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The first thing that returned to Vale was his sense of smell... not that that helped him in any way. The stench of blood permeated the air around him- which wasn't really surprising considered they had just fought a Blood Ochu. After a few moments of worrying that he was actually somehow alive inside the gullet of the beast, he managed to muster enough strength to crack open his eyes- breathing an audible sigh of relief when he saw Xeko and Xanha alive and well. He craned his head around and sighted the dead Ochu, grinning to himself once he saw the slaughtered beast. He maneuvered himself into a sitting position and waited for Xeko and Xanha to awaken.
Or... so he tried. He sent his brain the signals that he wanted to move his arms and sit up- but it wasn't occurring for some reason. Vale noted for the first time that he couldn't feel his limbs... or really anything on his body. Frowning, he tried to move again, but to no avail. Hrm... must be more tired than I thought, he noted drunkenly. He gazed around the small clearing again, a wave of exhaustion sweeping over him as he did so.
That's when he noticed the gaping hole in his side.
It wasn't abnormally large, mind you- but it wasn't supposed to be there, that was for sure. Vale stared at it disbelievingly, shaking his head stupidly. He wasn't feeling any pain... so, perhaps he was halucinating from being over-tired or something. He smiled stupidly, chuckling to himself as he did so. Oh my silly brain- what pranks you try to pull...
Still grinning, he stopped trying to prop himself up and laid quietly on the ground, his eyes wavering sleepily. Maybe I'll just take a nap... a nice long nap... he yawned and closed his eyes, frowning. I've never been so tired...
A white hot blossom of pain erupted in his side as feeling suddenly returned to his body. He screamed then, piercing the night with his cry and immediately waking both Xanha and Sirxeko from their short slumber. The demon began to roll around on the ground, as if trying to put out a fire that had somehow been set on his body; getting all sorts of muck into his open wound. He tried to hold onto a thought- anything he could focus on to numb the pain- but nothing came to him- only agony.
It was midday, and the sun was shining brightly. The purple lilies floated along on the small pond's surface, as a treefrog hopped from lilypad to lilypad. Few fish were visible beneath the clear, shallow water. No wonder it had been Mother's favourite spot.
She sat upon a small rock beside the pond, hugging her legs and staring mindlessly at the water. Something rustled the leaves of the bush beside her, but she paid no mind to it. Mother was gone. Father was gone. Brother was gone. There was nothing for her to do anywhere now, and... everybody stared. At her. What did she do? It was because everyone had left her. She was sure of it.
The bush rustled again, and a small noise could be heard from behind it. Xahna's eyes drifted in the direction of the foliage, her eyebrows slanted slightly. The leaves were moving.
Xahna lifted her head, and peered at the bush. There was a shoe, that.. a person appeared to be wearing? Xahna stood up from the rock quickly, and stared at the mass of leaves. Why is somebody else here? She asked herself, and a large intake of breath could be heard. She heard a small cough, and a sniffle. Whoever was there, had been crying, as she had.
Xahna's eyes widened when she realized the person was standing up. She took a step backward when they pushed the branches out of their way and emerged from the foliage, but the rock was in the way, and she had nowhere to put her foot down. Instead, she feel backwards and landed in a swirl of leaves and dirt with a thud and a small yelp.
Xahna rubbed the dirt from her eyes, and the person made their way toward her. She scrambled to her feet, brushing off her clothing, and took a step away from the person. " I-I'm sorry.." She looked up from under her hair at the being. It - He - was a boy that she'd never seen before. His jeans were ripped and worn, and his jacket and shirt didn't look any better. He wasn't from town.
Xahna took another step backward, into a pile a wood. As she tripped backward, he extended his hand, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her back onto her feet. When she was stable, she pulled back her hand and folded her arms, a light pink flush across her pale cheeks. He was.. pretty. His straight, chocolatey hair fell lightly around his face, and his eyes were the richest shade of green. Almost like... an emerald. He watched her curiously as she stared at him with a stupid expression on her face. " I'm.. not from around her." He finally said, revealing what she had already realized. It was obvious, of course. " I'm Roy." He extended his hand, smiling shyly. Xahna looked between his hand and his face, finally extending hers and shaking it. " I--" She started, but instead just simply said, " Xahna."
