FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 14

"Please rub the ointment twice a day on the aching spot, the pain should subside day by day until it completely fades away by the end of the week"

A mole healer handed a neatly packed medicine over the desk and into the furry hands of the unfortunate customer.

"Thank you" the elderly cheetah answered with a smile as he pressed the bag with a red string to his old, heaving chest "You people are life savers. May your Ancestors bless you"

The healer smiled politely "That's a simple ache sir. You still have plenty of years ahead of you"

"Thank you, thank you" the feline rasped gratefully as he eventually made his way towards the exit

The mole waved the cat away "May your health never falter!"

With a content sigh the mole stretched in her chair, looking around the room. The receiving hall of the hospital was nearly empty, only a few patients were being serviced by the other desks. Today nobody went past the desks and that always was what made this work so much enjoyable.

Outside you meet silence and peace practically whenever you turn, it's only up to you to go and walk with them. Here silence and peace weren't popular visitors, lately however that seemed to change. With the rebuilding of the city nearly complete the cases of drastic injuries lowered greatly. And with no war on the horizon this state of events might become normality.

The mole sighed once again, eyes landing on one of the benches.

Silence and peace were sitting there.

She smiled happily.

The door to the hospital opened, the mole's eyes immediately darted up, she straightened up in her chair when she noticed the familiar silhouette stepping over the doorstep.

"Amela!" the healer greeted the new arrival "You're back early"

The cheetah smiled, the knees on her brown working pants were green from grass. Both here hands were placed at the her hips, holding a black belt from below that was overloaded nearly all around with filled up bags.

She looked like a hot-air balloon that didn't want to lose its weight, remaining stuck to the ground.

Her heaving happily chest stretched the material of her grey blouse to the limit.

"Seems like Luck decided to be finally on our side" the cheetah smiled, juggling her belt slightly, making all the bags bounce softly "The herbs were never so good before. Back in the days when I gathered two bags I considered that to be ripe pickings and now look!" she patted her belt "I have so many of them that I can barely walk!"

"Let me help you Miss!" a male cheetah broke from his two souled line, patting the shoulder of the other unfortunate patient to get his attention

"No need!" Amela raised her hand, smiling kindly "You're health is much more important" she juggled the belt wrapping her waist "Besides these bags aren't that heavy and only knowing they will bring relief makes them so much lighter"

"That's the least we can do for all the help this place offer us"

"I appreciate the offer, but I must decline. Don't get me wrong, as much as I enjoy the company of other people it's best that you spend as little time here as possible. As strange as it might sound nothing makes us more happier than seeing these halls empty"

The cheetah nodded respectfully and returned back to his line.

The old healer gratefully squeezed the shoulder of the eager helper as she made her way to one of the nearby desks and placed her valuable loot on top of it.

She straightened her back, something snapped in her spine, sending a jolt of pain through her body. Yet all she did was to smile, over the years, when one becomes old enough, the suffering that comes with age is as common as scratches appearing on the bodies of children. Either you complain about it all the time or get used to it.

She opted for the latter.

"You push yourself too hard" a mole assistant that occupied the desk admonished the old cheetah kindly as he began to ruffle through the bags

Amela giggled "My bones snap at a regular basis, if I would allow it to bother me simple getting out of bed would suck out every bit of determination from me"

The mole shook his head, tips of long claws carefully examining the contents of one of the bags.

"This stubborn practice of trying to keep up with the passing time will kill you one of these days"

She poked the mole's short arm with her claw playfully.

"Remember Per that we're healers. What is our motto?"

The mole shook his head again.

Amela poked his arm again, leaning closer with a teasing smile.

"Hmmm?"

He sighed dauntingly.

"Exercise..." she meaningfully looked at the healer, prolonging the word in the same fashion

"You're too stubborn for your own good"

"Exercise..." she repeated again

The mole sighed.

"is..." he said

"...health" both of them finished

Amela giggled, patting the mole's shoulder.

"You can say I'm doing my job"

The rodent finished looking through four bags and pushed them to the edge of the desk before diving into another one.

"You act as if the whole world was on your shoulders. If you make a break or even slow down a little it won't shatter, trust me. You must also look out for yourself"

"I did that once" Amela pulled one of the bags in front of her, opened it and dipped her claw into the herb filled container

Her eyes locked themselves on the greenish mass below and her claw shifting against it. She stared at the moving raw medicine as if she was about to read from her own special crystal ball.

