Lily's Death

Life, Death

The day Lily Bloowdmaw succumbed to the poison on the blade of a Venomclaw clan member.

The scent of her is all wrong–like chlorine and something sickly sweet mingled with her sweat and natural scent. It has been wrong for the last few days as she rapidly declined into delirium and illness. Her body has already dropped enough weight to see it, her scales off-color and dull, and the gash at her side won’t stop bleeding, even covered as it is with bandages and salve.   Lily looks drawn, tired, but instead of being asleep or staring, black-eyed at the ceiling of the caravan, she’s looking right at him.   “Hey, Jas,” she says hoarsely, giving him what looks like a grimace when she was going for a smile. His heart rises and beats rapidly in his chest, like a caged, fluttering bird.   “Lily?! You are awake! You–are you–how do you feel?!” Jasttor asks in a rapid-fire manner, a huge, hopeful smile coming to his face as he rushes to her side. Her hands are still cold as he holds them between his own, but she’s gripping back this time. It feels like eons since he’s seen her eyes clear like this, even though it’s only been a few days. He didn’t think it possible to feel so much joy over such a simple thing.   “Terrible,” she sighs, closing her eyes and laying her head down on its side. “Jas. I…” she hesitates, and the heavy way she speaks punctures a small hole in the balloon of hope he has in his chest.   “Wh-what is it? Are you–are you all right? I have been trying to get them to find some way to help you, but they keep telling me it is too dangerous, a-and you were–” He swallows, trying to calm himself again as the lump forms in his throat. “But you are awake now! Look, you are going to get better, you will be–”   “Brother.” Her voice is quiet, but the power behind it makes him shut his jaws immediately with a soft click. “I am going to die.”   Jasttor feels like the quiet that settles upon them after that statement will crush him to death. “No! No, look at you, it… you…” His voice breaks, and the tears he’d been trying so hard to keep back are falling again; he presses her chilly palm to his face.   She snorts at him softly. “You always were the emotional twin,” she teases, and he lets out a choked laugh.   Lily doesn’t say anything for a few moments, but pulls her hand back and reaches for the amulet around his neck, catching it with the sway of the caravan and fiddling at the little dragon head with her thumb. “Hey, remember when I gave you this?” she asks him. He nods, trying, in vain, to stop crying again. “Well, you remember what I said when I did, all right?   Jasttor nods and sniffs, a crease forming between his brows as he looks at her. Lily looks him in the eyes, and speaks to him in a soft voice that reminds him of when they were just children.   "Come sleep next to me?” she asks. The lump that forms in Jasttor’s throat won’t go away enough for him to talk, so he just nods and immediately scoots in next to her. She faces him automatically, both of them curling in towards each other in a need for the touch of the other. “Love you, Jas.”   “I love you too, Lily,” he answers thickly. “Sleep well.”   She gives him a tired smile. “Yeah. You too.” They doze off, Jasttor soothed to sleep by her breathing, one last time.