Chapter 4: Dangers
Upon finishing the clinic, patients from the clan lined up reluctantly, the patients having injuries that vary from broken bones, to minor to major burns, as Kayla tried her best to treat the various injuries, as more hours pass on by, it's all interrupted by the sound of flares exploding in the distance, announcing the arrival of the barbarians.
The people start to panic and hide upon hearing the inbound arrival, worried they are here to finish what they started previously, Kayla who was confused at everyone fleeing, peeked outside to see the rapidly approaching vehicles as she can tell from the trail of smoke they left, Gwenn, who quickly pulled her back inside to hide her from the large barbarian party incoming.
"What's going on outside? What should we do Gwenn?" She asks him in a panic. Causing Gwenn to grab her to get her attention and turn her to face him, "Just be calm and stay quiet." He tells her but she only persists and responds "But what about the people we just helped..." She questions, she didn't want to see more hurt than they already were.
The sounds of men running around cheering and making animal calls, harassing the people of the clan, all of that came to a sudden silence when the otherworldly loud neigh of a horse cut through the air, an intimidating voice followed that neigh shortly after, "Let that be a lesson for you all, skimp on your tribute to us again and we will scorch you all, you got that?!" The man leading the raid party shouted out as he trotted into the clan, riding the most beautiful yet armored horse Kayla has ever seen as she peeked once more.
"Why should we give anything to you leeches anymore? You always demand more, more, and more, Azrael." The elder said as he approached the man by the name of Azrael, defiantly causing him to look at the elder and he only laughed aloud, with Kayla seeing all of this, she couldn't stand by anymore as she knew this Azrael was about to pull something very awful, she sprinted and taking her direction towards the door only to be forcefully pulled back by Gwenn as she let out a small growl with a squeal.
Kayla angrily attempted to break out of Gwenns grasp with no use as he held her close, he didn't want her to place herself in more danger than she already has. "Gwenn! Please! We can't just stand by after they gave us a chance!" She cried, "If I so much as lay a finger on the situation, all these people will be killed!" He growled, only to glance down and notice her relax as she gave up, tears forming in her eyes.
"You two need to leave…" A voice approached them, causing Gwenn to quickly look over to where it came. It was the same man Kayla had helped when they arrived with the hurt leg, he had made his way inside and snuck over to them silently in order to help them out after helping the injured, he was accompanied by another young man to assist.
"The elder sent us before the Barbarians arrived fully, he said helping the injured was enough and you two need to get out of here." He added, Gwenn who hesitated and said nothing as he glanced around and back down at Kayla who wasn't saying anything as she only had tucked herself into his chest trying to block out the cries and the sounds of the barbarians since she couldn't do anything.
Gwenn let out an annoyed growl, slightly glaring at the other young man who quickly noticed with a small sudden frightened look. "You, get her out of here now and into the trees." Gwenn said as he released Kayla who now refused to let go of him after hearing what he said, knowing full well he was about to do something most likely stupid.
The man gave a small look of surprise, though he quickly didn't hesitate to do what Gwenn asked, both him and Gwenn had to force Kayla off of him as she resulted into struggling once again. "Dont! Gwenn! I rather us both leave here alive than have you do something stupid!" She cried, trying to break out of the young man's grasp as he had to forcefully pull and move her away out towards the back.
"You have a plan, don't you?" The man with the hurt leg questioned, Gwenn who was staring down at the ground to his left as he was thinking only squinted slightly, "She's right, it's stupid, but it might just help your clan out." Gwenn stated as he looked at the man seriously.
Azrael leaped off the back of the horse he was riding, patted the steed as he slowly approached the elder who had his hands and arms behind his back like a wise man always did. "Elder Elder, how long has it been since you took lead of this pathetic clan of yours." He questioned sternly, showing proudness as he leaned slightly down to be face to face with the Elder.
