a/n: There isn't much humour in this chapter, its practically non-existent. I just wanted to try out a scenario. I am hoping that no character is too out of character.

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Teamwork

"Wait, Lerant!" exclaimed Kel weakly.

"What now?" he asked sounding just as tired, tightening his hold around Kel's waist as she held onto his shoulders.

"I think we are going in circles -" Kel stopped mid sentence as she winced in pain at not only her leg wound but the possibility that she may be harbouring broken ribs, a wound at the waist, not deep enough to be to cause instantaneous death, but fatal enough if not attended to soon and to make her more pitiable, a semi head wound that had her unconscious and emptying the contents of her stomach at Lerant's feet at what seemed like a life time ago. Meanwhile, Lerant seemed in better shape, he was covered in cuts and bruises, but his nose seemed to be dislocated and his left arm bleeding from an arrow wound.

The two of them, along with a handful of other men had been out hunting, only to be ambushed by a handful of bandits and what seemed to be an exiled centaur. It had been pure anarchy especially since one of them was an untrained mage, but with enough skill to lead Kel and Lerant away from their group and attacked by the centaur. If it wasn't for Lerant, Kel would not have escaped the fate of being trampled to death, and both would not have survived if not for Kel's Griffin feather that was aimed true at the mage. After that, Kel had heard nothing but silence. Either the enemy was defeated, or they had trailed off too far from the rest of the group to know the conclusion. To make matters worse, both were knocked off their horses by the centaur, and their horses senses were muddled by the mage, sending them afar and astray.

Both Lerant and Kel stopped to absorb their surroundings as both leant against a large trunk of a tree in exhaustion. Lerant noticed Kel's breathing becoming heavy, loud and wheezy. When she let go of his shoulder to slide down to the ground, he knew something was wrong. He watched as she fumbled at the buttons on her shirt, failing to undo them. Lerant quickly knelt to the ground as he also hurriedly tried to unbutton her shirt. It seemed that something was preventing her to breathe, as if she was suffocating. Panicking at her shallow breaths, Lerant pulled out his dagger and ripped open her shirt. Kel, eyeing the dagger rasped, "Cut my band".

Lerant stood there confused at her demand. His eyes glanced at her ripped shirt and the now visible cuts and bruises scattered all over her stomach. His eyes landed on her breast band. It took him a very short moment to comprehend what she meant.

"Are you sure?"

"Give me the dagger" Kel took the dagger from his hands and shakily cut parts of her breast band to enable her to breathe easier. It still remained on her, but it wasn't so tight and confining which also consequently made her chest more exposed then what would be desired, despite the fact that her torso was also bare, drenched in her blood. Kel returned the dagger to Lerant who seemed to be looking anywhere but below Kel's face.

"We have to somewhat tend to our wounds before we keep going, at least bandage them." stated Kel as she drank from her flask.

Lerant nodded reluctantly. He tore the bottom of his shirt to wrap his wounded arm. He tore another piece to wrap around Kel's leg. By the time he was done tearing strips for Kel's waist, he had no shirt. He carefully wrapped his shirt around her waist, the wound was still bleeding. Lerant was aware of her small gasps and the attempt to suppress any noise by grinding her teeth and digging her fingers into the ground, tearing out the roots of the shrubs. He was weary when touching her, having never tended to a woman before, especially one as exposed and bare as Kel. But if he ever had to tend to a woman, he was glad it was her, not out of contempt, but the fact that she didn't blush or make the situation awkward. Instead she stared intently at one spot, trying to suppress the pain. Unfortunately, the focus was his face, but it wasn't as uncomfortable as it was worrying since her eyes were glazed and unseeing. Lerant noted pitifully at the involuntary tears that left her eyes from the stinging pain, since he too had shed the same tears as he'd wrapped his arm.

"Thank you, Lerant" she wheezed.

Lerant nodded, eyebrows furrowed with concern. It wasn't as if he and Kel were good friends, or friends at all, but they were comrades, and right now, they were all each other had. In truth, he was all Kel had. Lerant was deeply worried about her condition. Her strong will had helped her make it this far, but he didn't think she could hang on for another hour. He was sure they were not far from their group, but at this moment, he had his doubts.

Kel smiled shakily at Lerant, trying to ease his worry. She wasn't surprised with his current state. She knew him well enough to know he had a good heart, but held up high walls covered in limestone to outsiders, including herself. Though she did think that all that stood before her was just a high wall, with no limestone since he was kind enough to tend to her wounds with worry. Her eyes scanned his crouched body for any serious wounds. Kel was glad he had escaped them, but frowned at his bare body. Both their states were indecent. Kel's entire front was bare, as her shirt hung in shreds down her side. She could feel the bare skin of her back against the tree, confirming that the back of her shirt was torn. She glanced at her breeches and noted how they were torn off below her knees, whilst one entire leg of Lerant's breeches did not exist. Kel guessed that this was a resultant of the deep gash on his thigh due to the failure of avoiding the sharp branch.

"Come on Lerant. Help me up. Lets get moving, we are almost there," encouraged Kel.

Lerant helped Kel onto her feet, putting her arm around his shoulder and adding his around her waist, to which he also kept a firm hold onto her wound, in an attempt to slow the bleeding.

After walking for some time, Lerant had found a horn belonging to the Own, the exact one that had been ripped off of his back. He gently laid Kel against another tree, and slid down beside her with the horn in his hands. He blew it a few times, then paused as his mind felt muddled and his vision began to darken. He was brought back to reality by Kel's light nudging and the sound of her encouraging, raspy voice.

"Stay awake, Lerant. Take it easy. They will find us now, we are not far from the camp, which means we are well away from harm."

Both leant against each other, sitting shoulder to shoulder.

"You aren't so bad, Eldorne" Kel murmured after a while, voluntarily leaning her head onto his non wounded shoulder.

"Nor you, Mindelin" he replied as he placed his head on top of hers. The action was beyond him, but his exhaustion had robbed him of any sense.

"I can hear Wolset's shouts" commented Kel softly, "Blow that horn one more time."

Suddenly there was the sound of leaves rustling, heavy footsteps and clinking armour.

"I FOUND THEM!" shouted Dom, leaping from the bushes.

"About time" mumbled Lerant, eyes drooping as he finally allowed his body to succumb to exhaustion now that the both of them were safe.

Kel gave Dom a tired smile before losing consciousness. Her body had lost so much blood and her head was throbbing to the point that she voluntarily sought after oblivion.

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TBC

a/n: I don't know the design of a breast band ( I know its implied as a bra-duh). I always assumed it was wrapped bandages. If you know what it is, enlighten me. I thought that their final exchange was sweet. I know there was no humour in this chap, and probably a bare minimum in the next. BUT, I'm hoping you still were entertained.

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