[Rudolpho]
Having finished grooming a particularly stubborn spot, Rudolpho got up
and stretched. Extending his front paws forward, he showed his claws,
and then yawned diplaying his teeth. Properly refreshed he looked
up to see if he had been noticed. By the tense looks Laurelyn gave
him and the knowing smile Thomis fixed on him, he knew he had been.
He stood up on his hind legs and broke the spell holding him in that form.
He reverted back to himself and strode forward towards the companions.
"Hi.
"Anything I can do to help?"
[Daron]
Daron blinked twice to clear her vision. Rudolpho _couldn't_ have been that panther; t'was a fever dream. But, by the way both Thomis and Laurelyn talked, the unthinkable seemed to be true.
-At least he's safe, and whole...-
That thought comforted her, somehow.
A series of chills shook her body. She clenched her teeth to stop their chattering, unwilling to divert Master Keir's attention from the other wounded. She'd be fine. If only the weather hadn't turned so cold so quickly...
[Laurelyn]
All Laurelyn had time to do was register Rudolpho's quick change - from the sound of Daron's mutterings she was getting delirious. "If you could get Beast settled it would help," she said. "Then I think you best see what Master Keir has to say about Daron - she sounds like she might be going into shock." A pain shot up the storyteller's nerves as she knelt by the fire.
It was then she realized she would need a mug for the tea. "Rudolpho," she added, "Could you also get the two mugs out of my backpack?"
While she waited she began to soak the rags that would be needed for Thomis and hoped Beast wouldn't take offense at the "panther" being near her.
Another delayed thought registered and she asked, "Jacques - are you alright?" Of all of them she figured the jester to probably be in one piece. "And how's Fiend?"
[Jacques]
Winding the last of the bandage around a quietly whimpering pup's rear, Jacques looked up.
"Oh I'm fine Miss Laurelyn," he sighed in reply. "You know what they say. Old jesters only ever die on stage."
He lifted Fiend from the blanket and walked carefully over to where Laurelyn was with the others.
"I think the animal will live," he said. "Though you'd never know it from the way he was complaining." The pup took that moment to make a tentative whine. "Won't be chasing rabbits for a while, though."
His eyes flicked over Thomis, Daron, and back to Laurelyn, and he shook his head for the comfort of the bells.
"Damn sorry I wasn't quicker in killing the buggers." He looked over at the blue handled knife with its blade still stuck in the dirt. "If I'd been aiming for throats instead of the dramatics we might have got away without this." A waved hand indicated the crossbow bolts littering the ground.
[Thomis]
Thomis bit off a wide smile at that, and shook his head slightly. "Better than any of us could have done with out you," he told the jester with a matter-of-fact tone. "I doubt they expected such a display." Not that his surprise had been much less than the bandits'; though he had suspected Jacques was capable of quite a bit more than sleight-of-hand, he hadn't predicted the special talents the other man had revealed. Nor, for that matter, Rudolpho's.
[Laurelyn]
"We were in deep trouble without your help," Laurelyn said, thinking of the bandit's leering face only inches from hers. "It looked more like a capture as opposed to a simple robbery."
[Jacques]
The flask of alcohol was in his other hand, and he looked at it wistfully. Then he shook his head again, and passed the flask back to Laurelyn. After all, there was no guarantee that the bandits wouldn't be back.
"You know," he finished, looking down at the pup. "I think Fiend here knew about Rudolpho's 'talents' before the rest of us. Think he has a nose for cats." He gently scratched the pup's head.
Fiend yipped. And it almost sounded like his normal, innocent self.
Almost.
[Laurelyn]
Laurelyn set the flask by the other medical supplies and said, "I'm glad that you came to no harm and that Fiend's only condemned to a few rabbitless days."
[Daron]
Daron lifted up her head with effort. Now, she was _truly_ seeing things; her uncle Harlan carrying an injured puppy. And dressed like a tailor's nightmare, at that.
"Uncle Harlan, nice t'see you..." she murmured happily. "Wha's with th' getup? Not Festival Day awlreddy...?"
Another fit of shivers shook her frame. Now her tongue felt wrapped in cotton wool too. She thought she said, "Get my cloak out of the sack on my saddle." Only the words "...cloak...sack...saddle..." were actually understandable, however.
[Jacques]
About to reply to Laurelyn, Jacques closed his mouth firmly as Daron spoke.
What kind of name was _Harlan_? Sounded like some kind of dark and dangerous part of the city more than a person. Not only that, but the thought of being anything like the girl's uncle sent shivers down his spine.
