The Engagement (Inkheart789 & Eyeris)

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"Yes yes... just set it aside we will need the pretty red later." Hibiscus tried to speak to Cara in her some what childlike frame of mind. "It will help sustain us through or trials, and keep the bad man form seeing us. So he can not catch us."

The bad man, is this all my fault then?

"The sharp things won't hurt you if you are careful, just leave them be and you will be just fine."

"... I do not want anyone to be able to hurt you..." And I don't care who I have to hurt in order to ensure that. "... Just do as I say and everything will be alright..."
 
"Oh! Yes, the man. I don't like him very much. He made me leave your home just when I was making friends. Remington even said I was getting better at cooking." Cara said with a pout, rolling over to her side.

"I hope we can go back, it's so nice there. The horses liked me and I could go outside." She smiled at that memory and sighed. "Hibiscus... You have a funny name? Why were you names that? Did your parents want to make sure no one else had your name?"

Cara started trailing her fingers on the floor, making invisible patterns. She also hummed softly, trying to make the room feel warmer.
 
"Yes... you were getting much better." Hibiscus realized that she had never told the girl as much herself. "I miss your cooking..."

"I'm named... after... a flower..." Hibiscus felt warmth. Which was odd considering that she didn't have a body. "My... My parents..." She hesitated. "Yes... that must have been the reason..." The remaining memories of them were whispers on the wind, the smell of flowers and dirt in her mothers calloused hands, did she have a garden? "... she liked flowers... I think..." There was a song humming over the memory, was that her mothers voice? No, it was something more familiar and tangible, it was Cara's tune...

"Cara... is that a spell?" The warm feeling continued to grow, Hibiscus forgot all her parents and her past. "I'm impressed..."
 
"Flowers..." Cara said softly, looking up at the ceiling. "When it gets warmer they come out. I've never heard of a flower called Hibiscus. Your parents must have lived somewhere else."

She looked around again, trying to find where Hibiscus was hiding. "The humming? My parents used to sing the song to me. Perhaps it is a spell, I could never understand what language it was in. They just loved when I did magic, didn't care if I hurt anyone." Cara said with a huff before starting to crawl around the room.

"Where are you hiding Hibiscus? Why won't you let me see you. I like you, your hair is so pretty and your face... I'll never have that kind of structure. You shouldn't wear just dark dresses though, I think a red would look better on you." She said, smiling at the thought of Hibiscus hiding somewhere.

Cara's eyes were slow to blink, but she continued to crawl, trying to find the woman.
 
"Yes they were from somewhere else, before... hm... before..." The memory had been eaten away, she fed it to a demon in exchange for power.

She thinks I'm pretty? That must be the poisons talking. Hibiscus hardly looked in mirrors anymore. "Your song... your voice... is very pretty." The song seemed to calm the girl, the necromancer encouraged it...

... until the girl began to search for her. The poison made her forget what was happening. "It's alright Cara, I'm right here. No need to fret..."

"Red? You think Red would suit me? Then I'll wear red when this is all over..."
 
Cara sighed, knowing she just didn't want her to see her. When she reached the couch she climbed up onto it. "My voice... My parents used to teach me spells as songs. I don't like to sing anymore though I once enjoyed it. Sometimes I need to to keep my body calm."

Cara sat on the couch, her back straight and her hands clasped together. "What should I do now Hibiscus? This room is so big with so many things... I don't want to do something wrong."

When Hibiscus said she would wear red it made Cara smile. "I'll try to make you dresses. If we go back to the castle I'll have Remington help me learn to sew and make you a red dress." She promised, reaching up and playing with her own hair like she had when she was a child.
 
"Yes, just stay right there until you feel better." Hibiscus was glad that the girl had found herself a comfortable perch. She was a fragile bird in a dangerous cage.

"I'm sure Remington would... teach you anything you like." She decided not to remind Cara that Remington was now a free demon, and he was as likely to eat her or her memories as he was to teach her cross-stitch.

