thebastion | [OPEN] We're smiling all the same [Day 207]

Who: Ahime, anyone checking on her in the hospital
Open: Open
When: 207
Where: Hospital
What: The warrior has finally woken.
Format: Any
Warnings: Talk of impaling injuries

Being a Warrior of Atlantis, and the right hand of the Queen at that meant knowing your life was constantly going to be filled with risks. Their life expectancy was a tad higher than the average soldier due to their naturally imbued magic being higher than others due to what was passed on via genetics, but that didn't mean that there weren't those who fell in battle young. Entire Warrior lines had been wiped out in the past, and it was often considered a blessing if one passed on due to natural causes instead of something more violent.

When that house had exploded and Ahime had been impaled, she had thought this was finally her end, in a world away from her own with no Warrior to call kin near her. After all, no one but her had survived past the Calamity. She saw it as going out valiantly if she took herself and her injury to battle with the Ura men that were trying to stop them from getting the cure for their friends. At least then she would have been reunited with her family and friends.

But then she had been grabbed and... that was it. She didn't recall anything beyond that point.

Waking in the hospital had been surprising, and she lay there staring at the ceiling breathing in and out slowly for a long moment before a tired, hoarse laugh escaped her.

"Even now, you're looking out for me, aren't you... ?" she asked to no one in particular, lifting an arm to drape it over her eyes. "What a cruel joke..."

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That's certainly enough to give him pause. He returns to her side, giving her a slightly more detailed scan to check her injury.

"I think I need to talk to Rosethorn and Seimei about getting some Morphine," Colin says gently, shaking his head before giving her a smile. "I'd ask how you're feeling, but I think that's rather self-evident. But hey, you're still with us. You had everyone worried sick."

"Morphine?" That's not a term she's familiar with, and her voice croaks out hoarse and thin. She shakes her head slowly to his comments, strained smile appearing with it.

"A warrior's death would have been a noble one..."

"Morphine is a really, REALLY good painkiller," Colin says. "Dangerously good, addictive. But for nasty injuries, it can't be beat."

He smirks slightly, and he looks over. "I'll tell you what my sister tells the headstrong Mrrshan who say the same thing," he tells her. "A warrior's death is noble, but limited. A true warrior's death comes after a life of victory and meaning."

His smirk widens then. "But if you want to debate the afterlife, you're clearly feeling cooped up," he adds, reaching out to pat her. "Do you need anything?"

"... I see. I don't know if I would like that. Atlantis still relied fairly heavily on natural medicines..."

A sigh then, and a faint but humorless quirk of her lips.

"I'm sorry, but where I'm from your sister would be considered wrong. Our lives are devoted to the crown. We live for our Queen, we die for our Queen."

Colin grins warmly at her, and he shakes his head. "Most people aren't fond of it, until they suffer life-threatening injuries that take a while to heal," he says. "But given that we don't have any of it here, it's a moot point anyway."

"And you're welcome to call her wrong, she doesn't even believe it herself, but it works well on the Mrrshan," Colin explains. "Warrior culture, big on ancestor worship, big on victories. Now, you wanna get into my sister, well... She's in executive in charge of security for our ship, and for my father's royal guard. Strong military background. She can understand the need for sacrifice to protect someone important, but..."

He glances down at her covered torso. "She probably would have had words for you about trying to die a noble death on a peaceful mission," he says. "Especially after getting wounded as you did."

There was just a nod to that. She wasn't interested in it anyway, regardless of how much pain she was currently in.

"There was nothing peaceful about that. It started off that way, certainly, but what transpired in the end was a frightened group of survivors who thought their only way of protecting themselves was through violence against others."

It sickened her, really, to see that even now there would be those unwilling to work together in order to make it through the end of the world.

"You triggered a trap that they'd set in the interests of keeping themselves safe from gods only know what," Colin says. "Is it deplorable? Yes. Is it unreasonable? Not at all."

Colin grabs a seat and pulls it up to her bed, sitting next to her. "It's also one of the most common scenarios in any end-of-the-world situation," he continues. "People who've lost everything and are still alive feel like they can't afford to lose anything more. So they take steps to protect what little they've got left. And they don't really care about the outside. What matters is what they've got."

He didn't disagree with her, not in the slightest. But he figures that she was thinking in terms of a stable, functioning world. That was a luxury they no longer had.

"We still could have helped them..."

But following that, Ahime just sighs and shakes her head slowly.

"Perhaps if Atlantis had survived in some form and was cut off from the Bastion, my people would have done the same. I really can't speak for anyone but myself in this situation after all."

"Who says we didn't?" Colin asks, giving her an innocent look that indicates he's been up to something that would drive most people to drink.

". . . whatever you've been up to, I'd rather not be a part of it."

She's on to you, Colin.

"Whatever the case, you'll see the fruits or the flames soon enough," he tells her, beaming. "Isn't that encouragement enough to heal up?"

Colin wouldn't be Colin if the halls of a hospital didn't have people wanting to scream his name....

Colin, please.

"That's hardly encouragement at all."

"Have a little faith, it was a perfectly routine diplomatic mission to deliver medicine," Colin says, smiling. "They even seemed open to future meetings and negotiations to avoid mishaps like what happened last time."

He gives her side a pointed look.

"Just so long as that's all it was. I worry sometimes that not enough people here know what "diplomatic" even means."

[OPEN] We're smiling all the same [Day 207]

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