Xahna coughed. Her hand immediately darted to her forehead, which pounded, and she sat up slowly. She rubbed her eyes as her vision began to clear, and looked around at her surroundings. Sirxeko lay besided her, unconcious, and the Blood Ochu was dead.
It was.. dead?!
She stared at it for a few minutes, until an agonizing scream pierced the air. Xahna whipped her head around, half turning torso and scrambling to her feet. She followed the noise until she stumbled upon Vale. She covered her mouth, to prevent screaming herself, and stared with wide eyes at his wounded, bloody figure.
And she became suddenly aware about the fact that she chouldn't do much to help him, either.
And there Sirxeko lay, eyes closed, sleep engulfing him. He dreamed. He dreamed a song. It was rather cheerful, and extremely cheesy. Something about Shakespearian language and how "a large vocabulary should be customary when you fall in love." And as Sirxeko's head filled with show-tunes, he felt himself separating from the exhaustion that weighed him down. He was free of Earthly binds. Elated.
And as Sirxeko's ears filled with a head splitting scream, he suddenly found himself being strapped down again, returning immediately to reality. "Are we being attacked?" He asked. He lifted his tantou straight upward, over his body. He started swinging the blade blindly in the air over him, droplets of Ochu blood flying off in all directions, undoubtedly splattering Xahna and Vale. "Back my fair maiden, I shall protecteth you! Take that, you pesky monster thingies! Grah! Hyah! Shah! ...ten more minutes." His sword arm fell limply to his side.
But the screams did not stop. Slowly they were forcing Xeko back into consciousness. Not that it helped much, he was unable to move, having only been asleep for about three minutes he was more exhausted now than he was when he collapsed. "nngh" He moaned. But the screams did not stop. "Nngh!" He moaned again, this time with more urgency and annoyance in his voice. Well, at least he was more coherent than he was a moment before that. But the screams still did not stop. "NNGH!" He was threatening the screams now, demanding silence. But the screams still did not stop. He tried to move again, to follow through on his loose threat, but he may as well have been dead for all the good it did. It seemed as if he already had the zombie moaning down pat too.
And so it continued, for a few full minutes longer until finally Sirxeko managed to muster the energy to speak properly, and even to fling his arm over to smack Vale in the face. "YOU'RE FINE!" He yelled. "The wounds are nonfatal! In fact, with your Lucavi physiology I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't even have so much as a scar when this is all said and done. But there's nothing that can be done right now, I can't even move! The sooner I get some sleep the sooner I can fix you up the rest of the way, so shut up! Just go... pass out... from the pain... or something...seriously..." Sirxeko's heated yells died out and he went quiet, his body limp once again, his arm laying lopsidedly across Vales face.
In truth, if Sirxeko focused, he could muster the energy to stand within ten minutes or so, but how long could he keep on his feet? And even if he managed that, it'd be a long while before any of his magic returned to him. Vale was just out of luck.
OOC: How evil, Xeko! o.o I was actually going to see if I should post now, because I wasn't sure if Fool'd posted yet, but it seems he will soon enough, so I'll refrain from doing so until he makes a response.
ADMIN POST: Time to tie up this thread so I can post Xeko updates!
-Batlle Rewards- 200 Exp to Xahna 200 Exp to Sirxeko Vale hasn't logged on in over a month, so his reward is a mute point
The trio continued on their way. Vale was carried on Sirxeko's back, being unconscious most of the journey. Within a few days they reached Dollet. Xahna and Sirxeko left Vale at the local medical clinic. THE END.
OoC: If Xahna would like to start a thread with Xeko about the time spent in Dollet, or perhaps the boat ride to Midgar, then I'm all for that, however, this thread is now OVER! FINALLY! Also, if Vale never comes back, we could just say he died in the hospital... >_>