General Zargon: Chapter 2!!-Does the Macarena- I'd like to thank all the readers who've stuck with me for this long!

Ryuuketsu: Believe it or not, after he uploaded the last chapter he immediately began typing up this chapter.

General Zargon: -smacks muse on the back of the head- shut up! –Whispers- they weren't supposed to know that.

Ryuuketsu:-rolls eyes- whatever. –Turns to readers- enjoy the chapter.

--

The sight of her small house peeking through the trees, Variana decided, was the most beautiful thing she had seen in a long time. She breathed a sigh of relief as she urged Gloria to go a little faster, though she made sure that the tiger's unconscious, injured passenger wouldn't fall off. She kept one slender hand on his back, her concentration divided between holding him steady, and avoiding protruding roots, branches, and slender vines lying on the ground, waiting to trip up the unwary. Her bright silver eyes quickly darted around, searching every shadow for something dangerous that might be waiting to ambush them, having been attracted by the smell of blood. She sighed in relief as she saw that nothing was lurking around her small home, and she smiled brightly in relief as they reached the door to her house. She glanced around quickly, and she immediately grimaced at the damage she saw done to the outside of her home, and she didn't doubt that there was some damage she couldn't see. She sighed sadly and promised herself that once she had treated her impromptu patient, she would work on repairing the damage to her home and the small area around it. She shook herself out of her thoughts when she heard Gloria's worried whine, and she immediately opened the door to her home when she saw that the man's wounds had begun bleeding even more, if that was even possible.

Variana ushered Gloria into the house, and she immediately shut the sturdy wooden door after the tiger and her injured passenger were safely inside. She guided Gloria to the bed, and once the tiger was alongside it, she frowned worriedly as she pondered over how to get the man to the bed without jarring him even more and tearing his wounds open even more. She looked down at the injured man, and she felt a wave of panic rise up in her stomach when she saw the blood flowing from the numerous scratches on his skin and staining Gloria's fur an even darker shade of red. She looked around hurriedly, searching for anything she could possibly use to help move the man as quickly and gently as possible. After several minute of fruitless searching, she finally turned helplessly back to the man and felt the wave of panic rise just as Gloria let out another worried whine. She took a deep breath to steel herself before hesitantly sliding her hands under the man's torso and whispering to him, her voice shaking, "I am so sorry, I hope you can forgive me if you live through this." With that, she gritted her teeth and heaved.

She managed to ignore the man's pained scream at the sudden movement, and she was vastly relieved when she managed to heave the man onto her rather small bed on the first try, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she straightened out the man's limbs, trying to make him as comfortable as possible. She was startled when she noticed that the man's legs were actually hanging off the end of the bed. She frowned as she walked the few short steps to the dining room side of the house, looking around for anything she could use to prop the man's injured leg up on. She spotted the rather short stool that she used as a nightstand, and she smiled as she noticed that it was about the same height as the end of her bed. She was hauling it around the bed and positioning it so that the man's injured and wrapped leg was resting on it almost as soon as that thought had formed. She smiled as she grabbed a cushion from one of her dining room chairs and slipped it under the man's leg so that it wasn't resting directly on the hard wood of the stool.

Variana turned seriously the moment she caught sight of the blood soaking through her previously clean bed, and she frantically ran to the bathroom and began combing through the medicine cabinet for some better quality bandages and salves to help the man's wounds heal. She gave a cry of triumph when she found some heavy runecloth bandages stashed at the back of the cabinet for emergencies. Well, she thought, this definitely counts as an emergency! She grabbed the bandages and a few herbal salves that would help his wounds heal faster. She barely remembered to close the cabinet before she ran back out into the main area of her house. She swiftly crossed the small distance to the bed, and quickly sank to her knees at the unconscious man's side. She quickly began cleaning the man's bleeding wounds, and she tried to ignore the soft whimpers coming from the man. She gently wiped off the blood around the worst of the wounds, and then covered the wound with some of the healing salves as gently and quickly as she could. She firmly wrapped the man's wounds in the heavy runecloth bandages, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the salves were already starting to work their magic on the man's wounds. Thankfully, the worst of the bleeding had stopped, and the scrapes weren't nearly as bad as the gash in his side that she had wrapped up out of the forest.

