Summer & Spellbooks

[Cross]

"N-no, no..." he replied.

Victiore wasn't surprised, but she needed to get something in him. Water was the best option. "Well, I think you should try to drink a little--" But he cut her off.

"Thank you, Victiore," he added as he took the compress from the mouse. "I'm sorry I put you through this."

She shook her head, rummaging in her bag for a little canteen she always carried. "No need to be sorry," she replied simply, dipping the container into the stream to fill it. "It-it was not your fault . . ." She trailed off, bringing the canteen back over to him. "Here, you-you need to stay hydrated. Don't drink too fast, just keep sipping it."

She wondered if he would be okay on his own. She needed to make that salve, but Nik was still in bad condition. Perhaps if she just staunched the bleeding and kept the wound clean, it would give him enough time to recover slightly, at least emotionally. Then, in about twenty minutes or so, she could go hunting for those herbs and not have to worry about Nik's wounds getting worse.

[Promatera]

"No need to be sorry," "It-it was not your fault . . ."

Victiore brought the canteen to his mouth, but he was reluctant to drink. However, he acquiesced and took the canteen as he drank. His thoughts were disorganized and it was difficult to focus on drinking the water.

"Here, you-you need to stay hydrated. Don't drink too fast, just keep sipping it."

He nodded and sipped very slowly from the canteen. Bon Vaygan could feel his heartbeat returning to normal, but the memories evoked haunted his mind.

"Victiore...that weasel was a murderer," he spoke absent-mindedly. As he spoke his gaze remained fixed on the stream. "I-I saw what he did to these otters..." he added, but could not finish. Speaking his mind gave him a sort of catharsis, but it was difficult to explain his experiences; especially this one.

"N-never mind," he continued, a shudder spreading through his body.

[Cross]

"Victiore...that weasel was a murderer," he spoke absent-mindedly. As he spoke his gaze remained fixed on the stream. "I-I saw what he did to these otters..."

Victiore said nothing. She didn't want to keep him on an emotional high for so long. It wasn't good for him. But if he wanted to justify his actions to her, he didn't need to. She honestly didn't have much say in the matter. She was glad the feral was gone, but it wasn't her place to judge Nik.

"N-never mind," he continued, a shudder spreading through his body.

She nodded in agreement, biting her lip. Her biggest concern right now was that Nik was okay. And he was staying hydrated. That was important, too. But she needed to make the salve. And yet he still seemed to need some company. "Are you feeling any better?" she asked after a few minutes.

[Promatera]

Victiore nodded. Concern was visible on her face, but she remained silent.

"Are you feeling any better?"

Bon Vaygan did not respond for a moment. He absorbed the question and reflected on it for a moment. Was he feeling better? He nodded and shuddered. He did feel better, but was that a good thing?

"Y-yes, I will be fine," he replied massaging his temples.

Bon Vaygan's thoughts had subsided, but a strong melancholy had replaced them. He felt depressed.

"Sorry, if you need to get anything you can go ahead," he added, "I won't be going anywhere soon." Sighing he laid back on his back and looked up at the sky.

[Cross]

"Y-yes, I will be fine," he replied massaging his temples.

Didn't sound like it. But Victiore said nothing, only nodding wordlessly. Nik was in a state of shock, and on top of that, he was hurt. But she had to get that salve. . . And an antidepressant while she was at it.

"Sorry, if you need to get anything you can go ahead," he added, "I won't be going anywhere soon."

Victiore nodded again, gathering a few extra cloth sacks from her bag. "I'll be back as soon as I can," she said and scurried off.

((Hey, I can add to my post if you'd like, but where do you want to go with this thread? Just curious.))

[Promatera]

"I'll be back as soon as I can," she said and scurried off.

Bon Vaygan nodded and returned to cloud gazing. Just above him was a large fluffy cloud that was in an odd shape. Bon Vaygan tilted his head as he searched for some sort of semblance to anything. He never cloud gazed before, but something about the cloud's shape was familiar.

Then it hit him like Nik had in the barn.

