*/*/*


Wounds of War

A campfire blazed, the dancing light and arcane crackles of magic keeping the creatures of the Weald away. The Occultist gave a baleful glare at the black tentacle alter, sitting there innocently, as if it hadn't just dragged them all into the darkness. The little red orb was gone now, replaced by a scroll of unknown origin. It had the Ancestor's seal on it. The Heir would punish them severely if discovered they'd left such a thing in this diseased forest. But Caillot wasn't currently concerned with punishments. His gaze was locked onto the three figures laying in the camp with him. He'd been bandaging, disinfecting, and chanting the only healing incantation he knew for what felt like an eternity now. Veci had been the most difficult at the beginning, but she'd also been the first the Occultist had gotten stabilized. He couldn't do much for the broken bones, but he'd managed to keep them and the resulting pain from killing her. Caillot would take what he could get. Then there was Aela and Vesli. Both of their throats were mottled with bruises, looking like ink had been spilled and then sunk into their skin. Granted, Aela's throat was in better condition than Vesli's. Then there were the holes in their limbs from the smaller tentacle creatures. It had taken the majority of the bandage supply and Caillot's magic to get those to stop bleeding.

The Hellion was the first to wake. She shot up, reaching for her now broken weapon. "AHKO-" she stopped mid yell, eyes flicking here and there. "It's in the shadows! Watching us!"

"Aela. Easy. We got out," Caillot soothed. Or rather attempted to soothe. The Hellion was not listening, pointing her broken weapon in random directions. Paranoid, Caillot realized. The Affliction would made it difficult to get the Hellion back to the Hamlet but not impossible. Caillot kept his voice low as he murmured to her about everything and nothing. He was part way through explaining a complex mathematical formula when the Occultist noticed movement. Vesli's awakening was a slow one, the other male slowly dragging himself upwards.

"Welcome back Vesli," Caillot was glad Aela hadn't taken Vesli's movements as a threat.

"Why are you still here?" Vesli questioned.

"Beg pardon?" The Occultist was confused.

"Why are you still here? Just leave, I'm not worth you staying. I'm worthless… worthless… worthless." Vesli's eyes seemed to cloud over as he swayed back and forth, repeating that same word over and over again, it felt like looking into the glass eyes of a mannequin. Caillot gave a strained smile. The Hopeless Affliction. Caillot had to remind himself that Vesli didn't mean any of it.

"Well, we'll have to agree to disagree," attempting to argue would likely only make the situation worse. Dragging two afflicted teammates back to the Hamlet was going to be like herding cats. However, Caillot outright refused to leave any of them here. He looked to Veci, who was still out cold. A check of her pulse ensured that yes, the Doctor was still alive. Veci was light enough that Caillot could likely carry her himself, though not as easily as Aela or Vesli might. The Occultist would have enough difficulty getting them back to the Hamlet as is without asking them to carry the resident Plague Doctor as well. "I for one think we should get out of this accursed place. And you are all coming with me whether you like it or not." Caillot crackled with what little arcane energy he had left. "Shall we?"

*/*/*

It had taken cajoling, threatening and outright dragging with abyssal magic to get the two conscious and Afflicted members of the party back to the Hamlet and into treatment. Veci didn't wake up, though Caillot suspected she'd probably have been Afflicted too, so perhaps her unconscious state was a small blessing. After depositing the scroll with the Caretaker, Caillot then dragged himself into the nearest Sanitarium bed, drained of physical and magical energy. "You lot are lucky I like you," he muttered, barely noticing as the nurses came to look him over.

"Caillot." The sound of his name had the Occultist blinking owlishly at the door.

"Darcy, what…?"

"Heard you returned, rather worse for wear," Darcy looked Caillot over. A whistle had Alis hopping up into the bed and nudging herself under Caillot's hand, despite the glares from the nurses. "The others?"

"Hurt badly and currently mentally unstable," Caillot mechanically started patting the insistent canine. Darcy gave a sympathetic wince. "I didn't know the Sanitarium allowed visitors."

"They do when one of the visitors has very sharp teeth," Darcy smirked. Alis thumped her tail.

"You're absolutely horrible."

"You know you love it."

*/*/*

Vesli's mind came out of what felt like thick oozing darkness. He had a headache that made him question if he'd broken his vow of sobriety. "Good morning," the bland voice could only belong to one of the Sanitarium nurses. With the hammer rattling around in his skull, Vesli could only muster up a minor concern at waking up in the Sanitarium. His memories of getting here, while clear in his mind's eye, felt like they belonged to someone else. Someone that was definitely not him. And certainly not Rir either. As such, Vesli was doing his best to not think about it. "This will help any lingering pain you experience," the nurse offered a pill. Vesli eyed it. "Suit yourself," the pill disappeared.

"My team?" By the Light talking hurt! And his voice was like gravel being dragged out of his throat.

