(Mature) Overrun City

[Kyosuke]

With a grimace, Kyosuke takes the soup back and pours it back into the pot. There'll be leftovers today. Thankfully the pot was made for situations like this and it would seal fairly well. They'll have more leftovers tonight. The samurai wastes no time, finishing up his own meal, then cleaning up in record speed. Before long he's trying to get Shinobu onto the horse in front of him again, and they'll be back to following the road. ...He doesn't even want to check under her bandages yet.

[Emora Deen]

Shinobu sits quietly in front of Kyosuke on the horse, resting back against him. She sleeps most the ride, coming awake to see the trees, or a glimpse of the sun. "Kyosuke," she whispers. "are we close?"

[Kyosuke]

Kyosuke is really working the horses now, galloping down the path he had found. At first, he wasn't sure if what he found was real, or if it was something worn out by animals. But as the path gets wider, he has more and more of a feeling that this does lead to civilization of some sort. "Soon, we're on a path that should take us to one," the samurai says, hoping it won't turn out to be a lie.

[Emora Deen]

She brought her head up to look down the path. "Okay," she told him, tilting her head back against his body. "I'm sorry... I should have paid more attention to my surroundings." She was hungry, she realized... but the thought of eating churned her stomach. "I smell something..." It wasn't smoke, so that was a good sign.

[Kyosuke]

"It's not your fault, I should have taken you with me," Kyosuke says. In the blame game, it seems the samurai is blaming himself for being unable to protect Shinobu, but more of his energy is focused into trying to save her now than guilt. "What do you smell?" he asks, not quite catching the scent yet.

[Emora Deen]

Shinobu took a deep breath. "It smells sweet," she whispers. Like food, she thought. She brought her hand down over his. "I thin k we're close."

[Kyosuke]

Kyosuke doesn't smell it at first, but the thought heartens Kyosuke. Hoping it wasn't a hallucination, the samurai urges the horse faster... and soon stumbles upon the sight of a small village. Again he urges the horse to go faster, rushing into town. Already a group of people are gathering by the village borders, drawn by the sight of someone charging in so fast. When they get close enough, Kyosuke quickly shouts out, "We need a doctor!"

[Emora Deen]

The villagers were silent at first, looking between one another as if he'd spoken some foreign language. It wasn't that, but the fact that they were so far removed from anything it was rare... if ever, that they had seen Ongorethian people.

Finally one stepped forward. "We got one," he muttered, follow me... He turned from the group and started walking towards the opposite end of the village. He came to a small hut with a thatched roof and smoke billowing up from a cobblestone chimney. "Greggy! Yo, Greg! We got some folk out here who need a doctor."

The man turned to Kyosuke. "No, Greggy isn't a doctor exactly... but he does sew up animals pretty well and he did serve as a doc in the army. So, guess that counts."

"What is it, Boone... I'm in the middle of lunch," a gruff voice called from the door. An old man with a thick beard stepped out onto the porch. He had a black patch over one eye and a jagged scar that looped over his brow. His hair was thick and wild, curing all sorts of ways around his head. He held in his hand half a loaf of bread.

[Kyosuke]

A doctor in the army? That's good enough. Actually probably more than good enough, since he'd be used to treating things like wound fever. Kyosuke nods his assent and follows after the villagers until they reach the hut, then he immediately jumps off the horse, helping Shinobu down, and bows to the man. "Please, we're in need of a doctor right now. Lady Shinobu," he's sure to use her title in public, even if that might increase his potential prices, "is thick with the wound fever." To make his point clear, he unbandages her arm and shows him the pink line that is doubtlessly there.

[Emora Deen]

Shinobu's knees shake as she stands next to the horse. She holds onto the saddle, her head swimming.

Greg looks down at them from the porch and then back at Boone. "Yeah," he says, taking a bite of his bread. "She's got wound fever alright. Bring her in. And stop calling me Greggy, Boone, or I will sew your trap shut."

Greg leads them into into his house and he points to a bed built into the alcove of the wall next to the fire. Its only big enough for one person. "Lay down there," he tells Shinobu.

She nearly falls onto the mattress, dizzily she lays back against a soft pillow filled with feathers. "You can have a seat there." He points to a chair for Kyosuke.

Greg closes the door behind them and puts a pot of water on to boil. He steps over to Shinobu and lifts her arm to where he can see it better. "Got bit," he states the obvious. Shinobu nods.

"Looks like a dog-goblin bite," he mutters. "Black, ugly, long dirty teeth?" Shinobu figures that probably describes about 80% of demons in Arken, but she nods in agreement either way. He laughs. "She's a quiet one," he says to Kyosuke. "What are ya'll doing out here?"

He turns to check the water before digging through tin cans sitting on the mantle.
"

[Kyosuke]

Kyosuke takes a seat where indicated, now feeling like a great weight was lifted off his chest. But now he could only watch the doctor work on Shinobu, idly nodding in agreement to the description of the beast that bit her.

When asked what they were doing here, however, Kyosuke grimaces. "I don't know how much news has reached the village here, but we were in Hepian a few days ago. The Arken military suddenly moved in and took it over. We found another village about a day's ride from it that was burned to the ground." If they hadn't heard of that, hopefully the doctor will note that as interesting... and get some sort of militia on guard.

[Emora Deen]

"I figured it wouldn't be long before that happened," the old man said as he pulled the hot water off the rack and set it down by the bed. He took the herbs and laid them on Shinobu's lap. "Let's see..." He felt her forehead for the fever, and then he started examining her wound more closely.

He cleaned it, and Shinobu withered a little as he scraped out the bad. When he was he took the herbs and ground them up, added water, and powder from a jar until it made paste. Then, he spread the paste over Shinobu's bite before wrapping it in gauze again.

"I cleaned it, but the infection is running through your system still. We will know by morning whether you'll live or not," he told her. He turned to Kyosuke. "Go down to the gate, there is a store there. Go get you some clothes for the lady and yourself. Tell Hector to put it on my tab."

[Kyosuke]

Kyosuke was hoping for a more definitive answer than 'we'll see if she lives tomorrow'. "Do you mind if I waited here instead?" Kyosuke asks. Even if his presence won't do anything, he doesn't think he can bring himself to leave Shinobu's side right now. If the doctor refuses to let him stay, he'll make his trip as fast as possible, but he doesn't look like he wants to move.

[Emora Deen]

"She needs a good bath and some clean clothes, and you need the same... So I suggest you go make a quick run," he tells Kyosuke. "Its only down the street... and she's stable for now."

Shinobu has gone to sleep, her face is soft and placid, her arms are draped across the covers at her side. Greg reaches over and pulls a blanket off the chair to drape over her.

[Kyosuke]

Silently Kyosuke nods his assent. It's a quick trip, the samurai running down to the aforementioned store. It took a bit of searching. In his distraction he missed the store a few times, but once there he just chooses a set of simple Ighten styled clothing for himself, one that would not stand out in the forests, and one for Shinobu, then makes haste back to the doctor's place after putting it on his tab.