Heart of the Beast RP (IC)

Being that he wasn't particularly worried about these people he was with causing issues for him, Zephyr decided that there wasn't any real need to be overly cautious with them. Fighting for your life in a reasonably sized battle tends to bond people together after all.

"Hell if I know personally. I didn't really plan too much further ahead, I mainly just wanted to make sure information wasn't spread around that could get my parents in trouble for what happened with me. As such, I suppose hanging around and seeing what goes on here isn't such a bad idea for me. I can't exactly go back to the empire, and they tend to suck generally either way."

He didn't feel there was much more to elaborate to this specific question.

Ashur took another sip of his wine. What a day it had been. At least everything worked out well in the end. The only real casualty on their side was his trusty blade, the memento of his father. It's scabbard now hung empty on Ashur's side. Normally Ashur would be rather saddened by losing something like this. But no, he had lost something much worse already. He looked up at his companions; Ashur could only wonder what their next steps would be, but just so it happened that Naya had the same wonders.

"I guess I'll try my luck in Sayrn. The resistance looks like my best bet right now. If that doesn't work out, traveling the world is what I always wanted to do." Ashur stared into his mug, nearly empty "I guess I'll see how things go."

Looking at the group, Kali-en could already see the strong bond created during their fight together. It was one of trust, and friendship. This bond gave him a warm feeling, one that filled the empty void he had since many, many years ago..
Right.
He checked his belt to see how much crystals he had left: three rock spikes crystals in a mine and enough crystals to make three more full release of steam (three heat + three water) with his gloves. It wasn't much. He had however, managed to hold on to four more crystals he believed was rare enough to be valuable.
It happened during his last trip to the crystal storage, while searching for the crystal the ghost wanted, he discovered four new crystals which held his interest. Two of them were labeled "darts" and the other two "gust of wind".
He still had 20 throwing daggers, most of them retrieved from the different battles.

He then started the appraisal of his own body situation, as he did after every job. His left arm had stiffened because of his wound on the shoulder (and, probably, his repeated use of it when he threw daggers at the imperial). He had new ones, although smaller: his right thigh and forearm, and his left shin.
Basically, he was a mess.
With a sigh he went to review what happened until now and came up with some questions.
How could one become a Nullomancer? It seemed awfully convenient, especially if he could master "the wind shroud" move the imperial did.
Who the hell was Arbos Xell? King of Thieves? Kali-en did not believe that, he would have at least heard of him. But more importantly, how did he know the name "Klein" ?
The first time the shadow used it, it didn't bother Kali-en that much, and the situation that was at hand didn't allow him to anyway.
But the second time, half of Klein personality and behavior had came back, making him slip when he said he could pick the lock of the storage door. Thankfully, no one seemed to have noticed the use of that name, or they managed to hide it very well.
This guy was dangerous, did he know any other names? He needed information on him, or at least on the "Arbos Xell" name.

He looked up and saw the beast -no, although better than barbarian, that name still lacked something-, looking at him weirdly, was he really drunk and high?

A conversation had started about what they were going to do. Kali-en couldn't care less about that fact, and he need to talk to the shadow guy.

"I still owe some of you for saving me, and i will find a way to pay off my debt. Now if you will excuse me, I need to tend to my wounds". With that he got up, and went near another fire where he found what he needed to clean and dress his wounds.
Coincidentally, it was within earshot of the shadow guy. He immediately began his conversation.

Arbos sighed heavily as his hand passed through a jug of wine several times. Two hundred years without a god damn drink was a curse worthy of a song indeed. Thankfully Naya started a conversation that could act as a good enough distraction from his earthly troubles. Arbos hung lazily in the air right above the campfire, much to the excitement of the rebels troops (they were quite easily entertained) and shrugged.

"With this Eriur is now safe. Even if the empire does start an investigation into this that goes deeper than "rebels did it" - the resistance forces now occupy the castle. So any kind of story about four mages from a tiny villages who took on the army, the troll and the null on their own would just seem like bullshit by comparison. Either way I did not awaken from my slumber just to spend three days in a swamp, kill some rookies and go back. So I'll go with Ashur to Sayrn. I'm guessing Zeph will tag along as well. I haven't even begun properly teaching you guys nullomancy yet. Sayrn would be a good place to do it."

