Charlie gently pushed at the sludge in her small pewter cauldron, her gold eyes surveying the scene before her. She said nothing, and the gentle hiss of the flame under her potion-making kit echoed around the massive, bloodstained marble chamber. Aros lay flat on his back, seemingly unresponsive, but Charlie knew he was asleep since she could hear his sharp and shallow breaths as he struggled with his broken rib. She shut her eyes, let loose a gentle sigh and pushed herself to her feet.
The duo had slipped in and out of consciousness for an unknown length of time, perhaps a few hours, maybe even a day at most. All Charlie could figure out was the time from the sun which perpetually hung in the sky, no matter when or where she woke up. Initially, Charlie could scarcely remember what had happened as a foggy, senseless daze hung over her thoughts. She knew she had lost a lot of blood – a very dangerous amount of blood – and she had a feeling that Aros was not holding up too well either, with his bitten shoulder and broken rib being the most prominent and worrying wounds. What started as gibberish, however, soon began to sort itself out into more coherent thoughts. She remembered the water and herbs that Aros had managed to find on his own and then...a blur, before she opened her eyes and everything became much more stable.
Charlie never liked her curse, but it did have its benefits. A wild animal could not simply curl up and award themselves months of bed rest and recovery; survival instincts kicked in and that innate endurance which she shared with her inner demon allowed her to function and think clearly, but Charlie knew that she was moving with borrowed time. Whilst medically stable, neither Charlie nor Aros could hope to recover at all in this place. It was imperative that the two of them returned back to Charlie's shack in Eastway Bluff so she could use one of her potions back there to restore Aros back to full health. When she knew that she was able to stand, Charlie pulled on her coat over her torn and ragged body and immediately went outside to look for any medicinal herbs – what she found was a small sprig of Bitterwort and some Fenleaf.
The gentle popping of the cauldron brought Charlie back to the present; Bitterwort was undeniably the worst-tasting plant Charlie ever had the displeasure of putting into her mouth, but it was nothing short of a small miracle. Increasingly common around the riverbeds of Evertrue, this unassuming little plant would be enough to produce a very simple (and incredibly unpleasant) rejuvenation potion when boiled and turned into a revolting brown sludge. Whilst it was not enough to heal the wounds of the adventuring team, Charlie knew that it would provide enough strength to their bodies to hopefully make it back to Eastway in one piece – provided the flying horse was as patient as it was when she arrived in this godsforsaken sanctum. As for the Fenleaf...truly, it held no purpose whatsoever in their current state as it cured nausea, but Charlie knew she would need it the moment she moved into the air so she picked some anyway. It currently rested in her pocket.
A sort of emotional numbness – her familiar and sickening hollow feeling – had washed over Charlie as soon as she gained coherent thought. It was inevitable that, eventually, this hollowness would shrink back and the emotional repercussions of nearly ripping Aros into ribbons would hit her full force but she could not think about that she would not I cannot allow myself to think about that now. Not while he's wounded. I'm going to save his life and then deal with the aftermath myself. Charlie limped over to the pile of treasure and picked through it with indifference; did they really risk so much for all this? What could she do with the gold? Where could she keep it, how would she get it back? Did it really matter so much to her? Perhaps not, came that cynical voice in her head, but it mattered to Aros so you better find a way to bring it back too.
Charlie pulled at a large, slightly rectangular but very ornate shield in the middle of the heap whilst her train of thought drifted away again. Aros Vilren, the mightiest adventurer Charlie ever met. The sole survivor of a battle with Remsworth, albeit barely. There was a moment during her lucidity when she genuinely considered tending to his injuries and then leaving, running away from this dark elf to spare him from any other torment that she might inflict on him, but she knew better now. No, I do know you Aros – you'd laugh if I suggest it and proceed to get into more danger whether I am there or not. Their fates were linked; after just one day, Charlie learnt more about Aros than she had about any other person – and, much to her dislike, he learnt more than he should have about Charlie as well. At least, Charlie thought it was a day. How long has it been again? She shook her head – it did not matter. She was trapped; any attempt to leave Aros now would cause enough guilt to risk a permanent transformation, and Charlie simply could not risk such a thing, so she had to stay with Aros. It had nothing to do with the fact she could not have any friends without accidentally killing them along the way, nor did it have anything to do with his infectious good humour which somehow managed to briefly alleviate the dense smog of her depression, and it certainly had nothing to do with the fact that if she kept this up she may even find a cure to her lycanthropy.
