Bleeding...bleeding...
It was only thing Gustav thought of as he stumbled his way through the forest, tracking blood as he went. In one hand was a crossbow, the other clutching his sides as he unconsciously slammed himself against a tree, then slid down it into a sitting position.
He was breathing heavily, and had released his crossbow. The man had two arrows impaled to his sides/ Gustav was bleeding fast, his vision began to blur as he fought for consciousness.
With all his effort, he whistled, whistled for Ace to come back to him.
A minute of silence went by, with no reply.
So this is... how it's going to end...huh? Gustav though to himself, almost smirking to himself, but the pain only made him groan. 13 years...and I die like this...least...I...went...
Gustav's eyes were beginning to shut.
Fighting
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Meanwhile, a large wolfhound was scrambling about the forests, nose to the ground as he desperately sniff the ground.
The two of them had taken a bounty, but it seemed they had bitten off a little more then they could chew.
They were ambushed, but not before Ace sniffed them out and then flushed them. It made the fight easier, but that didn't mean it wasen't hard. Gustav had taken an arrow to his side, but was able to keep fighting. It was only the secound arrow hit him did he stagger, and that made Ace mad.
The man who shot the arrow immidiantly knew his mistake and took off running, Ace in pursit. Ace chased the man, but it would seem he had lost the hound by traversing through a river.
It was then Ace realized that Gustav hadn't followed him, and was sniffing around trying to regain Gustav's scent. He knew Gustav was hurt, and need his attention now more then ever.
But where was he?
The hound took only moments to give a howl, hopping Gustav would hear and come to him, or give a reply.
No luck, seemed like Ace ran a little to deep into the forest.
Ace's nose quickly went back down to the dirt, sniffing at the forest to see if he could retrace his steps back to the battle scene.
Holly wandered through the riverlands, searching for herbs to use. Persimmon, lakefern, miracle leaves... what else? Her thoughts were interrupted by a howl from behind her. Wolves? Here? Best I head back... She turned to go before picking up on a fainter sound- a whistle. She turned towards where it came from, and spotted dark splotches on the ground. Blood. She dashed off in that direction, searching the area for any sign of the victim. "Hello? Whoever you are, I'm coming!" She came across a man, unconscious and with two bloodied arrows in his side. "I'm too late..." She bent down, trying to see if she recognized him. Wait... he's breathing!" "Hold on!"
She began her work, first taking out some bandages and a vial of springwater, pouring it onto the wound before setting her sights on the arrows. She put her hands on the first one, and slowly began to pull it out.
(I was hoping that you'd drag this out a bit, removing a arrows from the body is a much more painful process then you are making it sound.)
{I edited my post, then}
(Thanks)
....
...
Pain!
The pain shot straight from his side and echoed through his body. The man's eyes flew open as his jaws dropped, an almost yell of pain came out of his mouth.
His free hand, previously resting to his side, quickly grabbed one of the arms trying to remove the arrows.
Gustav was in pain, all he could think to do was trying to stop it.
"H-hey,stop!" Holly released the arrow, trying to pry Gustav's hand off her arm. "I'm trying to help you!" Then she realized what must have happened. "I know it hurts, but just hold on...and please let me go."
The man let go nearly immediately after she was finished speaking, but one of his hands was holding the spot where one of the arrows was.
THe man stared at the girl for a about minute, breathing heavily as thoughts went through his head, before the hand near his sides fell away.
"Make it quick." he nearly whispered, his head falling to the side as he looked away from his injury.
"Ok." She put her hands on the first arrow again, and got ready to pull it out. "Brace yourself." Quickly, she pulled out the arrow, quickly grabbing for a vial of springwater to start cleaning the wound. "Just hold on..." She slowly poured it onto the wound. "Are you ready for the next one?"
THe man clenched his teeth as he felt the arrow coming out of his side, his hands grasping at the grass nearby.
When the arrow was finally out, Gustav began gasping for air as he felt water pour onto his wounds. He was now sweating a lot, trying to hold himself together as the pain kept emanating through his body.
"I...I...I can't" he breathed, still clutching the dirt.
Too much too fast! "I know it hurts, but you just have to pull through for just a little more!" She went back into her bag, pulling out an herbal smelling poultice. "Just a little more..." She put her hands onto the second arrow, preparing to pull it out.
No.Hang in there.No! Just one more pull. NOO!
Gustav's heart began to beat rapidly, as he tried to control his breathing. He felt arms shaking, as his hands were now in a fist, grabbing an entire fist full of dirt.
Gustav's head then began to bob a bit and his legs were now kicking out, as he felt the pain once more shoot through his body.