"This clan has been founded by me and me only for 10 years, I will do what it takes to make sure my people are safe and not harmed, you have already taken all from us, why have you returned?" The elder said, also questioning Azrael who only smirked in response as his horse approached beside him letting out an aggressive somewhat like sneeze.
The man with the hurt leg had quickly approached beside the elder, Azrael took no response allowing the man to talk to his elder as he whispered into his ear. Azrael only let out a subtle menacing chuckle, not giving a single care in the world on what the hurt man told the elder, he leaped back onto the back of his horse with a small smirk on his face.
"Have you by chance seen a young girl? Not from around here and most likely not from any clan, it seems she apparently took out a few of my men at an abandoned gas station not too far from your clan." Azrael questioned, the elder hesitated slightly that only his people could see and know.
"No girl of such description has been seen, we do not welcome outsiders." The elder said seriously, showing no signs that he was lying. Azrael frowned, "Not the answer I wanted." He stated sternly, glancing around at the elders people of the clan who were finally forced out from hiding by his men.
Gwenn, who was out of sight and near the tree's close to the clan, had prepped himself, lowering down and placing a foot against the tree like your average race runner would do. Raising his wings he used the tree as a force of momentum to gain speed quickly, he boosted off from the tree and as he folded his wings close, darting at Azrael who was about to raise his hand to signal his men to raid the elders clan.
Azrael stopped and quickly glanced at the sudden movement at the corner of his eye, though unable to react in time as Gwenn was already in his face, quickly grasping Azrael by the shirt and lifting him up as he took him off his horse forcefully and flew up with him.
The horse quickly reacted, jumping up and attempting to grab his master by the shoe, only to fail as he landed hard and let out angry neighs. Everyone was silent at the sudden attack, though the elder who seemingly was the only one who kept a straight and serious face. "Ace!? I thought he was dead! Didn't our leader kill him!?" The barbarians all individually shouted.
"You! You're supposed to be dead you brat!" Azrael growled as he attempted to break free from Gwenn's grip, only to stop as he realized how high up they were. "You were hiding among them, weren't you! All this time!" He added angrily, Gwenn only glared at him from the corner of his eye, taking a quick glance back, 'Come on, do it you idiot!' he thought to himself.
Azrael flipped himself over, wrapping his legs around Gwenn's neck, forcing Gwenn to let go and almost flip over only to catch himself quickly and hold a position. "I was merely passing by when I saw you being a complete ass to the innocent people once more, Azrael." Gwenn growled, "Sure I faked my death, only so I didn't have to worry you people about a little thief arriving at night. Plus, I wanted to stop." Gwenn added. Azrael only laughed menacingly, "I'll just finish what our master started then! You'll never change boy, people won't appreciate you just like that because you only stopped!" He laughed, about to pull a pistol from behind his back, Gwenn quickly grasped his arms to prevent him and keep him still.
The elder glanced over in the sky where the two were seemingly arguing and fighting in the air, "Lance, Shoot Ace." He said, still keeping his focus on the two in the air. The bulky man from before who originally caused problems to Gwenn and Kayla hesitated when his name was called, but only to the mere fact of what the elder requested him to do. "But… you said…" He began hesitantly, only to be interrupted, "Do it!" The elder growled as he finally looked at Lance who frighteningly jumped slightly.
Lance quickly and aggressively snatched one of the rifles from one of the Barbarians close by, the barbarian didn't bother to fight back as soon as he realized what Lance was doing as he aimed the rifle at Gwenn. Lance who finally fired the gun, causing the innocent people of the clan to react frighteningly to the loud sound of the gunfire.
Gwenn immediately turning himself and purposely allowing the bullet to hit him as he slightly attempted to kick Azrael off of him, the bullet piercing through his upper arm and near his right shoulder, quickly losing balance and altitude in the air as they both began to fall to the ground, Azrael who still persisted and was being driven to kill Gwenn reached out and grabbed his pistol finally.
