[Wind Reach] Off for the long hunt (Closed)

[Sairque]

Sai, dirty, covered in blood, returned with her containers of water, dropping one off near Kovac and the other near Renol. She'd managed to scrounge up three water skins and fill them, but there were no larger watertight containers anywhere in sight. As Renol had already been taken care of a bit, she immediately focused on Kovac, apparently the right choice as Aidara snapped orders. Sai settled herself on the ground and slid her thigh under Kovac's head. Taking the water skin, she dribbled a bit of the shockingly cold water over his face, careful that it wouldn't run into any orifices and make the poor man sputter. "Hey music-man. You know, you're not bad for a halfbreed." After he looked a bit more aware, the cold water refreshing and zesty, his eyes not quite so droopy and his lips not so slack as well-worn underwear, the flightleader moved on to cleaning off the snake bite. "I'm glad you take direction so well. I'm thirsty as all get out and I imagine you are too, but you're not allowed to have any water," Sai mumbled ingeniously, obviously well experienced in bed-side etiquette. Near them, Renol lay, slumped, unconscious, his body furiously taking advantage of the healing Addy had provided. He didn't look so good, but a hell of a lot better than Kovac did. Finally, the healer returned and started doing her thing, Sai quietly waiting for verbal and physical clues to help out. She handed off the snake bite, held the arm again when Addy needed to start the little fire, held Kovac still. She had no idea why the bite got cauterized, but Addy knew her stuff. Finally, Aidara looked at her for direction and Sai peered steadily into her eyes. "Heal Kovac first. I want him up and running by tomorrow," the quiet order, heavy with implications, carried easily in the still autumn air. "Renol will be alive long enough for you to rest and return to him. You'll have more work to do on him, true, but you'll also have had a full meal and sleep." Carefully resting the Avora's head on the ground, she slid out from underneath him and surveyed the scene. "I'm going to salvage camp, put a tent up to move the boys into, start a fire, cook something." It needed done to help Aidara in the long run, so even if the healer wanted to her stay and help, she wasn't going to. OOCSo this post is short and bare bones, I know, but after this long break I want to make it easy to get back into the swing of this thread.

[Kovac]

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" Addy's alarmed voice cut through the sound of wooshing that filled Kovac's ears. "Because I am a petching idiot." He strove to reply, but his tongue and lips refused to form the words. Nevertheless, the stricken Avora clung to the ring of the girl's voice, linking pleasant images of Aidara to the sound, since he wasn't able to see her very well at the moment. She became an anchor he clung to sadly. Kovac could make out a form moving close, could feel ssomeone lift his head and lower it again upon their thigh. Yes, a warm thigh was better then the cold dirt on his face and the blades of grass that had tickled his nose as he lay dying. Well, he assumed he was dying, he may just be suffering paralysis, or some other humiliating temporary side effect of the unidentified serpent's venom. Either way, Kovac had decided it was an exceptionally unpleasant and humbling experience, and he was glad that, if he was going to die, at least someone found him tolerable enough to make some attempt to reverse the inevitable. Cold water. It was startling, helping to clear the clinging goop that fogged his conscious. Looking up, he could not make out immediately which twin held him, but his vision cleared with the shock of the water, and he was a bit surprised to see it was Sairque. Awww...she cared. He parted his lips in hopes that she would have mercy on his soul and dribble in a bit of the cool liquid. No such luck. Instead, Sairque's voice cut in, and even in his semi-lucid state, Kovac could hear her attempt to sound comforting, though her tone lacked a certain, 'I care about you as a person'. It did have a conciliatory, 'I don't want you to die because I need you to carry stuff for me' quality that was sufficient, along with the refreshing water on his face, for him to cling to consciousness. For a moment, Kovac wondered how Renol was. Did they tend to the less important half-bred Avora because the male rider was stable, or dead? The archer felt the Endal take his arm, and clean the bite, which now only stung a bit. The rushing sound in his ears had abated some, and he heard Addy fussing with her things, and soon smelled something burning. Yes...something hot to eat would be wonderful about now. Kovac strained to move, to see what the healer was doing, but it seemed much more plausible that he would just lay there and focus on the inhale-exhale phenomenon that seemed so important all of the sudden. Then his arm shifted under someone elses power, and he could see Aidara holding his arm and looking at the wound. It gave him some peace knowing she was tending to it, her touch gentle and caring. Gone for just a moment, his angelic healer returned, but instead of her soft touch, Addy pressed his arm firmly against Sai's leg, holding it forcefully still. The groggy archer had no time to respond, even if he could, before the wench pressed the burning embers to his flesh. Though Kovac felt as if he lept a foot off the ground, his body was only able to arch up, his head pressing into Sai's leg, a gutteral noise gurgling in his throat as he endured the searing pain. 'What the...?". He sucked in a blast of cool air, coughed once, and glared at Addy with glassy eyes. But it soone dawned on the Avora what Aidara had done, that she did what she needed to do, and his eyes softened again as he watched her. Trying to ignore the stench and pain of his burnt flesh, Kovac allowed his eyes to close for a moment. The trauma had served to shake some of the haze off, and he clearly heard Sai's instructions. He managed a pathetic lopsided grin, his eyes still softly closed. A strained whisper slipped between his dry lips. "fankths...fankths, you thoo are the bethst."

[Aidara]

"We're aware we are the best. Keep your mouth closed, Snarky, or you're going to bite your tongue."

