Fantasy Skyheart (1 slot open)

[kase9187]

Aldaf pulled out a bit of cloth, holding it to Gerel with his uninjured arm. "Bite down on this. It helps." He sounded tired, both physically and emotionally. He sort of flinched when his arm got shoved back into place, but he gritted his teeth and dealt with it. "Thank you. Zeke's pinky is broken, can you go see to him? I'd do it myself, but..." Aldaf looked a bit upset at how he acted. "Just... don't let him tell you he's fine, okay? If he asks, just tell him I was concerned, but that I'm giving him space." He rolled his shoulder a little, settling it back into place.

Naberius YumenoTsukishiro

 

[Lioness075]

Name: Leandra LaFrae	Nicknames: Lea, Firefly
Clan: Sudenta	Clan Job: Huntress
Equipment: Knapsack, Medicinal Pouch, Bow, Quiver (9/10), Twin Daggers

Spoiler: Momo's Appearance

Leandra continued to try and catch her breath before going into a coughing fit that racked her body with pain. She had hoped she only bruised her ribs, but now she feared there was a minor fracture somewhere in there. There was not a whole lot that could be done about it, though, and she shakily smiled when her lemur broke its cover to join her side and worriedly chirp.
"I'm alright...I think. No worries here, buddy."

Missing most of the action around her, Leandra could hear shouting and fighting before a roar of a dragon seemed to still the chaos briefly. Caliban suddenly was standing over her and Leandra stuck her tongue out when he teased her. Accepting his hand, she gingerly stood up while wincing and muttering a curse under her breath. The lemur quickly clambered up her side and was soon sitting on her shoulder once more.
Shaking her head, Leandra held her right arm over her chest and said, "It's all good. Probably just some bruised ribs here. Who managed to get a bleeding wound already?"

But before she could get an answer, Caliban was on the move and Leandra sighed before tagging after him. She rejoined the main group and quietly stood to the side, grimacing at the sight of Gerel's injuries. Watching Kari cauterize the wounds, Leandra felt a growing respect for the girl and then flinched when Aldalf and Ezekiel began fighting. She slunk back to the edge of the group and listened to Caliban trying to quell the growing tensions. She agreed with his points and wished those two would grow up already. She could not understand why Aldalf kept starting things with others or why he seemed to be practically throwing a temper tantrum. Ezekiel clearly wanted to be left alone and Leandra began to share that sentiment. She was at least happy to know she was not the center of attention in this moment. Her ribs continued to throb and she mindfully did her best to take shallow breaths. Any deep breaths would force her into a coughing fit and only cause her worse pain. She was confident that some sleep and rest would heal her ribs, though. She was just going to be feeling it for the next few days.

SilverFlight Naberius SleepyCreamy kase9187 YumenoTsukishiro

 

[kase9187]

Aldaf rolled his shoulder and winced the slightest bit. He struggled a bit, and got to his feet. He moved to the other side of the boulder, out of view of everyone except for Leandra, her position being further away than most. He put his back to the boulder, slumping down on the ground. He gripped his bow, his knuckles turning white. "Fucking idiot..." He let his bow drop in the snow beside him as he pulled out the carving done by his mother. "Just look at where your kid is now. Starting petty fights over broken fingers..." His voice cracked the tiniest bit, but known only to himself, being a whisper. He felt tears starting to roll down his face. Aldaf wiped it off.

Lioness075 Naberius SleepyCreamy

 

[Naberius]

Caliban Lupei

True to his word, Caliban left Aldaf's side after setting his arm, placing a gentle hand on his uninjured shoulder as he left. He knew that he was being given a great deal of trust to be asked to do this, and he would see it through.

He stopped just a few feet from Zeke, looking him in the eyes, that same bright smile shining like a star.

"How you holding up? And none of this 'I'm fine' nonsense. Be truthful. Lying helps no one, and if you think you can get by with it around me you're wrong. I know what pain looks like. I've done my fair share of nursing injured creatures back to health."

SleepyCreamy

 

[Lioness075]

Name: Leandra LaFrae	Nicknames: Lea, Firefly
Clan: Sudenta	Clan Job: Huntress
Equipment: Knapsack, Medicinal Pouch, Bow, Quiver (9/10), Twin Daggers

Spoiler: Momo's Appearance

Leandra continued to observe the group from some distance and noticed Aldalf moving away from them. Seeing nobody make a move to follow, she sighed and slowly made her way over to him. Hearing him muttering to himself, Leandra peeked around the edge of the boulder and saw him holding some carved figure. She was unable to understand what he said, but had a feeling the way he was seemingly treasuring the figurine meant it was something of deep meaning to him. She caught him trying to wipe away some tears and she started to feel a bit anxious. This probably was not the best timing for her to wander over here. She was not entirely sure of what to say nor did she know why she had felt compelled to check on him. After all, the group was still mostly strangers to her. Though, she was starting to recognize Aldalf as an acquaintance at least.

