Ganked from Bex, who ganked it from Kat
Remember that AU I never wrote? Of course you don't. Give me the description, and I'll write precisely 100 some words of it.
Fandoms:
Fandoms:
- Avatar: the Last Airbender
- Sailor Moon (Season 1 and Season 2)
- The Catswold Portal
- Tortall (Tamora Pierce)
- Living Circle (Tamora Pierce)
in pain
jadeite pleads with his queen
not for another chance
he's had thirteen
he pleads for the bare amount of time necessary to tell her the truth
what he discovered about the sailor senshi
who they really are
tsukino usagi
mizuno ami
hino rei
teenage girls all three
tsukino usagi especially he remembers
if he can just tell his queen
but she is tired of his failures
excuses are unbecoming!
sleep forever!
desperate
with the last of his energy
jadeite teleports
not to tokyo
not to anywhere
just
away
☽☼☾
Sheer luck had Keladry of Mindelan, lady knight and commander of New Hope, at Fort Mastiff when hunters found the stranger unconscious in the forest. He was brought in unconscious, from sheer exhaustion or possibly because of his wounds.
Lord Wyldon had the healers look the man over; Kel later heard that not only did he show signs of a brawl, he had been trampled by something. He'd been left exhausted, drained of all power, and with badly broken ribs.
All of the mages, however, swore the man was dangerous, with the remnants of a magic none of them had before encountered. Fortunately, he remained unconscious, though he was heard to mumble -- in Yamani.
"Do you mean for me to remain at Mastiff until he wakes?" Kel asked her former training master, much more mildly than she felt.
"I need you at New Hope far more than I need you here," Wyldon replied. She hid her relief. "The fact is that we don't know what to do with him," he went on. "We don't know if he is friend or foe; we don't know anything about his magic." He sighed. "Numair has been sent for, but until he can get here..."
The grey-clad stranger was the last thing anybody needed, that was clear.
Kel, however, could see a bright side -- Tortallans had found the man, not Scanrans. Since the loss of Blayce the Gallan, King Maggur was probably looking for anything that might give him an edge in the war. And while the Tortallans could certainly do with more help, they had enough in Daine and her animal spies. There was no need for debates about pressing the stranger into service.
"Would you like me to sit with him?" she volunteered.
Wyldon nodded. "I appreciate it, Mindelan. If someone around him speaks his language, he'll be less likely to panic."
Kel bowed, and left with Wyldon's dismissal.
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He looked blearily at her. "That man they brought in," he said, sounding tired. "Just healing him-- Kel, something is weird about him."
She frowned. "What do you mean?"
Neal shook his head, then irritably shoved a lock of hair out of his eyes. "Every time I heal him, I leave exhausted. It's like..." He glanced around and lowered his voice. "It reminds me of the Sweating Sickness, a little."
"You should tell Lord Wyldon," Kel said firmly.
"The Stump? Kel--"
"We don't know a thing about this man," she reminded him. "If healing him is draining other healers like it is you, Lord Wyldon has to know. He can send for Duke Baird or Alanna."
Neal looked blank, and Kel patiently explained, "Since they both served as healers during the Sweating Sickness."
Enlightenment flooded his face. "All right."
"And get some sleep," she added. "You look done in."
He looked briefly mutinous, then gave in. "I feel done in," he said. "Will you be okay?"
Kel smiled at him. "I speak Yamani," she reminded him. "If he wakes up before we leave--"
Neal nodded. "All right. I'm off."
She watched him leave, then turned her attention to the man on the bed.
He looked mostly Yamani, she realised; if it wasn't for his golden hair, she might have mistaken him for a full-blooded Yamani.
His clothes, however, were not Yamani.
Curious, Kel carefully picked up the dark grey shirt from where a healer had left it. It was lighter than she expected, and tougher too. It stank of smoke, sweat, blood, and something acrid that she couldn't identify.
Something on the pants caught her eye, and Kel leaned close.
Crystals?
They looked like they had been grown on the fabric. It was so unusual she wondered just how his tailor had done it.
Then she realised that the crystals formed no real pattern. A spell, that the blond Yamani had escaped?
She leaned over him, trying to see if other crystals had attached to him, and saw a few sparkling in his hair. They, too, were attached. What kind of spell...
His eyes snapped open, and Kel jumped.
"Who are you?" he snapped in Yamani.
"I am Keladry of Mindelan," Kel answered politely, in the same language. "Who are you?"
The man didn't seem surprised that she spoke his language. He did hesitate before saying, "Hisui." He offered no surname or home fief. He glanced around the infirmary, and surprise crossed his face, quickly replaced by alarm. "Where am I?"
"You're in infirmary at Fort Mastiff, in Tortall," she explained.
Uncomprehending blue eyes stared at her, then his face settled into an impassive mask. "I see."
"You were badly hurt when we found you," Kel informed him, fighting the fanciful thought that Hisui was not of the mortal realm. "And you're not quite healed yet."
"Just because you fixed me doesn't mean I'll work for you," he growled.
Kel bared her teeth. "I doubt Lord Wyldon will force you to. He may ask you not to fight against us in exchange for the healing, but you're not Tortallan. It would be wrong to make you fight for us."
Confusion flicked across his face, there and gone in an instant. "Good."
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I especially like how you make him prickly and unpleasant, and how Keladry reacts to him. She can handle him just fiiiiine.
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