Practical. It was all practicality. She had to stay with Aros because if she did not she risked her life.
Charlie carried the shield back with ease; it was light and felt like a perfect fit on her arm. Slowly, carefully, Charlie slid the shield under Aros' back, hesitating whenever she perceived that he may be in pain. Afterwards, she cooled the potion and poured it into two glass vials and waved one of them under Aros' nose, hoping that the reeking smell of ammonia would bring him back to his senses.
"Wake up."
Charlie sounded as hollow as she felt; this was nothing like the Charlie who burbled about hypovolemic shock and spoke gently and quietly to Aros as she desperately tried to fix his injuries. The change in demeanour was impossible to overlook. She tipped back one of the little glass vials into her mouth and shuddered at the indescribably bitter taste and felt the bitterness seep into her muscles and reduce the burning ache in them. "Sit up slowly...that shield should hold your chest in place, but be careful," she ordered, pouring another vial for herself. "Drink," she added firmly.
She was not so blunt as to force Aros into moving right away, and instead busied herself by counting the gold on the treasure pile. She did, however, talk – and every syllable was as blank and emotionless as the one that came before it. "Here's the plan. We can't take all of this, we don't have enough space and I'm sure your Pegasus won't be able to handle the extra weight for a whole trip back. And I don't think we're in the state to have to land at anywhere that isn't Eastway."
397, 398, 399, 400..."So I'm thinking we take 1000 gold, anything we can wear, and I have space in my bag for...oh, I don't know, these two cups." She idly picked out 2 chalices and slipped a gold ring onto her finger. "We can sell those and get some more gold if we need it. But the money's not the issue at the moment, is it?" The look she gave to Aros confirmed that, indeed, it was not the issue at the moment.
Charlie pushed a pile of gold away from the heap of treasure. "You need that rib fixed. As in, you needed it fixed a good few hours ago and I'm surprised your lung hasn't popped. I have the materials at home to fix it – Gods know I've broken more than a few bones in my lifetime, and I'm not stupid. So we're going home, and we're going to do that in one trip."
"That potion – drink some more – is probably enough to stop your lungs from being shredded when that Pegasus takes off, but I can't say it won't be painful. And here's the risky part...we need to get back in one go, no exceptions. And I'll be honest; I'm scared you'll black out if we hit a bump." Charlie stood up and swayed a little in the process, feeling the myriad of cuts on her arms stretch painfully and threaten to rip back open. She looked down at Aros and her expression softened, falling dead silent, her brain clearly going into overdrive as she tried desperately to think of another option. There has to be some other way, I don't want to hurt him any more...
Charlie rubbed at her face, shaking her head. When she spoke, her voice was heavier with regret. "The only way I can think of is if you loop the reins behind you so I can hold them too; I can't sit in the front, if you pass out or get badly hurt you might fall off. At the very least, you can control the horsebird with the reins and if you can't, I can hold onto you and the beast and try to navigate. I-...I'm sorry Aros, but we don't have -...we need to get back. You need medical attention and I can't give that to you here, there aren't enough supplies."
Charlie said nothing about her own state; yes, the slashes had hardened into long dark red lines across her shoulders and arms, but she knew that if she overworked herself and any of those wounds split again then she'd lose even more blood, which was certainly the last thing she needed. Still, she rather pointedly avoided to mention this to Aros; as far as Charlie was concerned, his health was far more important. Charlie considered herself to be somewhat expendable, but not him. As an afterthought, she corked her rejuvenation potion and pushed it into her pocket with the Fenleaf, just in case.
Charlie approached Aros, crouched down to the best of her abilities and held out an arm to help him to his feet.
