Orlain

"My side hurts pretty bad... Worse then it has in a while." Rane sighed softly, "I probably pushed myself too far last night." She moved her hand over to Taiju's to get help with sitting up. She remembered that she needed to change her bandages and sighed deeply, not wanting to do anything of the sort.

"Is there anything I can do?" Taiju asked, helping Rane into a sitting position as gently as he could. He knew there was probably nothing, other than swapping the bandages again, but he wished there was more he could do. He frequently seemed to be in a position where he could do nothing more than stand around.

Rane smiled lightly before saying, "you can make sure everyone stops getting hurt so I don't have to heal anyone..." She teased him lightly. She lifted her shirt lightly to look at her blood soaked bandages. Normally she wore a tighter, corset-like shirt. But since she had been wounded she had taken up to wearing just her plain lacy under shirt. She couldn't stand to wear anything tighter, it would hurt too much and would be too much work to change her bandages every time.
She sighed tiredly and glanced around the camp, she vaguely remembered how rude she had been the night before.
"I'm deeply sorry if I was rude to you," She said to Joey and Damien, feeling extremely bad about it.

Damien looked back at Rane and gave her a very tiny smile. "It's fine," She said softly, "I would have been too."

Asha seemed to get even more excited as Rane seemed much more willing to talk then the night before.

Joey glanced back at Rane only briefly, mumbled "S'fine," and returned to sorting through his meager belongings. He had stolen a lot from Rowan, but most of it was money. He needed to get new clothing soon.

Taiju laughed quietly. "I don't think I can pull that one off," he said, standing so he could get more bandages. "Despite all my efforts."

Rane smiled softly and started taking her bandages off carefully. Asha suddenly moved over and knelt down next to Rane, a big smile on her face. Rane almost didn't notice she was so close until she looked up, blinking a couple times with confusion.
"Hello?" Rane said, confused.
"HI, so you are a healer?" Asha asked excitedly. Rane glanced around at the others before nodding.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Asha, I met Joey a little while back and helped him out. And accidentally ran into his group last night, I wanted to talk with you then, but they told me to let you rest. I just wanted to talk with you cause beside my father you will be the first healer I have ever met, "Asha rambled. Rane was still tired and it took her a moment to absorb everything she had been saying.
"Oh... Okay. Well I guess I can talk while I change my bandages.." Rane shrugged, returning to her work.
Asha tilted her head to look at Rane's wound, "have you tried putting ragweed oil on it?"
Rane paused before looking up again, "considering ragweed is very rare and can only be found on the coast, no I haven't."
Digging into her bag quickly, Asha pulled out a small vial and handed it to her. "You can have mine, I have a lot of it."

Taiju instinctively tensed when Asha came near and started rambling at Rane. The girl was probably harmless, simply overeager, but she was also a bit annoying and bothering someone who was wounded. He said nothing as he helped Rane with her bandages--his gaze occasionally lingering longer on the unblemished skin than he meant it to.

Rane took the vial from Asha, opened and smelt it. It was ragweed oil. She handed it to Taiju, "put just a little on the wound," She told him lightly. She looked back up at Asha, "you said your father was healer?"
"Foster father actually, he took me in when I was little. Where are you from? Are there a lot of healers there? Do you have any other abilities beyond healing? Who was your teacher?" Asha asked all her questions very quickly.
"Uh.. I am from Winterfell. My brother is...Was a healer. And my caretaker when I was a baby was a healer but she died when I was very young. There is usually one healer for every generation there, but not since I left.." Rane answered tiredly, trying to remember everything she asked.
"You have ragweed... Who did you say your father was?" Rane asked afterward, raising a brow.
"My father is Aegon." Asha responded simply, still smiling.
Rane's pale blue eyes widened when she heard the name, her heart felt like it stopped for a second. "Aegon?" She repeated, as if she didn't believe it. "The Aegon who lives on the coast. The Aegon who is over 200 years old?"
Asha nodded.

Taiju halfheartedly listened to the conversation as he worked, more concerned with Rane's injuries than what the girls were talking about. He hoped this oil was going to work as well as Asha claimed--they were running out of options.

He paused when they started talking about the healer on the coast. "Is he the one you mentioned before?" he asked, stopping with a roll of bandages half-unwrapped. "The one we were going to look for."

