Completed [Open] A new home

[Bethsyliss]

Syliss sprang up immediately at the sight of the cheetah standing up on his legs, even if with great difficulty. She flung both backpacks over her, one on each shoulder, and led Ronin slowly along the path to Ahnatep. Often crouching down in order to provide additional support, Bethsyliss helped her companion the whole way. They moved at a snail's pace, sometimes having to stop for a moment for the wounded and envenomed Ronin to catch his breath, but they moved safely. The fight with the Dhani had already strained Ronin a great deal, and now the fact that his body was fending off the deadly toxins pressured him enormously. He was clearly exhausted, and Syliss worried that they wouldn't make it to the Pillars of Dust -- whatever or wherever it was. What was more, they had lost their guide to a meaningless duel and would have to do their best to find their way around the city before being able to settle down and get some rest. Syliss took a drink from her waterskin. This was going to be one hard night. She did not know whether Ronin would make it through to see the sun rise next morning. "What is this?" a guard inquired nervously when they were under the iron and cedar gate, flanking them from a side while another guard closed in on them from the other. "A Kelvic, your Honor," Syliss replied, not even looking up. The guard frowned. "Never seen one like this before. You sure this isn't some dangerous animal you're bringing into the city? He's doing a great deal of growling for a Kelvic." "Yeah," the other guard said. "Show us he's a Kelvic. Make him shift." "No ssshifting," Syliss said firmly. "He's growling because he'sss in pain. I need to get him to a room where he can ressst as soon as possible. There isssn't much time." The guards did not clear the way. "Why would I be carrying two backpacks otherwise?" The guards glanced at each other. "Maybe she's smuggling something," one of them said. "Hey, dwsa. Let us take a look inside of your bags. If they're clean, we'll let you go." Syliss became slightly alarmed. If they found she was transporting the dead Dhani's venom glands, they would at least grow suspicious and detain her, no matter what the amount of growling there would be from Ronin. One of the guards reached out to grab the backpack which was Ronin's, but Syliss deflected his arm. "Don't," she snapped, inconspicuously adding: "It'sss fragile. Allow me." She set her own backpack down on the marble floor and opened it before them. "You can rummage through all you like. It's all coinsss and ginger root. We're transssporting nothing illegal." "Nothing illegal? You trying to take down the local economy smuggling ginger across to the city? Didn't think we'd see through it? No, no, no. We're just not buying it." He turned to the other guard. "How much is the tax on food imports again? I forget every time." "Look," she said, exploiting the fact that they obviously wanted recognition for their work. She played them this way since they didn't appear to want to hear the truth -- or rather the portion of the truth that Syliss deemed relevant. "Clearly you have outsssmarted us. But we do need to get into Ahnatep rather quickly." She gestured towards the agonizing cheetah. "Tell you what. Whatever the tax isss, I'll give you each a golden miza ssso we don't have to go through the hasssle of weighing the ssstuff, and, in exchange, you don't report anything. That way, we get passsage inside the city, and those mizas go right into your pocketsss and they ssstay there until you decide to spend them on sssomething you want to buy. What do you sssay?" The guards looked at each other with greed written all over their faces, then shrugged, trying to seem like they weren't making a big deal out of it. "Why not," they said in unison. "We will have to confiscate the merchandise, though." "I need it," Syliss answered defensively. "It's medicine for him." "Using ginger as medicine? Oh, you're not getting out through that one." "Two gold mizas each for your sssilence, your Honors?" she offered, with a slight note of exasperation in her voice. She was starting to get fed up with having to bribe everyone in this city to get through, before she even had the time to settle. "Works for me," they both said, poorly concealing their lit up faces. She gave them each two golden-rimmed coins, and they gave monstrously wide grins. "Welcome to Ahnatep. Which way are you headed?" "Pillarsss of Dussst." She was given vague directions as to how to get in the general area of the Pillars of Dust, but she knew she wouldn't get more from these -- even if she bribed them more. She was relieved they hadn't took the pain of checking the other bag, be it out of forgetfulness or consent to let it pass. She in the lead and Ronin keeping up, they ventured into the city of Ahnatep in search of their new home.