Well this hunt was for sure much more than Addy had ever anticipated. Than any of them had anticipated. Idly, as she sat back onto her heels, her mind drifted to how the relationship had changed between the four of them over just a matter of days. Sai was the biggest shock. It had been a very long time since Addy had seen her twin shed her Endal feathers and just...be. Be herself, be a sister, be a helping hand. It was belatedly that Addy realized her twin had taken to being ordered around with perfect grace. And that must have been hard. Not that Sai could be blamed, for one would be hard pressed to find someone who would willingly step out of power for any reason.

With a strong surge of affection towards her sister, Addy refocused her gaze and let it settle where Sai sat cradling Kovac's head. Using as little strength as possible, Addy pushed her feelings through the bond between them. The link felt like a rickety bridge at the moment, and in her exhaustion Addy pushed a little too hard, feeling the bridge rock and a wave of nausea course through her. "Alright, enough of that nonsense. Sai, I love you." Much simpler.

Kovac was also a surprise. Edgy and withdrawn with an air of "you can't hurt me 'cause I don't care", he was a tough challenge for Addy to tackle. Normally avoiding such people, being shoved into close vicinity with one for multiple days had really shaken her from her social comfort zone. People with attitudes like Kovac almost as a rule despised Aidara. And she was okay with it, for most of them were boring and bad in bed anyhow. They had to save him. "We have too." She finished her thought aloud, unaware that she'd done so as her gaze trickled to where Renol lay.

Despite her best efforts, her mediocre healing skills hadn't yet been enough. A thin, but steady, trickle of blood was oozing from between his stitches. The skin was swollen and puffy, pulling tightly where she had sewn it shut. All in all, it was not looking good. With such a deep wound, that high up on his thigh and that close to an artery...Addy shivered and tears suddenly burst from her eyes. "I failed. I failed, I failed." Though it was not unlike Addy to wear her emotions on her sleeve, such utter dejection was. She wasn't feeling sorry for herself either, but was instead being subjected to the feeling of trying your absolute hardest, and failing. Or, in this case, feeling the impending failure weigh down on her shoulders like all of Skyinarta was resting there. Such was the life of a healer. Sometimes you win some, sometimes you lose some. But losing was always the hardest.

As her emotional pain tugged at the last frayed bits of her energy supply, Addy felt another wave of nausea. "Oh!" She burbled, looking up from where she had tucked her head between her knees. Her face was splotchy and tear stained, her hair a wild mess where she had clutched at it in her pain. The dizzying sweep that washed over her rocked the woman from head to toe. The world spun and spun...and stopped. She was gazing directly at her sister and Kovac. Sai was no longer holding his arm down like she had asked, and Kovac's head was facing the other direction than just a moment ago....

"Oh." Only then did Addy realize that she was crying, that she'd gone on a little emotion trip and a hop down memory lane. How much time had she wasted reminiscing? Wow. I must be tired. I can't do this. I can't even concentrate. Allowing but a moment of self pity, Addy was back on her knees next to Kovac.

"Alright. I was going to splint his arm but there isn't enough time. I don't know how long it's been since he's been bitten, I'm guessing fifteen chimes or so. That's almost too long. I can't afford the poison to spread or I'm not going to be able to get it. I don't have any strength left." Mostly talking out loud to keep herself focused, Addy directed her words towards her twin sister anyway, looking her straight in the eyes. Greens locked on Yellows, Addy was confident that Sai completely understood her present physical and mental state. That, in and of it's self, made her feel a little more secure. "I'm going to tie off his arm and restrict the blood, burn the poison and hopefully not cause any tissue damage. Fingers crossed." A weary, lopsided smile was directed from Sai to Kovac. "Remember, close your mouth. I don't have enough energy to reattach your tongue, and this is going to hurt. Hm. I feel like I've said that an awful lot today." Musing quietly to herself, Addy's attention began to drift to other things again as she took another strip of cloth from her already shredded shirt. It now barely covered her breasts. It was a good shirt too. Maybe she shouldn't have worn her good clothes hunting. Ah well, next time....

A double then a triple knot was applied, making sure that the tourniquet was tight and secure. Shifting from her left knee to her right, Addy searched the dirt around her until she found a nice, lumpy stone. This was place under her slightly raised left knee, before she settled her weight back down on top of it with a wince. She needed to keep focused. No drifting off while she was swimming through the blood and poison in Kovac's veins. The sharp pain of the rock digging into her knee kept her grounded.

Right as Addy was about to throw herself into the process, she realized that her sister wasn't even sitting in front of her anymore. How long had she been talking to open air? A chill ran down Addy's spine. Was this what overgiving felt like? But she'd barely used any of her power on Renol... she was just physically and mentally tired... right? Shivering, Addy yanked her concentration back around, focusing on the sharp stone digging into her knee. She didn't need to look around this time, now completely aware of her surroundings, she realized that Sai was cleaning up the camp. Good, good. She knew Sai liked to get things done... Good, good.

With her current state of mind slowly fraying away, slipping juuuuuuust a little towards the insanity side of the spectrum due to the sheer amount of stress the woman felt she was under, Addy readjusted the Avora so that his head was nestled in her lap now, his injured arm over his chest so that she could easily hold it in both of her hands from her new position above him. With one hand on either side of the tourniquet, Addy finally steadied herself for what she had to do. She took a deep breath, but didn't consciously remember letting it back out again as she grasped for her power, where she kept it stored in what she though of as her "center". The very center of her being.

