15th of Frost, 4622
On the third day, he would become whole.
The construction of his new arm was complete, all that remained was to install it. As such, he started the day early; he clambered from his bedroll and rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he dragged his tail down the halls of the derelict halls and bundled whatever cobwebs he could catch with his mechanical arm.
The texture of silk bothered him none in his metallic hand, he realized as he trudged the halls. The lack of sensation in his hand was something he'd almost become accustomed to, but no longer.
Sleepily, he inspected the bundled gossamer in his metallic fingers, shifted it with his thumb, then looked up to continue his walk down the hall and discarded the webbing.
Step by step, he descended the thick darkness of the underground complex and soon arrived at the designated surgery room. There on the table laid his freshly-made arm. Cold, limp, lifeless. It looked just as his left arm did, every last detail from the placement of the bone plating to the depth of his knuckles and the length of his claws.
It was the mirror image, of course, with his thumb placed on the left of the hand with the palm down.
Arkash stood there for a moment and took in the look of his good work before he exhaled and snapped from his spell. He took a chair with both hands and guided it to the operating table on which his new arm rested.
With a deep exhale, he brought his arm to rest on the stonework and splayed his metallic fingers with his palm flat.
There was little left of his Radius and Ulna in his elbow; it would be easier to remove the damaged pieces and then install the fresh arm, he decided. Though the Rath knew such a procedure was going to test his endurance.
Before anything, he used his long muzzle and left hand to tie a tightened band around his bicep for the purpose of restricting his blood flow. Once the scales below it began to grow numb, he eased off on the tightening and let go of the band once he was sure the knot was secure.
With a deep sigh, he swallowed and then let his cardinal features manifest in his left arm. Claws elongated, sharpened and burned with frigid black flames. His beating heart picked up its pace and throbbed hard in his chest as he mentally prepared to maim himself. His scales were one thing, but removing pieces of bone was something Arkash hadn't anticipated he'd ever need to do to himself.
He let the quills manifest behind his head, severed a few of them, bundled them together, and then bit into them toward the back of his long jaws. Finally, he was ready. Moments were spent in silence, just steeling himself for what was to come.
Sure enough, Arkash found his footing, took a deep breath, then sank his monstrous claws into his own flesh. He cried out and bit down hard on the bundled quills before he looked down, teary-eyed. Dark red blood oozed from the site of the wounds, and Arkash's heart thrummed hard in his chest to deliver a dose of adrenaline to the rest of his musculature.
His breathing was ragged, his mouth a mess of drool as he tightened his grip and cut through the damaged bones. With remarkable ease, he sheared through muscle, tendon, and marrow, and fully severed his stump by the time he closed a fist. The mechanical arm stopped altogether, a fist clenched in the state it had been severed.
His arm, a gory mess, dripping with blighted crimson, he shook as he severed the ties of the Ulnar Collateral Ligament, and plucked the ends of his Ulna and radius from the hold of his flesh with messy fingers.
The world spun around him, his mouth was dry and his tongue was fat in his mouth. A throbbing headache had filled his head and deep, piercing pain throbbed around the site of the surgery.
With his bloody hand, he reached over the table and dragged his new arm to the jagged site of his removal and lined everything up in the dripping mess of his veins. First things first, he collected his Grafting Needle and began to join the tendons to the new bones. The needle was difficult to grip with all the blood that coated his work, but he managed with the lengths of three fingers.
Dexterously, he guided the end of the needle through the tendon and joined it to the fresh bones before he set the etheric cord with a twist and finished the connection. Next was the joining of the arteries, which Arkash managed with relative ease. He sighed in relief as he fully socketed the humerus into the Ulna, and began to join the Ulnar nerve with more etheric thread. Sure enough, the twist of the needle restored feeling in his arm.
