{Liz & Kat} Non-muddy forest explorations! {Hydra & Measle}

Measle jumped just as Silence clattered down out of the. He was stunned that she could stand – goodness knew she was hurt more than Jackdaww, and he was going to grumble eight ways till Sunday. He blinked the sleep-sand out of his eyes and just nodded in agreement with Hydra. He didn’t understand Silence’s answer – it was still too early for him to think straight, but she seemed to think she was fine. He didn’t agree, but he was sure they would have no luck convincing her not to walk about too much. Silence did as she liked, from what Measle could see, and that meant they would be wasting their breath telling her to do anything.

Once she had moved on, Measle smiled sleepily at Hydra. “I think I must have fallen asleep after all.” He explained with a yawn. He must have needed it, though, as his muscles were all achey and tired. Luckily the night had passed uneventfully, so it didn’t matter that much.

-

Jackdaww almost jumped out of his skin as Silence called for him. He sheathed his sword and walked towards the sound of her voice, calling out, “I’m here!” as he went. He didn’t feel like surprising her, especially since he was feeling so fragile.

When he finally emerged around a tree trunk, he was stunned to see Silence standing on her own. “Are you alright..?” he asked carefully, remembering the state she had been in the night before. Her injuries must have felt significantly better that morning. Lucky – Jackdaww felt even worse. That reminded him he would need to re-splint his arm shortly – it had been getting more and more swollen since he got up.

"I'm gritting my teeth behind this happy attitude. If I let up on this adrenaline high I seem to have I will be screaming in pain." There was also fresh blood running down her legs, and her hands were shaking and fidgeting. She kept trying to be happy and didn't want to hold up anything, but she just felt like collapsing on the ground and bursting into tears. "Are we heading out soon...?" She certainly hoped so, otherwise she was off on her own to find water to rinse out her leg wounds. Bathing would certainly be a bit of a pain around that forest, but so long as Jack didn't decide to spy on her and nothing strange happened otherwise, it would go off without a hitch.

Hydra shook herself off and surveyed the area casually, seemed everything was alright after last night's scuffle. "Well, I suppose we'd better go make sure those two are going to be able to do any traveling before we go wandering off in this place. Might try to numb Silence's legs though, there's a blood trail from where she slept to where she went to find Jackdaww." It was saddening to her that the girl kept pushing herself past her limits, and she couldn't understand why. Either way the 'Gryke' was traipsing about through the trees waiting for them to start moving. "Well our little guest is up and about, and the humans should be getting ready to head out, shall we go find them?"

“If you think you’re up to it, why the hell not. I don’t want to hang about in lizard-territory any longer than necessary,” Jackdaww grumbled, “but first I need to sort myself out. If you want to do anything, go ahead.” They could probably be out within an hour if they wanted, but Jackdaww didn’t care. He got terrible grumpy when he was hurt. With that he sat himself down on a rock and began to sort his arm – ignoring Silence because he got the impression neither of them wanted to talk about the night before. He firmly gritted his teeth, biting down until his jaw ached, and gently moved the obvious lengths of bone into place. That was him preoccupied for the time being…

“I don’t think we’ll succeed in keeping them here, but if she’ll let you go ahead. I should go sort out Jackdaww – he’ll be fiddling with his bandages by now, and if he’s going to put himself in a foul mood I’d like to know he was at least doing it right.” It was going to be a very long day indeed at this rate. “Can you look for Silence if I find Jackie, and meet back here with our respective humans in, say, half an hour? They won’t have gotten far, at least…” he suggested. With that, the Gryke jumped up onto his back again, curling up in the warm space between his wings. It wasn't terribly comfortable, but the little creature didn’t weigh enough to be painful, so Measle just let it be.

As soon as Jack wasn't looking at her she was off into the woods, not storming about out of anger, but off away from him so he wouldn't hear her sobbing in pain. She kept walking and walking until she heard the sound of running water and felt rather relieved. The first thing she did was wash the blood from her legs and try her best not to shout as the cold water ran through the cuts. She sat next to the stream for a while simply enjoying the cool water on what felt like massive burns before realizing that she'd wandered off into the woods without telling anyone where she was going. "Darn it Jack's going to get soooo mad at me for this." she fretted to herself before realizing she'd left a red trail. "Okay...Perhaps it isn't so bad."