He shook his head, dismissing it as merely delusion due to the wounds, and turned his attention back to Laureyn and Fiend.
[Rudolpho]
Rudolpho crossed over to where her backpack and retrieved the mugs. He had noticed Daron's state and was anxious to help her. Giving Laurelyn the mugs, he went over and sat by Daron. He remembered the hair he had retrieved when they were still at the Inn. Rudolpho rummaged through his pack and retrieved the hair and the clay, molding both into a figurine in Daron's image. He completed the ritual with a few words and looked up. "Daron, you aren't cold and you will most definitely _not_ go into shock." He paused slightly and added with a smile, "I won't let you."
[Keir]
Down by the stream Keir found a number of useful plants and items. Though there was willow bark in the tea he had left with Laurelyn, he cut another switch for drying as his small supply wouldn't go far in the next few days with so many in need. More than anything he wished there were more Hortus' around, he wasn't certain he could tend them all in time to prevent some from getting worse. Daron had lost a lot of blood and was already running a small fever when he'd tended her but it was Brendan that concerned him most. The man's skin had gone cold and clammy and his mind had retreated into some unknown dark recess. He had to be brought back quickly or he might roam within his own imagination for the rest of his days.
In a boggy area in a bend of the brook he found the plants he had been searching for. Bloody-fingers and bloodwort - both for Daron, and Dracontium for Brendan. A bonus was a stand of touch-me-not that he could use on Thomis and Pierre. He stopped on his return trip to carefully wash his bounty and the crossbow bolt he'd pulled from a tree. It comforted him to see that the barbs were small and hoped the one in Thomas was the same.
The pungent dracontium root stung his eyes but cleared his head of idle thoughts. He worked swiftly but meticulously and when finished wasted little time in getting back though when he sped right past some of his favorite mushrooms his stomach rumbled in protest.
He arrived to see that Laurelyn had the tea ready and Rudolpho had returned and was apparently playing with a doll for some odd reason. Keir wondered if he'd have to add the young thief to his list of patients as he set the plants, wrapped in his shirt, down next to Brendan.
[Daron]
Daron's mental fog lifted a bit. No, that was _Jacques_, holding Jepardi. For some reason, a childhood song sprang to her fevered mind. Before she could...or _would_...stop herself, she began to sing in a passable alto voice, "Frere Jacques, Frere Jacques, Dormez vous? Dormez vous? Sonnez Les Matines, Sonnez Les Matines. Ding Dang Dong, Ding Dang Dong." Afterwards, she giggled hysterically.
Then, her dark eyes widened in surprise: she saw someone she did not expect to see; not on _this_ side of the Great Divide, anyway...
Daron regarded Rudolpho with catlike curiosity. She giggled at that thought. "Oh, hello there, Rudolfurry. Nice t'see ya...there's some bread, cheese and meat in th'left furward saddlebag fur ya. No mousies, sorry..." She giggled again.
[Jacques]
The jester groaned audibly and stood up, leaving Fiend lying nearby. The animal seemed safe enough, after all.
Then he walked slowly over to the corpses and began retreiving knives. Not something he enjoyed, even under the best of circumstances, but a darn sight better than listening to the delirious girl singing stupid songs.
"Dormez bloody vous," he muttered and pulled the orange handled knife viciously from the eye-socket it was embedded in. Killing people always left him in a foul mood.
[Laurelyn]
The storyteller was glad for two things - that Master Keir had returned and that the tea was ready. Daron was sounding worst and Brendan was looking worst. She said, "The tea's brewed."
With this announced she gathered up the heated clothes and went back to Thomis - with the way things were going she feared that he too might take a turn for the worse. She crouched beside him and for a second just knelt there holding the steaming clothes.
Laurelyn looked at the bolt sticking out from his lower thigh and the gash on his shoulder, and finally said, "errr.. Thomis.. it probably would be easier for you to put one of these on your leg - I'll take care of your shoulder." Somehow she thought that working the bloodied cloth away from his shoulder would be a little less personal.
As she laid the heated cloth on Thomis's should and held it against the gash she quietly said, "I don't see any of us moving before nightfall or even the next day - which might give those thrice-damned bandits a chance to regroup. Any suggestions? All I can think of is to ride to the next village and get some help."
[Thomis]
With two quick movements of a blade, Thomis cut away his pants leg, and then lay the hot cloths around the broken end of the bolt. "Who would we send?" he asked. The idea of splitting the party did not appeal to him, since any who rode ahead would need to be able to protect themselves -- and any left behind, namely those most gravely injured, would need others to guard them.