Arbos then shot a glance at Kali-en, who had retreated to the small fireplace on the outskirts of the camp and began speaking with clear intention of having Arbos hear him. This was interesting.

"Anyway I'm still tired from fixing up Kron, so i'll take my leave fr the night. Not like i can fucking drink anything anyway. "

"G'night" Zeph mumbled through the sound of his chewing.

Arbos sighed.

"Not like i can sleep either, dimwit. I'll just rest up in the shadows somewhere."

That said Arbos disappeared into thin air. Or so it would seem anyway. For a spectre becoming invisible was as easy as breathing. And quite useful for getting closer to shadowy thieves that seemed to have interest in speaking to him.

Naya stared into her drink as she listened to the others. She had to make a decision on what she would do. Returning to Eriur was no longer a possibility but she wasn't sure if she wanted to anyway. She would miss the people from her village and learning from Gran-gran but it felt good to be traveling, plus fighting the Empire had been an added bonus. Speaking of her Shaman training, there was that incident from the last time she entered the Spirit World to think about. It wasn't unheard of for powerful spirits to appear before Shamans during their journey, but it was mostly to keep an eye on them. She has never experienced it before but it felt different... She needed more information. Information she couldn't get from towns or villages, she needed somewhere larger. She made her decision.
"I'll join you if you don't mind, there's something I need to investigate and a large city like Sayrn sounds like a good place to start." she nodded to Ashur. "By the way, how are we sleeping tonight?"

Arbos disappeared soon after Kali-en started mumbling uselessly about his wounds and how the world was unfair to him. Having his confirmation, he switched to a bare whisper as he asked several questions in a row:
"Why did you call me Klein twice? My name is Kali-en, you should know it.
How can I become a Nullomancer? Or how can I know if I am a Nullomancer?
The imperial said you were the King of Thieves, can you prove it?"

Then, having shot all his question in a single breath, he looked around discretely as he sat back to tend his wounds.

Kron was sitting crossed leg around the large fire, staring at its base. It took two people to carry him as he could, even then, barely walk. It wasn't just the shiny dust that put him in that state but also his arm. Although his bones had been put back together, woven, cemented and sealed with tungsten carbide, the flesh was still wounded, and the adrenalin in his veins had dissipated. His arm was glowing red and swollen and its skin had split in several places, the flesh of his knuckles had survived but was badly bruised.
Thankfully, Arbos had restored the bones in their original shape and Kron didn't have to control the metal to simply move his arm, doing it however was not an option for now, as the pain was far too great.
The effects of the pixie powder were dissipating, and so he drank to keep the pain at bay.
He felt cold and hot at the same time, a fever was rising in him and was drifting at the frontier of consciousness. At that point, no real thoughts were going through his mind, he probably couldn't have spoken if he had tried. He was just sitting there, staring at the fire, trying to stay awake and drinking some more again to make the pain go away.
He had barely eaten anything and the little he ate, he had had trouble keeping down.
Eventually, as everything around him was growing darker and duller, he passed out, unnoticed by anyone around him, arched down, still, while the party kept going.

Overhearing Naya's question the man Arbos previously identified as "Bob" stood up and approached the group. He was in his later forties by the looks of it, with a weathered face and curly black hair that showed signs of greying. He still wore a rough leather armour from before, except this time he didn't have his sword at his side. Naya couldn't help but note that his forehead was still swollen from Zephyr's can-o-doom. He bowed his head and spoke in a raspy yet composed voice.

"Forgive me for listening in, ma'am, my name is Robert Donaughey or simply Bob to my friends. I took the liberty of having my boys set up some proper tents for yous all. Lord Xell did not forget to mention the poor state of your travelling gear when he visited my house earlier today. I hope that is alright."

He then gave everyone in the group a long hard look, giving Zeph a few extra seconds more than the others. It was reminiscent to Ashur and Zeph of the look that the imperial drill sergeants used to give new recruits. Needless to say it didn't make anyone any more comfortable.


Arbos couldn't help but chuckle at the barrage of questions. He didn't bother however to drop his invisibility completely, and only made his crooked smile and eyes visible within the flames of the fire.

