TW: blood, injury, tell me if I missed anything
Ships sailing: none
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Sasha limped through the cold night, the wind chilling her to the bones. She shivers, praying that she's almost to her god-awful destination.
She's not supposed to be here. She doesn't want to be here. She'd much rather be back at the flower scout base in her spacious cabin with her working heater and favorite fluffy blanket.
But she's lost all that now, and this is her last resort.
She stumbled through the thick shrubbery, frustratedly pushing anything in her path out of her way. She wasn't feeling up to fighting with a fucking bush today, no siree.
She stumbled for a few more yards before, finally, she saw a light. She didn't know what time it was so she didn't know if anyone would be up or not, but apparently luck was on her side. With a sigh, she hopped over toward the light streaming out of the closed window on the side of the worn down cabin.
She reached the door with a huff, collapsing on the ground and dirtying up her knees, but she didn't care. All she cared about was finally being able to get some goddamn. Rest. She'd been wandering since, like, 5am.
She raised her hand to knock but hesitated. The door was fucking disgusting, just like the rest of this filthy camp. It was years old and it's shown with all the dirt and grime built up in the crevices of it's screens.
Ugh, this sucked. Where were her satin gloves when she needed them!
Oh, right. Back at the cabin.
With a sigh and a grimace, she raised her hand and knocked on the door in the flower scout theme, just like they were taught back at camp. Old habits die hard, especially when you're not trying to kill them.
The second the door opened, relief flooded her weary bones so much, all of the adrenaline she had to make it here suddenly replaced with a new type of weariness. She only had enough energy to angle her head up, staring at the figure through her eyelashes.
"M...my leg...fuck just...ugh," she groaned, her body rocking back and forth, falling to the ground. She thinks she hears the figure at the door yelp and call for someone else. Few words were exchanged before she was picked up and brought in towards the warm, warm light.
She was safe now. She could rest.
And so she did.
-
There was a child lying, unconscious, in her bed.
God why does this shit always happen to them!
This night had already been bad enough. Max and Neil had somehow convinced Nerris to help them pull a magical prank on Nurf which sent him into a rage right after dinner. He had gotten to space kid and spun him around wildly, causing them to throw up! Then, while cleaning up that mess, Nikki had gotten into the pudding and went on a sugar induced rampage that took almost an hour to catch her and sedate her from.
And now, after all that, there was that redhead from the flower scouts at their door.
She was battered, bruised, and malnourished and Gwen didn't know how long she had been wandering the forest. The flower scout camp wasn't too far, only a few miles, but it was late and Gwen knew she wasn't used to all that walking or that terrain.
"Okay…" David sighed, rifling through their shitty excuse of a first aid kit. "We have band-aids, and a bit of anti-perspirant left...no gauze. Hm...tweezers…."
"We've been needing to replace that stuff anyway. How about you go into town and get some new supplies. I'll use what we have to do what I can."
David smiled, worry still shining on every feature in his face, and handed the kit over to Gwen.
"Right," he groaned, rising from his seat. "I'll go then. Get her into some clean clothes too. Do you need anything?" He asked, turning over his shoulder at his place at the door.
Gwen pondered this, shaking her head after a few moments. David nodded and he was gone.
Gwen let out another, huge, sigh and went to flip the tv on. The noise of some old story filled in the quiet background and eased Gwen's mind just a bit.
She rifled through her drawers, pulling out an oversized hoodie and a pair of sweatpants that Nerris had left in the cabin. She bundled them in her arms and walked over to the bed, pulling up a chair. She threw the clothes on the end of the bed and pulled up a chair.
She gently rocked the girl until she stirred, startling awake. It took her a few seconds to understand where she was but when she did her face screwed up as if she were about to cry.
"Hey hey hey," Gwen cooed, holding up her hands in a surrendering gesture. "I'm not gonna ask questions, kid, promise. I just need to know if you're okay enough to take a quick shower and change into the clothes over there. Then I can patch you up, okay?"
The girl (Gwen thinks her name was like...Sarah? Or something?) shot a wary glance at the clothes then at Gwen then back to the clothes. She obviously didn't like them but she knew they were her only option.
Sarah(?) nodded and slowly made her way off the bed, staggering in the direction the bathrooms were in when Gwen pointed them out.
She wasn't in there for long, like Gwen thought she'd be. When Sarah(definitely Sarah) emerged she tossed her dirty clothes on the ground somewhere and climbed back onto the bed, holding out her leg for Gwen to patch up.
Gwen got started, disinfecting a cut on her knee. They were silent while she did this, Sarah not even wincing at the sting Gwen knew was there.
"So," Gwen hummed, slapping a large band-aid over the cut. "How old are you?"
It was a weak question but Gwen needed the basics.
"I'm fourteen."
Gwen paused at that.
"I thought you were twelve?"
"Nah. That's what the anti-aging cream is making you think."
"What in the world do you need anti-aging cream for?"
"So I can always keep my youthful glow, duh," and she rolled her eyes as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Gwen felt a pang of fear run through her veins.
"You're fourteen? You already have that "youthful glow" kid." You're still in your youth." Gwen explained. Sarah rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. Gwen went on.
After she was done doing all she could(which wasn't much but what did anyone expect) she allowed Sarah to flip through some channels while she grabbed a few more things.
She was halfway through calming herself down from a panic attack when Sarah said something.
"What was that?" Gwen asked, turning to look at the young girl splayed against her bed. She rolled her eyes though it looked a lot more weak than what she knew the girl usually did.
"I asked when that dweeb was gonna be back," she huffed, landing on some channel playing old Italian movies and tossing the remote to the side. "I need some pain meds, stat."
Gwen sighed, taking a seat on the bed, lying against the wall and watching the tv. Neither looked at each other.
"No clue….what hurts?" Gwen raised a brow, slowly turning her face on the girl. Sarah stared back, looking Gwen up and down in suspicion.
"...just my head….and my ankle." She finally answered, grabbing the blanket that had found its way to the floor and curling up against the bed sheets, throwing it over her. Gwen hummed, patting her thigh in offering. Sarah stared at her thigh for a while. It was so long Gwen almost thought she had completely dissociated but then she pursed her lips.
She made her way, slowly, across the bed and towards Gwen's lap, laying her head against one of her things and throwing the blanket back over her. Gwen began to threes her fingers through the girls hair, making little braids and then undoing them. It seemed to calm the girl as she immediately melted into the warm touches.
Gwen couldn't help but smile. She had a bit of a soft spot for kids, even if she tended to forget that they were nothing more than children. She tucked a strand of hair behind the Sarahs ear, humming as she watched her breaths even out and her eyes slip clothes.
"You're not all that bad, Sarah."
"It's...Sasha." She mumbled in response before small snores lifted from her lips and Gwen knew she was finally asleep. She chuckled, making sure the blanket was tucked in nice and tight and waited for David to get back, some slow Italian songs low reverberation filling the room.
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1492 words.