Arun and Shuu did not take long before joining Astera again, still lying on the floor in one place. She was in pain, the vet could felt that even without approaching her, both physically and psychologically because of the loss of Naal. It was not really the time to hang out.
He approached calmly, still holding in his arms his top soaked in fresh water. He quickly went through the stages of his plan in his head.
He had first to remove the lance pushed into the wing of the raptor. Depending on how it was positioned, he had to be careful not to cause more unnecessary damage. Then, he should forcefully press his wet garment, which would act as a compress for long enough to stop the bleeding. He would probably have to use all his strength if he wanted it to be effective.
"Arun... My current state does not allow me to control my mind perfectly... You must have felt it when you put your hand on me earlier." Astera warned as he approached. She used to use her developed mind to talk to others telepathically or to read thoughts. But when she lost control of all that, she became a danger to those who approached her.
But that was just another difficulty for Arun, who was not going to stop for so little.
"It doesn't matter, I have to help you. I can't leave you in this state any longer, so send me the images and sounds you want !" Arun answered confidently, to relax the black vulture. If she already started to relax, it would probably be less terrible. And then helping the animals not to stress was also one of the skills that a good veterinarian had to have. The animals had a sixth sense to feel the aura surrounding a human, quickly allowing them to know if they had to flee or if there was no danger.
"Forgive me in advance." Astera added, resting her head on the ground, keeping only her unfolded wing.
"Forgive me too for the harm I'm going to do to you. Removing this spear is not going to be painless..."
Arun approached the wound and put his hands on the feathers of the imposing bird. Immediately, as before, a series of disturbing images and strident sounds filled his head, like so many cries of terror and fear of the raptor. Arun tried to ignore them, despite being as strong as an ambulance siren, and focused on his task.
As he opened the feathers to look a little clearer, he noticed that the tip of the spear, which had a harpoon form, had caught between Astera's flesh. It would probably have to push it a little deeper to remove the weapon, to reduce the risk of bleeding... But it would also cause more pain.
However, among all the sights and sounds that the raptor inadvertently sent to the vet, a scene in his mind caught his attention, as clear as an old film a little damaged.
"""There was a little girl, not very tall, about eight years old, looking like a couple of drops of water to Naal Shantura, his client, but in a childish version. She entered what was probably her house, a bag on her back.
The house was in a bad state. Nothing was cleaned up, the floor was covered with dust and various trash, including mostly empty glass bottles, cigarette butts, and magazines that a child of her age should not see.
The little Naal put her bag in a corner of the entrance, and Arun noticed that it was torn on one side, revealing the notebooks that filled it. The child had a sad face, and especially several red marks on her face and arms, as if she had been hit.
"It's at this time you come back, shithead ?" A bottle burst on the wall right next to her head as she tried to pass quietly in the hallway behind the living room. The little girl stopped, a terrified expression on her face, trembling with fear.
"Y-Yes d-dad... I'm sorry !" She apologized to her guardian quickly before running down the hallway and back to her room, closing the door behind her. She did not want to be hit again...
Naal sat on her bed with a sigh, a half-disemboweled mattress without blankets. The rest of her room was like the hallway, littered with filth that her father could not throw away. Every week she picked up everything on the ground to put it in the trash, but it was not during long before everything was back in the same deplorable state as before.
Arun heard the little girl's sobs, feeling compassion for her. Naal had really grown up in such a frightful setting ? The poor thing did not seem to have had an easy life. But why did Astera was showing him these moments ?
Suddenly, a small noise echoed through the room, as if someone were throwing pebbles against the window. Naal looked up sharply, stopping to cry at once. She got up quickly and rushed to the window of her room, her eyes becoming bright and sparkling.
"Astera, you're back !" The child opened the window to let in the bird, which was already as tall as her and almost struggling to get through the window.
"I promised you I would come back to see you." Astera's voice also looked younger, and the raptor rubbed against the little girl affectionately, who took the opportunity to caress her beautiful black plumage.
"Were you bullied again today ? You do not look good." Naal stopped moving as she heard the pet's words.
"Yeah... But it's okay, you're here, so I don't care what happened today. As long as you come to see me at night, it's enough for me to be happy." She said, taking a slightly forced smile. She did not want to think about all these problems, she just wanted to have fun with Astera.
"You will not be able to live like that forever... If you stay there, you'll end up cracking one day or another..." The bird was really worried about this little girl. It was not her owner, initially, just a human that she had helped when she had seen her being attacked by a gang of boys, while she was flying over the city. Despite her intervention, it seemed that these same humans continued to torture her daily...
"Astera... why are humans more evil with other humans than even animals...?" Tears rolled over the cheeks of the little girl, who clung to the raptor as a blanket.