private The Fall of Andalasia ~Book 1~

[Sanctified Absence 126]

The towering maiden, the sight and smell of death, the crushing darkness that threatened to overwhelm anything that stood in its path. Zaddion awoke from his nightmare in a near state of shock, sitting there motionlessly as he tried to get his thoughts together. Where exactly was he? What happened to the others? Such questions were answered after a long moment of concentration.

 

Attempting to get himself to his feet for some purpose unknown even to himself, the Mage's efforts were only met with the ground crashing against his forehead. "What... Happened?" His breath was gone, his skin was pale and for once in his life he felt helpless. Silence... Oh there was nothing right now that compared to the damning silence in response to his question.

 

Clenching his fists and slowly rising, the Mage was barely coping with the image of the iron-clad woman, the image of all the death that he had suddenly seen before nearly facing it himself twice. "What happened!?" He had no energy left for keeping a hold of himself, the condition leaving him slightly desperate in everything he was doing. 

[Torrent505 370]

@, @@Scribblegroove,  @@RunsWithSquirlz,

 

The old man smiled a grin his teeth were white and in perfect shape, a rarity for someone his age,  "Well young man, I am a bounty hunter-"  he gestured at the coffin, "-far less morally grey than the sort of hunting you do.  As for who you are I have no idea what your name is but-" he pointed bone finger at the short sword, "-one never forgets a facing a fire like that... and given the force of magic I felt up there I would have been an idiot not to assume as much."  He set the medical bag down next to Adrass.

 

He turned back to look at Tugg and gave an exasperated sigh,  "Fine hold on to the hat for now, there is no need to growl at me but please do return it before one of us leaves, an intelligent creature such as yourself must be smart enough to see the follies of thievery."

 

He returned to the coffin settling back to sitting on it, "As for your story, I guess I might believe it but surely you're wrong about the mercenaries working for the crown.  The crown wouldn't be so foolish as to risk inviting retaliation when the King is ill just to attack a witch hunting caravan and who in there right mind would believe they would be so stupid as to fly the banner of Illia without it being a setup?..."  He looked keenly at Flinch, "... are you well enough to help your doctor friend or must I?"

 

@@RunsWithSquirlz,  @@Flying Ace,

 

Serafinno did not usually like water, but after what had happened earlier the cool water was very soothing; until Whisper began moving into deeper water, when she motioned for him to head to shore he did so gladly.  He let out a little distressed cry as he actually swam rather gracefully to shore, and despite the fact he was a very capable swim Serafinno was absolutely certain he would sink and become helpless in the deeper water at any moment.  His relief came as a growling purr as his claws finally touched the river bed and he reached a wading depth were his head could stay above the water while standing.  Still he continued to shore, not wanting to play in the water with no one close enough to 'save him' should the water try and swallow him up.  He once on the river bank he paused next to Dresden and shook himself dry as he felt surely the human had been mocking with that comment. 

Edited July 10, 2014 by Torrent505

[RunsWithSquirlz 274]

Tulla awoke with a jolt from hunger painsand looked around, forgetting their ordeal for a moment. "Tugg? Where is he?" She stuck her fingers in her mouth and made a an shrill whistle; imitating a bird.

 

Whisper stayed in the water, at least up to shoulder length and threw the sword onshore. "Zaddion, we were attacked...and now we're safe. I think.Adrass or the scary doctor haven't come...they might be dead."

----

 

Tugg cocked his head; the whistle was out of range for normal human hearing. He got up, whacking the hat away and nudging Adrass.

 

Or maybe he should just leave the lazy humans?

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Adrass.

 

@@Torrent505,

 

He wasn't certain whether he believed the old mans words or not, but Adrass wasn't exactly in a position to turn down help. Rather than dispute the matter, he simply shrugged.

 

"I do what I have to." Was the go-to response that he used in situation where he was called out on the callousness of his lifestyle. "Morallity has nothing to do with it. As for the politics... I don't really think about it. I have my own concerns - who kills who isbt my business until some hell witch comes after me."

 

Petting the Chimera atop the head (as staying on at least moderate terms with creatures with the capacity to eat him was a policy that he lived by) he looked towards the second washed up form, made a noise if resignation and waded into the water again

 

The water was cold - a joyous comparison to feeling nothing at all - when he stepped into the shallows to try and retrieve the possible corpse of the doctor.

 

"I just tell things how I see them."

 

@@Scribblegroove,

 

The body was heavy - as bodies tended to be, especially when clothed and in turn waterlogged. Much as the burly hunter might normally have not have even remotely struggled under normal circumstances, he was battered, bruised and beaten - exhausted, in every sense of the word. Seizing the healer by the arms, he began to heave the figure a few meters inland, where the flow of the river wasn't likely to claim him again.

