Turn and Face the Strange [DragonSong]

[MadEmperor]

As Kahroan returned to the other guards, the head guard gave him a curt nod and said, "Glad to see you in one piece. We're going to need those wings of yours to scout out the enemy."

"Actually," the dragonman interjected, "I've already sent my wolf to herd them into the open."

The head guardsman seemed dubious. "All by itself? Surely--"

The man stopped as three of the highwaymen scrambled into view. He barked a laugh. "Well, I'll be damned. Take 'em out, boys!"

Kahroan gave a thankful nod and took to the air. He flew towards the hillock as the guards charged forward. He landed behind the scrambling men and rumbled angrily. His spear swept through the air, slicing the nearest bandit across the back.

[DragonSong]

Without the element of surprise, and with half their group losing the advantage of cover, the bandits were at a sudden disadvantage. That didn't mean they were prepared to go down easy.

One of the riflemen got his weapon up and fired wildly into the air as Kahroan came in for a landing. Despite the fact that his shot seemed to go wide, River was on him in an instant, throwing her weight against his back to knock him flat and send the weapon skidding from his hands.

Paws on his shoulders, she snarled into his face, even as she checked in with a quick, Alright? He didn't get you?

[MadEmperor]

Kahroan was too busy to answer. He parried a bayonet strike with his spear and kicked the third rifleman to the ground. He thrust his spear towards the man's face, stopping with the tip right in front of his eyes. "Not even a scratch. So, I'd surrender if I were you."

[DragonSong]

The bandit froze in place, panting as he went a little cross-eyed staring at the spear in front of his face. He glanced up at Kahroan--clearly thrown but just what exactly he was looking at--then bared his teeth in something that was not quite a smile and not quite a snarl.

"Wouldja now, mate?"

Kah, behind you! River sprang passed him, slamming into the fourth bandit who had somehow managed to get his rifle up, aiming between Kahroan's shoulders.

The shot rang out just as River knocked into him and took him down, and she could only pray she'd been quick enough to knock his aim off.

[MadEmperor]

The bandit's aim was thrown off by the attacking wolf. The shot caught Kahroan in the right shoulder, right above the wing. He staggered forward with a roar of pain, but his strong draconic body wasn't so easy to incapacitate. In fact, when the bandit beneath him decided to act on the opportunity provided, the dragonman speared him first.

Only then, as his blood dripped onto the ground, did the hunter fall to his knees.

[DragonSong]

River's teeth met the bandit's throat, and she clamped down, then ripped away. She spun, not even waiting to confirm he was dead before looking to see how Kahroan had fared.

The other caravan guards seemed to have the situation in hand by that point, and for a moment she just saw the dragonman with his spear through the bandit he'd pierced, and there was a surge of relief.

And then he fell, and her stomach dropped.

The wolf lunged forward, paws skidding in blood—she didn't know whose—as she pressed to his side with a low whine.

Kahroan?

Damnit.

She let the wolf go, bracing one hand against his good shoulder and trying to keep a rising tide of panic under control. "Kah, look at me, yeah?"

[MadEmperor]

He turned his head, grimacing in pain. "So that's... what a bullet feels like." He seemed detached, dazed a little by the pain.

There was a bullet hole in his right pauldron, his blood trickling slowly down his side to soak into his brand new clothes. She couldn't know for sure without seeing the wound, but the slowing flow of blood suggested he'd live. After all, dragons were tough, even half-dragons. Besides, he'd been through far worse pain.

[DragonSong]

"Shit." River frowned and started working loose the clasp of her pauldron. "You're alright, you're gonna be fine," she told Kahroan, voice quick and a little sharp, betraying the worry clogging her throat. "Here, lemme see..."

Even if the wound itself wasn't fatal, she only saw one hole in his armor. Which meant the bullet was still in.

[MadEmperor]

The pauldron came off easily enough, revealing his bloody shirt. It was new and already had a hole in it. She would either have to cut it open or wait to get the rest of his armor off to be able to see the extent of the damage and extract the bullet. But what she could see didn't look that deep, his armor and scales having done a lot to slow the projectile.

"I can see why... everyone is so afraid of these things," he said, looking down at the punctured pauldron.

[DragonSong]

"Stars." River winced as she started working on the rest of his armor. "You're lucky you're alive," she snapped at him, then immediately winced. 

"I'm sorry," she whispered, ducking her head forward to rest her brow against his good shoulder for a brief moment. "That—gods, you scared me."

"Who in the hells are you?!"

Oh.

Right.

Shit.

