paixaorpg | Least I have chicken...? [Active]

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Least I have chicken...? [Active]

Character(s): Sheik, Lightning
Content: Lightning would rather not help, and Sheik would rather not be helped. They fight crime.
Setting: somewhere in the general vicinity of City-Hall-I-guess-ish
Time: late evening/night, after this
Warnings: Some blood. Sheik pulled the whole damn room at once, so.

She'd had worse.

There was a time when that wouldn't have cut it, as an excuse. When Impa had been injured in their flight seven years ago, there had been a young princess there, eager to heal her, only to have her hands slapped away. I've had worse.

It was undoubtedly true, of course, but it wasn't a good reason. Neither then or now. In reality, there was simply more danger in getting help than in putting up with the wounds.

So Maleficent had her share of mindless minions, too. Not unlike him, in that respect. Useful to know, but she should have anticipated it.

"Wisdom... huh."

She'd managed to get away, at least, but not without a few parting gifts etched in red against the blue of her clothing. Her left hand, stained, pressed tightly against the base of her neck. The claw had missed the vein, or she'd be dead. Probably the wound would be minor if she'd dodged it by another half-inch.

Part of her was glad Impa wasn't here to see this. That there were ten, or thirty, or a hundred of them shouldn't have mattered. You're getting sloppy.

This should be far enough. Sheik sat heavily against a shadowed wall far enough from the nearest streetlamp, and keeping her left hand clamped on the wound, she began unwinding the bandages on the right with her teeth. They hadn't come out of the fight unscathed, either, but they'd stop the bleeding. Any worse and she'd leave a...

A spot of red against yellow jumped out at her, and it took her a long moment to decipher what it was. The yellow was the light from the streetlamp, its reflection off the sidewalk. The red was a half-formed footprint.

... Shit.

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Lightning didn't normally take to walking streets at night, but ever since she'd become a l'Cie it had been something that they just did. Sleep in the day, walk at night. Always hide. Always watch out for enemies.

So when she came across the blood on the ground, at first she thought nothing of it. A second glance showed that it was a footprint... or a half-formed one. That meant something injured was up ahead. This could be either good or bad for her. She was hoping on the former and expecting the latter.

Reaching behind her, Lightning flipped the switch on her blade and pulled it out, ready for anything that might come at her as she turned the corner. The sight was someone sitting down against a wall. Someone Lightning didn't know. She didn't approach, but stayed cautiously out of the light.

After a while of assessing the situation, she spoke. "Is that your footprint or did you just give something else its final vision?"

Sheik didn't hear Lightning's approach over the blood pounding in her ears, so the voice made her jerk up at full readiness. Or as close to it as she could manage right now. The motion drove an invisible knife into her collarbone, but she made no sound in reaction. Breath. Control. A shadow moves in silence.

Think. Options. What were her options? Always watch out for enemies. So was this passerby friend or foe? Her head was getting muddled. Even though it wasn't that bad a wound. (Was it?) She'd had worse.

Using the wall for support, she hauled herself upright. It'd be obvious she was hurt, either way. Couldn't take that chance. Had they followed her? (Who?) She couldn't risk it. Suddenly she realized her grip on the neck wound had slackened, and tightened it. The imaginary knife twisted, barbed, and - the shadow broke its silence.

"Keh..."

Okaaaay... Lightning tilted her head to see better, eyes widening as the other person started to stand. On the one hand, the person was hurt. On the other, she had no idea if this was someone who was trying to act hurt and was really going to try to kill her if she got closer.

She took a chance by moving one step closer, keeping her blade in hand as she examined the other person. "You're hurt." It was a statement, not a question.

What was with her and finding random injured people?

Sheik straightened up and met her eyes. There was no denying she was hurt; they'd caught her in more than just the neck, and the blood on her clothes was all her own. But she wasn't willing just yet to throw herself upon the mercy of an armed stranger.

Breathe properly. Don't let it become ragged. Make them wonder if you're truly unable to fight, in spite of everything.

"I've had worse," she said.

Lightning's eyes narrowed slightly as she continued assessing the situation. Her free left hand was held at her side, ready to grab the cloth she kept in there if she needed to stop blood flow.

"Must've been pretty damn bad," she commented. "You look like hell spat you back out."

Sheik couldn't respond to that. It was essentially true, after all. After another moment's glare, her red eyes flicked downward to the sword, then back up.

"... If you're planning to kill me, don't drag it out."

Lightning finally took those words to mean she was dealing with another warrior who wasn't planning on killing her soon. With a flick of the switch, the gunblade was tucked back into its bag with the ease of a professional and Lightning strode a little closer.

"I'm not going to kill anyone today. Where are you hurt?" she asked as she mentally switched into her Medic role and geared up a line of Cures. Reaching into the bag at her leg, she pulled out a handful of cloth, offering it to the other person. "Press these hard to the injury. It should stop the bleeding."

In spite of herself, Sheik breathed a little easier once they were facing each other without a blade in between. That in itself may have been a mistake, though. It was tough to keep track of each individual injury with her head spinning like this. There was the one at her neck, of course, but besides that. A long thin gash on the back of the right leg. A wide claw mark to the ribs on the right side - she'd almost dodged that, though, so it was relatively shallow at least. The rest were minor... probably.

Funny how easy it was to ignore the pain when you thought of it like an autopsy.

She accepted the cloth with a quick, curt movement and pressed it hard to her neck, stifling the impulse to flinch. She'd been trained better than that. Better than any of this. "Here," she answered. It wasn't the only place she was hurt, but she could easily take care of the others herself, once she was...

