When I set out for adventure this morning, I did not expect to return to camp to be a bloody mess in a princess carry by a pretty lady. I figured I would either die or get back under my own power since I was going out alone. The fact that Angie and George stumbled across me was a lucky stroke, kind of, though I didn’t get even a wink of sleep with their constant chatter. They talked, asked questions that I gave one or two word answers to and barely kept my eyes open the whole way back.
Maybe the sound helped warn off any predators. I know I wouldn’t go after a group of two creatures who sounded very much alive, at least not alone. I would rather find a lone prey that was wounded or distracted and then ambush them for best results. . .which is exactly what happened to me, now that I think about it. The rabbit cries might not have summoned more rabbits, but that and the blood were likely the reason the pumagator found me.
Current theories are that smell is the main tracking method for most animals out in the plains, especially the scent of fresh blood. Angie said their encounter rate always went up after their first battle out here unless it was bloodless.
As for why I was saved instead of cat-food? Angie said that was mostly my luck that they set out hunting in my direction and saw pumagator tracks circling the area. They decided to ambush it when they saw it was stalking some prey and managed to kill it as it leaped high enough to be visible over the grass. One ice beam to the head and it was down, but they had spotted what the prey had been, me, and Angie had convinced George it would be funny to wait and see what my reaction was. Then they patched me up with the most uncomfortable bandages, George picked up their freshly killed pumagator, and I was picked up by Angie who is surprisingly strong for a lady. I protested that I could walk, but they said that Angie could shoot her freeze beams without her hands free and I would just slow them down if I walked. George even preempted my idea of letting me get back to the camp by myself on the grounds that it wasn’t a long walk and they would be leaving me to respawn if they didn’t help me back.
Happily enough, nothing attacked us on the way back, though I heard a few rustling sounds in the distance. I’m sot sure exactly how long it took, but eventually I was staring up into the sky on a comfy pile of grass with two strangers peering down at me.
“Good Afternoon Dr. Weiss, Dr. Lewis. Angie and I found Mike here in pretty bad shape as we were heading out.”
“Ah, George, fancy seeing you show up here without a half-dead Angie.”
“Certainly a strange day, Dr. Lewis. I’ll see if I can keep her away for a few more hours.”
“Bah, you two act like I’m doomed to be injured on our hunting trip.”
“She has a point. She could end up having to respawn and then we wouldn’t have to deal with the necrotic skin she makes with her freeze-bandages.”
“Those are a perfectly reasonable solution out there and you two quacks know it!”
“Come on, Angie, the sun waits for no man and we have to drop off this pumagator at the pot.”
“Perfectly Reasonable!”
And then they were walking off toward the center of the camp, leaving me with the two doctors standing over me. One had long blonde hair, though a glance at the chest showed that he was probably male. The fact that both voices were masculine supported that. The other had scruffy black hair and a vaguely interested expression threatening to break out on his face. Also, interestingly enough he has glasses. Nobody on the ship should need glasses, so they have to be cosmetic, right?
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“Alright, Lewis, lets see what they left us with.” said the black-haired doctor, peering closely.
“Typical patch job from Angie it looks like. Large bandages on the arm and torso with minor scratches on the rest of the body.” answered the other man, walking around me in a circle.
“Think you can patch him up? I’m interested in his super-power and he looks rather groggy at the moment.”
Groggy, me? Bah, I’m just a bit tired.
“Looks normal, let me just get these off him-”
RIIIIIIIIIIIP
“Ow!”
“Oh, good, he’s responsive, Weiss.”
“A good sign for sure.”
As they spoke, the blonde who I took to be Lewis reached down to my side where he had just ripped open my wound. For a moment, nothing happened, then it began to itch. Not a normal itch that just stayed there and went away after a few seconds if you left it, but a persistent itch that just got worse the longer it sat there. There was still pain on my side, but it was nothing compared to the itch. If I had the energy to reach over and scratch at it, I would have.
RIIIIIIIP
“Ow!”
And then came the arm. I hadn’t noticed the doctor moving since my side was still a nightmarish consternation of itchiness, but there he was, doing something that was severely uncomfortable. The pain only distracted me from the itch for a few moments, and then came a redoubling of discomfort along with the second outbreak.
“Should I go for the scratches too, do you think?”
Wait, don’t tell me. . .
“Better to be sure, probably. We have time to spare I think.”
He should be saving his mana, right?
“Alright then. Can you go grab some soup for me? This is rather exhausting.”
I can regen the last bit of my health!
“Sure thing, Lewis. Make sure he doesn’t bolt as soon as you’re done though.”
Screw this, I don’t want to just lay here and submit to torture! I have to move. . .even though I have literally zero energy. Why do I still feel like I’ve just run a marathon.
“Don’t worry, this healing power takes as much out of them as it does me. Make that two bowls, maybe?”
. . .Of course he’s been draining my own energy reserves to heal me up. What better way to keep me sedated while he works? The only problem is that I’m still awake!
“Now, let’s get started from the head and work our way down.”
Noooooooooooooo!
“. . .I could swear I heard you say something, kid. Oh well, probably nothing.”
----------------------------------------
“Is this, normal, Lewis?”
“Hmm?”
“The crying.”
These are manly tears.
“Oh, well, it’s an extreme case. Some of the ones who come in that are still awake tend to react strongly.”
“. . .”
. . .
“Supposedly the process causes moderate dermal irritation.”
“Moderate? He’s curled up in a ball shivering and there are wet streaks on his face.”
What he said! Who calls something like that moderate! It’s severe at best!
“Well, like I said, most people are either unconscious from the pain, have their own guild healers that they go to, or die from the wounds they get.”
Mental note: find another healer to go to. These ones qualify as mad scientists, not doctors. Until then, play dead and sneak away when they get distracted enough. Who knows what evil experiments they might try on me when they know I’m awake?
“Remind me to never let you heal me, Lewis.”
“Shouldn’t be too hard. Camp isn’t dangerous enough to need healing anyway.”
“. . .Really? You didn’t see some of the sporting entertainment that happens when some people get angry, or worse, bored.”
Yeah, why would you stay in camp if you were bored though? You could just go exploring.
“Well, I haven’t been here the whole time, and I’ve been relishing the ability to sleep late, so I admit I may have missed some of the camp entertainment.”
“It’s great entertainment, so long as you stay out of the way. Like going to a boxing match, but with super powers. Speaking of, it looks like your patient is mostly awake.”
What? They found me out! Better get ready to bolt! Even If I’m exhausted, I can probably make it to freedom and seek asylum with my guild.
“Hmm? Ah, yes. Probably hungry as well.”
Rumble
Damn you stomach the betrayer!
“So, Mister. . .Mike. Anything you can tell me about the silver line that’s sticking out of your chest?”
“The what?”