[Ronin Invictus]

Ronin half stumbled and walked along the path towards the Pillars of dust, Bethsyliss keeping him from falling multiple times. His right front leg felt more like a stick attached to him then a limb, the whole leg seemed stiff and out of tune with the rest of his body. Every time he took a step with the leg he was rewarded with dizzying pain lancing out from his shoulder across his right flank, the wound seeming to get more and more irritated and painful the longer they went on. Ronin's head hung low, his tail dragging behind him, betraying exactly how weak he felt.

Ronin then felt Syliss stop then once more, he figured it was another opportunity for him to regain some energy to push on, but then he heard her distant voice and two other men's voices. Ronin lifted his head enough to catch sight of the blurry outlines of the two men's legs in front of them. Ronin growled then as another wave of pain emanated from the wound, leaning slightly again Syliss then to try and keep weight off that leg. Ronin panted as their incomprehensible dialogue continued, he could only hope they weren't being arrested now. Thankfully, after a while they seemed to move out of the way for them, Syliss started walking then and Ronin gritting his teeth before he pushed off after her. As Ronin kept on walking after her, he was afraid his legs would give out soon, and he would fall there. For whatever reason, the guards had not noticed his blood stained fur, maybe they were too affixed on Syliss bags to notice in the darkness.

Ronin stumbled then as one of his paws caught on a small rock he couldn't see, coming dangerously close to falling before he could right himself. How much longer... was his next thought, almost pleading. His head hung low he did not even notice they had arrived until he bumped into the back of Bethsyliss's legs.

[Bethsyliss]

They roamed for quite some time around the area known as The Pillars of Dust, crossing paths with several drunks and a few scantily clad ladies. "What is this place," Syliss muttered with a frown. She asked for directions a couple of times, asking whether anyone knew anything about a person called Beth, but her inquiries were met with blank stares, threats and the occasional mocking. One person fled at the side of the growling cheetah, reminding Syliss of the urgency of her search. After maybe one hour, around a corner and into a narrow alleyway, she passed by a two-floor building that had a wooden signpost in front of it. Syliss read the common writing out loud: "Residential collective. Current tenants: Vvesebeth --". She didn't even bother to read on further before bolting towards the front door on the ground floor, Ronin lagging behind. She tried the handle, but it wouldn't yield. She felt the cheetah's head bump into the back of her legs. She turned around and gently patted his head. The look in his eyes was the blunt expression of cruel pain and total exhaustion. "It's alright," she said. "We're here." Suddenly the door behind her flung open. She spun round, to face a middle-aged person who looked like he'd just been woken up. "What's going on?" he demanded with unconcealed exasperation. "Pleassse forgive me," Syliss replied hastily, trying her best not to provoke a fight she and Ronin were undoubtedly too tired to carry out. "It saysss on the board this place is rented by Vvesebeth. I didn't expect there to be anyone elssse in here." "Upstairs," the man grunted before shutting the door, hardly noticing the cheetah faintly growling in pain. "Thanksss," Syliss said to the closed door. She turned to Ronin. "Up here," she whispered. "We can take a moment if you need it before going up. Ssstairs can be tricky." She was relieved. They were at least temporarily safe -- even if it was just for the night. Syliss had enough ginger root left to get Ronin through to the next day if he needed the nutrients to keep his blood from clotting and cutting off his breathing. Never mind the physical wounds; she would treat them after clearing the venom out of his body, and the rags from Ronin's clothes formed a bandage which, though not ideal, would be enough to prevent him from losing too much blood. She'd just have to stay awake and pay attention to his breathing while he slept under her caring eye. She waited for him to decide when to go up the stairs.

[Ronin Invictus]

Ronin was able to see a door open in front of Bethsyliss, the muffled sounds of a brief conversation before the door closed then. Maybe they weren't there yet, the thought made Ronin want to just fall over and stay right there, but then Bethsyliss walked over to stairs nearby, which he had missed before. She stood next to them, as if she wanted him to climb them. Ronin looked at her blurry outline once more, before snorting slightly, clenching his teeth then as he prepared to climb the stairs.

As Ronin took the first step, he figured it wouldn't be as hard as he expected, but harder than simply walking. Up to the half-way point up the stairs he just tried climbing stairs as he normally would, but the pain that resulted had caused him to stumble a few times, coming very close to tumbling down the stairs. He changed up his strategy after one particularly bad slip up though. He slowly worked his way up the rest of the way using his left fore leg and back legs only, keeping his weight off his right foreleg, or at least much of it. Once he reached the top of the stairs, he laid down panting for a few moments to catch his breath.

