Closed Consequences (Kuvarakh, Aislyn)

[Aislyn Leavold]

Petch.
Petch petch petch petch petch.
Wanda was in trouble.
Rey was in trouble.
Everyone currently breathing in that room was in trouble.
The thing was, everyone was in trouble at the same time.

Time seemed to slow down. Aislyn watched in slow motion as Rey materialized a blade from what seemed like nowhere, jabbing it into the first man's arm. A blatant sound of tearing flesh filled the woman's ears as she felt adrenaline begin to take over.
She jumped up from her chair, able to escape the corner she was trapped in and drop to the ground, taking cover beside an overturned table. She took several seconds to process what the hai was going on, but, in the end, she didn’t have the time. The first thug and Rey were now grappling each other in a corner, with blow after blow hitting each man. Aislyn really couldn’t tell who was winning the fight- not that she cared much. The blows weren’t hitting her, and that was what mattered at that moment.

Eventually, Rey managed to throw the man off, and after a quick glance up at him, Aislyn found Rey flashing her a look she couldn’t decipher before aiming what seemed to be a tiny needle over her head and towards whatever was behind her. The woman could only assume the weapon was aimed at the second thug- the “Boss”, from what the first thug had said earlier.
Rey was being useful.
Why wasn’t Aislyn?

Movement out of the corner of her eye alerted the woman to the perfect opportunity to be useful. Rey had kicked something towards her, though from her perspective behind a fort of tables and chairs, she couldn’t see. Moving out from underneath the shelter, Aislyn got a look at what Rey had given to her. She was slightly surprised at what she found.
The man she had wanted to kill just chimes ago had given her a knife.

She had the open opportunity to kill any and all of the people she hated, currently fighting in front of her. A malicious thought crept through her mind as she thought about stabbing them both. Sure, she had never used a knife to do anything more than butter her bread, but it couldn't take too much skill to stab a man, could it?
That was Aislyn's plan, and she was sticking to it

The woman dove for the tiny weapon, her hands wrapping around it just as a large boot hit her side. She had managed to get underneath the fight between Rey and the first thug, though she couldn’t tell whose foot had made contact with her side. Really, at that moment, she didn’t care. The woman took a moment to catch her breath (and make sure her ribs were still intact) before getting to her feet and wielding the knife like a sword. A very, very small one.

When she managed to get herself into a position where she could figure out what the hai was going on, the woman was met with the sight and sounds of chaos. Agonizing screams came from Wanda, who was still situated behind Aislyn, while in front of her, there was Rey, pushed up against the wall, his neck circled by the grip of the first man. Aislyn wasn't sure what scene she should take in first. The possibility of Wanda being murdered behind her, or the reality of Reysin being strangled in front. Her first thought was Wanda, but it was then that she met Rey's eyes.
The woman had never seen him- or, really, anyone- that desperate. He was literally pleading for his life, which, at that moment, was held in Aislyn’s hands. Her eyes fell to the knife in her grip. She had been given the choice between saving her friend and employer, versus saving her worst enemy.

God petching damn it.

Before she got a chance to change her mind, Aislyn brought her arm, knife in hand, down towards the thug’s arm- the same one that had already been maimed by Rey. She didn't have the guts to hit him anywhere that could be fatal, but she knew she had to hit somewhere delicate enough to get the man to set Rey loose. Luckily, the stab on the already wounded appendage seemed to do the job.
She withdrew the blade as quickly as it had come in, staggering backwards as a blind arm, fueled by anger, narrowly missed hitting her head. Her stab had been sloppy, though the woman hadn't meant for it to be clean- She was no expert on stab wounds, but she knew if she twisted the knife, it would hurt that much more.

Unfortunately, she didn’t have much time to be proud of her attack. The first thug turned around, this time coming for more than just a blind swing. The woman had diverted his attention from Rey to herself, allowing the snakebeast a chance to catch his breath. Or crumple to the ground and die. Aislyn really wasn't sure if her help had come in time-
Though, at very least, she had stopped his suffering. Unfortunately, this brought on her own suffering that much quicker. The thug was fully focused on her now, though whether it was due to rage or the fact that he thought Rey was dead, she wasn’t sure.

Aislyn managed to avoid the thug’s first blow, though his second caught her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her and sending her off-balance. She tried to get back into a fighting stance, but with her little no experience in that respect, she was quickly attacked again, this time in the chest. She fell backwards, the side of her head catching against a chair on her way down. Her mind was scrambled in every direction, with only one thought really getting through her brain; This is where I die.