Abruptly, Leandra coughed as her ribs throbbed again and then it set her off into a coughing fit. By the time she was able to catch a breath, she knew that Aldalf was undoubtedly staring at her. She glanced away as if there was something else to look at and then said softly, "Uh, sorry. I just saw you leaving the group and thought you might still want some company. Um, I can leave, though."
Her lemur climbed down from her shoulder and hopped onto the boulder, peering down at Adlalf, though the visual was upside-down now. He chirped and then bobbed his head a few times, as if trying to comfort the boy.
kase9187

 

[SleepyCreamy]

Ezekiel 'Zeke' Marcellius

III✦III Location: Mount Arebos III✦III
III✦III Clan: (To'Bai) Westeros III✦III
III✦III Mentions kase9187 III✦III
III✦III Interactions: Naberius III✦III

III✦III

Spoiler: Stitt

III✦III​

The moment he saw Caliban approaching him, Zeke almost immediately straightened his back flat and fiddled with his broken finger. He debated if he should let Caliban help him, let his pride down for a moment and accept help. After what he did to Aldaf, Zeke has managed to calm down for a bit as he began to regret those actions that he took. Zeke promised himself that he'll try to be better, but his insecurities are what's keeping him captive from being compassionate towards others.

As Zeke drowns his own mind with his own thoughts, he even missed Caliban's smile that could even rival the sun. Zeke looked up and listened to his words carefully. Zeke has always been a meticulous listener and would always keep the words that were given to him by heart, even if they're insults or compliments, he still keeps those words near at the back of his mind. Therefore the constant echoing of voices whenever something of importance comes up.

Zeke moodily rolled his eyes and held out his broken finger. "This is my only injury." Zeke breathed a sigh. "Thank you for your concern, Blondie. But I'm not ready to talk about my feelings as of yet... I'm trying to figure them out myself." He said in a calm manner, lacing nothing but the truth. Zeke was an honest man, but, not too honest. Stitt was sitting comfortably in his lap, along with his broken finger. The miniature gryphon soon flew over on top of Zeke's head and laid herself there to rest. Who could blame her? She didn't even do any fighting, and yet she seems to be more tired than Zeke is. "Luckily, I have Stitt here."

My emotional support animal, he wanted to add so very much.

 

[Naberius]

Caliban Lupei

Caliban looked down at his comrades injured hand. It was certainly bad, but not the worst he had ever seen. It would need to be set with a splint and wrapped up so that it would heal straight.

"Not here, follow me. What little supplies I do have are in my bag. Unfortunately, I managed to drop it right when we were attacked so it's a little ways away."

With the noises of combat now gone, and the bloodlust no longer in the air, Mushu quickly flew from his hiding spot and wrapped himself around Caliban's neck again, his usual resting place. Oddly though, he eyed Stitt instead of drifting off like he normally would.
Could they have met before? Or am I just imagining things?

SleepyCreamy

 

[explosiveKitten]

“... welp.”

Katja looked around as the sickly sweet smell of burning flesh finally started to fade from the air, but caught in her nose, making her sick. “That was... not fun. At all. Glad that’s over. I’m gonna do my job now, that cool?”

She looked around for some form of protest, before she shrugged her shoulders and started dig around in her bag, pulling labeled bundles of dried herbs from the knapsack.
“Infections, no, stomach ache, no, fever, no, cold, no, no, no, no, we come on where is- Ah! Here it is.” She pulled a bundle of what looked to be dried lavender sprigs, aloe leaves and some other, orange flower called Calendula. “B...burns. Great.”

She dug around some more and pulled out her trusty mortar and pestle... only to find the mortar was broken in half!
“Awww, no, what?” She remarked, holding the two halves in her hands and looking disbelieving. “Man, come on! When did this happen?! Ahh, gods...” She looked at the bundle and sighed. “... ugh...”

She reached the bundle up, opened her mouth and bit right into the dried herbs, chewing furiously, while mumbling an occasional “Ow” as the dried leaves and spiny aloe poked at her cheeks.
With some hesitation, she pulled a small jar from the bag and pulled the top off, earning a soft pop as she did so. The young woman grabbed a generous glob of a sticky, off-white paste into her hand, before she glanced down at Gerel’s injuries.

She stopped chewing for a moment, staring at the shiny red burns, her eyes unblinking underneath her mask. Her hands shook a little as she tried to keep her focus, slowly reaching down starting to smear the goop around Gerel’s wounds. She looked hesitant to even touch it.

“That’ll just soothe the aching and help cool it down, keep it moist and speed up the healing process.” She’s explained through her chewing, before she held up her goopy hand and spat the chewed up herbs into it, spreading those around now, “And it helps keep the herbs in place.”

She’s spent another minute sitting out more herbs and spreading it around, and once that was done, she sighed and handed bandages to Gerel, “HolD on to that, I’ll be ri... right back. Just... let ThAt sOak in.”