"My oh my, so many questions... Well my mind is my own, but let's just say that we both know very well that Kali-en is not your real name. Your clothes, your manners, the way you look at people without realizing it... You bear the mark of a Sayrn thief. The same mix of stone dust and the faint stench of blood that cost your type all respect in the eyes of the thirteen." Arbos spoke quietly in a poisonous whisper. "I trust you at the very least know of the Thirteen? Surely even the glorified brigands of the rat district still remember some of the old code?"

Thirteen? Now that sounded more familiar. Throughout his life Kali-en has heard many shushed rumours of the Thieves Guilds in Thirteen biggest cities that all followed a strict code of never marring ones hands with blood on the job. But those were just tales told by the old, the blind and the feeble, surely? Nobody heard anything new of those guilds in over a hundred years. The world wasn't so nice for one to survive with such naive ideology.

Kali-en could feel his throat dry up. The sight of spectres gaze and smile just floating in the middle of a fire maliciously was starting to unnerve him. This man was really dangerous.

"Yes, i heard of those old myths."

Arbos snorted.

"Myths? I see. You keep telling yourself that boy, it'll help you sleep at night. As for nullomancy... that ain't exactly something you can learn - have t'be born with it you see. But there is an easy way to find out if you are one or not." Arbos disembodied arm appeared over the fire and pointed to the pile of weapons next to one of the tents. "Very easy, actually. Just grab one of the fire arrows from that pile and jab it into your chest. If it doesn't go off - then you're a nullomancer and i can teach you the craft much like the others. And if you aren't one... well, let's just say that you won't get the chance to start regretting it. Hehehehehe..."

That said Arbos disappeared completely with a sinister chuckle.

Kali-en went to the tent maker, a fire arrow tucked inside his jacket.
“Mmh, could you please show me my tent, I really need my rest now”.
He followed him until he arrived in a tent at the extremity of the camp. How odd, some trust issues perhaps?
The tent maker glared at him, then with a stiff nod turned back and left without a word.
He went into his tent and contemplated the arrow.
The shadow guy figured out that Kali-en wasn't his real name and that he was a thief from Sayrn. So he basically figured out Klein's identity.
That brought forth a sigh of relief.
The shadow guy had evidently immense observation skills, but that didn't go anywhere else. The fact that he said he was a thief from Sayrn, and that he thought he true Name was Klein was enough for Kali-en to drop the matter. He didn't mention anything about Arkayne or other Names.
The only thing disturbing him was the mention of Thirteen. He knew damn well it was not a myth, one of his Name, the closest to his real Name, at least he thought so, lived only by their rules. What bothered him was the fact that the shadow guy mentioned them as if he was one of them, or had been close to one of them.
He needed information from him, he needed to be extremely wary of him, and lastly, he needed information on him.
His thoughts went back to the arrow.
Should he “jab” it in his chest, the arrow should normally go off and explode inside him. So that means a Nullomancer could not be hurt by crystals? Maybe the crystals would simply not function near a Nullomancer? In that case, upon contact with a Nullomancer body, the crystal won’t function? Or is it upon contact with a Nullomancer’s blood, which would explain why he needed to jab the arrow, and not just create a contact, with a little pressure, with the tip of the arrow.
“But why my chest? If it’s upon contact with blood, why didn’t he just say to jab the arrow on my body, why the chest? Even if the arrow won’t go off, I could die just from the wound”, muttering and thinking, Kali-en sat staring at the arrow between his hands for very long minutes.
Wait! wait wait wait wait wait! Instead of trying the most dangerous of his theories, he might as well start off with the less dangerous ones.
He felt so proud of his quick thinking for realizing that.
He put his gloves on with one water crystal in front of an empty one and started to put his hand together before stopping. This theory had already been tested: he could release steam with the crystal gloves.
So crystals could still go off near a Nullomancer, check. (Or he was not a Nullomancer, but in that case he was as good as dead). Next was the body contact.
He put off his gloves and took a water crystal in his right hand and an empty crystal in his left hand, and pressed them together. Upon contact, nothing happened.
“You fucking bastard”, Kali-en said, a wide smile on his face.
He was a Nullomancer, check.
The crystals were nullified, or whatever it was, upon contact with a Nullomancer’s body, check.
He then reopened his bandages on his right forearm, and put blood on the empty crystals. After battling to recover his wound, and stopped the bleeding, he put his gloves, with a water crystal and the bloodied empty crystal on each hand. He pressed them together… and nothing happened.
So upon contact with a Nullomancer’s blood, crystals were also nullified, check.
And thinking about it, the last theory had also been verified. The others from the group had managed to kill an Imperial by using crystals, or to be more specific, using the charge in crystals. Wait. How did he know that they used crystals at all, and not some sort of magic proper to Nullomancers? He shouldn’t draw any conclusions too fast.
Apparently there were different types of Nullomancers, seeing as the cat-woman only used lightning where the soldier and the wannabe revolutionary used freezing cold and balls of fire. The last one even used some kind of force to crush a skull with a punch.
Getting out of his tent and asking questions right now would be suspicious, and out of place. And he needed his rest. He sat cross-legged in the center of the tent, facing the entry. His right arm went limp on the floor, close to his throwing dagger, while his left arm rested on his legs, ready to defend himself in case of an intrusion.
He cleared his thoughts, slowed his breathing, closed his eyes and started listening. As he expected, the clamor of the camp intensified at once. As he learned during his youthful years, he sank back deeper in his sleep, filtering the background sound, only allowing the sound of steps to enter his conscience.
He slept, still awake to recognize any threats or ill intents toward him, but far enough in the land of dreams to rest his body and mind.