The blow against her head had sent black blobs appeared in the woman’s vision as she tried to look around, her hand still clutched around her only weapon. She was crumpled up on the floor, but still on her feet, her knees propping her up as her eyes betrayed her. A brief look upwards let her mind know that a figure was standing above her, though who it was, she couldn't tell. Instinct soon took over, and before a reasonable idea crossed her mind, the woman had brought the knife in her hand up and across the face of the figure standing above her.
It was only when her vision cleared did Aislyn realize that figure was Rey.


OOCIve been given permission by Rey to give his PC a nasty facial scar. Woo! Sidenote- Sorry, Kuvarakh, I was just beginning to integrate your post into my reply when I realized how long I had already gone for. Oops.

[Yisanareysin]

If he had been thinking properly, there were a thousand things Rey could have done, from kick the man in the groin, to shoving his thumb in the man's eyes , or drawing his dagger to hurt the thug in any of the thousand ways a human could be hurt. Unfortunately, it was petching difficult for him to think properly when he was struggling for breath, so instead he simply clawed and tugged at the man's arm. As the pressure at his throat increased everything fell away. Nise, or Maya, no longer existed to him, nor Wanda, Kuvarakh, or the shop itself. His whole world was reduced to himself and the thug and the pain in his throat and chest. He had always thought a violent death would dull his senses. Instead, he found them heightened. He could pick out every detail of his killer's face, the fiery fury in his eyes, the mindless rage. He could hear his own heartbeat thrum in his ears, the man's harsh breathing, and smell the blood that still dripped from the gash he had opened up earlier. He didn't want to die. Not here, in this cold and wet land, so far from the warm sands of Eyktol. Not now, when no one he cared about would know he was gone. How long would his family wait before they realized he was never coming back? When his sister became head of their family, would she look north, hoping to see him coming? Just as his vision began to blur, the pressure on his throat was lifted as quickly as it had come. He sucked in air as he dropped to his knees, his hands flying to his throat. It hurt to breath, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He was alive. Struggling to his feet, he looked up, only to see the illusionist fall, her head cracking against a chair. The human, his attacker, stood over her, prepared to.. something. Rey couldn't think clearly enough to judge what the man was going to do but he knew it wasn't going to be good. Without thinking, he lunged at the man, drawing his dagger. He, unlike his companions, had no problem with dealing a fatal blow. Unfortunately, he, unlike his companions, was in no state to be aiming any sort of blow, even at such short range. In aiming to slice through the man's neck, his dagger instead bit into the human's shoulder. Rey pulled it back, prepared to attack again when the man wisely decided to retreat, stepping back out of his range. Rey, in turn, took a step closer to NiseMaya. When he leaned over to check on her, he found her on her knees. He only had a moment to register the mindless panic in her eyes before she slashed at him. Rey jerked back, but not quick enough. The blade opened a gash up his right cheek and over his cheekbone, narrowly missing his eye. He stumbled back with a snarl of pain, his hand coming up to wipe away the blood already dripping down his face. The slightest movement of his face hurt, but he was running on too much adrenaline to care. He was furious now, halfway back into the animalistic, instinctive mindset of his youth, and stepped forwards to show her just how badly a knife to the face could hurt. Maybe he'd take her eyes, just to drive the point in. In the end, it was their attacker that saved NiseMaya. Seeing the two apparently infighting, he stepped forward to attack again, forcing Rey to focus on the closer threat. He swiped at the human, baring his teeth. Even as a human he must have made quite a sight, an animal in human shape, with bruises forming around his throat, and blood tricking down his face, staining his silver hair. The man looked between his two foes, both armed, with him injured, and did the clever thing, scrambling backwards towards Vann. Rey turned to look, and spotted for the first time the situation Wanda was in. Heart pumping faster than it ever had before, pain and anger and terror all clouding his mind, he said the first words that came to mind. "You're wasting your time. Kirby's gone by now."

[Kuvarakh]

"I TOLD ya! Didn't I told ya it was Kirby I saw!" the wounded thug crowed to the leader, who scowled back. The wounded man looked to the door.

"Shut up, idiot. I never said it weren't Kirby's BODY you saw. but I ran into "Doc" and he thought the same thing, until his poison didn't work." He recollected his grip on Wanda, whose eyes were flashing around the shop for some means of escape. They locked briefly on the floor to her right, and then a point midway under the counter.

"Doc was gonna kill him? That petching bastard, what? leave us to collect off his corpse." The wounded thug was clearly incensed at this disregard for honor.