"And learnt to never do it again" she mumbled, pulling her clawed finger out, the little bits of herbs dripping from her claw reminded her of falling droplets of blood from a bleeding wound

She rubbed her fingers together, getting rid of the last pieces of the herbs before smiling at the mole.

"I'm here to serve and I'll gladly continue to do so until my days are over"

The male healer took another breath, so obviously palpable with surrender to stubbornness that you could touch it with your finger if you only wanted to.

He sealed the last bag, contently tapping his long claws against the wooden desk as he observed the rows of medical treasure.

"At least you do your best in your unhealthy insistence. I've never seen so much herbs before. Seems like even nature recovers"

Amela shrugged with a smile "Seems like we all need only a bit of time. It's the end and beginning of everything"

"AAAAAAA!!!!!!!" a sudden, rumbling roar of terror echoed throughout the whole hospital

Everyone present in the main hall, both patient and healer rose on their legs, those that were already standing felt their legs becoming stiff as boards. Everyone was looking at each other in utter, stunned, frightened confusion.

"What was that?!" someone exclaimed dreadfully

"Was that a scream?!" another panicked voice joined

"AAAAAA!!!!!"

"All of you come with me!" Amela exclaimed, dragging her hand around every present healer, being the first that was woken from her stunned trance by the second scream

"Please stay here!" she shouted, pointing at the center of the hall as she began to run towards the corridor from which the shout came from

All the patients and customers stopped in their tracks, respectfully obeying the order.

The healers ran into the corridor, doors leading to the resting rooms began to open, several patients began to stick their heads out from their rooms.

"Please return to your rooms!" Amela shouted at the curious, worried people, they immediately withdrew their heads inside, closing their doors with an intimidated thud

"Someone check on all these people!" she barked another order, healers dispersed in several directions, running from room to room calming and checking on the patients

"From where did it come from?!" someone shouted

Nobody responded to that question, yet they all kept running, not really thinking were but somehow their legs carried them all in the same direction.

A rumbling thud echoed from one of the side halls, noises of slamming doors followed soon after.

The group skidded to a halt, all eyes turned in one direction. In the distance spotting a single, bursting in flames draconic figure slamming itself against one wall to the other, one leg constantly pawing at the snout.

"Flare?!" Amela shouted with surprised worry, momentarily covering the distance that separated them

This time however not all healers followed in her tracks, a couple disappeared somewhere, a female, young healer even shoved one of her co-workers out of the way just to get inside one of the patient's rooms.

Spending inside far more time than it was necessary.

"SHE DID THIS TO ME!" the fire dragon screamed in horror, his voice unnaturally grumbling as if the noise that usually accompanies a hungry stomach would be wafting through his mouth

"What happened?!" Amela exclaimed, cutting the distance even faster than before, the bouncing of the walls, hopping on three legs dragon ahead made that possible

In his hectic moves he was making his way towards the little group of healers.

"What is that?" one of the healers pointed forward, making all the people look in the direction of his claw

A trail of something, a fluid of sorts with bits and pieces of something far more stale was visible on the floor, dragging itself across it like a carpet. Bits of the same substance were splayed across the walls and doors as the thrashing dragon flicked more and more of the stuff on his surroundings.

The group of healers ran only for a short while longer after noticing the peculiar slimy trail, all of them stopped momentarily, banging against each other's backs as they all suddenly skid to another stop.

Every single nose began to jerk and crunch in quick motions as that of a sniffing mouse that just smelled cheese.

The healers smelled also something, but the smell was far more worse than that of cheese. All their minds recalled the aroma, yet in their somewhat panicked states they couldn't put a name on it.

At least until the dragon ahead didn't make them aware of it himself.

"SHE PUKED ON ME!"

They didn't realize that he was so close until he screamed, only then they noticed the vomit covering his snout. It was everything that you call disgusting with a combination of blood in it. it was dripping from the drake's snout, covered his teeth and was smeared all across his cheeks, which his constantly pawing leg only made worse. The staff that was close enough to the screaming dragon discovered also that the spew was also inside his mouth, streams and droplets of the vomit were flicked away from his maw by his lashing tongue. Streams and droplets which landed on some of the healers.

The stench was horrible.

It was not the typical, unpleasant smell of spew, to that most of the healers were used to.

Hazard of the job you might say.

