Under the Overgrowth (Alegretto)

[DaGlobster]

Herrick glanced backwards again, half-expecting to see Headbiter again, tearing through the forest at them swinging a tree around, fueled by all the rage in the world. But he didn't. Instead, he saw the quickly receding form of Headbiter sit up for a few moments, before falling back onto its back.

"I think we lost the bastard. Don't think he's dead, though." He muttered. He watched behind them, making sure they weren't being followed anymore, before leaning his head back. "We're clear., we should stop now." He said in a hoarse voice.

[Alegretto]

Herrick's words got Phintil to slow down, eventually to a halt, and the lizardman set Herrick down gingerly before sitting down himself panting. "By the spirits, what kind of monster is he?"

The question was mostly rhetorical, both Herrick and Phintil knew exactly what kind of monster Headbiter was. They'd both fought him. It didn't make the Orc's perseverance any less unbelievable.

With a sigh, he looked at his partner. "Well what now Herrick? We can't exactly collect the commission now, and those bandits will be gone as soon as they can pack up camp. Do you wanna be the one to break the bad new or should I?"

[DaGlobster]

When Phintil set Herrick down, Herrick winced with pain. As soon as he could, he pulled the crossbow bolt that had been in his arm out, and the wound started to bleed freshly again. "Persistent bastard..." Herrick muttered, and tossed the crossbow bolt away.

"I really don't care, although I think it'd be more in our favor if I told the story. I've got more wounds, so our employer might be more understanding. Besides, our intel was incorrect. I was told Headbiter never stays up late." Herrick explained.

[Alegretto]

Phintil looked his ally up and down appraisingly. He did look to be in pretty bad shape. Actually really bad shape.

"I think that's a smart plan, but how about before that we get you some kind of medical attention. Those arrow and crossbow wounds look bad."

Which reminded him, he'd been struck a couple of time too. He looked over himself, noticing his two bolts with mild annoyance. They hurt a bit, and they would be a pain to remove that was for sure, but there wouldn't be any lasting damage.

He turned back to Herrick. "I know a guy who lives in a town near here, but if you have your own you go to then we should head there."

[DaGlobster]

"Trust me, your guy's closer..." Herrick groaned, sitting up.

Of course, Herrick had worse in his career as a master thief and sellsword, but it didn't mean that this was any walk in the park. He didn't feel like counting his wounds, but he knew he had some more bolts protruding from him. He looked to his ally, and chuckled. "Wish I had scales..." He muttered.

[Alegretto]

Herrick's words elicited a chuckle from Phintil. "They're nice enough now, sure, but trust me it's not all good. Taking out these bolts is gonna be a real pain. The heads get stuck behind my scales, and the things are so hard to dig out, it's really just a massive hassle later on." He sighed, now envisioning what was soon to be his future.

"It's lucky that I know a guy near here who knows how to treat me. Not many healers know how to deal with reptiloids." Phintil laughed, or did his best interpretation of a mammalian laugh. The process mostly just involved him throwing his head back and opening his mouth without making any sound, but it gave the appearance of a human laughing at least.

"That's another disadvantage for scales, you can't just get any healer to fix you up, you have to look for someone who knows what they're doing." He laughed again. "That's why I always look for the best healers nearby when I'm doing a job, and why I try to be friends with all the ones who can treat me."

The lizardman looked thoughtful for a moment, and then turned to look back at Herrick. "You know what? Maybe it isn't just luck that I know someone nearby," he said, laughing again.

[DaGlobster]

"Oh, the arrows stick into your scales but don't hurt that much? Certainly, a terrible curse indeed." Herrick said, proving that the amount of snark you had was directly related to how near-death you were. This job was rough, and he wasn't proud of it, but the intel was bad, so at least he wasn't totally accountable. It reminded him of his early days as an agent for the Adelan crown. Thinking of all the sloppy assassinations before he became a master of his art brought a slight hint of nostalgia to him, and he faintly smiled.

It didn't help that Phintil was apparently trying to laugh, and totally not looking like a basking crocodile with something stuck down its throat.

Herrick groaned. Now that the adrenaline was slowly slipping away, he found himself in quite a lot of pain. He pushed himself to his feet, stumbling slightly but otherwise maintaining his balance. "Let's get moving, Phintil." Herrick said, and motioned for the lizard to lead on.

[Alegretto]

Phintil nodded. "Alright then, it's this way," he started walking. It didn't take long for them to hit the edge of the forest, and from there it was almost no distance at all to a moderately large dirt road. If he wasn't lost, then it was only about four hours of walking to reach their destination, a small town called Madine.

