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A Journey for Peace

Ostus got to work treating Kiara the best he could, weighing the pros and cons on pushing through with this journey on his mind. If he could find a doctor for her, she could be treated properly, get some rest, and then they could start the trip anew. But after coming this far, could they journey back here again? What if they were attacked again with a worse outcome? The mountain trail was long and somewhat strenuous, but not unmanageable. It didn't involve heavy climbing or using ropes to get across, especially now with lack of snow. He wouldn't have picked the route otherwise if he thought the princess wouldn't make it under normal circumstances. Still, her injury changed things... they would have to move slower, more carefully; they'd arrive later than planned.

With the wound clean and the blood gone, Kiara's shoulder didn't look quite as bad. He knew she needed stitches, but he had no needle and thread to perform the task. This made their push to Berinike all the more important. For now, he would have to keep giving her clean scraps of cloth to pack the wound and hope for the best.

"We'll continue to Berinike in the morning," he finally agreed with reluctance, "though I don't fucking like it." He did not want to lose another friend to this war.

Friend... when did Ostus truly consider Kiara a friend? She made it well-known that she disliked him, and it was infuriating to argue with her. At the same time, she was very fun to be around when she was relaxed. He thought her intelligent, beautiful, and as he recently discovered, very capable of taking care of herself. He could easily learn to truly respect her; already she was leagues apart from many soldiers he had met and most women. Perhaps it was a good thing that he was completely out of her league -- he was a mere soldier, no one of any importance to any kingdom, and someone she wasn't interested in. He'd be more tempted to pursue her otherwise, despite the fighting...

With the immediate threat of her safety subdued for now, it was hard for Ostus to keep his gaze on Kiara to the wound. He had given her a blanket to cover up with, though her shoulders were still exposed. Had she ever been touched? Had she ever been with anyone? He had assumed no, for a princess's intact 'virtue' was part of her appeal, but considering she was more rough around the edges than even some common women, he wasn't so sure anymore.

And the scar across her chest... where did she get that? He wanted to ask her about it, but after everything else that happened in their day, he didn't want to end the night in another argument with her. He wasn't sure if she was up to talking at that moment anyway. So he kept quiet, finished up, and bowed to her once more, highlighting without knowing it the distances between them with that gesture. "I'll be sitting just outside your tent through the whole night," he informed in a gentle tone. "Not even a fucking ant will get in here without getting through me. Try to get some sleep; it's going to be a bitch of a journey tomorrow."

A Journey for Peace

That's fine... I'm still trying to peg Ostus. Right now, he's far more responsible than I expected him to be, but this is fine. Hoping he'll do better with "heroics" in future action sequences. But yes, he and Kiara are a good match :) Now we gotta add more characters to stir things up a little before they get too far ahead of themselves, mwahaha...

A Journey for Peace

Haha!

There are many different scenarios we could plot out as well, once we're in Berinike.

A Journey for Peace

Sounds good to me :) Moving the story a long, yay. I'm the type of person that if I don't watch it, there'll be well over a few dozen posts dedicated to the same scene, lol... Or the same day, at least. So it's good that you're keeping the pace going :)

A Journey for Peace

Gonna head to bed. Poor Ostus, he's not sure what's wrong with her, and only knows vaguely how to treat her. I'm kinda in the same boat, lol! My ex has had dislocated shoulders before, but I'm assuming from her open wound that this is not a dislocated shoulder (how would a stabbing dislocate a shoulder anyway? Unless the pressure was that enormous, then ouch) and is something far more permanent... poor Kiara :( Or it could not be and she'll be fine after a while. Who knows! We shall find out in time, hehe... Makes for good drama, though!

Hopefully my fast few posts haven't been too lame for ya for this reason :p

With that said, good night *bows*

A Journey for Peace

Ostus didn't like Kiara's pleas at all. Traveling while healthy would be hard enough as it is; he was not sure how they'd make the trip as she was. He was glad that her arm wasn't somehow broken, but her numbness bothered him. He gently pressed his fingers around her shoulder, thinking that perhaps it was dislocated, pinching a nerve, and that setting it back and place would solve their problems. The more he felt around, the more that seemed unlikely. Her nerves must have been severed... this would not end well for her.

"Kiara, the bastards at Berinike can wait," he murmured, saddened to see her so desperate. How ironic that that she could only show him affection at her lowest point, when he couldn't enjoy it. "I'm sure they don't want a sick bride-to-be in their hands."

He sighed heavily, listening to her insistence to move on. He wanted to agree with her, to move forward, to get this entire experience over and done with, but what if Kiara didn't survive the trip?

Tentatively, he lifted the shirt from her wound. It had absorbed a lot of blood, but the bleeding seemed to slow. Good, at least there was that. He pressed the shirt back against the wound, then gently drew Kiara's free hand to it, showing her without words to take over in applying pressure.

"I'm going to get a fire started," he said in a tired voice. All of this worry was emotionally draining, "get some water boiling. We need to disinfect that wound. I have some clean shirts; I'll tear them up for bandages. We'll see if your shoulder's merely dislocated. You better pray you don't get an infection..." He neither confirmed or denied pushing forward to Berinike. He hoped that after a little rest, Kiara would come to her senses and agree to see a doctor.

A Journey for Peace

Ostus was prepared to say more, but stopped himself short when he realized that Kiara was in the middle of undressing. "O-oh, sorry," he mumbled, his immediate instinct to back out of the tent, but he hesitated...

Though he did note the scar across her chest, it wasn't his current focus; he'd address that later. Right now, he was worried about the wound on her shoulder... it looked far worse than he initially thought. "Oh, Kiara," he whispered, unable to hide the tightness of worry in his voice. He approached her slowly, squinting and frowning at her injury. He was no doctor. Pour liquor on an open wound to disinfect it. Apply pressure to stop the bleeding. If it won't stop bleeding, cauterize the wound. Then, take the injured to a doctor. They had barely started the tough part of their journey, and this had to happen.

