soul_logs | I would walk five hundred miles [OPEN]

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I would walk five hundred miles [OPEN]

Characters:

faintly_smiles & OPEN
Location: The Park
Rating: PG - minor blood
Time: January 19th - Late Morning
Description: Teresa ventured beyond the city walls, and she returned to realize how debilitated she is and how this partnership system requires her participation.

Cross-posted to Dreamwidth

While she had heard the express instructions that wandering beyond the city walls was dangerous, Teresa had eventually given up making constant rounds in the city. There were patrols of people for that, and she had memorized the outside walls protecting the city by now as well as most of the streets. She was nomadic by occupation, and she couldn't well sit around all day. This slow decline into inactivity was unacceptable, and she hadn't found morning training all that interesting. The only reason she went was to observe other fighting pairs and to occasionally speak with Yuuri; his views on life and trust were fascinating.

So, she had finally acquired a large hunting knife and began to walk the desert. It was strange that walking fatigued her now, that while her stamina was great, she actually had to settle down to rest. The desert situation only seemed to compound that realization that she had been reduced to a well-exercised human without any of the benefits she remembered.

The desert was vast, and most of the common animals fled in her presence or watched from afar. When she had finally encountered a creature willing to engage her, she was curious of its healing abilities and the slow grinding drive towards thoughts that were forbidden. Her knife strikes were perfect as always, but it healed with each stroke of the blade for longer than she would have thought was possible. It was resilient, which was a surprise, and she was disappointed to realize that she was forced to withdraw and leg it back to the city walls before her human frailty forced her to deal with a greater humiliation than the deep gash to her thigh.

It was the first time she had ever had to retreat from anything before. It was a serious knock to the foundation of her beliefs that she was just plain stronger than anything she faced.

She had returned to the park lands where she made her 'home', ignoring the blood soaking her uniform leggings and eventually seating herself cross-legged near a tree. It had been a long time since she had bled without it stopping almost right away. This world had made her experience a lot of things 'for the first time', and she wasn't certain that she approved of it at all. Still, it was better than being dead.

Flexing her fingers, she laid a hand over the still bleeding wound, closing her eyes to concentrate on stopping the flow. She was again disappointed when all of her youki was sealed, and her lips down-turned into a frown of displeasure. "How bothersome."

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Yuuri had only just gotten into the clinic before someone came rushing in for a doctor. They'd come in spluttering about some woman who'd been walking around the city injured. The young Maou hadn't hesitated, and he'd snapped up a medical kit before rushing out of the clinic.

He didn't know who it was that was injured, but it didn't matter to Yuuri. Whoever it was, he would go and help them the best he could. If worse came to worse, then he'd try and patch it up as well as he could before bringing them back to the clinic for more treatment.

Following the directions, Yuuri rushed through the park trying to find the one who was injured. He'd been searching for a short while before he came across a familar woman sitting on the ground. Blinking, Yuuri changed the first aid kit to his other hand as he put his hand above his head and waved while he called out to her. "Yoohoo~ Teresa!"

It was hard to try and remember what it had been like as a human, to remember how delicate they were. She had been doing just fine against that lizard creature, and she could have easily defeated it had it not had such a strong ability to heal. Regeneration was common among both warriors and youma, but it was never that fast.

She pulled her hand away from her still bleeding thigh and stared at the wound. Had she really been reduced to such weakness? She, the strongest warrior of the Organization, defeated by her humanness? She would have laughed at the sheer thought back in her territory, but here and now, she realized the truth as it continued to soak her once white uniform. She was as good as human, and that meant that she needed to re-educate herself on how humans lived.

Turning her head at the familiar voice, her silver eyes took in the sight of Yuuri as headed over. She hadn't expected to see him here, and she wondered what he was after in the park lands. She made no move to rise, instead inclining her head in the form of a greeting. "Yuuri, what brings you to the park?"