[Laurelyn]
Laurelyn's brow furrowed while she thought. Rudolpho, with his unique talents was option, but despite those talents she did not favor sending a boy out alone. "I could go," she said, "I'm in decent shape - as is Beast. I think Jacques and Rudolpho should stay here. They would be the woundeds' best defense."
She shifted her hand - to make sure that she wasn't putting too much pressure against Thomis's wound.
[Thomis]
Thomis looked sideways at Laurelyn, then shook his head slightly. He had not missed how the storyteller carried herself more than a little bit gingerly. "Perhaps it would be best if I went. My injuries are not all that serious, and I can easily seat a horse." And ride at a gallop if it became necessary; for the way Laurelyn held herself, he doubted her ribs could endure a hard ride.
[Keir]
Keir listened to Daron's ramblings with growing concern as he sliced a chunk of dracontium root and placed it under Brendan's tongue. The skunk cabbage lived up to it's name and the Hortus' nose crinkled in revolt. It tasted worse than it smelled but it had to be strong to penetrate Brendan's sinuses and reach his wayward brain.
He looked around for someone to help Daron while he was occupied with Brendan. Laurelyn was busy tending to Thomas and readying the tea. He wasn't certain but she seemed paler than before. Jacques seemed to be off pilfering the dead instead of making himself useful and Rudolpho was fiddling with his doll. Keir shook his head in disgust, he didn't think he'd ever understand Big Folks and their odd ways. "Rudolpho, could you put that down for a moment and get some of that tea into Daron... and find something to cover her, look in her saddlebag." Keir didn't particularly care for ordering people about but knew in an emergency any general request to a group might go unanswered as each thinks someone else will do it.
[Rudolpho]
"I'm not playing." His tone was not one of amusement. "I am helping Daron with her fever." Even as he responded indignantly he got up to get another mug for her. He poured some tea into it and returned to her side.
[Daron]
Daron got a noseful of the pungent root Master Keir used on Brendan. The mental fog seemed to part a bit. She looked at the mug of tea Rudolpho held for her with trepidation.
-What sort of slimy thing does he want _me_ to drink?-
Wrinkling her nose up in anticipation, she sipped at the steaming tea. Shocked at the pleasant taste, she greedily drank the "not-so-nasty medicine".
Her chills soon subsided. And someone had managed to shave the "fur" off her tongue. She didn't question "how" or "why". Nevertheless, she finished off the tea as a precaution.
[Keir]
He was about to insert two slices of the stinking dracontium up Brendan's nose when he realised it was dislocated. He'd assumed the slight bend was its natural state and berated himself for missing the dried blood that tipped it off. Things seemed to be slipping by him, important things. He grabbed Brendan's nose and wrenched it back in place then cleaned up the fresh flow of blood with one of the cloths Laurelyn had prepared. -He has the luck o' the Hortus,- Keir thought. If he'd been conscious the pain of straightening his nose could have made him faint and the foul flavor of the dracontium would've made him gag. He inserted the two slices and jumped to Daron's side.
The young artist's fever was not as high as he'd feared and she still shivered but the tea would help. He didn't think she was ready to eat either the bloody fingers or the bloodwort at this point. "Rudolpho, try to get some more tea into her and keep her warm. If she becomes lucid have her chew on these." He handed some leaves of the healing herbs to the thief, thankful that he had decided to act as her nurse.
[Daron]
Daron looked at the leaves Rudolpho held.
Her arms felt stiff, though she made the effort to reach for the remedy
herself. She _hated_ this inactivity! The guilt she felt was
more painful than her wounds, though; it was _her_ fault the group would
be split up, and exposed to more danger. If she'd only waited...
-But then Brendan would've probably been killed if we hadn't stopped the bandits...-
Though why _that_ should matter to her, she couldn't figure out. Her companions should come first. _Not_ some handsome stranger...
"Rudolpho, could you please hand me those leaves?" she asked, relieved her voice came out clear and easily understood. She chewed on the first set of leaves, the "bloody fingers". Her face screwed up at the bitter taste.
Something Master Keir said about "getting something to cover her" next came to mind. "M'cloak's in the sack on my saddle," Daron said. "But I could use some more tea first..."
-The better to wash down these nasty leaves!-
Daron prayed she hadn't done anything foolish while her head was muddled. Though she knew, with some certainty, that if she had, Jacques would be sure to point it out to her...
[Rudolpho]
Rudolpho filled her mug first and then retrieved her cloak. He had
handed her the leaves which she was now chewing on. He watched her
chew for a moment before asking, "Does this mean you are lucid now?"