Chapter 3: The Healer
"Okay now," Akio said to herself as she looked over the still soaking wet young man. "First things first," she said dryly, taking hold of his shirt. "Please forgive my lack of modesty here." She began to undress him from the waist up, carefully peeling the wet clothes off the bleeding wounds. The one in his side was particularly vicious looking and Akio winced. She heard him suck in a harsh breath when the pressure of his clothes was taken off of the wounds. She took that as a good sign. "I should dry you off, so you don't get sick on top of wounded."
Akio raced through her small house, grabbed an armful of blankets, then two rolls of bandages, and the small bottle of alcohol to clean out the wound. She paused to unload that batch of things before heading into the kitchen and fetching a small carving knife and a pair of tongs. She had performed this procedure on several animals before. Random deer, a few horses, and even a wolf puppy, all shot by hap-hazard hunters and left to die until she had come along. She'd never done it on a human. She wasn't a doctor, but she had to try. There was no other way.
She grasped the small knife in her fingers firmly, gazing at the gaping hole in his side. All the rest of him was covered in warm blankets to keep him from risk of other infection. She was glad he was unconscious for the pain of this would be unbearable had he been awake. Akio cut the skin around the hole on each side, widening the wound enough so that she grabbed the tongs in her bloody hands and wrenched the bullet out. Blood pooled out and dripped to the floor, staining her hands and clothes.
There! Had the bullet stayed in, it could have poisoned his blood. Now for the other one in his shoulder. Akio doused the side wound with alcohol, hearing him whimper in his sleep. Her heart went out to him, it really did. Once the wound was cleaned, she put pressure to stop the bleeding as much as she could, then wrapped it snuggly with one of the rolls of bandages.
The worst wound was tended, it was time for the most troublesome. Akio shifted her position and the blankets. He was already bleeding through the cloth she had put over it. He was losing so much blood! If she didn't work fast he'd die whether he was tended or not from the blood loss. She worked fast, cutting deftly through the skin on his shoulder and pulling at the bullet. She prayed it wasn't lodged in the bone, if it was there was no guarantee she'd ever get it out. It seemed that the Gods were smiling on her for once in her life as she found the bullet had passed into only muscle and tissue, but not the bone. Akio retrieved the bullet and began the cleaning process. Then she bandaged him, and prayed the bleeding would stop, or at the very least, lessen enough to save his life.
She ran the back of her hand over her forehead, sweating slightly from the concentration. She didn't realize that she left a bloody streak across her face until a few minutes later, when she went to clean off her hands and change into clean clothes. First she made sure her patient was covered fully once more, and resting as comfortably as possible. Then Akio filled a bucket with water from the well outside of her house and dumped all the contents over her head before pulling up another bucket to bring inside the house.
She worked at the restaurant tonight. Akio sighed to herself, looking into her bedroom at the still unconscious patient lying still. Only the steady rise and fall of his chest signaling he was still alive. She smiled her herself as she looked at him, proud of herself.
Her hair was damp, clinging to her neck and dripping down her back, but she had a contented feeling in her chest. She knew that she had just saved a human life. Although she didn't think that a human life was worth more then an animal's life, but it was a different feeling. She changed into her uniform kimono and readied herself for work.
Akio was only allowed one job in the Renko Village, she was a serving woman at the town's restaurant. When she was dressed she took a long drink of water from the bucket she brought in from the well, then she filled a cup and brought it to her patient. Akio, kneeling next to him and leaning his head forward gently, tilted the cup so that a small and steady stream of water ran into his mouth. He coughed once, sending some of the liquid to dribble down his chin.
"I know you've probably seen enough water to last you a lifetime, but you have to drink if you want to get better," she laughed a little to herself, using the same soothing tone with him as she used with her animals. Once she was satisfied that he had drank enough water, Akio got back up to put the cup in the kitchen again. "Thinking of it, I don't think it's such a great idea for me to work tonight," she mused aloud. "What if you wake up and don't know where you are? Or you go into shock or need help? No, I think I'll stay home tonight." She nodded at her decision. "But I have to run to town to tell them I'm unwell." She looked torn, going to the door and looking back in at the sleeping young man. "I'll return in a few minutes!" Akio called before closing the door and running to the bridge and over toward the village.
