Raven felt excitement at the prospect of being able to see again. This Mem girl seemed confident and that provided him with a hope he had not even harbored.
He wondered how she would fix his eyes. How much magic would be used?
Despite the fact that he was highly distracted by the very prospect of being healed, he still patted Zyph's nose, happy to see the affectionate bird-cat again.
It was a welcome distraction though for him to have such a thing to look forward to. Much better than just trying to ignore his own confusing feelings.
"This will do nicely," Mem's cheerful voice came clear and cutting through the chatter that his companions were engaging in after a few hours of walking. "I would suggest you all set up camp, while I go help your friend with his eyesight."
Dawn helped Raven down and he left, following Mem.
There was silence as they trudged through some underbrush. He tried to think of something to say, but he really knew nothing about this girl.
After a while of walking in silence, he finally broke it, "So, where exactly are we going."
"There's a very nice clean lake near here. My brother was always fond of it as a kid. It's perfect for what we need."
"What exactly do we need it for?"
"Rinsing. Of course, not in the actual lake. I have a bucket. Ah, here we are."
Raven might not have been able to see but he could hear. And smell. And those senses led him to think that this lake was not all that far away when she stopped him. Like if he went a few more feet he would end up walking into it.
The ground though was firm and dry when she told him to sit.
He listened to the sound of splashing as he could only assume that she was drawing water.
"So, what exactly do you need the water from? Do you actually need it to perform healing magic?"
"Magic?" She laughed, "I ain't using magic on this. It's not necessary. Your body will heal it on its own as long as its not blocked. That's what I'm doing. You, quite simply, have been an idiot. But, Lady Dawn said that you also lost your memory so who's blaming you for forgetting simple care of yourself."
"Umm…" Raven had no idea how to respond to this.
He could feel that the girl had knelt next to him, even before she took his hand and had him grasp onto the bucket. It was still somewhat sloshing from the movement of her carrying it.
"Alright, then, open your eyes."
"What?" He immediately straightened up, "I can't; it hurts too much!"
"Stop being a baby! I know it hurts, but I've seen my brother break almost every bone in his body before so I know that you can tolerate this, surely!" Her voice then turned more gentle, losing that slight impatience, "Trust me. If you want me to help you, it requires trust."
Her hand grasped the back of his head, and she then continued, "I'll even make it easier for you, but I can't open your eyes for you. You have to take that step yourself."
Raven took a deep breath, before forcing himself to open his eyes. The pain was excruciating as the air hit them.
The next thing he knew his head had been completely submerged into the water. With no warning.
As she let him up, he spluttered, choking on the water that had inadvertently got into his mouth.
The pain though was far less. He still couldn't see though. He blinked his eyes, trying to dispel the water that was in them.
He heard her spilling the water, "Oh, your eyes do look quite nasty at the moment. No idea when you'll actually be able to see again. But we still need to rinse it out more, I'm afraid."
It took two more submerging his head in water before she was satisfied. And before she pronounced him good, he could feel her get closer and heard her sniffing near his eyes, before her smiling voice said confidently, "It's all gone."
"What was wrong with them?" Raven finally managed after spitting out the rest of the water from her harsh treatment.
"Somehow you got dragon's blood in your eyes. Which in and of itself burns like crazy. Add to that that it had silver dross mixed in and it was even worse." She tutted, "Nasty stuff. Especially to someone like you. Not much would affect you like that. And without being properly rinsed, it has a lingering effect as well."
Raven did not fully understand but he nodded. He understood the part about the dragon's blood. Getting blood in your eyes always burned, and a magical creature's blood burned even more. Raven had a feeling that that knowledge might have been from personal experience but he could not remember the specifics.
He continued blinking, and as he did, he realized that though he would still not claim being able to see, he could see smears of color. Just they were very hard to differentiate.
And his eyes still hurt. But now it was from the light hitting it, and from trying to see, after so long an absence.
Mem suddenly tutted, and then she slid something over his eyes. "You should wear this until you can see as well as normal."
It actually helped with the sunlight issue he had just been realizing, "Why?"
"Your eyes look a mess. I don't want you scaring those kids that are with you. So wear this until you think your eyes are better."
"Alright, it helps anyway with the sun." Raven was good natured about it, but wondered whether he should be worried by her saying his eyes looked a mess. What did she mean by that?
"Anyway, let's go back. Your friends should be pleased to see you after I've set you on your road to recovery.
As they walked back, Raven was surprised to realize that with every step he took, his vision seemed just a little better. But he did not want to remove the cloth covering his eyes just yet as it really was helping shield his eyes from the bright light that was the sun.