Fun time.

[boomdeboom]

Usually, when she fell apart like this, she would recover in the next few moments. But, not this time. This time, she had almost lost herself. She remembered everything she did, how she wanted the blood of people and wanted to see their pain. How she let the demon coax her into things with its sweet voice, as if it actually cared for her. But, the thing that sickened her the most, was that she was going to kill Minh. A person who didn't want to kill her, a person who she wanted to protect, and yet she almost killed him. And she knew she would have enjoyed every moment of his death. She remembered how she wanted to taste his blood, to see the bones of a half elf crack under her weight. Curling into a tight ball, her knees close to her chest, she was unaware that she mumbled her death to come on her. She felt like she was dreaming, in a daze. Maybe it was all a bad dream, that she would wake up, and find out that she didn't let the demon take over. That she wasn't a animal.

Hearing a faint voice, a familiar voice, she raised her head slightly. Someone was shouting at her, and she could feel an arm on her shoulder. Who was it? Scared, she refused to answer, cowering further into her blood wings, wanting to escape. However, when she listened to the words, her head clearing somewhat from its insanity and pain, she knew whom was speaking to her. Minh.

As she listened silently to his words, uncurling her self slowly from her posture, as she heard the sound of a body falling beside her, she used her arms to push herself up, whimpering as more pain shot through her, but she tried her best to ignore it, even if the spots in her eyes were growing in size and power. Blinking, realizing only then that she had been crying, as her vision was blurry each time she blinked, she raised her blood hands and wiped at her face, trying to get rid of the tears with no success. Each time she wiped away some, more fresh tears rolled down her bloody and dirty face. She couldn't control them. So, with a blurry vision, she turned to face the head which had now rested on her legs. Even though she knew Minh had been hit, it still pained her to see him in so much pain and knocked out. He seemed like a person who couldn't be touched, much less be harmed. Unfurling her wings, wincing as fresh pain washed down her hurt wing, she straightened herself, making sure not to move her legs. She wanted him to rest, and even though she too felt like she was going to fall out of consciousness, she was also determined to stay awake incase any other men came around to harm them. Although, she knew if any did, she was as good as dead. She could hardly think, so fighting would be useless.

Slowly lifting her right hand, leaning forward, she placed it on the half elf's forehead. The blood from her enemies smeared his skin, something she hoped he wouldn't mind when he woke up. Seeing the drips of crimson liquid falling down his face in droplets, she felt herself almost wanting to curl back into the ball. Feeling more tears roll down her face, her emotions rising to an all time high, she wrapped her wings around herself and began to weep, blubbering words.

"I'm so sorry Minh. . .this is all my fault. . ." Knowing that if she had just not flown this way, he wouldn't have faced them, and so wouldn't have gotten hurt. She should have just taken them all on, or just willingly had died when that first arrow pierced her. She always brought pain and sadness to all of the people around her. Sobbing inside of her bloody wings, she retracted her blood hand from his forehead, bringing inside of her feathers as she wrapped them around her shoulders, trying to stop the cold which was making its way through her body. She felt so weak, so vulnerable, so dirty with the blood of her victims on her mouth and hands.

[Laughing Man]

Minh screamed.

"STOP APOLOGIZING! JUST GO! GET AWAY! NOW!" he had been for the passed few minutes. He knew it wouldn't do any good. His body was lying on the floor, and he was out cold. This was a lucid dream/extra awareness or some ju-ju that was brought on by his unwillingness to go quietly and experience with dreams and sleeping. He was aware of every sensory input that came through his body, and he could see it as if out of his own body, but he couldn't make his body move. He just laid there, motionless. And to his growing frustration, he didn't seem to be recovering anytime soon.

He was 'standing' inches from Sylvia's face yelling at her to get up and get moving. "Damn it why can't you read minds? You're a demon, thing, girl, bat person right?!? DAMN YOU!" He had never acted this way. And he couldn't figure out why he was this way now, but he wanted her to get away, to run... He wanted her to be safe. He began kicking his own body in the head, watching as the foot slipped through, "WAKE UP DAMN IT!" He yelled at himself.

After a minute of kicking, something happened. Another Minh popped out, reeling backwards and clutching his forehead, "OWW! Why'd you kick me!?" It Minh-Two demanded. Minh stared at.. .Himself for a moment and pointed, "You're me?" He asked, and Minh-Two stopped and pointed back, "No, you're me..."

"Not true, I was here first."

"Prove it."