[Bethsyliss]

Bethsyliss stayed right behind Ronin while he wearily ascended the staircase, ready to catch him if he slipped before his fall built up too much momentum and he injured them both, but that was not needed. The ascension was slow but steady, with the occasional falter which Ronin managed to handle. Once they were up to the top, Ronin slumped down, seemingly trying to catch his breath. He would be able to rest now. They were at the doorstep. Syliss suddenly gasped. She was not in possession of the keys to the apartment. She swore under her breath and laid down her backpack to look for something she could use to pick the lock. After a minute, she found what she could use: a comb carved out of bone would serve as a pick and a bar of soap would make the lock more slippery and navigable. She broke off a tooth from the comb and stood up. She frowned. The door had no lock. She examined it carefully, trying to find one, and very nearly stumbled forward as the pressure she put on the door caused it to swing open with a loud creak. "Thisss is great," she said. "A door without a lock. How's that for sssafety." She entered the dark room and looked around. On the far end of the windowless, single-room apartment was a standing basin with a polished copper mirror next to it. On the right-hand side, there was a single-sized, uncomfortable-looking bed with no sheets and an open empty chest at the end of it. On the left-hand side, a brazier was carved in the wall, and a bench faced the brazier. Syliss was surprised there still was some basic furniture lying around, but everything of value that wasn't too bulky to take had clearly been stolen, for the room was rather bare. "Thisss'll have to do for the time being," she sighed, entering the flat. "Ronin, the bed is yours. I won't be sleeping tonight," she said, pointing towards the bed. She braced herself, for, while Ronin rested, she would have to stay awake and take care of him until the next morning.

[Ronin Invictus]

Ronin slowly got up again now, as he saw the door open into a small looking room from what he could tell. The room had a sort of musty smell, as if it hadn't been used in a while. He wasn't able to get any more details from his blurry vision though. He could faintly see Bethsyliss point towards a low piece of furniture in the corner of the room. As he approached it he could see it was a bed, although a bed for a single person and without sheets, it seemed like the most comfortable bed Ronin had ever seen. He could hear Bethsyliss' voice then at the other side of the room, although his hearing was still cloudy.

Ronin gingerly climbed onto the bed, the Cheetah plopping down on it's left side. Ronin was so relieved at the moment, he almost forgot about the pain the venom caused across his body. Ronin remained perfectly still now on the bed, hoping to relieve some of the pain that was caused by exertion, and it worked to a point, but the worst of it still remained, Ronin closed his eyes then growling softly once more, was this what if felt like to die, he thought grimly in between the pain which intensified in waves. After a few minutes he fell into a fitful sleep, the bed, which was much more comfortable than what he would sleep on when he was a slave, beckoning his battered body to rest, and he wasn't able to keep his eye lids open.

Ooc: I think we could do with just a short narration of the night and go to the next day

[Bethsyliss]

Day 78 of Winter, 512 AV. As soon as Ronin got onto the bed he fell asleep. Seeing as he fitfully stirred about in his slumber, Syliss understood he was uncomfortable on the raw bed. She removed her linen cloak and robes and delicately wrapped his body in them, trying her best not to wake him up while offering him additional comfort. Now only wearing her leather boots and linen undergarments, she shivered in the cold room which she was now to call home. She went over to the brazier and, using Ronin's flint and steel which she found in his backpack and a piece of cloth from the rags he had torn when he had shapeshifted as charpaper, she got a fire going. It wasn't much, since the rotten wood in the brazier wasn't very good, but it gave off enough heat to stop her shivering. The warmth would surely grow in the windowless room as time progressed. The night dragged on painfully slowly. Syliss checked Ronin's breathing every now and then, monitoring the minute changes in his rhythm. Several hours into his sleep she had to wake him up just a little bit, to feed him some ginger root and offer him a drink from her waterskin. She didn't pack him with the anticoagulants this time, only trying to keep a steady amount in his system to prevent internal clotting without causing his wounds to bleed open as they had earlier on. He kept his eyes closed and feebly munched the food; Syliss was unsure whether he was actually conscious during this time or if it was his animal reflexes which caused him to process the ginger in his mouth. Several hours later she did this again, stabilizing his breathing which had gone wheezy. She swore when her fire died out, having consumed all the rotten wood in the brazier. It was not long before the sun rose. She waited for Ronin to wake up so she could get dressed and go out to buy what would be necessary to create an antidote and eradicate the infection once and for all. "Morning," she whispered gently when his eyes flickered open.