With that, she grabbed her knapsack and walked away, her clean hand rubbing her face as she ducked behind the cover of some of the rocks the Stonewargs had been throwing.

Once she was convinced she was alone, she slipped the mask up onto the top of her head, off her face. She needed to breathe. That smell. The smell was caught up in her nose. She couldn’t breathe without smelling it. It made her sick. Sick. SiCK. sIcK. SWeEt, SickLy SWeEt. SICk.

The young woman, the healer, leaned over and retched onto the sparse grass.

Interactions:
YumenoTsukishiro

 

[SilverFlight]

Kari

The stonewargs were gone but Kari didn't see them flee. She was focused on her task. The scent of burning flesh made her stomach turn and she could barely stand it. She was shaking, cold sweat beaded on her brow, but she was neither sick nor did she faint. She had to stop the bleeding.
The pressure on her shoulder made her look. Gerel was looking at her. She managed a weak smile.
When the task was done she fell back and sat there, fighting waves of nausea, Katja swooped in and Kari was grateful she did.
"Give him something for infection too." She added and then tried to get to her feet. She couldn't. The amount of focus she had needed to control the temperature and stream of the flame had taken much more out of her than she thought. So she sat for a moment and just focused on breathing.

Ferro seemed visibly annoyed with Zeke and Aldaf, and if he hadn't had a proving boy bleeding out in the grass he would have knocked their heads together. Instead he brought up Emerald.
"Get the boy onto her back. There's an overhang close to a waterfall where we will be safe. When Gerel is stable, I'll be sending him back."
Kari felt a chill at those words.
"H-he can't continue?"
"With a wound like that?" Ferro answered her.
She looked devastated. "Gods...it's my fault...."
Ferro said nothing, but he didn't have to.
"Let's move! Someone see the healer's all right, we need to get to cover."

It took another moment and a lot of effort, but Kari struggled to her feet. She went over to Katja, currently being sick in the bushes. She saw the healer had put the mask up, and before she reached out, Kari closed her eyes.
Her hand found Katja's back and she rubbed it comfortingly.
"I'm not looking." She said first, and then she added, "Thank you...for helping him."
Kari paused, and then went to her pack, feeling around in it while still refusing to open her eyes. If Katja did not want anyone seeing her face, Kari would respect it.
Her hands touched cool stone and she took it out.
"Here."
It was a mortar, smaller than Katja's broken one, but well-made, and well-used.
"My mother carved it, I've had it since I was ten, but, you need it more, gotta keep healing us right? So, it's yours."

*~*~*

The overhang was deep, and well-protected from the elements. It's roof sloped up so it would take away the smoke from a fire, and the stone was already blackened from many fires in the past. The river ran past them, making a small island of their camp, water on one side, rock wall on the other. The waterfall ran a little ways behind, near enough to be heard, but far enough that you could speak without having to raise your voice. There was a pool at its base, deep from hundreds of years of water pounding the stones, which were smooth and easy to walk on barefoot.

When Gerel was set down again Kari stayed with him. Ferro brought wood and Kari lit it without thinking twice. He threw a roll of cloth bandage into her lap.
"Bind the wounds, keeps the dirt out."
Kari swallowed, of course she knew how, but she was afraid of hurting Gerel more than her inaction already had. She did as she was told.
She needed him to sit up for the process, but she did a good job. Kari looked miserable all the while, her guilt sitting on her chest and making it hard to breath.
"You might get a fever," She spoke to him softly. "And it'll scar...bad."
After that, she sat with her arms about her knees and watched the others go about their own tasks.

Naberius Lioness075 explosiveKitten SilverFlight Elenion Aura kase9187 Saturn_moon SleepyCreamy AncientBird

 

[kase9187]

Aldaf was lagging a bit behind, before they reached the waterfall. He waved a bit to the closest person and spoke up a bit. "Can we st--" He was cut off as his body gave way, collapsing into the snow; his energy finally gave out after the battle. He'd been running on fumes after talking with Zeke, and he finally collapsed in a noisy and messy heap.

Naberius SleepyCreamy Lioness075 explosiveKitten SilverFlight YumenoTsukishiro AncientBird Elenion Aura

 

[Saturn_moon]

There was little to be said as the group slowly made their way up to the waterfall nearby. The fight had taken a lot out of them, not just physically but emotionally as well. The goodhearted cheer they shared around the fire from the night before was now but a memory, replaced with feelings of despondency and gloom.

As they arrived at the waterfall, Aldaf, who had been right behind her, called out "Can we st-"

From the corner of her eyes, Marylka saw him collapse. "Oh Gods, Matthias?!" She shouted to the Northarian ahead, hoping he could offer some assistance. She rushed over to Aldaf's limp body which laid face down in the snow. With all her might, she flipped him over. He seemed to be conscious, although extremely dazed and out of it. "Aldaf? Are you okay? What happened?"

