A biting pain raced across Nikolai’s back, expanding outward from the twisted bulb of distended and warped flesh that crawled across his back like a vine upon a building facade. His entire body would ripple from the shock of the stinging sensation that now found it's home upon his back between his shoulder blades. He thrashes a bit, trying to twist away from the tiny wad of cotton that was being dabbed upon his flesh, tiny motes of dark maroon color being carefully placed upon his malformities. He sharply yelps and pulls back and away, shuddering at the burning sensation as he places a hand upon his face whilst biting down harshly on his steel knuckle, muffled voice expressing boundless agitation.

“Bennie! I asked if ya had a fix for me, not to burn me to a crisp! Augh! Can ya give me a moment of peace?”

Benedict stood silently behind him, moving in small concentric circles with a pair of incision forceps clasping a small soaking ball of cotton. He glances over Nikolai’s shoulder and shakes his head, as he moves to dab the small wad of cotton in the glass container he has in his off-hand, nestled far behind him was the presence of nearly a half dozen bags of various sizes, each one filled to the brim with various medical goods ranging from the mundane to the fairly extravigate in terms of material and time used to fashion them.

“Now Now, stop being so dramatic, this isn’t burning you. Nay, I’d say it's quite the opposite, Father claims that he uses this and mend-root to compose the most wonderful of healing draughts. It burns because the salve is trying to draw…” He’d pause and tilt his masked face curiously “...Well whatever it is that is afflicting you, perhaps it is working?”

As the small masked lad would continue his ministrations, Fuyumi would sit down beside them, sprawled out on a cracked box, as she watches with intense and unveiled interest as they go about their daily routine. She throws a glance towards Benedict and gives a fanged smile,

“Ooo! Look at that! It makes his skin look sorta funny, he is jumpin’ round like a hot bean on a stove!”

  She gives a snicker and teases at Nikolai, whom merely gives a displeased grunt for his retort. Benedict does however cast a masked glance over to her as well, she shrinks back slightly as she knows what is coming next. Fuyumi would worriedly move to cover her forearms once more with the heavy chains, the flash of sutures and sore red welts about them betraying the fact that she herself was far from free of aliment.

“Oh by all means, continue to jest at Master Nikolai’s expense, you know full well that your the next item on the docket. I know the cuts on your back and forearms weren’t treated properly. I can see by how red your flesh has gotten that your not taking care of yourself… Have you been changing the bandages out regularly and in addition I know you haven’t been using the salve I gave to you a few nights back as I found the vial broken in the waste bin near the eastern gate.”

  Fuyumi would glance away, awkwardly twirling a lock of hair around her keen nails, trying worriedly not to give Benedict the satisfaction of being right, she’d stammer and try to find the right words to evade the inevitable as she fidgets about on her box. Outwardly she appeared fine and healthy, a bit taller and stronger than most of her age, but the trio always marked such up to the notion that she was a bit different. As it wasn’t uncommon for Fuyumi’s wounds to weep estranged tar like substances from time to time, which Benedict always dreaded having to mend and clean, though the cause of such remained an enigma to the trio as no apothecary within the city’s wards seemed willing to inspect her.

“W-What? No, Benie, your vision musta got worse, I ain’t no redder than I always am…” She’d lean over and hold up her forearms, the chains sliding down them with a faint clatter, as she pats the pale scarlet flesh “... See! Always red, ain’t nothin changed!”

  Benedict would merely withdraw the harsh smelling chemical salve from Nikolai’s back, the twitching unnatural tendrils beneath his flesh would shudder and twinge visibly, to which his friend would quickly pull away from the masked apothecary, adjusting the new and fresh bandages his companion had provided him. The masked lad would merely move over to Fuyumi, glancing up at her face as he cocks his head to the side a chiding tone tingeing his voice.

