“You okay, Winter?” Arch Extent looks down at the semi-conscious huntress.
Winter groans slightly, finally raising herself up. She sees Fancy Hat managed to survive, meaning she did her part in protecting him as promised with their original agreement. Her fingers clutch firmly to his own over his shoulders, leaning on his rather taller physique so she could support herself. Winter didn’t want to admit it, but she deeply appreciated him helping her up.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just kinda overdid it a bit.” Winter wobbles a bit.
She’s struggling to stand.
“Hey, big bro! Lookin’ kinda bloody today!” Winter could tell how pissed her brother Neil was. She always tried to bring things to a lower level of calmness with humor, but it failed to stop Neil’s stern voice from lashing out.
“I hope the gems you’re offering are worth it, scientist. I’m not getting myself covered in worm blood EVER again.” Neil flicks some of the crimson liquid off of his hands, trying to wipe some of the nastiness from his face.
Speaking of those gems, we should probably grab those and leave. Arch Extent is looking over to where his scattered supplies are.
Neil finally calms down, reaching a bloody arm to the back of him. He pulls out a canteen from one of his tan pouches. He can see the state Winter is in, including the way one of her arms was decorated in what looked like skin beginning to peel off from the muscle.
“You need to hydrate yourself first, Winter.” Neil tries to instruct his sister.
“I have a bottle of water in–” Arch Extent is cut off.
“I can take care of my sister, Scientist.”
“You can let me go now, Fancy Hat.” Winter is able to stand on her own two feet after the mayhem from the worms passed. All seemed clear in the sand valley they were in, and she was getting tired of Neil’s persistent anger flaring. Arch Extent takes the hint and lets her walk to the male hunter, seeing him unscrew the black bottle and hand it to Winter. She drinks it quickly, letting out a refreshing gasp as she feels her body ache for it.
The scientist blinks.
I think I understand how her Winterlance mutation works. She must be dehydrated. Her ice requires water from her body, which means she’s using her body’s reservoirs of water to produce it. She’s able to flash freeze it at the epidermis, which would explain the purity for why plasma based shots didn’t work. There’s most likely another element at work she has in her body to make it freeze like that. But whatever that is…once that and the water in her body combine, it causes a devastating chain reaction. It also seems her body is only able to handle so much weight of her ice before it rips off her skin.
Winter finishes the water from the bottle, even trying to shake it above her mouth in fleeting hope there might be a few more drips to splash into her mouth. Neil crosses his arms and gives a firm look. ”That’s it?” She hands the bottle back to him, extending her arm out to the male hunter. Her arm hurts like hell, but she knows they can at least get it patched up once they make it back to the outpost.
Arch Extent continues to be lost in his thoughts, walking over towards his scattered items, carefully inspecting each one before putting it back in his backpack. Now that he has an idea of just how deadly Winter is, there’s another thing prodding at the back of his mind.
None of it explains how she’s immune to Cosmos Plague.
Arch Extent picks up his broken mask, knowing it’ll have to be repaired later.
Cosmos Plague is capable of going into dormancy from extremely cold temperatures, which would mean her body temperature would have to be quite low for that possibility. But it’s not.
His head turns once he hears Winter and Neil call for him. Winter held the sandy box of gems, Neil looking annoying as per usual.
“I’m ready.” Arch Extent hisses out in pain once he finishes that sentence. It’s that cut on his arm from Winter. The adrenaline in his body finally quelled which allowed his body to register an injury. It’s a deep one too, at least an inch. The scientist places his hand over it and walks towards the two hunters who were getting ready to get back on their respective mounts.
I should probably take care of this cut. It must be from when Winter exerted herself. Either way…I’ll have to keep her existence under the radar.
“You don’t look too good, Fancy Hat.” Winter eyes his deep gash, watching as it bled. “We’ll get it stitched up at the outpost. We’re only a few hours out and the sun should be up soon.”
“Your arm is damaged, too.”
“I’ll be okay. Here. I didn’t fuck up my other arm so just use this to put pressure on it in the meantime.” Winter begins unwrapping the not-as-tattered bandages from her left arm, as well as her left leg, and approaches the scientist. Arch Extent wishes to speak but the next thing he knows is Winter is wrapping her bandages around his gnarly wound. The Winterlance looks worried, determined in trying to help, and somehow–she is truly caring. She is compassionate. It’s not something he expected out of her, considering her distaste towards him over Princess Aress. It was nice.