"I kicked you out of him!" Minh shouted, pointing at their unconscious form on the floor. Minh-two folded his arms, "Alright. So we're each other... What do we do now?" he asked, walking around in circles, "Sylvia should really get out of here." he said casually. Minh agreed, "I know. but I can't get her attention. We can't talk to her." Minh-two sighed and began thinking...


A couple minutes later, the army of Minh-spirits were standing Sylvia, shouting at her to get away. There were at least ten. Without any plans, the first Minh had decided he needed more heads to think. And so continued kicking himself until more came out. He frowned and decided that was a bad idea, because now he couldn't even HEAR himself think. After some deliberation, he ended up tripping the other Minh's one by one until they all fell back into his body. And then he blinked, and hopped in himself.

He gasped for air, and choked a bit, rolling to the side. His hearing, vision, and other senses were dull throbs of information as he regained consciousness. Slowly but sure he was able to, with great effort, find Sylvia, stare at her and demand, "What in the nether regions are you still doing here, woman? You need to get away, FAST..." he said, his voice was cracking and weak, but he got his point across and so fell back onto his spine, breathing big gulps of air to slow the throb of aching in his head and limbs.

"I feel like I got kicked by an elephant. What happened?" he asked after a while, staring up at the sky as a Bright, yellow butterfly flutter down to land in his chest and fan it's wings slowly.

"I'm a live, right? I mean, that heaven place can't hurt this bad, and hell shouldn't have such pretty butterflies, and innocent little bat-women." he said with a half-smirk.

[boomdeboom]

Blinking, her sobbing halting for a moment, she slowly retracted her wings and put her head out, looking around her. For some reason, she sensed the presence of another. Like a ghost. Surely Minh couldn't have died, and this was his ghost? Thinking this as her first reaction, she quickly bent down towards his chest, leaning her head against it. No, he was alive. He was still breathing. Letting a sigh of relief break from her lips, she leant backwards and began to furiously rub at her bloodshot eyes. She needed to stop crying, why was she so upset? Giving out mentally to herself, patting her cheeks to stop anymore tears to roll out, she stared up at the blue sky. It was another beautiful day, one she should have enjoyed, yet it turned out horrible. Two wounds that she needed to take care of soon, almost getting taken over and being a complete emotional wreck. And now, she felt like she was going mad, as she felt like a few people were around her, yet no one was there.

Breaking from her daze as she felt movement, she blinked her now baby blue eyes as she stared down at Minh. He was moving, and he didn't seem that bad. An overwhelming sense of relief washed over her, which was then filled with surprise as she looked back at him, furrowing her eyebrows. What did he mean run away? Saying slowly, lifting a finger and pointing it at him, she asked with obvious confusion.

"You think that I would leave you here alone, knocked out, and then get killed by any animal that could come through her? Psh." Lifting herself up, wincing as pain shot through her body once more, she turned around. Stumbling a bit, she then sat back down, sighing as she leant herself against the bark of a tree. Either side of her, her wings laid lifelessly on their sides, their bloody feathers ruffling from the wind which blew softly through the forest. Gazing towards both of her wounds, she knew she would have to remove them, and soon as well. Although her loss of blood had slowed, in a few hours she would be in serious danger of being with hardly any blood. But right now, that wasn't the least of her concern. Although she tried to her her wounds, by placing her wing in the shade of a tree and placing two of her hands on her stomach. Surprised that he didn't remember anything, she then said simply, closing her eyes.

"You got shot by an arrow and almost died." She felt glad he didn't remember though, if he did he would have seen her in that disgusting state. With one hand still hiding her arrow wound, she placed another on top of her forehead, feeling sweaty as the heat of the afternoon soon went on them. Opening her eyes slowly, her vision blurry once more as more tears made their way into her eyes, she said softly.

"Yeah. . .you're alive. Just about." Not falling into his bait about her being 'innocent', she closed her eyes once more, bringing down her hand from her forehead as she began to rub furiously, another wave of tears making their way into her eyes. She wasn't even sure why she was crying so much, it had been several years since the last time she shed a tear, and yet here she was shedding buckets of them.

[Laughing Man]

Minh couldn't focus. He heard her words, but couldn't formulate a response as his pain-addled, tired mind ran itself through some paces. He turned to his right side, pushed himself up and let out a gasp of agony as he attempted to assist with his left arm. He almost fell forward, but caught himself on his right arm again. He had forgotten the left was broken. He stared at it momentarily, the odd angle of the bone could be seen through his skin, and bruising had set in.