River looked up at the approaching caravan guard. Rather than answering, she said quickly, "If we've got a spare healer we need 'em over here. Kahroan's been shot, bullet's still in his shoulder."

[MadEmperor]

"It's alright--" He winced as she moved his arm to get to the strap of his breastplate. "She's with me."

The young guardsman hesitated for a moment before running to fetch a healer.

Kahroan sighed regretfully. "No, I'm sorry. I let my guard down. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been so lucky."

[DragonSong]

"Well, luckily for us both I was there, I guess." She paused to cup his face in one hand, meeting his eyes. "I know you're tougher than the average hunter, but..." She sighed and let her brow touch his for a moment.

Then she shook herself and helped him get the breastplate off. By that point the guardsman had returned with the healer, whose hands were already bloody from tending to the wounded guards that had fallen in the first volley.

To her credit, the healer just gave River a quick, startled look before she set to work. "Alright, where were you shot? Shoulder?" she asked as she knelt next to them, shooing River away so she could look at the wound.

[MadEmperor]

Kahroan took a more seated position and shot River a reassuring look before answering, "Yes. The right shoulder."

When his shirt was removed, the state of the wound could finally be seen. It wasn't deep at all; the bullet faintly visible between his damaged scales. It was, however, still bleeding a bit too much for such a shallow wound. Any deeper, and he would have been in serious trouble.

He reached out with his good arm to lace his fingers through River's.

[DragonSong]

"You got lucky," the healer told him as she leaned in to peer at the wound. "Without that armor slowing the bullet down, this might've shattered bone. Here, this is gonna hurt like a right bastard."

She drew a small metal implement from a pouch at her hip and began extracting the bullet. River clutched at his hand in hers, a soft, inadvertent whine catching somewhere in the middle of her throat.

"Take it you were the wolf, then?" the healer asked abruptly, probably trying to keep them both distracted while she worked.

"Um, yeah." River swallowed. "We just figured...it was safer, traveling through Connlaoth as a shifter, if I just...pretended."

[MadEmperor]

Kahroan grunted in severe pain as the healer dug for the bullet. He squeezed River's hand almost tight enough to hurt.

"I apologize for the—gah!—deception. We meant no harm." He cried out as the bullet popped free. Blood immediately welled up in the wound, but not an alarming amount.

[DragonSong]

When he cried out, River lurched forward, automatically going on the defensive even though there was nothing to defend him from. She growled low in her throat, feeling useless and hating it. All she could do was squeeze his hand back.

"Hey, no skin off my nose," the healer said easily. "You may have to explain some shit to Zane, though. Might be a few coins off your pay."

She cleaned the wound, wrapped it, then rose back to her feet with a sigh. Now that Kahroan was settled--for the moment--River had the presence of mind to look up at her and ask, "Did we...did anyone...?"

The healer sighed again, the corners of her mouth turning down, and nodded. "The first lad hit. Went right through his lung. I managed to get the others stable, but...it was too late for him."

[MadEmperor]

"Such dreadful inventions." Kahroan sighed. He had tried to get to the lad, but the gunfire had made that impossible. Still, even knowing he couldn't have made a difference, he felt guilty for running for cover instead of helping. It felt dishonorable to leave a comrade to die alone. But he would never regret choosing River's safety first.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't get to him. It was all I could do to get River and myself out of the line of fire."

[DragonSong]

"Wasn't your fault, nothing you could have done," the healer said briskly, with the kind of tight control to her voice that made River think this wasn't the first time she'd lost someone on a trade crossing. "When you're up to it, get back to the wagons. We'll probably be pulling ourselves together for the next hour or so."

River nodded, but she was still more worried about Kahroan. "How do you feel?" she asked quietly as the healer walked away. Her eyes searched his face.

"...It wasn't your fault," she told him, wondering if she was reading his expression correctly. "You couldn't have saved him."

[MadEmperor]

"I know that, I..." He looked away for a moment, fighting back the worst of the irrational shame. "I just can't help but wonder if I missed something, you know? Or even if that's the real curse, to have this power and still feel helpless."

He leaned over to nuzzle her arm, not unlike a riding dragon asking their rider for affection or perhaps a snack. "Or... perhaps that's just the cost of caring again."

[DragonSong]

"Easy." River shifted to properly wrap an arm around him, careful of the bandaging. She returned the nuzzle with one to his cheek, then let her brow rest against his temple. "You've a good heart," she told him quietly. "I think it's just not used to...feeling again, yet."

She pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, then got to her feet with a sigh. "We'd better be getting back. Guess I need to explain myself a bit..."