Forever Caged [Complete]

Chapter 28: Recovery


They got to Lesara's home, and Cherry was waiting for them on the front porch. She was mad as hell when she woke up and found she was home alone. "Where the hell have you been?" She asked Arna. She completely ignored the fact that he had an arrow sticking out of his leg. She did not ignore Reyvn's interesting attire, which was nothing from the waist down. "Oh my, partying without me, boys?"

Reyvn blushed and looked away, wrapping one wing around his lower half. Shinda placed an arm around Arna and helped him inside and to the kitchen. Once Arna was seated, he went over to Cherry and said, "I'll explain everything in a bit. Be a dear and get a first aid kit please." He gave her a small smile, hoping it'd be enough to persuade her.

Cherry was as easily swayed as Shinda hoped, if not moreso. "Oh of course!" she said merrily before skipping away.

Arna shook his head at her, and sighed in relief. He had never been happier being home than he had been now. "Um... I think there's some clean clothes in your room, Reyvn." He hadn't actually received the full effect of Reyvn's attire until now.

Reyvn's face flushed brightly, and he turned his head to hide it. "R-right. I...forgot." His other wing wrapped behind him to cover his backside, and he started for his bedroom.

Shinda watched him go, and let the last of his wings disappear. He went to wash his hands, then found a pair of kitchen shears. He went back to Arna and knelt down, and started to reach for his leg. "I need to cut the hole bigger, so don't move."

Arna almost flew back when he saw those big scissors come near his leg. "Oh hell no! Nuh-uh, no way! Call the doctor." Just then, Cherry popped up. "Oh, be a man, Arna."

Shinda couldn't help but laugh. "I'm good with my hands, I promise. If you can't stand it then close your eyes." He pinched the material of the jeans with one hand, and started to cut a square around the arrow. He tossed the scrap cloth on the table and set the scissors down, then said, "Do you not trust me to stitch? I've had my fair share of gashes to deal with, but if you don't mind having a rock in your leg for a while longer we'll call someone."

"I don't trust nobody with things like that, but the doc has stuff to knock me out." Arna flinched as the scissors cut away his jeans, imagining it as flesh.

Cherry pulled out a bottle of tranquilizing liquid from the medical kit and held it out for Shinda. "This is what Master usually uses."

Shinda remained kneeling, and leaned forward to sniff the bottle. He jerked back. "The hell is it?"

"It's what we use to knock him out. He's so scared of pointy things, and it's the only stuff strong enough to work." Cherry explained. She got some gauze ready.

"Great, then you both know what to do. Cherry I'll let you handle it." Shinda stood up. "I'm going to go check on Reyvn. I'll be right back." He left the two in the kitchen, and headed upstairs. He made it to Reyvn's door, and paused, listening. A faint red tinged his cheeks when he heard some very familiar noises. He waited silently, then when he was sure the boy was done, knocked on the door.
"Hey, you doing all right?" He then heard the rustling of sheets and a bit of thudding, and his suspicions were confirmed.

Reyvn cracked open the door, face flushed. He looked up at Shinda, a little nervous. "I-I'm fine," he said quickly.

Shinda gave the boy an odd look. "He drugged you, didn't he?"

"What?" It took Reyvn a moment to understand. "Oh...Um, yes." He looked away, embarrassed.

"Mm. Well I guess you took care of it. Clean up and get dressed, but don't rush. I'm taking care of Arna downstairs." He didn't wait for an answer, and headed back for the kitchen.

Reyvn shut the door securely, and went about his business.

In the kitchen, Cherry was sitting on top of an unconscious Arna. "He was a toughie, but he should be fine now," she said, obviously proud of herself. She got off him and got out of the way for Shinda. "Usually, we do call the doctor. He's the only one with the know-how for all this. Oh, by the way, Master sent a message."

Shinda made a confused face at the sight in the kitchen. He shook his head, and knelt to start to pull the arrow out of Arna's leg. He was slow and careful, trying not to make the wound any worse. "Lesara? What did he say?"

"He said not to try and kill Rendell. In his words, 'The bastard won't die too easy.' And he said he wanted a piece of him." She pulled the paper out of her back pocket and skimmed over it. "Also, he said 'Thanks for helping,' and he'll pay whatever you ask for doing this for him."

Shinda paused. He'd gone and killed Rendell. He mentally shrugged, and kept working. "What does he mean that Rendell won't die too easy?"

"Well, once he did die in a pretty nasty accident, but it was dark and some weird magic brought him back to life." Cherry shrugged. "But it's daylight now. He won't come back till night if it hasn't been too long." Arna winced in his drug-induced sleep.