Rane glanced at Taiju and nodded quickly, before looking back at Asah.
"He is still alive?" Rane asked, placing a hand over her heart. She had never thought she would have a chance to actually get to him.
"Alive and kicking," Asha laughed lightly. "I'm glad you have heard of him. I was a little worried that the whole world thought he was dead and useless."
"I did think he was dead. I only read about him in books. Is he still able to heal after all these years?" Rane asked, suddenly feeling hopeful again.
"And much more," Asha nodded.
A smile quickly spread across her face and she looked at Taiju again, still shocked.

"Um... excuse me if I am interrupting... But what are you talking about?" Jack questioned, quirking an eyebrow.
Rane had only told Taiju about her having a short life. Taiju was the only one who needed to know for the time being. But now that there was hope again, it seemed pointless to hide.

Taiju looked back at Jack, trying to suppress his own sort of smile. He cleared his throat in an effort to appear apathetic again, then looked back at Rane. He didn't know whether to say anything or not. Rane obviously had wanted it a secret before--and a tiny little doubt still wondered if they should say anything, because who knew if this healer could do what they needed?

"The healer Asha is talking about is someone we need to see later," he eventually said lightly. "It's not something to concern yourself too much with."

"It's someone I have always wanted to meet," Rane added with a short nod, "he could teach me a lot." Rane couldn't hold back her smile as much as she wanted to.
"Oh. I'm sorry. He doesn't really like seeing people. He doesn't trust anyone that easily..." Asha said then, losing her own smile a little.
Rane's heart sunk again before pain shot through her side. She winced, sucking in air between her teeth and leaning forward a little, trying not to touch her wound.

Asha's small smile fell all the way. "How long have you had that wound?" She asked, looking at Taiju mostly, knowing Rane probably couldn't answer through the pain.

Jack frowned when Rane was suddenly in pain, but kept quiet for a moment.

Taiju knelt over Rane, worry etched on his face. "It's been a few weeks now," he answered after a moment. "There was a bear attack, and we both got hurt, but I finished healing awhile ago. I don't know why it's taking her so long . . ."

"It almost seems like it is getting worse..." Rane mumbled tiredly, leaning against Taiju. Asha made a face as if she was thinking, sitting back a little. "I assume you are a good healer because of your eyes, but I could tell you were stugaling last night.."

"How did you know that?" Rane asked, looking up tiredly.

Asha smiled, "I grew up with a master healer who likes to talk, I could just tell you were having a hard time controlling your energy. And that is a bad sign."

Rane didn't respond. She hadn't wanted anyone else to know that she was having a hard time. She just wanted them to assume she was tired.

Taiju sighed heavily. He felt a little sting when he realized what Rane hadn't told him--he wasn't sure if it was frustration or simply hurt from not knowing.

"I really think we need to find someone else who can help," he said. "It's not getting any better. Maybe we can find someone in the next town, or nearby."

Rane closed her eyes and shook her head lightly. "No Taiju... No one can help," She mumbled quietly. "The thing... I told you.. The reason we needed to find Aegon... It's happening. It's been happening since River died.."

Asha's eyes widened lightly, as if she just realized something. "You're dying aren't you?"

"What?" Taiju felt his breath catch in his chest. He didn't know what to say for a moment; he felt a sudden mix of emotion--fear, panic, despair--and wasn't sure what to do.

He took a deep breath to keep all those emotions down. This wasn't the time. "Then we have to go now," he said. "We can't wait until we're done with all this. We have to go find Aegon."

Jack and Damien both became really worried when Asha said Rane was dying.
"Wait.. What's going on?" Jack asked quickly, "is what she said true?"

"Aegon isn't going to help you just that easily." Asha said firmly. "He is very busy, trying to do what he can to stop the dragon and such..."

"I'm sorry Taiju... I didn't know for sure or I would have told you. She only confirmed my suspicion.." Rane mumbled to him.

"I don't care how 'easily' he might help," Taiju snapped, ignoring Jack and the others who were now looking their way. "I'll convince him. I'm not just going to sit around and let her die because he might not feel like helping us."

"Are you absolutely certain of this?" Kerian asked, looking at Rane. "You are sure you're not simply ill?"

