• Solo • [Order of the Adunih] Burnout

[Delta]

1st Day of Saun
717th Arc

Delta lay on the small medical cot, examining the whitewashed walls. A grey-blue gown fell to Delta’s knee, fabric distressed by so much wear, yet still rough, unfamiliar and uncomfortable to the skin. There was nothing else to look at, nothing to hold her mind or attention. There was nothing even to mark time. Would someone come in five bits or five breaks? She could hear moans from an adjacent bed and that at least made her glad for the curtains, it meant she didn't have to engage with whoever it was, to show any sympathy she didn't feel.

At first there had been silence, a misty haze upon the horizons of Delta’s mind. That's were she kept everything, in her mind. All the dark horrors that not even Lakia knew. That was until now. Now, she could feel the hard painful lump in the back of her throat as the tears began to form anew, remembering. Her breathing had hallowed itself, and a small but intense pain had struck the top of her head. Before she knew it, there had been shouting: they were her shouts, yet they had sounded so distant. Tears streaked down her face. Time had fast forward. Delta couldn't remember the precise moment, all she saw was her own bloody fist, before the weight of others forced her down. Did that happen yesterday? She couldn't remember.

Now, the slave could no longer move her hands without feeling the restriction of the straps cutting into her wrists. They were lined with wool to soften the sensation of the skin, but that made them no less terrifying. Her head was clear, no trace of the ‘madness’ that had been the cause of this new and horrifying prison. Delta’s back ached, right from the base of her spine to the tail bone. Saliva was pooling in the back of her mouth, and she swallowed, staving of the panic that threatened to overcome her. Dried tears left salty, itchy lines on her face. The healers had strapped her and then gone, deaf to any pleas Delta had cried.

Footsteps approached, and someone rounded the corner. Delta pushed her chin into her neck to see who it was and her blood ran cold, heart pounding ready to explode. Her eyes scanned left and right for signs of someone who could help her. No-one. “Please, no, don’t, please, please, no,” the girl sobbed, her voice breaking, fear evident. The man, who wore a green cloak, paused, brows furrowing in concern as he gazed at his patient. “No, no, no, please…”

Her entire body trembled and she strained against the bed she was strapped to, her back arching desperately and limbs twisting, feeling the friction of the bonds, as if this might be the time she could break out. It took every every ounce of her strength and still she could not budge. “Delta, hush, everything’s okay-” The man placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, but that only caused the girl to cry out, flinching away, “NO!” the redhead screamed, writhing as much as the bed would allow her.

[Delta]

The girl’s panic continued to grow as the man rested his hands on her arm and leg in what he clearly imagined was a comforting way. It was anything but comforting to Delta. “N-no, no, don’t, please!” Delta’s words were coming out in such a garbled rush that, even to a biqaj, who understood Delta’s mother tongue, it was a garbled mess of words. Regardless, he knew what she was saying: it was meaningless repetitions, pleading.

The green-cloaked healer raised his hand and stepped away, “Okay, Delta… okay. Everything’s okay. You’re okay.” He kept his language simple, his tone soothing, as if speaking to a caged animal, one clearly terrified enough to bite back if given the chance. She had already tried, when last he had been there. Their newest patient had been unresponsive and docile for days, then, 3 breaks ago, something had changed. She had snapped, and fought back against whatever demons were raging inside of her. Squid had been injured before the healers could restrain her.

Now, strapped to a bed, Dhatri knew that she would be attacking again if she was not restrained. “Rami!” He called, though he still did not raise his voice as he moved slowly. Delta had not calmed yet, and agitating her further would only make matters worse. Something had frightened her, and he thought he knew what it was. “You’re okay, Delta…”

A woman, this one also in a green cloak - though hers seemed older, faded, with yellow patches, appeared, and took in the scene, quickly deducting that only bonds had protected Dhatri from a similar accident as Squid. “Help, please, help, help.” Rami’s eyes shot down to the slave, who was still squirming, but who was staring at her with mingled hope and desperation. A snap decision had her nudging Dhatri away, “I’ll take it from here, Dhatri, you can go.”