Broken Chains

Puck hissed through closed teeth as Scarlet turned and stretched his foot in this and that direction. At least it seemed his foot hadn’t gone completely numb quite yet after all.

From the outside, his foot simply looked greatly swollen and a little blue, but the color was barely noticeable below the thick Gremlin hide. After a while of inspecting the injury, Scarlet also sat herself back, seemingly thinking and being unsure about what to do. Wanting to know more, Puck could barely restrain himself from interrupting her thought process. In that manner, they simply sat there for a while, one being fidgety and the other seemingly deeply in thought about something. Only a while later, Scarlet spoke up again.

“I'm not exactly sure what kind of injury this is. The swelling is too large, and truthfully, I’m also simply no expert on the matter even though I know how to treat most injuries. In this case, it could be enough to simply rest, but it is also possible that without doing anything you’d become permanently crippled.”

Puck, getting kind of scared, swallowed audibly. Scarlet, though, seemed unperturbed and spoke on.

“That the injury made itself known so clearly only now can mean a few things. The one I find likeliest is simply that it is a fiber that got damaged and over your months of recovery, it grew only makeshift back together. And the great recent amount of movement damaged that unfinished fiber again.”

Getting grounded a little bit by Scarlet’s calm explanation, Puck asked a question.

“Have I screwed myself over by damaging myself more than I did learn in the past week?”

Shaking her head slowly, Scarlet disagreed.

“No, the past week you pushed yourself farther than I ever would have thought possible, and if anyone is to blame for that, then it is me as your teacher for not telling you when to stop. But I won’t blame myself, and neither should you. I considered the possibility of something like this happening, but in my opinion, it was even more important for you to solidify the decisions you made for yourself a week ago. So, as your master, I take full responsibility for your injury, but also already have a solution prepared.”

Having listened to Scarlet with great attention, Puck first wanted to refuse Scarlet's claim of herself being responsible for his injury, but as she told him she had a solution, all those thoughts got blown away.

‘What could that solution possibly be? Had she already consulted the Gremlin Doctor? But no, Scarlet didn’t like going to the village, and Puck held no confidence that the Doctor would find any other solution but to wait or remove the limb. Perhaps…’

Thinking about what those solutions could possibly be, Puck watched rapt attention while Scarlet pulled something out of a pocket of her backpack. Holding very carefully in a closed hand, Scarlet seemed to value the thing greatly. Before showing him what she had, she spoke up again.

“I never reached the true surface of the world, but I came close. On my way there, I found many wonders and more than once nearly faced death myself. But I always survived. One reason I survived, I will share with you now. It is one of my greatest secrets, and by showing and gifting it to you, I extend to you the same kind of trust and dedication you extended to me by going beyond any and all boundaries in your effort to achieve your first task given by me as your master.”

Seemingly finished, Scarlet slowly opened her palm to show Puck the content before he could say anything unfitting. Completely unsure of what to expect, Puck stretched his neck to see. As soon as Scarlet opened her palm, light started to go out from the object that had been hidden in there.

First, it was only a little, but then it got more and more and at the same time the object started to fly up from Scarlet’s hand. Soon Puck needed to look away because of the light, only the outline of the object having seared itself in Puck's mind.

But it was enough, the object seemingly held beauty beyond compare, unlike anything Puck had ever seen before. It was like the leaves of one of the plants swimming on the hot sources of water in the eternal ice. And yet it was so different, seemingly being both grander and so much more delicate than those things and holding a boundless life force.

Being unable to see Scarlet, as he still had to look away from the now slowly fading light, Puck still heard her reverent speech. But it didn’t seem to be directed at him, but instead toward somebody or something else.

“I thank you for blessing us with your presence, but at the same time, I must ask you for assistance. My friend here got wounded recently, and we’re unsure if he will heal by himself. I promised him to heal him. I think his character is worthy of your divine gift, but please judge for yourself.”

An ethereal, and yet powerful voice responded, seemingly coming from everywhere at once.

“Child of freedom, your request was heard and accepted, we will judge your friend.”

Still unsure of what was happening exactly and what was expected of him, Puck sat there and listened in on the conversation. Then suddenly he thought he felt something like a gentle request in his mind, telling him it wanted to see his convictions and beliefs.

Being a little reserved, Puck at first didn’t want to open his mind, but then relented as this seemed like it was part of the plan. Gently, the present seemed to look through a part of him nobody else had ever inspected before. The experience was novel and unlike anything other Puck had ever felt before, but it was not unpleasant as the presence seemed as benevolent and friendly as could be.

Then, suddenly, it seemed like it had seen enough, and before the presence completely left his mind, Puck felt an ethereal message appearing in his mind again.

“Child of broken chains, you are worthy of healing and great things await you. Your past may have been narrow, but a vast future awaits you, tread your path well though or only the bottomless abyss awaits you.”

After that Puck started to feel a warmth gathering everywhere over his body, but mostly in his right foot, then he felt himself falling asleep again, as a warm embrace clouded his mind.