"The Occultist was released yesterday. The Hellion woke up about fifteen minutes ago. The Plague Doctor has been in and out for about an hour." Vesli sighed in relief to discover even doing that hurt. "You may also wish to look in a mirror." The man narrowed his eyes suspicious, but gingerly stood. There was a grand total of one small mirror and he limped towards it. Well moving was going to be at a slower pace for a while. What didn't hurt was stiff. Vesli visibly winced at his reflection. The skin on his throat was mottled with the rather unique bruising which came from being strangled to near death by tentacles. The circular rings from the suckers were dark enough to even stand out amongst the other bruising. Those marks on his throat certainly gave him… character? Just another to add to his collection of scars, Vesli supposed. "Your voice will heal given time. You got lucky," the nurse informed. Well that answered that question. He nodded, then hobbled to check in on the girls before the nurses decided he'd overstayed his welcome.

Vesli found Aela first. He wasn't overly surprised to see her throat mirrored his. "Vesli!" The Hellion flinched, as her default setting of loud had her throat protesting. Aela forced herself to a lower volume. "Good to see you up. The Spirits plague my mind with dark memories."

"I'm certain we're all the same in that aspect," Vesli rasped, "Are you alright?"

"I was just thinking of going out running," Aela grinned getting a laugh and a grimace out of the man.

"Forgive me if I don't join you," he replied. Vesli nodded to the Hellion, satisfied the boisterous female was both alive and her normal self, then limped his way through the Sanitarium to find Bird. He didn't care if she was awake or not, he needed to see she was still in one piece for his sanity, and to get Rir to stop pacing in the corners of his mind.

He spotted the familiar green outfit. "Veci," her name was almost a whispered prayer. Then his gaze spotted the mask on the small table next to her cot. The white accessory mocked him. "Forgive me for the intrusion," he started backing up, eyes firmly on the ceiling.

"Vesli?" Bird's voice was her usual chirp, probably thanks to whatever pain medicine the nurses had given her.

"Ah Doctor, you're awake. Though much worse for wear if memory serves," he attempted his usual snark, but it felt hollow, Vesli's mind unable to block out the memory of what had happened to them.

"Grateful for strong medication. Would appreciate being awake more," Vesli could picture this accompanied by her usual nod. A slight pause where he could feel her head tilt in confusion. "Seem inordinately fascinated with the ceiling, see nothing of interest myself."

"Your mask is on the table to you left, Doctor," he drawled in response, trying and failing to hide his faint smile at the comment that had been entirely Bird.

"Didn't think I was that hideous." This response startled Vesli, his head almost snapping her direction in shock before he stopped himself, much to Rir's protests. It was only the fact that Vesli could hear snark in her voice instead of self-deprecation that prevented him from scrambling in shame.

"I… er… what?" Clever Vesli. Truly showing such remarkable intelligence. Clearly scholars will write for generations about such unparalleled genius and his silver tongue that would make all swoon at the eloquence that flowed from his lips like honey.

"Perhaps head damaged in fight. Blunt then. You may stop looking at ceiling if you wish," Bird gave an exasperated sigh before he felt her smirk "Although, if it contains some secret only you can see, would appreciate you sharing". Vesli for his part didn't think he'd done anything that earned this gift. But he gave a wry chuckle, wincing as once again his throat reminded him that laughing and talking much above a whisper was a bad idea.

"Yes ma'am," he obliged. Vesli slowly lowered his gaze and his eyes locked with Bird's. "A pleasure to meet you, Veci."

She smiled at him softly, propped up on a couple pillows, much of her torso covered in bandages, part of her green tunic draped over it all. The Doctor had her notes and a pencil in her lap, her gear kept well out of reach, the reason why hinted at by the lingering scent of sulfur. But, above all, Vesli looked at her face, the soft brown hair, inquisitive eyes that seemed eager and bright, even in the pit that was called the Hamlet, and a small quirk in her lips conveying her amusement at it all.

"The pleasure is mine, Vesli."

*/*/*

The nurses had all but shoved him out of the Sanitarium. Rude. A familiar scent on the wind had Vesli limping into the tavern with a flat look. Yep. There was Face. He'd almost hoped his nose had been wrong for just this once. Vesli and Rir both gave irritated grumbles as the man hobbled his way to the veteran's table. Face noticed his approach, the scowl marring the Man-at-Arms expression was growing more and more impressive with each step nearer. "Ya mockin' me, whelp?" Face finally snapped.

"My dear Face, you are not the only one capable of getting an injury that results in a limp," Vesli sat across from him, not caring that his tone was irritated as he didn't feel like coddling Face at the moment. Vesli gave the other male a blasé look as Face inspected him, and merely raised his left eyebrow about a centimeter when the Man-at-Arms fixed on his throat.

"Ya look like shit," came the answering grumble. Vesli grinned. Now that was more like the Face he'd once known.

"At least I'm still more handsome than you, old man," he shot back. Face actually huffed. Huffed! It was as good as a laugh as far as Vesli was concerned. Now to enact his plot. "Handsome enough to get a student of my own, in fact."

"A student in wha'? Favorin' yer left foot?" Face scowled slightly.

"I guess you'll just have to start hanging around the training grounds again, if you want to find out." And hopefully give Vesli enough time to find this nonexistent student. Probably should have thought of that first.


A/N: *sneaks in this chapter a day before was originally planning to post it* Shh. It's our little secret.