This time it burned. Not too badly, just like when you see how close you can get your hand to a flame without touching it. Like that, when you just start feeling the heat from the fire. Most people flinch back from this heat, but Addy had to grasp it. The remains of her power looked like a flickering, fiery spool of thread. Mental fingers hesitantly plucked at the loose end, drawing it up from the center of her body, through her core, her torso, shoulders, and aiming down to her hands. But the thread snapped and shot back to curl into it's spool like shape.

Practically roaring with frustration, Addy forced herself to calmly push around the glowing mass until she found the "loose end" again. Slowly, ever so slowly this time, it was brought back up through her center, out and along the core of her mind...her torso...it reached her arms again...elbows...wrist... And finally her mental fingers slipped back into place where they should be: at the end of her arms, on her hands. With hands glowing a reddish-yellowish-orangeish color, Addy re-gripped Kovacs arm. Well, in reality she was sitting in a trance-like state, not moving at all... but Addy envisioned her power this way. A realistic version of herself, doing everything in her head like she would physically. So, she placed her index and middle fingers over the entry marks, making sure to cover the wounds with the entirety of her fingertips. Slowly, ever so slowly, she stretched the string of power that wound through her body out from her fingers to anchor into Kovac's skin. Success was evident when the skin around her tightly clamped fingers began to glow red, the light that was now within his body illuminating the blood and it's vessels through the layers of fat and skin.

Shutting out the rest of the world, shoving all of her thoughts into their separate boxes in her head, Addy let what was left of her consciousness slide down along the line of power, out through her fingers, to slowly ooze down into the damaged skin. This was far different than what she had done with Renol. Tissue repair was careful, time consuming work. She only had a matter of minutes to find and burn away as much of the poison as she could from Kovac's blood, before her tourniquet would start to damage the tissue of his arm. And she would rather prefer it if she didn't have to save his life at the cost of his arm.

The poison had defiantly spread. She should have known, by the symptoms Kovac had already begun to show. Amongst the red and pale pink of healthy blood and tissue was the black and green of the invading poison. It was everywhere. Had Addy not completely shut away all of her emotions, she would have felt the waves of helplessness return. There was almost more black than anything else. The tissue around the bite entry was almost completely dead, and it stemmed out from there along his entire arm and into his chest. Heading towards his heart. Oh no, no, no, no.

Outside of her mind, Addy had broken into a cold sweat, and she was beginning to shake despite her otherwise locked position above his head. Back inside, she had started her work. The delicate, tenacious grip on her power shifted. Hesitation meant death. Taking a strong handful of power, Addy took all of her remaining strength and used it to shover the burning bolts of her gnosis down Kovac's arm. At first, this was wildly successful. The glowing mass of power rocketed through his veins like a boat down a waterfall, burning the sticky black masses of venom from where it clung greedily to his life force. Even the thick accumulation of it around the wound burned away, but that required her to hold a seething mass of it directly too the stuff, literally burning it away, along with some of his blood. Almost too much of his blood. She had to be more careful.

Desperate to succeed, Addy had gone a little overboard and used practically all of her energy to save Kovac's arm. If that was all she had to do, than she would have succeeded, for there was none of the pervasive black goo left anywhere in his arm. But there was still some racing through his veins, with each pump of his blood it was getting closer to his heart.

But she had nothing left. The spool in her center flickered feebly, recoiling when she went to reach for more power. It evaded her every attempt to capture it, and Addy the box in which she stored her emotions for when she used her magic burst open. Panic coursed through her mind and she cried out loud as if she had been wounded herself as she was ripped painfully back to reality. Drooping, with the rock that poked her knee no longer effective, the woman slumped until her forehead rested upon Kovacs. She couldn't do it. She simply couldn't.

And then, of all things, Addy remembered the way they had all laughed at her as the goat charged through the brush, startling her so badly that she fell. A weak laugh escaped her lips. The laugh continued as Addy realized her hand had fallen away from where she had pressed it to Kovacs arm. Since she had freed said arm of poison, the womans fingers fumbled at the tourniquet. At least she hadn't lost his arm for him, she thought idly. At least.

The laughter turned to tears, which ran down Kovac's forehead and down onto his cheeks. There was no question. Addy had to do it. She had too. Too weak to partition her mind, Addy simply sunk back into herself, into her center. Balling her mental hand into a fist, she then smashed it down onto the spool of her glowing power, catching it right in the middle. It stopped fluttering away from her grasp and lay gathered in a sickly looking pool of dim, flickering yellow fire. Cupping her hands and scooping the crush spool up, Addy threw herself back into Kovac's blood stream. Like a dangerous, derailed train, Addy rocketed through his veins until she collided head on with the disgusting black goo that was the poison. It sucked her in like quicksand, and she was trapped.

In one last desperate attempt, the healer kneaded her power into a sad looking hammer. With all the energy she had left, Addy raised the hammer and smashed it against the suffocating black walls that enclosed her. Once, twice, a dozen times she wailed away at the walls. One crack, two cracks, a dozen cracks and she still hammered away. There, by her foot, there was a chip. A piece of the utter blackness that surrounded her fell away and she jumped on the opportunity. Knowing this was the last swing she would be able to make, Addy put her entire body weight behind the hammer as it crashed down against the crack.

Everything exploded.

