01-09-06

Characters involved: Keita & Vansinnig.

Halyard Tavern: Sleeping Chamber

Small for a badger though he may be, Vansinnig is still a sizeable fellow. Therefore, two beds have been pushed together to accommodate the badly injured badger. Fortunately for him, he's looking less like a mummy with each passing day, as some wounds heal enough to be left open to the air. The more serious injuries are still thoroughly wrapped up, however. Keita is tending to one such wound at the moment, peeling back bandages as delicately as possible to examine the wound.

Vansinnig shifts suddenly, groaning slowly, his voice thrumming and thick from mis-use. He blinks once, staring in confusion about him, muttering swiftly under his breath, his teeth clicking together once or twice. "Hmmm, wha-? Th' gates. Where're th' gates?" He grunts again, breathing deeply. "Should be darker too. Dun't...call it DarkForest fer nothin'."

The corner of the bandages she peels is allowed to settle back down over rent flesh. It takes Keita a moment while tingly relief washes over her, but she does manage to smile. The bandages are once again peeled back, and she ducks her head, waving her free hand to the side, to the lanterns and candles about the room. "Flickery lights. 'Tis the best I could come up with s'far as forebodin' goes."

Vansinnig snuffles, then tries to move. "Eh? Who's there?" He squints into the gloom. "Keit?" The pain suddenly hits him. He hisses harshly through clenched teeth, bucking slightly, trying to curl in on himself. "Why...didn't ya let me die, eh?" His voice is strained, and hoarse. The wounds send flashes of pain over him in waves. Bile wells up in the back of his throat, but he swallows it. "No rest fer the wicked, eh?"

Keita leaves off with what she's doing, instead leaning across him to press him back down at the shoulders. "Shh-shh-shhhh.... try not t' move. It was hard 'nough to get you t' stop bleedin' the first time." She doesn't release him just yet. "If you'll stay still, I'll get ya somethin' for the pain."

Vansinnig frowns. "Didn't..." he pauses to heave a deep breath. "Didn't answer m' question, Kieta. Why'd ya let me live. The wicked dun't get their justice now? That the...new world rule, 're somethin'?" He snorts softly, as if drained of energy. "Ferget the pain stuff. Jus' mix in some wolfsbane in some water and give it t' me, eh?"

Keita rolls her eyes and stands. She moves over to a table and sorts through a myriad of bottles. Finding the one she wants, she goes about pouring out some of its contents onto a bit of parchment, measuring off a small amount. The rest are brushed back into the bottle. She carries the parchment - with the powdery green substance folded in the center of it, back over to Vansinnig. She holds it to his lips, ready to tilt. "Say 'ahhh'."

Vansinnig stares down at the parchment, and between clenched teeth, he mutters. "What is it?" Then, as if he really doesn't care, he opens his mouth, allowing Keita to administer it. "Yer wastin' yer time in the end, Keita."

Keita tilts the powder in and sits back. "Would ya believe me if I said wolfsbane?" She smiles, but tiredly. "Mayhaps I am, but why miss out on all the fun? Yer a rathah odd patient, y'know. Nevah seen anythin' quite like it."

"Like it? Like me?" Van grunts. "I have no 'dea what yer talkin' bout." He tries to stir slightly in the bed, but then wilts into the pillow again. "Phwa. No energy."

Keita rolls her eyes, her leg tucking beneath the stump of the other. It's not nearly as awkward as it sounds. "You've been out for a week, y'know. It'll be a while longah before you're up 'n' about again."

Vansinnig snarls at this...then coughs, the snarl trailing off. "I bet I'll be up within a few days." He grunts, propping himself up on his elbow, before staring at Keita. "Ya keep avoiding the question. Why did'ja ya save me, eh?" He wheezes out another cough, but it is quickly stifled. "Ya got friends in tha' mountain. I was tryin' ta kill those friends. Ya should be my enemy." He breathes heavily, his chest moving in and out painfully. "Ya confuse me. I hate bein' confused."

Keita scowls as Van props himself up. "Wouldja lay back down! Goin' to ruin all my work." She shakes her head, 'tsking' softly. "Why'd I save ya? Just have t' know, huh?" She smiles thinly. "It's really not that interestin'."

Vansinnig strains to hold himself up. "Bleedin' heart, Keita. It'll get ya killed." However much it hurts to hold himself up, he stays almost rock steady. "Ya shouldn't feel pity for the bloodied. Y'should get rid of them. I ain't worth this. You know that. Why waste yer time? Jus' get on with yer life." Touching the bandages for the first time, he lets a long breath filter from his nose. "Yer bein' unwise, ya know."

Up until this point, Keita's eyes had wandered, both around the room and over him, keeping a watchful eye on his wounds even from this distance. Now, though, her eyes lock onto his. "I saved you because they were tryin' to murdah you. They were out there, howevah many against one, with the sole intent of endin' yer life. Why? Because they think they have the righ'." Finally her eyes drop. "I don't think they do."