❈❈❈❈❈​

When everything had more or less settled down, Marylka found Kari under the overhang sitting next to Gerel's resting form, arms wrapped around her knees, refusing to leave his side. The confident, headstrong girl she'd first met now looked small, shaken, and thoroughly drained. "Here," She gently said, offering her water skin to Kari. "You need to drink." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small bag of dried apricots. "Take these as well. The sugar will help you get back your energy faster." The fundamental law of magic was simple, you take what you could give. It sounded easy enough but for a novice mage it was hard to gauge what their limits were.

"You did amazing today by the way. It takes an immense amount of control to do what you did. Your magic saved all of us... and thanks to you, Gerel's going to live." Marylka knelt down and placed a comforting hand on Kari's back. "I know your emotions are a wreck right now and as much as I don't want to sound like Aldaf, you shouldn't keep it bottled up. I'm not saying you have to talk to me, but if you wanted to I'll listen."

SilverFlight YumenoTsukishiro kase9187 Elenion Aura explosiveKitten AncientBird Lioness075 Naberius SleepyCreamy

 

[kase9187]

Aldaf was laid against the rocks, eyes half open. He heard everyone around him, but his body was too numb for him to move. He wished someone, anyone could just come and sit with him. He didn't like this feeling. He felt like he was just stuck in a void, nearly everything stripped away. He couldn't muster enough strength to talk normally, let alone call someone over. He heard Marylka talking, heard her comment about being an Aldaf. It stung, but even if he wanted to, Aldaf had no energy to cry.
They all hate me, he thought to himself. I'm just a punchline now. A gag. A joke.
He didn't move, despite his intense want to curl up. So he stayed there, limp like a puppet whose strings have been cut. And for all he knows, his strings have been cut. Even if it turns out he knew everyone here, they'd probably still hate him. He felt utterly alone. He wanted to scream, to cry, to laugh it off or punch something. Anything. But he could only sit and listen.

SilverFlight YumenoTsukishiro Saturn_moon Elenion Aura explosiveKitten AncientBird Lioness075 Naberius SleepyCreamy

 

[AncientBird]

Serik followed the band into a large waterfall. It was a surprise for this place to be hidden in the mountain like this and its sound was concealed pretty well, as Serik didn’t hear anything until they were right at the fall.

He headed toward the water, splash some in his face to freshen up and refilled his water bag.

The rest of the band scattered around to rest. Gerel was lying down, with Kari kneeling by his side. He looked much better than before and would probably gonna live.

Serik saw Aldaf lying around. “Mind if you sit here, Aldaf?”

He didn’t answer. Serik decided to sit down next to him anyway. Looking at the large Sudentarian man, Serik noticed him barely making any movement. “is he tired? Or is he upset?” Serik thought.

He did see Aldaf fighting with Ezekiel earlier. He thought they had become friends over the days at the proving here. Although Serik didn’t speak to them much, he could tell that Ezekiel’s behavior had changed since Aldaf approached him. What happened between them, he didn’t know... And now both just fought for some reason a while ago... Perhaps this was the cause of Aldaf looking all tire and lifeless?

“Are you alright?” Serik asked again but got no answer. Perhaps he needed a moment alone?

“You can ask me if you need anything, alright?” He said and laid his back against a stump comfortably.

Featuring: kase9187 YumenoTsukishiro SilverFlight

 

[YumenoTsukishiro]

Blink.

Gerel looked up at Kari, smile trembling on his lips. More than the pain, more than the heat, he saw her. It was enough to forget everything for just a moment. Right up until the reality of burning flesh caught up to him and dragged him back down.

Blink.

Aldaf was there. In his hand was a piece of cloth. He said something, and Gerel followed, biting down on the cloth just as another wave of pain hit.

Blink.

Kari was gone, and in her place was Katja. For some reason she was chewing on something while she spread coldness over his wounds. Then she spit out a wad of green, using it to spread sharpness on the coldness. She was talking, explaining what the sharp cold was. Gerel was worried. She looked worse than he probably was.

Blink.

Scales. Gerel was lying on his stomach atop something. Emerald. Ferro and Kari were talking. Bring him back? No. No he didn't want to go back. He could not go back until he met the figure in the feathers in his dreams. In the distance a thud. Aldaf? Aldaf was facedown on the snow. Someone. Anyone. Go to him. But Gerel couldn't speak. Couldn't move. Helpless.

Blink.

In the distance water crashing down from a great height. Kari was by his side again, this time tying bandages over his wounds. Somehow he was sitting up against a tree. The more he watched, the more his senses returned. He heard the others a ways away, fussing over someone. Aldaf? He smelled the smoke of the campfire newly lit. He felt the gentleness in Kari's hands, the care in her motions. And the hesitation. He looked, and saw a woman in the throes of guilt. When she finished with the bandages and told him about what could happen to him, she retreated into herself, sitting with arms on her knees.

Blink.

