Chapter 8:
After introducing herself, Violet stands back up and walks towards a door on the opposite side of the room. "Now that we've gotten names out of the way," Violet says to Kody, "let's have a look at your arm." Kody and his companion follow the girl as she opens the door to a small room with multiple drawers lining the wall, along with a table with a few chairs.
"I take it that you work by yourself Violet?" Kody asks. Violent nods to him. "Yeah, my parents are away on... business." The boy sits down at one of the chairs as Violet grabs a clipboard from one of the drawers. Sitting down in the other chair, she asks Kody to take off his makeshift bandage so that she can see his wound. Unsurprisingly, wound begins to sting, though his face shows no sign of the discomfort. Violet looks closely at the wound as Kody looks to the side. "How bad does it look?" Kody asks. Violet is silent for a moment. "Can you tell me how exactly you got this? And I can't help but notice that your hands have a lot of cuts..." "I was attacked by the strange mechanical thing," Kody responds, "and as for my hands, there were a lot of knives falling out of the sky a while ago." Violet gives Kody an inquisitive look. "You mean that you got caught in that knife storm earlier?" Kody nods. "You're lucky that you only got minor lacerations on your hands, not everyone's so lucky you know."
After asking a few more questions, Violet walks over to one of the drawers. Kody nervously watches her as he asks her a question. "So... what do I need to do? Is it okay just to leave it?" "Unfortunately it seems that we'll have to amputate your arm" Violet says calmly before turning around and seeing a fearful expression on Kody's face. "Relax, I'm just kidding," Violet says as she pulls a roll of gauze out of the drawer. "You'll be fine, you just need to get some bed-rest for a few days and it'll be fine."
"I'm sorry, but I need to get somewhere as soon as I can, someone's... waiting for me." Kody responds. "I'm trying to get to the... Ice Kingdom? I don't really know my way around Ooo too well though." Violet wraps the gauze around his wound as he talks. After she is done, she puts the gauze away. "So you're trying to help a friend? Or is it official business? Either way, I don't think you really know your around, do you?" Kody is hesitant to respond. "To be honest with you ma'am. Not really. Why do you ask?" Violet sits back down in front of the guard. "I was wondering if you needed some more company... business here's been practically nonexistent lately. Plus my parents aren't going to be back for quite a long time... I can't really afford to stay here much longer to be honest." Kody is quite for a moment. "And if I say no?" Violet turns over her clipboard, showing the boy a large number at the bottom. "... that's the cost of this, isn't it?" Violet's voice falters. "Times... haven't been so good for me lately." Kody stands up and walks towards the door, to which Violet asks, "Wait, where are you going?" "Outside, you're gonna need time to get what you need, aren't you?" Kody asks. Violet smiles. "Thank you mister!" Kody opens the door with the fire wolf behind him. "You're not really giving much of a choice here," Kody says. "Fortunately for you, I'm currently lacking in supplies. So I'm not too bothered to let you tag along, I guess. Just don't bring too much stuff, okay?" The girl nods back as the guard walks out of the room to let her prepare to leave, with the fire wolf staying with Violet.
After a few minutes of silence the door to the clinic opens. As it does, two heavily armored figures walk into the clinic behind a small, round goblin. Curious, Kody watches as the small goblin walks over towards the room Violet is in. Before the goblin goes inside, however, Kody steps in front of the goblin, blocking his path. "I'm sorry, but you don't seem to be needing any medical attention," the guard says in an almost annoyed tone. Flustered, the goblin tries to push past the boy, but Kody shoves the goblin to the floor. "Don't you try to force your way past me," Kody says patronizing to the goblin. Surprisingly, the goblin scurries behind the two armored figures. "I don't recognize that guy," says one of the armored figures in a gravelly voice to the other armored individual. "It doesn't matter, we'll just come back with more people. That lass isn't going anywhere with her debt," responds the second figure in a rougher voice. Kody stares the armored individuals down as they start to walk out the door. However before they leave, the first armored figure walks over to Kody and slams their plated fist into the guards gut. The assailant lets out a loud laugh as Violet pokes her head out of the back room, hearing some of the commotion. Her eyes widen as Kody takes a moment to compose himself as he head-buts his assailant, managing to leave a noticeable dent in their helm, causing the man to collapse to the ground with a thud. The other armored individual gawks at the sight before he grabs his fellow and runs out of the clinic with the goblin trailing behind them. Shortly after silence settles in the clinic, Kody looses his composure and blacks out, collapsing to the ground.
