Choosing to say out of the Alliance, the Cinders are isolated in their own conflicts, and when Helia Cinder reaches to the void for answers, she inadvertently draws a creature out. Expecting to be eaten alive, she is instead left with a man with no...
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"Aaron!" Talamayas called.
The nomad came around the corner, skidding to a halt in front of them both. It took him all of a glance to see the blistered skin on Harper's feet.
"Wrap them and give him some shoes. I don't need to send someone around to scrub his stupidity off each footstep he takes." Melted flesh already lingered in two spots, and he didn't need any more.
"Sure, thing." Aaron bobbed his head of short, dark hair before he ushered for Harper to sit.
The Song eyed the human with nervousness but did as he was bid, a hiss of breath forcing its way out of his lips as he sank into the stone and lifted the weight off his feet. Aaron fished around in the bags he kept attached to his side when he wasn't manning the blood donor area. While he gave his blood just as the rest of his people, he was a leader among them and always prepared for any misfortune in the deserts, especially with the harsh season this year. Aaron filled a bowl with water form a canteen and set it down by a canister of salve, depositing a roll of gauze on the ground last.
"I have to wipe them first," Aaron said, dousing a towel so wet that it dripped on the stone. "Sorry, this will hurt like hell." The cloth had Harper clenching his teeth, and every muscle in his body shook as Aaron cleaned off his bloodied feet of lingering melted skin. "This will be better, cold, but better." Aaron slicked the salve over Harper's feet bottoms, and a low groan of relief eased from his lips.
Harper was quick to dart his eyes to Talamayas, trembling in fear that Tala might crush him for feeling anything but pain and agony. Tala was considering it.
"You want to stay off these whenever you get to where you're going with Tala," Aaron instructed as he wrapped the bandages around his feet, making sure to cradle the curve of the arch and crisscross them up his ankle so they could tie without hindering movement. "Give them lots of air, and reapply this a few times a day if they feel dry."
Aaron deposited the can of salve and roll of bandages in Harper's hands, and he didn't seem to understand the process of receiving something. It wasn't like they gave souvenirs to residents of the dungeons, and Harper's downright bewilderment had a dark chuckle coming from Tala. That small sound had Harper shaking so badly that he could barely hold the gifts the nomad had entrusted to him.
"You really shouldn't have stepped out on the stone," Aaron sighed as he looked into Harper's wide, terrified eyes. "I know Tala's an asshole, but he would never force a man to permanently damage the nerves in their feet walking the stone at this hour. The damage is slight and will heal if you care for it, but had you wandered much farther, it could have been irreparable. The bottoms of the feet are sensitive, so please take care when travelling the castle." Aaron set a small pair of slippers on the ground, and Harper looked to them only momentarily before locking his eyes with Aaron's.
"Why do you serve him?" Harper's voice was barely audible, but his question was genuine. The Song didn't understand how someone so caring and kind could kneel at the feet of a monster like Talamayas Sol.