He laid there, focusing on his breathing, on Sylvia's breathing. He looked over and noticed her wounds. His mind skipped a bit, and adrenaline found a new spot in his veins. He rolled back over and pushed up with one hand, pulling his knees under him and sitting upright with a slump. The butterfly fluttered off his stomach and landed on a plant nearby, as if keeping watch over him. He frowned and looked around for his bag. He had absolutely no idea where it had gone. He thought back, and all he could see were flashes of blood and a suddent lurching in his stomach as he relived jamming his thumbs into the archer's eyes. He almost threw up, but his stomach was gracious and kept it in. He looked at his gore-smeared gloves and body and shook his head. Bigger things to worry about.

Minh glanced around and half moved, half fell toward the dead man near him. He grabbed at the tunic the man was wearing, pulled a piece into his mouth, and tore his head one way, his arm the other way, ripping a long strip of cloth. He kept it in his mouth and crawled on three limbs toward the huddled figure of Sylvia and looked at her, "Move your arms." he said in a muffled, tired voice. He let the cloth drip from his mouth and leaned in to look at it, "You're going to have to deal with that before you lose too much more blood." he explained, "You can do it yourself, or I can do it, but it has to be done." He looked suddenly serious, and tired, and suddenly he felt really old, despite his youth.

[boomdeboom]

Blinking, wincing as she heard the strained breathing of the half elf, she tried to focus her attention on something else, something that wouldn't pain her to hear. A flower. Beside the body of one of the many corpses, there was a single flower. It was a misty blue, the pollen which it held being a bright yellow. Being rather beautiful, Sylvia felt herself nearly throw up again as she saw blood splattered on one of its beautiful leaves. Even on something so innocent and beautiful, it had seen the murder which happened in front of it. Feeling slightly anxious, she looked around at the many trees which surrounded them, looking down upon them. Were they watching too? The animals living on the trees, they were watching? All of this crammed in her head, she soon turned her mind off looking around her and focused herself back on Minh, whom to her surprise, was moving towards her with what appeared to be a bit of cloth in his mouth. Uh oh, he had obviously spied her injuries.

Giving a quick glance at her wound, raising her hand for just a split second, she too agreed that it needed to be dealt with, and soon. But, wanting to take any attention away from her, she raised her gaze and while raising an eyebrow delicately, she said.

"What about your injuries? If anything, you're worse off then me." Moving her blue eyes to his arms, where one appeared to be broken, as the bone seemed rather odd in the way it was, she also knew he felt extreme pain from it. Mostly because of the way he was breathing, and the way he moved. Seeing the sudden serious face on Minh, she looked away. She didn't like being the center of attention, she would be able to care for herself when the time came, and right now she would be able to keep conscious for a few more hours with some determination. Demon's like herself usually had a quicker healing process then most people anyway. Plus, she knew that with that arrow wound, she would have to rip apart the black gown in which she wore to be able to fully remove the arrow and wrap the bandage around. And, nothing liking to have any flesh shown to anyone, she shyed away from it. She knew if she were given the attention such as this, not being able to hardly move, she would have to tear it, and in front of Minh. It may not have been a big deal, but to her, she may as well had been naked.

So, placing both hands over her wound, wincing as the faintly touched the tip of the arrow, she turned her head towards a nearby tree. As usual, her stubbornness showed, and she was determined to have Minh better then to give attention to herself. Having an idea, she then gazed back at him, saying.

"We can go to a nearby village, I'm sure someone there would be able to help you. That arm will only get worse without proper attention."

[Laughing Man]

Minh sat there for a few seconds more before frowning, "Stupid girl." he muttered and picked up the cloth, gesturing toward her with it, "A broken bone is hardly contest with an arrow in one's stomach. Even you know that." He said at last, and cradled his arm in his lap, still sitting on his knees, "Now I don't care what you have to do, have me knock you out, or go behind a bush, or whatever. But you WILL be removing that arrow and bandaging that wound. Or I will. I'm leaving the decision up to you."

This was new for him. He wasn't used to ordering people around, or being near so much blood, or even having an injury as serious as this. Sure, he'd broken toes and fingers, and one time broke his ankle falling from a rafter when he was twelve, but this was different. The arm hurt like nothing he'd ever known, but right now the only thing keeping his mind off the pain, and probably keeping him from passing out altogether was worry for Sylvia. He'd only just met the girl, but had become closer to her than even his own father. They shared a sort of societal rejection.

