Brink of Death

Aisha awoke, slumped over in an alley.

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(Where am I? Who was that voice?.. Why aren't I dead?)

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She attempted to get up, but was stopped by a sharp pain in her chest.

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(My ribs are still broken.. But I'm still alive.)

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Slowly, she struggled to her feet, bracing herself on a nearby wall and gasping for breath.

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(That voice... told me that I could get stronger!... But I have no idea where it came from…I'm guessing that it brought me here, and healed me.)

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Aisha looked on herself, and at the alley around her, for any sort of clue as to who helped her. She couldn't find anything, and the motion of looking around was painful, so she quickly gave up. She looked at the sky, careful to not move her chest. It was still midday, so she had been out for a few hours.

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(Ugh… I still have to buy all that crap for mistress.)

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She exited the alleyway, clutching her ribs, leaning against the smooth stone of the building next to her. She glanced up at the building she was next to.

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(178.. It's the correct building.)

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A few patrons gasped as the short fey girl stumbled into the general store, massive red splotches staining her neck and white shirt. The clerk joined their staring, as she slowly made her way around the shop, taking a random handful of blue crystals and ragged brown paper. Aisha reached into her pocket and threw a pouch of silver coins at the shocked clerk's head. The pouch missed its mark, hitting the edge of the counter, and falling on the ground, a few coins spilling out. She left the shop, clutching her ribs and breathing laboriously. Outside, she grabbed the ragged shopping list that her mistress had given her. At the bottom, in her curly handwriting, lay the words, "Buy yourself something nice!" with a similarly curly heart at the end. She scoffed, sending a sharp pain through her chest, and put the paper back into her pocket.

Her fingers felt two pieces of paper in her pocket. There was only supposed to be one.

She took them both out, throwing away the shopping list on the ground. The second paper was bright white, in a perfect square. In bold, solid letters, it read,

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[376.

12:00.]

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(Goddammit. More building numbers.) She thought, almost throwing the paper on the floor as well.

She decided to keep it, as she had no idea what the second line was. She supposed she was going to have to ask her mistress.

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(Now… to get back home.)

In the edge of her vision, she could spot the fountain where she had split up with her mistress. She made her way over and began to retrace her steps back to the forest, leaning on buildings with her hands and leaving bloody trails. Various passerby stared at her, but none attempted to stop or help the fey girl. She made it to the entrance of the forest, on the verge of collapse. She saw the two guards that she had met and ignored that morning. They turned to her, their voices coming out alarmed.

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"Hey! What happened? Are you ok?" One said, rushing over to her.

"That's a lot of blood."

"Do you need help getting back home, or to the apothecary?"

They surrounded her and started to try and help her walk, holding out their hands to prepare to carry her. She angrily swatted away their hands, the action making her wince.

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"Don't help me!" She snapped, wincing in pain.

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They gave the girl some space, surprised. They stood and stared as she slowly stumbled her way up the hill, her hand clutching her chest.

Lorian returned that evening, passing through the blue glow of the teleport nexus as she appeared at her house. She entered her house, pushing open the door and looking inside. The lights were out.

(Did she go to bed already?)

She checked some of the drawers in the kitchen. The teleport crystals and parchment were nowhere to be found. She frowned.

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(Where is she? I'm going to have to punish her. Hee hee.)

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She turned on the lights and looked around. She checked the couch, the bedroom, and the bathroom. Aisha was nowhere to be found.

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(Is she hiding or something? Maybe she's still out?)

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She went back outside, ready to go back to the town to look for her, when she spotted a pair of twitching, fluffy ears collapsed on the ground, face-down.

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"Hey! There you are! What are you doing there, lying on the ground! You're going to get your shirt dirty!" She scolded, putting her hand on the unconscious girl's shoulders.

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When Aisha didn't respond, she made her way over, ready to scold her again. She paused when she got there, hearing a strange raspy sound. Worry filled her heart as she slowly flipped her body, revealing the bloodstains on her shirt. Lorian gasped. She hastily unbuttoned Aisha's shirt, revealing her chest, which was completely bruised purple. She checked under Aisha's eyelids, seeing only white. She started to panic.

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(Oh my god! What happened?!)

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Frantically, she lifted the unconscious girl and brought her inside, laying her on the couch, tripping and almost dropping the girl.

