[Flashback]What grows here?

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones listened to her response, and thought on it for a moment... He was wondering what the department of succor was... Though he supposed it was something in Alvadas... He never paid that much attention to the government, as long as it left him alone... Just as Bones was about to answer, he tensed, and turned on the spot, having heard a rustle in the brush, and sensed movement out of his peripherals. He knew something had been stealthily following them, but could not figure out what... His answer was given as a full grown mountain lion leaped through the air at Bones, most likely trying to use its kill move of jumping on someways back, and breaking there neck, all in one swift move. Bones notice of the attack only gave him a few seconds notice, before the beast would land. He used it to dive out of the way, trying to do a shoulder roll, but ending up doing more of a chest slide, as he messed up the move... He was certainly no master acrobat, but at least the dive had gotten him out of the way, and the mountain lions paws landed just were Bones had been a moment before... But regardless, he had spoiled the beast's attempt at finishing him in one fell swoop. This unfortunately left Fatima facing down a cougar, as it turned to face her, letting out a deep throat-ed growl. Hopefully Bones could help her in a moment, but he was still recovering from his barely getting out of the way of the cougar... He would not be able to help for precious seconds, which in this instant would be an eternity, as she was alone until Bones could come to her aid.

[Fatima]

Fatima noticed Bones tensing, then there was a flurry of movement as he attempted to roll to the side, avoiding the attack of a mountain lion. Fatima felt like an idiot for not noticing that it had been stalking them! She had a moment of relief when Bones dodged the attack, but the feeling quickly dissipated. "Aw, shyke!" Fatima cursed, falling into a fighting stance and readying her quarterstaff in front of her. She was only a novice with the weapon, having only herself as a teacher, but hopefully she would be able to hold the vicious animal. She didn't know if her companion had any fighting skills or not, but she certainly hoped so. She waited and attempted to center herself, to be ready when the mountain lion pounced. Which it did. The beast darted forward, swiping a clawed paw at Fatima. She scrambled backwards, swinging her staff at its midsection, trying to incapacitate it without killing it. The blow was glancing, however, and didn't seem to damage the lion overmuch. She swore again, as the lion had hooked one claw into the skin of her leg; not a serious injury, but a painful one nonetheless.

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones had only narrowly escaped the beast, and so it had taken him a bit to get back up after his failed attempt at a graceful roll away... In the few seconds it all took for him to stand back up, the cougar had attacked, swiping at Fatima, trying to wound her. But in doing so, she had distracted the cougar, and was pulling his attention from Bones. Bones thought quickly. He knew he had to do something, and maneuvered around behind the cougar as Fatima tried to fight it off with her puny stick... He did not have time to think... He did not have time to pull out his gladius, with which he could hack off a limb with one strike... Not when it was closing in on Faimta... The time it would take him to get it out, and swing, it would already be upon her. So he did the only thing he could think of. He did what the beast had so recently tried to do to him. He leaped bodily onto the creatures back, lying flat over its back, hooking one arm under its chest, and the other just under its jaw, lifting up so as to stop the cougar from biting his hand off, and from lowering its head or jaw. Together they kept him from sliding off, and he rode the cougar as it bucked and twisted, trying to get him off, as Bones used a perverted combination of wrestling and unarmed combat to fight the cougar, and to try to stay on... Regardless, the cougar was so busy with the person on its back, it had all but forgotten about Fatima. And Bones was far to busy fighting the cougar, to even take a second to look at what she was up to.

[Fatima]

"What the hell?! You're going to get yourself killed!" Fatima cried, having no way of knowing whether or not Bones could handle himself. She was trying very hard to keep hold of herself, as truly she had never experienced real combat before. She was afraid that if she tried striking the lion's head or back, she would accidentally hit Bones instead; so she began jabbing at the beast's paws, hoping to crush one and incapacitate it. Though most of her strikes missed, they helped keep those dangerous claws from rending Bones' skin. Fatima did her best to keep the lion's claws and teeth occupied, hoping Bones would be able to finish it.

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones continued to wrestle the cougar, trying to get it immobilized. Once he had managed to get a good grip, he starting clutching tighter... And tighter... The beast continued to struggle, as Bones vice like grip closed on its chest and neck. Bones was a constrictor dhani after all... And one of there specialties was crushing and strangling with his arms and hands... For a few seconds there was nothing... And then the cougar began to be sluggish. It swayed a bit, its fighting slowing... Then there was a cracking sound, as one of its ribs broke... Finally it stopped moving, and slipped to the ground unconscious, having been choked out by Bones. Bones got up, more or less unhurt... He had scratches on his arms from were the claws had scrabbled, but luckily they had not found a purchase. Except for a set of three scratches on his left forearm, which was bleeding steadily... Bones clapped his hand to his forearm, over the bleeding wound. Then with his right arm, took out his gladius, and looked down at the cougar. With one downward hack, his razor honed gladius sliced through its neck, bone and all, coming out the other side. He spoke a prayer to Caiyha quietly, speaking only for himself and the divine goddess, thanking her for the chance to prove himself, to let this animal die so he could live... And for the feast he would soon be eating, which would strengthen him to fight another day. Letting out a sigh, he finally took the time to check on Fatima, not noticing that his arm was still bleeding, and blood was now seeping out from under his hand which he was using to try and stopper the wound.... He must have been cut pretty good. "Dang beassst... Once it getsss a tassste, you can't let ssem live... Had to put it down... You okay?" He asked Fatima, still not noticing his arm bleeding...