Sure, Harlequins were funny, and told great stories. But did anyone ever know the man behind the mask? Had they ever even asked? Of course not. They just used him for their own amusement, threw some coin, and walked away. He was fine with it, but there were always times when he wished he could follow them to their taverns and sit down to have a drink or two with someone. He couldn't though. It wasn't meant for him. He was meant to be the entertainer, and nothing more. The illusion that he was a solid form of focus that was permanent would be broken if they saw his face, or found out that he was just a normal mortal, just like them. It was a curse and a blessing. A double-edged blade.

His mind sat idle for a while as he thought of things to do and shrugged, "If it gets worse, it gets worse. But you could die. I'll be fine. Now quit being... Like me, and take someone else's advice for once. Just this once, and bandage yourself, or let me do it. Whatever is more comfortable for you." his eyes were searching the forest and surrounding area, a habit for when he was thinking, and his eyes had just spotted the blood on the wings, which led to the arrow,
"- By the gods, woman! Another one!" he shouted, despite his current state of health, and threw the cloth in front of her, then turned around to shuffle over and get more, "You're talking about flying and you've got an arrow in your wing..." he turned his head back, the dried, caked blood from his forehead had mostly stopped bleeding, but was still making trails of crimson down his features while the blood from his ears had mostly been washed away by sweat, "And you know damn well what would happen if you went near a village. Especially in your condition. And mine, too."

He repeated the process from earlier, using his mouth as a substitute hand to tear a strip of cloth, "How about this" I'll get this looked at, if you fix your stomach and wing." he offered, shuffling back over through the dirt to Sylvia.

[boomdeboom]

Bringing her lips down into a frown, her eyes narrowing, she didn't like being called stupid. Still not wanting so much attention, she said.

"I can heal quicker then most, plus you have the bleeding from your ears as well. That can't be healthy, I may be stupid, but I'm not that dumb." Knowing that she didn't really have an option, the thought of him having to rip her clothing, well it made her decide. So, grabbing the cloth from his hand, she sighed, a soft but very light embarrassed blush on her fair cheeks.

"Ok ok, fine." Murmuring this, she felt almost defeated as he spotted her wounded wing. She felt odd, getting so much attention and worry from a person whom she had only met, yet she felt very close to him, as if they had known eachother for a good few long years. Although she knew it was dangerous to have a person so close to her, as it could prove a weakness to her if someone were to find out. It was already dangerous, as her demon had already learned of this. Pouting slightly, she said stubbornly.

"I could make it, the village can't be that far. . ." However, she had second thoughts when she realized what the people would make of her once they saw her. Perhaps that wasn't the best idea. But, not knowing any other way to help Minh, she knew she had to take him there. Although it sent a pang of loneliness at the thought that that would be there goodbye, as she wouldn't be able to step into the village. But, she knew it was an option she couldn't put down.

Again, sighing, she slowly got up, trying not to wince as fresh pain ran up her. Maybe this was getting worse, and she knew the more she put it off, the more pain it would cause her. Taking another strip of cloth, holding both pieces in her hand, she turned around and headed behind a bush, saying reluctantly.

"Fine, but you're getting looked at after this is done." Bending forward, ripping the piece of her clothing which covered the wound, she was surprised to see a lot of damage. The arrow had gone straight through, and she knew that pulling out the arrow was going to be the worst. She tried not to think about what the arrow in her wing would be like. So, taking a deep breath, she snapped the front of it off so it would come through nicely. Then, taking another slow deep breath, she closed her eyes as she put her hand behind her back to the shaft, and pulled. Not expecting the amount of pain, she let out a sudden cry of agony, not meaning to. She didn't want to appear as weak after all.

[Laughing Man]

Minh glared at Sylvia, "If I could smack you without hurting myself more, I would. You're not stupid. It was supposed to be inspiration." he grumbled. It was true, he had only meant it to spur her on, to rile her anger because when people were angry, they tended to think things through less, and he could manipulate her easier into helping herself. He knew his arm was bad, worse than he'd known, and he stole a glance at it which prompted a grimace to befall his face, but hers were way more important.

Minh shook his head, "You might have made it on your own, but not carrying me. Besides, I don't want to go to the village, I know some Gentry that can help me." he responded quietly. He knew the idea might spur her interest, but he was not excited about asking Gentry for help. For all the ones he knew that were good, he knew they demanded a lot for helping, and he would have to produce a gift just to see them, then give them something even better. And that usually involved blood, if you were talking to the Unseelie, which he had the most interaction with. He shuddered to think what the Seelie would want. Many people thought they were the nicer ones, but the truth was that the Glittering Throng(Seelie Fey) Were just better at covering the truth.