 

His wounds needed to be tended to, but he could do that. Certainly not as well as the doctor probably could, but well enough to have kept him alive all these years. Regardless, not drowning was a worthy cause for the pair to begin with.

Edited July 11, 2014 by Cinderscribe

[Flying Ace 142]

@@Sanctified Absence,@@RunsWithSquirlz,

"Well, nice to see you haven't kicked the bucket yet, and Tugg went to hunt for food." Dresden called over his shoulder as he knelt down next to the sword Whisper threw, "strange I never seen a sword like this before." Dresden looked over the sword a second time before grabbing the hilt. 

(I hope that doesn't kill Dresden because something tells me, its connected to Whisper)

[RunsWithSquirlz 274]

"I saw it come over the falls. I was thinking of keeping it in remembrance.I've never seen a blade like it. I can't use it, I dont know how." she answered while flicking water at Finn playfully.

 

"Oh yeah" Tulla grunted. "So what's the plan now that we've lost our 'captain'?"

Edited July 11, 2014 by RunsWithSquirlz

[Flying Ace 142]

"I saw it come over the falls. I was thinking of keeping it in remembrance.I've never seen a blade like it. I can't use it, I dont know how." she answered while flicking water at Finn playfully.

 

"Oh yeah" she grunted. "So what's the plan now that we've lost oour 'captain'?"

"Well, you can go back to sleep if you want I got first watch and will let you know when Tugg comes back as for this," Dresden stabbed the sword though the ground and walked away from it. "So Whisper if you're up to it how would you like to learn how to use a weapon I think now is as good a time as any to learn."

[RunsWithSquirlz 274]

"I would love to! But uhm...at the moment...I can't. Im quite naked...uh so unless someone has an extra cloak...anything" she blushed furiously and cleared her throat.

---

 

Tugg bumped against Adrass with his head, then turned to present him his back for the doctor to lay.

[Sekel 692]

@@RunsWithSquirlz

Gasping, Helena woke up in a cold sweat and also due to the pain in her legs. Hearing what the princess said, Helena grabbed her cloak and wordlessly tossed it to her. "Here ... you ... need it more ... than I do. But it may ... be a bit wet." Helena got out between breaths. She breathed heavily as she tried to move even a little bit but the pain in her legs was unbearable. 'Yup. Definitely broken legs.' Helena th8ught grimly.

[Torrent505 370]

@@RunsWithSquirlz,  @@Flying Ace, (I think the sword is from Adrass and it came down the river over the waterfall)

 

Serafinno let out a short warbling call as Whispers water hit him and rolled over mimicking death, he was careful to make sure however that his wing flapped over the water to send a good sized splash back at her as he 'died'.  

 

@,   @@Scribblegroove,

 

 

The old man hurried to retrieve his hat before the chimera decide to reclaim it, then returned to his coffin opening the lid again to withdrawal a long corn cob pipe which he promptly began to smoke as he watched the two younger men struggle.  He was quite enjoying himself and wondered if they would get over their pride enough to ask for help... He figured it was very unlikely that the witch hunter would at least.

Edited July 11, 2014 by Torrent505

[Flying Ace 142]

"I would love to! But uhm...at the moment...I can't. Im quite naked...uh so unless someone has an extra cloak...anything" she blushed furiously and cleared her throat.

---

 

Tugg bumped against Adrass with his head, then turned to present him his back for the doctor to lay.

 

@@RunsWithSquirlz

Gasping, Helena woke up in a cold sweat and also due to the pain in her legs. Hearing what the princess said, Helena grabbed her cloak and wordlessly tossed it to her. "Here ... you ... need it more ... than I do. But it may ... be a bit wet." Helena got out between breaths. She breathed heavily as she tried to move even a little bit but the pain in her legs was unbearable. 'Yup. Definitely broken legs.' Helena th8ught grimly.

Dresden thanked the night for hiding his blush when he noticed the princess was indeed naked but he was even more thank for when Helena gave her a cloak, "try not to move so much Helena you took the fall worse, try to go back to sleep you need it as much as anybody." Dresden said.

 

@@RunsWithSquirlz,  @@Flying Ace, (I think the sword is from Adrass and it came down the river over the waterfall)

 

Serafinno let out a short warbling call as Whispers water hit him and rolled over mimicking death, he was careful to make sure however that his wing flapped over the water to send a good sized splash back at her as he 'died'.  

 

@,   @@Scribblegroove,

 

 

The old man hurried to retrieve his hat before the chimera decide to reclaim it, then returned to his coffin opening the lid again to withdrawal a long corn cob pipe which he promptly began to smoke as he watched the two younger men struggle.  He was quite enjoying himself and wondered if they would get over their pride enough to ask for help... He figured it was very unlikely that the witch hunter would at least.