Hydra meanwhile was just noticing the trail and went back to Measle. "Thankfully she left a trail I know exactly which way she went. Only trouble is I don't know what possessed her to go that way. Jack, come on we gotta find your fire-lady before she walks herself into shock." She paid the gryke little attention, so long as it didn't hurt anyone she didn't see a point. "Shall we simply follow the red droplets and see where it is she went?" Her scent was still fresh as well, so finding her would just be a matter of getting Jack moving. There was more than one way to do such, but most of them meant ticking him off even more than he already was. "Think you can speed up any more Jack?"

Jackdaww swore as Hydra started insisting they went faster. He’d managed to get everything in the right place, using his fingertips to locate bone fragments, and in one case making a tiny cut to release a piece from the muscle it had gotten trapped in. He was just tying it to the splint when she asked him to hurry up. Although Hydra had not been rude, Jackdaww was not in the mood for a polite response. “I’m coming already! Hold on just a second.” He fumed, taking a quick gulp of air as he tightened the scarf Silence had given him. He had used a roll of dusty old bandages to tie the splint on and keep pressure on the arm, but the scarf was much more comfortable to tie over his shoulder as a sling. Even if it was a little less fashionable.

Finally comfortable (well, maybe ‘fixed’ was a better word than comfortable), Jackdaww stood up and grinned, his teeth still clenched shut. “Yes, come on then, let’s go.” He said, trying to sound bright. Silence wasn't hard to find, from the sheer amount of blood she had left behind. He didn’t want to surprise her too much, and so shouted her name as he got close. “Silence? Are you here?” he called, picking his way through the leaves. He could hear a river, and reminded himself he needed to fill his water-skin before too long.

Measle followed along obediently, carrying the Gryke to keep it out of trouble. He had found Jackdaww easily, and until Hydra had returned he had been instructing Jackdaww about the bits of bone he could clearly see were in the wrong place. “Yes, well we knew she couldn’t go too far I suppose. Maybe we should try to stay where we are for a while…” he started to suggest, but Jackdaww fixed him with a stern look. “Or maybe moving would be better..?” he corrected himself quickly, not really wanting to argue with an especially grumpy human. Maybe it would be best for him to stay quiet for a while…

Red swirls still drifted downstream from what was running down her legs, but the cold water rinsed them out fairly well and had it pretty much stopped minus the slight little traces here and there. "Nonsense, Measle, so long as Silence's legs don't give her trouble I don't see why we should take advantage of the daylight and keep moving." remarked Hydra as they came up to the river. Silence herself was just venturing to stand after washing off her legs, and she was still wobbling about like a blob of gelatin. "If you're going after something dreadfully important I'll just suffer through it, but if it isn't such a big priority then I'm okay with a little downtime." She wasn't going to be the person holding everything up.

Hydra got a good gulp of water and gave a good shiver before moving away from the water and sitting down. She was as happy as anyone to just get her bearings and figure out a direction before continuing, but Jack was keen on just sitting around and wasting the day. Somehow today didn't feel like the kind of day that needed wasting to begin with. Though now looking at Jack's arm and Silence's legs, maybe today could be wasted after all. "Maybe today 'would' be better spent resting after all that business last night. Jack isn't able to use that arm and asking the girl to walk is downright insensitive. We can get moving again tomorrow when everyone will hopefully be feeling better."

Measle nodded, wholeheartedly agreeing about moving that day. It was insanity – they wouldn’t make it far, and with the forest freaking out like it was (with the strange, shifting vegetation-walls and the giant lizards) it seemed safer to stay where they were. “Yes, we’ll try again tomorrow, when everyone has had a little more rest.” He suggested, before turning to the humans. “You two, we’re taking a day out – take your time, and rest up.” He smiled brightly as he got over his usual morning grump, before turning back to the camp and waiting for the others to follow.

