
------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, Darius walked over to the bedside to offer what support he could through the process.
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Crushing the leaves, Calista winced as the smell of burnt skin assaulted her noise, leaving her feeling ill. Swallowing back the bile that threatened to spring from her gut and throat, she tried to focus on making the balm, knowing that Gareth would need it once he was finished cauterizing the wounds.

_________________


AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Rosalina tried not to cry out. She thrashed with every touch of the hot metal. Tears filled her eyes as the pain seemed to increase even though she knew it could have been much worse.

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

Taking a hold of Rosalina's free hand, Darius gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'm here, Ro," he whispered to her before placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.
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Once he was finished cauterizing the wound on one of her wrists, Gareth moved to tend to the wounds on her stomach. As he worked, beads of sweat streaked down his face as the scent of burnt flesh grew stronger in the room.
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As the stench of burning flesh grew stronger, Calista felt all the more nauseated and her face grew all the more pale. Trying hard not to choke, Calista added some water to the leaves before squeezing the juice from the berries and stirring the ingredients together to make the liquid salve to help treat the wounds once the cauterizing was completed.

_________________


AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Rosalina wanted to scream. The pain was unreal. She turned her head and squeezed her eyes shut.

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

"It's almost over, my love," Darius whispered to her before kissing her cheek gently. Moving so that Gareth could cauterize her last wound, Darius had to wince at the process. This process had to have been terrible for anyone to undergo, but it seemed so much worse to him now since his love was the one forced to endure such pain.
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Cauterizing the last wound on the woman's wrist, Gareth could only hope that Calista had the salve ready to apply to the cauterized wounds since they would help to speed their healing and ease some of the pain.
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Feeling as if the stench was going to overpower her, Calista rubbed her temples as she tried to steady herself enough to finish making the salve. Adding a bit more of the water, she squeezed the last of the berry juice into the mixture and stirred it one final time.
"How's it coming?" Gareth asked her gently after he finished cauterizing the last wound.
"It's finished," Calista responded listlessly as she looked up from the pot, looking rather sickly.
Seeing her extremely wan appearance, Gareth felt his heart drop.
"Calista..." he whispered, his voice filled with concern for her.
"I-I think I need some air..." she whispered as she raced out into the main room and sank back against the wall as she tried to draw in deep breaths.

_________________


AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

As soon as the pain eased, Rosalina let out a few shaky breaths. "Darius?" she looked at him. "How do they look?"

_________________
Where do you go when your running away,
The cost of stopping is too great to pay.
~Amanda (saw this written in a washroom stall at a movie theater)

"Red, but a little better," Darius remarked softly before kissing her lightly again.
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Checking the consistency of the balm, Gareth gave a sad smile. Even in her troubled state, she managed to do a good job. Carrying the pot over, he first began to apply the salve onto her wrist wounds. As he started to apply the balm to her stomach, her dress shifted slightly and he saw the scars from another attack. Frowning slightly, he did not make a comment, not finding it his place to pry, though he wondered if something like this happened before.
-----------------------------------------------------------
As Darius' eyes fell across her old wounds, he felt a wave of guilt wash over him again. He should have protected her from that lion. And now because he could not protect her from her own madness, she now had several more wounds upon her.,
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Sliding down the wall, Calista sat on the floor as she tilted her head upward and closed her eyes, wishing she could calm the harsh pounding of her heart.

_________________


AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!