Laughing, Crying and covered in sweat, Addy opened her eyes to see Kovac looking at her, while her head still rested on his forehead. Her hand dropped away from his arm while her other hung limply by her side. Still laughing, Addy sighed. "Oh, so this is overgiving? It's not too bad." And she passed out.

[Sairque]

Sai left the three behind, slowly working her way through the camp to take stock of their belongings. She had to prioritize. Renol, Kovac, and Aidara. Clean up Sleeping Arrangements Food Those overlapped. Renol, Kovac and Aidara needed shelter immediately. Aidara needed food immediately. Both the shelter and the food needed to be clean Renol and Kovac weren’t going to get any better without Aidara, so their shelter wouldn’t do a lick of good without her being able to help them. One. Get Addy food. Two. Get them all shelter Three. Make camp safe from other animals. Goals in mind, Sai returned to the site of the bear face-off. Even knowing the beast hadn’t the desire to return, she tread carefully, eyes and ears fine tuned for anything larger than a squirrel. Eyes rotating warily, she knelt at one of the discarded bundles of elk and checked the canvas covering. It had ripped in the bounce along the ground, but she collected it anywhy. The next bag had fared no better, but with three in hand, at least one of them would have to do for the healer. Depositing her bundles near the fire pit, she cleared one of the tents out of it, frowning at the damage the coals had done to the material. Muttering under her breath, she tossed the useless shelter aside and set to scouring the downed tree for her pack. Returning with flint, steel, tender, and dried wood, she made a nice little pile of gear and knelt next to the remaining coals. First she used a stick to herd all the coals together, then drizzled some light airy tender over the top, and finally garnished the youngling flames with some thin sticks. Gradually the diameter of the sticks being stacked on increased until the fire merrily danced and needed no help from her. A few good sized logs went over the top, and Sai let them be to create a nice bed of coals. Turning away, and with little ado, her knife came out and she sliced open the meat sacks. Fingers drumming against her thigh, she surveyed the surrounding area. Needed to cook the meat and fast. Well. She pulled out a clean chunk and started slicing it into little squares. Ideally, she’d have been able to cut it into super thin slices, but that took a different knife and a lot more patience, not to mention skill. Spearing one of the thumb sized pieces with the knife, she held it over the flames. Once all sides had browned, and she’d burned her fingers a time or two, she pulled it out of the heat and sliced it in half. Not too bad, just the faintest pink in the center. A quick jaunt down to the creek and she’d found some willow bushes to sever a handful of long, green shoots. Another few minutes and the fire enjoyed several little chunks of meat cooking over it. The original she popped into her mouth for a test. Chewy and tough. Perfect. While those roasted, the tents were all compiled, carefully checked for snakes first, and she waded through all the poles and material together the necessary gear for just one of them. This she carted down with the first fifteen bits of meat for Aidara, as well as a block of cheese she’d found untouched. Who apparently needed them, all sprawled out and unconscious as the healer was. Kneeling down, she shoved the girl, shaking her. “Hey, Addy, wake up. Wake up. Eat this!” Whether or not she woke up, Sai deposited the pieces nearby for her consumption and turned attention to setting up the tent. She’d never seen her sister pass out before, but she knew from their bond that the girl wasn’t scared she was dying or anything. Had just passed out from exhaustion. Food always made her feel better, and Addy as well, so it followed that the girl just needed to eat. Food, check. Kovac still looked alive, at least, and Renol had started snoring. Nice. Laying the material out, she tied on the poles and had it up in a matter of minutes. Keeping an eye on her incapacitated charges, all three of them now, she tied back the tent flaps. Having never moved an unconscious person into a tent before, she started her experimenting with Kovac, as her jostling was unlikely to injure his snake bite. “Hey, Kovac, I’m just going to get you out of the sun. Okay?” Not that it mattered if he didn’t like it, for she gently rolled him on his back, nose curling at the lingering scent of burnt flesh, and hooked her arms under his. With a kinda sorta duck waddle backwards, she pulled him back to the tent. He was kinda lanky, so while she had managed to get his back off the ground, his butt dragged. “Into the tent we go.” Well, into the tent she tried to go, she bumped against the side and had to readjust their course to shuffle backward through the opening. Eventually she had him settled and Renol next to him. Aidara had accumulated another bunch of meat pieces, a chunk of cheese, an apple, and some root vegetables into her food pile as Sai went back and forth. A few branches had to provide the necessary support for the second tent, as the bear had apparently taken much pleasure in his tent flattening game. Whether or not the healer was awake, Sai moved her out of the sun for rest. Wouldn’t do to get burnt or dehydrated. Shelter, check. On that note, another few buckets of water were fetched, all the waterskins she could find filled up and left in the two tents. Fetching a dinged up pot, it was set to boil on the hot rocks, another few large chunks of meat tossed in there with the remaining vegetables they’d had at their disposal. At least they would have something to pour down the boy’s throats. Now to clean up the rest of their gear.