“You know full well, I can’t in good conscious, let you go back to the monastery without any kind of treatment, you know as well as I do that if I don’t tend to your affliction here, that no one with proper training will… Besides I have a sinking feeling that you didn’t go to your prioress and seek out permission to come here to play with us today, did you?”

  Fuyumi would pause, her mouth going mum as she glances up and away, chewing on the tip of her nail worriedly as she tries not to make eye contact with the chidding masked boy. Her face was one of guilty admissions as she shrugs her shoulders, locks of hair bobbing with the motion.

“I mean…..course I did Benie, The sister superior said I could come play, I ain’t in trouble or nuffin…. Besides they ain’t got time to check on my anyway since one of them fancy ships from Maiden’s Respite came into harbor today. They are trying to get news and what not from them other folks aboard.”

  The masked boy would cast a glance towards Nikolai, who he himself would be mirroring the look of blank disbelief Benedict hide beneath his mask, as Nikolai would motion towards Fuyumi with a concerned look on his face, speaking up once more.

“Aye, Fuyumi, it ain’t good for ya to be sneakin’ out… I mean we don’t want ya to get a whippin on accounta me and Bennie here…”

  To which Benedict would nod his head emphatically, before he’d move to stand at her side, instinctively lifting her arm upward and level with him, as he moves aside several of the heavy chains, starting to feel around for a brace of stitches. Fuyumi would merely wince at the contact as Benie found his mark, his hands working to snag a new ball of cotton as he prepared a new ointment for use.

“Oh? Pffft, like ya one to talk Nikolai, we all know ya sneak out of the foundling home each mornin…” She gives a sharp hiss, and snaps her jaw shut as Benedict begins to apply the searing ointment to her flesh, the scarlet skin turning a hue darker. “... And Benie ain’t no better, he asks his papa fer permission, but said he lies ‘bout where he is going! Don’t be chidin’ me fer this…”

  Benedict would give pause, as he moves to check over his stitching, inspecting a dark and inky ichor that seemed to have ebbed from the weeping marr. He’d merely move to ready a clean handkerchief and idly wipe away such, moving to clean her stitching as he returns his focus once more to her.

“Now your just being disingenuous, I’ll have you know that papa knows full well where I am, and who I am with.. Just not all the time or when he is in a poor mood….” He’d bob his masked head, and idly swap out tiny vials of material with a nimble free hand “... And neither of us are watched or looked over quite the way you are. Have they at least given you the chance to leave the lower levels of the abbey during the daylight hours? Or perhaps to attend a benediction?”

  Fuyumi sighs, her face wincing in time with the dabbing of the cotton ball laden with a sweet smelling scent. She merely gives a quiet shrug and would bob her head side to side.

“I mean…. They sorta do, I ain't allowed into the sanctum still, but they said I was makin’ good progress on my prayer readin’. Sister Marii said that I might be able to tend to the undercroft in a few years…” She sighs tiredly and shakes her head “... Sorta stinks, being cooped up in my little room in the lower levels… ‘ats why I like sneakin’ out here with you guys! Oh and Benie always brings me a sweet bun from his mama’s kitchen!”

  Benedict gives a sharp hiss to try and shush the girl, but it was too late, as he glances over to meet Nikolai’s gaze. His opposite having crossed his arms, with a smirk on his face, a teasing tone in voice “Oh?~ Does he now? Well Benie, that just ain’t fair! I wanna a sweet roll next time ya mama bakes em, Matron Sa’Vass ain’t good with sweets I tell ya what…”

  The masked boy would shake his head and move to continue his treatment of the lankly oni giving her a slight pinch with his forceps as some measure of payback for letting his little secret slip, however his tone even and measured in it's response.

“Now, Now Nikolai you know full well if I am to sneak far more than my fair share of sweet rolls from mama’s kitchen, papa will give whipping to remind me that I can’t eat too much sugar or else it's going to rot my teeth. Namely because he will suspect that I am eating all the sweet rolls myself…”

  Nikolai would lean back against the broken timber of a support beam, crossing his natural and artificial arm with a chuckle “Aight, fine then, but I want first pick on the next roll, fair? If Fuyumi gets one, I want one the next time! Seems fair to me.”