He almost smirked at his minor victory, watching with satisfaction as she picked up the cloth and moved behind the tree. He fell back to his rear end and sat panting. He felt terrible. His chest hurt when he breathed, his arm felt like someone was stabbing it repeatedly with needles dipped in molten lava. His forehead was thumping with an incessant, dull pain that would not relieve itself, and his ears were still ringing, making his head feel like there was a maddened elephant romping around inside it. He bit his lip, causing a beed of blood to roll down it. But at least the sharp pain momentarily distracted him from the rest.

He slumped forward, laying his forehead in the dirt, letting himself rest somewhat as his suffering pulsed with each heartbeat. Suddenly a sharp cry rang out and his head jerked up, "Sylvia!?" he called out, then immediately regretted it. What if there were more and they'd gotten her? He would have ruined his chance to avenge her. He watched as the small yellow butterfly from before lifted off the tree and flew around to where Sylvia was. He took the cue and began crawling toward the bushes.

As he rounded the corner, he grabbed a stray arrow from the dead archer's quiver and held it like a knife, moving to see what the problem was, "Sylvia, are you alright!?" he called out as he rounded the tree.

I'll be damned if she's going down after all this...

[boomdeboom]

True, she had already known that he didn't mean to call her stupid as if she was actually stupid, but still. Even though she was weak, she still liked to piss people off, even though at the time she thought he did mean it. The effects of blood loss.

Also, like he had assumed, she was curious as what sort of Gentry he knew of. Not having seen them, only hearing stories of them, she felt slightly jealous to the fact that he knew a few more creatures then herself. The most she had seen were the forest elves up north, and she didn't get on with them too well, they liked their piggyback rides and tricks too much. It soon pissed her off. Although, she hoped to meet more different species on her journey, going to the west to see some of the infamous dragons which apparently soared through the sky, although many people questioned their existence.

Having slumped down to the ground, throwing the bloody broken arrow into a bush, she laid her head back, whimpering. Why hadn't she prepared herself enough, usually most wounds were not this painful, of course she had never gotten an arrow wound before. Breathing in irregular breathes, the pain growing each time she inhaled and exhaled, she felt mortified as she heard the voice of Minh nearby. Clenching her jaw, she slowly picked herself up, using the tree beside her as support as she tried to force her shaky legs to hold her weight. However, she soon regretted getting up as within a moment another lurch of pain short through her, causing her to bend down and puke into a bush. She wasn't pleased to see that she was puking blood, and what looked like to be her meal from last night. She needed to bandage the wound quickly.

"I-I'm f-fine." Stuttering, using her wings to hide her body as she wiped away to the blood from her mouth with her arm. Then, slowly, she began to wrap the torn piece of cloth around her stomach, having to rip more of her clothing to be able to wrap it around properly. Panting, she made sure that her wings hid her bare stomach, again embarrassed at the fact that she was showing skin, and also because she had to rip more of her clothing, it had grown bigger and so showed more skin.

Then, with a horror, she realized she had to do her wing as well. The thought almost made her stomach turn again, and puke soon rose to her throat, which she reluctantly swallowed back down, not wanting to make herself appear weak and fragile that she couldn't handle an arrow wound. So, placing her shaky hands on the arrow, she snapped the front off again. However, this time, because she didn't want to go through the pain again, she fell onto her knees before she even attempted to pull it out, panting as she tried to catch her breath. She knew though if she left it any longer, the pain would double. So, because she couldn't do it herself, she softly called to Minh, panting as she did so.

"Minh. . .can you help me. . .pull this out of my wing. . .?"

[Laughing Man]

His face was still a wreck, but somehow through it all, he found a smile, "You can drop the tough act..." He said with a pained chudkle, "You've got an arrow in you. Nobodies going to think less of you because you admit an arrow to the stomach hurts." he gritted his teeth and shffled forward, trying to get a better look at the wound, not really noticing that she was purposefully hiding it from him. Not that there was much he could do anyway.

'Look at me, I'm damned useless like this.' His mind roared in frustration and jammed the arrow into the ground angrily, snapping the shaft and burying the head in the dirt. The harlequin shuddered with pain and sat against the tree, closing his eyes while she bandaged herself. He heard her snap the other arrowhead off, and almost tried to cover his ears, expecting the cry. When none came, he sat there for a short while, his short, ragged breaths heaving his chest before he heard Sylvia slump forward and ask for help.