--

The next day, when they were all a little more rested, the journey out of the woods began again. Measle was awake before Jackdaww (possibly for the first time ever), and was prowling around the edge of the camp when the others began to wake up. He hadn’t slept well – the gryke had kicked him in the ribs, and after that he couldn’t get back to sleep. The woods here didn’t feel safe enough anymore.

Within an hour, Jackdaww also woke, but for once stayed right where he was. He had been cursing in his sleep whenever he rolled over, and was clearly in a foul mood now too. Measle could tell right away that they should really stay where they were for another day, but if Silence could walk they should get out of there. It wasn’t worth running into another pair of lizards after what had happened last time.

At least her legs had scabbed over after the dip she'd taken in the river. She groaned after realizing that she'd fallen asleep next to Jackdaww, and that she was the last one to wake up that morning. "Hellfire and brimstone...Jackie how's your arm holding up...?" Sleep was tough to come by in that forest, and she wanted out of there ASAP. "I guess I'll suffer through walking, this place is as creepy in broad daylight as it is by firelight." She unraveled a bit of ivy from her arm and thanked her lucky stars that it wasn't poison ivy.

"By the way Jack I think you talk in your sleep." She looked around for Hydra, noticed that she'd spent the night in a tree and was on her way down, and shrugged as she tried to get her legs to work. She'd heard him muttering about someone and she could only imagine he'd been dreaming of a girl. Hydra stretched her wings and legs before looking at Jack with some concern, he was NOT happy and that meant that he and Silence would likely get into another row today. The girl seemed a bit more at ease, at least until she stumbled and grabbed Jack's good arm for balance. "Whoa! Sorry Jackie...my fault." This was embarrassing.

“Do I..? Hmm, that’s odd, I don’t think I was even dreaming…” Jackdaww replied slowly, gritting his teeth and putting a little of his black mood out of his mind. He got up carefully and looked around, pleased to see that nobody had been killed in their sleep. He had never been so eager to find a city to settle down in before in his entire life. “And it’s fine, how are your legs?” He didn’t have the energy to sulk.

He did jump a little as Silence caught onto his arm, but took it well enough. It was a good thing he was a morning person, or else that might have put him into an even worse mood than usual. “It’s alright, you got my good one.” He smiled, giving off a distinct air of unpredictability. Measle, for one, could tell that Jackdaww might explode at any moment, but for now he seemed calm enough.

“Is everyone alright to move today? It seems like we should get going as soon as possible - if we judge it right it might only be a couple of days before we arrive at a city with proper healers…” Measle asked, looking around and checking that everyone was accounted for. The gryke chirped and jumped onto his back, clearly ready to go. The others looked a little less prepared, but Silence and Jackdaww both looked a little better than the day before at least.

“Yeah I think we’re all fine – I’ll gather up my stuff.” Jackdaww grunted. After ensuring Silence was steady on her own, he sloped off to the edge of the camp to get his pack together. He could have used a shave, since he hadn’t managed one for the last couple of days, but there wasn't time just then. He would have to go with the rugged look for the time being.

"They're as good as can be expected. Still hurting like Hades and then some but I'll try to ignore it." A city with healers would be a miracle, but two days of walking on these wounds would be a nightmare. "We'd better get going before my legs decide not to work again." Hydra took to the air to scout out the area ahead and found that by nightfall they'd be reasonably close to another small town. "Yup, about two days and you'll find somewhere safe to stay!" she called down as she returned to the underbrush and skidded to a halt. "I recommend sleeping in trees though while we're out here, those lizards can't get off the ground."

Travel was pretty boring through most of the day and on into the afternoon, but it was a welcome surprise to come across a proper road, and Silence could have done a cartwheel if her legs weren't in terrible shape. "Jack do you normally skip shaving or is this just a stroke of bad luck for you?" Hydra meanwhile didn't really change when she found the road. "Just means finding a town will be all the easier I suppose." she sniffed. The forest was working her last nerve anyway, better to find a decent road and stay on it.