"Awe that's so adorable! Look at him! I wish I had a pet but sadly there not allowed at the orphanage." Dresden said at Finn's acting, "So, now that your covered; want to train?"

[Sekel 692]

@@Flying Ace

"How can I ... sleep when my legs ... keep acting ... up!?" Helena yelled out of frustration. She didn't mean to but she's never felt pain like this before. Breathing through her nose, Helena closed her eyes but it didn't seem to make a difference to her. "Just- I'm sorry Dresden." Helena apologised to him.

[Flying Ace 142]

@@Flying Ace

"How can I ... sleep when my legs ... keep acting ... up!?" Helena yelled out of frustration. She didn't mean to but she's never felt pain like this before. Breathing through her nose, Helena closed her eyes but it didn't seem to make a difference to her. "Just- I'm sorry Dresden." Helena apologised to him.

Dresden was taken aback by Helena's outburst "don't apologize I deserved to be yelled at." Dresden walked towards Helena and sat next to her, "do you mind if I take a look at your legs to see how badly damaged they are?" Dresden asked scratching the back of his head.

[Sekel 692]

@@Flying Ace

Helena sighed and flopped down on to her back. "May as well. It's not like I can do anything else." Helena huffed and wondered what Dresden would do to her legs. "Just be careful." Helena said through clenched teeth, beong in too much pain other than just to go with the flow.

[RunsWithSquirlz 274]

"I wish I could help you but I dont want to risk The Maiden sensing me." Whisper said as she climbed from the pool; wrapping herself with the cloak and pulling the sword from the soil.

 

"If we could at least wait until the morning...I'll do my best to help you. Though Dresden...you may need surgery to remove those shards. I do not want to heal over them."

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@@Flying Ace, @, @@RunsWithSquirlz, 

 

Something the others were saying must have struck a chord with him, because Robert suddenly emerged from his deep reflection of the day's events. "I can set broken bones. It won't exactly fix things, but it's a good start. Nothing I can do about shrapnel, though. Not unless you really want an amateur rooting around in your shoulders with a knife."

[Sekel 692]

@@Alex Kennedy, @@Flying Ace, @@RunsWithSquirlz

Helena had a surprised look on her face when the bard said that he could set broken bones. "You can set broken bones? It's better than nothing." Helena said, shrugging. She sat up but didn't move her lower body. "Seeming that this bard can't dig out shrapnel, let me. I had to do it to myself plenty of times. Whether it be a splinter, gravel or bullet that didn't quite go all the way through. I'm pretty sure that I can get that shrapnel out of your shoulders if you'll let me, Dresden." Helena said, panting from the exertion of talking too much. It was taking all her strength just to sit up.

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@,

 

Robert slowly approached the thief and laid a hand on her thigh. "Excuse me if I have to get a bit... friendly. I'll need a good grip on your leg, you understand. And be ready, because this is going to hurt. A lot." Placing his other hand, he began to shift the bones back into their proper place. It only took a few moments to finish the first leg, but he knew from experience how painful that short time was. He moved to the second leg and repeated the process, trying to make it as quick and painless as possible. "There. That's about all I can do. Try not to walk on them for as long as possible. Of course, I doubt you'll have the luxury of resting them for too long.

[Sekel 692]

@@Alex Kennedy

Helena was extremely thankful that it was dark out otherwise the people around her would have seen a massive blush across her face. "It's fine, just-" She couldn't finish the sentence as he set the bones in place. She groaned in pain and as he leaned over to set the other leg, she was still reeling from the effects of the first bone set. When he set her other leg, she screamed and managed to keep still during the process. She nearly passed out from the pain again. "I'll .. ngh ... make sure not to ... move." Helena panted, trying to remain still.

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@,

 

He nodded. "Good. Now you should rest. If something goes wrong and you need me again, I'll just be over here working on a new song. It helps me relax, which I could use after today." He slowly got up and walked back over to where he was sitting before. As he worked, he intermittently strummed his lute softly or tapped his foot to a rhythm in his head.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Adrass.

 

Grunting as the doctor was hefted (after a couple of failed attempts and much swearing) unceremoniously up onto the creatures back Almost dropping to his knees once again, the hunter paused mid grumble - raising a palm to his face.

 

There was that infernal music again. If he continued hearing things like this, it might well drive him mad before he ever ran across another hired sword or beastie.

 

"I hate water: 'least this time nothing's missing." It was a poor attempt at humor anyway, but as soon as the words had been spoken he remembered the missing knife, and his great sword. One was more precious than his own life and the other being as my h a part of him as an arm or a leg.

 

The hunter grumbled under his breath as he reached for the medical bag that had been offered: beginning to rummage around through the array of supplies that he neither recognised, nor cared about. He didn't have a clue how to properly heal a would - only how to patch himself up enough that he could still function.

