Rush to a Rescue [Complete]

Re: Rush to a Rescue [Closed]

Rua's attack cut through nothing but air--the goriya sidestepped his attack with an ease that belied its larger body, and the mercenary had to pivot around, skidding through dirt and upending the grass. He pressed on the offense, attacking once more.

The goriyas proved agile, effortlessly gliding around his attack and sweeping around to Rua's back. Its weapon only struck metal as Rua parried it away with a quick spin of his own, but something heavy slammed into his back as the other goriya tackled him, hurtling them both into the ground. The creature pushed up, readying its longsword to stab, but Rua shoved up from the ground, spitting out dirt as he smashed his elbow into its snout.

The creature bellowed and fell back, allowing him to push himself back onto his feet, snatching up the beast's discarded blade in the process. His chest was heaving, a blood rage settling over his senses as he swung both weapons out into a ready stance, focusing his rage and his power into his blades. He could almost hear them ring in his ears as it flowed through him like a conduit.

Re: Rush to a Rescue [Closed]

Orup spared a quick glance over in Rua's direction to make sure the man was, in fact, winning against the monster. It would be a shame for him to lose now that he'd come all the way down here. Things looked as hairy as ever, though it didn't look like Rua was on the verge of losing his neck. Good enough for Orup, for the time being. Turning his attention back to the man before him, the alchemist began to work.

Unplugging a vial he always kept close at hand, Orup quickly drained the liquid down the dying man's throat, doing his best to be gentle but quick. A general pain suppressant he himself took for some things, when the pain got uncomfortable enough. Nothing as heavy as this man needed, but it was fast acting and it would take the edge off life for the time being. Taking a deep breath, Orup prepared to get into the nasty part of the process.

The abdomen wound was definitely the highest priority, as it might lead to severe internal bleeding and a very quick death for the man, if it struck in the right place. Tearing back the man's shirt Orup mopped away the blood as best he could, trying to get a good look at the wound. Clean, thank the goddesses. If these monsters had been using barbed weapons... Well, Orup would be tending to the man with the hurt leg, then.

Judging by the height of the wound, though, there was a pretty good chance it had missed the majority of the vital parts, though there was no telling what had gotten nicked in the process. A smell caught his nose, though, and Orup turned to the rag he'd used to wipe away the blood. However, with immediate distaste he held it a foot further from his face. Poison.

He'd dealt with a fair number of poisons in his career already, but Ganon's monsters were cruel to say the least. A simple Red Potion might not be enough to save this man's life, now. He'd need an antidote coupled with something else... Back to the drawing board. He'd have to learn as he went with this one.

Muttering, Orup went to pull out his instruments to try and prepare something, "You're not dead yet, lad. Just keep your eyes open."

Re: Rush to a Rescue [Closed]

Part of him told him to be calm, but he couldn't listen. The beast in front of him went for its boomerang, but Rua lunged. He spun about, sweeping one blade through the boomerang effortlessly before it could even be thrown. Something bright and powerful parted the air, slicing into the goriya's fur and skin. Blood arced through the air.

"That the best you got!?" Rua snarled as he continued to spin, swinging the second sword around. The beast raised up its arm instinctively, only for it to get laid open by the attack. It staggered back and fell, looking up just in time to see Rua raising his sword up to land a deathblow.

The second goriya lunged, slamming its shoulder into Rua's side and sending him sprawling to the ground. Rua's fury only increased. He twisted around on the ground, scooping up dirt and throwing it at his enemy's face.

The creatured grunted in surprise, growling as it tried to rub at its eyes. A sound carried on the wind and it looked up just in time to see Rua on his feet, hurling his captured sword at him. The goriya deflected it away with his shield and brought up its scimitar, but Rua raced forward, swinging.

There was a gutteral scream as a blue-furred hand bounced to the ground, splattering blood everywhere. The beast stumbled back, gripping the stump on its arm, but Rua only smiled as he flipped his blade around and stabbed it down into the creature's open mouth, cutting off its screams in an instant.

The beast went limp, pulling the sword away from the mercenary. "Dammit," he growled as he grabbed it by the hilt once more and put a foot into the beast's chest, shoving and pulling at the same time to reclaim it. One quick survey showed that the second beast was gone; having bolted away from the mercenary while he was killing its companion.

"Oh, you're not getting away that easily," Rua sneered, quickly looking for it.

Re: Rush to a Rescue [Closed]

The screams of men and Ganon's creatures combined sent a shiver down Orup's back despite the daytime heat. Kakariko Village held no fond memories, but they certainly came back in a hurry. He'd tried to save some lives on the day those monsters swarmed the town, but there simply had not been enough time or safety to treat anyone. Orup locked his eyes on the dying man in front of him.

This man. This man he could save.

Reaching into his pack for some herbs, Orup tried to shut out the sounds of Rua slaughtering something. Creating an antidote was always a teaching experience, and this was no exception. Pouring some of the tainted blood into a vial, the alchemist began the tedious process of adding things that might help or might not, careful to judge the quality of the liquid that it produced. The cure, of course, would have to contain some of the original poison in it, though, and to create a potion that did not satisfy the role of healing would likely just seal this man's death.

