Unexpected Company

(Tent continues from First Quest, and Victus continues from Making the Journey.)

"Holy mother of--!" Tent shouted out, terrified. He had just leaped his way through the magical portal now behind him, finding himself no longer in a cold underground chamber, but instead floating a dozen meters above a forest under the hot sun of dawn. Thinking quickly, the Scrub lunged his blood-drenched gauntlets outward towards the last surviving beast who had attempted to escape, a heavily-injured Vire. Gripping desperately to the winged creature, he bellowed out in a language it probably couldn't even understand, "Fly, damnit!!"

Despite his command, the weight of his body and all that chain mail seemed to much for the monster, and their descent was quick. Tent narrowed his eyes, tensing up for impact as he glared towards the ground already rushing towards the two of them.

...

Several hours would pass before a gravely injured Deku Scrub would be found strung out atop a slain Vire, the pair of bodies strung out haphazardly in the woods just west of Nabooru. Sun flittered over the motionless bodies, with morning dew forming upon the metal and wood of Tent's body. Black blood intermixed with green sap; uncommon would be a passerby that didn't mistake them both for corpses... and rarer still would be one who would look to the sky and see from whence they came.

Awakening from a dreamless sleep, Victus had gotten out of bed and grabbed his hammer before strolling out of his room. He passed by one of the clerics of the church, who called him over for a morning prayer and also to ask a request of him. It seems the church needed more herbs, a type that grows plentiful in the woods but the wild animals make it hard to simply waltz in to take. Victus accepted, not one to decline a request from the church, and soon set off towards the woods to find some of the herbs.

Wandering through the trees was a nice change of pace from the harrowing mountain trek from the day before. He also felt more at home among the trees, though his fondness for them had declined since he discovered life with the Hylians.

While picking these herbs, placing them in a small pouch at his hip, a foul smell caught his nose. "Blood?" Victus muttered to himself, turning around a few times until he could spot the source of the smell. Rushing over, he looked at the Deku on the ground, tossing is hammer to his side as he dropped to one knee, running his hands across the Deku's chest, praying quickly to Nayru as soft blue light danced off his hands and started to cover the body.

Working swiftly, Victus prayed that the Deku would at least wake up, so he could make sure he was ok and better pinpoint his healing, as he had a hard time amongst all the blood, sap and chain mail.

The wooden corpse weakly groans, beginning to squirm beneath the magic touch of the cleric's spell. Seconds would pass, before he finally coughed out gasp and gasped in a deep breath. His eyes took in light, forming images as he turned towards the figure leaning over him.

He struggled to form words, but merely grunted as his trembling gauntlet-covered hands struggled to push up his body. All of a sudden he jumped in abrupt shock, glancing down at the Vire beneath him... feeling its bloody corpse beneath his hand. Without words, his palm pressed to his forehead. His eyes moved down to the metal helm laying on the ground at his side... then up to the sky... affixing on the portal for a few seconds...

Finally, he looked to the cleric, "Thank you, fellow Scrub..." He let out a sigh, and laid back on the ground, still quite fatigued. His hands slid beneath his back, as he gazed up at that same point in the morning sky. "I am Tent Emberwood. And who are you, generous stranger?" His voice was rough, hushed, and almost distant... suggesting he was not at all feeling well yet, still light-headed and perhaps woozy.

Victus was shocked at the sudden movement of the Scrub, but thankfully the man was ok for the most part. Once he had calmed down and introduced himself, Victus went back over to him to continue healing the man's wounds.

"I am Victus Natura, though it would of been nicer to meet under more pleasurable circumstances, I'm glad I ran into you all the same. Now, just let me make sure your wounds are healing, then we can head back to town so you can rest." Victus held his hands up once more, moving them across the Scrub's body being sure to seal Tent's injuries.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you end up like this in the first place?"

"To be blunt, I fell out of the sky... From where, I do not exactly remember..." Tent's voice held a bit of melancholy up until the last note. As it were, however, he began to regain his more familiar upbeat composure, even as he laid injured. "That should come back to me once I regain my senses, though. I'll inform you of the details as they come to me.... More importantly, where exactly are we? Still in Hyrule?"

After leaving his question out in the open, the Scrub let out a hoarse groan as he arose into an upright sitting position. Instinctively, he reached for his helmet. Only once it was in his grasp did he recall an obvious fact: his head for the moment was too sore and too light for metal, so he simply carried the headgear under his arm while gazing up to his savior for a response.

Victus was quite skilled with magic, or so Tent assumed, as the famous and powerful Life spell is not mastered by many... He pondered only momentarily on whether or not he would have survived without the aid of such potent magic, capable of curing even fatal injuries like his own in such a timely manner. Right before his eyes, the little warrior observed his gashes closing and the sap cease to flow out of him. Already, it was clear to him that this Victus fellow was an invaluable friend to have.

"Yes we are," Victus said, refering to Tent's question about Hyrule. "Northern Hyrule specifically, in the woods outside of Nabooru." Finishing his work, Victus stood and flexed his fingers before lifting his hammer back to his shoulder. "That should do it, though a little rest never hurts. Let's get back to town so we can find you a place to rest."

Holding a hand out to help the Deku Scrub up, Victus waited until Tent was standing before turning back the way he came. The herbs he had collected would have to do, getting this stranger back to town was his new priority and of more concern.

Leading the slightly-injured Deku back to Nabooru, Victus decided taking the injured Deku to the church would be the best place for him to go. "I'm just going to take you to the Church of Nayru, it's a relaxing place where you can rest and heal properly," Victus explained as they neared the town and made their way to the church.

Victus was surprised at who he happened upon once he got there though...