'Damn it,' Therion said through his teeth, slipping a hand underneath his fringe. 'As useful this curse could be, its after effects is a bitch.'

Three Cliff Birdians stood over him, still as a rock. Its beaks were hinged open, and wings spread, blocking the sweltering sun. However, the throbbing pain blurred his sight as he wandered into the Riverlands. It didn't help that it was humid at the peak of the day, causing his head to pound and stomach to churn.

He sat down by a river. While his vision cleared, the scorching ache on his eye remained, so he placed a cold flask over it.

Therion looked at the water's reflection, studying the vert green scales spread across his left cheek like it was a disease. His eye had a slit pupil with a golden sclera. Its piercing glare almost put the thief into a trance, but he jumped back before he could petrify himself.

How did Darius get his hands on a spell like this? A question that Therion pondered ever since that day. But that wasn't his first priority, he thought as he looked down at the band fastened to his wrist.

A rumble shook the earth, and screeching bellows pierced his ears. A voluminous frog eyed Therion with its bulbous, scarlet eyes.

He pulled out his dagger. Therion knew that he shouldn't be fighting in his condition, but he recently learnt HP Thief to support himself. It did help in his fight with Heathcote, after all.

Therion pulled his left foot back, then charged at the beast. He dug into its skin but gained little HP from that attack. He half-expected it, considering the amphibian was equipped with a dagger. The beast slashed on a patch of snakeskin across his leg, dropping to the ground.

The thief checked the severity of the wound. It didn't cut deep, but it would've hindered Therion's evasive movements. Once he looked up, ice chunks were scattered across the grass along with a frog corpse.

'Hey, bud. You okay?' A hand extended out to him. The sun blocked his vision to see what the stranger looked like, but they appeared to be tall with messy hair. Therion took it but winced at the cut the beast made on his leg.

He got a good look at the man: a wide smile stretched across his face, with a delicate piece of wheat stuck between his teeth. His hand was behind his neck, exhibiting his toned muscles. He adorned a jacket as green as grass, contrasting the rest of his earth-coloured attire and brown satchel slung across his shoulder.

This man was an apothecary. No doubt about it.

'Those Froggens are pretty deadly.' He slipped the axe behind him and stooped down near a patch of tall grass. 'I'm surprised you powered through, bud.'

Therion remained in his position, watching the apothecary pick a plethora of grass shoots which he then stuffed into his satchel.

'Thanks, though it didn't do much,' the thief said, gripping his arm to deal with the pain on his leg. 'Anyways, I should be on my way.'

Therion trudged, drops of blood trailing his path. The apothecary noticed this and marched to catch up to him. 'Hey, uh, pal—' He placed a hand on the thief's shoulder, stopping him from walking any further. 'You okay? It's not every day I see healthy people wandering around dripping blood.'

He shifted away from his tight grasp. 'I'll be fine. It's not that bad.'

'I don't know.' The apothecary scratched the back of his head. 'You're limping a bit there, buddy. That frog might have not sliced deep, but it wouldn't hurt for me to look at it.'

This couldn't happen again. Warming up to a person—trusting them. It agonised him. Why couldn't this person get the hint already? And who knew what this man would do if he found out. Would he tell neighbouring towns? Would he kill him?

'Umm, look—' the apothecary presented Therion a bowl of lilac balm. '—if you wanted to do it yourself, then go ahead. I was only concerned about the wounds you had.'

Therion pushed it back to him. 'Nah. There's no way I can treat it. It looks pretty nasty.'

'Oh, okay then. Well, I should introduce myself first,' he said, 'I'm Alfyn. Pleasure meeting ya!'

The thief let out a small laugh, before sitting down on a tree stump.

'So,' Alfyn applied the balm to his fingertips. 'What brought you to the Riverlands?'

'Some royal and her butler blackmailed me into getting her three jewels, or something like that.'

'Yeesh, sounds intense. Now, can you pull your pants up, uh—'

'Therion. Just Therion.'

'Your name's Just Therion?' Alfyn humoured, but the thief shot a glare of disgust.

'Ahem, anyways—In all seriousness, I need you to pull that up.' Therion scoffed in response.

'You won't like what you'll see, doc.'

'Really now?' Alfyn dubiously quirked a brow.

'I'm only warnin' ya,' he folded the end of his pants to his knee, revealing a deep gash across a large mark of snake scales. Alfyn's eyes turned into saucepans at the odd skin pigment.

'Are those scales? Therion, what the hell have you been up to?'

'Just get to it, doc.'

Sighing, Alfyn smeared the balm onto the wound, Therion flinching at the sharp pain.

'Geez. At least tell me it'll sting.' The apothecary snickered before apologising. Once he was done with the ointment, he grabbed a roll of bandages and wrapped it tight around Therion's calf.

'That'll do 'er,' he said, 'Now, don't get yourself into trouble, thief.'

Therion whipped his head to Alfyn, 'How did you—'

'I've lived here for almost my entire life. And everyone here ain't stealing from anybody. I can only assume, but that royal blackmailed you because they caught you stealing one of their jewels.' The thief sighed, flashing a smirk.

Alfyn ruffled Therion's hair. 'Don't worry, I'll let you off on one condition.'

'Which is?'

'Accompany me on my journey, and I'll accompany yours! It's my first time travelling, so I could really use a guide.'

Therion rolled his eyes, 'Whatever. Just don't mention this—' he pointed to the bandages Alfyn wrapped. '—again. Got it?'

'Loud and clear!' He grinned, wrapping his arms around Therion's neck, pulling him in too close for comfort. 'Let's go to— uh, where are you off to?'

'Uh, Noblecourt—'

'Noblecourt! But first, Sunshade. I've heard that their dancers put on a good show.'

Was having a foolishly trusting apothecary in his journey a bad idea? Perhaps in the long run, but he had to wait and see where this led him.

Seya's notes:

Ugh, this took me so long to write and edit. I might do one with Cyrus, because he's the next person I'd like to write with Therion. I'll be slow on the update though, because I edit thoroughly and I value the education my parents paid a lot of their money to give me. Anyways, have a good day/night/afternoon!