Recognition

[Faith Augustin]

65th Vhalar 717
The Medicine House

Cognition

: to know, to understand.

Re-cognition

: to experience cognition again.....

Desnind was like nowhere Faith had ever seen before and she had to admit to loving the place. It was peaceful here, there was no slavery. The people were, by and large, friendly and Moseke herself walked here. Of course, Faith had to admit to being ever so slightly biased regarding the place. After all, she and Padraig had wed here just a two-trial before and she felt quite relaxed here. It was a rare feeling, for them both. Both of them, her and her husband, were so very busy on any given trial that to have some time where they had nothing to do except to be together, to relax. Each trial and every break while they were here was like the snatched moments of quiet which they had at home. There, on Scalvoris, when they closed the door for the end of the trial and spent their evenings together, it felt like this. Here, in Desnind,there were no deadlines, no appointments. No classes to teach or business to run. Here, it was blissful.

Of course, it was a lie, also. If they lived and worked here, then it would be different and they would be busy. It was not the place, but the context which meant that they had nothing to do and all the time on Idalos to do it.

Still, there was a medical center here and Faith wanted to go and see it. There were a number of reasons for that, to do with her as a person and her as a medic. Faith, at this point, was nearing half way through her pregnancy; she looked and felt healthy and energised but good medical care was important. Also, though, she had to tell the healers here what she had found out about the Rot, it's greater tendency to attack Sev'ryn and the cure.

Padraig would tease her, she was sure, but Faith liked the feeling of the earth beneath her bare feet. As she made her way through the town and towards the Medicine House, Faith looked at the building with a smile on her face. There was something fundamental about a house of healing to her. It was home - it was freedom. Faith had wanted to practice medicine, to save lives for a long time. However, when Tristan owned her she had been a chef and a seamstress, because the schedule for those jobs was better - it allowed her to be a better slave to him. As soon as she was free, however, Faith had become a medic and had realised her true calling. She knew that.

So, there, before her, was the House of Medicine and she smiled and breathed in as she walked towards it. As she did, Faith caught sight of someone from the corner of her eyes, following her in her peripheral vision and, as she recognised who it was that was stalking her, even here, Faith's heart seemed to stop in her chest and her blood ran cold in her veins.

[Faith Augustin]

Recognition.....

It was him. Alexander. The man who had taken her in broad daylight, drugged her in the street and carried her off, in the clutches of an Enormowl, to the mountains of Scalvoris. There he had terrified her, beaten her and held her captive for trials. She had not experienced fear like that since her time as a slave, in her earliest memories of her training before the fear for herself had been trained out of her.

And he was here.

Faith let out a low groan as she felt her body start to tremble. She had thought she'd seen him before, thought he'd knocked the door to their home in Scalvoris. Back home, she'd believed that she'd seen him, here and there - but it had never been more than a glimpse and then the recognition that it was.a trick of the light, a tall man.

Yet that wasn't this and that wasn't now.

Because now, as she stood in Desnind and forgot completely about why she was here or even where she was. Faith saw him and her heart leapt into her throat, frantic heartbeats playing in her ear. He looked at her and he smiled, that maniac who had hurt her, hurt Padraig, Pash and Kali'rial. He who had reduced her to sobbing and helpless like a child. Like a slave. He was there and Faith felt her trembling turn to shaking throughout her body, her knees threatening to give way beneath her.

How. How did it happen? How did he get here? Faith was always pale, yet as her pregnancy progressed, Faith was developing a much healthier glow. Yet, as she stood there and saw him, the creature who had done so much damage, she turned a ghastly, ghostly white. What little colour she had drained away from her and Bile rose in her throat as she bit back the urge to vomit.

Alexander took a step closer to her, his arms opening as though he was moving to help her. Faith whimpered and stepped backwards, raising her hands as though in surrender. Yet there was still that part of her. There would always be, she rather suspected when she thought about it, that part of her. "Don't you touch me! Don't you put your hand on me or I swear by all the Immortals that I will make you regret it!"

The man, tall and dark of hair but not the man that Faith was seeing, looked at the young pregnant human with concern in his eyes. She was obviously distressed and the Sev'ryn man spoke to her, but in the language which she did not understand. It didn't matter because, in truth, Faith didn't really hear it. She just saw him and gulped for air. Yet it would not come.

[Faith Augustin]

Cognition.....

She couldn't breathe in. That was strange, Faith thought, she'd always been able to before but, in that moment she couldn't breathe in and she couldn't breathe out. As a doctor, she found it fascinating in a detached way, to note the physical and physiological responses to the fear and panic she felt. Her mouth was suddenly dry, her palms wet with sweat. Those things were interesting, fascinating in a medical way, yet she couldn't really focus on them because she was so busy trying to breathe. In or out would do. Either. She really wasn't fussy, yet the breath wouldn't come.

The man, not Alexander at all but a Sev'ryn who was watching her with concern on his face and Faith tried to explain, to tell him that it wasn't his fault. After all, he'd done nothing, but she just couldn't breathe. It was growing tiresome, difficult to keep her focus and Faith lifted her left hand to her right arm and pinched, hard. The sudden pain of it did as it was meant to do and she breathed out. Once she'd got that rhythm back in place, Faith looked at the man who was speaking to her. His voice was soft and kind, his expression concerned, but Faith was damned if she could understand a word he said.

Still, he gestured to the steps and Faith nodded, moving to sit down. With her hand on her stomach, which was not so swollen as to be cumbersome or uncomfortable but still marked her as obviously pregnant, Faith lowered herself on to the step and concentrated on breathing. The man pointed to the place she'd been visiting, speaking words and trying to persuade her, Faith thought, to go and see the medics here. But she would not. It would be too difficult, too many questions. She knew what she needed to do and Faith realised that she had known for some time.

And probably, in fairness, so did he.

Faith needed to speak to Padraig. To discuss this with him, to talk it through. Because she had known when the butchers' boy had knocked the door and she got afraid. She had known when she thought she'd seen Alexander more than once or twice now, just out of the corner of her eye as she was going about her trial by trial business. She had known and so, she suspected, had he. But he had his own hang ups from that experience, his own concerns and fears. Things which he was not talking about.

Well, she decided, standing up. It was time they did. She knew that now. She understood it. As the cognition hit her, she smiled to the man and squeezed his arm, gratefully. "Thank you. Thank you." He didn't understand her, but he comprehended the meaning behind it. Her face, which had lost all it's colour, was returning to normal and she smiled a genuine smile. "You helped me.Faith. I am Faith." Motioning to herself, she said the name again and he smiled and nodded. He had been trying to help a pregnant woman and she could not fault him. So, she squeezed his arm and gave him a reassuring smile. "I have to go. I need to make things better. Thank you. Thank you."

Then, she turned away from where she had been going and, instead, she made her way back to the Inn where Padraig and she were meeting.

[Kali'rial]

Faith

Overview

Oh Faith now it begins! Evil psychological things. You’ve written the panic and the anxiety so well, it’s a familiar and real feeling. Will be fascinated to see how this plays out over time. Also, half way preggo bellies. Adorbs.

Points

XP: 10/10 (Not for magic)

Fame/Loot/Injuries/Overstepping

n/a

Knowledge

Skill Knowledge:
Endurance: Onset of a panic attack
Endurance: Oxygen deprivation
Endurance: Pain to force yourself to breathe.
Detection: The signs of a panic attack
Detection: Similarities and differences between individuals.
Detection: Recognising kindness when you don't know the language.

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