ashur felt delighted knowning he was not the only one heading to Sayrn. In the short time he had been with them now he could see they were a nice bunch, most of them at least. He wouldn't call it a tight bond per say, but something was definitely forming between them. Would that eventually end up in that tight bond though? It definitely could.  
One could say that the safety of Eriur had freed Ashur. He did not HAVE to continue this vendetta against the empire. But at the same time, was it right just to stop here? Certainly the rebels did not have something like nullomancy. If Lerim was just the housecarl of a beastmaster, this would be just the tip of the iceberg.

"Well, if we can manage this much without proper training, I'll be looking forward to the real deal." Ashur was excited, to say the least, and that was rather clearly audible. Maybe it was the alcohol but he talked with a little more spirit than the last few days. Or maybe the impact had finally begun to sink in. Either way, nullomancy was something that interested him for many reasons. The reason he got his father to teach him the blade was to travel the world, to fend against it's many dangers. If he were to become an adept nullomancer, wouldn't that make this dream a lot easier? Not to mention, he actually had another reason to grow stronger now. He could not deny his grudge against the empire.

But there was another reason. One that sounded so ludicrous that Ashur wouldn't even dare think of this actually being possible. But it was a faint hope.

He took another quick sip from his mug, savouring the taste. It really had been way too long since he had anything decent to drink.
Ashur had a hard time not snickering at the head of the man that answered Naya's next question. It seems Zephyr's can was a force to be afraid of. Despite of this earlier incident he spoke to them in a composed manner. That said, the look he gave them afterward felt rather familiar, in a bad way. It was clear that this man had a story of his own. Either way, they had a place for the night, awesome.

Lae'Naya thanked Bob quietly as he left with Kali-en. Ashur turned his attention to her, a curious look on his face.
"What are you going to investigate?"
Zeph also lowered his drink to look at her after the question. She shifted uncomfortably under they're expectant stares.
"I'm sure you must have noticed by now that I'm not exactly a normal Selkie... It was kept hidden from the village but I trained under Gran-gran for years to become a Shaman. I finished my training but I've not done much on my own before. Anyway, a couple of nights ago I um... sleep walked into the Spirit World."
The two men gave her a puzzled look. Naya blushed.
"The Spirit World is a separate plane of existence to the one we live on. Inside it the spirits of the dead who cannot move on wander. I was called into it somehow by a spirit. I was so spiritually tired after helping release Arbos that it left... Then the sirens attacked. It's been bothering me ever since so I decided to investigate it. This sort of thing doesn't happen without reason" she shrugged.
Ashur looked like he was about to ask something else when Bob returned, standing by Ashur's side.
"Mind if I join you for a bit?"
"Of course not" Ashur smiled and gestured down beside him.
Bob glared daggers at Zeph while he sat down. Zeph looked away busying himself with drinking.