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"Oh, no no no!" She mumbled, hands shaking. "What happened to you!? Please, don't die, don't die! Oh... please please please!"

She nervously began to gather energy in her hands, sparking unstably, reflecting it's wielders' emotions. She placed them on the bruised portion of Aisha's chest, which began to glow the same red of Lorian's magic. Her chest burst into flame, and Aisha began to scream in intense pain, her head and arms flailing in agony.

Lorian removed her hands from her chest, and began to stroke her head, running her fingers over her fluffy, twitching ears, muttering soothing words, as the flames began to eat at her chest, exposing bone and bruised tissue.

"It'll be ok.. It'll be over soon... " She cooed frantically, as Aisha continued to scream.

After an hour of screaming, the flames finally died down to a low burn, as tissues began to mend themselves, and skin began to rejoin itself. Lorian continued to caress Aisha's head, feeling the soft fur on top of her head.

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After a bit, Lorian found herself able to breathe, seeing Aisha sitr slightly, although not awake. She quickly stopped petting the girl, but after an adorable little mewl of protest, she moved her hand back.

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Aisha slowly opened her eyes to the sight of Lorian's worried face. She vaguely remembered collapsing, and then an intense pain. She felt her stomach. It no longer hurt to the touch, or to breathe, and then grimaced, as Lorian buried her face into her stomach.

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"You shouldn't have healed me." Aisha muttered.

"How can you work for me if you're dead?" Lorian said, her voice muffled by the small girl's navel, but Aisha still caught a strange wavering in her voice.

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When Lorian lifted her face, Aisha was shocked to see tears coming out of the big woman's eyes, dripping down her cheeks.

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She was crying for her? Why?

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"I'm so glad you're okay." Lorian hiccuped. "I... Aisha... don't ever worry me like that again..."

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Aisha didn't answer, looking away. The motion made her aware of Lorian's hand on her head, playing with her ears. She blushed bright red, the petting sending sensation shooting through her body. A really, really, really nice, fluffy, amazing, warm, feeling...

"What are you doing??" She stammered. turning red-faced.

"Hm?" Lorian sniffled. "Do you not want me to pet your head?"

"No!"

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She struggled into a standing position, out of Lorian's lap, holding her hands over her ears protectively. The embarrassed look that she gave Lorian made the tall woman smile a bit, giggling softly after sniffling, wiping her tears away.

(She's so adorable. I wanna hug her so bad.) Lorian thought, her heart aching. (She's so cute. I want to embarrass her more.)

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The grin on Lorian's face screamed "predator!" to Aisha's Fey senses, and the girl quickly scampered her way out of the living room. She hurriedly deposited the teleport crystals and paper on the counter, buttoning up her shirt and going outside to think.

Outside, she shook her head violently to get that damn heat out of her chest and head, that made her unable to think. She glanced at the paper in her hand. She knew nothing about the voice. Who knows what would happen if she accepted the invitation. But then again… she had nothing to lose. And an opportunity to become stronger did not come easy, especially for her. Even if she died… then the world would go on.

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(What about Lorian? She would be sad if you died. She would cry again.)

A small voice nagged at her head. She shook her head violently, but the feeling of dread would not pass. She had never felt this emotion before. She decided she didn't really like it.

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(Let the fucking bitch cry! She's just another goddamn hume! Selfish, and ugly on the inside! If you weren't cute, she wouldn't have spared you a second glance!)

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(She cried over me.)

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(She's crying because she doesn't want to lose her expensive TOY!)

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(Nobody's ever cried for me before.)

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(I guess I'll ask her about it.) She sighed, relenting to her feelings.

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The thought of talking to her was unappealing, but she supposed she owed it to her, at least, as her employer/caretaker/mistress, to at least tell her that she would be going out. She also needed her to decode the second part of the message.

She sighed and went back into the house. Lorian was absentmindedly reading a comic book, with graphic drawings of girls kissing and holding hands.

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"Hey. What is this?" Aisha asked.

She held out the paper for Lorian to read

"This says 376. The second part… I think it's a old method of timekeeping. Um.. If 0 is midnight… 12 should be after morning.. So mid-day."

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She smiled and handed the paper back to Aisha.

"Why do you ask? Did you make a friend at the square? Are you going to meet them?"

"...Sure."

"I'm so excited for you! You're finally going to..."