The cloud was shaped like a young otter. Not any young otter, however, an otter he had seen on the worst night of his life. The young otter was looking at his mother with lost, innocent eyes before she threw him into the river to protect him from the horde. That gaze had been ingrained in his mind since that night and the cloud brought back the memory of the young otter.

What had happened to him? Was that otter still alive today? He may never know for sure, but he would have to be careful if he ever did. That otter would probably seek revenge against those who separated him from his parents, but his revenge would be misguided. The horde would never have known about the otter's holt had a traitor amongst them brought it to their attention. If it were not for that traitor, the holt would have been completely safe.

Bon Vaygan shuddered, the memories of the night were too awful to relive again and he turned away from the sky. Would Victiore be back soon? He should probably tell her who he really was at this point.

((OOC: Alrighty Jan, I just wanted to establish that connection there between the 'young otter' and Bon Vaygan. Now the thread can be pretty much finished if you would like. Now that Bon Vaygan and Victiore know and work together it could cause some interesting situations XD))

[Cross]

Victiore wandered through Mossflower, trying to find the plants she would need for the salve. Oh, raspberries, where were they? She nearly tripped down an incline, but managed to keep her balance. Oh . . . there were the plants she needed.

She returned to the stream almost the minutes after she'd gone. The plants had been at the bottom of the incline, of course. So most of that ten minutes had been spent trying to negotiate the steepness. Wordlessly, she sat down near the cloud-gazing weasel, beginning to make the salve.

When she was about halfway done, she looked up at him, offered a small smile. Tilting her head, she asked, "How do you feel?"

((More shortness, sorry.))

[Promatera]

"How do you feel?"

Bon Vaygan snapped to attention and turned to Victiore. He had lost himself in thought so he had failed to notice her return.

"Well...I'm managing," he replied. Bon Vaygan lifted himself from the floor and kept his gaze away from Victiore's. "Were you able to find anything?"

Bon Vaygan was set on telling Victiore everything. Just coming clean so that he could feel better than how he felt. However, he did not want to just explain everything now. He needed to make sure that Victiore would not overreact with what he would tell her, and he felt now was not quite the time. However, a voice at the back of his head was telling him he should tell her now. Conflicted, he decided to just put off telling her the truth for now.

[Cross]

"Well...I'm managing," he replied. Bon Vaygan lifted himself from the floor and kept his gaze away from Victiore's. "Were you able to find anything?"

Victiore nodded, finishing up the salve. She leaned towards him, trying to catch his eye. "I'll . . . need you to look at me, please, Nik," she murmured softly. She couldn't reach his wounds if he was facing away from her. Tapping him gently on the arm, she tried to turn his face towards hers.

Offering another smile, the mousemaid got a little of the salve on one of her numerous cloth bags. She began spreading it lightly over his wounds, dabbing it on the torn, tender flesh with the greatest care. Once she was done, she wet the cloth bag, rinsing the extra bits of the elixir off, and gave it back to him so he could keep the cool rag on the wound.

[Promatera]

((OOC: I'm honestly idea'd out of where to take this thread now so I'm gonna work on wrapping it up XD Also I should throw major props to you for being able to consistently recognize that Bon Vaygan is still Nik to Victiore XD))

"I'll . . . need you to look at me, please, Nik," she murmured softly.

'Nik' nodded and turned to face Victiore. The first thing he noticed was her smile. It completely disarmed Bon Vaygan and for a moment he forgot what he had just done. From her smile, Bon Vaygan found hope. Perhaps he could forget killing, maybe he could find a troupe to work with, suppose he finally found an audience for his work, what if he finally found his dad?

Victiore dabbed the salve onto Bon Vaygan's rent face. A cool sensation helped the pain subside. Victiore rinsed a rag and handed it to him so he could keep his wound undisturbed. She may not be a witch, but Victiore could treat a beast as if she knew some sort of magic art.

Bon Vaygan wanted to return her smile, but his gaze fell. He felt as though 'hope' was not something for him right now.

"I should probably leave your company," he sighed, "I'm sorry to put you through this mess."

His normal vanity had left as a sort of depression replaced it.