She knew where to go to avoid a run-in with the guardians. A few random people on the street gave her dirty looks in passing, or ignored her completely. When she reached the restaurant, she took a deep breath and put forward her best wounded facade.
Akio was aware of all the eyes on her a she walked in. Ryu and his friends were at a back table. He attempted to wave but she shrugged him off with a look of illness. Approaching her employer was the key. Although her lady boss was a kind woman for the most part, she looked down upon Akio.
"Lady Suika?" Akio said submissively. The tall and pretty woman turned with a raised eyebrow, looking down on her employee. "I am feeling very ill this evening, would it be possible for me to work tomorrow night instead to make up for taking tonight to rest?" Suika, a shrewd woman with as much cunning as there were stars in the sky, could see right through anyone telling a lie to get out of work. Her level hazel eyes looked right into Akio's soul, to see what she was really up to. Much to the restaurant owner's surprise, she saw no hints of laziness or dishonestly in her eyes. Akio simply needed to take the night off.
"Fine then," Suika said off-handedly. "Just make sure you work hard tomorrow." Akio bowed.
"Yes ma'am." Then she turned and fled from the restaurant, still feigning illness until she was outside and darting home as fast as her legs could carry her.
"Suika! What happened?" one of the regular customers said with a disdainful glance at the door Akio had just exited. "She was about as sick as I am pretty." This got a round of 'that's the picture of heath' from the others. Suika grinned slowly, like a cat over a prized kill. "Why'd you let her off?"
"She's a hard worker, that little bastard. She wasn't playing sick to run off with her lad or nothing, she had something to do. Can't for the life of me know what, but it must be something big. She's never left work before."
"Never?" another patron asked in disbelief.
"Never," Suika confirmed. "I've given her work at this restaurant since she was a child. I respected her grandmother," she said with a fierce glare at a snickering costumer. "And as long as I've owned this restaurant, that girl has never missed a time to work." There was silence from the people for a few seconds, then the restaurant was alive once more.
Akio hated wearing the kimono that she was forced to wear at the restaurant. She longed for the freedom of pants. With a weary sigh, Akio crossed the bridge and shivered when she looked down. 'That poor boy', she thought to herself. She saw the drop he had taken and the large, jagged rocks were visible even in the darkening light. It was a miracle that he was alive. 'But he won't be if I don't get home soon!' she yelled at herself mental and started running down the path for home again, as fast as the constraining kimono would allow.
"Curse the day I was born a woman," she raged when she stomped into the house, throwing off the kimono and once more donning her usually men's attire. She was so deep into her gender fuming that she forgot a man was actually in the room where she was changing. At least he was unconscious, but still. Akio shook her head at herself. 'Is there no end to my idiocy?'
Mentally abusing herself, Akio went out to the well to fill her water bucket once more, and saw a visitor approaching her house. It took all of her will power and restraint to keep from sighing out loud. She opted for ignoring him.
"Akio? Are you alright? I saw you leave the restaurant and Suika said you were sick," Ryu said running up to her. He took a quick look up and down of her, noticing she was once again minus a kimono.
"I'm not feeling up to this right now Ryu," she said, and truth be told she wasn't. She was tired and had to take care of her charge.
"Let me help you then," he said, grabbing the bucket from her hands and walking into the house ahead of her to put it in the kitchen. Akio didn't fight him at first, but trailed after, ready to throw him out again. "As for you," he said once the water was inside. He turned and placed both hands on the back of her shoulders, pushing her towards her bedroom. "Go lay down." Akio froze, digging her heels into the floor.