He fired the gun at Gwenn who barely dodged the bullet, Gwenn reached and grabbed the gun as Azrael attempted to aggressively pull it back, only to be kicked in the stomach and pushed away, the gun forcefully pulled from his hand as they both finally hit the ground, the pistol tumbling away.
The horse menacingly let out an otherworldly loud neigh as it darted towards its master in the distance angrily. Gwenn reacted quickly, coughing and gasping for air as they hit the ground pretty hard, turning himself over painfully letting out a small growl and glancing at Azrael who took his time.
Gwenn quickly noticed the horse rushing over, very fast too, Gwenn staggered and stood up, spreading his wings and doing a spin, kicking his foot out using both that and his wings to create a smoke screen with the desert sand that ranged pretty wide.
Azrael lifted himself angrily as he gasped for air, quickly glancing around as the sand slowly faded, the horse quickly by his side as it suddenly came to a halt and stomping its front hooves aggressively to the ground as it also glanced around letting out angry snorts. Gwenn was already gone and had disappeared, this angered Azrael as he stood up and growled angrily, "Acceee! I'll make sure you're hunted down to the ends of the earth, I will have your head for this boy! You watch!"" He shouted angrily, crushing one of Gwenns feathers from his wings in his palm.
Lance handed the rifle back to the barbarian who accepted it uncertianingly, the elder glanced at Lance, despite his temper and big muscles and never actually putting up a fight, Lance was by far the best shot when it came to ranged and firing weapons.
Azrael approached them, trotting up on the back of his horse as he made his way back quickly, glancing at Lance then back at the elder with a serious expression. "Consider yourself lucky old man, if not for your actions with the help against Ace, you would be dead." Azrael stated, quickly turning his back at them and motioning his men to retreat and take their leave.
Kayla, now within the small forest a bit of a distance away from the clan, was leaned against a tree, her knee's close to her as she wrapped her arms around them and her head tucked under. The man who brought her here, stood and kept watch over her, preventing her from taking off and running back to the clan.
Kayla flinched frighteningly at a sudden gentle touch to her arm, though, she immediately recognized the touch as she shot her head up and immediately seeing Gwenns face as he was crouched down in front of her with a small reassuring smile. She immediately jumped at him and wrapped her arms around, embracing him happily to see him alive and that he didn't leave her.
She felt him wince and stiffen, she released him slightly as she felt a warm liquid on her hand and glanced down noticing blood, she lowered her hand and quickly noticed the gunshot wound in his right shoulder that he was grasping painfully. "Gwenn…" She said lowly, quickly grabbing some cloth from one of her pockets as placing pressure on the injury, "You did do something stupid, I knew it!" She growled sternly.
He said nothing, only looked down with his closed, shamefully. "I should be thanking you, both of you." A voice approached them, Kayla who shot a look at the familiar voice, it was the elder who was accompanied by the same hurt man with his leg. Kayla who quickly formed a surprised expression though immediately a happy one after too seeing them all alright and alive, though immediately becoming confused.
"Wait...you mean..?" Kayla began confusingly as she worriedly looked back at Gwenn, "It wasn't stupid, but foolish, though it was for the sake of saving our clan. What Gwenn did, had saved us all and the Barbarians took their leave." The hurt man stated, giving a gentle smile of appreciation.
Now she knew why he was giving a shameful look and not looking at her in the eyes, he wanted them to shoot him, prove to the barbarians of their assistance considering Gwenn was a common enemy to all clans and he knew if they helped the barbarians it would stop and prevent the raid.
She let out a small sigh, giving up once again and there was honestly no point in scolding him, he was honestly the one who knew more than her when it came to helping others and surviving out here on the surface, so she knew full well and wasn't going to go against him. But when it came to him getting injured or anyone else, she couldn't help but to be like a worried mother.