He was mostly silent during the march, thinking of what he could have done differently during the skirmish. He would answer if Herrick started a conversation, but he wasn't much in the mood for small talk at the moment, he was too frustrated with the failure of their assignment, now that his euphoria over having survived had passed.

[DaGlobster]

About two hours into the silent march towards Madine, Herrick decided to strike up a conversation. It was the least he could do to take his mind off of the various aching puncture wounds on his body. Well, at least that's what he was planning. He took one look at Phintil, and noticed the lizardman was a bit miffed. Herrick supposed that he had a right to be frustrated, but it really was a little bit of everyone's fault.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up on this, alright? Jobs come and go, shit just goes on happening." Herrick said, and then smiled mischievously. "Besides..." he started, and pulled out a very familiar looking lower jaw, straight from his small backpack. "I know ol' Headbiter's got a bounty in Madine. What say we cash this little sucker in over there and make off?."

[Alegretto]

Herrick's opening words were about to make Phintil snap at the man, he wasn't in the mood to be consoled, but luckily Herrick went on before Phintil could get a word in. The mercenary's second sentence made the lizardman smile, though it was more of a predatory grin.

"Now that sounds like an excellent idea." He laughed suddenly. "Way to make the best of a bad situation, partner. It's nice to work with someone who plans for contingencies." He looked Herrick up and down, and then himself. "Then again, though, I don't know if we'll make too much more money than what covers our medical expenses."

[DaGlobster]

"Money's money, and we don't need that much medical attention. I have a couple potions, so all I need is the rest of these arrows to be pulled. Actually..." Herrick paused, looking down at the crossbow bolt that was still in his forearm. He reached up, and snapped off the fletching, and pulled it out by grabbing under the head and pulling it out.

He hissed with the pain, and tossed the bolt aside.

"Come to think of it, who needs a doctor?"

[Alegretto]

Phintil frowned. "I think you do. I wouldn't pull those out yourself if I was you. I've seen some guys do more damage yanking bolts out then when the blasted things went in."

He paused for a moment, and then sighed. "Well I guess I can't stop you, I just hope your careful. If you're permanently injured I can't ask you to join my mercenary company."

[DaGlobster]

"Mercenary company?" Herrick said as he stopped and hobbled off of the road so he could remove his arrows in peace under the shade of a tree. "I don't know about that offer, Phintil. I'm not exactly the rough-and-ready mercenary type..." Herrick said as he pulled out the one remaining arrow, sighing with relief. He opened up a small pouch on his bandolier, and procured a vial of slurry red liquid.

He downed half of the vial, and laid back as his wounds began to knit together.

After about a minute of rest, Herrick got back up, stretching his now healed body. "Thank the gods for that. Now that I'm not hobbling like a geezer with two bad ankles, we should get to Madine quicker."

[Alegretto]

Phintil followed Herrick off the road. "Really? You could have fooled me. I can't think of many mercenaries who would try to take on an entire bandit camp like that, not to mention that Orc. Seems pretty rough-and-ready to me."

He shrugged as he watched Herrick heal. He couldn't help but shiver a little as the skin closer around the man's wounds. Skin creeped Phintil out. Scale are nice, so hard and protective. Skin just seemed so fragile and weird...

He broke off his train of thoughts with the realization that he'd been staring. He almost missed what Herrick had said, but he caught the tail end of it. "Getting to Madine quicker seems like a good idea. I guess we can skip the healer then. Do you know where our employer is to be found? He didn't really tell me where to go after the job and I kinda figured you would know."

[DaGlobster]

Herrick laughed.

"Of course I know where our mutual employer is."Herrick said bluntly, scratching the back of his head as he returned to the road.

"He's the captain of the guard up in Ketra. Thing is, he promised me a pardon for all my current crimes if I took care of this for him. If we march in there and tell him we failed, I'll be arrested." He explained, a sheepish smile on his face. "I'm a thief, you see. Burglar extraordinaire. I steal from those too rich and fat to do anything else but accumulate more wealth. My bounty's almost as high as ol' Headbiter's, actually. It's amazing how much an angry noblewoman will pay to get her stupid jewelry back."

[Alegretto]

"Well as long as it's less than the jewelry's actually worth it's a smart investment," Phintil replied dryly. "So I guess that means I do have to be the one to tell him the good news." The lizardman stopped walking and stood thinking for a moment. "Unless..."

He turned to Herrick. "Hear me out on this. I have a few favors I can pull in Ketra to get us some help, heck I can even pay some folks with my share of the earnings from the job. Here's my offer: I, and whoever I can scrounge up, help you try again to get Headbiter so you can be a bountyless man, and n return, you join my company when all's said and done."