"Ryu, what are you doing? Go home, I can take care of myself!" Akio desperately tried to keep her voice down, while innocently pulling Ryu into the kitchen. She couldn't let him find the unconscious young man asleep on her bed for more reasons then just the fact that there was a man asleep on her bed. Ryu was a member of the village guardians. She was sure the watch that inflicted the wounds on the traveler would tell the other members of the guardians about him. If Ryu saw the self-same traveler in her house...it would be bad news for someone who was already on thin ice. But it was a lucky break that Ryu was the only person who ever came to her house, so all Akio had to do was get him away.
"Why don't you ever let me help take care of you?" Ryu pouted, trying to put his arms around her. Akio dodged this easily, glaring at him.
"Ryu, get out. My head hurts and I don't want to deal with you."
"Let me help you," he pleaded. Akio sighed, holding her head with one hand and pointing to the door with the other.
"Get out of my house Ryu."
"Akio, one of these days you have to realize that you are a woman, and that you'll need a man to take care of you once in a while." That made her snap. Akio was entirely self-sufficient and had been since she was eight years old. Nearly ten years.
"Ryu!" she yelled, pushing him with all of her strength. "Get Out!" He flew threw the open door to get a face full of dirt. He got to his feet and turned to see a glaring Akio standing on her front step, hands on her hips. She was the picture of feminine rage. "You are no longer welcome in this home. You can not walk about freely in here any more. If you disobey this, I will make you pay." He glared at her, angrily brushing the dirt off of his clothes.
"Fine then Akio," he warned. "But you'll be begging me to come back when you're left here all alone again! You just wait and see." Then he turned on his heel and stomped off into the darkness. Akio seethed, her fists clenched shakingly at her side. The desire to silence him was great, but her resolve was stronger now then it had been in her youth. And there were more important things to do then kill Ryu.
Growling slightly, she stalked back inside and fetched a cup of water to feed to her charge. Like before, he coughed up half of it before the water was able to be drunk. She gave him a second cup since he seemed to be dehydrating. Once he was done drinking, Akio went and found herself something to eat. She chewed idly, thinking about what she was going to do with this man if and when he woke up. Food would have to wait until he was conscious, and that didn't look like it would happen tonight. But after he did wake up, she knew he'd be bed ridden for at least a week!
Not that it was a problem of him being run out of town. If she could keep Ryu from finding him, no one else would. He'd have to stay out of sight until he was well again. Then, if everything went well, she'd send him on his way. Akio rubbed her temples and smiled. "How do I always get myself into these kinds of things?" she muttered to the heavens. There was no answer, not that she expected one. Akio grew tired after a while, too much stress in one day.
With a yawn, she changed the dressing on his bandages, they were clotted with blood, but the steady flow had stopped. It was then that she decided the stitch the wound together. It would encourage the skin to close faster, now that the bleeding had stopped. Akio lit an extra lamp nearby for better light and fetch a needle and thread. Her patient slept soundly as she sewed his skin together carefully. Her stitches were tiny and even. First the wound on his side was sealed and bandaged but then she had to lean over him to work on his shoulder. She could feel his breath on her neck and it made all her hair stand on end. Akio was not used to being this close to humans, let alone men.
When she was finally done, she leaned back from her stitched and re-bandaged charge and sighed. She drank deeply from her water bucket, then gave him some more. That was when Akio fully noticed that he was sleeping on her bed…and blinked. 'Guess the floor is the way to go,' she thought, grabbing a blanket for herself and curling up on the floor of her bedroom. The rhythm of the wounded traveler's breathing helped her fall into a calm sleep. She slept through the entire night for the first time in seven years.
Okay, well here we have it folks! Chapter 3 of Renegade. I love Soujiro, I think he's wicked cool, hence why I'm writing this fic. I want to thank all those who have reviewed so far. I'll get to individual shout-outs next chapter. Expect this to be a pretty short story. I expect the sequel to be longer then this one. It's just something I started writing because I got bored waiting for my beta reader to get back to me, lol. Remember to review! Thanks for reading, my love for all of you is like Ramen!