He opened his eyes quickly and frowned, it must REALLY hurt for someone as stubborn as her to want help. That's not good, either. Normally he'd see this as a victory, but right now he was more concerned with her well-being. Pushing himself with his right arm, he stood slowly, uing a combination of his back and his arm to shimmy himself into a standing position. He wobbled and stumbled forward a bit, but caught himself. Falling into an odd, but still rather fluid lope as he moved toward her, "I... Sure.. " He responded quietly and knelt is before her. Crouching now, his body still aching, he moved to lift her chin with a finger, "Come on. Chin up now. You're not through yet, you know." He said encouragingly and moved toward her wing, almost tripping over a root. He motioned to let her know he's going to touch it, so he ca inspect the wound.

Grabbing the outer tip of the wing gently, and moving it outward, he attempted to keep that part of the wing with the arrow still. After some deliberate care, he had manuevered the wing so that he could see both sides without causing Sylvia too much discomfort. Slowly and surely he figured the only way to remove it, was the way she had already intended and started: Snapping the shaft and continue it's route through the wing, since the tip was already protruding out the other end. It was lucky it was, or this would have been trickier, and more painful. He hadn't even noticed she was still hiding her stomach with her other wing, but wasn't paying attention anyway: He was dead set on removing the arrow.

"I'm going to count to three... Then pull it out, okay?" He instructed more than asked. Waiting, he placed his right hand on the arrow head, and used his broken arm as leverage to keep the wing in place, stuck between his thigh and bicep.
"Alright... Ready?" He asked, and gave her a short moment to gather herself. He then began counting,

"One." His body tensed.

"Two." He ripped the arrow free in one quick jerking movement, throwing it away into the forest and trying not to think about the resulting scream as he slumped back against the tree and began removing his crimson sash to turn it into a bandage for the wing.

[boomdeboom]

"Psh." Saying with a soft laugh, she knew deep inside of her that she wouldn't be able to show her weak side to anyone else. It would show a weakness, and even to a person like Minh, she would be sure to hate herself. She wanted to appear invincible, why, she wasn't sure. Perhaps by not showing pain, she felt invincible, and so felt more confident in herself. The whole thing was a form of weakness, but she tried not to think about it.

She felt guilty for making him stand up when he was in obvious pain. It was a selfish request, but yet she felt like she would possibly fall into an unconscious state if she were to do it herself. Plus, even the thought of her hand touching the arrow for some reason made her dizzy and feel like retching up her insides, a thought that didn't appeal to her. Plus she felt more at ease with Minh pulling it out rather then her.

Feeling her chin raised up, she blinked. Looking up towards Minh over her damaged wing, she wondered if he saw her as pathetic. There she was, looking like a child. She just wanted to curl up into her wings and not have him look at her, but she tried not to let her thoughts show as she smiled softly towards him, feeling the dried blood which was still around her mouth crack. Even though she tried not to show pain, she couldn't help but wince as he moved her damaged wing. In response, a shudder ran through her blood stained feather.

However, to her surprise, she could feel her demon back again, as if it suddenly realized she was being helped by someone besides itself. Hissing dangerously, it looked through her gaze and hissed once more as it saw the half elf examining her wing.

"Disgraceful Slyvia, disgraceful. You shouldn't need help, all you need is to ask me for assistance and I could have healed both of your wounds with no pain. Can't you see I want to help you?!" She was confused as to why it had gotten so angrily, but like she had done for years, she ignored it. Soon, its ranting turned into a light hum in her mind, but she knew as well that if she were to remain weak like this for another hour, her demon would again take over, and who knew what it would do in the time it took for her to regain her strength.

"O-Ok." In a soft voice, which sounded slightly like a whimper, she completely blocked out the demon's protest to her pain as she braced herself, her hands digging into the ground underneath her as her wing still hid her bare stomach. Taking a deep breath as he began the countdown, she closed her eyes as she put her head down, biting into her bottom lip. She knew the pain would be unbearable, but she didn't want to make a show of herself again, so she told herself not to scream.

However, not expecting it to be pulled out at two, her whole body shivered violently for a few moments as the pain erupted inside of her. Whimpering softly, hiding her face within her wing, her damaged wing fell down to the ground as the feathers rustled uneasily, the pain disturbing it. Her bottom lip began to bleed as she bit hard into it, so as she realized her lip she felt the taste of fresh blood on her lips. This almost made her gag, but she was too overcome by the pain to care. However, she didn't want to appear weak again, so lifting her head out of her wing, she let out a chuckle as she gazed at Minh with her blue eyes, tears of pain filling them up.

"L-Liar. . .you said you would pull it out at. . .three."