Vansinnig stared at her, before barking short and harsh, with the intent reason of bringing her eyes up again. He was frowning. "If'n I see yer eyes goin' somewhere else one more time, I'm gonna...gonna...." He shrugged as he trailed off. "Listen ta me. D'ya know what sort of beast I am? D'ya know what sort of things I've done? Course ya do. You -know- I woulda killed all of yer li'l friends if I had a chance. Unfortunately, they alw'ys tend to travel in groups." That was sort of half-serious. "There shoulda been justice out in th' battle-field. I shoulda died with the chain in m' hands. I thought mebbe if I got t' the DarkForest, I wouldn't have ta worry about the smell of blood, the taste a gore, and the images of rent flesh. Mebbe..." he smirked, "Gotten away from m' shame too."

She does indeed look up, but her eyes aren't wide and they aren't nervous. Just grim. "First things first. Where'd you get the idea that they were m'friends?" Okay, so maybe some of them are, but... "And... what makes you think I care what kind o' beast ya are? All I /need/ t' know is that... /you're/ a friend. And - shut up. You c'n say I'm not. That's fine. /You/ are."

Vansinnig pauses at this, then gives a short, unenthusiastic laugh. "Heh." Finally, he lowers himself. "You've got a strange philosophy, Keit. I don't unnerstand you." Glancing down at his wounds, he grunts angrily. "Lookit this. This is...this was...it was wrong a me ta kill, eh? D'ya think? It was wrong a me to try to kill, hm? Wot d'ya think?"

"They would've killed you if you hadn't." The doe shrugs in a 'these, they are the facts' sort of way. She pauses, then, ears flicking thoughtfully. "Othah times, though? Yeah. Wrong." She grins.

Vansinnig tilts his maw at her, watching her critically. "And yer fine with that? I find it hard ta believe."

Keita blinks, her arms uncrossing as she sits forward. "Okay with what? Killin' bein' wrong? Yeah, um. I'm a-okay with tha', you goof." Pause. "With you defendin' yourself? Yeah."

Vansinnig waves his paw, then watches his claws, before gripping and ungripping it, trying to work some strength into it. "No. Sometimes, not in defense. Sometimes, jus' cuz I wanted ta see some blood. Yer foolin' yerself if'n ya don't think that's wrong. -I- think it's wrong." He frowns, before letting his paw drop, before turning back to her. "Mebbe I wanna change. Mebbe I don't. I dunno. It's hard ta surrender a set way of life."

Keita's brow wrinkles, but she doesn't drop her eyes. Because, really. Who wants to hear the badger do that barking thing again? "Hard, aye, but not impossible..." She shrugs, a tad awkwardly. "I figure it takes more energy t' act than not t' act."

Vansinnig can't help but chuckle harshly at that, before gasping as pain hits at the sudden motion. "I spent m' entire tryin' to do something wicked, and ya say it's possible." He laughs again, but quieter. "Surprisingly, I trust ya. Why?" He heaves a sigh. "Never really had a good friend, ya know. Or a honest friend. But I think yer both. Mebbe that's why."

"Mayhaps." A small smile, which would be more pleased if the conversation wasn't so somber. "Mayhaps just so we c'n sleep at night. Mayhaps that's reason enough." She puts her one leg down, scooching her chair forward and a bit closer to Vansinnig's bedside.

Vansinnig glanced briefly at her missing leg. "Still can't believe that happened." Turning away, he stared at the ceiling. "Blast, but I feel so useless in 'ere." Then, he changes his mind again. He seems a bit confused. "D'ya think I should change, eh? D'ya think I could? Then wha'? Wha' would I do with myself, eh?"

Keita eyes Vansinnig appraisingly for a moment. "Bet you'd make one hell o' a blacksmith." Though, she smiles. If she's not wise-cracking, she's not Keita. "Then again, that little chain thing ya do, that'd make one hell o' a circus act." Ahem. She nods, firmly. "I think you could. Should, if it means enough t'you."

Vansinnig snorts. "M' father was a blacksmith. I tried it. I ain't artistic like 'at." The word circus isn't even deemed worthy to pass his lips. "I dunno if it means so much ta me. Should it? I dunno why it should. Wanna gimme a reason?"

Keita rests her chin in paw, considering the ceiling. Reasons, reasons, reasons. Finally, she looks back down, eyebrows raised. "Because it means enough t'you that it's even a possibility? Means enough t'you that you're actually /thinkin'/ about it? /I/ didn't do that, /I/ didn't put the idea there. I've made it abundantly clear that it won't change how I feel about ya one way or anothah, 'n' yet you keep on. Mayhaps you ought to be consultin' yourself for that reason."

Vansinnig flicks his eyes back at the ceiling. "Yer right. Yer alw'ys doin' that." He mutters something to himself. Then, he sighs. "I think.....I could do it. I ain't perfect though. You'll help me?" He holds out his scratched paw to her. "Righ'? Dunno if'n I can do it by m'self."

Initially, she seems almost embarrassed by the extended paw. But she doesn't leave him like that for long, her paw reaching across the distance and grasping his larger paw firmly with her own. "I'll help ya. 'Course I'll help ya."

Vansinnig smirks, careful not to grip to hard. Even in his weakened state, that might cause some damage. "I'll count on ya then, eh?" He releases her paw, then sighs into his pillow. "D'ya mind if I sleep agin? I'm gettin' tired." He sighs deeply, but it's more of a content breath. "Thanks, Keita."