  Fuyumi would give a faux scowl at Nikolai and stick her unnaturally long tongue out in protest, blowing a raspberry at him before she snaps her mouth shut, another searing sting dancing across her back as Benedict moves to treat her a nasty welt on her back, a few angry red lines betraying the fact she wasn’t the most obedient child.

“Oh bahh! Your just a sore loser, if ya managed to get here earlier like we do, I’d be willing to share it with ya! Well…. Maybe.” She bobs her head side to side “Ehhh… sometimes.. On the oft day or rare occasion”

Nikolai would wave his hand idly, dismissing the thought as he sat upright once more, glancing between Benie and Fuyumi with a snap of his finger, a wide grin on his face.

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“Naw nevermind the roll, I was teasin’, but, did ya hear that tonight is a gonna be fairly warm? You know what that means, if we ‘ead over to the reflection gardens outside the southern gate, out near the lake, we can find some of those dawn-thistles out in bloom! If we manage to bag some of em, we could give them to your papa Benie…..those fetch a pretty coin, with that we could add it to our ship-buy fund!”

The duo of Fuyumi and Benedict would exchange a glance worriedly between one another, with Benedict giving a scratch at the back of his neck awkwardly,

“W-While we could do that, do remember that Wallace and his friends like to romp around that part of the isle, and uhhh… last time they threw rocks at us when we tried to harvest their day-thistle…”

Nikolai would give another wave of the hand “Bah! Fret not! It's too early in the month for that spoiled brat to be out and about, besides his family was on holiday in Keavos.. I say it's the perfect time to slip in and see what we can collect! We might be able to buy a dinghy with that coin.”

Fuyumi would shake her head, ribbons fluttering about to add emphasis to her words, as she would give an uneasy look to the excited lad.

“I dunno Nikolai, you are always talkin’ bout savin’ up all the coin we find and buying a boat. But boats are for the rich folk in the merchant quarter, how would we ever get up enough coin to even buy one? Better question would be what to do with a boat even if we ‘ad one!”

Benedict would pause his wrapping of the oni’s arm with several fresh dressings, casting his gaze over towards Nikolai, with a pang of regret in his voice.

“Aye, I am not certain that papa would approve of me, rushing off and galavanting about the sea, he has told me that he wants me to inherit his trade, and truthfully I do want to help people… I don’t know what good I would be out at sea, cut off from all the supplies one would need to mend a fever or bind a wound.”

Nikolai would glance between the duo, bearing a defeated look, idly fiddling with his steel hand as he slowly swings his legs, the wind had been sapped from him as inwardly he mulled over the day how nothing seemed to have went to plan, his gaze would move from Benedict then to Fuyumi as he spoke in a quiet tone,

“Yeah, I suppose. But what ‘bout ya sense of adventure? I mean haven’t y’all ever just gotten tired of living in the port like we do? Your my friends, and I love y’all to death but…” He’d indicate outwards beyond the wall in Ferina’s direction “... It ain’t really for us, is it? I mean if’n we loved livin’ in the city so much, wouldn’t we be in the city? I just find it strange, like it doesn’t make much sense in the whole big picture. Besides that who really knows what the world has out there? Maybe we could end up finding things and makin’ a mark on history.”

Nikolai’s tone was panged, his two compatriots could easily tell, as they both exchange a look between one another, Fuyumi reaching over to softly nudge Benedict giving him a knowing look. The little masked doctor would grow quiet for a moment, introspectively choosing his next words carefully before he spoke in a somewhat uneasy tone.

“You had another one of those dreams again, didn’t you?”