“There! Just hold onto it, and the bleeding should stop. If not, just take your jacket off n’ tie it really tight around your arm.”
“Thank you.” Arch Extent nods at her.
“Just trying to clean up my mess. I can carry the backpack if you want with the gems in it.”
“I can carry it. Just focus on directing us.”
“Right.”
-
The sun peers up, and the two moons of Divon slowly fade away in the morning sky. A few sea birds flap their wings as they fly above the ocean, cawing to indicate it’s a new day in Divon at Daggermouth. Arch Extent had eventually taken his favorite jacket off to apply more pressure to the wound and after some time, his blood coagulated, and the bleeding mostly stopped. He desperately needed stitches to make sure the wound wouldn’t get any worse. Relief pooled over him once Winter and Neil halted their Featherdusters at the outpost.
The residents gave them odd looks, seeing the three of them covered in blood, battle-worn, and exhaustion clearly slapped across their faces. Winter directed her client towards one of the medical tents, knowing she also needed attention to her arm. Neil had walked the opposite way, heading towards a tent in which he could wash his clothing.
“The boat for Matrum isn’t leaving yet. So we have a few hours to rest up before we’re on a boat overnight.” Winter pulls her hood down once they’re under the shade of the tent and a healer approaches them.
“My, my…What happened to you two?” The healer was an older Blazerock woman, which could be easily identified by the red eyes.
Most of the Blazerock Tribesfolk possessed piercing red eyes, orange or light brown hair, and usually a tan or lighter complexion. As per their mutation, Arch Extent always made note they might have a fierce temper, considering their mutation was the opposite of Winter: They could project fire from the pores of their body.
“Giant worms. We just need some flicker and new bandages. And he needs stitches. How many gems would that be?”
“How many gems do you have on you?”
“However much it costs. I’m not here to haggle your prices. And I’m not in the mood for it.” Winter was ready to spit some venomous words out at the Blazerock healer. The older woman takes the hint and begins to get one of the tables set up, grabbing a few vials of unknown substances. She sets down a few clean towels at the wooden table and grabs a few rolls of bandages. Arch Extent notices her grabbing black thread and a thick needle that could pierce through skin.
That’s for him, of course.
“Alright. One hundred gems per person. The flicker is an extra fifty gems.” The Blazerock woman smirks, knowing she’s trying to do these people dirty. However, considering the desolate place they’re in, how far out it is, premium prices like this for convenient supplies are high. Winter groans, but Arch Extent places a hand on Winter’s shoulder, calming her.
“Fine.” Winter takes the box out of Arch Extent’s backpack and places down the golden gems.
“You need to bathe first, blonde. I don’t think I’ve ever smelled so much dried blood on someone before. So do that for me first. There’s a tub in the back. I’ll attend to your oddly-dressed friend here first.”
“He ain’t a friend. He’s my client.” Winter blurts that out as she goes to the back of the tent. She pulls a curtain over, taking off her scarf, corset from her waist, and her turquoise-lined tunic to place in the tub of water. She’s thankful she doesn’t need to undress completely, especially when there’s Fancy Hat outside and that Blazerock woman ready to overcharge them even further.
As Winter was busy washing herself, Arch Extent sat patiently at the table with the Blazerock woman. He removed his jacket carefully, giving out another painful-sounding hiss once he unwrapped the bandages from his bicep. The cloth nearly stuck to his blood-stained skin as he watched the wound begin to slowly bleed again. The Blazerock healer dips a few towels into a bowl of water and begins to clean his wound, perking her eyebrows up.
“So, you ran into the worms of the desert? And survived? Not many do.”
“We did.”
“I can clearly see that. This is probably the cleanest cut I’ve ever seen though. It doesn’t look like something I’d typically see out here.” The healer dips a few more towels into the water to clean his wound.
“It’s not from the worm.”
“I know. That woman…” The healer lowers her voice so Winter from the back of the tent doesn’t hear what she’s about to say next. “...She’s a Winterlance. I saw her walking through here the other day when the last ship arrived.”
“I know.”
“Then you’re brave to be with something like that.” The healer grabs a jar filled with a green substance; the scientist can't help but compare how similar in texture it is to aloe vera on Earth. “Alright, hold still. I need to apply some of the flicker and stitch the wound. You may…want to think of a happy place.”