Naya tilted her head slightly to the side, her cheeks a rosy colour from the drink.
"So Booob" she added a small popping noise on the end. "Are you the leader of the local resistance? and what exactly is your relationship with our mysterious guardian specter?" she asked.

Robert took a jug and poured himself some wine. The flickering light of the fire made his aged face look all the more tired. He took a deep breath then started talking, throwing uncomfortable glances around occasionally, obviously looking for Arbos.

"Indeed I am, ma'am. If you can even call it that... " He threw a sad look at the bunch who were completely consumed by wine and music. "This is all the men and women we have in this part of the land. Took us hours to gather them all from the neighbouring villages... Not exactly the most intimidating bunch, but it's more than i hoped for when i quit the army some twenty years ago."

Zeph raised an eyebrow. "You were a soldier?"

Bob nodded.
"Indeed i was. Used to be a very patriotic lad, i was. Dreamed to be like one of them brave men of the garrison! Life taught me better however. One day my wife gave a few coins to a beggar who turned out to be part of a rebel cell... So she was arrested and executed for "supporting the ill elements of society". Pfft." He spat on the ground. "What load of gnoll shit, if you ask me. I was given a... firm suggestion that i should resign on my own, or get thrown out without honours... if i was lucky that was. Didn't need much convincing, i did. Threw my stripes right into their faces and stormed off. Been with teh rebels ever since. Teaching them young'uns how to hold a sword and how to avoid a patrol."

He then shifted uncomfortably and looked around several more times.
"It was then, as i joined did i hear the legends of the man. A nuisance from times long past. Some called him a god, some called him a fake, but one thing stood - there was once a man who was wanted by the entire empire. Whole armies were said to move around you see, just to catch the bugger. But he was too crafty for them imperial pigs and was never caught. He was a sort of symbol to all us rebels for millenias you see. Didn't even know the blokes name really. All we had was a picture you see, passed down from rebel to rebel."

Rob reached into his pocket and pulled out a small printed photograph and handed it to Ashur. Zeph and Naya quickly scurried over to take a look as well. On the photo was Arbos, much younger and obviously still living. The crystals around his eyes or his hat were still the same though. He was half sitting across what looked like a golden throne with one leg over the armrest. His left hand was firmly holding a whole pile of golden chains and various other jewellery while his right hand was quite happily flipping off the cameraman. It was quite weird for them to see Arbos just genuinely smiling like this, to be honest.

Rob continued. "That's the imperial throne you see. This picture is the biggest insult to the damned empire since it was founded. We all have copies of it. Young'uns get inspired by it to take up arms. S when lord Arbos appeared before me today and said that his friends were going to take over the Rowlington keep and needed our help - i did not hesitate for a moment, no i didn't. Gathered all my men and women from the nearby villages and cities and came straight here. Hope that answers your question, ma'am."

That said Robert poured himself some more wine and took several big gulps.

Well that certainly tidied up most of his questions rather nicely. Zephyr really couldn't think of much else he felt he had to bother the guy with. Based on the minor conversation they had before Bob had returned, Ashur and Naya were apparently set on heading to the nearest sizable town. Mulling it over pretty quickly he figured that was a sensible move regardless. There wasn't anywhere really for him to return to or anything as it was. A good starting place.

Zephyr looked at Bob who was taking a swig again, and noticed him slightly glaring at himself. Then he noticed a slight dent in the man's forehead. Zephyr awkwardly spoke up for a moment. "Ahem. So on a side note.. sorry about the can." Seeing as he had actually started speaking now he figured he could ask about something else related to the circumstances.

"Come to think of it, if you're with the rebels I assume you know if there's any stationed in Sayrn. Since most of us don't seem to have any real goal set in mind, or at least any announced one, it might be a possible starting point for one or more of us. That being a big if, with nothing certain." It was an idea, but Zephyr obviously didn't want to give the wrong impression to someone who didn't seem to bear any ill will, beyond maybe a few dirty glances. He had no clue what he was going to do as it was, let alone damn near any of the others.

