Nanashi hit the floor hard, feeling a jarring pain surge up her right arm when she landed on it. It was nothing compared to the pain she felt encapsulating her center. Her sinuses burned. Her mouth burned. Her throat burned. Her chest burned. The awful after taste of that juice in that vial clung to her mouth, making her want to wretch in order to get rid of that dirty and sour taste out of her mouth. She curled up into a ball on the floor, clutching her center. The burning more than she could tolerate.
She raised herself up with her left hand and threw up all over the floor. Her mouth felt it was on fire, burning anew as she dry heaved some more, hoping to get the rest of juice out of her system.
She crawled away from her vomit, knowing she needed some water or milk or something to drink to dilute the poison still in her stomach. She crawled, favoring her left arm, in the direction she thought was Saif's pantry. He would have something to drink in there. Her head was spinning and her eyes kept watering, making it impossible for her to figure out which direction she was heading.
Her strength failed her. The clenching burn that invaded her stomach made her wish she had never been born. She curled up into a ball n the floor, arms wrapped around her middle. She wanted it to be over, sooner rather than later.
She lay in the haze of immeasurable pain for who knew how long. She could not hear, could not see, could not recognize anything outside the realm of searing pain inside of her.
She heard a mumbled voice above her. It sounded like someone trying to yell underwater. She was pushed onto her back, which made her stomach feel even worse. Her right hand was pulled, making her cry out. She panicked, trying to pull her hand away, scared it might be Sakyo or one of the other bounty hunters come back for more.
A low, muffled voice echoed above her. It sounded soothing, but Sakyo could be that way, too. Just before he did something violent or threatening. A cooling sensation shot through her right wrist, even as her stomach ached terribly. Her arm was then gently set down on floor.
Next, she heard the soothing voice next to her, pulling her up to lean against whoever it was. She did not fight, could not fight. She wanted free from her stomach pain one way or another.
"Drnnngh," the muffled voice made no sense. A cup came to her lips, spilling a cool, creamy, and almost sweet liquid into her mouth. A bit splashed out of her mouth, but she managed to get herself to drink and swallow.
She was laid back down on her side, her stomach still aching, but a little less so. A large hand slipped it's way down between her hands over her stomach. A cooling feeling washed over her stomach, easing up the ache in it to be bearable. Bearable enough for her to slip into an uneasy sleep.
When she woke up, she was not sure when it was or where she was. She heard two men talking.
"When did you find her?" a gruff voice asked.
"About two or three hours ago," a gentle voice said.
"What did he do to her?" the first voice asked.
"Poisoned her. She threw most of it up on the floor. I cleaned it up after I put her in the bed," the second voice answered. "I can't say how she survived it."
Nanashi groaned, blinking her eyes open. Her right wrist and stomach ached dully, but nothing compared to how they had been when she was last conscience. She rolled to her side, pushing herself up with her left hand. She looked over in the direction of the two voices, seeing Uncle Chosuke and Haruto standing together on the other side of the small house.
Uncle Chosuke looked over at her first, but Haruto moved over to her first. She lay on Saif, no, Hiei's bed. Haruto knelt down beside her. She grumbled, scrunching up her face. She cried, but only a little. She felt to worn out and sore to do much more than that.
"Oh, sweetness, are you okay?" Haruto asked, running his hand through her tangled hair.
She cried freely, letting Haruto hold her as she did. When she managed to calm down, Her uncle stepped over to where they knelt. She pulled back, sitting upright and not wanting to look at him. She leaned against the wall behind her groggily.
"What happened to you?" Uncle Chosuke asked.
She furrowed her brow at him, wishing she had the energy to snarl. "Sakyo had one of his bounty hunters hiding near the house. He heard you tell me to run. And about the lie you plan to tell him in the morning. This morning," she explained as best he could. "And then..." She explained what happened from the moment she climbed out the window. She left out the kiss Saif/Hiei gave her. She was unsure if she wanted to explain that, let alone how to explain that. She was not sure herself what to think about that. "... and then one of the bounty hunters poisoned me. Nightlock he called it." Her uncle gasped, making her pause for a moment. When he did not talk, she kept going. "I was thrown back into the house. I threw up some of it, but I thought I might die. Someone came in... a low voice. He gave me something to drink... he touched my wrist and stomach, making both injuries hurt less..." She raised her right hand up to inspect it. It was still sore and bruised, but most of the ache was gone.
"Who was it?" Haruto asked her. "The person who helped you?"
At the same time, Uncle Chosuke asked, "How the hell did you survive?"
She answered Haruto. "I thought it was you. If it wasn't you, then who was it?" She puzzled over it in her mind. The person had healed her, so it could not have been Haruto. Haruto was human. Healers only came from those with elvish ancestry. It was said to be a gift from the angels and the Great Hawk Spirit.
"I can't say," Haruto mumbled sadly.
Uncle Chosuke stepped closer to them. "How did you survive nightlock poisoning?" he asked insistently.
"I don't know," she replied. "I don't really know what that is exactly," she answered honestly. She racked her tired brain, trying to remember if Saif/Hiei ever taught her about it when he was training her.
"Sweetness," Haruto called her attention back to him. "Nightlock is deadly to humans. five berries or so will do it."