Nikolai would glance away, almost ashamed as Benedict spoke, he’d steeple his fingers nervously, fiddling with his thumb as he merely nods, wordlessly. His eyes unfocused as he wracks his mind trying to recall the faded images from the dream before. Benedict would clear his throat, finalizing his tending to Fuyumi, whom’s stitches and bruises had been wrapped and bound with fresh bandages, before moving beside Nikolai, an awkward gloved hand being placed on his shoulder.

“Ah, look Nikolai, I have been trying everything to help you, but…” He’d pause as he tilts his masked head, gears turning in his mind as he tries to find the right words “... Maladies of the mind, are sometimes the hardest to treat, as they linger and no amount of medicinal salves and unguents can cure that within the head. I don’t want you to think that we dislike your plan but, you know as well as I do that we can’t just leave Ferina. Heavens we aren’t even old enough to to acquire trades yet truthfully… and in all honesty, given both your physical condition, along with Fuyumi’s unclear maladies and I… well makes it hard to even ponder what we could do out on the sea.”

  Benedict would give a gentle squeeze to Nikolai’s arm, trying to reassure him that they were at his back, “You know that we are at your back, and truthfully if I am to admit in his confession, sometimes I too have dreams of leaving this port. Papa’s boots and legacy are a tall order to fill, and truthfully I fear that I am not one who can do such…” He shakes his head, a sniffle from his right, catching his attention, as he spies Fuyumi, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, Benedict pauses and winces “O-Oh, n-no, don’t be upset… Oh heavens this line of topic is quite heavy for what was to be a fun evening….”

  Fuyumi herself would be trying to fight back a few errant sniffles, nodding to Nikolai, as she adjusts her seat, the box beneath her groaning in it's strain “Y-Yeah don’t be sad Nikolai, I mean… At least you got ya matron to look after ya. Sa’Vass does really seem nice, I wish I could be in the home with ya, maybe folks wouldn't be so mean to ya. I just wish the members of the priory would let me go into the city every now and then, so I wouldn’t have to sneak out to see my friends.”

  Benedict would make his way over, sliding a box to stand atop so that he could lightly pat the top of Fuyumi’s head, trying to assuage her own guilt. Nikolai would pause, glancing up with a worriedly look as he realized he’d soured the mood, he clears his throat and shifts to the edge of the crate he was atop, waving his hands idly with an awkward laugh.

“N-Naw don’t get so bent outta shape Fuyumi! It's not your fault, I am just down in the dumps today and unfortunately it just sorta got to me. Benie is probably right after all, it wouldn’t be too wise fer us to go galavanting into the sea hopin’ fer the best…” He pauses, raising a steel finger as he nods sagely “... Mhmm Captain Bulgraff always said, ‘Always have two sets of plans, two for when the seas are rough, and two when the seas are calm!”

  Inwardly Nikolai would take stock of the situation, truthfully he wished to give flight to this port, and escape the tedium and hostile treatment he’d come to expect from the rest of the ports inhabitants, perhaps there was some wisdom in shouldering the difficult task of melding into a society openly hostile to him. But on the other hand, as he cast his gaze to Benedict and Fuyumi the former worked to try and soothe her upset state, he inwardly knew that perhaps at some level there was no place among the common folk for them, the outcast and pariah. He looks over at his friends and longs to give them lives long denied to them. As he knew full well that Benedict’s father was was eternally ensnared in the political inner workings of the upper quarter and the wealthy nobles there, unaware of his sickly son’s true desires, despite the fact that Benie had always spoke of helping those less fortunate as opposed to treating nobles and the members of the upper quarter.

  As for Fuyumi, Nikolai surmised that she was the most unfortunate one within the port, and truly felt pangs of sympathy for the lass, as she had arrived but a few years back by accident as a stowaway aboard one of the Free-Company vessels that sailed to the enigmatic western isles within the Jade Sea, due to some unspoken reason she was not allowed to be placed in the same foundling home as Nikolai but instead was sequestered away within the upper wards clandestine priory of the Concordant Church. His desire to help his friends roiled like a boundless well, but the frustration of how best to go about such gnaws upon him. To break up the melechnoly that settled over them, he’d rise up and walk to their side, and place a hand on either of their shoulders, a smile on his face as he tried to pep them up.