"Hang on!" She put her hands on his arms, trying to stop his flailing. However, Gustav was too powerful, and she instead began to rub the herbal mixture onto her laid out bandages."I'll wrap this up real quick, ok?" She expertly wrapped his side before stopping to take a breath. I'm hoping I dont need magic for this... but...
The pain began to subside slightly, Gustav's breath was starting to develop a regular pattern.
But his eyes began to slowly flutter close, the pain seemed to be making his conscious move for the light, as he muttered. "Ace...Ace...where...Ace..."
Wait, don't close your eyes! "Just a little longer..." She stood up and held her staff over the wound. It's pretty bad... I'm not nearly good enough to close it up completely... I should start taking away the pain- it seems unbearable. Holly mumbled something, and the staff began to glow, and she touched it to the wound. Exhausted by her efforts, she plopped down next to him. "I think you should be good for now...But who is Ace?"
A minute later after the staff touched his wound, Gustav was gasping for air.
He was now wide eyes, his eyes darting from the women in front of him to his wounds, surprised that it was healed.
Gustav took a minute to breath, looking at the ground, before he realized what the women said. "Ace!" he said in a bit of a panicky voice, as his head began to move about as if he was looking for something. "Ace, where did you go!"
"Hey, calm down! I may have healed you, but you still need to rest!" Holly moved back in front of Gustav. "Now, who is this Ace? I could help you look for them. And more importantly, what's your name?"
THe man looked over at the women, staring right in the eye. Closing his eyes, he was breathing a bit heavily now, before opening his eyes and said "My name is Gustav...Ace is my closest companion, I need to know where he is."
"What does he look like? He might've been injured as well..." She trailed off, hoping that she was wrong. If this Ace had been injured as badly as Gustav, he would be dead by now.
"I...I don't know." Gustav said as he held his head, he was sweating a little profoundly now. "We were ambushed, and when I was shot, he...went after my assiliant."
"I see..." She looked out into her surroundings for a minute, searching for any sign of life. "You seem kind of hot... I'll get you some water." Holly went over to her bag, taking out a small canteen. She handed it to Gustav. "Drink. You need some strength. Once you've recovered, we'll start looking for your companion."
Gustav grabbed the canteen and began to rapidly chug it. A few minutes later he had drained most of the canteen, pouring the rest of the canteen over his head.
He took a minute to breath, before he began to get up. He grabbed onto his crossbow, still with his back to the tree, Gustav managed to get out "let's...go."
"Hey! Are you sure...?" Holly watched the man get up. "We'll stick together then- you're obviously not in good shape. She began to glance around for any signs. "Hello? Ace? Are you out there?"
From behind her a high pitched whistle could be heard piercing the air. Gustav had his free hand in his mouth, and was whistling. His whistle echoed through the forest, but there was no response...
That must be some kind of signal... "You know,maybe we should stop for now.I know we've hardly started, but it's beginning to get dark, and there are wolves around, if what I heard earlier was any indication..." She shuddered, thinking of the chilling howl she'd heard.
"Wolves?..." Gustav muttered, but his mind was elsewhere. He took a step forward, before giving another high pictched whistle.
"Dammit!" He shouted in frustration. Clutching his fist tightly, he only looked down in defeat.
"Fine." He breathed out, before he slumped down into a sitting position, free hand on his head.
"Hey, don't worry... We'll find him." Holly began to rummage around for sticks in order to start a fire. "Perhaps he'll notice this and come! You can't give up hope!"
"I-I, I suppose." The man said. Gustav looked up, hand still in his hair, Before he stretched out his other hand and said "Here."" He was indicating for the stick.
"Okay then." She handed him the stick before beginning to rummage in her bag. "I don't have all that much, just a bit of bread and some salted beef... That's all right?" He doesn't looklike he has anything... Maybe Ace had their supplies?
Gustav was staring at the stick, for about a minute, before he got up onto his knees. He had the stick in a vertical position, and was spinning it with both of his hands. It took him a minute to realize that the women was talking to him. "Oh, um, that's fine." He was able to murmur out.
"Okay then." She glanced around again, hoping for a sign of something. She walked over and sat next to Gustav, the food in hand. "Here's yours, when you're ready."
Gustav managed to get a fire going, after a bit of effort and a little breath.
He then say back down, staring at the fire as it kindled and blossomed into fire.
Gustav say there, holding his knees but not saying a word.
He's pretty good at this... "So... do you camp a lot? You seem pretty good at this sort of thing." she started, trying to make conversion.
"Had to." Gustav said, not really looking up. "Not much of a choice after they...they chased us out of the country."