"I said shut up...Naw, just disable 'im. He still wants his due, same as us, and I mean to see we all get it. "Doc" says he said he was a Nuit. Thought it was BS at first, but come around to figure it all makes sense." His speech from the corner of his mouth to his cohort, redirected to focus on their two adversaries.

"So here's what we're gonna do...You two are gonna back outta this shop, nice and friendly like. And don't try nothing or our buddy out front'll pin cushion yer asses. Then we're gonna take this here nice lady with us. Seems Kirby's got a soft spot for her. So when we get Kirby's head from him, he gets his little lady friend back, no harm done."

He might have gone on to say that it wasn't the Nuit they gave a crap about, but that they needed evidence of Kirby's death to satisfy a much worse man that "justice" had been done. otherwise they'd likely ALL be killed, Wanda, "Kirby", his friends, and them as well. But if the Nuit wanted to go get himself a new body, no one had to be the wiser. They'd just take the old "Kirby" head and call it even.

But he didn't have the chance. His underling, still not understanding the nature of Nuits, protested, "That's stupid! Kirby may be a dumb petch-head, but ain't gonna give up his HEAD! He'll be dead, Vann!"

Hearing his name revealed so carelessly enraged the man and he let go of Wanda with one hand to whip a backhand across his cohort's mouth, "YOU STU-...SHYKE!...GET HER!" Wanda jumped on the opportunity to tear free and kick the upended stool back into the leader's legs, tripping him to enough of a degree that she was able to make a diving rush beneath the counter.

One thing she knew that no one else present did, was that the counter used to be spilt in the middle, instead of at the end. The counter top had been reinforced to support reasonable weight, but the front panel was little more than cosmetic. She slammed through this, popping the panel, which still cracked down the middle from the frantic impact, out in front of her.

She still had hold of the apron, and seemed determined to keep it bunched in front of her. She also snatched up the wooden panel and charged through the door, holding them in two layers before her. Any warnings shouted would go unheeded as she flew outside. Anyone inside might have been sickened by the sound of a wicked twang, and an even more wicked thunk.

But anyone following outside would find no sign of Wanda, except for an apron, made of a remarkably dense material, pinned to a slab of wood, lying discarded on the ground, and an unsavory-looking man, holding a spent crossbow, staring in disbelief down the street.

[Aislyn Leavold]

Aislyn’s head still hurt like hell, but she had managed to regain enough use in her eyes to realize what a mistake she had just made. She had been trying to protect herself, looking for an attacker with unseeing eyes, but had only succeeded in damaging her only ally in the fight raging around her. She had hurt Rey, and from the pure, animalistic rage she saw in his eyes, he was going to hurt her much, much more than what she had done to him. Whoops.

Ducking down farther into the cave of chairs and tables that she had been thrown into, Aislyn prepared herself to find a way to escape. Or take a whole lot of blows. Really, she was more prepared for the latter.
Remarkably, no attack came.

It seemed that Aislyn was not Rey's first priority on his kill list, as the first man had once again pounced on him, distracting the Dhani from plotting Lyn's demise. The woman had never been so grateful for the thug’s presence. Unfortunately, she wasn’t grateful for very long. The man soon crumbled away, leaving Aislyn facing Rey, though Rey wasn’t facing her. No, he was looking over her head, towards some sight behind her vision. Questioning the mix of emotions flashing on his face, Aislyn rose to see what he was looking at.

The second man, the “Boss” one, according to the other thug, had Wanda held up, knife to her throat. The woman’s eyes were closed, and Lyn couldn’t tell if her friend was dead or alive, though it seemed she was still being treated as the latter. A hostage. The thugs hadn’t been kidding when they had threatened to act earlier. Apparently, they thought Kuv could just jump out of the body he was in at a moments notice. Fantastic. They were stupid and misinformed.
Rubbing the back of her head, Aislyn tried to reason with the two men. Surely they must have known that a Nuit transfer wasn't some magical three second ritual in which Kuvarakh could just jump into another body? They had to know that, right?
Unfortunately, it didn't seem so.

"Nuit transfers aren't that easy, a Nuit has to know a certain set of glyphs in order to get into another body, and even then, it'll take bells..." Her voice died off. It didn't seem like anyone was listening. Petch. Aislyn remembered what Kuv had told her when she had helped him with his last transfer. A Nuit only really knows what glyphs to use when they had to use them, and that meant sustaining a lot of damage to their body.
The woman sighed. She didn't see Kuv willingly impaling himself on something for the sake of handing over a head.
But there was still Wanda.