[Kovac]

The lingering sting of pain in his burnt flesh gave Kovac a thread to grasp. It was not a large wound, Addy only applying the hot embers to the small puncture wounds left by the serpent's fangs. But the pain was intense enough to give the stricken avora a point of focus, a way to stay vaguely coherent. Adaira had paused after looking after Renol, the healer obviously worn and drained. Sairque's grip on his arm had eased as the rider waited for her sister to gather her strength. The socially inept archer felt a wave of helplessness. He hated being vulnerable, having to rely on someone else's strength. But he knew there was nothing he could do for himself. He would have been able to console himself with some self-loathing for his own foolishness, but there was nothing he could have done to prevent the snake bite, nor could he have known it was in the tent as he rushed Addy inside to seek protection from the bear. In a rare moment of anti-egocentrism, Kovac was grateful that it was he that was bitten and not Aidara. It would have been a horror to have to watch her die. The timbre of Addy's voice shook Kovac to the task at hand, saving his life. He looked up at her, closing his mouth as she warned him about the pain to come. He watched her tear another strip from her shirt, baring the round underside of her breasts. To the smarmy Avora, it was like seeing the glorious rays of the sun poke through a dark cloudy day. He managed to give the healer a wry grin and emit a low guttural hum of approval. Then the band was tied around his arm, bringing a dullness to the sensation in his limb. The inarta positioned hunter's head into her lap, and Kovac, instinctively, nestled comfortably against her. If he was going to die, this was the way to go. As Aidara took his arm in her hands, Kovac allowed his eyes to slip shut. He sucked in a breath as her fingers pressed against the burn skin at the bite mark. He felt a heated sensation manifest in his arm. The nature of Addy's healing abilities were not fully understood by the avora, how her gnosis worked. He simply tried to relax as the warmth increased. Then he heard the girl take a deep breath, and a sudden burning blast of pain shot from the bite wound up his arm. He grunted, gritting his teeth, his back arching slightly, his head pressed against her thigh. When he heard Addy cry out, his eyes flew open, and he watched her slump, her head sinking to rest upon his own, her grip on his arm loosening, letting it fall across his chest. Whatever she had done to him had sapped her strength. Then she laughed. It was a weak giggle that continued as she worked to untie the tornequet around his arm. She had lost it, he thought, brainwracked from trying too hard. Kovac had heard of overgiving and wondered if this is what it looked like. Then, more appropriately, Addy began to cry. Her tears came freely, dripping from her face to his, trickling down his cheeks. A single drop ran across Kovac's parted lips and he tasted its warm saltiness. He tried to reach for her head, to utter some word of encouragement. But he could not muster the strength, nor find words that could have any meaning. But Addy was not done, though she remained hunkered over him, his own head supporting hers. He felt her burst through his body again this time beyond his arm. The sensation was a violent one, blast after blast of hot pain surging through his bloodstream. The avora felt one final concussive shock, one that made his body shudder and a groan slip from between his clenched jaw. Then it was done. The girl then fell into a fit of laughing and crying simultaneously. His eyes opened to see her soft, sweat and tear-smeared face hovering direction over him, so close that her face was a blur. But Kovac could still see the vibrant green of her weary eyes. He believed she had done it, had saved his life. A smile crossed his face. He wanted to speak, to thank her, to express the unfamiliar emotions of gratitude and concern that he rarely bothered to feel. But her healing effort had drained him as well. The archer did manage to tilt his head enough to bring his lips to her face, pressing a kiss against it. Then, as he felt Addy's body slip away and heard the faint thud of her hitting the ground, he himself slipped into semi-consciousness, only vaguely aware that Sairque had arrived at some point and dragged him into a tent. When he finally stirred, he had not know how long he had been out. Renol still lay beside him, unconscious. A quick press of his forefinger to the man's neck confirmed he was still alive. Moving slowly, Kovac pushed open the tent flap to be greeted by the savory aroma of cooking meat. He remained crouched, looking around for Sai and Addy, not sure he was ready to stand yet.

[Aidara]