This smell was far more powerfully rooted in the soil of spoil.

People could see the drake's presence affecting the atoms of air all around him, the corruption spreading farther and farther. The usually little clean, white and transparent orbs of oxygen and nitrogen filling up to the brink with a thick, muddy substance, making them shake and eventually burst with a hissing sound of many farts from butts affected by years of constipation, forcing the bowels to chew and eventually spit all the seemingly unending torrent of disgust that gathered up during the years of repression into the air just to filter it through a piss soaked sock later.

The hit from the horrid, foul odor was like a punch from a golem, throwing many of the healers against the wall. Making many gag and everyone cover their mouths and noses, making a pitiful attempt to protect themselves from the stench.

"Flare!" Amela mumbled through the fingers of her hand pressed to her face "Get to the bath-"

"IT GOT INSIDE MY MOUTH!" the dragon roared in terror, almost in the face of some of the healers as if trying to force his point across

The stuffed with gagging sounds cheeks of the glued to the walls staff of the hospital was a clear indication that they didn't need any more convincing.

"Flare go to-"

"I SWALLOWED SOME OF IT!" the covered in vomit dragon screamed again, interrupting any other voice with his own shout

The drake stopped in the middle of the hall, head hanging low, streams of vomit dangling from his draconic features like ropes of saliva from dried lips. His whole body began to convulse, fiery part of his body pulsing with each spasm.

"It tastes...it tastes...." he retched and threw up on the floor

From what seemed like an unending torrent of vomit those more perceptive might say that he pushed into the world the undigested pieces of food that he ate when he was still a little hatchling.

And that wasn't even the end of it.

Everyone that barely contained themselves from throwing up earlier broke and added to the pool their own digested dinners and suppers.

Amela jumped over the mess and farther into the hall, hand pressed close to the mouth. She only looked behind her shoulder at her sick co-workers, giving them a wordless order to carry on with their duty while she herself pushed to the patient that was undoubtedly behind this chaos.

She has seen her share of carnage, making her stomach far more resilient than any other in this hospital and yet it still hurt. She instinctively knew that if she decided to say something it would be over, her hand was the only dam that held the current that built up within her throat.

Waves of which constantly banged against her hand because of her sensitive ears that flicked at every little stomach turning sound.

She pushed forward, several times almost tripping over her own tail, it was perhaps cruel to leave her friends in that mess, but all she could think about was the well-being of her patients. The cheetah eventually grabbed a hold of the door frame leading to the room, the origin of this chaos.

Before she made a step inside however Amela threw her body against the wall, leaning on its solid surface, body bent with a single hand extended, still tightly clinging to the frame. Her head fell down, eyes involuntary making contact with the slimy trail of vomit on the ground.

Instead of catching a breath her body convulsed with another gag, the smell and sight of the vomit wasn't that terrible, yet apparently her stomach received such a beating that it was ready to explode like a volcano at the merest of excuses.

The healer looked behind her shoulder, focusing on the screaming group behind, group that slowly recovered from the shock and was getting a hold of the situation. Calming themselves and the thrashing dragon at the same time. The sight made her forget about her own stomach problems.

To keep it that way Amela pulled herself up and looked inside the room.

The hand covering her mouth fell down limply to her side in perfect accordance with her widening eyes, whatever palpable memories of digested food that stuffed her neck slid back down her gullet to the only place where they belonged to.

Sincere worry overwhelmed all that discomfort.

To say the room was a mess was an understatement. It looked like somebody would throw a dynamite inside and after it exploded got inside and gave everything a solid kick to make sure things that broke stayed broke.

The bed sheet was bloodied, in several places ripped by claws, part of it was splayed on the bed while the rest was dragged across the floor. Surprisingly there was hardly any pool of vomit here, bits and pieces here and there, but nothing too drastic. It seemed most landed on Flare's snout.

Pieces of broken dishes and bowl dotted the area, the nightstand was toppled over, together with the tray of food that undoubtedly was placed on top of it. Food was everywhere, yet the only thing that really caught her attention was the bread, or what was left of it anyway.

A crust to be precise, lied in the middle of the room as if it would be the easiest to find murder weapon. Crumbs were sprayed absolutely everywhere as if it would be eaten by someone who was starving for days.

Her eyes once more returned to the empty bed, literally empty bed, with no one on top, pillows and sheets were also missing. Only the stained with puke and blood mattress remained. At the end of the bed she noticed a small trail of feathers.