Grinding herbs and mixing liquids, Orup hurried as quick as he could through the process.

Re: Rush to a Rescue [Closed]

Darrin had kept a watchful eye out on Jonas and Quinn the entire time after they had been ambushed. His strength was lagging; fighting off a pair of bloodthirsty goriya stacked atop a hard day hunting game for the settlement was enough to drain anyone of their strength. It had been a relief when the boy had returned with both the mercenary and the alchemist, and the man had did his best to keep an eye on things so Mepple could help his companions survive.

But everyone made mistakes. A sudden turn for the worse in the battle between Rua and the monsters, a quick upturn back into Rua's favor, and one of the creatures lay dead in the grass. Where had the other one gone. "Dammit," the hunter cursed, grabbing up his bow. The kid saw his action and started, clutching that knife in his hands to the point his knuckles went white.

Where was it?

"He's gone," Rua suddenly said, catching everyone's attention. The man was coming towards them through the grass, holding a bloodied sword and the shield taken from the goriya he had slain. His scarred face was pulled into a pronounced scowl, his displeasure at the escaped prey clearly evident. "Got the other furry bastard, though."

Re: Rush to a Rescue [Closed]

The vial Orup was holding turned a dark shade of blue as the man dropped the last bit of ingredients into his mixture. There. That should do it. The overwhelming red color from the tainted blood had largely diffused into the rest of the mixture, and Orup was fairly confident that this would do the trick. The poison had been aggressive but still fairly straight-forward, and his knowledge of the subject proved extensive enough.

Holding it up to the light to be sure the transparency was about where he wanted it, the alchemist covered the vial, shook it once, and brought it up to the dying man's mouth.

"That's right, lad, drink it all. Keep your eyes on me, will you?"

Turning to his pack in a hurry, Orup quickly pulled out another vial, this one specifically for internal bleeding. It was a mixture that had a fairly common recipe, though it naturally wasn't something Orup used too often. Emptying that potion down the man's throat, it would now be time to treat the rest of the wounds as best he could. Pausing though, he looked up toward Rua who appeared to be done with the fighting now. Without trying to frighten his patient with the noise too much, Orup called out to Rua, "Is it clear, then, boy?"

Re: Rush to a Rescue [Closed]

"From the looks of it, yeah," Rua said, nodding to his employer. He stabbed his sword into the ground and held his hand out to the teenager, who reluctantly handed his hunting knife back to him. "I'll keep an eye out and make sure it doesn't come back. I almost hope the bastard does, so I can finish him off."

"Thank you," Darrin said, stepping over to him. "You really saved us back there."

Rua only nodded to the man, then looked back down at Mepple's patient. "How are they doing?" he asked of his employer.

Re: Rush to a Rescue [Closed]

Orup wiped his forehead, turning back to his supplies as Rua confirmed safety, only pausing to respond, "If my cure for the poison works like I intend then he'll live. Looks like he took quite a beating, but nothing I can't handle." He hoped that were the case. Not good for reputation if one of his patients died after saying that. With a bit of renewed vigor, Orup quickly sterilized a bandage and wrapped it around the man's head. "It's going to take time though, and I doubt either of these men are going to walk back to the caves today."

He nodded his head in the direction of the kid again, "Maybe he should go back to the caves and get someone with cart." Orup certainly wasn't going to carry them all the way back; he was too old for that.

Re: Rush to a Rescue [Closed]

"Good idea," Rua said, looking over at the teenager. "You did good today, kid. Go get us a cart."

The boy nodded back at him. "Yes sir," he said.

"I'll go with him," the only relatively-uninjured hunter volunteered. "I'll make sure someone knows what's happened."

"Stay safe then," Rua replied as he pulled his sword from the ground. "We'll hold the fort while you're gone."

Darrin gave him a nod in return and glanced at his wounded friends for a moment. The one that was still conscious merely waved him off. "We'll be fine. Just get back here soon," he said.

Re: Rush to a Rescue [Closed]

The main patient to the alchemist had faded out of consciousness, though it didn't concern him too much. The last two potions were enough to wipe out a man who was feeling all right, but his pulse still seemed to be going at a steady pace. Getting a cloth damp, Orup started the tedious process of cleaning the man's nearly destroyed arm. It wasn't a nearly as intense or precise process as the mixtures had been, and to an extent it was nearly relaxing for the older man. He wouldn't be able to do the whole process of bringing these men back to health, but hopefully he'd gotten them away from the brink of death.

Turning his head to look toward Rua, Orup watched the man for a moment or two before speaking to him, "I hope the one that got away isn't alerting the whole horde or something. Looks a small victory against them for now, though."

Re: Rush to a Rescue [Closed]

"That's why I didn't want the other one to escape," Rua said, omitting his own personal desires for wanting the beast's head. "Lord knows we don't need Ganon's freaks marching on our doorstep."

