Skedaddle

[Emora Deen]

Laya knelt down and pulled Adonis's arm over her shoulder. She heaved, trying to haul his weight up to stand. "We are going together," she told him as firmly as she could manage.

[Soran Nightblade]

Adonis's muscles ached stiffly at the movement and offered absolutely no response to his efforts to move. "They'll smell me," he growled as she tugged him upward. As if on cue, two new wolves stepped slowly out of the brush. Their behavior was different from the last few. They smelled their kin. They didn't want dinner, they just wanted to kill.

A moon-white form stepped quietly between them and the wolves. Telanis took in the sight of his brother, and Laya. He turned his head toward the wolves and looked at them solemnly. They shrank a step back, pricking their ears attentively. *My kin,* he told them in their language. *Abide this. They are not your prey.*

The creatures narrowed their eyes, but slowly backed away and ran off again into the darkening woods.

Telanis started toward Laya, but froze at the lingering scent of blood from the clearing and from both of them. *You're hurt?* he asked breathlessly, trying to size them both up for injuries.

[Emora Deen]

Laya froze at the sight of the wolves. She hugged Adonis to her, preparing to drag him if she had to, or at least try to drag him.

"Adonis is hurt," she replied once the wolves were gone. "We need to get back to the city. I'm sorry Telanis. We have to leave the forest... Unless you need to stay. I just need help getting him to the city."

[Soran Nightblade]

Telanis stared at them blankly. They were getting along much better than he'd thought. "Can you climb onto my back?" he asked, kneeling down beside them.

[Emora Deen]

Laya pushed Adonis towards Telanis's back and practically slung him over it. She climbed up behind him to help steady the unicorn, and arm around his waist and a hand in Telanis's mane. "Okay, go..."

[Soran Nightblade]

Telanis took some time to find a steady rhythm in his gait with two riders and the blood, but he moved as gently as he could toward the port town. *Were you hurt?* he asked Laya protectively.

[Emora Deen]

Laya held onto to Adonis as they rode. "No, I'm fine," she told him, though her voice hardly sounded so. "We just need to get him to a doctor."

[Soran Nightblade]

Telanis's heart was racing out of his chest. *Thank you for watching after him.* He picked up the smoothest trot he could manage and brought them toward the city. Adonis began to realize his surroundings more clearly as the fresh air thinned the blood that was suffocating his senses. He looked down at Laya's arm around him and tried not to look as embarrassed as he felt. He had no idea what to say to her after threatening her that way. It must have taken courage for her to come back and help him. He was completely baffled as to why.

"We're here," Telanis said as they reached the gates of the port. He let them down and transformed back to his human form in a burst of light, almost immediately tripping as he reasserted control over human legs. Adonis was able to move his legs, albeit unsteadily, now that the bloody scene was far behind them. He let his arm hang at his side as far away as possible and pinned it against his tunic. He was still leaning against Laya, as awkward as that was, and didn't think he'd walk successfully without her.

[Emora Deen]

Laya tossed the bag of clothes at Telanis's feet. "Better dress," she told him as they waited. Her eyes looked at Adonis as he leaned against her, and she wondered what he was thinking. She burned to know what he was thinking.

[Soran Nightblade]

Telanis threw open the bag and pulled out a pair of pants and a shirt that belonged to Adonis. He was the same size, he'd learned recently, in terms of human clothing, so he pulled them on without thinking and then looked back at Laya. His eyes drifted from her to the blood dripping from Adonis's sleeve. *How do we find a doctor?* Telanis asked tensely. He didn't even know how to recognize a doctor's office from the other buildings on the street. He'd never needed a doctor before, but his brother's body wouldn't accept his magic, now that he was...different.

[Emora Deen]

Laya went to move through the gate. "Pretty easy," she told him as she pushed it open and helped Adonis walk inside. When they were far enough in the crowd she stopped. "We need a doctor!" She started yelling. "Someone please! We need a doctor!"

The crowd slowed to a stop and people turned to stare at them. She heard someone's faint voice in the crowd, and saw a small woman shifting through. "Doctor? Someone ask for a doctor?"

"Yes!" Laya called, resisting the urge to run forward. "Please, do you know where a doctor is?"

"I'm a doctor," she told Laya as she came through the crowd with a black sack on her shoulder. "I just got off the boat. "Who needs... Oh dear, what happened?" She rushed to Adonis's side. "We should find a place for him to sit."

"Over there," Laya said, nodding towards some crates piled along the wall. Laya helped Adonis walk to them, and when they were close enough she motioned him to sit down and stepped away for the woman to tend to him.

Laya wiped the blood on her dress, and looked to Telanis. "That's how you get a doctor," she sighed.

[Soran Nightblade]

"Oh..." Telanis noted as he watched the woman sit his brother down on the bench. His fingers wound anxiously around Laya's between them.

Adonis didn't like the woman's hands all over him, but he sat down, mostly because he couldn't stand without Laya. She pulled back his sleeve and gasped at the sight of his arm. It wasn't just the wound, but the black veins weaving up to his elbow that startled her. "What in the world happened?" she murmured, going to the case she had with her for antiseptic cream and bandages.

Adonis tilted his back to Telanis and Laya, not wanting his brother to see what he'd done to himself, never mind the gory bite. The antiseptic stung, but he didn't pay very much attention. It was mostly just a relief to have the blood wiped away and then pressed back under the tight wrap of the bandage. He took a slow breath of relief as she finally removed her hands from his arm. He didn't want her touching him, but he knew his human etiquette well enough. "I don't know how to thank you," he said cordially to the woman, hoping she didn't ask too many questions.

[Emora Deen]

She eyed him a moment longer and having been around long enough to know when not to say a word she left it at that. "No problem at all. I like to help," the older woman replied as she wiped her hands with a cloth and stood up. "You should take it easy, and go home to rest. Keep the wound clean and dry."

"Thank you," Laya told her as the woman bowed her head and turned to leave, not wanting any payment for her help.

"You are welcome," she replied, giving a smile to them.

Laya clasped her hand around her arm and looked at Adonis as he sat on the crates. She stared at his feet oddly enough, maybe because she didn't want to see his eyes. "We should find that inn now," she muttered.

She didn't even lean into Telanis like she wanted too. She just stayed in her own personal bubble, since Adonis had reminded her once again just what sort of person she was. She couldn't escape the truth, no matter how fast she ran or what sort of person she tried to be. He could still smell it on her.

[Soran Nightblade]

Adonis finally glanced up to see his brother casting a concerned look toward Laya. He frowned, trying to understand what that meant. Probably, Telanis was picking up on some of the fear he'd inspired earlier. The black unicorn subtly brought down his steady mental shields and let his mind open to her feedback.

He visibly stiffened. Her emotions were not what he expected. He cut off the contact and stared at her in complete confusion.

[Emora Deen]

Laya bent and lifted the bags. They were both staring at her, and it made her feel even more uncomfortable. "Its getting colder," she huffed, her breath fogging. "Let's find an inn, please." She could use some food too, she had a craving for stew and tea.