"Iris...dear?" Amela mumbled, her voice barely breaking through the shock as she made an uncertain step forward

Avoiding the doorstep as if was a trip line that if snapped would send the roof crushing down.

There was no response, just as she expected, yet two more steps farther into the room proved that she wasn't alone here.

Two curled horns protruded above the bed at the end of the room with feathery wings being revealed more and more with each step she took.

"Iris?" Amela mumbled with fear in her voice as she laid her eyes on the young dragoness

The girl was sitting in the corner of the room, right behind the bed, on a feathery bedding of undoubtedly her creation. She was like an oriental princess occupying her own pillow oriented bed. However the dragoness ahead lacked every trait a princess like that possessed.

In fact she lacked absolutely everything.

She was deathly pale, at first Amela had troubles deciding if in front of her sits a living being or a reanimated corpse and she would opted for the second version if she wouldn't remind herself that corpses are cold, emotionally cold.

And the dragoness radiated nothing but complete and utter satisfaction.

Even despite the fact that she looked miserable, even with her feathery wings pressed and wrapped tightly around her body she was still shivering, so badly in fact that you couldn't help but wonder if below all these feathers she isn't sitting in a pool of electrocuted water.

It was really painful to look at her legs, especially the front ones that were clearly visible. They shivered in a way that made you think of matches, matches that with all their pitiful strength hold a construct that they should never be connected with. Ready to snap in any moment.

Below her left front paw was the medallion she so cared about, it looked like it was the only thing that kept her body upwards.

She kept her head high however, fighting against its natural reaction to fall down and rest, even in this state she tried to maintain the look of authority and unshaken pride. Even when her colorless, tired eyes kept snapping back and forth.

Amela looked at the crust on the floor, image of Flare flashed before her eyes. She looked up, only now noticing a crumb at the corner of the dragonesse's mouth.

She spun around and momentarily ran out into the corridor just to collide with a thud with the door on the opposite side. She pushed the handle down fiercely that it practically kicked back in her hand.

Locked.

She tried the door next to this only to receive the same result.

On the third attempt however the door opened and she barged into the room like a hungry monster looking for its trapped victim.

A cheetah gasped startled, pulling the sheets of the bed he was lying in to his chin.

Amela's eyes sparkled when her sight landed on the nightstand, she immediately dashed towards it, snatching a glass of water.

"Sorry to disturb you" she said sincerely, looking the glass over "But I really need this" with those words she ran back into the corridor "Have a nice day" she closed the door and returned to ruined room

She stopped right in front of the dragoness, reaching below her blouse just to retrieve a small satchel. She opened it with her teeth and tilted it above the glass. A light powder, in the color of sand flew from down from the opening and when it mixed itself with the liquid inside the glass it momentarily turned it green.

She put the satchel back in its rightful place, silently praising her overprotective nature and extended the hand with the mixture towards the draconic girl.

"Drink up" she said sternly

Iris looked at her, in the way she looks at everybody. With mix of hate, disgust and the belief that she is better than everybody. Even in her current state Amela could see just how unhappy she is about the tone of her voice.

"You won't ruin our lucky streak, not on my watch" the glass jerked several inches closer "You will either drink this voluntarily or I'm going to shove it down your throat"

The girl's eyes snapped open and a cold spark of utter despise gleamed in her diamond gaze. Her rump moved, raising in the air to push her body up. However it only lifted itself from the floor by an inch before ungracefully dropping back onto the ground. Her whole body swayed, eyes previously angry, blinked, only to reveal just how dizzy they were moments later.

She was about to faint.

And perhaps she would if she wouldn't be so stubborn in her hate.

A fist of concern bled Amela's heart dry.

Iris shook her head, the gentle gust of air she created almost toppling her over. When diamond eyes returned back to their position they were cold once more.

And then she opened her mouth. Her tongue was awfully pale.

Amela frowned, unable to shake off the feeling of suspicion. It all looked too good to be true.

She approached the dragoness nevertheless, not even for a second losing eye contact with the female. She tilted the glass the moment it was slightly above the draconic mouth, the liquid poured into the opened maw without any trouble.

Just now the cheetah realized, be it thanks to her intuition or simple experience of a creature that seen her share of life, that she didn't particularly like the girl's peculiar glare she was giving her.