Aislyn suddenly remembered the woman, feeling guilty that she had forgotten about her. Her life was still in danger, even if Lyn's wasn't. Somehow, they had to convince the men to let her go, or trade her for something other than Kirby's head, or...
She never got to finish the thought, as a figure bounded past her with a trail of screams following her escape. Wanda had gotten away from her captors, escaping through the door and out onto the street. From the reaction of those in the room, Wanda had just escaped in the time it had taken Aislyn to blink. A wave of relief rushed over the illusionist, though dread followed the emotion.
Wanda had just left her in a room with three men who would all quite happily wish her dead.
Good to know the woman cared.

A commotion from outside drew the woman's attention away from the empty feeling of betrayal that Wanda had left. A series of various noises rang into the shop; first the tell-tale zip of a bowstring, then a thunk, then a clatter. With her limited point of view in the corner of the shop, Aislyn couldn’t see what was going on, though to her relief, it didn’t sound like a body had hit the ground. Either whoever had just shot had missed, or Wanda had mysteriously become made out of wood.

Unfortunately, Aislyn didn't have time to worry about the fate of Wanda. Yelling from behind her drew her attention back to the men in the room. It seemed the two thugs had distracted themselves from fighting Rey and Lyn in order to fight each other. The second man- the thug that had been called 'Vann' ended up finishing the confrontation by pushing past the first thug and running to the doorway of the Alch, only to let out an aggravated growl. From his reaction and reluctance to follow the fleeing woman, Wanda was gone.
This didn’t float well with the man.

”Stupid blundering idiot! What are we supposed to do now? Kirby ain’t gonna hand over his head without some incentive, is he?”

”I told ya, V- Boss. Kirby ain’t gonna hand over his head no matter what! He'd be dead! I told ya!”

Soon enough, the two were arguing again, with several swears, insults, and threats being tossed around. It was quite comical, really, the way that the two chose to solve problems by arguing. Though solving problems was not the way Aislyn would put it. Creating more problems, that was more like it.
After a while, however, the two became aware of the other presences in the room. Immediately, the Alch fell into an empty silence, with every pair of eyes in the room meeting simultaneously. Aislyn suddenly realized she was holding her breath; waiting for the two men opposite her to speak.

”This isn’t over.”
And that was it.
The second thug- Vann- practically pulled the other man through the exit, and, after a hushed conversation outside, they were gone. All three of the thugs, out the door, as if nothing had happened.
Aislyn threw a look over at Rey. They were alone in the shop now. He was free to do as he wished, and he was still blocking her exit. Petch.

OOCHappy one-hundreth post to me!

[Yisanareysin]

People were talking, but Rey's head was too fuzzy to really register exactly what they were saying. More arguing about Kirby, something about a Doc or someone, nuit ritutals, something something go outside and leave. No one was trying to kill him right now, and that was all he could really concentrate on right now. His pulse was slowing, the adrenaline was leaving him, and it was all he could do to stay on his feet and look menacing. Vann's sudden anger shocked him back into wakefulness, and it took a few ticks for him to realize that Vann hadn't known that Rey had known his name. He started as the counter front popped out, and Wanda came rushing through, and out the door. Then, the distinctive sound of a crossbow bolt hitting something. Well, there went Vann's plan. Either she was dead, or escaped. Either ways, no hostage. Which meant that he was going to be the one in immediate danger. Also the illusionist behind him. Her too. The two before him started bickering again, and Rey weighed his options. He could try to attack, or escape. Not through the door, not if there was someone watching it. Through the window, maybe? Worth a shot. But it did look awfully sturdy, and he'd probably end up even more sliced up. Maybe he could attack them? He took a step forwards, and dismissed that idea. The room was spinning, and he felt like taking a nice, long nap. Maybe right here on the floor. No, that was a bad idea. A terrible idea, actually. Almost as terrible as he felt. And he felt terrible. And numb. Everything hurt so much that it didn't even hurt, that was how terrible he felt. Maybe he could.. Vann was looking right at him, and Rey was suddenly aware that he had let his hand, still holding his dagger drop down to his side. He raised it, not without considerable effort, and narrowed his eyes into what he was hopping was an intimidating expression. Neither thug looked particularly impressed or intimidated though. Then they said something that Rey didn't have the energy to translate from common, and left. Huh. Maybe his intimidating look had worked after all? He really didn't have the energy to think about it. "Oh good." Rey mumbled, not quite sure what language he was using. He made a half hearted effort to sheath his blade, and succeeded after the third try. Looking around, his eyes rested on NiseMaya or whatever. His face twinged, and he felt a brief flicker of anger, before exhaustion smothered it. Leaning against the wall, he slid down to the floor. "Maybe I'll just..." On one hand, he was alone in a room with an armed person who hated him. On the other hand, he really did not want to stay conscious. That seemed like a good enough reason, he decided as he passed out. Hopefully he'd still be intact when he woke up.