She sucked in her breath, figuring out how many nightlock berries juiced could fill a vial. "I threw it up. And that healer helped me. Maybe the drink he gave me was an antidote."
Uncle Chosuke shook his head. "There's no antidote and where ever that healer is, he's gone now. No elf would want to mess around here in this town anyway."
"Well then, I don't know," she answered glumly. She wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep and wake up to this nightmare being over.
Haruto rose up, standing next to Uncle Chosuke. "She needs to rest and recover, even you can see that." Uncle Chosuke nodded. "I can take her to my inn. Me and the other workers can watch over her for a few days. When she feels better, she can go back home."
Nanashi liked the sound of that plan. She nodded in agreement with it. Thankfully Uncle Chosuke agreed as well. "When she's better, she comes home," he insisted. "Sakyo doesn't know she's still alive. We need to keep it that way."
"It's your fault I almost died," she thought aloud bitterly.
"What did you say to me?" Uncle Chosuke responded.
"It's your fault I almost died. Sakyo tried to kill me, thinks he killed me because you told me to run," she let her thoughts out. "It's your fault Saif was kidnapped. He gave himself up so I would be spared, but it was for nothing. At least that's what they all think anyway."
Surprisingly, Uncle Chosuke had nothing to say in response. She could tell she had wounded him based on the look in his eyes. She did not know he could look like that.
"Sweetness, calm down," Haruto soothed. "You are tired and need time to recover. You don't know what you're saying right now."
He took her hand in his. Gingerly she stood up and let him assist her out of the bed and then out of the house. She did not bother to look back at her uncle when they left.
It was a long and silent walk to Haruto's inn. Haruto ended up carrying her on his back once they reach the outskirts of town. He was huffing by the time they got to the inn so early in the morning.
No workers were there yet, with how early it was. He helped into a room on the second floor and let her lay down and sleep.
She slept fitfully, not sure if she was waking and thinking or dreaming about what happened. She needed to rescue Saif, some how. She owed him that much. He gave himself up to save her life, when he clearly did not want to. He was going to run with her, head to Gandara... That was the name of the city, right?
"Nanashi?" Haruto's voice echoed over her. His hand shook her shoulder.
She jumped fully awake, sitting up and blinking up at him. She took a curt glance out the window. A late afternoon light streamed through the glass. How long was she asleep? "Yes?" she croaked out loud.
"How are you feeling?" he asked her, sitting next to her on the bed.
She saw the tray on the nightstand. She reached over and grabbed the glass of water, drinking from it. "Better," she said through wet lips. Her stomach gave a sharp growl, making her almost nervous to eat. Her uncle had toast and an apple for her on the tray. Food that would be gentle on her injured stomach. She reached over and pulled the toast over to her, chewing on a nibble of it.
"Sweetness, do you know where Sakyo was planning to take Saif?" Haruto asked her.
"North... I think," she said between bites. "Sakyo was from the capital. Hiei-Saif's real name, had been there, too. I think that's where Hiei killed Sakyo's friend. It's the only place that makes sense." Her brain felt fuzzy, so if that did not make sense, Haruto would point it out.
"Did they go by horse or boat?" he pressed.
"Horse. Two of those bounty hunters were huge men. There horses were massive," she rambled.
"Do you think that might slow them down?" he asked.
"Maybe. I don't know. I feel like having Hiei bound would slow them down," she reasoned.
"Would they be slow enough for you to catch up with them?" he hinted.
"What do you mean?" she asked, unsure how that would be possible.
"Sakyo thinks you're dead. You owe Hiei a life debt. I can't believe that Hiei killed Sakyo's friend. If he did, he's the kind who would do it in self defense. You need rescue him. Sakyo and the others won't see you coming," he laid his plan out for her.
She shook her head, shocked by his suggestion. "I can't... I..."
He turned to his side, grabbing her sheathed knife and passing it to her. "You forgot this at Hiei's house."
She took it in hand and then sat it down on the bed beside her. "I can't. I don't have a horse. Or supplies. Or money, I-"
"I'll give you all that. The supplies and horses Hiei had taken from me last night. I found them tied up in the woods near his house. He must have hidden them from the bounty hunters. Take the swifter horse," he planned.
She realized before he had even told her this plan, she had already decided she was going. She want to save Hiei. Had to do it or die trying. "I will," she said resolutely.
"Eat and rest up. I'll wake you late in the night and send you out," he told her.
She nodded silently in agreement.
She did as was planned; resting until Haruto woke her up and sent her off on his swiftest horse. She did not head due North though. First she made a stop at her uncle's house, almost wanting to chicken out with her plan for this stop. She snuck inside, trying to to be as silent as possible. She snuck up to the fire place mantle, looking for the loose brick up there. Her uncle usually kept things hidden there, especially money. Yusuke used to steal a bill or two from this 'secret' stash from time to time without her uncle catching on.
Inside of it, she found the wad of money Sakyo had given him as a 'gift.' Her uncle had the nerve to keep that money after Sakyo tried to kill her. She took the lot it. She rushed out of the house silently, stealing herself not to look back or to look at the money she now had stashed in her bag. All 1,000 of it.
'I'm coming Hiei,' she thought to herself as she lead her horse to canter North.