Rane took a long deep breath and sat up a little more, looking at Kerian. "I have known it was going to happen from the start... Since River was tied into a wolfs body. Half my life energy was taken to keep him alive.. And ever since he died I have been feeling the strain." She glanced between everyone else. "I never wanted to worry everyone. I have been living with the fact that I would die early my whole life... The only one who could possibly help me is Aegon, but it's pretty obvious that he doesn't want to help..."

"It's too damn bad if he doesn't want to," Taiju growled, getting to his feet. "I already said I'm not sitting around. If he can help you, then we have to go find him. We can leave today. It will be a few weeks, but if we go--"

"Taiju," Kerian said shortly, grabbing him by the shoulder as he moved to get his pack, "stop for a moment. You are needed here. Are you certain about this?"

"Not as much as I'm needed elsewhere. We were going to wait, but obviously, we can't." Taiju pulled away and grabbed his sword belt.

"Then we all should go..." Jack said, standing up as well. "Rane is part of the group, part of the family. I want to go too." He spoke firmly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I can go alone..." Rane said, but she spoke so softly that she was sure no one heard her. "I will go alone..." She repeated a bit firmer. "You all need to do your thing. I will not get in the way of the bigger picture."

Kerian sighed heavily. "I am not certain we can," she said. "We have other things we must do, especially in light of recent events. Our mission is growing more urgent by the day."

"I'm still going," Taiju said simply, buckling his swords at his waist. Whether he heard Rane or not was unapparent. "I'm sorry, but this is important."

"I won't argue," Kerian replied. "If you must, you should go."

"Taiju... " Rane mumbled, when it seemed like he didn't hear her again she said his name louder, to make sure he could. "Taiju!" She winced after ward, causing herself pain.

Asha frowned and watched the group."If you go, I can not take you. I will not be responsible for giving away his location."

Taiju stopped what he was doing and looked back at Rane. Though he was trying to appear outwardly calm, he was obviously distressed. His mind was on one track: getting help for Rane at whatever cost. Nothing else mattered at that point.

"You need to stay here with them. I can go alone..." Rane said firmly to Taiju, giving him firm, but sad eyes.

"Or we need to g with... We can't let you do this alone," jack interrupted again. Although he had a feeling nobody was going to listen to him again. For how many times Rane had saved their lives, they owed her that.

Taiju shook his head. "I can't let you go alone," he said. "It's too dangerous. You know that."

Kerian took a step back, not knowing what else she could say. Rane's decision was ultimately her own.

Jack crossed his arms, feeling ignored. He couldn't understand why nobody else agreed with him. Maybe it was just because Rane had saved Jack's life so many times.

Rane held her side lightly and sighed, knowing she couldn't get Taiju to stay. She wanted him to come along, but she didn't want others t suffer in his absence.They had no idea where Aegon was, or how long it would take them to get there. They could interrogate Asha, but Rane was in no place to do that.

"Are you sure you can't tell us how to get there?" Taiju asked, turning back to Asha. "It's not as if we plan to reveal his existence to the world. He's probably the only one who can help her now and . . ."

Kerian sighed heavily. She wished she would have known sooner. She didn't know whether there was anything else they could do, but realizing Rane had been suffering for weeks, and now losing two members of the party at once, was, to say the least, distressing.

Asha looked down at her hands, "Aegon wouldn't want anyone to know where he is at. I mean... That's why I left. He's too adsorbed with his work." She looked back up with a sigh, "If I tell him where he is at he would never forgive me. He only has one thing on his mind, and that is finding away to help the ones from the prophecy kill the dragon before he unleashes his power on the world."

Jack glanced over at Kerian after Asha said that, wondering what might be said from their side,

"If that is his ultimate goal," Kerian interrupted as Taiju opened his mouth to argue, "then I think we may all need to see him. We may be able to help each other."

Joey finally turned back and seemed to be paying attention. He had specifically avoided mentioning the prophecy to Asha, and Kerian appeared to have been doing the same thing. He wasn't sure if they could trust the elven girl with that information, but it probably didn't matter at that point.

Asha gave Kerian a confused look, "why would that be?" She asked slowly.

Jack was becoming even more irritated, he could feel Jayce feeding off it and itching to get out. Now was really not the time though.