[Kuvarakh]

Wanda saw the thugs hurry off. She hoped that they wouldn't want to conduct any visibly hostile activities outside where they could be noticed by The Listeners. It appeared she guessed right this time as the three men blended quite quickly and effectively into the seemingly harmless populace and moved off.

She came back around to the door and hesitated. She knew she'd left without thinking of the consequences of the thugs' frustration and how they might have taken it out on Kuvarakh's two friends. 'And where was he anyway?' She was both irritated that he'd not been there to lend what combative support he could, and glad that he hadn't been, since he was apparently the primary target.

She took a deep breath and pushed through the door, dreading the expectation of two dead bodies on the floor. But relief was almost enough to cause her to faint as she saw both Maya and Rey, clearly hurt, but just as clearly alive. 'Gods' mercy, I'm so sorry! I just ran off and left you. I was just so scared. Here let me help with that.'

She stood to help secure some temporary bandages, but a look of sudden immediate resolve flooded her cheeks and she stepped back to the door and threw the bolt. She sagged for a moment with a sudden sense of true safety, then turned back and went to go retrieve some bandages.

"Ionu's Mercy' should find us soon enough." she chirped from the back room. "Just last season a man broke his leg right out front of the shop and they showed up within chimes. Building and all! I think we need to get him out where they can see him though."

She came back out with a small bundle of cloths, and a small bottle of some kind of antiseptic. "I'm no doctor. Kuvarakh never bleeds when he cuts himself or anything. I can treat this though, I think. Unless you have some training. One of us should watch for the healers to show up."

[Aislyn Leavold]

That had been… Interesting.
The whole job had been interesting.
Aislyn’s entire life since she had accepted a job working for Kuvarakh had been petching interesting.
And sometimes, interesting was not the best thing.
Aislyn had expected Rey to start yelling, lash out at her, do something. What she had not expected him to do was mumble gibberish or at very least in a different language, then fall into a collapsed heap on the floor, unconscious. Then again, it was better than him attacking her.

The woman let out a guilty sigh of relief. Somehow, because of some twisted act of luck, she was alive, and with, probably, the least damage out of anyone there. She was incredibly fortunate, if not straight up gifted by the gods. She had survived, and, hopefully, so had everyone else. There could have been others. More thugs, bent on twisted revenge. They could have attacked Kuvarakh, or the Kelvic girl he had gone to fetch.
Everyone could be dead.

Aislyn was not good at thinking positively.

Catching her image in a nearby mirror, Aislyn examined herself in the reflection. Her illusion seemed to have kept well, as, really, you couldn’t tell that “Maya” had been in a fight at all. It was only when she took a chance and dropped the illusion that her wounds shone through. The sudden change in appearance shocked the woman, even after years of getting used to it. Her white-blonde hair disappeared, replaced with a ragged mop of brown strands. Her face was covered in an angry looking but pale bruise, though what really caught her eye was the deep shade of red that the hair at her scalp was turning. She had definitely cut something when she had hit her head on the chair. She solemnly joked to herself about complaining to Kuvarakh about the sharp edges on the Alch’s chairs.

After several more seconds of staring into the blank eyes of her reflection, Aislyn brought ‘Maya’ back, turning to attend to the unconscious Rey who was slumped before her. She was met with an array of conflicting emotions. Anger, fear, relief, empathy, arrogance. She really was in no way sure of what to do. The man looked so pathetic, so reminiscent of what he had looked like when the first thug had his hands on the snake’s throat. If Aislyn left him, Rey would probably die of blood loss. He was bleeding quite severely in several places, and the cut on his face, at very least, needed to be attended to or it would be infected.
Wait.
What was she thinking? She had hated the man so severely, he had tried to kill her at least twice, and had nearly unmasked her in front of Ruzekiel. Why did she care if he died or not? He’d take his secret to his grave. She hated him, didn’t she?

Aislyn sighed heavily. She very much knew that wasn’t true.

