Disclaimer: You already know that I don't own Seirei No Moribito, but I'll keep saying it
Balsa was limping heavily as the group hurried through the trees. Tanda was supporting her bad side and Chagum was trotting along just ahead of her, looking back every now and again to check on her.
"Chagum, watch where you're going. If you trip and hurt yourself you will cause more trouble." Chagum quickly turned his head forward and paid attention to the trail the warriors were making through the dense foliage. They had found a pond that Tanda could use to contact Shaman Torogai. As he finished sending her the message, Jin had jumped out of the trees where Mon and Balsa were talking. La Lunga were entering the forest and were moving in their direction rapidly. The trees were slowing them some, but they would catch up to the group quickly. The small group had made haste to leave. None of them had any desire to fight with La Lunga again.
Balsa could feel her leg would not support her in a fight. She couldn't feel anything below her knee. She looked up as Mon turned and stopped. She took her weight off the panting Tanda and leaned on her spear again. Tanda stood next to her trying to catch his breath. They had traveled several miles in the few hours that had passed.
"Yun, Jin." The two leapt into the trees and disappeared in the direction they had just come. Mon motioned the other five warriors to guard the perimeter. He walked back to where Chagum was helping Balsa sit so Tanda could see to her leg. Mon stayed quiet while the bandages were removed. The wound was swollen and red, despite Tanda's ministrations. Balsa laid back and closed her eyes as Tanda handed a bowl and leaves to Chagum.
"Chagum, grind these leaves until you have a good pulp. Then I'll tell you how to make a poultice. Balsa, try to lift your leg." Chagum quickly set to mashing the leaves in the bowl. Balsa tried to lift her leg, but shook her head after a moment.
"I can't feel anything below my knee." Tanda sighed.
"Is the numbness spreading, or is it staying below your knee?" Balsa had laid back again.
"It is staying below my knee." Chagum showed Tanda the leaves and was told to grind them more. Chagum's knuckles were green from the smashed leaves. Mon crouched next to them and examined the wound himself. He looked up at Balsa, who had opened her eyes when he crouched.
"Why did this not happen when we were attacked by La Lunga before?" Mon asked. Though he looked at Balsa, his question was directed at Tanda. Tanda stopped preparing the other ingredients of the poultice to look at the warriors' leader.
"I can only guess, but I suppose it has something to do with how La Lunga attack. Usually they will use their small tentacles to capture their prey and . . ." Balsa broke in when he took a breath.
"La Lunga were waiting for us." Tanda looked at her with his mouth slightly open, then his mouth closed and he nodded.
"A year ago, Shuga-san, Shishio*, and I watched La Lunga capture and kill a bear cub carrying one of the spirit's eggs. The cub was torn apart." Tanda looked back at Chagum to see how he was taking the story and continued preparing the other ingredients for the poultice.
Note: Tanda calls Shaman Torogai by 'Shishio' the Japanese word usually translated as 'master'. Tanda is Torogai's apprentice. I watched the anime in Japanese, so it didn't sound right to change the titles to English (hence I use –san, -chan, -kun, etc.)
"La Lunga didn't have any of you in position to tear you apart before. And they wouldn't, for whatever reason, injure you without having you in a position to be eaten. La Lunga have an advantage though. They obviously live for hundreds of years. It is possible that La Lunga have learned to injure us from a distance before trying to kill us." Mon's expression didn't change as Tanda turned to Balsa's leg and wrapped it in the poultice. Chagum held the poultice in place as Tanda again wrapped bandages around Balsa's leg.
"We'll have to wait for Shishio to contact us, she'll know more." Balsa leaned forward as Tanda finished wrapping her leg. She looked up into the trees a moment before Jin and Yun reappeared.
"We came across La Lunga several miles back, but they were retreating. They must have lost our scent." Mon nodded, but Balsa's eyes narrowed. Mon noticed.
"What do you think, spear-wielder?" Balsa looked up at him, her jaw set.
"I think La Lunga may have been frightened away by something else. I think they wouldn't give up so easily." Mon looked at the two kneeling in front of him before whistling into the trees. The other warriors almost instantly appeared in a circle.
