#wounded son

Gendry Candell

There was a knock at the door.

There was no answer.

Another knock would follow, before the door was creaked open.  A young, scarred face of Rey Candell appearing between the crack of the door with worried brown eyes as she looked across the room.  "Gendry?"

"I'm awake," Gendry replied, his voice weak but peaceful as he sat in a large overstuffed chair.  He did not turn to face his sister though, his eyes withered and haggard face staring out the nearby open window.

Rey would nod mostly to reassure herself as she dragged her feet to enter the cold room of her brother.  "It's freezing in here."

"I like it, the wind feels good on my face," Gendry still did not look to her but his weak voice made clear a matching smile.

Rey would nod again as she would do her best not to stutter in her pace as she neared the chair, her face catching up with her eyes as she looked to her brother.  It was hard to do so.

Gendry Candell was half a man now, though by the peaceful smile on his gaunt face he seemed happier than she had ever known him to be.

"How are you feeling?"  Rey would speak softly, though barely above a whisper as she crouched beside her brother's chair.  His eyes would slowly open as he heard her voice and tilt his head softly to the right to look to her, though the youngest Candell of the trio would do all she could not to stare at the now empty spaces of his body.  The left side had taken the worst of it as his leg was now gone from mid-thigh to foot as was his left arm from shoulder to hand, the sleeve of his robe tied close to his withered frame.  From one missing leg would be the other right side missing from knee to foot and a hand as well from the right, the smooth slate of stump from forearm to the tips of his fingers.  A shaky breath was all Rey could bring in as she desperately wanted to hold that artist's hand again as she had for so long as a child.  "How are you feeling?"

"You just asked that," Gendry would speak softly again as he watched Rey try with all her might not to fall to pieces at the sight of him.  He could scarcely believe it himself, to survive such a massacre to his body and soul was a miracle.  The price had been steep, but worth it.

"Sorry," Rey murmured as she gently reached forward to smooth a lock of his blonde hair from his face.  "I just got a bit lost."

"I can relate," her brother would sigh out again as he tried to adjust himself in the chair.

"Do you need help?"

Gendry would shake his head, "No, I'll be alright just need to shift a bit.  The doctor said I should try to move here and there.  Try to remember."

Her brother would gently lift up his stump, the end of it covered in a warm wool wrapping before he lowered it again.  

"Does it hurt?"

Gendry would again shake his head with a brave, weak smile trying to assail his sister's fears for him.  "No, not at all to be honest.  Just feel lighter, though I am tired of being so tired."

Again Rey would stroke his hair back again, her heart thumping loudly as she continued to fight back more of the tears she had spilled in the wake of her brother's wounds.  "I'm sorry."

"I'm not," Gendry leaned his head to the side into her hand as he closed his eyes again a moment.  "I'm alive."

A shaky breath taken as Rey would nod, her voice croaking out just the same.  "You are.  And will be for some time."

"I should hope so," the young an would smile again weakly before opening his eyes again slowly.  "Where's Xaya?"

Rey patted him softly before coming around to face him fully as she crouched low to look him in the eye.  The idea of having to come to his level unlike how he once was always coming to hers made her heart ache worse as she smiled sadly.  "That's why I'm here.  They need you to test it out."

A rasping sigh would slip from the young man as tilted back into his chair, the serene look on his face fading into a tight frown.

"Gendry come on now, this a good thing."

"Is it?"

"Of course it is, get you back on your," Rey stopped the old saying to look down with a sigh.  "You know what I mean."

"What if I don't want to?"

Rey snapped her head up this time, a kindling of fire in her eyes as she frowned back at him hard.  "You don't get to do that."

"Why not?"  Gendry feel a bitterness creep into his voice as he said the words.  "It was my fault."

"Stop it."

"It was, if I hadn't taken the idol," Gendry would continue his mind racing to the strange troll statue that had ruined nearly everything for them.  His freedom.  His family.  His home.  Uncle Lan.  The bitterness continued to harden his heart as he let it seep into him, wrecking the peace he'd been feeling the last few hours alone in his room.  

A strong hand cupped his face and pulled it up to look into the familiar face of his younger sister.  "Stop it.  You can't just switch moods like that.  You need to focus.  You're alive.  We're alive.  And we're going to make it work.  Now shut up and come look at it."

Gendry felt a pressure in his chest at his sister's short words, wanting to retort with something bitter or hurtful but knowing the truth.  "You're right."

"Of course I am," Rey responded as she patted him on the cheek before moving away to fetch the rolling chair that their current proprietor had provided upon their arrival in Stormsong.  "Now come on, Gripcable has got a good start for you to try."

Gendry nodded softly as the creak of the wheels and chair signaled her return before he was lifted into it with a grunt from Rey.  An old wool blanket would pulled over him for warmth as well as modesty to his appearance as Rey got behind the chair.  "What does Xaya think?"

Rey snorted as she began to push him toward the door.  "She hasn't left his side since he started.  I mean, someone's gotta know how to fix it."

Another nod was given as Gendry leaned back into the chair, his eyes closing again as he listened for the wind of the valley.  It was sweet and cold to his skin, but warm in his heart as he smelled hints of honey on the air.  How sweet the air smelled here.

"Someone's gotta fix me."

@safrona-shadowsun