Kayla, still applying pressure to the wound as blood seeped through the cloth quickly, wrapped her free arm around him and pulled him close, showing her appreciation for helping these people and reconsidering. "Seems even people who do something bad just about their whole lives can change, we owe you one, Gwenn." The elder stated gently, Gwenn who only glanced at the elder from the corner of his eye, showed a sign of refusement.
"What I've done can't ever be changed, you owe me nothing. But you do owe, her." Gwenn said seriously as he relaxed and slumped down slightly into Kayla's embrace, still persisting and showing he wanted nothing in return for what he did.
The elder gave a subtle sigh, Gwenn was correct, his past actions still wouldn't change the thoughts of how people still saw him even if he had changed. "I can't promise you that the people of my clan will respect you because of what you did, very few of us realize it and most will still continue to hate you." The elder began, taking his glance at Kayla.
"What is it you need, aside from supplies we-" He began, only to have Kayla respond quickly and interrupt him, "Information." She said, glancing up at him seriously. The elder gave a small surprised expression, for their help and what they've done exceeded for just mere information was not enough in his book, though he only sighed once more and agreed. "What kind of information is it you need to know?" He questioned.
"Do you know where Arkawa is? Or at least a direction to start with?" Kayla asked the elder, who responded with a look of shock, "Why..?" He asked, "You're not from there are you?" He asked Kayla, with a slight look of sus on his face,"You know a lot of folk around here don't take kindly to people from there..." He adds, as if it was a warning, "Most are stuck up here because of people down there..."
"I'm aware of that..." She responds sternly, just wanting directions to home, the elder with a sigh tells her "Best guess, is head north...far north, just be aware the clans will not be as...nice towards you both, some are lap dogs for the barbarians so... Watch out for that too." He began, "The land north is also unforgiving... It will be a hard journey... Just hope you're ready for it." the elder said, then brought his attention to Gwenn " I'm sure you understand the risks...just make sure the world doesn't chew her up ok?"
Gwenn peering at the elder giving a small gentle squint and smile in response to the elders request, They both go back to the old building and prepare by packing more of the supplies from the temporary clinic, leaving enough for the people of the nearby clan, "You think they will be fine with us gone?" Kayla asked out of concern for the people, as she quickly patched him up from the gunshot wound, having to dig out the bullet, stitch and then bandage.
"With what we leave them with should at least last until the end of the month." Gwenn tells her, in hopes of easing her concern, "Let's camp out here until the next morning, we can't leave now, there might be a few barbarian scouts near by and more than likely they will spot us and alert the rest of them." He added.
Kayla sighing and nods in agreement, knowing that it's too early after those barbarians just showed and might come back at anytime, "Your right.., at least this gives more time to help these people of any minor inflictions..." she says to Gwenn as she looks for paper or anything similar to write on "Maybe if I wrote symptoms of various illnesses and instructions on how to treat them and injuries, it would be something a bit more for them since we'll be gone..."
As time marched on, with hours passing and the sun setting, Kayla finally finished her home made medical book for the clan here to use so they can help themselves in her absence, feeling drowsy from the time spent, looking over only to see Gwenn slump over on a couch and quickly fall asleep.
Kayla looked at Gwenn asleep, only made her yawn and shiver slightly, so she got up and sat next to Gwenn, carefully leaning on him using him like a pillow, closing her eyes drifting to sleep.
As Kayla slept, a horrid dream entered her thoughts, a dream about being alone in a dark field, searching for Gwenn in the darkness, seeing a fire that had went ablaze, encircling her, the only thing she can see from the smoke was four men on horses as the lead one holding Gwenn, and two others, her parents who seemed limp by their necks and then point at her and said in a almost howl "This...is...your..fault.." The dream woke her from her sleep, looking around frantically realizing Gwenn didn't seem to be where he was sleeping.