“Bah! Let’s not get bogged down in this, I still say we should take advantage of the fact that Wallace and his family are away on holiday regardless, that gives us the perfect chance to sneak into the reflection gardens tonight and collect some of the dawn-thistle that Benie’s papa wants. After that we can take the gold and buy some nice new decorations fer our ship here or even some fancy clothes from the merchants that arrived today! How does that sound?”

  The duo of Fuyumi and Benedict would exchange a look, the air around them lightening as Fuyumi flashes a pointy smile and ensnares both Benedict and Nikolai beneath and arm and squeezes them together in a crushing hug, the two of them groaning as they feel themselves headlocked by her crushing grip. Fuyumi beams cheerfully,

“Yeah! Now that's a plan! We can use the coin to buy nice new attire! ‘At means we can sneak into the fancy dinner parties that Wallace and his family have in them upper quarter festivals! I say lets do it!”

Benedict, rapidly taps and tugs at the arm that was wrapped around his neck, gasping for a few moments as he tries to speak up,

“Y-Yeah I think it would b-b-be good for a change to i-improve our secret base h-here… F-Fuyumi your choking me….”

  Nikolai would manage to get himself free, using his artificial arm as a lever to leverage himself free from his excited friends crushing grip, he’d take a few steps back and clear his throat, a clap of his hands having decided on the course.

“Aight then it is settled! Tonight we leave our secret base early, we head for the reflection gardens and try and find some of the dawn-thistle. If we snag some, we can have Benie take it to his papa and sell it to him. We then take that gold and use it to buy fancy frocks and hats and sneak into those dinner parties were we can then eat all the sweet cakes and rolls we want…” He rubs his hands together “Good plan! Now then… where were we?”

He’d shift, take a step back as he’d leap back atop the box upon which he’d been seated, dramatically snatching up the smoothed stool leg “blade” he had wielded prior, with a melodramatic laugh he would scoff.

“Now then, who dares face off against the feared Dread Captain Yuugo! Master of the Forbidden Seas! Word has caught my ear that some foolish Wondrous Wizard and his shrine maiden compatriot have been sent to stop my reign of terror... “ He puffs out his chest giving a haughty faux laugh as he mimes throwing back a cape from his side “... Fools! Your far too late for such!”

  Benedict and Fuyumi would excitedly exchange looks with one another, Fuyumi’s face alight, as she moves to rise up, taking a stance up as she removes a pair of crudely drawn and designed strips of parchment, with crude sealing sigils upon them in her hand,

“Hah! Yer outta luck there Dread Captain! The Wonderous Wizard ‘ere and his faithful companion, the Shrine Maiden of the Concordant, are ‘ere to make sure your reign of terror is at an end! So better say your prayers to the divines as we are gonna make ya meet yer maker!”

Benedict would also assume his combat stance, striking a dramatic pose as he flourishes his cloak, hand upon his mask as he speaks up in a firm tone, slipping back into character flawlessly.

“That is correct Dread Pirate, as my dear friend as stated, your reign of terror is at an end, lay down your arms and surrender, tis your only course to save yourself from my most potent and dangerous spells!”

  Benedict would follow such up, with miming the sound of thunder crackling as he awaits his foes response. Nikolai would watch them both, feeling a bit better, yet ever still did the ebbing aura of their recent conversation hang about him, the haunting lingering images of the pastel canvas still muddy and murky within the mind. He’d shove such down as he gives another boisterous laugh, brandishing his “blade” once more as he leaps towards them, giving voice to their challenge.

“Hah! Then ye shall find nothing more than your doom here heroes! Come have at thee!”