She bit her lip as she looked at the blood soaked bandages wrapped around the man's side, and winced as she began unwinding them as quickly and gently as she could. She winced as she tried to peel the bandages away from the man's side, but apparently the dried blood had acted like a kind of glue, and the bandages were well and truly plastered to the man's skin. She chewed on his lip absently as she thought of how she could possibly get the bandages away from the gash without causing the man anymore pain, and she scowled when she realized that the only way she could get the bandages off would be to yank them away quickly. She grimaced and softly whispered an apology to the unconscious man as she grabbed hold of the dangling end of the bandage and swiftly yanked, only to have to use all her strength to hold the man down as he arched off to the bed in response to the pain. She whimpered in sympathy as she tried desperately to block out the man's loud scream of pain, and she breathed a sigh of relief when he went limp again. She took a deep breath steel herself as she began quickly covering the gash and surrounding skin in healing salves, and then started wrapping the heavy runecloth bandages around the man's torso once she was done with that. She winced when she realized that the gash had started to bleed again almost as soon as she'd ripped the old bandage off. She quickly said a heartfelt prayer to Elune that the poor man wouldn't bleed out before she managed to properly treat his wounds. She didn't pause in her work bandaging the gash, even as she recited every prayer to Elune that she remembered.

She finished wrapping the gash in the man's side and tied off the bandage firmly, doing all she could to staunch the bleeding. She breathed a sigh of relief, happy that she finished that before the poor man had bled out. She turned her attention to the man's arm and was relieved to see that the make-shift splint had held up to the journey to her house. She double-checked it just to be safe and tightened it a little bit more, wanting to make sure that the arm healed properly. She winced at the small whimper that came from the man, and she gently stroked the blood-matted hair away from the man's face, crooning gently to him in order to calm him down. After a few minutes, the man's whimpers subsided, and she smiled in relief as she returned to bandaging a few of the more serious cuts to keep them from getting infected. She was relieved to see that only a few of the cuts were actually worth bandaging, since she had already treated the worst of the man's injuries, and she was already running out of heavy runecloth bandages. She made a mental note to restock her medical supplies at the earliest opportunity. She turned her gaze to the man's propped up leg and examined it closely, wanting to make sure that nothing had jarred loose. Seeing that nothing was jarred, she sighed in relief as she sat back on her heels and pondered what to do next. She supposed the next thing that she should do is get the poor man out of his ruined clothes. Not that there was much left of them anyway, she thought to herself as she grabbed hold of some of the scraps of cloth and set about ripping them apart, so that she wouldn't have to try and move the man's injured limbs in order to remove them. She gritted her teeth and tried to be as gentle as possible as she pulled apart the scraps of what she thought once might have been a shirt, and then removed the torn ribbons of cloth from the man's body. She worried that she might hurt the poor man even more, so she tried desperately to be as gentle as she possibly could.

Variana breathed a sigh of relief when the man didn't so much as twitch, and then she realized that she had to remove the man's pants as well, since they were splattered with blood, not to mention torn all to the Twisting Nether. She blushed furiously and tried to keep her hands from trembling as she reached for the odd metal tab barely visible on the strange leggings. She figured that the metal tab was used to help remove the strangely-made pants, but she wasn't really sure. She hesitantly grasped the metal tab gingerly between her thumb and forefinger and began gently wiggling it, trying to figure out which way it was supposed to be pulled, though to be honest, she had a hunch it was supposed to be pulled downwards. Her hunch proved correct, as the tab slid easily downwards, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she quickly undid the button above where the metal tab had been. She blushed furiously as she gently slid the strangely made leggings down the man's hips, relieved when she saw that he was wearing some long underwear made of yet more unidentifiable fabric. She managed to get one of the man's legs out of the strange pants, but found that she couldn't get the fabric over the cast encasing the man's other leg.

She frowned, knowing that she couldn't just leave the man's pants half-on and half-off. She picked up her dagger and began carefully slicing through the strange fabric, which was oddly resistant to the dagger's blade. Once she had cut the leggings into ribbons of fabric, it was easy enough to pull the remains of the leggings away from the cast. She put the intact half of the leggings and the ribbons of strange fabric in a pile next to the piles of fabric that had once been a shirt beside the bed. She sat back on her heels and frowned, trying to think of anything else she could do to make the man more comfortable, since Elune knew that he had been put through enough pain for one day. She stood up slowly, her legs protesting the movement after sitting still for so long. She ran her left hand through her hair and looked over at Gloria, who was lounging in the kitchen area near the stove. She walked over and knelt next to the tiger and gently stroked her behind the ears as she told her, "Gloria, you stay here and make sure that nothing happens to our guest while I go out and see what damage that storm did to the outside of the house." The tiger nodded her head and got up to pad over to the side of the bed. Gloria laid down next to the bed and set her head between her paws, keeping her ears perked up and her eyes open, along with her claws unsheathed, a pose Variana recognized as her 'guarding pose', a posture the tiger only assumed when she was alert and ready to attack at a moment's notice. The Hunter nodded in satisfaction as she stood back up and retrieved her dagger from beside the bed where she had laid it before she sheathed it at her side once again.