In its messy, exposed state, Arkash tested the elbow joint. He curled his bicep and watched the tendon contract. His arm raised as he expected it to. Carefully, he rotated his wrist and found it to stop where he expected. The motion adjusted the position of some of the fingers, which he then inspected by curling individually before he clasped a fist, then began to roll his wrist to test the muscles he'd built the day prior.
As expected, everything worked as he'd intended, as he'd designed it. His heart began to steady a little when it was revealed that he'd built it properly. All that was left was to complete the installation.
Using the Sinew Gun, Arkash quickly filled in the tattered gap of his forearm and bicep with Sinew Foam, which transformed into various layers of skin, vessels, and scales as it joined the two, and he effortlessly shaved off the excess with the Carving Sickle.
Finally, he snapped the tie around his bicep and shuddered as the feeling of warm blood filled the arteries of his new arm for the first time. Warmth began to revive the cold flesh of his new appendage, and he leaned back in his chair to hang his head and fell asleep.
"Arkash," she called as she shook the Rath's body side-to-side. "Wake up!"
His head rolled on its shoulders as he was moved, and his eyes steadily crept open to reveal his legs as they sat in the seat, the dusty derelict floor, and then the eye of his companion as he lifted his head fully. "Wh-"
"-What the fuck?" She asked with some hint of aggravation to her tone. "Yeah, that's what I was about to ask. You did the surgery without me?"
Arkash blinked slowly, then looked at his arm, which hung limp at his side. Quickly, he curled the limb and flexed his fingers. "Yeah, I... I guess I did." He furrowed his brow and lifted his left arm to hold his head. "I... Passed out, I don't know what happened."
She shook her head, then crouched in front of him and began to wipe up the mess of his drool and tears. "You're insane," she reminded. "Did you forget a step?"
"No... I," he paused to think. It was after he'd removed the tie on his arm, he quickly became fatigued and fell asleep. "...Maybe... I didn't make any extra blood for the new arm, just kinda... let my existing blood fill it."
She blinked. "So... You just lost a whole bunch of blood at once, on top of all this mess..." She gestured to the horror scene that was his discarded, torn-up elbow.
Arkash nodded.
Izzy sighed. "You're going to kill yourself one of these days, Ark."
He shook his head. "No, I regenerate quickly as a Cardinal, I'm better already," he said as he engaged his legs, stood up, wavered, then fell into her.
"Oh yeah!" She called out while she held up his body. "You're totally fine Ark! Sure!" She grunted as she eased him back into the chair. "By the Achra..." she shook her head.
"...Ohhh," he moaned and held his head. "Wow, that was... Powerful, I just got so dizzy and... Everything went dark."
"You need to rest," she spoke in a warning. "And you need water; food too."
"There isn't any," he shook his head where he sat. "I ate it all."
"You..." She stopped and thought. "Oh, the raider. Well here, drink this," she offered him her skin.
Arkash lay there, breathing like he'd run a marathon. "Can you..." he began.
"...Alright," She smiled with a disapproving shake of her head, then held the nozzle up to his lips and poured. He drank quickly, his throat expanded and shrank with each swallow, and he gradually relaxed.
She stopped about halfway through the contents of the skin, then capped the bag before she squeezed his shoulder. "As for food... I can help you out this once."
Arkash stared at her and blinked lazily, for a moment, it wasn't clear if he'd heard what she said or not. Finally, he asked, "...are you sure?" Without any will to refuse or oppose her offer.
She smiled a little, then nodded her head. "Just this once, Ark. I mean it. And you've gotta fix it afterward; scars and all."
Eagerly, he nodded to her terms, then took a deep breath as she presented her wrist, and eased it between his lips. Within seconds of piercing her skin, Arkash felt his strength returning. From the moment her lifeblood hit his stomach, his body began to mend the damage to his form and restored the contents of his arteries. There he stayed, and there he drank until her hand pressed his shoulder, and he let her go to breathe deeply. The coppery tang of her blood spilled onto his tongue a little more from the wounds he'd made, and he eagerly swallowed without pause.