Kayla panicked and called out "Gwenn!?", responding to her call, peeked his head out from the separate room confused "You ok?" He questioned her subtly worried, who responded with a relieved sigh, "Yes, everything's fine." she said with a cheery tone to Gwenn who was finishing checking off the packed supplies. "We should be safe to go, if my memory is correct there is a small town with another clan in charge, we should be careful though, they won't be exactly fans of either me or you..." He says to Kayla, who has a growing concern on her face.
Kayla then slung her bag over her shoulder and looked up at Gwenn with both concern and determination to go before it got dark again, right before they left the elder showed up and stopped Kayla and handed her a small dagger "Here...just in case you need to defend yourself." the elder said to her, Kayla who hesitated and looked at Gwenn as if asking for his permission, Gwenn gave her a gentle reassuring look that it was ok and would be necessary to have at least something to defend herself with. The elder, patting her shoulder before sending them on their way as she accepted the small dagger.
Kayla following close to Gwenn, hearing just the dust filled wind around them, feeling like the trail stretched outwards for miles long in front of them "Are we there ye-" Kayla said before getting interrupted by Gwenn "No." he said to her unfinished question, gradually getting slower as they went on, with Kayla walking along thinking she was still behind Gwenn,"How long do you think it would take us to get there?" She asks, Gwenn not realizing he slowed to a sudden stop, she looked around and realized she was ahead of him and went back with a worried look as she already knew it was unlike him to falter, "Gwenn? Is something wrong?" She asks as she quickly felt his forehead feeling he was burning up, seeing he is also sweating and severely out of breath as he subtly panted like a dog, thinking it might be a flu of sort "Your Ill…?" She asks out of concern.
Gwenn weakly sat, coughing and looked exhausted almost falling asleep, with Kayla snapping in front of his face "Hey, don't fall asleep on me ok?" She says as she quickly rummaged through the bag while looking at him, as she was scanning his symptoms with her own eyes, looking around for plants, spotting Leguminosae also known as wild licorice and Ephedra viridis, commonly called mormon tea, she looked back at Gwenn making sure he wasn't falling asleep again.
She hurried herself to those flowers picking as much as she could hold, scampering back to Gwenn still quickly directing her attention to him, placing the plants down and grabbing a nearby rock, trying to grind the plants down. After grabbing some sticks and using the same rock she tried to make a fire, even a small one would do, she took a cup from the bag, seeing the large water bottle on the bag had taken it to fill the cup with both water and the plant mixture to then boil it above the small fire.
Kayla looked at Gwenn after the mixture was finished and offered it to him "Drink this please..." she semi demanded and begged, "This should help lower your fever and kill that illness." She said keeping her arm extended as she gently had a hand on his uninjured shoulder, causing Gwenn to weakly look up, slightly disturbed but trying to keep a straight face despite the scent he can smell from it, upon drinking it he kept that disturbed look that Kayla slightly noticed only to not bother questioning it as she was too worried for him.
"Sorry…" He said weakly, handing her back the cup that she quickly took and was grasping his injured shoulder tightly because of the pain. "Rest ok? It should kick in after a few hours..." Kayla told Gwenn as she sat on her knees in front of him, to watch over him and make sure he was resting properly. While the silence after was fleeting, but short lived as out in the distance, a dust cloud can be seen from them. Kayla didn't like seeing him like this, or in any type of pain after all he's done for her, and despite all that, he still continued to help her out after almost backing out for her own safety because of his own problems, yet she managed to make him reconsider.
Kayla trying the best as she could to see out that far, spotted what seemed like a large group on motor bikes, chasing after a trade caravan, with the men shouting sounding faint to her, she isn't able to understand what they were saying, but the situation unfolding didn't seem good, Kayla keeping herself low to the ground not wanting to risk getting spotted stayed still and rolled around slightly getting covered in sand.
Kayla as she was hiding felt lizards scamper over her, spooked by what's going on in the distance, the tiny feet almost tickled as they scampered, seeing that dust cloud go further into the distance, also seeing faintly the outline of a small building, thinking it's another settlement of sorts. She looked over at Gwenn who had his back towards her and was lying on his side, she stayed where she was and waited for him to recover knowing full well he would need the rest all night as she could already tell he has a hard time sleeping.
