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Kumatora pulled at a lock of her hot pink hair to try and distract from the intense pain of metal teeth biting into her ankle. It was a simple mistake of not looking where she was going. Always in a rush, as the magifolk constantly commented to her. It finally came to bite her in the ass.
Or the ankle, I suppose.
Any attempt to move or free herself from the bear trap only seemed to sink the jagged metal further into her, likely broken, ankle.
“Shit..” She muttered.
The woman sighed and reached around her waist for her belt, finding her sheath and pulling out the knife kept within it. She was trying to figure out the best way to be rid of her nuisance foot when she heard a noise, immediately aiming and firing at it.
To her surprise, it was Wess. And some tall man who looked disheveled and like he’d rather be anywhere else.
As Wess offered to free her foot in the most roundabout way possible, the tall man just stared at her bloodied and torn ankle. His expression held pain the Kumatora wrote off as some kind of sympathy.
To Kumatora’s dismay, the pain didn’t subside once she was free. But Princess Kumatora wouldn’t be caught dead complaining about something so simple. She pulled off her belt and tightened it above the injury to stop the bleeding. It worked well enough, though walking was still a pain. The woman just stuck to leaning on walls and lifting her foot whenever it was possible. The tall man, who she learned was called Duster, seemed to take immense worry to her condition.
“Ya got a fuckin’ issue?” She asked after being stared at while leaning against a wall. The man looked panicked for a second, simply shaking his head no. He could feel the glare from Wess a bit further down the hallway. “Good. Keep movin’.”
She pushed off the wall and let out a grunt of pain as her right foot got pressure placed on it.
And that was when a trend started with Kumatora. Ignoring her clearly injured ankle no matter the cost.
It never healed properly since the lady didn’t give it a break. Even as the time passed and the injury healed, she never let it heal properly. The scar wrapped around her ankle and was really nasty looking. To prevent people from asking about her injury, she wore long, hot pink heeled boots. The scar only poked out slightly yet the boots themselves brought her more trouble walking than it was worth. Bringing down the heel of the shoes just revealed what she was trying to avoid explaining. Kumatora refused to be seen as someone who would easily fall into a trap.
So what was her compromise? Wearing a bright purple bandanna right where her boot met her skin. It worked well and the only thing that could give away that something was wrong was when her improperly healed injury acted up.
Today was one of those days. The woman was practically limping wherever she went, so she decided to sit out for the day and suck it up.
Claus was the first to comment on that.
“Are you feelin’ alright Kuma?” A simple question from a place of concern left the princess a bit lost for an answer.
“I’m alright! My leg just hurts a bit, nothin I can’t handle.”
He gave her a worried look. “Have you tired healin’ it?”
“Yeah I tried but it don’t work, I’ll deal with it.” Yes indeed she had, but she took too long to try the first time so the injury was a permanent staple to her body now.
The ginger perked up as an idea came to his head. “You should take your boots off if your leg is hurtin’! I know you like ‘em but it might help.”
Kumatora’s leg, which had been extended fully moments before, drew closer to her body and the chair she was sitting on. She flinched. “I’m alright, I like bein’ combat ready in a moment's notice!” Yeah. That didn’t reassure him.
“Look, I’ll stop botherin’ ya about it but just promise to take care of yourself so it doesn’t get worse, okay?”
Kuma gave a smile and a thumbs up. “Can do, Claus!”
And that ended that interaction. Though, Lucas also clearly noticed she wasn’t okay.
“Hey Kuma..?” The blonde asked, seeming a bit timid.
“What’s up??”
“Are you gettin’ sick? You look really pale..”
Now that was something Kumatora hadn’t really thought about much. She brought a hand to her face. “Am I? Shit I didn’t notice.”
Lucas’ face grew more worried. He approached her and placed his hand against her forehead, relaxing when her temperature felt normal. “Alright, maybe you’re okay. Have you eaten anythin’ today?”
The immediate response should have been enough of a red flag. “Nope! I’m havin’ a pretty low energy day, don’t think I could make it to the kitchen.”
“I’ll get you somethin’.” And with that, Lucas exited. It was sweet that he was trying to take care of his friend. Childish care.
But alas, Duster caught wind that Kumatora wasn’t feeling alright. He pulled out the chair next to her and sat down.
“I feel like I’m ‘bout to get lectured by Ionia for doing somethin’ stupid..” Kumatora mumbled.
“Kuma, I just want to know what’s wrong. The twins seemed worried.”
The princess sighed and leaned back in her chair. “Remember when we met? I was locked in a bear trap. Long story short, that injury never went away.”
Duster sighed. “Take off your boots.” She shot a mild glare that was retorted with Duster’s genuine expression.
“Fine.” Kumatora begrudgingly agreed as she leaned down and pulled off her shoes. The prominent scar from metal teeth showed clearly now. Along with her swollen ankle. Her expression was clearly pained.
“Alright, you’re gonna need to lay down and get an ice pack. Can you stand?”
“That’s a really hard question to answer but if the alternative is pickin’ me up, I’ll walk.”
Still as tough as ever.
She wouldn’t let simple pain make her vulnerable.
She wouldn’t let herself slip up and be weak in this moment.
Princesses don’t cry.
But they do accept help when necessary.
Kumatora leaned on Duster as she was led to a nice place to sit. The twins popped their heads in as Kumatora was readjusting the bandanna on her leg. Scar as prominent as the sun.
The two had quite different reactions.
Lucas’ quiet “Kuma are you okay??”
And Claus’ excited “Woah badass!!”
The princess snickered. “I’m good! It’s an old injury. It clashes with my shoes too much, ya know? So I use my cool bandanna to cover it up! Stylish, right?”
The twins still had their matching blue and red bandannas around their necks, both with their own purposes. They smiled at Kuma’s excitement. Duster hung in the doorway, holding an ice pack for the woman, his wrist was adorned with an orange bandanna that was a reminder why he was standing here now with his new family.
He decided to let her tell some scar story about getting into a fight with a bear to the kids.
It was a good excuse, was it not?