[Ronin Invictus]

Ronin slept through most of the night, Bethsyliss only waking him a few times to give him a sort of herb, which he figured was helping. He did not open his eyes although, preferring to keep them closed until he was ready to get up. Ronin fell asleep almost immediately after Bethsyliss had given him the ginger root, to try and avoid the pain, and due to his exhaustion.

The last time although, Ronin woke on his own. His eyes flickering open as he blinked away the sleepiness from his eyes when he was just waking up. A few moments later Bethsyliss voice broke the silence, just a whisper. Ronin raised his head then looking around the room now as the faint light of morning filtered in from under the door. It seemed as sparse as it did when his vision was blurred to the point of him being able to faintly see shapes. Ronin's gaze then fell on Bethsyliss making a purring sound as if to say good morning in only the way a cheetah can.

Ronin seemed to be feeling slightly better, at least his sense were back and no more mind numbing pain, it was just a constant ache, but not as intense as it was previously. His breath still seemed to be slightly forced though, he figuered whatever the Dhani had did to him was still in his system. Ronin exhaled slightly, sighing before laying his head back down, but his eyes remained open.

[Bethsyliss]

Bethsyliss's heart very nearly broke when the cheetah purred at her, and she didn't know whether it was from tenderness or from the torturous sight of seeing Ronin suffer. Slowly, she took away the robes in which he had wrapped himself, but left the cloak around him: even in winter, the days in Eyktol were warm, and she'd rather leave Ronin with what little comfort she could offer him. She was aware she had to act fast before the persistent venom took over his body's defenses. "If you have too much trouble breathing, eat sssome ginger root," she said clinically, removing all of the ginger from her backpack and setting it on the bed next to him. "It ssshould take an hour to have an effect. Don't eat too much or you'll make yourssself bleed to death." He startled herself saying that. "Keep my waterssskin. There isssn't much in it left, but you can finisssh it if you like. I'll be back before you know it." With that, she grabbed her backpack, threw in Ronin's empty waterskin, and dashed out, and ran steadily toward the area known as The Pavilion where she had bought the ginger root the day before. There wasn't a moment to lose, but she was low on energy and she still needed her wits about her to brew the antidote. She steered her way through the morning streets of Ahnatep without great difficulty, already knowing her way to the market, and arrived there fairly quickly, though she had trouble fighting off the fatigue. She hoped word of her purchases from last night didn't spread among the merchants, because then they'd take advantage of her desperation and request unreasonably enormous sums of money. She roamed around for some moments, inspecting the interior of the brightly-coloured tents and examining the stalls displaying a diverse array of merchandise, until she found what she was looking for at a place with a signpost depicting a test-tube and a puff of smoke rising from it. She could not read the name of the shop, but all she needed was general alchemy supplies to make her antidote. "Greetingsss, good merchant," she said, approaching the tent. "Here to buy, dwsa?" the merchant replied enthusiastically. "Yesss indeed. I need the equipment necesssary to make basic potions, if you can provide that." "What for, dwsa? New to the craft?" She wished she knew what dwsa meant, but she didn't have the time to ask right now. Before she could even answer his question, he had taken out two fairly bulky cases from under his stall, had opened them and had begun to explain how their various components -- beakers, test-tubes, tweezers, and so on -- were intended to be used. "Now, you see, this part here --" "Excussse me," Syliss interrupted. "Actually, I only need to renew my equipment, ssso I know how it all worksss." "Oh, you should have said so. We would have saved some time, and time is money. Unless you need anything else, that will be two hundred gold mizas: a hundred for the appraisal kit and a hundred for the identification kit." The look of eagerness on his face clearly stated he was being optimistic about the possibility of ripping Syliss off. She didn't have the time to properly haggle, but she was sure she could reduce the price a little. "You don't actually believe I'm going to pay you that much, do you?" The merchant sighed. "I won't settle for anything below one hundred and seventy gold mizas." "One hundred and twenty," she said. "One hundred and forty," he retorted. "Deal," she agreed. She was almost certain those weren't worth any more than fifty golden mizas each, but she had wasted enough time already, and Ronin's condition wasn't getting any better the more she waited. She painfully dug out a hundred and forty golden-rimmed coins from her backpack and laid them quickly on the table. "That's all of it," she said. "You forgot one coin," he replied with a hypocritical smile. She didn't know if she had actually counted one twice or if he was taking advantage of the fact that she was pressed for time, but she didn't have the time to count everything a second time, so she just pulled out another coin. "There we go," he said condescendingly. "Need help with anything else, dwsa?" "If you could tell me where I can fill up my waterssskin, I would be grateful." "How grateful?" the merchant asked with a perfectly straight face, narrowing his eyes shrewdly. Then he burst into laughter. "I'm just joking. There's a well not too far from here, but often you have to wait in line before it's your turn, especially in the mornings. If you like, I can fill your waterskin up." He paused, then added: "For a little price, of course." Syliss raised an eyebrow. "If you're in a hurry, you should really avoid the well," he assured her. "I'll settle for one gold miza." He smiled. She gave him Ronin's waterskin, and slammed yet another golden-rimmed on the merchant's stall. His smile grew into a grin. He went into his tent with the waterskin and returned it to her a second later full to the stopper. "A pleasure doing business with you, dwsa. Do come back if you need anything." She left with both cases under her arms and a backpack roughly the same weight as she had arrived with. She still needed to buy some coal to start a fire. Her encounter with the trade goods merchant was similar to her previous, and she ended up buying fifteen pounds of coal for two gold mizas. Bending under the weight of her purchases -- the coal, the water, the appraisal and the identification kit --, Syliss rushed her way back to her home in the Pillars of Dust. The only thing that kept her awake was the gut-wrenching feeling she had at the prospect of letting Ronin die. She was not going to let that happen. She went up the staircase, panting, and flung the creaky door open.