Bob stopped drinking and eyed him up. "Might be. It's not somethin I'd openly be tellin to.. shall we say, unknown elements? It could just as easily be rattin em out as it could be giving em decent help. If ya take an interest in the idea though, I'll find a way to make sure that it happens." That made pretty damn good sense really too. It basically says yes being that it is all but a confession of course, but was the right way to do it. "I just need to know who the leader here is, so we know who to inform."

Leader? Zephyr hadn't thought about it before really, but was someone specifically in charge? "I don't know if we technically have one around here Bob. I mean, maybe spooky ghost guy but that doesn't really work for some circumstances I suppose." There was a point there however. Even the smallest of units and most animals and creatures had some sort of leader, or alpha, or whatever the hell. And Spooks wasn't exactly.. reliable in some ways.

Zephyr replied "That might be something we have to settle the next time everyone's.. in their right state of mind." With Naya getting noticeably tipsy, and another guy passed out, it wasn't something they could just blow over he thought. It was something he or Ashur would probably have to bring up when they were all gathered next, since Ashur didn't seem sloshed either and might have noticed the comment.

Bob looked around at them expectantly for a moment, took a gulp and asked "Anythin else while we're here? I never mind an excuse to keep drinkin if nothin is happening otherwise."

A severed head stands upright atop a black rock barely sticking out of the ground, and yet it can only be seen below. Kron feels pinned down to the ground. The air is cold, the ground is cold. Grey clouds seem to blot out the sky. Something is holding him down, crushing his back. An eternity seems to pass, the clouds move and change with the wind but never tear, night never falls.
The face's skin dries and wrinkle, grows darker, corneas whiten. Bruises in hues of blue and purple . Stabs and tears of beaks shred the skin, tear the eyes. The pink flesh turns maroon. Worms infest the rotting hide and come pouring out in cascades. Slowly the skull reveals itself as what once covered comes dripping down.
Kron coughes.
It appears black at first. It takes months, years maybe, before the bones reveal themselves bare, Kron cannot tell, like every other times before, time is hard to account for in this realm.
The taste of blood fills up his mouth, his own. He coughes. He is pinned down on the ground.

Lae'Naya shook her head to clear her thoughts. She really had drunk too much tonight. It was rare that she drank wine, never mind the amount she had tonight. She stood up, feeling surprisingly steady, she bid good night to Ashur and Zeph then asked Bob to show her to her tent. As they weaved through the bonfires she could feel every stare piercing into her back. It made her feel nervous, she didn't like attracting this much attention. He led her to the furthest part of the camp where Kali-en had already settled down for the night. She thanked bob and lifted the flap of her tent. It was just a basic green canvas tent with a single blanket inside. She threw her backpack in and closed the flap, stepping back outside. Activating her embedded water crystal she filled her cupped hands and threw the water onto her face. The cool water woke her up slightly. She did it again before heading out to the forest. She had stayed with the rebels slightly too long, there were things she needed to do.

She needed to collect some plants for an incense that would send her into the spirit world. She had brought some with her from home but barely enough for one batch, best to get some more just in case. After an hour of searching the shrubbery Lae’Naya called it quits. She had managed to gather 3 of the 4 plants she needed, Calea ternifolia, Motherwort and Helichrysum odoratissimum missing only the Patchouli, something she could easily obtain in the city when they reached it. As well as picking up the incense plants, she also gathered some useful plants such as Alfala, Sage, Quinine, Red Clover, Feverfew and her all time favourite: Catnip.

She yawned loudly as she left the surrounding forest. She really needed to get some rest after the fights today. She entered her tent and put away the gathered plants in her bag. While she was at it, she grabbed her blanket and rolled it up for a pillow. Throwing it ontop of the blanket, Naya laid down to sleep. Moments later she was.

Well, she was meant to be asleep anyway, so why was she staring up at a very grey sky now? No, not a sky. Fuzzy looking grey clouds. She sat up. The world around her flickered and blurred. She rubbed at her eyes and opened them again but nothing changed. She could barely make out a black blur with something on top. She tried focusing on it but this just caused her chest to tighten up. She coughed, trying to relieve some of the tightness but it just got worse. She started into a coughing fit, hand over her mouth, body curling into itself. She gasped as her eyes shot open, seeing green tent canvas above her. She was panting slightly, trying to get her breathe back. She got up and stumbled out of her tent, still panting slightly. The blurry world was gone. She looked at the sky, seeing a slight pink colour touching the horizon.
"Well at least I got a few hours sleep" she said to herself.
She noticed that everyone but Kron had gone to bed. She went to go check on him.