“Hmm, is it that noticeable? Yes, it is a stroke of bad luck…” Jackdaww grumbled, wiping a hand over his slightly bristly face. The road was a streak of luck and a half though – he’d never seen such a clear road around here before. That could half their travel time, if they could manage to keep a brisk pace. And gods knew that Jackdaww wanted to get to the next real town and out of those creepy, lizard-infested woods as fast as he was able. It wasn't natural – the rods weren’t the same as the last time he had passed through, and he didn’t like any of the explanations he was coming up with for that. “Any time you need a break just say so…” Jackdaww said softly after a while to Silence. He had just about gotten used to his arm throbbing, but the stinging of fresh cuts was harder to adapt to than a broken bone. He didn’t want her to wear herself out.

Measle hung behind the humans once they got out of the camp, near Hydra. He didn’t want to listen to Jackdaww moan. Even if he wasn't actually complaining, he would have been able to feel it in the air, and he couldn’t deal with that first thing in the morning. “Well, here we go again.” He commented to Hydra as they walked. “One more crazy adventure.” He sounded tired. They had been out for weeks now, and it was insane how many accidents and incidents there had been. He personally blamed Jackdaww for that but that was a different story altogether.

"I'll walk on my hands if I have to, and I don't intend to slow you down. Dealing with pain is something I'm used to, but you need your arm looked at as soon as possible. If anything you can go on ahead of me and see if there's someone in town who can set it for you." Walking got to be almost unbearable ridiculously quick, but she wasn't about to let that stop her from getting away from these woods just as fast as Jackdaww. By the time she could see the city, her legs were bleeding again and she sat down mid-stride. "Jack I'm sorry but I just can't walk any more. They won't hold my weight and the wounds have split wide open again." She felt awful for asking him to stop because she couldn't move, but it was unavoidable. A few minutes to let the pain pass and she got herself to her feet again. "Alright, let's get moving before they give out again." she joked.

"I think we can go check out this place, they'll be fine on their own for a bit since this is an easy road to follow." She stretched her wings a bit and took off into the air to make sure they weren't headed for another wall of moving vegetation. Thankfully they weren't, so she flew lower and called for Measle to join her on a short flight. "Come on! They don't really need us for the moment, let's go flying please?" At least the trees didn't try to attack and knock things out of the sky, otherwise she'd have stayed on the ground.

Jackdaww’s deeply ingrained sense of chivalry finally showed its head, and he stopped by Silence’s side with his head bowed in concern. He would have offered to carry her – she couldn’t be to heavy – but with one arm he certainly couldn’t. It looked like they were just going to have to take a slower pace that day.

--

Part of Measle wanted to stay and watch over the injured humans, but the parts of him that wanted to avoid grumpy-Jackdaw and the parts that wanted to be with Hydra won that argument almost instantly. He took off with a smooth jumpy, his strength improving all the time now that he’d had some practice, and quickly made his way above the treetops to join Hydra. It was still a messy affair, and he took out a branch on his way up, but he was improving. “Where to?” he asked, gliding for a moment to catch his breath after the ascent. The clouds were much more friendly that the ground for the time being, at least.

--

Jackdaww could have killed those dragons for ditching them again, but it wasn’t the time. Silence was trying to get to her feet again, despite every bit of logic Jackdaww could think of, but they couldn’t afford to lose any more time if possible. He held out his good arm, and smiled through his grumpiness. “Here, lean on me, it’ll take some of the pressure off. If the paths don’t change, we’re less than a day’s travel from some sort of town at least, so two days moving slowly should do it.” He wasn’t strictly sure that was the truth, because his usual path had been eaten by a moving hedge, but around these parts it was a fair guess nonetheless.

Silence was hesitant to hold onto him for fear of knocking him over, but the pain was crippling. "The sooner all this gets sorted the better, as I said I will walk on my hands if I have to. We need to get your arm fixed properly and I'm dreadfully curious about that stone you have in your pocket. It eats magic like a child eats sweets." Walking became easy so long as she tried not to bend her knees and only unlocked them when standing still so she wouldn't black out. Several hours of walking had long since taken their toll on her, but by that point her legs were numb and only hurt when she stood still. "Please tell me we're close." she muttered.