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Aisha tuned her out as she headed for their shared bedroom. It was dark out, and she was a little tired from almost dying that day. She undressed and climbed into bed. Soon Lorian joined her, her warm body enveloping Aisha's smaller frame, and pushing Aisha's face into her breasts.

(She didn't ask about what happened... I guess she realized I didn't want to tell her. Maybe she isn't as annoying as-)

Her thoughts were interrupted by Lorian taking the tip of one of her ears into her mouth, swirling her tongue around the tip and sending a sharp tingle down her body. Aisha's eyes widened, and her entire body began to convulse in pleasure, arms and legs shaking.

"H-hey!" She squeaked angrily, but as with everything she did, the anger and malice didn't exactly translate, coming off as just completely adorable.

"Sorry, I just couldn't help myself!" Lorian giggled.

Aisha couldn't see her face, but she had the feeling that Lorian was smiling above her. She tried to, but she could not muster the strength to strike back verbally, so instead she angrily poked at her sides, making Lorian giggle and laugh in ticklish glee.

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"You're not supposed to enjoy this!" Aisha growled in anger.

"Hee hee Hee!" Lorian giggled. "I-I-It's-Hhheee haah haa! I'm ticklish in that spot! Yaaaaaaaahhhh!"

"Stop laughing!" Aisha cried in anguish. "Wah!"

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Her tickling only made her mistress hug and squeeze her tighter, and Aisha's arms were soon pinned to her sides by the surprisingly strong girl, and her attack on Lorian's exposed sides was successfully quashed.

"It's not fair." Aisha mumbled, pouting slightly. "I can't... get you back."

"Of course you can get me back." Lorian smiled.

"How? I'm weaker than you."

"You're not planning on actually hurting me, are you?" Lorian said in mock horror, raising a hand to her lips.

"I am!" Aisha said childishly. At Lorian's amused expression, she grew even angrier, raising her fists to pound at the whore's fat cow udder boobs-

"Hey, you want to play a game?" Lorian smiled.

"...Are you talking about the game that we 'played' this morning?"

"Mhm."

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Aisha glared at her mistress, but her anger subsided extremely fast. Almost as if... she wasn't really that angry at her in the first place.

"I hope you're ready to play... unlike last time." She said, with suspicion in her voice.

"I am!" Lorian whined. "Look, you can start."

"Ok... My greatest desire... is to become strong. And become someone of worth."

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"You're starting so personal!" Lorian exclaimed. "You're supposed to slowly get to the more juicy stuff!"

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"Ready my fucking ass." Aisha mumbled.

"Alright alright fineee!" Lorian whined. "Um... my greatest desire... right now... uh... I guess... It would be to get you to like me!"

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Aisha just stared at Lorian with an apprehensive expression, staring desperately for any glance, for any slight twitch of her face, any little fidget of her hands that would belie a lie.

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"...You're better at lying than I thought." Aisha muttered, looking downwards.

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"I'm not lying!"

"Yeah, of course you aren't." She said dejectedly.

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"It's true! Why don't you think it's true?"

"What do you have to gain from me liking you?"

"A... a... um... friend."

"You sure about that?"

"...Yes."

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Aisha rolled her eyes. It was strange, but... Aisha was ok with that answer. Even though she thought it was a lie... a small part of her told her that her mistress was truthful. Even though... there was no logical reason she would want that.

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"Ok ok! It's my turn! Um... I think you're really cute, and smart, and... I want to be your friend!"

"..."

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Aisha paused for a second. Cute was a word often used to describe her, but people... usually didn't say that she was smart. Creepy, sometimes. Useless, a lot of the time. Lorian was the first person to say that she was smart. It felt strange.

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"I think you're unbearably naïve, and stupid, and stubborn." Aisha mumbled. "And you are filthy, and you clearly know nothing about social ettiquite."

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"Hey!..." Lorian's voice faltered, a bit of genuine hurt in her voice. Aisha hated hated hated the way that it made her feel bad. The way it made her want to apologize and say all the good things about her.

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"It's the truth." She said instead.

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Lorian frowned and poked at Aisha's cheek.

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"I lived in the feywood before I came here. I left because I was... a burden. I couldn't hunt, or craft anything, and nobody really liked me. So the elders... told me to leave. I got captured by hume hunters... and now I'm here."

"Aisha..." Lorian whispered in sympathy.