The party had died down and everyone had already returned to their respective tents when Naya found Kron still sitting around the fire. He hadn't moved an inch since the last time she saw him, actually, he hadn't moved an inch in the whole night. This didn't seem weird to anyone as they could feel he was not the social type, or the hyperactive type for that matter.

He was sitting there, legs crossed, arms hanging, quite a bit bigger than most anyone of the others. The long black hair covering his back and most of his face in the dim lighting of the fire and his shirtlessness gave him a menacing look akin to the beast-like creature he appeared as to others. Naya was passing by, minding her distance to him when she felt something quite similar to what she had felt while dreaming, minutes earlier. That sensation grew in her, she could feel he was hallucinating and his delirious state. For someone to fall unconscious and suffer such tormented dreams after a large injury was something familiar to her. Something was wrong with him, he was slowly crashing.
She approached him slowly, and from a mere touch to the shoulder she realized he was burning up. She placed her hand on his forehead.
"Crap."
It seemed pretty bad, his fever was high. She uncrossed his legs and led him on his back. She pinched and shook him, but he did not react. He was completely out. A bit panicked she grabbed a view pieces of cloth and damped them with her water crystal and covered most of his head and torso with them. His eyes were moving relentlessly under their lids.
Patting her side, she realized she had left her pouch in her tent, and ran back to it. Finding it, she tried to search for a cure for fever, but it was too dark and so she returned to the campfire, where she kneeled besides Kron and started going through inventory.
"Common cold. Flu. Infected wounds. Not yet infected wonds. Slightly infected wounds. Diarrhea. Impotency. Kind of infected wounds. Kind of sort sort of  ~eeeeh a little bit~ infected wounds. Snake bites. Broken bones. Festering wounds. Leper. Rabis. Plague. Sniffles. Asthma. Bug bite. Altitude sickness. Sea sickness. Transportation sickness. Home Sickness. Snorring. Impotency. Boredom. Constipation. Lupus. Unmentionables. ~Oh my god how is this guy still alive~ infected wounds.
AH! Fever."
"Was this really necessary?"

She grabbed a grinder and turned the herb she had just picked out into a thick paste which mixed with hot water, and waited. After a few long minutes she pinched Kron's nose and poured the liquid in his mouth has he gasped for air before forcing him to swallow her potion.

Naya sat back and watched Kron. His eyes were still moving around erratically behind his eyelids, and he seemed to almost be mumbling slightly but she couldn't make out any words. She could still feel the strange sensation and it was starting to give her a headache. She grabbed a few catnip leaves and threw them into her mouth, chewing on them absently. The pain lessened slightly but didn't go away completely. She was tempted to try clearing his mind like she had earlier today but she feared getting trapped in the dream/nightmare/vision he was having. She checked his forehead again, noting that the fever had dropped slightly and he was beginning to sweat. Good, the potion seemed to be working. She would need to check on him in the morning to see if he needed anything else, as well as the rest of the group. Now that she had more supplies they could use more than just bandages to treat they're wounds. She ran back to their tents and grabbed the blanket out of Kron's tent, running back quickly to place it on his prone form. She headed back to her own tent after checking him one more time. There was nothing else she could do and she wanted to get some sleep. She practically fell onto her blanket and fell into a light sleep.

Bright sunlight entered her tent, stirring Lae'Naya. She rolled onto her back and opened her eyes, rubbing the sleep out of one with her hand. Her arm's were stiff from sleeping in a strange position. She opened the flap and stepped out of the tent. The sun had fully risen now but it was still early morning. She noticed Zeph and Kali-en already awake and were sat chatting and eating at a table. She stretched her arms above her, arching her back slightly getting out all the kinks from the night. She walked over to the pair and called out "Good morning."