It meant trouble.

Iris closed her mouth, time seemed to freeze as the females engaged into another battle of stares. However the fight didn't last long, Amela had no interest in showing who is the alpha female in this room, all she cared about was to see the dragoness swallowing the medicine.

Her throat didn't move however, only her scaly cheeks stuffed out.

Stuffed out.

Reacting instinctively Amela swiftly placed one of her hands on the girl's mouth while the other she put directly on her snout, pushing it down to prevent it from opening.

Iris' eyes widened at the sudden, unexpected reaction for someone so old, someone who obviously seen through her brilliant plan of spitting all of this ugly stuff directly into the withered face of the healer.

Amela felt some of the liquid splashing against her hand, the dragoness, even in her current weak state was still a force to be reckoned with. She began to thrash, swaying her head fiercely to get rid off the furry hands on her snout.

She would most likely achieve victory if her strength wouldn't fade so quickly. The struggle from the draconic girl was a strong one, there was a point where Amela feared that the draconic maw will snap open even despite all her effort to keep it closed. The struggle however was also very short, perhaps lasted the seconds it takes eyes to blink and then the dragoness was in her hands, literally.

Amela took advantage of the opportunity and with a grunt of effort jerked the head upwards, making a bone snap, she couldn't really tell if the sound came from the young girl's spine or her own. The swift jerk was enough however, whatever liquid remained in the mouth was forced to be swallowed.

Patients might all have different personalities, some might be meek, others might not. They all have a mind however, one that won't allow its host to die when there is a chance to survive. A mind won't allow to choke on a liquid when there is a possibility to swallow it.

A small bulge moved down the draconic throat and Amela simply knew it was a genuine one.

She jumped away from the dragoness. Iris began to cough fiercely, only to retch moments later, nothing came out from her mouth besides ropes of her own saliva.

"You stupid, irresponsible girl!" the cheetah admonished the dragoness with a fierce snarl

Iris kept on retching, wings flaring open with each unsuccessful attempt to throw up.

"What were you thinking by eating all that bread?!" Amela pointed at the crust as she shouted at the dragoness

"I'm...." Iris muttered between coughs "...going to...kill...you"

"You won't get the chance! The only person you're going to kill is yourself!"

With one final cough Iris lifted her head up "You know nothing Puss, I survived through worse pain that you didn't even graze a little"

"I'm far older than you dear, I took quite a chunk out of the cake that's called life"

"Age means shit" the dragoness snarled "Something you're going to learn about when I recover"

Amela sighed, sitting at the edge of the bed, looking at the young girl with motherly eyes.

"Death threats don't work on me dear. It's not like I have many years ahead of me, by killing me you might actually do me a favor"

"Stop calling me dear"

"Listen Iris, I believe you really had a rough life, most likely a life that a girl of your age should never experience, but that doesn't mean that the world suddenly started to turn around you. As much as it might be hard for you to hear and understand, you are just one soul, there are many others out there. Souls that believe that their problems are the most horrible ones. The truth is however very simple, pain is pain, you don't measure it, horrible is its definition"

Amela poked her chest with her thumb "We are the ones that define its strength, how we deal with it, it's entirely up to us how we patch our wounded hearts. Do a lousy job and it will never stop bleeding"

"I don't give a crap about your preaching you old hag" Iris snarled, the cheetah's ears flicked at every click of her rattling teeth

She was really cold, even for an ice dragoness, hate being her only warmer.

"I'm not your brat that has to listen to your lessons, save it for your own kids. However judging by how you talk to me I guess your barren cunt withered the sperm of every stupid fucker who had no respect for himself and screwed you"

Amela's head dropped down, eyes aimed on her knees. She bashfully started to play with her earring.

"Bingo. Seems there is a bigger chance for life to thrive on scorched earth than it was ever in your womb"

The healer slammed her hand into the mattress of the bed, the wooden construction creaked in agony.

"Be silent!" the cheetah growled

Iris jerked her head back in surprise when she noticed a familiar fire burning in the feline's eyes.

"You hypocrite, how dare you condescend me when you are a butcher yourself"

Amela clenched her hand on the bed, claws tore through the mattress, she closed her eyes, took one deep breath and when she opened them again they were back to their normal self, minus the pain radiating from them.

