Work Text:
The wind whipped through Kaiyo's hair as he sat, staring out towards the open sea. The sun, long since begun its journey beyond the horizon, gave its final hurrah in vivid pinks and yellows in the clouds above him. A strong smell of sizzling steak wafted over as Poros rotated the stick, loaded with meat, over spluttering flames. The smell of the fat dripping and spitting onto the hot coals below was intoxicating and Kaiyo, after two days on the move, with only forage for snacks felt his stomach grumble furiously.
"Oh hoh!" Poros exclaimed, with a chuckle "Worry not young Kaiyo! Tonight, we rest! And feast!" He groaned as he leaned to the side of the log he'd perched himself on to tend to the fire. From the sand, Poros picked up a short, sturdy stick and began to poke around in the coals, moving them to the side, ready to lay the ramps and other foraged greens to cook separately.
"Tonight, we give thanks to Argenon for sending us this meaty morsel, and tomorrow, we take to the seas once again!" Poros rallies, "Adventure awaits us Kaiyo!"
Looking over his shoulder to a space back up the beach, Kaiyo wrenched his neck suddenly and a sharp tearing pain spread across his chest and down his shoulder. "Ah!" he cried, raising his hand to his sternum, the same spot that connected at speed with a wooden club two days prior. He scrambled up from his spot in the sand and took a deep breath, moving through the pain that now wracked his chest. Trudging back up the beach to sit beside his mentor, Kaiyo tried desperately to take control of his breathing as sharp waves rippled through his torso.
Noticing his staggered breathing, Poros looked up at the young man, who was now lowering himself gingerly to the sand beside him. "Kaiyo my boy, you are hurt," he observes. Not a skerrick of judgement coloured his tone, only empathy and concern. "Why did you say nothing?"
"This?" Oh, no, it's nothing," Kaiyo shrugs, wincing as he does, "nothing I can't handle." He reached out across the hot coals and snagged a small crispy piece of meat off of the stick.
"Nonsense, you are injured," Poros insists, "Let me heal you." He extends a large, lightly glowing hand towards the young genasi's shoulder but is stunned as his student dodges out of the way. "No, Poros, it's okay. I need to be strong if I want to be a hero, you said that yourself," he grimaces through clenched teeth.
"Ah. I see," Poros lowered his hand, eyes fixed on the young mans face, considering quietly the intention in front of him. "So you think, that in order to be a hero, you must carry the burdens of suffering yourself?" He looked sternly across the dying flames, as Kaiyo's brows furrowed and his face darkened. Confusion suffusing his features, the young one looked into the glowing coals and remained silent for a short while.
"I think, that there is enough pain in this world already. And well, my burden is my own, I dont want to be a burden to others" he offered, nodding his head slowly. A silence spread between the two men, as Poros took in a steady breath of salty sea air and considered this.
"Kaiyakis, this is something that all heroes must come to terms with, eventually," Poros spoke slowly. "How do you rescue others and release them from their burdens of pain and fear, if you are weighed down with pain of your own? How will you raise their spirits and free them from their chains with injured muscles?" He leaned over, closer now and more gently "Young hero, in the same way that you must relieve your hunger and fuel your power, you must also embrace respite when you are tired and you must take time to heal when you are injured. If not for yourself, then for the people who need us!"
His hand, extended once more hovered hesitantly over Kaiyo's back, stopped, expectant but patient. Kaiyo lowered his head, staring into the red heat in front of him, and sighed in recognition. "You're right Poros, I'm sorry," he breathed into the night. "No apologies necessary young hero, it is a lesson we all must learn eventually. To provide for others, we must protect ourselves."
Poros's hand glows with a bronze heat, shimmering in the night, he laid his hand on his friends back and suffused him with the healing power of his gods. Murmuring a short prayer to Argenon, he watched his companions chest rise and fall as muscles knitted back together and the pain in the boys eyes receeded.
"Thankyou Poros," Kaiyo sighed, "seems like I'll always have more to learn."
"Yes boy," the paladin replied, but you are not alone in this world any longer, I will teach you"