I wonder where her parents learned the magic songs. They themselves had hardly any talent for it. They craved a power they could not attain. They, or perhaps someone else, had recognized the talent in her daughter. They might have done all they would but bless that little girls incorruptible heart...

"Just lay still and... think of the dress, yes, it's design could be quite complicated." If Hibiscus could keep her mind occupied it could help stave of the poison.
 
She laid down on the couch and smiled at the ceiling. "We could find a fabric with designs on it, something similar to lace I think. The top would be tight, almost like a corset." Cara closed her eyes and continued to picture it. "What kind of skirt do you prefer? You are usually in the ones that are easy to walk it... I could make a tight one, but give it a slit so you could still walk. I've seen those when my parents used to let others in the castle."

Cara sighed softly and reached down to take off her shoes. "I need a new dress Hibiscus, this one is ripped and dirty. Perhaps I can rip off the top layer and stay in the bottom layer." She suggested as she curled her hands in her skirts. They were heavy and meant to be worn for only a short period of time.
 
"Yes..." Hibiscus might laugh imagining herself in such a thing. She had meant to dress up for the occasion of her wedding, but not in something so flattering as Cara described.... Not that I could do a gown like that justice... She thought to herself. "Do you like to sew as well?" Cara had all these little dreams and talents that Hibiscus would find mundane in anyone else, she felt sad that she hadn't learned more about the girl when she had the chance...

"There might be cloths in the house." She found herself saying. She had a vauge memory of the mansion that rotted above them. There might still be some things preserved within it.

The spell to keep her safe from dark magic should be settling under her skin, they wouldn't be able to track her so easily now, it wouldn't hurt to explore... once she wasn't delusional anyhow...
 
"Sewing... Yes i do, though I often prick myself. The dresses I brought with me were all made by me at least a little bit. My parents had a seamstress that would let me help her work." Cara explained, sighing as she played with his skirts.

"I would like new clothes... And a bath, though I am sure a bath is far off." She murmured, her eyes roaming the celing. "Is there any water around to bath with? Or is it just wine for drinking?"

Cara slowly sat up and walked towards the wine, wobbling in her heels. "I'm still thirsty, what wine can I drink? All of them?" She asked, her throat starting to burn from the dryness.
 
"Really?" She hadn't considered that Cara had made all her own dresses. "I'm impressed..."

Then Cara began to speak of wine. Hibiscus remembered the last time Cara had some wine in her system... plus this poison. "Water would be good but um... We can save the wine for later." She didn't want to send Cara out to the nearby lake, she might fall in and drown. Hibiscus strained to remember. "In the high shelf of the back shelves I kept moon water." What did I need that for again? That's white magic, ick. "There are a few, I think, in blue bottles..."
 
Cara pouted, but walked to the back to try to find some water. "It's really up there." She murmured before finding a chair to step on.

She still had to go up on her tippy toes and just as she grasped a bottle, Cara started to lose her balance. She fell off the chair, but kept the bottle safe by holding it to her chest.

"Hibiscus? I think I need help up." Cara whispered before whimpering in pain. "I think I hurt my leg." She had tried to catch herself with her legs and now one of her ankles was twisted in the wrong direction. The rest of her body was alright, just that part hurt.
 
"You hurt yourself?" Hibiscus was alarmed, of course this would happen! Now when Hibiscus had no body to help. She focused her mind toward Cara's. "Just... just remain where you are... try to keep calm. Do you have the water? Can you sit up? Drink, perhaps?"

Hibiscus felt oddly useless, for all her magic that sustained her, she could do nothing in this possibly vital moment. "There is no rush tonight, my dear, don't hurt yourself further... is... it... broken?"
 
"I... I got the water." Cara whispered, shifting and sitting herself up. She opened the top and took a sip of the water, trying not to look at her ankle.

"I don't know if it is broken, but it looks bad Hibiscus. Can't you come and help me?" She whispered, biting her lip. Cara hated feeling like there was nothing she could do and needed to rely on someone else. She had never been good at healing anyone or fixing people's pains."
 