“Why?” Arch Extent raises an eyebrow at the healer.
“It’s the extra strong stuff. I find that having small talk helps. So…”
The healer applies the substance to Arch Extent’s wound without further notice, causing the scientist to grip the edge of the table with his other hand and clench his teeth. He groans loudly in pain and Winter can hear it from the back of the tent. She perks her head up from the tub of water, finally getting rid of most of the blood out of her clothes.
Kinda feel bad for Fancy Hat. Stuff hurts like a bitch.
“Geez! What the hell is in that stuff?! Lemon juice?” Arch Extent groans further. It definitely stung like a bitch.
“Never heard of lemon juice. Say, what tribe are you from? You’re definitely not Blazerock.” The healer stops splattering the gel across his wound. “And you dress oddly.”
“It’s not important…could you just stitch it up already?”
“Alright. Just hold still. The flicker should help with the pain of the stitches. And your cut is really deep…I’m shocked you didn’t get an infection yet. But, if you did, the flicker should help with it.” The healer tries to reassure him.
Winter walks out of the back of the tent, pushing the curtain aside on the wire, without her tunic or scarf on. She was in her pants, boots, and worn white tank top that had yellowed a bit over time. It was quite weathered. She managed to wash her arm off and her blonde hair turned light brown from how wet it was. She uses a towel to dry her hair off whilst watching Fancy Hat clutch to the wooden table for dear life as a needle pierced through his skin to stitch up the wound.
“Yikes. That looks worse than I thought.”
“Well, it doesn’t feel great–” Arch Extent groans out, hissing as the Blazerock woman finishes up the stitches.
“All done! You should be set. Just make sure to be careful when washing. Here’s some bandages. You’re welcome to wash your uh–clothing in the back of the tub too. I don’t like the smell of dried blood.”
Arch Extent looks distraught, heading to the back of the tent and passing by Winter.
“Your arm doesn’t look too good either.” The healer comments on Winter.
“It’ll be fine. Just give me the bandages, and I’ll be set.”
“Might not be my business but…” The healer lowers her voice once more, hoping Arch Extent doesn’t hear them. He’s too busy washing his favorite jacket in the back. “...Your client is quite the good-looker.”
Winter wanted to nearly choke at the comment given to her. It doesn’t take long to register that this Blazerock woman assumed something completely different about her and the scientist. Winter’s face flushes, mouth gaping and her voice flares up.
“W-What?! That’s not the kind of client I was referring to when I walked in here!”
Arch Extent raises his head from the tub, deeply confused as to what conversation was taking place behind him. He holds his brown tattered jacket in the water. Winter seemed flustered based on her response. He’s not sure if he should ask.
The scientist and huntress walked out of the tent, cleaned and tended to, to then reunite with Neil. The boat was set to leave in a little bit, which allowed time for the trio and their Featherdusters to grab fresh food, as well as almost-stale food rations for the trip. During this time, Arch Extent finally saw the baggage and saddles Winter talked about prior to their ghastly deathworm encounter.
There wasn’t much of a conversation between the three, besides Neil pointing out they needed to board using the rite of passage, something every hunter carries. The rite of passage allowed hunters to travel between continents as they pleased, even if there were restrictions, wars, whatever was going on within tribes. They were considered essential across the lands, bound by the duty of the Hunter’s Code.
Once it was time to set sail to Matrum, Neil hands his rite of passage to a Blazerock man at the dock, traversing up the walkway onto the ship. Winter and Arch Extent follow behind as they bring their Featherdusters to the appropriate place on the ship to tie their leather reins to. Trot whines briefly, though Winter is quick to comfort her noble furry and scaly companion. She and Neil make sure their mounts are well cared for with a bucket of food and water to hold them over for the night.
Once the Featherdusters were settled, Neil had already gathered his baggage and headed straight for the room that his sister and he would be staying in. Winter already planned to join him, following her big brother like a lost puppy.
However, Arch Extent wanted to get her alone with him.
“Winter.”
The huntress twirls around, eyebrows perked and her eyes squint from the sun’s piercing rays as the light hits her face. She adjusts the black hood on her, even taking a step back into the entrance of the ship’s wooden interior so she could avoid being blinded by the sun.
“What’s up, Fancy Hat?”
He wants to get straight to the point. With the very short amount of time he’s known Winter, he’s already successfully deduced this is how communication would be best with her.
“I wanted to know if I could study your arm.”
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