~~Jesse the Wolf Demon~~
"Okay now," Akio said to herself as she looked over the still soaking wet young man. "First things first," she said dryly, taking hold of his shirt. "Please forgive my lack of modesty here." She began to undress him from the waist up, carefully peeling the wet clothes off the bleeding wounds. The one in his side was particularly vicious looking and Akio winced. She heard him suck in a harsh breath when the pressure of his clothes was taken off of the wounds. She took that as a good sign. "I should dry you off, so you don't get sick on top of wounded."
Akio raced through her small house, grabbed an armful of blankets, then two rolls of bandages, and the small bottle of alcohol to clean out the wound. She paused to unload that batch of things before heading into the kitchen and fetching a small carving knife and a pair of tongs. She had performed this procedure on several animals before. Random deer, a few horses, and even a wolf puppy, all shot by hap-hazard hunters and left to die until she had come along. She'd never done it on a human. She wasn't a doctor, but she had to try. There was no other way.
She grasped the small knife in her fingers firmly, gazing at the gaping hole in his side. All the rest of him was covered in warm blankets to keep him from risk of other infection. She was glad he was unconscious for the pain of this would be unbearable had he been awake. Akio cut the skin around the hole on each side, widening the wound enough so that she grabbed the tongs in her bloody hands and wrenched the bullet out. Blood pooled out and dripped to the floor, staining her hands and clothes.
There! Had the bullet stayed in, it could have poisoned his blood. Now for the other one in his shoulder. Akio doused the side wound with alcohol, hearing him whimper in his sleep. Her heart went out to him, it really did. Once the wound was cleaned, she put pressure to stop the bleeding as much as she could, then wrapped it snuggly with one of the rolls of bandages.
The worst wound was tended, it was time for the most troublesome. Akio shifted her position and the blankets. He was already bleeding through the cloth she had put over it. He was losing so much blood! If she didn't work fast he'd die whether he was tended or not from the blood loss. She worked fast, cutting deftly through the skin on his shoulder and pulling at the bullet. She prayed it wasn't lodged in the bone, if it was there was no guarantee she'd ever get it out. It seemed that the Gods were smiling on her for once in her life as she found the bullet had passed into only muscle and tissue, but not the bone. Akio retrieved the bullet and began the cleaning process. Then she bandaged him, and prayed the bleeding would stop, or at the very least, lessen enough to save his life.
She ran the back of her hand over her forehead, sweating slightly from the concentration. She didn't realize that she left a bloody streak across her face until a few minutes later, when she went to clean off her hands and change into clean clothes. First she made sure her patient was covered fully once more, and resting as comfortably as possible. Then Akio filled a bucket with water from the well outside of her house and dumped all the contents over her head before pulling up another bucket to bring inside the house.
She worked at the restaurant tonight. Akio sighed to herself, looking into her bedroom at the still unconscious patient lying still. Only the steady rise and fall of his chest signaling he was still alive. She smiled her herself as she looked at him, proud of herself.
Her hair was damp, clinging to her neck and dripping down her back, but she had a contented feeling in her chest. She knew that she had just saved a human life. Although she didn't think that a human life was worth more then an animal's life, but it was a different feeling. She changed into her uniform kimono and readied herself for work.
Akio was only allowed one job in the Renko Village, she was a serving woman at the town's restaurant. When she was dressed she took a long drink of water from the bucket she brought in from the well, then she filled a cup and brought it to her patient. Akio, kneeling next to him and leaning his head forward gently, tilted the cup so that a small and steady stream of water ran into his mouth. He coughed once, sending some of the liquid to dribble down his chin.
"I know you've probably seen enough water to last you a lifetime, but you have to drink if you want to get better," she laughed a little to herself, using the same soothing tone with him as she used with her animals. Once she was satisfied that he had drank enough water, Akio got back up to put the cup in the kitchen again. "Thinking of it, I don't think it's such a great idea for me to work tonight," she mused aloud. "What if you wake up and don't know where you are? Or you go into shock or need help? No, I think I'll stay home tonight." She nodded at her decision. "But I have to run to town to tell them I'm unwell." She looked torn, going to the door and looking back in at the sleeping young man. "I'll return in a few minutes!" Akio called before closing the door and running to the bridge and over toward the village.