Where had they come from, though? While scouts were not terribly rare, they usually didn't get this close to the caves. He turned back from his vigil to look at the other patient. "Do you know where they came from?"

Quinn nodded emphatically, and swallowed. "Looked like they came at us from the forest," he said, taking a breath as he fought through his own pain--it hurt to talk, but he'll make it through this. "That's the direction they were coming at us from, at least."

"The Kokiri forest?" remarked the mercenary, looking troubled. "That's odd. I thought those things couldn't get in there. Too many spirits protecting the place."

"That's what I thought, too. Maybe they're making another attempt at getting in."

"Or maybe they've turned back after another failure," Rua mused. "Can't see them sending scouts back out otherwise."

Re: Rush to a Rescue [Closed]

The forest, Orup mouthed in unison with the conversation. What were they doing all the way out here? Or all the way over there? Kakariko Village was to the North, not the West... He grimaced uncomfortably, catching Rua's eye again, "I don't like the sound of that, boy. I don't like it at all." Mostly true, anyway. As always, his first concern was to take care of himself of course; his concern wasn't so much for the lives of those in the forest, though he likely wouldn't have admitted that, but it was rather for the interests at stake in the forest itself.

What better place to collect and learn about plants and herbs than in a forest? He'd been there a couple of times before, and it was a nice enough place, but the things that could be learned there were vast in number. He licked his lips, nearly tasting the ambition that kept showing up over the recent days. He couldn't decide if he liked it or not, but it was certainly a change of pace.

Finishing up the general cleaning of the man's arm, Orup suggested to Rua what he doubted was far from the man's mind, "Maybe we should go take a look into the forest, then. If Ganon's gained a foothold there..." He trailed off. Rua had enough experience to know how disastrously that could end.

Re: Rush to a Rescue [Closed]

"Unless those faerie kids helped out, there's not much we could do if there is a contingent of moblins there," Rua told his employer. "We don't have the resources to do much more than stay alive in those caves."

The sad truth of it all. Just about fifteen years of living underneath that rock and the survivors of three separate towns in southern Hyrule and they'd barely managed to maintain a life in their new home, licking their wounds. They couldn't do anything to retake Kakariko, Saria, or Kasuto. It was pathetic.

"Still, someone's gonna have to check things out in case there is," he told the two others. "We don't know nearly as much of what Ganon's doing as we should."

Re: Rush to a Rescue [Closed]

Orup nodded slowly in agreement, trying not to show too much enthusiasm, "Too far in the dark indeed. The marshal will never go for a full check-out as quick as we might need it, but a few people on their own..." He paused, scratching his head a little sheepishly, "Besides, we don't have to wage war on them or anything. We can always just, you know, smell the roses..." Orup clamped his mouth shut, feeling a little too obvious about the whole thing, though at the same time he wasn't particularly sure why he cared; he could always just hire the man if he felt like going to the woods. Easier to put up with that lump of stone if it was motivated, though.

The sound of cart wheels broke the silence, though, and Orup turned his head in the direction of the caves. "Well now, that wasn't too bad," he remarked, a good-natured smile taking over, "I guess they must have found a cart already outside the caves." He gave the unconscious man a solemn, empathetic look before turning back to where the cart was cresting the rise. "Come on, boy, I'll need your help to get them into the cart."

Re: Rush to a Rescue [Closed]

Rua sheathed his blade and laid his captured shield aside, and moved to carry the wounded Jonas to the cart, taking the brunt of the burden until Darrin hopped down from the cart and came to assist him. The teenager took Quinn's arm over his shoulder and hobbled him after the two uninjured men as they loaded Jonas into the cart. Once Quinn and the boy had joined him in the back, Rua locked up the back of the vessel and gestured for Mepple.

"They're all loaded up. Let's get going," he said.

Re: Rush to a Rescue [Closed]

Nodding to Rua, Orup made sure he had collected all his belongings before catching up to the cart, ready to leave. An unprecedented way to spend the afternoon for sure, though Orup didn't feel like it had been a complete waste of time. The caves would hear about how he'd bustled out his shop to save a couple of kids from Ganon's monsters, and he'd learned a bit as well. A little compensation for his time though, wouldn't be completely unexpected. At least for Rua, even; it wasn't like the man was making leaps and bounds in his skill every time he fought with that sword.

A moment later, though, the man who'd brought the cart out to them turned around, addressing both Rua and Orup, "I'd imagine the district marshal'd have a bit of change for you two when you get back, fighting off those creatures so close to the caves and all. I think he's a little worried about his image, to be honest. Not good seeing monsters so close to the caves and all..." On and on the man went, and Orup quickly tuned him out, thinking only of what he'd said at the beginning. A reward, eh? Not bad. Maybe he'd convince Rua going to the forest was a good idea after all too, and this day would be one good haul indeed. Didn't even have to face a giant carnivorous plant, either!