Rane gave Kerian a soft look, wondering if it was a good idea to just tell her who they were.
Damien seemed to listen a little more now, looking over at Kerian as well.

Kerian glanced between the other members of the group. She was at a bit of a loss as well.

"We have our own reasons," Joey said after a moment. "You know I was trying to get away from Rowan, and he works under the dragon. I'd call that significant enough."

"Destroying the dragon is a goal everyone should be working for," Kerian added with a slight nod. "It is something we have been looking into as well, to put it simply."

"And considering I was there . . ." Joey trailed off, letting the thought finish itself.

Asha was quiet for a moment before narrowing her eyes a little. She glanced between everyone. " I don't know... I'm not sure any of you, besides maybe Joey, could do anything to help... And I can't help but feel like there is something I don't know about that is important." She paused for a moment, "I mean. I barely know you all so how could I expect for you to tell me everything. That being said, I barely now you. My father would not be happy for me to just bring you over without a good reason.... Same goal or not."

Jack felt Jayce lurch forward to try to get out and tell everything to Asha, just to fuck the group over where he could. He had to swiftly turn on his heels and walk a few meters away from the camp sight, his muscles tight as he tried to hold him back.

Kerian sighed heavily. "Then I suppose--"

"No, damn it!" Taiju interrupted angrily. "There's no 'supposing' here. I'm not just going to let this go!" He looked at the group, watching for a short moment as Zakuro stood to follow Jack. "Look, this whole thing--they're the goddamn prophecy, alright? These four here. The reason we're even out here is to help them fix this whole mess. So regardless of whether you want to help Rane or not, they need this, too."

Kerian glared at Taiju, but he didn't notice, his gazed fixed on Asha in frustration.

Joey just hid his face in his hand. He almost expected more interrogation now.

Shocked by Taiju's sudden outburst Asha was stunned into silence for a few moments. Before saying a word she glanced back at Joey and Damien, then where Jack and Zakuro went. Her brain quickly mulled over wether to believe him or not.
"So... Now I am really confused." She finally mumbled, "then why the heck were you working for Rowan Joey? And you know that totally makes sense as to how angry-chick has those powers..." She motioned to Damien who narrowed her eyes on her.
"So you four... are the ones that he has been talking about. The ones he has been keeping an eye on?" She sighed and rubbed her head lightly, still really confused.

Jack hadn't gone far, he could still hear everyone talking. He glanced at Zakuro, still tense and grinding his teeth.

"I wasn't working for him because I wanted to," Joey said bitterly. "You might recall that I was half-dead when you found me."

"Keeping an eye on?" Kerian repeated. "Has he been watching our movements as well?"

Taiju glanced between the others in silence. He hardly even cared for the prophecy anymore. All he wanted was to know that Rane was going to be okay, and the elf girl was the only one standing in his way.

"You alright?" Zakuro asked warily, though she had a feeling she already knew what was happening. She kept the rest of the group in her line of sight, just in case.

"Kinda... Not as much anymore. My father used to have a double agent demon who spied on you guys but he had told us there was no hope." Asha explained to Kerian, "we actually haven't seen the demon in a while." Then she looked back over at Joey, "sorry I forgot."

"Jayce almost got out and I don't think he was going to be too nice... So I had to leave..." Jack mumbled, relaxing very slowly. "But I think he is giving up now."

Rane winced lightly, barely listening to anyone else now. Her side was throbbing, and it was becoming harder to focus on anything other then that.

"Double agent demon?" Damien questioned, feeling uneasy by this.
Asha nodded, "yeah he was a bit misunderstood, but usually had good intentions even though he was originally on the wrong side."

"What was his name?" Joey asked, his eyes narrowing. He had a feeling he knew, and had known since Asha first mentioned it to him, but he wanted it confirmed before he jumped to conclusions.

"Alright . . . " Zakuro said slowly, not entirely convinced. Jayce's behavior was completely unpredictable; she wasn't sure if he wouldn't come back even if it seemed he had lost interest.

Asha thought for a moment, "you know... I never knew his name. I just called him 'Demon' and he seemed to like it. He's been around off and on since I was little."

"Sorry to worry you. I'm fine, I just didn't want to let Jayce out if I could help it.." Jack sighed, relaxed completely now. He gave Zak a soft smile to try and reassure her.

