The Price to Pay to Keep the Devil Away

[Lion]

Baland caught the potion as he smashed his sister and when he finally got off her the roar of obscenities blinded his ears and he muted her only with the potion that he promptly shoved down her throat.  Turning back to Jinai, Baland finally stood and helped pluck his sister off the ground.

"You sure do like to contradict yourself," he grumbled and put his sister's arm over his shoulder.  "First you don't want our help, then you ask for it.  Don't make any sense.  Just a fool like the rest of us.  I meant what I said when I says we don't know much about nothing!  Tenran don't tell us more than we need to know.  Now I know why.  He just wanted that letter real bad, y'know.  He wasn't even gonna share the bounty with us!  That bastard!  Just follow us."  Baland scowled and held onto Bex tightly as he dragged her off down the road. 

"If you can walk on your shot knee, you might want to hurry.  Tenran can move real fast when he wants to, even with a gimpy leg.  You'll be gimpy just like him."

[visualspice]

"I know. That damn gimp better pray to the stars I don't find him soon. I'm pissed off more than a shaken hive of bees." Then he gestured. "Lead the way," and she grunted and followed after, but each step was filled with unspeakable pain, which only made her smile after a time as she contemplated how Tenran must feel each time he walked. Was it a painful limp, or one he just dealt with now on a natural stride? Either way, she had a lot of questions to be asking him once she got a her hands on him (or maybe not, a dagger to his head might do well after what he pulled today).
ANd he had NO idea of the consequences of that letter...

Bastard.

[Lion]

Bex limped along beside Baland and the younger man did much of the same, waiting for Jinai to keep up.  He looked at his haggard sister, still very much dazed and in no mood for banter as she growled at him to keep his eyes averted and just focus on walking.  One could never trust that dumb mutt to negotiate deals, and Bex was fuming at the ears that he gave in so easily.  Even if it was to save her!  All that hard-stolen gold, gone and wasted!

As they reached the bend in the road, leading back to the main path, Bex and Baland looked out to the road and Bex made a noise, pointed to the ground.  "Blood.  Didn't think there was even blood in that bounty hunter," she grumbled.  "What'd ya do to him?  Shoot him?  I thought only Mordecai were allowed them flintlocks?"

[visualspice]

Jinai smirked at the comment.
"When there is a will, there's a way. I have some interesting connections." Though her eyes hardened on the pair just them as she pressed, "Just keep on moving. We haven't gotten all day. And I highly doubt you want me to use that gun on either of you."

[Lion]

Bex growled in response and Baland paled.  Even though they both knew fat chance at that - she hadn't even reloaded the thing.  And in the five minutes it would take her to do so, the pair of them would have beaten her to a pulp nnd been off with their gold by then.

But they both decided to be good for the moment and treaded on down the road until the reached a well-hidden fork in the path, obscure by under brush and trees.  Bex and Baland stopped here and motioed for Jinai to follow them as they both headed off the main road.  "There's an old bloke that lives off in these woods, names Cartwright.  He'll take care of those nasty wounds," Baland explained just as his sister grunted along beside him.  "Ain't much farther."

[visualspice]

"Just keeping walking. And stay far enough in front of me that I can see ya." She looked around to the woods. These were a familiar path, though she wasn't too familiar with the name Cartwright. He might not be one of 'the folks'. Either way, she was wary, even of their help, but she had little choice in the matter, but kept her weapons close at hand as she limped along, all the while internally cursing Tenran.

[Lion]

Bex and Baland kept stumbling on until they were at the door of the squat cabin that was halfway in the dirt with a carved set of stairs made into the ground itself.  Bex yelped as her brother helped her descend the stairs and struck his knuckles against the door in a coded knock.

"Who is it?" a gruff voice squealed from inside.

"Bex and Baland you old coot!" Bex answered.  "And we have a guest."

[visualspice]

By now, Jinai was sweating something fierce. She had lost a lot of blood, and her legs were aching from the journey. She kept her distance, however, hoping to the gods these two idiots didn't try to trick her. She wasn't sure what sort of strength she had in reserve, but if she had to, she'd have to pull a miracle out of her ass to take a few of these idiots down. She did, after all, have a few more poison and illusionary darts. Both of which proved to be quite effective in these dire situations. So silently, she remained back, eyes taking in the two siblings before looking to the door.

[Lion]

"Ain't got no room for guests, cretins!  Git!" Cartwright growled.

"Please!" Baland begged again only to be kicked by his sister.  "Bex is hurt,  Got herself hit with a dart that you'll need to tend to.  And the guest can barely walk."

"Ya got gold?"

"She's got our gold."

"Hm, fair nuff."  The door slid open to complete darkness and Bex and Baland stepped inside.

[visualspice]

Jinai hesitated. Pah, of course they'd take her to a healer who wanted gold. Drawing in a breath, she steeled herself and came inside, but not without keeping her hands ready to her weapons hidden at her sides.

The place smelled of mold, which was the first thing she noticed as she entered. And it was dimly lit with a lot of apothecary items hanging down from the ceiling and walls.
"Impressive," she said, slowly walking down alongside a table with a bunch of drying herbs and flowers.

[Lion]

"First the gold," Cartwright growled at their 'guest' who apparently had just gone through tell with all the blood seeping from her wounds, particularly the nasty one that still jutted out from the side of her knee.  He held his hand out to her expectantly.  "Three pieces should do it.  Gotta keep up the business you know.  Nothing in life is free."