 

A needle and thread - that would do. Bandages were removed as well for good measure. If infection set in... well, he'd deal with that if it did. Until then, he was content to simply trust his own body and constitution. It was a shame that his guns and powder were soaked - cauterising would have been a much more practical solution.

 

"Two more things..." He asked as he bit off a length of thread and set about closing the more significant cuts. "Firstly, Is there anything like civilisation nearby? I don't think our friend here would appreciate my kind of 'healing'."

 

He almost smirked at the thought.

 

"Secondly... do you have any sand?"

[Sekel 692]

"Right." Helena muttered. She rested on her back and moved her head from side to side but she could only see darkness around her besides the moonlight and Dresden sitting next to her. She could probably take the shrapnel out of his shoulders if he laid next to her but it was entirely up to him.

@@Flying Ace

"Dresden ... you're going to need that shrapnel out sooner, rather than later so that the Princess can heal you." Helena told him, smiling grimly.

[Scribblegroove 565]

Flinch

 

For a moment flinch had let his consciousness slip away. How peacful he had felt to simply quit for a moment, and not feel all the wounds both inside and outside of his body. To just drift off into his own dreams and forget about the world for a moment. He knew very well that it was a bad idea to lose consciousness while also losing blood, but he couldn't help himself.

 

Then he felt that he was being moved. The leathery cloth of his undercoat tugged at his open wounds and burns as he was dragged over the ground. It hurt, but not too much. Nothing hurt much for him since the 'incident'. He heard the voices of two men, but they were dull. One of his eardums had torn, and the other was damaged slightly. An explosion had the tendency to blow your ears out sometimes.

 

He opened his eyes, hoping to get a slightly clear view of the situation. His view was blurry and shapeless. He could only make out colors and slight outlines. He couldn't quite remember what exactly had happened. He immediately diagnosed himself. "Heavy concussion... short-term memory loss..." He  mumbled to himself softly, not really realising he was thinking out loud. "Wounds... treaded immediately... Prevent infections..." He rambled on as he looked to his side, his vision slowly starting to become more clear. He could make out a human, or at least human-like being standing in the distance. He could still feel he was being moved, but he was still trying to understand the situation.

 

Then a horrendous thought revealed itself to him. "Infections... Infection... My... My mask!" He said with a cracky voice, barely capable of speaking loudly. His sight was clear enough to make out Adrass above him, trying to drag him away from the water. His memory returned to him slightly as the danger of this situation dawned to him. He looked at his chest and arms. There were burns and cuts everywhere. His hand was bleeding. A drop of blood dripped down from his forehead onto his brow, and then into his milky-white left eye. "My mask... Wounds... Blood!" He stammered as he looked up to adrass. "Stay away... Stay away." He almost wispered. His wretched face twisted into agony as he tugged at his arms, trying to make Adrass stop touching him.

 

"Infections... Infection. You'll die. Death! Stay away..." His muscles were barely strong enough to move his head to look towards his leather bag that was at the shore of the river. "My supplies. Hand me my supplies." He said with a slightly more strong tone of voice as he saw a way out of this awful situation. His breathing was quick and distressed. He knew he wasn't going to die. But he didn't want others to die because of his negligence. 

Edited July 11, 2014 by Scribblegroove

[Flying Ace 142]

"Right." Helena muttered. She rested on her back and moved her head from side to side but she could only see darkness around her besides the moonlight and Dresden sitting next to her. She could probably take the shrapnel out of his shoulders if he laid next to her but it was entirely up to him.

@@Flying Ace

"Dresden ... you're going to need that shrapnel out sooner, rather than later so that the Princess can heal you." Helena told him, smiling grimly.

Dresden thought about it for a second before he nodded, "yep I would like it if you could take them out; their starting to be a pain." Dresden said laying on his back. "Try to do it quickly please because I can tell this is going to be extremely painful." Dresden said shivering.  

[Sanctified Absence 126]

Given the current situation, it was almost a miracle that anyone in the group had any energy left. Very few in the group seemed to possess interior injuries. Perhaps the fall wasn't as great as he thought, he never had the chance to see the distance with a clear head. Regardless of injuries he felt as though his sensory capabilities were still of use to the group, fortunately such things didn't require much use of the body.

 

Looking around Zaddion was suddenly hit with a sense of slight loss, his staff was nowhere to be found that he could see. Sure under any other circumstances he may have mourned the loss of life over his staff, but losing something precious to him was more painful than the loss of people he never got along with. "What a time to lose my Magickal focus..." He chuckled weakly, even he was not sure why he sounded so amused, he most certainly wasn't on the inside.

 

"What's the damage, how long until we can move on?" The Mage summoned up enough effort to get himself onto his feet, feeling numb all over other than a pain in his ribcage apparently strong enough for him to feel. Dismissing it as a minor wound he clutched the area of the sharp sensation before slowly making his way to the riverside.