So, grudgingly, with half her mind and all of her logic screaming against it, the woman knelt down next to Rey and began to ponder just how she was supposed to help him. She knew there were some instances in which one shouldn’t move a victim, but there was no way in Hai Aislyn was going to recognize when those instances were.

Unfortunately, she didn’t get very far in her observations, as, just ticks after she began gingerly inspecting Rey’s limp body, Wanda walked into the Alchemmia Alchea.
At her entrance, Aislyn was hit with a wave of mixed emotions. Muffled anger, heavy relief on top of pure happiness that the woman was still alive.

”Gods’ mercy, I’m so sorry! I just ran off and left you. I was just so scared..”
Immediately, the anger Aislyn had originally felt due to Wanda’s abrupt exit evaporated. Of course she had been terrified. What was Lyn expecting? A handshake and a goodbye as Wanda was fleeing for her life? Muted embarrassment at her earlier rage pushed it’s way to Aislyn’s face, forcing her eyes downcast, back at Rey. For someone who was bleeding to death, Reysin looked strangely peaceful.
”Here, let me help with that.”

Aislyn shuffled backwards from the body on the floor, adjusting herself so Wanda could easily see. After several ticks of silence, however, the woman was off again, flying through the store to fetch supplies to path Reysin up. In her absence, Aislyn felt herself speaking in a rushed whisper to the unconscious man, even though she knew he couldn’t hear her.
”For gods sake, I hate you, but please, if you’re going to do one thing for me today… Don’t die.”

Aislyn had hated him so passionately earlier. Why was she suddenly caring for him? Why was she suddenly caring at all? Twice now, she had shown mercy and compassion towards Rey, when all she could think about was how many times he had wronged her. What was wrong with her?

When Wanda returned, Aislyn put on a forced smile, taking the bandages from her hands and staring at the cloth for several seconds as Wanda went on talking.
”I don’t have any training, but…” Her mind wandered back to her time with Taji, and all the things he had taught her. Medicine was not one of those things, but when she had near impaled her hand with a crossbow bolt, she had seen him wrap it. She could imitate that, couldn’t she? The woman had a near photographic memory- Surely she could remember how her mentor had wrapped her wounds.

”...Someone helped me, a long time ago, and I’m sure I could do something with that.”

Unwrapping a length of cloth from the bandages, Aislyn ripped a small piece off, folding it carefully. She had no petching idea what she was doing, but she could at very least act as if she did, if only to reassure Wanda. With the dry piece of cloth, she removed the blood from around Rey’s wound. After that, she tore another piece of cloth, this time trickling a bit of whatever antiseptic Wanda had brought onto it. Cleaning the wound, right? That was what was next? All Aislyn remembered from her own experience with wounds was that, usually, the antiseptic stung like hai. Perhaps it was better that Rey was unconscious.
After the cut was relatively clean and hopefully not infected, Aislyn shot a hopeless look at the ground. Next was wrapping the wound, right? But the woman couldn’t exactly wrap Rey’s face. But Wanda hadn’t brought tape, so she was going to have to find some middle ground.

Nervously looking over what she had at her disposal, Aislyn’s eyes fell once again on the pile of cloth. That was what she had to use, and it would have to do. Unfortunately, with the precision she needed for the strip of cloth to be cut, Aislyn couldn’t tear it with just her hands. Her eyes fell on the knife she had dropped on the floor nearby. One look at it, and she dismissed the idea- The weapon was covered in blood, though who's, the woman couldn’t tell. She would just get the wound dirtier if she used that knife.

Another look around, and Aislyn found herself looking at the knife Rey had sheathed at his side. Gingerly, Lyn drew out the weapon. Either Rey hadn’t stabbed anyone, Rey had managed to rub off the blood, or the sheath had absorbed whatever had stained the blade. In any light, the weapon was clean. Rey was going to have to do without.
Once she cut herself a nice strip of cloth, Aislyn positioned the makeshift bandage over Rey’s face. She then secured it with the strip of cloth, tying the piece at the back of his head. For added security, she used the other half of the torn piece of cloth to keep the bandage in place, mimicking the first strip.

Soon enough, Rey looked like an unconscious pirate whose eyepatch had slipped down his face onto his cheek. Aislyn sighed at her work. She was no doctor, but at least the man would stop bleeding out of his facial region. Turning to Wanda, she exchanged a look of both relief and disappointment.
”Well… I did my best.”

