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ROAD BEYOND THE NORTH GATE - AFTERNOON
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Waya lay by the roadside, as far as he'd gotten, flies buzzed around him and he looked like he just might already be a corpse. He was soon to be something's meal, for sure, if noone found him or he came too before the buzzards found him.. He was dressed in a cotton wrap, wearing it like a kilt. It was dyed blue.. He wore nothing else! He was an anthromorphic wolf, and he was bloodied and bruised in the extreme. One eye in paticular looked swollen and blackened beyond reason..
Louma flies a circle a good distance out from the town walls, keeping an eye open for any trouble, though her mind is mostly on the recent events. The day before, she'd handed the stack of reports to do with the bath house to another Captain, as well as somewhat reluctantly handing the spear off as evidence. A distraction, such as her flight, was what she really needed. Or a beaten form on the road. Louma's eyes narrow before she circles around and lands up the road from Waya, her snake scales scraping across the dirt, while her wide white wings fold back against her swan upper half.
Waya was barely breathing, and he hadn't lost so much blood despite being beaten bloody, but he needed help soon or he was going to die..
Louma sets a hand against the handle of her club, looking cautiously into the treeline as she slithers toward the wolf. She stops a dozen feet away, looking over the wolf's state from a distance, lowering herself slightly as she speaks in a low tone. "Hey. Hey there, are you awake?"
Waya was decisively not awake, and he didnt look like he was going to easily wake, or survive!
Louma glances toward the trees again before moving toward the unresponsive wolf, her hand leaving the club as she reaches out to Waya. She leans lower over him and begins to look over his wounds, clicking her tongue as she begins to fetch a bundle of gauze from her uniform pocket. "What have you gotten into, stranger?" She looks toward the trees again, wishing she wasn't on patrol alone. "Or who?"
Waya gave no reply but at her touch, if she touched, he would groan a little, which was reassuring..
Louma lifts his arm to check for a pulse, sighing a bit of relief when he groans in response. "That's a start, I suppose." She sets about binding the worst of the bleeding wounds, though she doesn't have much for his other injuries on her. "Plume is going to have a good time with you, stranger... And it's going to be a long slither back if I have to carry you." She's mostly talking to herself, though hopeful her voice can bring him to.
Waya groans and his eyes flutter a moment, he gasps and reaches for a stone knife he had had, its missing.. He is in no state to walk and with a gasp he loses consciousness, again.
Louma tenses up, one hand on Waya's shoulder as her other immediately finds the handle of her club, though the wolf is out again before she's even unhooked it. She remains tense for a few moments before relaxing somewhat. "Well. Can't have you doing something rash on my back, but you're certainly not going to hobble anywhere asleep..." She begins to check the edges of his wrap for whatever weapons he might have been going for.
Narrator: She finds the pocket where the stone knife would have been, but its quite absent, she also finds the remains of the chord that was sewn into it that once held a purse full of gemstones and arrowheads to trade with, that's been cut away.. Poor sod got robbed.
Louma notes the pocket and severed cord, humming to herself. She considers the conundrum of how to get him back to Respite as quickly as possible, starting to check for broken bones that moving him might worsen.
Waya had some cracked ribs, mostly he was just beaten to the point of being a blood wreck of broken skin and bruises..
Louma grunts, thinking about how he'd awoken. She sighs, figuring he's got nothing to seriously hurt her with beyond teeth and claws, so she moves the base of her torso next to his head. Carefully, slowly, her scaled half begins to wind around the wolf, aiming to support his shoulders and hips.
Narrator: Louma was unbenownst to him his hero, he made no resistance and didnt come back out of his slumber at the moment..
Louma lets a baited breath out, glad to not have a writhing wolf in her bind as she starts the relatively long trip back Southward, to Respite. "I appreciate the calm, stranger. Just stay asleep until I can drop you off with Plume and we'll be good friends." So far, Waya is more effective than a calm flight at distracting her thoughts.
Waya would remain unconscious for most of the trip back, though if he woke he was likely to panic.. This is how snakes deal with their prey after all..
Louma pauses as the wolf in her coil starts to move, turning her swan half to face him. "Ah, hold on, stop moving for a moment or else you're going to make your injuries worse!" She loosens the already light binds, though she can't release him fully with the wolf laying on parts of her tail. "Are you present, or just flailing a bit?"
Waya stops struggling when he realises she's in the guard uniform and in a voice that reveals he is parched and sore all over, says softly, "You're not gonna eat me?"
Louma can't help but chuckle lightly, her upper half moving next to him without jostling the wolf. She retrieves a canteen hanging from her belt, opening it and offering it to Waya. "No, you don't have to worry about that. What's your name? How did you wind up like this?"
Waya: "I.." He paused to take the canteen and guzzle from it, spilling lots down his dark fur, "I'm.." HE frowned, "I'm Waya, and that's about all I can remember."
Louma frowns, shaking her head. "That's unfortunate... Hopefully more will come back to you. But a name is a start. I am Louma, you're on the continent of Aephix, and I was going to take you to a doctor in Respite." She offers a light smile. "You don't have any objections to that, do you?"
Waya: "I feel like I would like that very much.." He says and starts to laugh a little, which turns to a cough and has him tearing up with pain before it ends. "Th.. thank you."
Louma sets a calming hand on his chest for a moment, nodding. "Alright, don't strain yourself too much, Waya. We should keep moving, but feel free to ask any questions that come to mind on the way." Louma moves ahead of him again, her binds tightening securing around him as they get underway again.
Waya: "I ummm, I don't think I feel like this cause of a fall, did you see any sign of whoever did this to me?"
Louma shakes her head, arms crossed. "Sorry, no. I was a little more concerned with your injuries than searching the area. Some things seem to be missing from your side, though. Unfortunately, there is a lot of wilderness between Respite and Bairnell's Foothold..."
Waya: "I see." He said and gasped, "I've a feeling there was something important I came here for, from a distant village, but I can't remember its name let alone.." He frowns, "They got the jewels and arrow heads I was meant to use to trade for.." He groaned, "I forget what I came here for!"
Louma looks over her shoulder at Waya, concern clear in her expression. "I'm sorry to hear that. Once the doctor has had some time to patch your wounds, we can work on getting everything else straightened out. You remember that you had left for trade, do you remember where your village is?"
Waya: "No.. no.." Fresh tears came to his eyes, "That is all I can remember."
Louma sighs, turning to look ahead again, the trees to their left falling away to scrubby fields as they crest the last hill in the road, the walls of Respite Falls ahead. The town is nestled near the Western mountains in their rain shadow, built up just beyond the point where green scrublands begin fading into desert. "It's alright, Plume is skilled, they might be able to help you."
Louma and Waya continue on to Respite, the guard captain primarily concerned with reassuring the wolf and getting him to the clinic before his injuries become more problematic.