[Laughing Man]

The Harlequin almost flinched, but was surprised to hear no scream. 'Why does she think she has to hold it in?' He wondered to himself, but decided now wasn't the time to make a case of it. He wrapped the cloth from the sash a bit and moved to hand it to her with his good arm, "Here, wrap it up." He said, then glanced around them. The sun was high now, peaking through the trees in little slivers of gold. He smiled at how peaceful it was, despite the fact that just on the other side of the tree he was putting his back on lay dead five men, with more further in the forest. He shook the thought from his head and turned to respond,

"If I had waited until three, you would have tensed up and it would have damaged your muscles further." He explained quietly, almost a mumble.

Laying his head against the tree, he had no idea about her internal struggle, and was simply glad to have been of some help, since so far all he managed to do was break his arm. The Shadowdancer looked at his own arm now, cradling it in his lap. He knew he'd have to deal with it and now was as good as a time as any,

"I'm going to find a sling." He said simply and began crawling back to the gore-strewn scene behind the tree. He tried to block out all the thoughts of the fact that these men had lives, families, maybe even children who depended on them. And he had killed them. Slain them with his weapons. He didn't regret the decisions he made that day. But they repulsed him like he had never known. He eventually found a piece of cloth suitable, and made a sling out of it. The green cotton wrapped around his shoulder and went under his arm to support it so he wouldn't move it. Then he bound sticks together and put them on either side to try and keep it from moving any other directions.

He seemed to be regaining strength, but knew his wound would have to be seen 'professionally' And so would Sylvia's. Unfortunately, he'd had to visit the Gentry...

The Gentry were fine if they visited you. Sometimes mischevious, actually, most of the time. But someone like Minh didn't have much for them to bother, and he usually gave them things so they liked him. But now he was asking for something of them. And that is an entirely different story.

He had to find his bag, wherever it was... "But first, maybe a nap." he mumbled on his way back toward Sylvia. As he rounded the tree he told her, "We need to find my bag... It has something I think I might be able to bargain with the Gentry for our wounds..."

He turned to stumble away, making sure not to wince until she couldn't see his face. His ankle must have been sprained, too. At least it wasn't broken. For that he was thankful, if nothing else that day.

[boomdeboom]

She knew it was for the best when he pulled it out at two instead of three, understanding it more when he explained it, but at the time when pain was in her body, she thought it was the worst idea in the world and that he had done it intentionally to make her feel like this. These thoughts were backed up by her demon.

In about 2 minutes, the pain became bearable, and slowly lifting her arm and grabbing the piece of fabric with a shaking hand, she exhaled slowly. Ruffling the feathers on her arm to test out if the pain was still there, she found that it had become a lot more bearable and so made it possible to bandage up on her own. So, as she lifted her wing towards her hand, she blinked as she heard that Minh was going to find a sling. She was about to offer to help, but as she tried to pick herself up a sharp pain shot up her spine, and so said after wincing.

"S-Sure." Once he had disappeared, she allowed herself to let out a few tears fall from her eyes. It was the first time she had gotten such bad injuries, and she hoped it would be the last time. She thought this again as she examined the rather bloody wound which was on her wing. Wrapping the cloth around it slowly, finding it rather difficult to do as her wingspan was quite long, she eventually got it secure and with a sigh leant back against the bark of a tree, staring lazily up at the sky, which was hidden by the leaves of the trees. But, she could still see blue patches.

When Minh arrived back, his arm slung in what looked like a rather unstable sling, she smiled softly to him, too tired to speak. The pain from earlier had wiped her out, feeling as if she had just flown a thousand miles. Running her pale hand through her knotted black hair, a sudden realization caused her to jump up from her sitting position. Forgetting to hide her stomach, as her wings had stretched themselves out, she began to pat her body, although she already knew it was gone. So, with a choked voice, her hand against her forehead, she said.

"M-My bag with your charm. . ." With this being the first time she had lost something so precious, she felt panic slowly seep through her veins and cause a sudden burst of adrenaline to flow through her body. Not even feeling the pain as she moved, she began to once more panic as she looked around in a frenzy. Minh had given it to her, and she had lost it.

Tracing back her memory, she remembered she had let down her bag as she was attacked. That was a good bit west from her, but she knew she could make it, if she flew she would be back in ten minutes. She just needed to go to a clear spot in order to take off. So, the growing panic causing her to move, she began to run off towards the field from before.

"I-I need to find it!" Forcing her wings to begin to beat, in order for them to ready themselves for take off, she winced as she felt her wound let out more blood. She knew this wasn't the best decision, but she needed to find it. Minh had given it to her even though he treasured it. Plus she was just so weak and tired, that she didn't think over her decision, no matter how reckless they were. So, running past the corpses of the men they had both killed, she ran towards the clearing which was just a few meters ahead of where they were.