Exhaustion, not pain, brought him darkness earlier, but he recovered more quickly than before. He sat up, grunting at the sudden pricks all over his chest. They hurt, but to his surprise they didn't hurt as much as he thought they would. Had they been there for a long time for his wounds to recover like that? Or... something else? These questions flew into the breeze when he turned and saw that Kari was still sitting there. In the distance, Aldaf was already up, which brought much relief. At least they were all in one piece after that ill-fated Stonewarg fight.

And, though he did not see the conclusion of the fight, he heard the roar of flames then. With care, he reached out and laid a hand on Kari's shoulder, saying, "Thank you. For saving us. For saving me."

SilverFlight kase9187 Saturn_moon Elenion Aura explosiveKitten AncientBird Lioness075 Naberius SleepyCreamy

 

[Elenion Aura]

Matthias ​

"Oh Gods, Matthias?!"

His body moved on instinct toward the sound of the voice. He was there. A boy was on the ground. Another boy. This one didn't have the mark of a stonewarg's claws in his chest, but Matthias still felt the urgency of the situation. He gingerly lifted the boy and helped the others get him to a safe place. Then he got out of their way. Matthias knew he had no skill as a healer. A fact he'd been reminded of several times during his youth, when one of his siblings had hurt themselves, or each other. Matthias' mother would shoo him away. She was not here to do it now, but the specter of that memory quickened his steps as he left their camp's makeshift infirmary behind him.

He looked around their camp. With no immediately pressing danger at hand, Matthias decided it was time enough to clean the gore out of his clothes and hair, before they became permanent fixtures there. And, if he was lucky, perhaps he'd have a few choice moments alone with his thoughts.


The river's water was chilly, but not unbearable. A more optimistic version of Matthias might've considered the cold bracing, invigorating. This one was just happy to get himself clean. He had gone far enough downstream, around a natural bend in the landscape, so as to not see, or be seen by, any of his party. Matthias had needed a moment, a brief respite from the seemingly unending whirlwind of chaos, since he'd awoken two mornings ago. Now that he had the chance, he was not about to squander it.

He splashed more water on his face. He was waist deep in it now. The current was a gentle nudge. A suggestion. One he firmly ignored. He did his best to scrub the blood out of his hair, and his clothes. He would need to fetch a fresh set from his pack on the river bank while he waited for these to dry. Matthias sighed, and paused to enjoy the peace of that lingering moment, for he was secure in the knowledge that it surely would not last.

Tags: SilverFlight Naberius Saturn_moon YumenoTsukishiro explosiveKitten kase9187 SleepyCreamy AncientBird
​

 

[explosiveKitten]

(WARNING! We’ve got a puker here, so be aware of that!)

The convulsing in her abdomen seemed to calm slowly as Katja lost the contents of her stomach to the smell, the sweet smell-

No! Stop focusing on it! She sternly told herself, trying desperately to calm down her raging gut.
Slowly, she leaned back against the rock, ashamed and embarrassed of her inability to control her own stomach. Blood and gore, she could deal with. Puss-filled infections, gross, but she could deal with that to help someone. But that smell... the sickly sweet scent of human flesh being burnt to a crisp, that... she couldn’t take it. It brought back... too many... memories.

She retched again, only to bring up nothing but a thin stream of stomach acid. Seems she had cleaned herself out already. She gasped and spat, trying to get the taste out of her mouth. At least the sweet smell of burning flesh was replaced with something else, finally.

Gasping for breath, she wiped her mouth on her sleeve, spitting some more when she felt a hand on her back. Quickly the young woman jerked upright, hands flying to her face as she turned, finding Kari, with her eyes closed. She knew the mask was off, and had closed her eyes? Well... okay, she appreciated that.

“... of course. I don’t want anyone to die.” she said, her hazel eyes set on Kari as the young Estendorian woman thanked her for helping Gerel, before turning and walking away.

Slowly, she reached up and slid her mask back over her face, Katja sighed and let her head droop against her chest, trying to force her breathing to calm down when Kari returned with a mortar, small and well used. Apparently she was giving this to her?

“I-Oh... Well, thank you... I appreciate this.” She watched as Kari walked back over to Gerel and started to haul him up onto the green dragon’s back, and Katja was soon to follow.

——————

She had been watching Gerel the entire time they were resting, making sure that he didn’t take any sudden turns, but it seemed that Kari cauterizing had done the trick. All Katja really had to do with make sure his wounds didn’t get infected.

She sat there while Kari was being congratulated left and right for her job well done. If Katja was a petty person, she might have even gotten jealous.
Luckily, Katja didn’t really care. As long as he was alive and was going to be okay, she didn’t care who took the spotlight.

She watched as Gerel woke up periodically, his eyes barely opening and closing. This happened several times, until he finally seemed to be able to sit up, and he started talking to Kari. Again, she was ignored. But that’s fine.

... what’ll we do to get you up that mountain?