[Ronin Invictus]

Ronin still laid on the bed as he watched Bethsyliss turn and go out the door, catching a glimpse of the city bathed in the morning light, Ronin squinted slightly as the usually darkened room was bathed in the light. He then glanced at the strange plants she had called ginger roots she had set on the bed near his head. Ronin stared at the plants for a few long moments, seemingly nothing else to do but that. As he stared at the ginger root although, his mind wandered elsewhere, now that he was able to think straight to a point. He had fought and killed a Dhani, within the city limits, the body would be found any minute now in broad daylight, the Dhani was most likely a citizen of the city, which Ronin had killed. Of course the Dhani had attacked him first, but Ronin could not help but feel guilt after the fact.

The fight itself, Ronin did not remember, he had seemingly blacked out in his fury. When he emerged from his rage though, there was the Dhani, dead. Ronin's mind ran wild with possible outcomes to this, the worst being that the city would arrest him and maybe even Syliss before they can explain what had happened, they could be tried for murder. As Ronin was just able to grasp the gravity of the situation Bethsyliss entered the room, Ronin wide-eyed for a few moments as if a city guard was entering the room before he realized it was just her. He watched her with some interest as she set up the alchemy kit she had from where he laid, nibbling on a piece of ginger root as it started to get slightly hard to breath. She should rest herself... she seems exhausted. He noted with slight worry, even with a deadly venom coursing through his veins.

Just then a loud banging could be heard on the door below, at first Ronin thought it was just any person seeking entry to the room downstairs. Once the man opened the door and a voice began asking questions right away, Ronin's blood ran cold. "Hello sir," said a gruff loud voice, "We were wondering if you might know anything about a murdered Dhani near the front gate, have you noticed anything strange recently, particularly last night?" The guard then went to explain the scene they had found, the Dhani had appeared to be mauled by some sort of animal, but the removed venom glands caused them to question if it was just any animal that had mauled the Dhani. Oh no... Ronin thought. The guards downstairs were sure to be led to them by the man, he was sure of it. Ronin gave a panicked look at Bethsyliss who probably heard the commotion downstairs as well. Their fates rested on the middle-aged man downstairs now, and Ronin didn't have a good feeling about it.

ooc: Well I guess I will let you decide what happens next