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Lorian pulled away in concern, letting Aisha get a good look at the worried expression on her face. Aisha just stared stiffly, even as the woman raised a soft hand and began to stroke Aisha's face with a warm hand.

(Ugh. She feels... bad for me.) Aisha thought.

Ordinarily, her pity would have angered her, but... for some reason, she couldn't be angry at her.

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"I'm so... sorry." Lorian said softly.

"You weren't even there. And they were right."

"But still..."

"Just answer."

"Alright... I grew up in the wastes, with my sisters. We weren't actually related... but parents don't last long in the wastes. I never knew them. We all wanted to leave the wastes, and go somewhere safe, but humes in this place are... reluctant to let in daemons from the wastes. I had to disguise myself, but I was the only one powerful enough to cast the spell, and we only had enough coins for one person to go... and so they chose me."

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Aisha was silent. Lorian had people back home... that cared for her. She wondered what it was like. That feeling... knowing that people cared for you. Caring for them back.

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"Do you miss them?" Aisha asked, curious.

"I do... but at the same time... I'm glad I came here. I met some new people... and I don't have to worry about defending myself. I just wish they could be here." Lorian responded sadly.

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She frowned, after a terse silence. "It feels like I've talked more than you."

"Maybe."

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Lorian smiled at her, and suddenly, Aisha felt sick to her stomach.

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Suddenly, she recognized that emotion. Or rather, not recognized, but... she just knew.

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"No..." She whispered.

"Sorry?"

"Don't look at me like that." Aisha whispered. "Don't... don't..."

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"Don't what?" Lorian asked, frowning and looking at Aisha with a concerned expression.

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Suddenly, Aisha clenched her eyes and teeth, tilting her head down in an anguished expression.

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"Don't look at me like that." She forced out, voice on the verge of breaking. "Like you care about me."

Lorian put a soft hand on Aisha's shoulder, speaking in a even softer voice. "But I do care about you."

"D-d-don't..." Aisha choked.

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"...Aisha?"

"DON'T SAY THAT!" Aisha wailed, tears flowing freely down her face, as she started to sob uncontrollably. "DON'T PRETEND LIKE YOU CARE ABOUT ME!"

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"W-what? I do care!" Lorian said firmly, concern thick in her voice. "Don't cry!"

"NO, NO NO NO NO!" Aisha screamed. "DON'T LIE TO ME! DON'T LIE TO ME, AND LEAVE ME, LIKE EVERYONE ELSE! I DON'T WANT TO BE LOVED! I DON'T WANT YOU TO CARE ABOUT ME! I DON'T WANT YOU TO LEAVE ME!"

"I'll never leave you!" Lorian yelled, resisting all attempts from Aisha to push her away, using her superior strength to restrain the girl. "I'm never going to leave you!"

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Aisha cried. "D-Don't... D-do-o-on't lie to me... E-e-ev-everyone else... they were liars... Nobody cares about me. Just t-t-throw me away now, BEFORE IT HURTS! BEFORE I START BELIEVING YOU!"

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By now, the bed was completely drenched with Aisha's tears, and Aisha was thrashing in Lorian's grasp, trying to get away from her. But she couldn't let go. She could never let go - if she let go now, she would be proving Aisha right.

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But she wasn't right. Lorian cared about the girl, as shallow as her reasoning might be. She wanted to stay with her forever. She would never leave.

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"Don't..." Aisha wailed, sniffling and hiccupping uncontrollably. "D-don't-t-t... I... mistress... I... I can't... I don't want to hurt anymore... I don't want to feel anymore pain... it hurts... so much, mistress... it hurts, it HURTS!"

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And finally, Lorian flung her arms around the girl, holding her tight. Squeezing her so tight, that she couldn't move away, so tight, that Aisha couldn't leave, even if she wanted to.

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It sent a message. That she would never let her go. That she would never stop loving, stop caring for her. But just in case...

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"I'm never going to leave you." Lorian whispered, directly into one of Aisha's ears. "I'm never going to stop loving you."

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A while passed, and soon, Aisha's hiccupping and sniffling stopped, and her body relaxed in Lorian's embrace. Her arms went slack, and the muscles that were once tensing feebly against Lorian's grip, turned relaxed all at once. Feeling that it was safe, Lorian loosened her grip to look at Aisha face to face, only to discover that the girl was fast asleep, a relaxed, peaceful look on her face.

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"Good night, little Aisha." She whispered.