[private] i'm baptised in your name, mazikeen

[Mazikeen]

Mazikeen remembers the first time she thought she had died - the violence of waking to crows picking at her flesh, the intensity of that first moment and realizing that no matter how much she bled, she’d be alive through it all. Finding the strength to eventually stumble home to the Cove, tearing open her wounds again and again with every step and losing consciousness but always waking, no matter what. Always incapable of escaping the pain or the horror of dying without honour. This time is different. She does not jerk awake but returns to consciousness slowly like she’s wading through deep water. Her waking is preceded by a scowl when she remembers that last image that had flitted through her mind. That clearly doesn’t mean anything, right? Just some bizarre fluke of her subconscious - it could’ve been anything. Her orange eyes finally flash open when other thoughts begin to flood into her mind and she scrambles to her feet so fast she stumbles - eyes wild as they cast around as her fear catches up with her. Had the boy even been okay before she had fallen? She couldn’t remember him answering her question. “Where is he? Is he okay?” Mazikeen’s voice is strained and it takes her a moment to focus on the pair nearby - her heart still racing and breathing ragged as she does. They are both covered in blood - is that her blood? - but she cannot see any serious injuries. It’s only then that she remembers what her own injuries had been before she fell unconscious and she marvels at their absence. There is still a little bit of pain but it is dull and manageable. Later she’ll marvel at the scars and the injuries they echo. These thoughts fade and the embarrassment begins to settle in. She has a lot to learn about fighting in this form - particularly how to defend herself. A lesson she’s been meaning to learn for some time, that had driven her up the mountain for this quest. But she will think about that another time - when she's not so worried about this angelic pair. “I’m sorry. For the mess and everything. There was one of those creatures...” Comes her next fumbling words. The need to apologize is so heavy in her heart. She feels guilty for the boy having to see what he did, for the blood they both wear, for not having been efficient enough at fighting it off that she even put them in this position. And for supporting the rules of this kingdom that may very well separate this mother and child if he is not a shifter - when Mazikeen does not need more than a look to see how wrong that is. So few have been her interactions with parents other than her own she hasn't allowed herself to think about it - but she thinks on it now as she looks at them. “But thank you... for healing me. If there is anything I can ever do… please let me know.”