Anwyn barely heard Louis' worried voice as, holding the pendant, she saw Kay reflected on the surface of the liquid. `Leaves,' she thought to herself as her ears began to roar like an angry surf. `She's covered in leaves.' The last things Anwyn remembered was a loud `boom' in her ears, the shattering of the cup as it hit the floor, and a thump as her own body followed the cup.
Meanwhile, the comm continued to ring. At this priority, it would keep ringing until it was answered, regardless of how long that took. Eventually the recipient of the call would remember that the comm system her was NOT voice-activated like it was on Tera.
Louis jumped with the sound of the cup shattering, a strange image of leaves coming into his mind. The comm was still in his hand, and he threw it over the bed, ignoring the persistent sound. He carefully lifted Anwyn's body and put her over the bed. He collected the comm a moment before the ringing stopped. He swore and put it in the bedside table. He took a small receptacle with smelling salts (that he always carried, since he was constantly in the company of pregnant women) and held in under the girl's nose.
Anwyn barely felt Louis' arms picking her up and carrying her. The softness of the bed was but a distant feeling as the leaves that had covered Kay were now covering her. Every now and then Anwyn would catch a word or phrase that had been written on them. `Out! Out damned spot!' `? ... 'by any other name' ? 'smell as sweet.' `Well met, sweet...' The leaves swirled around as if carried by a tiny whirlwind, then settled down. Far and away, a tiny, self-satisfied purr touched her hearing. The soft chirr of a hawk and a wise hooting blended and then faded away as the overpowering scent of something stringent being held beneath her nose caused her to begin to sneeze mightily.
"Great good Gods! What _is_ that stuff, Louis? What? What happened?" she asked. He put it inside his pocket again. "You fainted...", he said. "How do you feel now?"
"Um... well, I've been better," Anwyn answered, closing her eyes against another unwanted onslaught of 'seeing'. "I... I heard the comm. Was that... was that Kay?"
Louis sighed. "I don't know...it stopped ringing..." Almost as an answer, the comm rang again, and Louis jumped to answer. "Hello?", he said, in a hesitant voice.
Anwyn gave an almost silent squeak as the comm startled her. Mentally crossing her finger, she held her breath; then let it out softly, her face falling, as the voice that came through the comm was most definitely NOT Kay's.
The voice on the comm was unfamiliar, and male, definitely not Kay. "Hello", said Ceroill,"Is this Doctor Couvillon?" The accent was definitely local native, and the pronunciation of his name was phonetic rather than cultural. "Kay needs your help.
"Kay? Where is she? What happened to her? And who are _you_?", Louis demanded anxiously.
"Aw shiznit," Anwyn said softly, wishing for another vision. Nothing was coming through this time. Wondering why not, yet secretly glad to NOT being going through that weirdness [or is it wyrdness?} again, Anwyn listened carefully.
The man on the other end replied "I am Ceroill Merrick, are you Doctor Louis Couvillon? Kay ran into a spot of trouble in a local tavern. I found her out on the streets, quite disoriented and in pain. She is now being kept as comfortable as possible in my bed. She needs a healer, and I think it best if it were you rather than a local. Can you come?"
Louis'heart seemed to turn inside out. "I...I see...Yes, of course I can go ... Where can I meet you?" [OOC: Ceroill gives directions]
The doctor looked at Anwyn. "It wasn't Kay...", he said, getting up quickly and grabing his coat. "But it was someone who knows where she is...". Then he paused, noticing that Anwyn was getting up as well. "You're coming with me?", he inquired, not entirely that it was such a good idea to be taking a minor along.
Anwyn's stormy blue-grey eyes stared up at him challengingly. "Do you have a PROBLEM with that?", she demanded, frowning quite a bit. Being child-sized did NOT mean that she was going to let anyone treat her like a child.
Louis looked at her with a very puzzled expression on his face. What was the problem with the girl? It had only been a question...
"Don't even THINK that I would stay here", Anwyn demanded. She still wasn't sure how far she could trust Louis. He seemed nice enough, and Kay apparently liked him more than she'd been willing to admit -- but that was certainly no guarantee. And anyways, she was still curious about whether or not Louis was indeed fey-touched.
Louis had to hide a chuckle. The girl was a mini-Kay.
"My daddy told me that only a fool goes into trouble without backup ... so come on already", Anwyn added firmly, pulling on her coat and heading out into the hallway, "I heard the directions just as well as you did". "Yes, sir!", Louis joked, following her.
What Anwyn did NOT say, was the details of her backup plan. Only the daftest of fools would show their hand before being ready to play it. So, THAT information she was keeping to herself. Just in case she found trouble at the other end, she didn't want anyone knowing where she might run.
Other than Kay, Master Painter was the only person that Anwyn felt she could fully trust -- surely she could hide in his shop if needed. Anwyn also recalled Kay mentioning a foster-brother who was in the Guard. She didn't remember his first name, but his last name was definitely MacConal
Or, if the problem turned out to involve fey matters, she'd have to work up enough bravery to seek out that pretty little blonde woman she'd seen visiting Kay at the base. The woman had been obviously Comyn, and had left with Kay's own knife hanging from her belt. Apparently her name was Melissa something-or-other (Anwyn hadn't wanted to get closer and maybe get caught eavesdropping). Surely there couldn't be too many people at the Castle who had that name.
Reminding herself that perhaps she was worrying over nothing, Anwyn glanced back over her shoulder to see if Louis was keeping up with her.
He was looking down, a frown formed in his forehead. But he then looked back up and smiled, saying "I'm right behind you...".
Anwyn sighed. "Sorry ... I didn't mean to be rude ... especially since Kay is so fond of you ...", she apologized. There was so much else that she COULD have said, but didn't. Doubts and anxieties made a person vulnerable, especially if they were voiced aloud. So, as usual, she was trying her best to be strong (especially when she didn't feel that way on the inside).
As a McCarron (and as the daughter of an Imperial Marine), Anwyn had an image to maintain. NOBODY was going to get any excuse to call HER weak. *Everyone I care for, either abandons me one way or another, or overlooks me ... *, she thought sadly to herself as she walked just a little bit faster. The temptation to run was getting stronger. But only a fool would run into an unknown situation without slowing down to check things out; especially in conditions of poor visibility. It was still early enough that the sun hadn't yet completely come out.