"I wasn't condescending, I was merely giving you an advice and now I gave you an example what influence pain can have on a person when you allow for the bandages to be torn from your heart"

Iris' claws scratched the floor with a screeching sound, a bolt of extreme cold shot through her body, making her shiver fiercely.

She pressed her wings even tighter to herself.

"I see...your senile mind...has troubles understanding...clear...signals. Let me...spell it out...for you. I-D-O N-O-T G-I-V-E A F-U-C-K"

The healer examined the shivering dragoness from claw to horn, seeing her in such a state, perhaps even a well deserved one, made her soul weep.

With great difficulty she fought back the urge jump and wrap the bed mattress all around the poor girl.

"Aren't you cold?" the feline asked

Iris looked up, the move of her neck caused her to shiver even more strongly.

"You're trying...to be sassy? It...doesn't work. I will bare...through the effects...of the stuff...you gave me and when...I do...you better not be...near if you...value your...short lifespan"

"The medicine I gave you didn't make you feel cold, it's the delayed reaction of your organism to the lack of fluids, a signal that it is at the brink of shutting down. The medicine helps you to replenish those essential fluids, with your natural draconic regeneration the process should be quicker. It also prevents you from throwing up more of the stomach bile. Just to make things clear you almost killed yourself by eating that bread and now you have to suffer the consequences of your irresponsible idea. Was it worth it?"

"I got rid...of a nauseating bug. Yes...it was...worth it"

Amela leaned closer, pressing her hand against the girl's cold, feathery wing.

Iris shook of the hand fiercely.

"Don't touch me!" she growled, for a while having difficulties to regain balance on her wavering legs.

Her body quaked again.

"How did it feel?" Amela asked kindly

"Like a touch of someone who can't have kids" she snarled

The cheetah looked at her hand, swallowing the pain the girl's words caused.

"It felt warm" she said calmly

"No it didn't"

"You might deny it as long as you want, but I'm a healer, I know how the body reacts to certain stimulation. A cold one for example hates the sudden change of temperature, it will do anything to fight off the temporary warmth, making certain parts of the body feel even more colder"

She snapped her fingers "Speaking of which...how are your toes Iris?"

Iris impulsively looked down, at her uncomfortably numb paws.

"You are vengeful...hurt your feelings...didn't I? You're...wasting your...time...I survived...through worse...torture"

"It's not about revenge. I'm showing you what you threw away" she leaned from the bed again, once more touching the dragoness

Iris jerked her body once more with a weak growl. Her whole body shook.

"Don't-"

"You threw relief out of your room" Amela cut her off "The only boy that would be more than willing to warm you up. I'm quite certain that you made sure that after probably years of traveling together you made sure your uncle stays away from you"

"Will you shut up finally?" Iris snapped, surprisingly without any stutter this time "I don't care about your senile wisdom. I just want you out of my room, I can barely stand your stench of age and piss"

"I want to open up your eyes girl" Amela sprung up from the bed, leaning against the window and looking at the world outside "In this hospital we try to heal more than just flesh wounds. Psychological health is also important"

"Psychotic sickness you mean"

The cheetah reached towards her earring, rubbing the jewelry gently between her thumb and forefinger.

"You may mock all you want, pretend that the problem isn't there, that everything you do is a trail left by the brush of your personality. The truth however is completely different, the truth is that you are overwhelmed, too weak to fight back"

Iris groaned annoyed "Are all people in this timeline delusional morons? I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to listen to you, I don't want to look at you. Retarded people won't tell me how to live, retarded people won't judge me as if they believed that they can compare themselves to me, retarded people won't call me weak!"

She breathed a line of ice directly at the cheetah, she nearly fainted after the feat, holding herself up solely by her arrogant will.

The little magical bolt hit the feline right in the arm, she jumped back with a gasp, immediately pressing her hand against the arm through which traveled the freezing, painful sting.

"You know why you are weak?" Amela hissed painfully, massaging the hurt arm "It's because of that medallion"

Iris' wavering leg instantly clenched itself on the jewelry, she slowly slid it closer to herself, pitifully trying to make her move look completely normal and inconspicuous.

"I know what it takes to have a memento, I had one too that I held close, it reminded me of better days. Sounds familiar?"

"I am nothing like you Puss. I'm a dragon, you are a filthy cat that sorts through garbage"

"You need to get rid of it" the cheetah responded calmly

The girl's muscles tensed "Try to heal me like that and I'll bite your arm off, then I'll shove it up your dry cunt, fingers first so when they eventually reach your womb you will finally have a taste how it would feel to have a stinking cub"

Amela's hand impulsively slid down onto her belly, she closed her eyes, taking another deep breath.