[Laughing Man]

"Wait, what?" He manged to grumble as she took off into the forest. His eyes went wide and he cursed under his breath while attempting to stand. She ran off after the thing he gave her. After refusing so long to take it to the point where he had to invade her dreams to get it to her. And now she wanted it? Needless to say, he was left utterly confused.

After a few moments his mind's gears clicked back into place and began working again. She was hurt, and she'd gone running. That can't be good. He took one long step with his right foot, so far so good. The next long step and a searing, sharp pain ran from his ankle up throgh his leg and slammed him to the ground face first. He bit back crying out from that, but as he was falling, instinctively his arms went to stop him and that caused him to scream due to landing on his broken on. He rolled onto his back panting with pain and shut his eyes tight, salty trails of wetness flowed over the dried blood, turning them into pink streams that ran down his face.

He laid there for a few minutes before getting up and continuing toward Sylvia. He put the pain out of his mind by focusing on finding her and figuring out how he is going to negotiate with the Gentry to get healed. He can't be broken for long. His mind was racing as the once-sharp pain of his ankle blurred with the rest of his pain into one, ceaseless, throbbing hurt. It wasn't unbearable, however.

Thinking back, he should probably find his bag anyway, though he wished Sylvia had waited and walked. He still didn't understand why she got so upset. But that wasn't what was important, making sure they both lived to get to the Gentry, or the next town so they could heal up was what did matter.

He came into the clearning stumbling a bit. The bodies still disturbed him, but by now he had put them out of his mind and all the little voices associated with their passing into eternal slumber. He moved on, following the wake of the distraught angel-girl as she used her broken wing. It was as simple matter of following the stray feather that falls off.

At last he came upon her, "What aer you doing? Trying to get yourself killed? You're going to open that wound up.." he started off loud, but quieted down as he watched her search,

"It's really not that important..." he began softly, "If you're not alive to find it, then what's the point? Here, you can have my other one." He started trying to get her stop, or at least talk, "Listen, just sit down for a moment, you need rest."

[boomdeboom]

Panting, her eyes darting from place to place, Slyvia began to first look around the bushes in the field. Maybe her mind was tricking her and she had actually hidden the bag here. So on her knees, she began to nearly rip out every bush which was in that clearing, her mind in a confused mess. She didn't know why she cared so much about it, maybe it was because it was the first thing she was even given. Once again, when she was weak and confused, her demon whispered into her ear, wrapping itself around her soul.

"I know where it is. . .I can help you find it." Pushing its dark power and memories against her, its smile turned innocent as its red eyes stared at her. Needless to say it was rather uncomfortable, but each time she found it harder to push it away. It was just like before, except now she was determined not to let it take over her once more. So, taking a few moments beforehand, she pushed the lurking demon into the back of her mind and continued her search, ignoring the protests which echoed in her mind.

She heard a faint scream in the forest, a scream that sounded like Minh. Pausing, beginning to worry if more people had ambushed him, as she saw his body slowly clear out of the shadows, although he was limping a lot, she felt sorry that she had run away but was relieved that no more of her enemies had come to ambush him.

Straightening herself up from her crouching position, she narrowed her eyes as he began to talk loudly to her, once again giving out. But her gaze softened slightly along with his voice, and scratching her head, she could feel the familiar panic which paused as she heard his scream arise in her body. Slowly, trying not to wince, she stretched out her two large wings, beating them softly. Ignoring what he said for a few moments, focusing on her wings as she began to ruffle her feathers gently, she then answered slowly, her confused voice outlining the fact that she didn't even know why she cared so much.

"I'll be fine. . .I know where it is. I'll be back in like two minutes, and I won't die. As if something like this could threaten my life." Throwing a glance at both of her bandaged wounds, she saw that more fresh blood had begun to stain the cloths, but again she didn't seem to care too much. She would heal, eventually, just by doing this she would have to rest a bit more. No big deal.

"Just stay here." Turning her blue eyes on the half elf for a moment, again her heart aching as she saw his wounds, she turned around. With a deep breath, she bent her wings forward and began to run. She didn't care if he said anything, it was not as if anything was going to happen. In tune with her steps, her wings began to beat. One two. . .one two. . .one two. Feeling the wind running through her feathers, she then jumped, catching the wind under her wings. Giving strong beats, wincing as a slight sharp pain shot through her damaged wing, she slowly hovered before shooting into the air, turning west to where she was sure her bag laid among the trees and bushes.