Shinda's eyes widened, and it was good thing he'd already finished pulling out the arrow or he would have ripped it out when he turned in anger. "You mean that bastard can die, and his shadows will just revive him? What happens then? How long does he take to recover?"

Cherry shrugged. "No one really knows for sure. He's only died once." She thought about it. "Ask Reyvn to find a book on it. He's the only one allowed in the library."

Shinda growled softly, then set to disinfecting Arna's wound. He didn't dare start on the stitches yet. Just then Reyvn stepped into the kitchen, dressed very modestly, but in lighter colors. Tan pants that didn't hug his legs tightly, and a light green long-sleeved turtleneck with small designs on the hems. "Find a book on what?" he asked softly.

Shinda turned to look at Reyvn, eyes looking over him quickly. "You know those shadows Rendell was so fond of? I'd like you to find a book on them."

Reyvn paled a little at the mention of Rendell, but nodded. "I'll look, but I don't know if Lesara has it." He came closer, and frowned when he saw Arna. "Is he ok?"

"Oh he's fine," Cherry told him. "He'll be up and pruning bushes again in no time. He's tough, you know." She edged closer to Shinda and purred. "There seem to be a lot of tough men in the room today."

Reyvn nodded, content with the answer, and went to raid the fridge. He hadn't been given a real meal in too long, and he was hungry.
Shinda chuckled and smiled at Cherry. "Thanks," he said before reaching for a needle and thread from the kit. He reached down, and carefully and skillfully started to sew up the hole in Arna's leg.

Reyvn just made himself a sandwich and sat at the table while Shinda finished the job. Shinda cleaned up everything and washed his hands again, then picked up Arna and went to set him on the couch. He went back to Cherry, then said, "Don't suppose you mind if I raid the fridge myself?"

Cherry shook her head. "Of course not. How 'bout I make you boys something rich for dinner? Say, roast?" She began flitting around the kitchen for things. "Big strong men need something hearty."

"That sounds good," Shinda said with a smile before going through the fridge. "By the way, did Lesara say when he'd be back?"

Cherry removed the letter from her back pocket again. "In a day or two. He's wrapping something up there." She folded it up, put it back and found a deep set pot. "There should be a huge hunk of meat in there. Could you hand it to me please?"

'A couple more days...Dammit naga, hurry back already. These kids need you and I can't keep babysitting. Who knows when Rendell will come back?' Shinda thought to himself. He pulled out what he was sure Cherry meant, then handed the hunk of dead animal to her. He pulled out some other things, deciding Reyvn had the right idea. He made a sandwich, and joined the younger requiem at the table.


Arna woke a little while later, and his stomach growled loudly at the smell of something cooking. He rolled off the couch and tried to stand, only to fall when weight was put on his injured leg. "What the hell!" he cried loudly. His cry was rewarded when Cherry came out brandishing a ladle.

Reyvn had finished his lunch some time ago, and was sitting in a chair near Arna. He had a book in hand, and was flipping through it slowly. He jumped up when Arna got up and almost instantly fell, and went over to him. He knelt down next to him, and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you all right?"

Arna inhaled sharply through clenched teeth and nodded. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine." He looked at Reyvn. "How you feeling?"

Reyvn moved to help him up. "Ok, I guess." He got Arna back on the couch and sat next to him, but didn't say any more.

Cherry's cheeks puffed out and she stomped back into the kitchen when she saw Arna pull Reyvn in a tight hug. 

Reyvn was still for a moment, stunned, then sighed in relief and wrapped his arms around Arna. He spoke softly, trying to reassure Arna. Or maybe himself. "I'm fine, really...I've dealt with those kinds of things since I was little."

Arna nodded. "So... it really was all just that stuff he gave you?" He felt his chest tighten when Reyvn hugged back.

Reyvn's resolve started to crumble as he held Arna, and he pulled back a little to look into his eyes. He nodded. "That drug you saw him give me...ate at my mind. I couldn't fight it." He glanced down. "I tried, but...it was too much."

Arna nodded again. "Yeah. Crazy how stuff can do that to ya. But you're here and you're alright now." He held Reyvn tighter.

Reyvn let himself relax in Arna's arms. He wasn't sure if he could tell Arna the rest of what happened yet, and was glad he wasn't questioned.

Shinda came into the room then, and paused when he saw the boys in a tight embrace on the couch. He grinned, and went to join Cherry in the kitchen. He kept his voice low as he spoke to her. "They're kinda cute when they're not crying or screaming."

Cherry's cheeks puffed again. "Sure, cute, whatever." She turned to Shinda, putting her sweetness back in her voice. "Is there anything you don't like? You know, before I put it in here?"