"... Let me get out of the street." She tried to step - somewhere. Where was she even going? But her body wobbled with the effort, even with her weight on the unhurt leg. Sloppy.

Damnit. I am not a mobile hospital.

That was all she managed to think as Lightning reflexively moved to catch the other person if he / she were to fall. Grumbling to herself, she let off the batch of Cures and waited for the next line to queue up. This was going to be harder than getting Celes out of the gateway.

"Look, if you're going to stop that blood loss, we're doing it here and now, not anywhere else." The look she gave Sheik was stern and said she wouldn't take no for an answer. "I'm not having you bleed to death while we walk."

The second line of Cures went off and Lightning looked over her handiwork. "Where else?"

And suddenly it hurt... less. For a brief moment, a startled look crossed Sheik's eyes, but she replaced it quickly with her typical cold stare. By pure chance, she'd happened to stagger into a healer? It was ... kind of humiliating. Having to accept help like this, when if she'd just been more careful...

The second wave of healing spread out from her neck, and abruptly she realized just how sore she'd been until a second ago. Her muscles wanted to relax, her body wanted to sleep and let the magic soak in. She clamped down on the urge quickly and experimentally lifted the cloth from her shoulder a bit. It was difficult to tell with it already that bloodied, but it was certainly much closer to stopping than a minute ago.

... All right. That she could deal with. She clamped down firmly on it again. "It's fine. Don't waste your magic."

"It's not wasted unless I'm not using it," Lightning snapped, sounding harsher than she meant to. She understood how stubborn warriors could be. Hell, she was one and she had the same mindset sometimes. But this? The man - she'd finally settled on that for now - looked like he was about to fall over dead any minute and he was still insisting that he was fine.

"You're bleeding, my magic is obviously doing something, and that cloth I gave you is soaked. Stop trying to tell me you're fine and we can save the part where we fight over who needs the magic more. If I have to forcefully bandage you, I will."

A few more lengths of cloth were drawn out of her pouch with the next round of Cures, enough to form several makeshift bandages. She continued talking as she wound the cloth up into a ball that would be easier to use later on. "Everyone gets hurt, even the best warriors. The important thing is to take care of yourself after it happens."

So stop being stupidly heroic and let me do something!

Sheik grimaced, not against her wounds but against the idea of accepting help like this. The worst thing was, this mystery healer was right. As little as she wanted the aid, she needed it. And as much as she hated making herself so vulnerable, she really had no choice.

Letting out a sigh of resignation, she slumped back against the wall and turned her eyes away. It shouldn't have come to this.

"... Fine. Do what you must."

At least he was cooperating now. Lightning sent him another pointed look before kneeling down and getting to work. The bandages went over the rest of the clothes - modesty combined with blood already there didn't lend for anything else and besides the clothes would wash - and another round of Cures would hopefully ensure that the bleeding would stop.

"That should work for now. Do you live nearby or will a hotel do? We need something close."

And while she certainly didn't want to bring the mystery person home with her, Lightning wasn't going to leave him all alone, either. That was just asking for trouble right now.

That was an easy choice, at least. "The hotel." For one thing, it had been years since she spent two consecutive nights in the same place, especially in hostile territory such as this.

What would happen when she got there was another question entirely. It was uncomfortable enough having a stranger's hands mend her body out in the open. She cooperated with the action, but her muscles never relaxed. A bandage applied over clothing was worse than useless in the long term, so the whole thing would have to be redone on bare skin when they reached the hotel.

Sheik knew that, but allowed it for now. She knew enough about dressing wounds to do it herself once they were somewhere safer.

Well, it wouldn't be too long to the nearest hotel. Lightning made a quick calculation before moving to help the man up if he'd let her. "Let's go." She was well aware of the fact that bandaging was better for the wounds on bare skin, but right now they didn't have that sort of time. The important thing was getting him somewhere he could rest and then sorting those wounds out. If he wanted to do the last part alone, that was fine with her. At least she could say she'd tried.

Sheik accepted the hand up and followed, trying to keep her weight off her right leg. She'd only made it a few uneven steps, though, before she was struck by another wave of dizziness, and had to stop and brace herself against the wall to stay upright. Stood up too fast. The feeling passed after a few seconds, and she resumed walking without mentioning it. Hopefully the place was as close as they thought.

Lightning was prepared to catch him, but he seemed to catch himself well enough that she simply waited. Once it seemed like he was okay enough to keep going, she continued, hoping she wouldn't have to pick him up off the floor. Eventually, they reached the closest hotel and Lightning moved ahead to grab a key to a room on the first floor, guiding Sheik in.

"This'll do for now. Get some rest and take care of those." Meaning the wounds.

Sheik followed her into the room. The fog swimming about her head, already thick, was by now beginning to settle into a solid mass. She didn't want to stop here. It was too close, she'd be found, and she was in no shape to fight them off. Still, she sat down heavily on the edge of the bed. Too tired.

Her eyes flicked upward as Lightning finished speaking, and she held out one hand, fingers outstretched. "The key...?"

Lightning gave the man a brief, very brief, glance over before handing him the key. "If you want to find me later, ask for Lightning."

Once she was sure he would be okay without her, she'd leave, but not a second before.

The key all but disappeared into Sheik's hand, she hid it so immediately. She gave Lightning a curt nod. The action still sent a twinge up the side of her neck, but there was no getting around that the woman had just saved her life.

"... Thank you," she said belatedly.

Lightning paused just long enough to give a small smile and a nod before she walked out of the door and closed it behind her. With luck, the man wouldn't be risking passing out or dying now. Regardless, it wasn't her problem now. She could just hope.

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