On the third day, he would become whole.
The construction of his new arm was complete, all that remained was to install it. As such, he started the day early; he clambered from his bedroll and rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he dragged his tail down the halls of the derelict halls and bundled whatever cobwebs he could catch with his mechanical arm.
The texture of silk bothered him none in his metallic hand, he realized as he trudged the halls. The lack of sensation in his hand was something he'd almost become accustomed to, but no longer.
Sleepily, he inspected the bundled gossamer in his metallic fingers, shifted it with his thumb, then looked up to continue his walk down the hall and discarded the webbing.
Step by step, he descended the thick darkness of the underground complex and soon arrived at the designated surgery room. There on the table laid his freshly-made arm. Cold, limp, lifeless. It looked just as his left arm did, every last detail from the placement of the bone plating to the depth of his knuckles and the length of his claws.
It was the mirror image, of course, with his thumb placed on the left of the hand with the palm down.
Arkash stood there for a moment and took in the look of his good work before he exhaled and snapped from his spell. He took a chair with both hands and guided it to the operating table on which his new arm rested.
With a deep exhale, he brought his arm to rest on the stonework and splayed his metallic fingers with his palm flat.
There was little left of his Radius and Ulna in his elbow; it would be easier to remove the damaged pieces and then install the fresh arm, he decided. Though the Rath knew such a procedure was going to test his endurance.
Before anything, he used his long muzzle and left hand to tie a tightened band around his bicep for the purpose of restricting his blood flow. Once the scales below it began to grow numb, he eased off on the tightening and let go of the band once he was sure the knot was secure.
With a deep sigh, he swallowed and then let his cardinal features manifest in his left arm. Claws elongated, sharpened and burned with frigid black flames. His beating heart picked up its pace and throbbed hard in his chest as he mentally prepared to maim himself. His scales were one thing, but removing pieces of bone was something Arkash hadn't anticipated he'd ever need to do to himself.
He let the quills manifest behind his head, severed a few of them, bundled them together, and then bit into them toward the back of his long jaws. Finally, he was ready. Moments were spent in silence, just steeling himself for what was to come.
Sure enough, Arkash found his footing, took a deep breath, then sank his monstrous claws into his own flesh. He cried out and bit down hard on the bundled quills before he looked down, teary-eyed. Dark red blood oozed from the site of the wounds, and Arkash's heart thrummed hard in his chest to deliver a dose of adrenaline to the rest of his musculature.
His breathing was ragged, his mouth a mess of drool as he tightened his grip and cut through the damaged bones. With remarkable ease, he sheared through muscle, tendon, and marrow, and fully severed his stump by the time he closed a fist. The mechanical arm stopped altogether, a fist clenched in the state it had been severed.
His arm, a gory mess, dripping with blighted crimson, he shook as he severed the ties of the Ulnar Collateral Ligament, and plucked the ends of his Ulna and radius from the hold of his flesh with messy fingers.
The world spun around him, his mouth was dry and his tongue was fat in his mouth. A throbbing headache had filled his head and deep, piercing pain throbbed around the site of the surgery.
With his bloody hand, he reached over the table and dragged his new arm to the jagged site of his removal and lined everything up in the dripping mess of his veins. First things first, he collected his Grafting Needle and began to join the tendons to the new bones. The needle was difficult to grip with all the blood that coated his work, but he managed with the lengths of three fingers.
Dexterously, he guided the end of the needle through the tendon and joined it to the fresh bones before he set the etheric cord with a twist and finished the connection. Next was the joining of the arteries, which Arkash managed with relative ease. He sighed in relief as he fully socketed the humerus into the Ulna, and began to join the Ulnar nerve with more etheric thread. Sure enough, the twist of the needle restored feeling in his arm.