She knew where to go to avoid a run-in with the guardians. A few random people on the street gave her dirty looks in passing, or ignored her completely. When she reached the restaurant, she took a deep breath and put forward her best wounded facade.
Akio was aware of all the eyes on her a she walked in. Ryu and his friends were at a back table. He attempted to wave but she shrugged him off with a look of illness. Approaching her employer was the key. Although her lady boss was a kind woman for the most part, she looked down upon Akio.
"Lady Suika?" Akio said submissively. The tall and pretty woman turned with a raised eyebrow, looking down on her employee. "I am feeling very ill this evening, would it be possible for me to work tomorrow night instead to make up for taking tonight to rest?" Suika, a shrewd woman with as much cunning as there were stars in the sky, could see right through anyone telling a lie to get out of work. Her level hazel eyes looked right into Akio's soul, to see what she was really up to. Much to the restaurant owner's surprise, she saw no hints of laziness or dishonestly in her eyes. Akio simply needed to take the night off.
"Fine then," Suika said off-handedly. "Just make sure you work hard tomorrow." Akio bowed.
"Yes ma'am." Then she turned and fled from the restaurant, still feigning illness until she was outside and darting home as fast as her legs could carry her.
"Suika! What happened?" one of the regular customers said with a disdainful glance at the door Akio had just exited. "She was about as sick as I am pretty." This got a round of 'that's the picture of heath' from the others. Suika grinned slowly, like a cat over a prized kill. "Why'd you let her off?"
"She's a hard worker, that little bastard. She wasn't playing sick to run off with her lad or nothing, she had something to do. Can't for the life of me know what, but it must be something big. She's never left work before."
"Never?" another patron asked in disbelief.
"Never," Suika confirmed. "I've given her work at this restaurant since she was a child. I respected her grandmother," she said with a fierce glare at a snickering costumer. "And as long as I've owned this restaurant, that girl has never missed a time to work." There was silence from the people for a few seconds, then the restaurant was alive once more.
Akio hated wearing the kimono that she was forced to wear at the restaurant. She longed for the freedom of pants. With a weary sigh, Akio crossed the bridge and shivered when she looked down. 'That poor boy', she thought to herself. She saw the drop he had taken and the large, jagged rocks were visible even in the darkening light. It was a miracle that he was alive. 'But he won't be if I don't get home soon!' she yelled at herself mental and started running down the path for home again, as fast as the constraining kimono would allow.
"Curse the day I was born a woman," she raged when she stomped into the house, throwing off the kimono and once more donning her usually men's attire. She was so deep into her gender fuming that she forgot a man was actually in the room where she was changing. At least he was unconscious, but still. Akio shook her head at herself. 'Is there no end to my idiocy?'
Mentally abusing herself, Akio went out to the well to fill her water bucket once more, and saw a visitor approaching her house. It took all of her will power and restraint to keep from sighing out loud. She opted for ignoring him.
"Akio? Are you alright? I saw you leave the restaurant and Suika said you were sick," Ryu said running up to her. He took a quick look up and down of her, noticing she was once again minus a kimono.
"I'm not feeling up to this right now Ryu," she said, and truth be told she wasn't. She was tired and had to take care of her charge.
"Let me help you then," he said, grabbing the bucket from her hands and walking into the house ahead of her to put it in the kitchen. Akio didn't fight him at first, but trailed after, ready to throw him out again. "As for you," he said once the water was inside. He turned and placed both hands on the back of her shoulders, pushing her towards her bedroom. "Go lay down." Akio froze, digging her heels into the floor.