The smell of the cooking meat roused Addy before Sai was anywhere near done with the scanty meal. Who was on fire? Did she some how mess up and burn Kovac from the inside out? What was going on? It was with a panicked intake of breath that she tried to sit up. Bad idea. As soon as Addy jerked into a sitting position, there was a rushing in her ears and the world began to spin. "Ohhhh...." She groaned as the ground came rushing up towards her face, skin meeting dirt with a dull thud. Sai didn't notice as her sister passed out again, not that she was to blame since she was running around like a mad woman trying to care for three invalids. Unsure of how much time had passed now between attempting to heal Kovac, passing out, sitting up and passing out again, Addy was just coming too when Sai brought over the meat and cheese, shaking her shoulder a bit roughly in truth, to wake her up. "Hey, Addy, wake up. Wake up! Eat this." Gladly, the healer thought as she reached for the bowl. Unable to muster the strength to voice her thanks, Addy sent a surge of love and gratitude along their bond, a tired smile stretching her lips as she saw the empathetic message reach her sister, and an equally tired smile wrapping the corners of Sai's mouth.Watching her sister wade through the horribly jumbled mess of tents, Addy devoured the meat. She had long forgone any lady like ediqute, blood and grease dripping down her fingers, hands and arms as she filled her growling stomach as quickly as possible. The meat was gone in a record amount of time, but she did not touch the cheese. Instead, she set it aside and attempted to stand as she gave her body time to digest. Though it took an embarrassing amount of time, Addy did make it to her feet. Her legs were wobbling dangerously, and the camp was starting to blur around the edges. Closing her eyes against the world that threatened to spin again, Addy took slow, deep breaths. She had to calm herself, or she was not going to be able to recover. There was no other option but to regain her strength the normal way, as there was absolutely no possibility of her being able to heal herself. Unsure of whether or not she was suffering from overgiving, Addy slowly picked her way through the debris towards her sister. "Is there anything I can do to help?" A shiver worked down her spine at the sound of her own voice. It was weak and hoarse, brittle as if suffering from many years of disuse. With a movement that was almost frantic, Sai gestured towards where Renol and Kovac lay and then towards the food she had managed to salvage. Understanding that Sai was under as much stress as she herself was, Addy took no offence to the wordless answer and moved towards the fire to begin roasting more meat. Picking up where Sai left off, Addy took the knife and sliced up more small pieces off the elk carcass and then sticking them on the end of the poles to cook. Meanwhile, she just sat there, watching her sister run back and forth, with the feeling of weights tied to her eyelids. Wow, they were getting really heavy. How ever was she supposed to keep them open. "Move. Move." Came the hoarse whisper again, and it took Addy a second to realize that she was talking out loud to herself. Well, she did have good advice. Pushing herself to her feet, Addy took the meat off the pokers and gathered them in a little pile for the rest of the group, before replacing uncooked bits back on the points. As hard as she tried to keep herself moving, everything seemed to be slowing down. Except for Sai, that is. Never, in all her life, would she have thought she could feel this level of exhaustion. Unchecked, panic started to surge through her again. It was this emotion, and probably the adrenaline that kicked Addy back into action. Scooping up the cooked meat and the cheese she left uneaten before, Addy walked over to where Renol lay. She prodded him a few times, trying to be gentle as she whispered his name. But when there was no response, the healer had to resort to the type of shout and shove similar to the one Sai used to rouse her. Still nothing. "Well...that is not good." But there was nothing for it. Kovac was in as dire a state as Renol, so Addy turned to him next, but Sai was already there. “Hey, Kovac, I’m just going to get you out of the sun. Okay?” Addy quickly stepped back as Sai hitched her arms under the mans pits and dragged him over to the tent. A little finessing, and they were both inside. When Sai returned to similarly drag Renol inside, Addy followed her. As there was still no sign of consciousness from the large Endal, Addy positioned herself next to Kovac. She saw him looking around, and smiled slightly. "I come bearing gifts. I'm told the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. I think I have a lot of making up to do after..." There was a general wave of her hand towards his burned flesh and she fell silent. Staying long enough to make sure that he could manage the meat chunks, Addy let herself out of the tent and proceeded over to where Sai was puttering around the camp. There was a moments hesitation before Addy intruppted whatever Sai was doing by throwing her arms around her twin in a great big hug. They had started out the day by fighting, and had almost died only a bell before. Yet Sai was still here, trucking away to clear camp after having been Addy's errand girl while she healed. "I love you." It was a soft whisper, so only her sister could hear, before she let go and smiled. "Here. Let me help. We need to get them ready to go back via giant bird A.S.A.P"

[Sairque]

The tents, a little worse for wear and kind of saggy, tried with all their might to give the appearance of stability. The boys’ tent, for sure, wouldn’t collapse; most of those poles had snapped out of their ties as the bear played with it, leaving the rods undamaged and the material stretched out just a bit. The rest of camp, that is, their gear, seemed to be strewn out in a five hundred foot radius, with more tree branches and splinters in the actual sleeping site than their belongings. Slowly picking through, taking a mental inventory, the flightleader paused and waited as her sister stumbled over debris to reach her. A faint trail of billowing dark smoke crossed her path, the acrid scent burning in her nostrils before she stepped out of it. Glancing back, the bundle of green branches had tumbled in and caught fire near the pot. Unexpected, but not unwanted, the tight hug, well, as tight as the weakened healer could manage, elicited a smile and return embrace from Sairque. Letting Addy lean into her, Sai rested her cheek against the woman’s temple; a subtle and unconscious display of body language to encourage Aidara’s confidence in her stability and willingness to share her strength should the healer need it. Pulling away, her shoulders had relaxed under the warm affection flowing through their bond. Sharing a tender moment, yellow eyes soft and hiding none of her own feelings, the rider reached up and tucked a stray lock of hair behind the healer’s ear. And then she kind of tamed the rest of the mess atop her head…and then she pulled some sticks out, and finally, she chuckled faintly and gave up with a defeated shrug. The woman was just a mess. And she was probably no better, covered in blood, the source of which was debatable, and caked in dirt. In another blink, the reality of their situation took control and Sai almost told Aidara to go lay down, that the return time for the boys relied entirely on the Eagles and they had no control over it. Countless tasks streamed through her mind, all necessary before a return to the mountain, and somehow they mixed in just the right manner to trigger an idea. Riding on the back of an Eagle was a good workout, requiring constant adjustments to the body’s center of gravity and countering banks and wing beats; neither man could be expected to accomplish two whole days in the saddle. And strapping them on top the riding tack just sounded like torture. Thought process froze, as well as the rest of Sai, her hand still loosely touching Aidara’s arm, as her eyes skimmed over the nearby trees for suitable materials and picked out the unwelcome silhouette of a large cat. Its pelt blended nicely with the shadows, and it took her a few seconds to realize that the creature waited languidly stretched out atop a branch instead of crouching in preparation. Its tail, previously mistaken for a breeze caressed branch, twitched in slow undulations beneath it. She’d thought that they’d have another few hours longer before they had to deal with other animals. Yellow eyes, once more hard and calculating, dropped back to Aidara as though nothing had happened. “All right, if you’re sure you don’t need to go catch a couple hours worth of sleep, I can use your help.” And, frankly, while she wished the woman could go sleep because she needed to replenish her ability to work on the boys, another set of eyes was now required. “The only thing we can do for them is have something ready to transport them with. Neither Renol’s nor my saddle are outfitted, or can be easily adjusted for prone bodies.” They needed something to discourage more animals from congregating. They needed to encourage the one, or more, already gathered to vacate the area. “I think our best bet is to make a couple of stretchers for them to be carried beneath the Eagles on,” Sai paused, letting that image and idea sink into the healer before continuing. “We have two entire hunting saddles to scavenge good leather straps from, and we could probably chop them down in some way to provide all the other necessary materials.” They needed to get rid of the attractant. At favorite hunting spots, she’d been taught to break up the gut piles and make sure that no areas became habitual deposit sites. There was a lot of meat in this area, and it had been bleeding into the ground for quite some time now. Not to mention Renol’s blood trail. And what smell would force any creature away from what it wanted? Smoke. “I need you to do something very important. All this blood and meat all over the ground,” she gestured to the extensive mess. “Isn’t going to stop attracting scavengers just because we cleaned the chunks up. I want you to come up with a way to burn the bloody areas and not catch the entire forest on fire, can you do that?” Without giving her more than a few seconds to comprehend the task and nod, Sai continued. “Now, there is a large feline in that tree behind you,” the woman tried to convey as calmly as possible, eyes darting up to make sure it still waited there, even though she knew Addy had felt the high tension snap through their bond the minute she’d recognized the creature. It had seemed like a good idea to come up with a course of action, telling her of the transport plan in the meantime, before springing this on her without giving her something to do about it. “We can handle one, but we need to make sure that no more decide to come check the place out. I don’t think we can handle another bear.” After a moment of studying her sister, trying to gauge her nerve, Sai reached up and touched her arm again. “Do you want me to shoot the cat? Do you think you can keep an eye out for animals while you work? Can you handle them if-” Sai broke off, catching motion out of the corner of her eye. Kovac had ventured out, resting on a knee just outside the tent. “Should he be moving around?” she asked quietly, but even as she did his recovery was already factored into their needs. “He can be another set of eyes for you.” And maybe they wouldn’t need to make two stretchers. He would ride with one of the girls and they could make sure any lingering effects of the bite didn’t tip him out of the saddle. Oh, and they’d have the gear nets once the Eagle’s returned to carry Renol in.