Variana walked around her small house and gathered up her weapons, just in case something dangerous ventured too close, before she exited the house. She closed the door behind her, and then began walking around the house, wincing every so often when she saw some serious damage, like the fact that the little herb garden she kept out back was completely torn apart by the ferocious winds, none of the plants salvageable. The entire garden would need to be replanted. The stack of firewood that she kept outside was also scattered every which way, some of the logs actually reduced to splinters from being thrown about so vigorously. She gathered up as much of the intact wood that she could, piling it up against the side of the house where the stack had once occupied, but much of the wood was unsalvageable. She continued walking around and assessing the damage done to her small home, though she was relieved that it didn't seem to be so serious that it would require repairs. Her heart filled with pride that her small home had been able to weather such a powerful storm, and she made a mental note to mention the power-infused storm to her parents in her next message to them, since it could mean that something bad was going on. Maybe some new mage or something conjured the storm as a distraction from a really nasty spell, she theorized, as she walked back around to the front of the house and entered the house again, making sure to close the door gently behind her and making sure that it was locked. She walked over to the cabinets in the kitchen area and looking through them in search of something simple to make, preferably something easy to swallow as well, since she didn't think her guest could handle solid food while unconscious. She scowled when she saw that all she had was two Small Eggs and some Crocolisk Meat that she had bought on a whim in Blackwind Landing when she had gone there for supplies a few months ago. She scowled even more when she looked in refrigerator and saw that she had only a bit of Ice Cold Milk left, and some Holiday Spirits, full, since she rarely, if ever, drank.

She sighed, knowing that she would have to go to Blackwind Landing alone for supplies; since there was no way that she was leaving her unconscious patient alone, not only because he could wake up at any moment, but something might break into her house and kill him. She groaned miserably, knowing that she was going to have to haggle as if her life depended on it in order to be able to pay for enough supplies to last the entire month, and not to mention the fact that she had to buy some clothes for her unexpected guest. She just knew that she would never live it down if her sister ever got wind of the fact that she was buying men's clothing, and she didn't even want to think about how her parents would react to that particular piece of information. She looked over at Gloria and told the tiger, "Well girl, looks like I'll have to be going to Blackwind Landing for supplies tomorrow. We're about out of food, and I'd like to get enough supplies to last us another few months, and let's not forget the fact that we have an extra mouth to feed." The tiger gave her mistress a sympathetic look, knowing that their coin purse was very light this month, so her mistress would have to do some heavy bargaining in order to have any left over. Variana sighed again as she closed the refrigerator and stood up, wincing as her sore muscles protested the sudden movement. It seemed that the abuse her body had taken in the storm decided to make itself known now that the adrenaline had worn off and she was safe at home.

Variana winced as she walked into the bathroom, her back aching in protest to the movement. She quietly closed the door to the bathroom and began removing her upper body armor, knowing that she had to assess the damage. The muscles in her arms and back protested the movement, and she bit her lip to avoid making any noise as she let her upper body armor drop to the floor, flinching at the loud thud it made as the heavy leather came into contact with the floor. She looked into the mirror and blanched, shocked at the bruises across her skin. Well, she thought to herself, I suppose it could be worse. She shuddered at the thought of how bad the bruises might have been if she hadn't been wearing her armor. She returned her gaze to the mirror and began critically examining the bruises, trying to see if they were serious enough to warrant covering them with some of the weaker healing salves that she hadn't used on her impromptu patient's wounds, that is. Most of the bruises, she saw, were concentrated on the area where the second branch had pinned her to the ground. Dark purple bruises extended from her lower left ribs up across her chest to end at her right shoulder, but she decided that they weren't serious enough to warrant using up the last of some of her weaker salves.