YumenoTsukishiro SilverFlight

 

[Lioness075]

Name: Leandra LaFrae	Nicknames: Lea, Firefly
Clan: Sudenta	Clan Job: Huntress
Equipment: Knapsack, Medicinal Pouch, Bow, Quiver (9/10), Twin Daggers

Spoiler: Momo's Appearance

Things seemed to be finally quieting down as Leandra trailed after the group to the waterfall cave area. Much like the others, she could feel the day starting to wear down on her and she winced when her ribs throbbed once more. Most everyone was already sitting or lying down, many trying to catch their breath after sustaining injuries. Leandra had no idea what to do. She wanted desperately to sleep, but felt like it was too early for that just yet. She then decided that perhaps dinner was in order. She did not have much, but she had packed a hefty amount of jerky for this journey.

Seeing Kari and Katja sitting beside the resting Gerel, Leandra took a deep breath before approaching the trio. She could not help but stare at Gerel's horrific injury and then forced herself to look away at Kari and then Katja with a smile. She pulled out some of her jerky from her pack and began offering it to each of them in turn.
"I just wanted to make sure everyone has started getting some food in them after that...adventure of sorts. I was fairly useless throughout all of it, but the two of you worked together to save Gerel's life. That's worth limitless praise, in case you two weren't aware."
Carefully sitting down to join the little group, Leandra winced again and then resumed smiling. At least they were near the camp's fire. She definitely had started to get cold once the adrenaline of the fight had worn off.
With an excited chirp, her lemur glided down from her shoulder to land in Kari's lap. He bobbed up and down a few times, clearly expecting her to pet him like she had before.
Laughing at the sight, Leandra was about to say something before she instead went into a coughing fit. Regaining her composure a few seconds later, she said, "Sorry, I think I bruised a rib or two out there. But uh, it looks like he's grown fond of you, Kari. I still need to think of a name for him, though."
SilverFlight explosiveKitten YumenoTsukishiro

 

[Naberius]

Caliban Lupei

Cal made his way back from seeing to Zeke, finding the rest of the group already moving back into the cave with Gerel. He felt pretty bad about not being able to do more about his condition. He was fairly useless as far as wounds and healing went. They were lucky to have a number of people on hand to be able to take care of things. As he crossed the threshold of the cave opening he saw Lea just ahead of him by a couple feet. Katja off to one side, Aldaf in a bad way, and Gerel looking almost no better but stable save for only waking in spurts. It was a sorry state of affairs and he had already begun kicking himself for not being more useful. One. He had managed to deal with one warg. What use was that? Or his damned smiles?

Can't think like that. Not now. Smile, that's what they expect. That's what they need.

Caliban's beaming smile could almost light up the cave even better than the roaring flames had. He spotted Katja off to one side and decided now was the perfect time to check on someone else, to distract himself from his own musings. He walked over to her side near Gerel, giving everyone a warm smile as he went. Her body language suggested exhaustion, which made sense. Stress would wear out a person even faster than intense physical activity, and they had all just gone through both. His own shoulders were starting to sag as well, but he never stopped with that endless positivity and good cheer.

"Hey there. How you holding up?"

explosiveKitten

 

[explosiveKitten]

She watched from the side as people came over to talking to Kari and Gerel, which she was fine with, but suddenly she was feeling a tad bit or of the loop- Like people were ignoring her, even. Sure, Leandra stopped by and told her that she did a good job, which she appreciated and said, “Hehe, thanks!” to, but everyone was stumbling over Kari. She supposed that she was used to that though, being ignored. So after a few minutes of that, she got up and walked over to the waterfall.

She cupped her hands and caught some water, before pouring some in her mouth and swishing it around, contemplating how best to deal with the situation at hand.

When she was suddenly interrupted by sunshine personified, she spat it all out and whipped around.
“Caliban!” She coughed, leaning over so as to not cough in his face, “Hi! How are you? How am I? I’m fine. We’re all good here! How are you? HaHAhaHa!”

Naberius

 

[Saturn_moon]

Marylka noticed as Matthias silently wandered away from the group, heading downstream along the river. He wasn't a man of much words and more often than not looked worn down by their chatter, but perhaps it was for this exact reason that she easily took a liking to the Northarian although never actually having had a proper conversation with him. There was a calm and sureness about him that Marylka found comforting especially amid the stress and chaos of the past two days. He reminded her of the large oak tree that she'd once came across on her family's travels, standing alone in the vast open field that was Estendor, weathering through the storms thrown its way. Her family had return to the same area several years later and to her amazement the tree still stood in its spot, strong and thriving.

Curiosity got the better of her and Marylka found herself trailing after the Northarian. He stopped after passing a bend and stepped into the river without hesitation, wading deeper until the waters hit his waist. As he washed the blood and gore off him, she noted the blood on herself and grimaced. It was sticky and the stench of it was starting to fill her nose. Maybe a wash wasn't such a bad idea. She approached Matthias who seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. Not wanting to intrude on his solitude, she simply sat by the bank and dipped her feet into the river. Or at least, she attempted to. The moment her bare feet touched the water she instantly drew them back with a gasp. "Gods!" She exclaimed, the cold quickly making her forget her intentions to leave Matthias undisturbed. "How are you just standing there?" She asked in awe. "It's absolutely freezing!"