"Ryu, what are you doing? Go home, I can take care of myself!" Akio desperately tried to keep her voice down, while innocently pulling Ryu into the kitchen. She couldn't let him find the unconscious young man asleep on her bed for more reasons then just the fact that there was a man asleep on her bed. Ryu was a member of the village guardians. She was sure the watch that inflicted the wounds on the traveler would tell the other members of the guardians about him. If Ryu saw the self-same traveler in her house...it would be bad news for someone who was already on thin ice. But it was a lucky break that Ryu was the only person who ever came to her house, so all Akio had to do was get him away.
"Why don't you ever let me help take care of you?" Ryu pouted, trying to put his arms around her. Akio dodged this easily, glaring at him.
"Ryu, get out. My head hurts and I don't want to deal with you."
"Let me help you," he pleaded. Akio sighed, holding her head with one hand and pointing to the door with the other.
"Get out of my house Ryu."
"Akio, one of these days you have to realize that you are a woman, and that you'll need a man to take care of you once in a while." That made her snap. Akio was entirely self-sufficient and had been since she was eight years old. Nearly ten years.
"Ryu!" she yelled, pushing him with all of her strength. "Get Out!" He flew threw the open door to get a face full of dirt. He got to his feet and turned to see a glaring Akio standing on her front step, hands on her hips. She was the picture of feminine rage. "You are no longer welcome in this home. You can not walk about freely in here any more. If you disobey this, I will make you pay." He glared at her, angrily brushing the dirt off of his clothes.
"Fine then Akio," he warned. "But you'll be begging me to come back when you're left here all alone again! You just wait and see." Then he turned on his heel and stomped off into the darkness. Akio seethed, her fists clenched shakingly at her side. The desire to silence him was great, but her resolve was stronger now then it had been in her youth. And there were more important things to do then kill Ryu.
Growling slightly, she stalked back inside and fetched a cup of water to feed to her charge. Like before, he coughed up half of it before the water was able to be drunk. She gave him a second cup since he seemed to be dehydrating. Once he was done drinking, Akio went and found herself something to eat. She chewed idly, thinking about what she was going to do with this man if and when he woke up. Food would have to wait until he was conscious, and that didn't look like it would happen tonight. But after he did wake up, she knew he'd be bed ridden for at least a week!
Not that it was a problem of him being run out of town. If she could keep Ryu from finding him, no one else would. He'd have to stay out of sight until he was well again. Then, if everything went well, she'd send him on his way. Akio rubbed her temples and smiled. "How do I always get myself into these kinds of things?" she muttered to the heavens. There was no answer, not that she expected one. Akio grew tired after a while, too much stress in one day.
With a yawn, she changed the dressing on his bandages, they were clotted with blood, but the steady flow had stopped. It was then that she decided the stitch the wound together. It would encourage the skin to close faster, now that the bleeding had stopped. Akio lit an extra lamp nearby for better light and fetch a needle and thread. Her patient slept soundly as she sewed his skin together carefully. Her stitches were tiny and even. First the wound on his side was sealed and bandaged but then she had to lean over him to work on his shoulder. She could feel his breath on her neck and it made all her hair stand on end. Akio was not used to being this close to humans, let alone men.
When she was finally done, she leaned back from her stitched and re-bandaged charge and sighed. She drank deeply from her water bucket, then gave him some more. That was when Akio fully noticed that he was sleeping on her bed…and blinked. 'Guess the floor is the way to go,' she thought, grabbing a blanket for herself and curling up on the floor of her bedroom. The rhythm of the wounded traveler's breathing helped her fall into a calm sleep. She slept through the entire night for the first time in seven years.
Okay, well here we have it folks! Chapter 3 of Renegade. I love Soujiro, I think he's wicked cool, hence why I'm writing this fic. I want to thank all those who have reviewed so far. I'll get to individual shout-outs next chapter. Expect this to be a pretty short story. I expect the sequel to be longer then this one. It's just something I started writing because I got bored waiting for my beta reader to get back to me, lol. Remember to review! Thanks for reading, my love for all of you is like Ramen!
~~Jesse the Wolf Demon~~