[Yisanareysin]

Rey was dimly aware of something touching his face, and a stinging line running up his cheek. Mostly though, he was aware of nothing at all, except a vague sense of unease, and the insistent thought that he should be escaping, instead of just lying here. But he was so exhausted, between the strangling and the blood loss... Oh yeah.. he was losing blood. He probably should have done something about that before he fainted. Although he supposed that that was one of those things that resolved itself, one way or another. His head was being moved, and something was pressing against it. That seemed like the sort of thing he should be paying attention to. His head was set down, but the pressure remained. Definitely something he should be paying attention to. His eye flickered open. Someone was hovering above him, saying something to someone else. That was too many unknowns for his comfort. First things first. Who was that above him? He squinted at the person, and then gasped. Fiery pain bloomed across the right side of his face, and he rolled onto his left side, trying to coil into a ball. He hissed in pain, hands curling into fists, nails digging into the palm of his hand. Petch, it hurt. He ground his teeth, and the pain in his cheek flared up. His face in in searing agony, his throat sore and raspy and his head throbbing, his mind latched on to the first thought that crossed it, trying to keep his attention off the pain. Why was he alive? He had been unconscious and defenseless. The illusionist had had a knife. The illusionist hated him. He was not dead. That puzzled him. All together, the facts did't add up. He'd been defenseless. She hated him. The math was simple. Maybe she didn't hate him? Or maybe she'd thought he wasn't defenseless. Maybe she was just that intimidated by him? No, no one was that good at hiding fear. Well, lying here on the floor wasn't solving this mystery for him. But he was tired, and the floor was so nice and cool. But he had to get up. But he didn't want to. If he lay there two long NiseMaya might reconsider not stabbing him. That seemed like a good reason to him. Groaning, Rey pushed himself off the floor, and sat up for an entire tick before collapsing, this time flopping onto the person who had been hovering above him. Which turned out to be the illusionist herself. That was probably a bad idea. Rey was in too much pain to care. He turned his head around with considerable effort, and spotted Wanda nearby. "Oh good you're not dead." He mumbled. Kuvarakh would probably not have liked that too much.

[Kuvarakh]

Wanda smiled down at Rey, "Likewise, stranger. I'd hate to see someone, whose name I don't even know, die on my behalf." Her pause was both to give him a chance to fill in the blank with his name, and to see if he was coherent enough to even remember it. The healers were approaching and would undoubtedly perform similar spot tests on his focus.

Sure enough, Rey was soon asked how many fingers were being held up before his face...'and how many shelves were on that wall, and was the light too bright...This light?...How about now?...Did he remember his name...Her name?...Do you feel this?...How about now?' The questionnaire went on and on as they loaded him onto a stretcher and carried him toward a tall marble edifice, which gleamed not so much with sterility, as with benevolent cleanliness.

Wanda looked around, as any last-chime comments between Maya and Rey would be occurring, seeing that there had not been much damage, but there was blood on a corner of one of the chairs. She moistened a cloth and swiped her own head with it, but found nothing bleeding. She hobbled over to Maya, grimacing from a few bone-deep bruises that made her walk an awkward limp, as she approached Maya.

"Here, Maya, you must have cu-..." She stopped with a bit of a start. "You're not hurt? Oh good, I saw a chair with blood on it, and figured you must have hit the metal fitting on it." Now she stepped back a pace, her eyes narrowing, not in suspicion, but in puzzlement. She held the moistened cloth in her hand.

"I could have sworn the way you were...sort of...staggering in there, you must have hit your head, but there's not even a bruise that...I..." She had been reaching for Maya's hairline, to check for a bruise, when one of the healers' called to her for any additional information. If Maya pulled back, from concern that her illusion could be revealed, Wanda took no notice. She DID absently toss the cloth to her as she stepped over to the robed man to fill in a few details.

She nodded one last time and returned to Maya, "They would like you to go with them. He said he saw you weaving a bit, like you were dizzy. I told them...I..." again, her eyes passed with some curiosity over Maya's brow. "...uh...I hadn't seen any injury..." she gave a single puzzled grunt, but then shrugged. "I guess you were just very lucky...That poor man." She added, swinging a sympathetic look to where Rey was being carried into the building. "It looks like HE got all the serious injuries. I'll have to be sure and let Kuvarakh know that he owes his friend a serious favor. As do I"

"...And you too!" she added hastily, "I'm sorry, You may not have gotten anything more than a bump, same as me, but you might have been killed! Really Maya...If you need anything, just ask..." She focused again, concern warring with curiosity. "Are you sure you're okay? You look pale. You'd better go with the healers. I'm closing up for the day."