Elenion Aura

 

[SleepyCreamy]

Ezekiel 'Zeke' Marcellius

III✦III Location: Mount Arebos III✦III
III✦III Clan: (To'Bai) Westeros III✦III
III✦III Mentions AncientBird III✦III
III✦III Interactions: None, as of yet III✦III

III✦III

Spoiler: Stitt

III✦III​

Once the group made camp under the caves, near the waterfall area, Zeke spotted a miniature pool inside with clear, drinkable water. Zeke replenished himself by drinking from that water source and filled his water bottle up. Zeke dropped his stuff near the pool and before going to the nearby pool, inside the cave, he decided to change into more appropriate winter gear. Westeros isn't a place where you could easily find snow, however, if you're looking for sand and more sand, you'd probably find some over at Westeros. Ever since Zeke saw some snow on his way up to the top of Mount Arebos, he was fascinated and interested in the white substance.

After Zeke conversed with Serik, to which he has grown accustomed to calling him, 'Dimples', Zeke was almost finished in hanging them up in his makeshift drying rack near the campfire that was made by nearby wood and sticks. As he dries his clothes off, he took that chance to sneak a peek at his wounded teammate, Gerel. From where Zeke stood, he could see the nasty wound on his chest and Zeke had to look away at the nasty sight in front of him. Zeke has no intention of conversing with others, so he went to find the nearby river to get the blood off his hair.

Once he arrived at the river, Zeke quickly started with the tips of his hair and worked his way up. Zeke wasn't used to the freezing environment and his fingers are practically shaking due to the coldness. When Zeke finally had enough of this inconvenient way of washing his hair, he finally decided to dunk his head onto the freezing water and scrubbed the dried blood off as it was submerged underneath. Once he was sure the blood has been cleaned off, he dried his air before wrapping a towel around it.

Zeke felt relieved he had done some proper hygiene care after that bloody battle he had just gone through. When he made it back to the camp, he was sure his clothes have dried off thanks to the heat of the fire. After gathering his clothing, he made his way over to the tiny pool to take his boots off and properly relax right next to the miniature pool. Once he returned, he saw Stitt all snuggled up inside the pocket of his bag, sleeping peacefully. Zeke sighed in relief as he carefully took his journal off of his leathered bag and started taking notes of his past experience, trying to keep his mind busy as his heart started feeling lonely again.

Focus, Zeke. Your journal's not going to finish itself, he motivated himself. Or at least tried to.

 

[AncientBird]

After helping Aldaf and his problem out. Serik decided to come see Gerel. He knew that Gerel had already awakened when Serik was still busy around Aldaf.

His friend was lying on the ground, with big wound that was covered in cloths. He could tell that blood had already stopped long ago and Gerel was in danger no more.

“How are you holding up?” Serik asked as he sat right next to Gerel. “Those stonewargs messed us up pretty bad. Sorry, I wasn’t there when one attacked you... Could have helped one or two things.” Serik spoke calmly, regretting that he distanced himself from Gerel during the fight.

“You lost a lot of blood. Have you drunk any water yet?” Serik asked and reached out to Gerel’s water bag(bottle) that was lying among his other belongings.

Featuring: YumenoTsukishiro kase9187

 

[SilverFlight]

Kari

Kari blinked, looking up in surprise as Marylka offered her the food and water. She took the skin gratefully but couldn't manage to even look at the apricots without her stomach turning.
"Thank you." She said in earnest.
Marylka seemed very impressed with Kari's magic, though she felt she had no right to the praise.
"You're the one with the incredible control." Kari countered. "I've never seen a fog raised like that."
She let the silence hang for just a moment, thinking about how to express all the tumultuous emotions roiling around in her head.
"I don't deserve any credit. I was too stubborn and too hurt to use my magic when we needed it first, maybe if I'd have gotten over myself sooner, Gerel wouldn't even be hurt." She looked at the other Estendor girl in dismay. "Maybe no one would have been hurt...if I'd just done it sooner."

Gerel's voice and the gentle touch on her shoulder made her whirl round.
"Hey! Try not to move!"
He was thanking him too. She wanted to shout. She had only repaired a mistake she'd made, she didn't deserve any thanks for it. Still, he was weak from blood loss and she couldn't bring herself to contradict him now. He needed calm.
Kari looked at the fingers resting on her shoulder. She took them gently in her hand and tucked them back against Gerel's chest, leaving her own hand there for just a moment longer.
"Just take it easy." She told him in a caring tone.