"That's helpful," Joey muttered.

Kerian shook her head. "Regardless," she said, looking back to Asha, "I hope you see just why this is important for all of us. Your father's aid could be beneficial for the entire land if you allow us to speak with him."

"I do..." Asha nodded. She stood up from the spot she had knelt down in front of Rane and smiled. "It's a long trip there, going to take a couple weeks, if not more."

Rane let out an audible sigh. She didn't want to keep riding, it hurt too much.

Kerian smiled wearily. "Then I suppose we'll be going just as soon as we go to town. It's still on the way westward to the coast . . ."

Taiju tried not to show it, but he was relieved as well. Now it was just a matter of getting there in time.

"Works for me," Asha smiled.
Damien stood up to saddle her horse as Jack and Zakuro returned to the camp. She was annoyed that Asha was going to be tagging along, she didn't like her. And nobody had bothered to ask her what had happened the night before. Damien wouldn't deny attacking her, but nobody had cared to ask the reason. But as she saddled her horse up, her mind was stuck on this double agent demon she had spoken of. Could it have been Malak?

Rane tried to stand herself up, finding out she was unable to quickly. Her body was just too weak, and the searing pain didn't help. She knew most of the pain was from the ragweed oil, but it was still incredibly unhelpful.

Joey quietly stood and dusted himself down, ready to sink back into silence for the rest of the day. He passed Damien as he went to saddle up his horse and paused. She probably wouldn't listen to him. In all likelihood, she would yell at him without thinking.

Still, he couldn't ignore her, even if everything in him was screaming to do so just so he could avoid the conflict. If she needed him to prove he cared, he would have to work to do so. "You okay?" he asked lowly.

Taiju moved over to Rane quickly to help her stand. "Do you need to ride with me?" he asked with concern.

Damien paused for a moment and seemed as if she wouldn't respond to Joey. As she continued to sinch up her horses saddle she finally spoke, "I don't trust Asha..." She spoke quiet enough for nobody else to hear her.

Rane finally stood up with Taiju's help then glanced back at the horses. She gave him a half smile. "Part of me wants to say no so I don't burden you anymore, but there is a much bigger part screaming yes." She teased lightly, "I never thought I would ever hate riding a horse so much."

((I am not on the internet at school and you can't prove otherwise))

"Understandable," Joey conceded, pretending to fish for something in his bag as an excuse not to move. "Little odd that she turned up here after I haven't seen her in over a week . . . I'm not sure we have a choice, though."

Taiju laughed quietly. "You aren't a burden," he promised. "It's probably better for you to."

((I am not on the internet at home being lazy! Oh wait. Yes I am))

"Not to mention that I found her lurking in the bushes, seeming like she was spying on us..."Damien said quietly as she finished up with her saddle. She pet her horses neck for a moment, "I was going to kill her..." she admitted.

"Yes please," Rane smiled tiredly. She glanced over at her dark horse who was mindlessly chewing on the bark of the tree it was tied to. "I don't know what I would do with out you Taiju."

"That is odd," Joey said, casting a furtive glance toward the elven girl. "I guess we'll have to keep an eye on her while we do this. She seemed innocent enough when she helped me, but this is weird."

"Hopefully we won't have to find out," Taiju sighed. He embraced Rane briefly, minding her injuries. As he spoke, it seemed to be for his comfort as much as hers. "You'll be fine. We'll find this healer and he'll help us."

"Very weird," Damien agreed quietly before moving to the side a little more to mount her horse. As she reached her hand up to grab the saddle pain shot through her shoulder and she winced and pulled her hand back.

Rane hugged Taiju back lightly, leaning her head on his shoulder for a moment. She loved it when he said 'we' instead of 'you'. It made her so much more hopeful to know she had someone as devoted as him. But she still couldn't help but wonder if Aegon could help her at all. She gave him a small smile, but said nothing more, keeping her doubts to herself.

"Careful," Joey said, automatically reaching out as though to help or comfort Damien. He caught himself with his hand in mid-air, cleared his throat uncomfortably, and drew his hand back to his body. "Don't . . . Don't hurt yourself."

Taiju let out a heavy breath before letting Rane go. "Come on, then," he said, moving toward his own horse. "We won't get anywhere standing around."