Kali-en snapped to attention. He stood up, stiffing a yawn, and began his morning warm up: flexing his arms and legs, his neck, waving his arm around and feeling an excruciating pain. He had forgotten his wound.
He got up and went out of his tent, it was still early in the morning, but he was able to see clearly the camp. He looked around, apart from some “sentry” here and there, no one was here.
He walked through the camp, searching for water, when he spotted him, lying on the ground with a blanket on top of him. If Kali-en wasn’t sure if he was faking or not being high and drunk the day before, now he was certain. The dude managed to fell asleep right where he were.
“Pathetic”.
He continued to walk aimlessly until he spotted some water and food he quickly grabbed. Feeling satiated, he checked his wound.
“It’s not going any better”, he mumbled. He returned to where they had all sat and relaxed for a while.
Zeph came out of his tent and walked to him.

Seeing as how most of the people had split off, there didn't seem to be much more need to chat about anything. If there was any specifically needed information, better it was told to everyone at once anyway. After a short while of just kind of sitting around lost in thought and watching people dance around and whatnot, he figured it was enough of that. He nodded to Bob and Ashur and excused himself to retire for the night.

At least he slept well. He got up and stretched a bit, cracked his neck to try and make it less stiff, then walked outside. He looked around a bit see what things looked like. Kron was still on his ass apparently, though someone tossed a blanket on him. Zeph walked over to a table, grabbed some bread and got himself a mug of water. "Fuck yeah, check out this amazing meal." Obviously he didn't say it to anybody, but he may as well entertain himself. As he started to chew he actually noticed that one guy they sort of knew at the table he was at last night. Kael? Kyle? Fuck it, he's Kal now.

Without much else to do he walked over to him and noticed the man looking at his wounds. Since Zephyrs last wounds personally weren't all that bad, and were also aided by the crystal imbedding, he kind of forgot how such things could look. Minus of course the endless slaughtering and mortal wounds they've been inflicting for a while now. Of course those didn't get infected, or at least in any way that mattered.

"Well that looks charming. Forgot what that could look like really."

Kali-en glared at him.
"How can you forget how a wound looks like? I'm guessing you inflicted a lot of them back there", he said, mentioning the Keep.
He looked at him with more interest.
"And why are you still in your imperial uniform? I'm pretty sure you can drop the act now.."

Zephyr narrowed his eyes a bit. For just mentioning something simply, he had gotten a rather seemingly piss and vinegar filled statement.

"It's not a matter of the damage done, it's how it can look afterward. We didn't bother patching up someone who's face was cut in half. There's plenty of chances you don't survive and have a reason to patch them up, in case you hadn't notice from your own example.
As to the side note, there isn't much more reason to change at the moment either. Plus all the clothes they have here suck. Until it's just too torn up I may as well stick with what's comfy."

Kali-en looked at him incredulously, he hadn't expected a rather detailed and constructed answer.
"So you're not actually an imperial soldier? It might only be my opinion, but I always found those uniform too tight for me to move and fight on." He paused, "And you're saying you never got wounded in a fight to remember what it looks like?"

Zephyr shrugged. "Mine's fit for me, though I prefer to have em slightly too big for better movement anyway. They might suck, but at least they fit to what's needed if you get them as such."

He turned and looked out at the forest for a moment, almost as if thinking for a slight moment.

"But no, I have no real interest in returning to the empire. I also never really got stuck in any noticeable fights until now. I'm not exactly past being a freshie, and whatever else they do, most of the empires training grounds aren't a huge bloodletting field. The last wounds I had were healed up rather neatly because of the crystals."

He turned back, and slightly toyed with his necklace's jewel absentmindedly. Poking an eyebrow up he mildly asked "Anything else while we're at this?"

Kali-en looked at the cat woman as she casually sat at the table, grabbing food and water for her. As she did, she glanced at the one on the ground and began to eat.
She wasn't even surprised to see him there? Was she the one who put a blanket over him?
He then remembered what the uniform told him.
"Huh? Wait, what is it about the crystals healing you?? How does it work??"

Lae'Naya gulped down the rest of her water before answering Kali-en.
"It has some kind of antiseptic quality when embedded in a nullmancer's body. We're not sure how it works but thats what it does, but it is true that it heals wounds a lot faster than shamanic potions." She shrugged. "We don't know a whole lot more than you do, we only discovered what we were a few days ago and we're still learning from 'Lord' Arbos."