He managed to tear his gaze from the wound when Kiara addressed him. Like the scar, he would address the point she finally called him by name later. Right now, he was too distracted by the panic in her voice and the desperation in her eyes.

Ostus had never felt so helpless, and it was rare for him to feel this scared. He swallowed back his own rising panic... her arm was numbing, so what did that mean? Nerve damage? He had no idea what to do about that. Most soldiers with numb limbs he never saw again after they were whisked away to the nearest doctor. There were no villages along the mountain path; they would either have to turn back to find a nearest doctor or push on to Berinike.

Ostus licked his lips anxiously, struggling to keep calm. It would not do Kiara any good for him to panic. "I'm not a doctor," he murmured apologetically, "but I've seen many people hurt... can you move your arm at all?" With all the blood, he couldn't quite tell if the bone was broken or not. He looked around, grabbed her shirt, and scooted closer; it was folly to continue to allow the blood to flow from her arm like this. "Try to move your arm. I'm gonna press this against your wound to try to stop the bleeding. It may or may not hurt like a bitch; I don't know the extent of your numbness."

He took a deep breath, knowing it was not good to hesitate on things like this; he'd lose his nerve otherwise. He reached around to steady the back of her shoulder with one hand, using the other to press her shirt against the wound.

A Journey for Peace

Alrighty... I want to be clear about Kiara's shoulder issue before I respond:

The excessive bleeding and numbness in her arm is due to a severed artery? Or no? Or is the numbness due to a broken shoulder and she's simply bleeding a lot?

I don't want to think the worst and have Ostus do the extreme when it wasn't really that bad to begin with, hehe

Unless you're leaving that up to me to interpret and decide upon...

A Journey for Peace

Ostus rocked back on his heels from Kiara's push. It wasn't enough to sent him sprawling, but the meaning behind it had his mind reeling. She was still feeling the effects of what happened... and she was blaming him for it.

"You would have died had you not killed them!" Ostus roared back, suddenly angry. Why was it that every time he tried to do something nice for her, she threw it back in his face? "You saw how that one fucktard kept moving despite having the shit beat out of him. I should have ran him through with my sword when I had the chance. If you hadn't killed them, they would have killed you!" He seethed. "Of course I know killing isn't amazing! I've been through enough battles and watched too many of my friends die to know that there's nothing good about it! What is amazing is that you saved my life! You, the princess, saved a seasoned soldier's life! In my experience, saying you were amazing is the very least I can do to express my gratitude. But go ahead, blame me for having killed some fuckers obviously out to attack you. If not for me, you would have been dead before the first night!"

He cursed under his breath and left the tent, pacing just outside of it as he struggled to calm down. He felt like he was moving one step forward and two steps back with her; how was he to protect her when she was like this? He began to wonder if he had made a bad choice in accepting this assignment, if perhaps another guard would have been more suitable for the likes of her. He usually didn't doubt himself like this, which made him angrier that she put him in this mental state. Since when did emotional connection factor into a job like this? He just needed to get her to where she needed to go, dump her there, then return home. They didn't need to like each other for that. So why did her retort bother him so much?

He sighed, his shoulder slumping as the speed of his pace slowed. He had to remind himself that she was still undergoing shock over what just happened. Perhaps she didn't mean anything she said. He shouldn't take it so personally.

He knew that was a lie. Of course he took it personally, but he couldn't figure out why. Regardless, he still had a job to do. So, he re-entered the tent. "Blame me for everything, I don't fucking care," he muttered, "but we need to gauge the seriousness of that wound. If it festers, every movement we take through these mountains will be agony, and you'll fall sick. And if you fucking say you deserve it after after what those lowlife pieces of shit tried to do, then... fuck, I don't know what I'll do, but I hope you're not that dumb."

A Journey for Peace

Ostus skidded to a halt in shock as he watched as Kiara snatch up that dagger and slice open her opponent's throat. Of course, he felt relieved that she managed to defend herself, save herself, but he certainly did not expect that at all...

She surprised him once more when she rose into position with bow and arrow in her hands, firing a perfect shot at the assassin behind him. Ostus blinked, glancing over his shoulder in time to watch him fall. A cracked skull, broken ribs, and broken jaw wasn't enough to keep the bastard down?

He looked back at Kiara, wide-eyed. Her reflexes, skill, and quick thinking were as good as any seasoned soldier. Had she been in battle and he hadn't known about it? All preconceptions he had about her being a fragile, innocent princess faded away at that moment.

Well, almost all.

Dread filled Ostus as he exhaled; he knew that expression on her face and her body's reaction all too well. Nothing tore at the soul better than a first kill; the shock and remorse in her eyes was the same that he had seen in so many young soldiers when they realized the full and terrible extent of their base capabilities.

He rushed to Kiara's side at once, embracing her before she decided to lose balance or feint. "Fuck, Kiara," he murmured, a tiny smile flickering on his lips over the shadow of remorse in his eyes. He scanned her body frantically, worriedly. "Where are you hurt?" It was impossible to tell what blood was hers and what was her opponent's. He noted a fierce-looking gash on her shoulder and gritted his teeth. He hoped it didn't knick an artery.

"I'm here, you're safe," he reassured her as he scooped her in his arms and carried her to her tent. "I'm sorry, Kiara... I should have been faster... you were amazing, I had no idea..." Carefully, he kneeled down with her in the tent, his mind already running through the steps he'd need to take to take care of that wound and to try to comfort her. "Kiara, I'm going to have to look at that shoulder..."