Shinda shrugged. "As long as you aren't throwing in any live tentacle monsters, it's good." He chuckled inwardly, then asked, "You have a problem with those two?"

"No." She turned back to her cooking. "Of course not. So long as Arna doesn't neglect his duties." Cherry swayed her hips a little, as if trying to point something out.

Shinda let his eyes wander to Cherry's rear, his grin spreading. He let the issue slide. He guessed that Arna must have been Cherry's bed buddy until Reyvn came into the picture. "You want some help preparing everything?"

"Oh you don't have to dirty your hands in here," She said. Shinda's grin was contagious. "However, I do have a certain issue that needs tending to if you don't have an issue with women. Everyone else in this house seems to." She rolled her eye and waved her spoon in a circle before going back to stirring.

Shinda couldn't help but laugh. "You mean everyone else just likes boys?" When he finally stopped laughing at Cherry's little circling deal, he said, "No, no issues here. I like women." 'And men,' he added mentally.

"Really?!" Cherry couldn't contain her glee. "My room is down the hall on the right side, the big pink door."

Shinda nearly jumped back. He had been trying to be subtle about it and not alert the boys, but it did make it easier when Cherry made it all very clear what she wanted. He lowered his voice a couple notches. "All right, guess I'll be visiting you after dinner."

Cherry grinned and returned to her work. "See ya then."

Out in the living area, Arna was still holding onto Reyvn, not quite ready to let go yet. He started playing with his hair, and softly said, "It's pretty."

Reyvn had let his head rest against Arna's chest, enjoying the feeling of his hair being played with. A thought struck him, and he shifted to look up at Arna. "Can we go somewhere else for now?"

Arna looked down at Reyvn. "Uh, sure. Where do you wanna go?"

"Well...I never have seen where you stay," Reyvn said quietly. He just wanted to be away from the kitchen, but didn't want to go outside.

"Oh." Arna blushed. "Well, my room's kinda messy, but if you wanna see it, yeah. Can you help me up?" He held a hand out for Reyvn.

Reyvn gave a small smile, and moved to help Arna stand, then slid his arm around him for support. He let Arna lead them to the bedroom, then paused to let him open the door.

Arna opened it, and gestured at his room. "Behold, my crash pad." There were papers and posters all over the walls, and a pile of clothes took up one corner. The sheets were messy, and there were a few magazines scattered on the floor. "It's not pretty."

Reyvn made a face at the messy room. "I don't mind it." He helped Arna inside and to the bed, then went to shut the door. He sighed, thinking for a bit. "Was there...anything else you wanted to know?" He felt Arna deserved some further explaining on why he was this way, but wasn't going to talk unless Arna wanted to hear it.

Arna shook his head. "I can't think of anything right off hand." He paused for a moment. "You said you dealt with that since you were little. Doesn't that mess with your head?"

Reyvn frowned, then sat back down next to Arna, not meeting his eyes. "I suppose it does, but...I got used to it. Koumori played all these games with me, where if I didn't act just the right way, he'd hurt me. Then he started using drugs that would force me to do what he wanted, and...eventually I just stopped fighting it." He placed his hands on the bed, fingers gripping the sheets.

"When I got here, I thought that finally I'd escaped Koumori and people like him. Well, I woke up the first night with another drug of Koumori's coursing through me, and wound up with both Lesara and Doctor Ravis..." he blushed, shaking his head. "You know. And even the trip to the market wasn't safe. It's like everywhere I go, someone just wants to hurt me."
He shuddered. "And I can't figure out why."

Arna sat up and put his arms around Reyvn. "I don't think Master intended to hurt you. But if it makes you feel better, you're safe now." 

Reyvn let himself lean into Arna, wrapping his arms around him again tightly. He sighed heavily, trying not to cry now. "For now. It's never going to stay safe, Arna."

"No. But that's how life is. Before I came here, my last master kicked me around. He didn't do what yours did, but it wasn't exactly a walk in the park." He pulled Reyvn down and wrapped an arm around him. "Why don't we sleep till dinner's ready? I bet you're tired."

Reyvn let Arna pull him down, and snuggled close. He didn't realize how tired he was until his head hit the pillow, and it just sort of hit him in the face. "Sounds good," he said quietly. He glanced up then. "Why did your last master get rid of you?"

"He got bored with me." Arna shrugged. "This place is heaven compared to there." He stroked Reyvn's cheek gently as sleepiness came washing over him as well. The tranquilizer hadn't worn off yet.

Reyvn made a noise of agreement, content with the answer. He buried his head into Arna's chest, and let sleep take him.