"Healer, do you know of anything that may scare away La Lunga?" Tanda's eyes squinted as he thought. He looked up a moment later.
"Perhaps a fire spirit. As La Lunga are earth spirits, they would be vulnerable to the fire spirits, just as the water spirit was vulnerable to La Lunga." Mon pondered Tanda's answer as Balsa, with help from Chagum, sat forward.
"For now we should stay here. I can hear a spring close by. We can talk to Shaman Torogai." Mon nodded and sent his men out with new orders. Four of them stayed to watch for predators and the other three scouted for anything that may have frightened off La Lunga.
Night came and the warriors took turns guarding in groups of three, circulating out one at a time. Tanda stayed by Balsa so he could tend her leg through the night if he needed to. Chagum had taken off the upper layers of his royal clothes and removed the ties from his hair, which had been falling out anyway. He tied his hair into a ponytail and used his discarded clothes as bedding at Jin and Balsa's insistence.
Around midnight, Tanda woke to Balsa standing, with the help of her spear. She sat against the rock they were sleeping near. He stood as she took out the supplies to sharpen the blade. The moon was almost full so there was plenty of light to work by. She looked at him as he came closer. Even in the pale moonlight, he could see that her eyes were hiding pain. She could hide her pain from the most experienced healers, but he was her friend. He had known her for so long that there was little she could hide from him.
"It's not numb anymore." He did not pose it as a question. She smiled as she gently laughed. He knew he was right and set to removing her bandages to see the wound. She ran her sharpening stone over the edge of her blade with a comforting 'shick' as Tanda probed her leg. The pain was becoming unbearable. It was more painful than the time Mon had given her an almost fatal gut wound. She looked up as Mon stirred and sat up. He looked at them for a moment before standing and approaching.
"Healer, did you and the shaman come to a conclusion of why we were brought into Nayug?" he asked. Tanda looked up at him. Tanda and Shaman Torogai had conversed for several seconds once Balsa and Chagum were settled. However, he hadn't shared what Torogai had said with the others. Balsa's sharpening stone broke the momentary awkward silence. Tanda turned back to her leg and started mixing more of his leaves before answering.
"Shishio thinks that perhaps the effects of the Sig Salua we ate before need to be countered by something else. She and Shuga-san are searching through the translations from the old tomb, but she doesn't have much hope for it. She is going to try and go to the knot to ask the water people, seeing as how we can't get close to the water with La Lunga here."
"So they do not know how long we will be here, or if there is even a way to get back." Tanda didn't look up from grinding the leaves. Balsa lifted her spear and sighted down the blade to make sure it was straight.
"We can only wait," she said as she lowered her spear to her lap again. Mon shifted his gaze to her, but didn't say anything. A moment later, Hyok jumped into the firelight from the trees. His shock of almost white hair made him look like a spirit. Mon turned to get the report before Hyok retired to sleep. A moment later, Mon disappeared into the trees to take his turn on watch.
Balsa's eyes carefully followed the progress of her sharpening stone as she ignored the pain in her leg. Tanda finished mixing the leaves and herbs a moment later. He put the concoction on a large leaf, amazingly still in one piece, and pressed it against the wound. Balsa's eyes narrowed for a moment, but as he began wrapping it again her eyes slowly relaxed.
"We know Shaman Torogai's view." Balsa turned her gaze to Tanda, who didn't meet her gaze. She continued, "What do you think?" Tanda sighed as he secured the bandages with a knot.
"I don't know. I found it strange that we were pulled here before the full moon." Tanda turned and sat down with his back against the rock. Balsa could see that he was thinking and didn't disturb him with more questions. The new herbs were taking the edge off the pain and she was soon ready to try sleeping again. Tanda helped her lay down before laying down himself. It was almost morning. They could see the rays of sunlight permeating the dark sky in the east. Both of them closed their eyes and were soon asleep.
Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. First it was school, then my internet went crazy. Hope everyone enjoys! The next chapter should be out a lot quicker Please R&R!
