His fears weren't entirely unfounded. If Ven had thought that the pain couldn't get worse, or at least not much worse, he was taught better the second that blade touched his tattered, exposed tissue.
He had a pretty good pain tolerance, or so he'd thought -- but this pushed, tried, stressed, and then shattered those limits faster than he thought possible. He cried out, a muffled choking sound that loosed all the restraint he was using to keep his leg as still as possible. Even then, he jumped slightly, and it took a surprising amount of self-control to resist the urge to twist and shrink away from the source of that pain.
But Ven managed. He bit down harder until his teeth ached and his jaw was nearly numb, his free hand fisting tight enough to draw flecks of blood in his palm. Rae was at his side again in an instant. If it was possible for a moogle to go pale, she managed it right then -- but unlike before, she didn't panic. She put her paws on his arm and spoke to him quietly, doing her best to offer what little comfort she could, but Ven didn't hear any of it. He was screwing up every ounce of strength and willpower he had to keep his lower body motionless, and that required locking his focus onto a single point in his mind, an attempt to drown everything else out. Even his own stifled screams were soon beyond his attention, as were the pained tears in his eyes and running down his temples, but nothing could do a thing for the agony in his leg.
Fighting through this pain would have been easier. Simply doing nothing, having to remain as still and quiet as possible, made it all the harder to bear.
He didn't hear Terra's voice at first. He didn't feel the touch of cool water, either; the only change that caught his attention was the way the pain slowly shifted, dropping from the razor-sharp pulse that mimicked his racing heartbeat to a slightly duller throb. Only when Terra said his name did the miserable haze in Ven's head start to clear, enough for him to become aware of Rae's presence and notice that Terra had moved.
Was it done?
"Yeah," he managed hoarsely, unsure just what she had said. A response was probably good all the same. "I'm..." He couldn't tack on a fine, not this time. Not yet. "Is it...?"
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He had a pretty good pain tolerance, or so he'd thought -- but this pushed, tried, stressed, and then shattered those limits faster than he thought possible. He cried out, a muffled choking sound that loosed all the restraint he was using to keep his leg as still as possible. Even then, he jumped slightly, and it took a surprising amount of self-control to resist the urge to twist and shrink away from the source of that pain.
But Ven managed. He bit down harder until his teeth ached and his jaw was nearly numb, his free hand fisting tight enough to draw flecks of blood in his palm. Rae was at his side again in an instant. If it was possible for a moogle to go pale, she managed it right then -- but unlike before, she didn't panic. She put her paws on his arm and spoke to him quietly, doing her best to offer what little comfort she could, but Ven didn't hear any of it. He was screwing up every ounce of strength and willpower he had to keep his lower body motionless, and that required locking his focus onto a single point in his mind, an attempt to drown everything else out. Even his own stifled screams were soon beyond his attention, as were the pained tears in his eyes and running down his temples, but nothing could do a thing for the agony in his leg.
Fighting through this pain would have been easier. Simply doing nothing, having to remain as still and quiet as possible, made it all the harder to bear.
He didn't hear Terra's voice at first. He didn't feel the touch of cool water, either; the only change that caught his attention was the way the pain slowly shifted, dropping from the razor-sharp pulse that mimicked his racing heartbeat to a slightly duller throb. Only when Terra said his name did the miserable haze in Ven's head start to clear, enough for him to become aware of Rae's presence and notice that Terra had moved.
Was it done?
"Yeah," he managed hoarsely, unsure just what she had said. A response was probably good all the same. "I'm..." He couldn't tack on a fine, not this time. Not yet. "Is it...?"