"I am here Cara, I am here." Hibiscus tried to reassure the girl but it would be difficult to do so without any... well... hands...

I only have my voice and my magic.

Hibiscus cursed her body-less-self. "Is it your ankle? Tell me exactly where it is..."

The sound of Cara's voice in pain was like a nail scraping steel. Hibiscus found herself loathing it. "I'll help you, just let me think of something..."

Magic. I only have magic.

And Cara has a busted ankle and water...

... moon water...
"Cara, listen, pour some of the water on it, not a lot as you'll need most of it for drinking." Hibiscus had to focus now, she hadn't done white magic in... well... a very long time...

"As you pour the water think of... something nice... but also something that involves your leg... like... running or... dancing..." If Cara worked up some good energy Hibiscus could help direct it toward the leg... "And put your hands on it, I know it will hurt but... Perhaps we can make this work..."
 
"It's... It's twisted." Cara said softly, forcing herself to look at it. When she saw it again a whimper escaped her mouth before she could stop it.

"It's at an angle out toward my right side. It doesn't look natural at all." She whispered before closing her eyes for a moment and swallowing down the contents that her stomach wanted to bring back up.

When Hibiscus mentioned pouring water, somewhere in Cara's mind it registered that the moon water must be magic, but in her frightened state she didn't care. As she poured about a fourth of the water on her angle, Cara focused on how she used to like to run and dance in the fields.

Whenever she was allowed outside she would go towards the high grass fields and run, just happy to be alive.

After setting the bottle down she reached out and gasped as her hands made contact with the twisted ankle. It put her in more pain, but Cara continued to do as Hibiscus said and she held her ankle.
 
Hibiscus nearly lost focus as soon as she 'saw' the injury.

The bone was broken, badly.

Necromancy was the sister of the white-arts. Hibiscus knew anatomy well, she rearranged bones and flesh quite often. A healer did that on living subjects, and a necromancer on... well... the dead.

Cara was still alive, so she had to be careful.

The disruption in the bone was easy to find. Now she had to mend it...

"I'm sorry, dear, this is going to hurt."

She found the bone, and every splinter, what she did next was hard to explain as she wasn't looking at the thing but knew where it was and how it moved. She guided it back into place, the bone was still alive, unlike most the bones she worked with, under the moon water and Cara's kind thoughts the bone was eager to mend itself. But it would cost Cara some pain while it did so...
 
The scream that came from Cara's mouth did not sound human. An unimaginable amount to pain came with the bone being forced back into place.

Tears ran down her cheek freely and she let go of her ankle as soon as it shifted. Cara simply laid fully on her back and looked up at the celing, trying to stop her tears.

"Why did you do that?" She whispered. "You hurt me Hibiscus. You said you wouldn't hurt me." Cara wrapped her arms around herself and tried to ignore the pulsing pain that seemed to be coming from her ankle.
 
"It was... necessary." Hibiscus sounded distant, but only because her mind was focused on the task at hand. The mending of flesh and bone, the wild warm energy was difficult to control and contain... (Should she let the bones grow to much they would overtake and stiffen the joins, or should the blood run to quickly the veins might burst)

Hibiscus had no sense of time within Cara's mind. She was unsure if her task took a few minutes or a few hours... hopeful Cara was drugged enough to forget the time in pain... and might not begrudge the necromancer to much afterward...

When the work and the pain was done Hibiscus found herself exhausted. She felt small, and could hardly sense Cara at all. Had the girl feinted or had Hibiscus lost her hold on her?

"Cara... are you there? Are you alright?"
 
After what felt like hours the pain finally started to stop. Cara groaned softly and closed her eyes, trying to keep awake.

"It hurt." She muttered, in response to Hibiscus. "It hurt more than falling on it did. I don't understand why you just did that."

Tears were flowing down Cara's cheeks, leftover from the pain she had felt. Now she just felt betrayed from Hibiscus. She had trusted her to keep her safe, yet she had caused her so much pain.

"I want you to leave." Cara whispered, not realizing what she was asking in her current condition. "I don't want you here if you're just going to hurt me."
 
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