Baland set Bex down on a cot in the corner and gestured to Jinai.  "Pay the man," he said softly, before tending back to his sister.

[visualspice]

Jinai turned around from where she had been limping through the man's shack. She stared down at the hand, then up at his face, before reaching down and unhitching a bag. She pulled out five gold, and slammed them down onto the table.

"I'll pay you five gold, and a sixth if you don't try anything funny," Jinai stated, looking at the man as if daring him to question her before she slipped her hand away from the pile of gold and limped on over to a chair and had a seat a she sighed. She only chanced one glance over at the siblings before looking to Cartwright. She eyed him over with some mild suspicion, one hand itching over a dagger as she leaned to one side He wouldn't notice it at his angle. But Jinai trusted no one anymore, and was still reeling from the news of her brother's death, and all of the cities that had fallen under this supposed 'God of War'.

[Lion]

He scaped the coins off the tabel and just gave a grunt, putting them into his pocket.  "I'll do whatever I damn well please.  Tis my house it is," Cartwright grunted.  He grabbed a chair and shoved it under her ass to make her have a seat while he looked to the siblings by the cot. 

"Hey, don't be bleedin' all over me sheets!  Okay you, stranger, I'll get something to clean those wounds!" He ground something in a mortar and pestle and handed it to her.  "Put that in the holes, cover it completely.  Ignore the smell."

[visualspice]

"And may you remain the king of your court," Jinai replied smartly as she was forced to sit. She rolled her eyes at his demands, and used a nearby bowl of water and clothe to clean out the wounds, that of which she took her sweet time doing, shaking her head and inwardly cursing up a storm at Tenran. Then, at the ointment he had offered, she stroked her fingers lightly across the surface to gather a light film upon her finger tips and began to cover her wounds, wrinkling her nose but obeying the order to ignore the foul smell. It smelled similar to something she'd seen another healing apothecary do. She just hoped the man wasn't try to poison her, though it hardly smelled like the mixtures she was used to- and she used quite a few.

[Lion]

It was a strange concoction of sedatives, aloe vera, and just a touch of nightshade to dull the pain.  "Oh, quit buggerin' would ya?" Cartwright said and he walked over to her administrations and knelt at her knee.  "This one is quite nasty, yup.  Who'd you piss off anyhow?  Never mind, I don't wanna know.  Ain't no business of mine, ayup.  Look, ya gotta get a wad of it and cake it on there.  None of that dilly dally, sissy stuff.  I'm an apothecary, not a babysitter, eh?  Damn."

Cartwright stood up and moved out toward the shelves on the side before pulling some dried leaves from the rafters at the top and grinding them into a mortar and pestle.  He powdered it into the bandages he had pulled out and moved back to her.  "Ya can't walk or run on this thing for at least a good month, yup," he grumbled.  "Looks like I might have to splint it.  Hope yer not a screamer."

[visualspice]

"So I'll be walking around with a limp...."
She'd be almost as gimpy as Tenran! Wouldn't Mursh get a kick out of that?
And a month? Damn, she sort of figured that anyways. God damn Gimp. She'd make him pay, one way or another. But after she was treated here, she had to warn Renna as quickly as possible. If she got discovered... She didn't want to think of the consequences. The girl was around nobles all of the time. If they found out about her abilities...
they'd either hang her for being a mage, or witch. Either way, time was wasted away here as Jinai sighed irritably ad simply leaned back in the chair, hoping Cartwright would just hurry this the hell up.

[Lion]

"You'll be lucky if you can walk around at  all.  Somethin' tells me you're the more outdoorsy type.  This kinda injury ain't the sweetest one of the bunch. You could just as well be bitching about it for the rest of you're life.  You're all ready starting now."  Cartwright laughed amusedly once the wound was bandaged and looked out to her with a smile.  "There ya big baby.  Now you should probably rest before you do any extensive traveling.  Unless you wanna render yerself a complete invalid."

[visualspice]

Jinai let her words simmer within, saying nothing as Cartwright prattled on and mocked her.
Rest? Who had time to rest when she had an important mission to complete and that damn gimp had gotten in her way! She should have killed him back when she had the chance, not that she had any real reason to kill him...

For she hadn't been much of a killer back then. And now..
Her anger had been getting the best of her, and made her sick to the stomach at night from all that was going on..
and what had happened to her brother. Drawing in a careful breath, she forced a smile for Cartwright. "Thanks for the suggestion." and she curiously looked over towards Bex and Baland, wondering how much coin it would take to get them to chase after Tenran for her....
that was to say, if their alliance could be bought... It migh tbe just as well she run on her injured leg. She'd have to warn Renna...
but how? She had no idea what Tenran really meant to do with that letter...

[Lion]

Cartwright looked at Jinai with annoyance of his own and just made a face when he had his back to her.  He turned and handed a cup of water to her.  "All that attitide ain't gonna make that knee heal right so relax," he commented.  He shuffled more stuff around, looking for something he found behind her.  He made a noise of discovery and reached around her.  Once he had it in hand, he bashed her hard in the head, in the hopes to knock her out.

"Take a nap and shut ya yap," he scowled at her as he tossed the heavy holy symbol out to the corner.  "Ansgar be damned."

[visualspice]

The knock to the head was only felt after Jinai awakened several hours later. And it hurt like hell. Groaning, she sat up and looked around, spying a familiar face that made her bare her teeth.
"YOU!"


OOC: Short post is short *lazy*