[Kovac]

The daylight forced Kovac to squint, and his head rang with a dull ache. He oriented himself, the camp unfamiliar now with the tree lain across the middle of it. He shut his eyes to ease the dizziness that crept into his splitting skull. He felt like dung. There was the taste of meat on his tongue and lips. Addy. Kovac vaguely recalled her leaning over him in the tent. She looked terribly weary, he could remember Yes, she had brought him food. He must of collapsed again after eating. The clearing was relatively silent, in contrast to the screaming and roaring of the attack. It all flooded back to his thumping brain, rushing Addy into the tent and rolling with her inside. Running to find Renol wounded and the bear gone, then, the ground meeting his face in a dusty kiss. A sting directed his attention to his arm, the site of the snake bite. The flesh around the wounds was burnt, the punctures sealed. Remembering the Healing, he wiped his face with his hand. The skin was dry, but he remembered the trails of the healer's tears on his cheeks. She saved him. He knew it was true, and it was sobering. It was humbling. Lifting his head, Kovac scanned the area. He spotted the twins a ways away, speaking in quiet tones. Their eyes intermittently darted to a tree behind them, but his eyes were still too bleary to identify the point of interest. He inhaled deeply, preparing to stand. Slowly he raised himself from his knees. The avora felt a bit queasy, but the roasted meat had been enough to satisfy his belly and ease the nausea. Standing to full height, he wavered like a sapling in a strong wind. Rubbing his eyes remedied much of the vision issue, and he could see clearly Addy and Sai now, and with careful examination, the coat of the cat in the tree. Slolwy, deliberately, Kovac began to walk over to the girls, still weak and unsteady, but feeling more coherent with every step. His gaze drifted to the predator frequently, wary of its intent. Finally reaching the inarta, he offered a weak grin. "You two really know how to show a guy a good time. I think this is the worst hangover I have ever had." He raised his arm, showing off the bite wound. "And, believe it or not, this is not the first time I have woke up with bite marks." The avora laughed at himself, choking it back abruptly when the effort caused his head to throb. His snarky attitude was back but the message in Kovac's squinting eyes was unmistakable, they expressed deep gratitude to both of the women. "Now, what are we going to do about that cat over there?" The archer asked with a more sober tone. Sai already had a plan, he could see it in her startling yellow eyes.