She turned around and craned her neck to see what her back looked like, only to wish that she hadn't. Her back looked about three times worse than her front. Apparently, the branch that had knocked her out had been larger than she had thought, since her entire upper back seemed to be one big bruise. She winced and turned her head back to its' proper position before she started digging through her medicine cabinet for what she had left of her weaker healing salves. Her front may not need it, she thought blackly, but that branch had certainly made sure that her back did. She scowled as she saw that she barely had enough healing salve to cover a third of that giant bruise that was her back. She sighed in resignation as she removed the container of healing salve from the cabinet and set it on the counter as she closed the cabinet door. She winced as she pulled the muscles of her back, and she gingerly unscrewed the lid of the container of healing salve. She winced again as she coated her right hand in healing salve, and then used it to reach behind her and begin working the healing salve into the bruise on her back. She frowned at the uncomfortable position, but she knew that unless she had someone else around to help, she was stuck with doing the best she could.

Variana sighed in relief when she finished putting the last of the healing salve on her back, and she groaned lightly as she rolled her shoulders to remove the stiffness that had settled into her muscles. She sighed again in relief when the healing salve began to work, and the pain in her back began fading. She bit her lip as she wondered whether or not she should risk going out into the main room, though she knew her guest was unlikely to wake up anytime soon. She finally decided to risk it, since she knew that she couldn't risk putting her armor back on with the healing salve on her back. She nodded to herself when she reached her decision, and she stooped down to pick up her upper body armor, deciding to move it to one of the few chairs she had in the main room instead of just leaving it on the floor of the bathroom. She held her armor with one hand while she opened the door with the other and strode out into the main room. She made her way over to the chair sitting in the kitchen, and set her armor down on the seat, sighing in relief when she was able to get rid of the armor's weight. She looked over at her guest, and was relieved that he hadn't woken up, since she had no intention of having him see her topless anytime soon. She looked at Gloria, and grimaced when she saw the condition of the Moonstalker's fur. Gloria's previously black and white coat was now died a deep red, and from what Variana could see, the fur was glued together in some places. Variana winced as she called over to the tiger, "Come on, girl. Looks like we'll have to get you cleaned up." The tiger wrinkled her muzzle but stood up and padded over to her mistress, knowing that getting the blood out of her fur would only help in the long-run.

The Hunter smiled as she led Gloria outside, making sure to shut the door securely after the tiger, and then began walking over to the barrel of water next to the house. She was incredibly relieved that the barrel of water hadn't been overturned by the storm, but that was probably just dumb luck more than anything else. Regardless, Variana was grateful that the barrel of water hadn't been overturned. She motioned for Gloria to lie down next to the barrel of water, and then she went back inside the house to retrieve some soup and a washcloth. Variana went back outside and knelt next to Gloria, dipping the washcloth in the water and wringing it out before rubbing the soap on the cloth and working up a lather. The Hunter smiled as she began scrubbing Gloria's fur thoroughly, working the lather deep into the thick fur. Variana worked gently at the clumps of fur, tenderly pulling apart the strands and scrubbing the blood out. Variana squeezed out the washcloth and rinsed it before re-lathering it and going back to scrubbing. The Hunter continued scrubbing the tiger thoroughly, determined to get as much of the blood out as she could, and for her part, Gloria held as still as possible to make it easier for her mistress to rinse the blood out of her fur.

After an hour or so of repeated washing, Variana managed to wash most of the blood out of the Moonstalker's fur, and she also managed to untangle all the glued together patches of fur. The Hunter sat back on her heels and placed her hands on her hips as she examined her handiwork with a sense of pride. Gloria purred loudly, pleased to have the blood out of her fur before it began to stink, and she nuzzled her mistress's bare torso in thanks. Variana laughed as she scratched the tiger behind the ears, and then laughed even harder as she teasingly pushed the tiger off of her and stood up, groaning as her legs protested the sudden movement. The Hunter scowled as she rubbed at her knees, trying to ease the stiffened muscles enough that she could walk around and work out the rest of the cramps without too much pain. She grabbed hold of the now-dirty barrel of water and began to pour it out, seeing as it was useless now. After emptying the barrel and setting it out where it would be able to collect rainwater, she began walking around to work out the cramps in her legs. She decided to do something productive while walking, and therefore began examining the surrounding forest, trying to see if any creatures had come out of hiding yet. She heard Gloria walk up behind her, and she relaxed minutely, knowing that the tiger was there if she needed her. Variana frowned in confusion, wondering what could have had the animals in the forest so scared that even now, with the magic-infused storm over, they were still too afraid to come out of hiding.

