Matt.
I was so glad it was dark by the time I returned to camp.
Mercifully, Kyn didn't see how badly the dreamhares had roughed me up, and while I knew Rhet had to, he said nothing about it.
Rhet quietly prepared our dinner, Kyn lighting the fire. I sat by while they went about doing this, feeling pretty useless.
My right arm was very sore, and scratched raw from the dreamhares fighting back against me. If the campfire didn't produce such poor light, Kyn might have seen it. I was prepared to bear it that night, and bring the matter to him in the morning.
As we ate in silence, I carefully watched Rhet. He was a real carnivore; except for the one lemon tart we ever shared, I never saw him eat anything but meat. He tore chunks of wolf out with his teeth, barely taking a pause for chewing.
Kyn chuckled. "Slow down, Rhet, the beast is already dead."
"Mmrph," Rhet grumbled back. I snickered, and he glared at me. "What, you wanna fight, kid?"
I snickered again. Rhet reached out and, very deliberately, shoved my right shoulder. Pain flared down my arm, and I curled my toes in my shoes to keep from crying out.
Finally, Kyn went to bed after we ate. I tried to stay up later than Rhet, but by the time it was at least midnight, he hadn't even rolled out his sleeping bag.
Rhet sat in the grass near the campfire, using the light to sharpen his own knives. I could name a few; Jack Knives, Kris Knives, and even a Scramasax or two. I watched him, sitting at the base of a tree.
"Ahem." Rhet cleared his throat. "Oi. Stick. C'mere."
I stood up and approached him. Rhet patted the grass next to him. I got a glimpse of Kyn's medical bag on his other side.
Oh, hell. I sat next to him. "Uh, what's up?"
Rhet set down the knife in his hand. "Arm, kid. Now."
I shrunk back, pulling my right shoulder back. "I'm fine." My voice was firm.
"Did I say you weren't?" His voice, in contrast, was sharp. "And don't be so noisy. There's an old man sleeping nearby."
I wouldn't yield. Rhet glared at me, and grabbed my wrist.
"Damnedable pride," Rhet muttered. He pulled some disenfectant solution from Kyn's bag, and a roll of bandages.
I struggled against Rhet's grip. "Leggo! Screw you, I'm fine!"
He reached in again, pulling out a palm-sized bottle of a potion. He uncapped it with his teeth, and shoved the opening of the bottle in my mouth. The blue medicine tasted bitter.
"It'll keep ya quiet," He muttered. "Now, just hold still, wouldya?"
Rhet pulled my arm closer, examining the wound through the torn fabric of my shirt. He eventually rolled the sleeve all the way up, examining it in the light.
"I'm not as unqualified as you think," He muttered bitterly at me. "Kyn taught both of us a fair bit of first aid as kids. One'a the few things I caught onto better than he did." I knew who he meant.
Rhet traced his fingers lightly on the raw skin of my upper arm, examining it. It stung. I hissed a curse at him under my breath.
"Oh, drop the drama, you baby," Rhet grumbled. "Really, you've been with us this long, and you let a few damn dreamhares almost overtake you."
"You're the one who said that they can be pretty dangerous!"
"Yeah, to an idiot kid like you." Rhet's eyes were focused on what he was doing, his voice steadier than normal. "Now be quiet, for Kyn."
He disinfected the wound, paying special attention to where I was actually scratched. Rhet actually knew what he was doing, with the same ease and comfort you'd see him when with a bow and arrow.
Before I knew it, Rhet had my arm wrapped from my shoulder to just above the elbow. It was wrapped firmly, but not nearly enough to cut any circulation or movement. The potion had helped a lot, and by then it wasn't even sore anymore.
Finally, he released my arm back to me. The whole process had only taken only about five or ten minutes.
I rolled my shoulder experimentally. "I, uh...it feels better."
"Well, Kyn would've seen it in the morning and thrown a fit, anyway." Rhet put away Kyn's supplies, including the empty potion. "And I'll be damned if I let a snot-nosed brat like you kill 'im of a heart attack. Now, get to bed, or I'll be glad to give you somethin' to curse at me about."
Just barely, I could hear the affection in his voice. Him fixing my arm had nothing to do with Kyn.
I stood up and turned away from him, smiling a little to myself. "Th-thanks, Rhet." It felt nice to have proof that he cared.
Rhet threw the empty bottle at the back of my head. "Ow! What the hell, Rhet?"
"Don't you thank me like I did any big favor!" Rhet growled lowly at me. "And lower your damn voice, Matt, you'll wake everyone from Moorabella to Grazton!"
I chuckled to myself, rubbing the back of my head. "Whatever."
The Next Morning.
"My word, Mateiu. Why is your arm wrapped?"
My breath caught in my throat at Kyn's question as I stuffed my sleeping bag into my bag. I avoided Kyn's eyes, knowing his brow would be furrowed in worry.
Rhet cleared his throat. "He came to me last night, complainin' about them dreamhares scratchin' him up and rubbin' his shoulder raw," He lied smoothly. "Don't worry, it was nothing big. He'll be fine."
The way Rhet suddenly stood up and lied for me was astounding. I looked down at the ground, blushing brightly as I tied my bag shut.
"Is this true, Matt?" Kyn's voice held a tone of amusement.
I nodded. "Yessir," I answered. "I-it hadn't started hurting bad until you went to bed. Besides, didn't want you to worry."
My answer earned a chuckle from Kyn. "It's touching how everyone foesn't want me to do the one thing I do best," He mused. "I assume the bandages is from my bag?"
"Yeah, sorry I had to take them...I'll buy you more when we get to town. More potions, too; I fed the brat one to stop the pain."
"Don't even think of it, Rhet; I won't have you going off and buying things for me. Why do you think I carry first aid supplies in thd first place?"
Rhet hefted his bag over his shoulder. Our small camp was all packed up.
"I can't wait to get home to Grazton, Kyn," He sighed out, on a much more cheerful note than I'd heard in weeks. At the time, I thought it was because he wanted to change the subject. He hurried on ahead.
I cocked my eyebrow warily as we started to leave. "Home?" Last time I had been there with them, Grazton seemed the same as Moorabella.
My answer was a wearily happy sigh from Kyn. "Eager, Rhet?" He teased. "You'll see, Mateiu. We didn't stay there during our last period in the town because of Rhet's leg, but I didn't just raise the boys on the road. We do have an actual home."
I shrugged. "Hmph." I didn't know much about homes, unless you counted the half-run down shack my father left Jack and I as a "home". "Are we going to be in Grazton long, if we're staying at an actual house?"
Kyn chuckled. "We'll see, Mateiu. Depends on how mission business goes this winter."
We did, actually, have an extended stay in Grazton. Two whole years. But, not due to business.