[Aislyn Leavold]

Well, Rey was alive. That was a plus, right?
Aislyn felt mixed emotions ran through her mind as the snake man let out a series of grunts as he attempted to pull himself off the ground. Relief, surprise, and, unfortunately, fear.

Aislyn pulled her hands towards her face in a sort of defensive move, expecting the wavering man to attack her as soon as he stood up. She flinched as Rey keeled over, barely having time to catch the man as he slumped on top of her. The illusionist blinked in surprise, holding Rey’s limp body at arms length as she attempted to support him while also keeping herself far enough away from him. What was he doing?

The answer came quickly to her as he mumbled out a jumbled heap of words, of which it took Aislyn several moments to understand. It took her even longer to understand that the somewhat caring sarcasm had been aimed at Wanda, not herself. And she had almost gotten her hopes up.

As Rey orientated himself and Wanda began speaking again, Aislyn distracted herself by watching the healers approach. She practically pushed Rey towards them, with a sort of He’s your problem now look. Not that anyone noticed; All attention was on the Dhani.
At first, the questions they asked seemed trivial, with all the poking and prodding the healers did seemingly unhelpful for Rey’s wellbeing. Then again, they were the professionals, not Aislyn.

Lost in thought for a moment, Aislyn flinched slightly as she felt Wanda’s presence behind her. Turning towards her, she noticed the visible injuries the woman was carrying. The poor woman must have taken more of a beating than Aislyn had first thought. Perhaps she should have gotten help from the healers as well...
Aislyn’s thoughts were interrupted by a hand in front of her face. It took the woman several ticks to realize it was Wanda’s and refrain from attacking the appendage. Immediately Aislyn brushed away the woman’s concern, shaking her head and interrupting her sentence.

”-No, no, I’m fine. I’m sure. It was just shock… I mean, armed attackers attempting to kill you…” She gave a little laugh, ”It’s a lot to take in. I very well might have been staggering…” Aislyn was hit with a sudden realization. ”I don’t remember.” Either from the adrenaline or from her unfortunate fall, the entire series of events that had befallen the trio earlier had blurred into small moments of action and long periods of nothing. The waning memory worried her slightly, but by now, Wanda had turned away to speak with the healers. Aislyn brushed away her worry. She had shot herself in the hand when she was ten- A little fall couldn’t hurt her too much.

Soon enough, however, Wanda returned, this time with a more sympathetic look. Once again, Aislyn brushed off her concern, though she paid attention when the woman mentioned Rey. Had the healers told her anything of interest? Details?
The woman sighed as Wanda instead went back to the topic of Aislyn’s fall. She gave a small shrug at the gesture, hoping Wanda got the hint. She was fine.
Probably. Most likely, she was fine.
In any light, there was no time to worry. For now, the pair was watching Rey as he was carted off onto the street. Aislyn mimicked Wanda’s sympathetic look with a slight delay; her mixed emotions on the man masking her sympathy. Eventually, however, the woman began speaking again, this time about ‘A serious favour’. Did she mean mizas?

A wave of realization passed over Aislyn in a sudden burst. The whole reason she had been at the Alch- the reason she had been attacked- was because of the sketches Kuvarakh had asked her to draw. More mizas for a few incomplete sketches? Aislyn almost declined the offer before she realized Wanda had never been referring to the artist at all. The only reason the illusionist had even noticed was because of the rushed addition to the offer afterwards. A slight feeling of jealousy emerged in Aislyn’s mind, but she quickly brushed it away. Wanda brought up a good point- They could have all been killed, not just Rey.

”I can’t think of anything right now, but I appreciate your… Offer.” The words came out slightly delayed, but Aislyn once again assured herself she was fine when Wanda brought up the notion of her being hurt. Besides, she couldn’t go with the healers. Surely if they examined her, they would find flaws in her appearance. Then the entire medical staff would know, and then Wanda would find out, and Kuvarakh…

Aislyn’s mind ran awry with worry about the idea of medical treatment, so, despite her best interests, pushed away Wanda’s care once more. She hadn't hit her head that hard. People got concussions when they got hit in the head with a shovel- not when they fell on a chair.
”I’m fine, I assure you. I can help you close up if you’d like.” Aislyn took a look outside, where Rey had disappeared. She shook her head, trying to change the subject.
”When do you think they’ll let him go?”

OOCI’ve messed around with my computer a bit, and now have a temporary solution to my wifi issues. Hopefully replies will be quicker now