She shook her head, sending several strands of midnight blue hair flying, and decided not to worry about that now, seeing as she had better get back inside her house to check up on her 'guest'. She turned and walked back to her modest home, smiling as she heard Gloria follow her. She opened the door and walked in first, holding the door open for Gloria, and then gently shutting it once the tiger's tail was clear. She turned to face the interior of her home, and then walked over to where she stored her coin pouch when she was there. She pulled it out from where she had hidden it, and she groaned out loud as she realized that her coin pouch was lighter than she had thought. She looked mournfully at the remaining coins, counting two gold, twenty silver, and forty copper coins. Not a lot, considering that she would have to buy a month's worth of supplies the next time she went to town, which would be very soon, since she had to restock on first-aid supplies, food, and not to mention some clothing for her patient. She closed up her coin pouch and set it back where she had gotten it before standing up and frowning uncertainly, knowing that the coins she had were not nearly enough to buy all the she needed. She sighed in frustration, not sure what she could do to get more money on such short notice, since she was planning on getting everything she needed on one trip.

Variana turned around and walked back over to Gloria, kneeling next to the tiger and ignoring the concerned look that the Moonstalker sent her mistress. The Hunter began scratching Gloria gently behind the ears and asked her quietly, "I don't suppose that you would know of anyway for me to earn more money without having to go on any missions, would you?" she wasn't really expecting an answer, so when Gloria stood up abruptly and went trotting over to one of the small tables that inhabited her home, she was understandably startled. She stood up after a moment and walked over to where Gloria was standing impatiently, and she watched in surprise as the tiger gestured with a paw towards the items scattered on the table top. Variana looked at the things on the tabletop and mentally listed to herself, 'A book on Herbalism that I forgot to put back on the shelf, the pair of Diamond earrings, that I've never worn, that my sister's future husband sent me in an attempt to gain my favor, and two Dreaming Glory herbs that I picked a few days ago…' her thoughts went screeching to a halt as her eyes zeroed in on the softly glowing herbs. The hunter looked at the tiger and exclaimed, "You're right! Some of the herbs found in this forest sell for very high prices!" Gloria looked very smug, proud that her mistress had guessed what she had meant without too much trouble.

The hunter began running around the small house, gathering up her bow and arrows, and securing her herb pouch to her belt. She stopped short, however, when she realized that she needed to put on her upper body armor if she wanted to go out gathering herbs, no matter how safe the surrounding forest seemed. She winced; hoping that the healing salve she had spread over the bruise on her back had soaked in and wouldn't stain the leather of her armor. She picked up the heavy leather and shrugged it on carefully, making sure that she didn't strain the muscles of her back too much. She was relieved when her armor settled on her shoulders easily, and she didn't feel any of the healing salve rubbing off. She made sure that she had at least two Healing Potions stashed in her potion bag, and that her dagger was secure at her side. She froze, however, when she jerked open the door, intending to run out and start collecting herbs, only to see what time it was. It was pitch dark outside, and even though her kind had excellent night-vision, it was still incredibly difficult for her to see, when normally she wouldn't have had a problem navigating the foreboding forest, even at night, but she didn't want to risk getting lost in that blackness. Not even the two moons overhead provided enough light to see by, the hunter saw as she looked up cautiously. She went back inside the house, shutting the door firmly and locking it, knowing that she would have to wait until tomorrow before she could go herb gathering.

Variana turned back towards the inside of her modest home and said to the confused tiger, "It is too dark to risk going out and trying to find herbs. I will have to wait until tomorrow to go out." The tiger now looked even more confused, since she knew her mistress had very good night-vision. The hunter smiled to reassure the tiger before taking off her weapons and packs before going into the bathroom and shutting the door. She began to take off her armor, all the while her mind burned with questions. She walked out of the bathroom, pausing to set her upper body armor and the armor she wore on her lower half on the table, and she walked over to the small closet. She pulled out a simple leather shirt and shrugged it on, knowing that she would have to sleep on the floor with Gloria that night, and possibly many nights to come. She looked down at herself and nodded; certain that if her guest woke up in the middle of the night, no matter how unlikely that was, she would be decent enough to see to him. She sighed and walked over to Gloria, crouching next to the tiger and scratching her behind the ears before settling herself all the way on the floor and laying her head on Gloria's soft, furred side. She gave the tiger one last scratch behind the ears before bringing her hand to rest beside her and falling into a light, and uncomfortable, sleep.

--

General Zargon: I am so sorry this chapter took so long!!

Ryuuketsu: The author has a lot of projects going on, so don't expect regular updates, but rest assured that this story will be finished.

General Zargon:-nods- Yeah, so R&R!!

Ryuuketsu: Yeah, R&R