Leandra came upon them not long after. Kari was grateful for the little lemur's distraction and obliged, petting the creature as much as he wanted.
She was tired of contradicting people who would reward her, so she simple nodded and smiled.
"Look at you, fussing over the group like that. It's really sweet Lea." Her face fell into an expression of concern when Leandra mentioned the broken rib.
"Then what are you doing walking around? You shouldn't stress it! Get your butt down here." She patted the stone beside Marylka and her.
"Come on sit! The others can worry about food."

It was Serik that came to visit next and he brought up some good points. Gerel hadn't had water yet.
Kari fetched Gerel's own skin from his things nearby and held it for him.
"You should drink."

Ferro made sure everyone had been treated, and that they were fairly secure, having a defensive advantage protected by the outcropping. Satisfied, he went to scout with Emerald, to make sure the stonewargs really had been run off.
Matthias too came to see how Gerel was doing, and Kari appreciated that, knowing the stoic, silent Northarian didn't usually opt for speech.
Kari stayed by Gerel, feeling too much guilt to leave him alone by the fire, but perhaps she stayed for another reason too.
She began to doze off, the exhaustion from her magic use finally dragging at her consciousness.

~*~*~

Kari didn't know how long she'd been asleep, but Ferro was back, his dragon sprawled out in the open, just on the other side of the river. It had begun to snow heavily, thick white feather-flakes blanketing the frozen grass, blending the side of the mountain into the white-grey sky.
Ferro came to the fire to check on Gerel.
"Let's change those bandages." He said, "Then we'll see if you can be flown back down to the camp. There is no way you'll win over your skybeast with injuries like that."
Kari felt a sudden panic, "wait, there has to be some way he can still run the proving."
"Not a chance." Ferro responded sharply. "He'll kill himself. This happens often Kari, he can heal up and take the proving next year."
Kari knew he was right, but it wasn't fair! The guilt hanging over her through the knowledge that she could have prevented it made it all the worse, but it was more than that, she felt somehow, that he had to take the proving now.
Ferro had gone to alert the others that they would be leaving soon, while Kari prepared to tend Gerel's wound.
She looked devastated.

((Okay all, after a few hours, your wounds have done the same amount of healing that should have taken 2 weeks. Gerel is now in fighting condition, broken bones are almost knit, and cuts and scrapes are nearly gone.))

Naberius Lioness075 explosiveKitten YumenoTsukishiro Elenion Aura kase9187 Saturn_moon SleepyCreamy AncientBird

 

[kase9187]

Aldaf opened his eyes. He'd been moved to the cave last night, but by who he didn't know. He tucked his legs beneath him and stood up, much to his surprise. He felt his shoulder, his arm back in proper fighting form.
"Hey, did anyone heal me last night?"
He walked over to his stuff and threw on his coat after he noticed the snow outside. He walked, his footsteps barely making noise along the stone floor. He places his hand on Kari's shoulder and spoke softly.
"It's alright. Maybe the Gods will give us some sort of miracle, or maybe the person who healed me also got Gerel."

SleepyCreamy SilverFlight explosiveKitten YumenoTsukishiro Saturn_moon Naberius Lioness075 AncientBird

 

[Lioness075]

Name: Leandra LaFrae	Nicknames: Lea, Firefly
Clan: Sudenta	Clan Job: Huntress
Equipment: Knapsack, Medicinal Pouch, Bow, Quiver (9/10), Twin Daggers

Spoiler: Momo's Appearance

Leandra felt a pang of guilt when Katja muttered a quick thanks and then walked away. She had been trying to include her, but instead had scared her away. It had been so easy in the past for her to befriend other teens. Yet, this group was so much more difficult and she felt as if she was standing at the edge of the group looking in.

Returning her attention to Kari, Leandra gave her a half smile and then waved off her concern. "It's nothing, really. I'm pretty sure I only managed to bruise some of my ribs. Trust me, if I broke one of them I'd still be lying down in the plains." She said this with confidence until she tried to clear her throat and winced at more throbbing. Still, she felt a bit better hearing the small praise from Kari. Briefly, she felt as if she belonged.
Watching Kari pet her lemur, Leandra smiled again and then said quietly, "He bobs his head so much, I have to wonder where his endless energy comes from."
Mentioning the boundless energy made Leandra remember just how exhausted she was after the day. Seeing others bedding down around her, Leandra followed suit and was soon nodding off underneath a fur blanket.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The following morning, Leandra awoke to a different landscape. She had never seen snow before, having grown up in jungles. Gingerly, she stood up and wrapped her fur blanket around her shoulders. In doing so, she realized that her ribs felt perfectly normal now. She inhaled deeply and exhaled with immense relief when no pain came with the attempt. She also watched with delight as her breath danced in the air before her.
Peering around the corner of the cave, Leandra's eyes widened as she realized just how bright snow can be. She blinked several times while her eyes adjusted. Quiet as ever, she stood at the cave entrance with her fur blanket across her shoulders, staring in awe at the snowfall before her.
SilverFlight Naberius YumenoTsukishiro kase9187 Saturn_moon explosiveKitten AncientBird Elenion Aura SleepyCreamy