As time went on waiting for Gwenn to recover, the sun had slowly begun to set, with Kayla thinking it might be safe to start a campfire, thinking the Wulgs presence was still as bad as she last saw being out in the middle of nowhere. She gently soothed her hand across one of his wings as she couldn't help it, they were honestly fascinating as she's never seen such large wings like his on a mutant, let alone a mutant like himself compared to how many she's already seen and of course treated, they were surprisingly very soft and of course warm.
She squinted gently with a small concerned expression still left on her face, thoughts rushing through her head, she was uneasy with his sudden faltering, he was ok before and when they left the elders clan, only to shortly become ill after only a few hours of walking. She hoped it wasn't anything bad, his injuries were ok and weren't infected so the only thing that came to mind is it was a flu of some sort that she has yet to uncover. She used several plants and medicines together in that mixture from the little medical supplies they had after leaving a majority at that clan, so it should help after tonight.
As badly as she wanted to hurry and get back home, she wasn't going to push and rush anyone, she was honestly more concerned about his well-being and health, especially when it actually took effect in a negative way. Kayla removed her hand from his wing and sat back slightly, she even blamed herself for his injuries and wasn't going to show nor say it.
Kayla letting out a subtle sigh only to then hear her stomach rumble slightly, prompting her to check the bag for food, only to find odd shaped chunks on a string, sniffing it made her give it a weird look, she took a bite and it tasted oddly semi sweet and sour, making her confused and looking back at Gwenn worriedly.
She reached over to feel his forehead in hopes that his fever went down,looking at the sunset in the distance fade from sight and replaced with a star lit night sky, she tended to the fire only to notice a row of lights heading her direction, unsure of what it was Kayla tried to wake up Gwenn "G..gwenn, wake up I think someone is coming, and they are going to be here any second.
Almost as soon she tried to wake Gwenn, a horde of motor bikes circled around both of them, with the riders howling and yelling, stopping their bikes and one of them dismounted and walked towards them "Well well well, look who we have here fellas!" the approaching rider said out to the others.
Kayla still tried to wake Gwenn who seemed to be in total slumber, "Come on not now Gwenn..." she said out to him. "My oh my, what an adorable little gal..don't you know it's dangerous for girls like you to be out here?" The rider said with a mocking tsk tsk tsk.
Kayla looking at him with an angry face trying to look threatening "I'm warning you...stay back…" she says only to get responded with all of them laughing "Well ain't that cute.. Little one thinks she has teeth!" the rider says to Kayla in a mocking tone.
The rider then brought their focus to Gwenn who was still outa it and grew silent realizing who Kayla was with, then broke the silence by announcing "Well hot damn, fellas, we got ourselves a thief who came back from the dead it seems like it!" the rider smirked as all the other men on the bikes laughed once more. "Oh boy...I wonder how much I could fetch, just for his body alone..." The rider said, forming a smirk upon his face.
"Alright boys! Tie them up!" He said as the other aimed net guns at the both of them, causing Gwenn to finally snap awake and react, quickly attempting to escape as he quickly turned and grabbed Kayla, flying up out of the encirclement, some of them react quickly trying to shoot Gwenn with nets, only to end up having one of them catching Kayla and yanking her away, reeling her towards them with her crying out "Gwenn!" as she lost her they both lost their grip on eachother, they started to ride off and quickly take her along.
Kayla who glanced back as the man reeled her up forcefully into his arm, hanging off the side of the bike noticed Gwenn who had crashed landed and staggered to stand weakly. He was still ill and in no condition to be up as he still had a fever and was still severely burning up and out of breath, but she knew that wasn't going to stop him. "Huge Mistake, Mavericks..." Gwenn growled as he staggered his way up weakly, watching the bikers ride off with Kayla.