"If you would let me finish you would know that by saying get rid of it I didn't mean to throw it away" she opened her eyes, a tear sparkled in the corner of her wrinkled eyelid

"Don't you constantly think of the past? Relive the moments over and over again? Blaming yourself for everything? Cursing your stupidity since now you realize that you could do so much more?"

Something changed in the girl, her wings dropped on the floor, one paw raised from the floor and started plucking at the feathers.

Amela cocked her head, it was a peculiar sight to see, despite the insults and the rough aura the dragoness constantly emanates, making her the popular, alluring femme fatale type, emphasis on the fatale, right now she was absolutely adorable. Even when she carried herself with that typical highborn standards she was good to look at, but here, in this moment, her beauty seemed to radiate like burning rays from the sun. Even if she herself was a female, Amela caught herself staring at the dragoness far longer than curiosity and surprise demanded.

External appearance wasn't however the only trait that drawn her attention. For the first time she was certain that she got to see into Iris' soul, pure as the white scales on her belly. Then came the painful realization that this is just a moment, as a fleeting look at the window by a prisoner led to an dungeon built from dark, impenetrable walls.

She pitied and felt sad for the young girl, the feeling was so strong that her lips began to waver from emotion.

"That's none of your business" Iris replied, her voice soft, very pretty and pleasant to listen to considering her accent and lack of the cold notes behind it

Amela's mouth opened, but no sound came out, in that pose she stared at the girl for who knows how long.

"What? Suddenly forgot the tongue in your mouth?"

The cheetah blinked, the familiar voice bringing her out of the trance. When her eyes opened the draconic girl ahead was back to her arrogant self.

Unfortunately.

"Missed my voice so much?" Amela responded with a teasing smile

For a brief second Iris was awkward, she betrayed that by rubbing bashfully the gold bracelet on her leg. It was a curious sight for Amela, earlier the dragoness showed her nothing but aggression, something that undoubtedly changed after her last words, something that the girl will never admit, but the cheetah knew it was there.

That was a curious case, something that her medical mind simply couldn't miss. For Iris she is nothing more than a villain, a torturer and yet she undeniably caught the girl's attention that could be considered a bit warmer than usual.

An interesting syndrome, one that wasn't present in any medical tome she read.

Yet.

"It looks like your old, withered bones in your legs need time to remember their role so you might as well amuse me further"

With a smile Amela sat on the bed, facing the young girl, almost being at her paw's reach.

"You won't hurt your jester will you?"

"We'll see about that"

The healer nodded, turning her attention at the part of the round medallion protruding from the placed on top of it blue paw.

"Symbolism Iris, mementos are symbols to which we grow attached to. They represent all sorts of things, loved ones, emotions, places, bonds. What that medallion represents is only for your own information, all I will say that no matter what they represent they all give us strength"

Iris narrowed her eyes on the cheetah, a puff of ice wafted from her nostrils.

"Did my close proximity made you speak lies?" she growled "Not so long ago you said that this medallion makes me weak. I warn you cat, I'm intelligent, I can tell when someone wants to sell me words that I want to hear. I'm not the stereotypical girl you take me for"

Amela smiled kindly "Believe me Iris when I tell you that stereotypical never crossed my mind. Special, now that's a word I can admit I thought about"

The dragoness cocked her head, eyes aimed at her suspiciously, something changed again within the female drake once more, it wasn't as apparent as the first shift, but it was still there, in her eyes to be precise.

They flickered, blinked, exchanging one layer for the other as if she would be a sea creature that adjusted her sight to the outside world when she resurfaced from the depths of her sunk home.

Amela gasped faintly when she noticed the pristine gaze, the beauty of it while magnificent wasn't shackling for her, her sexual interests lied elsewhere, when she was younger that is, age deprives of everything. It was the innocence, the happiness, basically the look of a loving, curious child that caught her attention.

She was absolutely radiant and with those feathery wings she looked like a draconic version of an angel.

"Continue"

The healer snapped from her trance with a shake of her head, the voice reminded her of a child begging for a cookie.

