GAMBIT 39 039| Help

As everybody fights in the battlefield, Quartz's body drifts through a stream. Color drains from his face, as white as a slice of bread, white as a ghost, white as a sheet, rigid, rooted to the spot, hands clenched, incapacitated with nothing but the urge for his consciousness to slap him back to reality. There is an absence of sound and his head feels heavy. With eyes closed, he wears an expressionless face, moving constantly through the stream, with buoyancy serving as his pillow.

And from the silence around him, he awakens, feeling the pain from the side of his abdomen. The blood oozes out of his wound, blending with the innocent water now coated with a crimson red pigment. He calls for help yet no one seems to answer his plead.

"Q-quartz?!" As luck has it, Virgo spots Quartz floating through the steam. Seeing his frail body, she felt sympathetic for a moment. She wears a surprised and concerned emotion for him, even dropping her basket of berries and unfurling her hood due to shock.

She decides to help the young man, leaping from the side and jumping unto the stream. The current intensifies, making it almost impossible to for the maiden to see the young man. The water prohibits them to be pulled together thus they are pushed apart. No matter how tough the waves and currents are, Virgo persists to stand firm, swimming closer to Quartz.

The water forges conflict, even intensifying the waves to the point it makes the maiden sink at times. Although despite this. she exerts all her effort to reach Quartz. After enough tries to take hold of his s.h.i.+rt, Virgo finally succeeds and pulls the man ash.o.r.e.

She leans his upper torso to the bark of the tree. As for the young man, he lets out a cough, spitting all the water out of his mouth. His eyes are wide-open, but his wound is still soars and is severe. His heart throbs every now and his breathing is much deeper than usual.

"What happened to you?" Virgo queries, very worried for the young man.

"There was a siege and I came across Morduk. He slashed my lower abdomen."

"Mo-Morduk?" She flinches for a moment after hearing a name. A distant memory, kept in the chambers of her sanity has awakened and recalled itself to her mind. The maiden's hand starts to tremble the further the distant memory plays on her head.

"Speak nothing of this. Do you promise?" queries, Virgo sincerely.

"About what?"

Virgo responds with ignorance and instead places the palm of her hand to Quartz's wound. The blood of the young man flows to her hand as she gently closes her eyes. She then presses the wound, making quartz feel a terrible amount of pain. Her hand is cloaked with a golden veil leaving the young man in awe.

And slowly, his wound heals and his scars disappears. In exchange to this, the maiden became ill, nauseous as she falls to his lap, unconscious and lethargic. It is as if she sacrificed her energy for the young man, only for his wounds to be healed.

"Virgo? What happened?" says, Quartz, flabbergasted with what just happened. Like a corpse, her body remains frail and pale. Although despite this, there was still a pulse from her heart, Quartz sensed it, knowing she is still alive. He decides to make the maiden rest by leaning her unto the same bark the maiden leaned him unto.

He then leaves the site for a moment, gathering fruits and berries. Upon arriving back from his expedition to find something to eat, it is at that same moment when Virgo's eyes start to blink. Out of nowhere, she is awakened, still lethargic and sleepy however. Quartz was relieved to see her eyes, he quickly rushed to him with his basket of fruits.

As for the basket, he made it out of twigs and bamboo sticks lying randomly on the fertile soil.

"Virgo? What happened to you? You were suddenly unconscious."

"I will be honest. I have the power to heal people, but in return, I sacrifice my own energy. In simple terms, I pa.s.sed most of my energy to you. This was my first time to do such a thing, to use the power of my forefathers. Perhaps you have done something good that has left a stain in my heart, giving me no hesitation to help you." answers, the maiden as she grabs the basket, eating the berries and fruits as if she was desperate from them.

" I see. Go ahead and eat, you must be starving." Quartz says, chuckling after seeing how desperate Virgo is.

Due to being desperate to restore her energy, Virgo rambunctiously eats like a pig, letting all of the juice spill from the berries, sliding down to her arms. After eating for a moment, she halts for a while, remembering Quartz.

"You can have some too if you'd like." offers, Virgo, moving the basket closer to him.

"Nah, I am fine. You can have the berries." replies, Quartz with a smile as he pushes the basket back to her. Virgo responds too with a pleasant smile as she continues to eat.

It is because of luck the young man was saved. If it wasn't for the maiden, who knows what would've happened to him? Perhaps he would be dead by now, eaten by scavengers like crows and vultures as the corpse flows through the stream.