[Aidara]

"I really don't need rest, I promise. Not while there is still all this stuff to be done," a hand was waved to encompass the entirety of the destroyed camp, "I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing you were out here alone doing all the work. Plus, If you overwork yourself," another pause as Sai's features started to tighten into a mask, slightly offended. Addy placed a consoling hand on her shoulder. "I know you can take care of yourself. But I, however, cannot take care of three people if you do become overworked." The healer could tell that her sister was already past any desire for conversation. As she spoke, Addy noticed Sai's attention wander as her eyes flickered around the camp. Sure enough, as soon as she stopped speaking Sai outlined the plan. Since exhaustion was only a long blink away from consuming her, though Addy wouldn't admit to her sister that, the rapid fire of instructions quickly became bogged down and confused in her sleep deprived mind. "Saddles into stretchers, no blood, big angry cat ready to eat us." Managing to repeat this garbled version, Addy went straight to work. She was in the process of pulling the saddles towards the cleared area of the camp, Sai pointed out Kovac's appearance. "Yeah, it's fine. He just won't be doing any heavy lifting." This was said pointedly towards the man as he approached. Addy was pleased to see that a little bit of the color had returned to his face. She even managed a smile at his joke, during which she reached out a hand to rub lightly and comfortingly on his uninjured arm. Though unable to find a way to voice it, the healer was immensely happy to see that the Hunter was going to survive. It was amazing how severe exhaustion strangled all ability to show emotion. "I think it would be a good idea if Kovac sat and did his best to salvage these saddles into whatever pieces we need. I'll try and clean away the blood. That way, Kovac can be in one spot with this..." Addy stepped over to the pile of gear that Sai had managed to save from destruction and grabbed Kovac's bow "... at hand. He can also watch for the cat and shoot if necessary." Though Sai had directly asked Addy about the feline, the healer had failed to conjure up an appropriate response, muttered an excuse and done a bit more work to avoid having to answer. Her inability to shoot and kill, the fact that the thought was bothering her to the point where she would soon be physically incapable of doing so, was eating away at her. By setting Kovac the task of "watching for the cat to attack", Addy had side-stepped having to answer her sister, while finding a loophole in having to kill the animal herself. Not in any particular mood to have a further discussion about the tasks at hand, Addy began to gather wood, not unlike she had in previous days. Saying away from the side of camp and the woods that concealed the crouching cat, armful after armful of wood, from twigs to large branches having dislodged from the fallen tree, was brought to the middle of the camp. Once she had gathered a pile that reached almost her waist, Addy returned to the spot where their had campfire had been previously. Gathering what was left of the coals into a pile, a few twigs were placed on top of them in a tee-pee form. Using her flint and tinder, the small dry kindling soon caught fire and was smoking softly. Squatting beside her slowly growing fire, Addy listlessly added more wood until she had a decent size flame going. Pushing herself to her feet with a groan, the healer picked up an armful of wood that she had gathered and moved over towards the first large pool of blood. The meat had been spilled here, and making sure to cover all of the blood-stained dirt, Addy placed the sticks in a tight formation on the ground. Moving over to the fire, a large branch that had been placed with only one end in the fire was picked up and carefully transported to the freshly laid out wood. Here another fire was lit using the burning brand and Addy sat at a safe distance as she allowed the smoke and burning log cover the stench of the blood. As she watched the logs fall to the ground as coal, Addy looked over at Sai and Kovac "Do you think this will be enough? Obviously I'll have to go around to each bit of blood, but it's all I could think of."

[Sairque]

“That’s why we travel in a pair. One to party with,” a motion to herself, “and the other to tend to any physical needs,” a cheeky grin at her sister, appreciating the mood alleviating humor. Kovac was not a disappointment, this entire time he’d been cool and collected. A great hand. As Aidara reached out a comforting touch to his arm, Sai likewise rested her hand on his shoulder. The Endal nodded to the healer’s suggestion for Kovac’s part to play in their new plan. She took a moment, sunshine eyes flickering over camp and the cat, to formulate the new decision. “Since we have to stay here for the Eagles and to minimize damage to Renol, Addy is going to cleanse the area of attractants—blood and all leftover meat. Hopefully the smoke will encourage that cat to move on. If not, you’re going to sit back and supervise Aidara’s progress,” a wry smile at her phrasing of his job description. So easily entertained. “While also dealing with the cat if it gets too close to her or you. That’s your main job. If the danger seems low, feel free to work out a method of carrying Renol back. We thought a sling of some kind to carry beneath or between the Eagles. And the nets will be back upon their return.” The Endal gave the man a hard, scrutinizing glance. He looked up to lookout duty and planning, and it seemed hopeful that he would continue recovering. “You’ve been given doctor’s orders not to move around so if you need anything, as I’m cleaning up just tell me and I’ll organize the desired supplies around you.” She knew he would gradually feel lazy or something equally annoying if he needed something and had to rely on her. If only there were less danger he’d probably enjoy being waited on. Sai turned to Addy, satisfied with her responses and too busy to worry about deflection. As the healer and the hunter turned to their tasks, the leader picked her way through the gear and debris strewn about. First she continued the task of gathering all the equipment they’d brought out. Every single thing that had smelled or tasted like calories had been gnawed, broken, or played with. Someone’s boots had been drug out three hundred feet from the tents. Dirty underwear were found from the stream to the cliff. On her way by with what looked like Kovac’s instrument case, intact, Addy stopped her to ask for an opinon. The fire seemed to be burning hot enough to dry out and consume everything, so Sai nodded, only coughing a bit from the warm smoke temporarily billowing into her face. “Looks good to me. I’ll go get all the remaining meat and food for you to burn. Sorry guys, but we’re going to be living off blue paste and small kills until we can handle any animals that come snooping.” Though she no more wanted to eat it, she couldn’t help but laugh at the disgusted expressions on her comrades faces. She handed off the instrument, glad she’d been able to find it in good condition for the Avora, before heading out with this new task. Warily, she eyed the cat, which had moved to a lower branch, as she carted attractively pungent meat and blood covered material back for Aidara to handle.