"Symbols give us strength" she continued without thinking, as if someone would flick the ON switch "some never stop doing that. There is power in emotions and bonds, when you connect with them and only them, you will be empowered. The same thing cannot be said about loved ones or places, like home for example"

"Why not?!" Iris suddenly snarled, almost lashing out like a snake

The aggression made Amela forcefully lean back against the bed as if she was expecting to be bitten, only after a short while she realized that the dragoness barely moved.

The healer swallowed, diamond eyes were drilling into her skull, she knew that she involuntary entered a very slippery terrain. Being so old a frail makes even such a weak dragoness deadly, even more so when she is pumped with adrenaline of anger.

"Because, unfortunately, they work only for a period of time" she replied, surprising even herself with the way her voice sounded

It was calm and friendly, like nothing ever happened. Her body seemed to share the feeling since it automatically lifted itself to a sitting position.

"You see, when their memory is fresh, and it can be like that for years, it all depends on the person who has to carry that memory, those symbols can be so powerful that they outmatch even the most potent strength potion"

Iris leaned back, returning to her original position, the shivers to which she got used to already seemed to lessen their attack.

"And we can drown in that power, we so desperately fight for that memory that we lock ourselves from the rest of the world. This is the weakness I'm talking about, while we believe that we're doing the right thing, we fail to realize the bitter impact it leaves on those around us"

"You see Iris we are sentient creatures and all of us, without exceptions crave for acceptance"

"Bullshit" Iris snapped coldly "I don't care about other people and I don't need their acceptance"

"I believe you"

The dragoness blinked confused. She obviously didn't expect that to hear.

"You don't need it because you have it already. It's your uncle Iris, he is the only one that prevents you from drowning in sorrow"

"You know nothing" Iris averted her gaze, tired of the conversation that made a turn she considered to be a dead end

Amela nodded, part of her being expected exactly this to happen.

"This is the lock I was talking about. We are failing to see our surroundings for what they really are. I noticed it right in time and closed my symbol within a casket that now rests in my office. Now instead of letting it sip the life out of me I sip life out of it"

Amela swallowed, looking sadly at the dragoness.

"I can only hope that you wake up and decide that you no longer need your medallion before it's too late. Because Iris, the horrible truth is that even blood spoils"

Iris looked at the ground, the paw that held the medallion began to shift uncertainly.

"If you won't wake up you will die cold and alone"

A silence has befallen inside the room, during which, at some point a blue paw clenched itself tightly against a gold, tarnished jewelry.

"You're full of shit" Iris said confidently, raising her head to look at the cheetah, piercing eyes directed straight at the feline gaze

Amela's ear perked up in surprise "Oh?"

"I don't buy your role of a caring mother figure, whatever you tried to do here, failed. You didn't even ask what happened here" she nodded at the mess "Something that a genuine healer would do. You just play a game like everyone else"

With a deep sigh the cheetah patted her knees and got up, with great difficulty pretending that the snapping of bones didn't cause her any pain.

"I didn't ask because I know what happened" she made her way towards the door

"You're a seer now too?"

"Every single room of this building is my womb, in every one of them is my child. I don't have to ask questions to know what happened I look at you and I already know" she smiled lovingly "You happened"

"You make me sick"

The cheetah's claws tapped against the door frame when she nearly disappeared behind the corner as she crossed the doorstep.

"Sit tight, I'll arrange you a fresh room with extra warm sheets" she closed the door, leaving the dragoness inside with her own thoughts

She leaned against the door with a wavering sigh, one hand landed on her belly, rubbing it fondly. The other hand she clenched into a fist and pressed to her mouth, gently nibbling at the fur.

Tears filled her eyes as she held back a sob.

A thought about opening the casket crossed her mind.

The cheetah cleared her throat momentarily, ashamed of the situation. She straightened up, wiped the tears from her eyes and ironed her outfit with her hands.

With a forced smile she softly patted the door behind her, there is hope for everyone, even as cold as the dragoness inside.

Her head instinctively turned around, eyes looked through the window at the end of the hall. She blinked and narrowed her eyes, empowering her old sight while also craning her neck forward to make things even easier.

Ears flattened against her skull when on the blue sky, with the shape of the soon hanging in the background, she noticed a black dot. Too big to be a bird or any of the Ape's beasts. The dot was constantly gaining on mass, becoming bigger and bigger with each second.

She didn't really know why, but an uncomfortable feeling of anxiety filled her heart.

She feared that their luck has just ran out.