In its messy, exposed state, Arkash tested the elbow joint. He curled his bicep and watched the tendon contract. His arm raised as he expected it to. Carefully, he rotated his wrist and found it to stop where he expected. The motion adjusted the position of some of the fingers, which he then inspected by curling individually before he clasped a fist, then began to roll his wrist to test the muscles he'd built the day prior.
As expected, everything worked as he'd intended, as he'd designed it. His heart began to steady a little when it was revealed that he'd built it properly. All that was left was to complete the installation.
Using the Sinew Gun, Arkash quickly filled in the tattered gap of his forearm and bicep with Sinew Foam, which transformed into various layers of skin, vessels, and scales as it joined the two, and he effortlessly shaved off the excess with the Carving Sickle.
Finally, he snapped the tie around his bicep and shuddered as the feeling of warm blood filled the arteries of his new arm for the first time. Warmth began to revive the cold flesh of his new appendage, and he leaned back in his chair to hang his head and fell asleep.
"Arkash," she called as she shook the Rath's body side-to-side. "Wake up!"
His head rolled on its shoulders as he was moved, and his eyes steadily crept open to reveal his legs as they sat in the seat, the dusty derelict floor, and then the eye of his companion as he lifted his head fully. "Wh-"
"-What the fuck?" She asked with some hint of aggravation to her tone. "Yeah, that's what I was about to ask. You did the surgery without me?"
Arkash blinked slowly, then looked at his arm, which hung limp at his side. Quickly, he curled the limb and flexed his fingers. "Yeah, I... I guess I did." He furrowed his brow and lifted his left arm to hold his head. "I... Passed out, I don't know what happened."
She shook her head, then crouched in front of him and began to wipe up the mess of his drool and tears. "You're insane," she reminded. "Did you forget a step?"
"No... I," he paused to think. It was after he'd removed the tie on his arm, he quickly became fatigued and fell asleep. "...Maybe... I didn't make any extra blood for the new arm, just kinda... let my existing blood fill it."
She blinked. "So... You just lost a whole bunch of blood at once, on top of all this mess..." She gestured to the horror scene that was his discarded, torn-up elbow.
Arkash nodded.
Izzy sighed. "You're going to kill yourself one of these days, Ark."
He shook his head. "No, I regenerate quickly as a Cardinal, I'm better already," he said as he engaged his legs, stood up, wavered, then fell into her.
"Oh yeah!" She called out while she held up his body. "You're totally fine Ark! Sure!" She grunted as she eased him back into the chair. "By the Achra..." she shook her head.
"...Ohhh," he moaned and held his head. "Wow, that was... Powerful, I just got so dizzy and... Everything went dark."
"You need to rest," she spoke in a warning. "And you need water; food too."
"There isn't any," he shook his head where he sat. "I ate it all."
"You..." She stopped and thought. "Oh, the raider. Well here, drink this," she offered him her skin.
Arkash lay there, breathing like he'd run a marathon. "Can you..." he began.
"...Alright," She smiled with a disapproving shake of her head, then held the nozzle up to his lips and poured. He drank quickly, his throat expanded and shrank with each swallow, and he gradually relaxed.
She stopped about halfway through the contents of the skin, then capped the bag before she squeezed his shoulder. "As for food... I can help you out this once."
Arkash stared at her and blinked lazily, for a moment, it wasn't clear if he'd heard what she said or not. Finally, he asked, "...are you sure?" Without any will to refuse or oppose her offer.
She smiled a little, then nodded her head. "Just this once, Ark. I mean it. And you've gotta fix it afterward; scars and all."
Eagerly, he nodded to her terms, then took a deep breath as she presented her wrist, and eased it between his lips. Within seconds of piercing her skin, Arkash felt his strength returning. From the moment her lifeblood hit his stomach, his body began to mend the damage to his form and restored the contents of his arteries. There he stayed, and there he drank until her hand pressed his shoulder, and he let her go to breathe deeply. The coppery tang of her blood spilled onto his tongue a little more from the wounds he'd made, and he eagerly swallowed without pause.
Image source.