Hydra meanwhile had tried to keep just a wee bit of distance between her position and the humans below, and from her vantage point they were less than ten minutes from the gate of the town they'd been headed to. "Well Measle I do believe we can find ourselves a nice little roof to sleep on tonight and leave the human to whatever they decide to do. Maybe Jackie'll finally get rid of that anti-magic stone thing he's been carting about."

Jackdaww and Silence walked quietly for a long time. Both of them were bruised and broken, and talking didn’t seem likely to help matters. They were just heading to the nearest city at crawl-speed to fix themselves up. Eventually, during one of their pauses, Jackdaww looked around properly to get his bearings. He recognised it there, but in a good way, not the walking in circles way. “I- I think we are close. Here, we’d better stop for just a moment, but if I remember properly, it’s less than an hour from here! There’s food and a full waterskin in my pack if you want anything too.” He had never been so happy to see that set of well-trodden paths leading towards the nearest town in all his life. He paused to have a drink, but he was ready and raring to go as soon as Silence was.

Measle caught sight of the buildings and did a little aerial sommersault. “A roof for us, and a warm bulding for the humans to get fixed up in. One night without hearing Jackdaww moaning is all I need! He was thrilled. He had loved travelling with Hydra, and although he didn’t think about it as much now, he still got funny butterflies talking to her, but the last few weeks had been hard work. The idea of a city had never seemed so sweet. “Come on, I’ll race you there. My flying is much faster than last time we raced” he winked, swaying side to side in the air happily.

She took one giant gulp of water and pulled away from Jack, determined to walk on her own the rest of the way to the city. "No sense in stopping now! I know you can outpace me Jack, but this is my only speed: go." She continued to walk until she got to the entrance to the city, then she sat down and let her legs scream at her for her stupidity. "I hate lizards." she swore. She looked back at Jackdaww and shrugged gesturing to the city. "We made it in one piece for the most part! I say we get a drink after we get patched up!" A cold drink and a warm bed was all she wanted.

Hydra fluttered to a light landing on the roof of what looked like a citadel, more accurately it was a bank. "This looks like a good enough spot as any!" she called. She surveyed the surrounding area and luckily they were in the nicer part of town so there was more interesting life in the streets. "Measle we're in for some real entertainment we're in the better part of town." she chirped as she watched the ground below like a pleased cat, her tail swishing evenly back and forth.

Jackdaww didn’t stride off ahead really, he hung back to keep an eye on Silence. He couldn’t bring himself to just let her struggle on alone. The sight of the city gates was the sweetest sight in all the world, and he stopped there with Silence to enjoy the feeling. “Right, I’ll go and look for a healer, stay here until I get back – I don’t want you to do yourself any more damage.” He said after a moment, standing and dashing off into the city. There was an apothecary’s sign not too far down the road they had entered on, so he dashed inside to make all the necessary arrangements. Silence’s suggestion of a cold drink had given him a spurt of energy, even though he wasn't sure that was the best idea, considering the awkward way they had met. He fetched the healer back, finally save in the knowledge that nothing else could reasonable go wrong.

The idea of the race was quickly forgotten, and they drifted leisurely onto a suitable roof. “Wow, I think I can see the whole city from here!” Measle commented, settling down and curling his tail around both of them pleasantly. They had made it – mostly in one piece too! There was still the matter of that stone Jackdaww had found – Measle had tried to convince him to get rid of it, but he was certain that the man still had it hidden somewhere. Oh well, that was his problem. Measle as comfortable, and he wasn't moving again until he had recovered from that long, complicated ‘adventure’.

» [Syn & Hydra] Little Wandering Child
» The Forest of Tarz (Exxor x Eldarwen)
» Measle {Miniture but Mighty}
» :: Mystery of the Godless Forest :: -{Aero, Nen, Spirit, Rogue}-
» Hydra :: A Place In This World