[Fatima]

Fatima was relieved when Bones seemed to squeeze the mountain lion right to death. She was quite impressed with his apparent sheer strength, as she'd been able to hear the cracks of breaking bones. The lion slumped over, slipping limply from Bones' grasp. Fatima leaned over, resting her hands on her knees as she calmed herself. What an ordeal. She winced a bit when Bones removed the animal's head, but quickly turned her attention to his bleeding arm. "I'm fine, this is just a scratch, really, Nothing a little hot water and a bandage won't fix. I'm much more worried about you, friend. That looks a bit serious." She said, pointing to his wound. "I'd like to take a look at it, if you'll let me. It's my duty, and you saved my life, after all." She said. As a worshiper of Rak'keli, Fatima was to heal any wounds she came across, and she was more than happy to take care of Bones, as she owed it to him.

[Ssafirsotibones]

As Fatima mentioned his own wound, Bones finally looked down to see that he was bleeding still... Usually pressing his hand down on a wound was enough to get it to stop bleeding... Apparently not every time... Maybe he should learn a bit of first aid, at least enough so he did not bleed out, and was able to get himself home... "Ah.... I had not noticed... Yesss... Probably ssshould fix it... Yesss, you could check it, you do know what you are doing right? Perhapsss you could teach me a bit on ssat... Knowing how to treat sssomessing like ssisss might come in handy, in my line of work." Bones came up to her, and waiting a moment for her to get whatever she might need from her bag, moved his hand from his arm, showing the set of 3 deep scratches on it, which were all bleeding quite well, and steadily. If she did something, Bones would allow her to, though if she took to long, or went to get something, he would make sure to pres his hand back down on his wound, to try and help get it to stop bleeding... ooc/speech : HIs speech, without the hissing "Ah.... I had not noticed... Yes... Probably should fix it... Yes, you could check it, you do know what you are doing right? Perhaps you could teach me a bit on that... Knowing how to treat something like this might come in handy, in my line of work."

[Fatima]

"Alright, let me get a look at that up close." Fatima was all business now, she was doing what she was meant to do. She took hold of Bones' hand, turning his forearm slowly this way and that. "I'll talk while I work, if you like. You can learn a bit that way. First, I need to rinse and clean this. Keep pressure on it while I get out my kit." Fatima reached for her bag, removing from it her healer's kit. From the kit she pulled a small bottle of whiskey, some bandages, and a little pouch of leaves. She bade Bones to sit down, and followed suit. She poured a bit of the alcohol over the wound, then held the whiskey to his lips. "Rinse your mouth with this, it'll make it clean. Swallow if you like."

[Ssafirsotibones]

Most people might be surprised by the fact that Bones listened, and followed Fatima's instructions. He sat as she directed, though this was more for her, as she would have trouble reaching him if he was standing, as she was much shorter. Perhaps it was his uprising, in Zinrah and with dhani, females were usually in charge, and so it was almost by habit that Bones would listen and do as a woman said when she took charge. At other times he tended to be overly protective, and to coddle them due to being physically weaker on average, but when they took charge, he tended to fall into line. Bones watched as Fatima took out her gear, and rooted through it to find what she needed. He forced himself to stand still as she poured something into the wound, and it burned, but he managed to grit his teeth and did not even let out a whimper. He supposed that was to clean it out... Though he did wonder why she had him to clean out his mouth... Nothing had got in there, so it did not really make sense. And due to his rule to never imbibe anything that affected his mental processes when in a dangerous spot, he simply took a swig, swished it around, and spat it out to the side, away from them. Then he just sat and stared, watching what she did... Maybe he would learn something... Though he was pretty sure the next thing would just be to wrap the wound in bandages... But she might have something else next, which she would do first, which he might not know as being a non medic. He was more often called to damage someone, than to be the one that fixed them... "Ssso... what isss next?" As he sat and watched her work, already his mind was slipping to the cougar... Once they were done, and headed back to the city... He could have a good meal... Take it back to his house, go into dhani mode... And eat it raw... Hopefully before it cooled to much... Then he could sit and rest for a few days while he healed and digested... But first he had to finish here, and get him and Fatima back to the city... They were not to far know...

[Fatima]

Fatima watched curiously as he spat out the whiskey. It wasn't exactly expensive, but to most people, booze was booze. Perhaps he didn't drink? "Alright, next is this." She said as she held up the small pouch of leaves. These she would use to stem the bleeding and fight infection. She poured several of them into a small palm, and held them out to Bones. "Now, this is why I had you swig that whiskey; I want you to chew these up into a nice fine paste. It's always better to use your own spit on a wound, just in case. The whiskey'll make it safe. The leaves don't taste too bad, either. They are yarrow leaves, they help slow bleeding and fight infection."