Yuuri jogged his way over while he tried to grab her attention. Not seeing the injury just yet, the moment he caught her attention the young king called out, "You haven't seen anyone who's injured have you? We got someone---!!!" His eyes widened when he saw the red staining her white pants, and as he dropped down to his knees beside her, the first aid kit fell to he grass.

"W-what happened?" Yuuri called out in alarm. He hadn't yet made the connection that the injured person and Teresa were the same person. Flailing lightly, he tried to remember that he had a job to do before he began digging through the first aid kit. "How did you hurt yourself?"

"Injured?" She tilted her head to the side before glancing off around the forested area. This wasn't very well used saved for herself, as most other people stuck to the areas by the ponds and streams. She didn't register that her was the culprit of the complaint until he sank down next to her. "It's just me here."

Glancing at her blooded leg, she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. In her mind, this wasn't that much of a big deal. She had suffered worse as a recruit, so what good was a cut to her leg? "There was a fast-regenerating creature that I engaged in the desert. It managed to claw me while I was retreating from combat."

She pulled her hand away to reveal the deep gash that bled anew without pressure. "My body responds as a human one. Sometimes I forget humans are fragile to minor injuries. One can't even lose a limb as a human without fear of bleeding out... and no limb reattachment. Very strange."

"Just you?" Yuuri parroted before taking a glance around to see that she was right. Blinking in confusion, he momentarily wondered where the other person could be before his mind finally put two-and-two together. "Eeeee! You're the one they came in to tell us about?!" The young Maou said as his eyes widened in surprise.

A fast-regenerating creature? There were only two types of creatures on this world that could regenerate quickly: the Kishin Eggs and Witches. That meant... "You ran into a Kishin Egg?!" She was lucky that she hadn't been killed! "They're part of what makes this war so difficult, because they can only be killed by Weapons like myself being wielded by Meisters."

He fumbled around in the first aid kit, his fumbling increasing momentarily as she removed her hand and the blood began flowing anew, before pulling out a thick cloth within to hand to her. "Hold this to your wound," Yuuri demanded even if her words about reattaching limbs and bleeding out worried him. She needed to get back to the clinic, but he wasn't entirely strong enough to help her walk either. Aaa if only he could turn into his weapon form and help her!

[ooc: so! We have two options: a) Yuuri transforms and uses her blood on his blade to activate his healing ability, or b) he doesn't transforms, tries to suture there before convincing her to come back to the clinic to get it properly treated. I'm not sure which way you'd want to go which is why I stopped it there.]

She wasn't certain what that creature was called, but it had been more dangerous than the animals which had tended to avoid her travels. Since she had never run across a Kishin Egg before, she wasn't about to identify it as one. Of course, not being able to kill it with the simple blade she had was the problem, and it had nothing to do with her skills. She had been that creature's better without a doubt.

"It seems that way," she murmured thoughtfully, unperturbed by his fumbling and worry. She was too busy thinking back on the minor combat that she had engaged in. "I suppose not being able to participate in combat in a useful fashion forces my hand into getting a partner." Her skills were useless if they were all show.

She glanced at him for the order, and she pressed the cloth against the wound without complaint. She hummed softly to herself, calm and reassuring before watching Yuuri silently. "Stop," she ordered firmly. "Take a deep breath, steady your hands, and focus on what you wish to do," she murmured in her normal calm voice. There was no need to panic in her mind.

"It will at least stop you from getting injured like this again in the future," Yuuri said while fumbling for the needle and thread. The firm order, however, had him pausing as he glanced up. He hadn't actually expected the injured person to be someone he knew, and that was what had thrown him off right from the get go.

"A deep breath?" He asked before wiggling to settle himself and taking a deep breath. What was he doing? Yuuri hadn't panicked like this since everything had happened with Conrad. She was right though, he couldn't do this the way he was, and taking the deep breath allowed him to make his decision as well. "I've got a better idea."

Smiling encouragingly at Teresa, Yuuri closed his eyes as he began transforming into his Weapon form. In mere moments, Morgif was lying on the grass, and peering up with his dark eyes, the young Maou said, "Hold me and place my blade on the wound."

He needed the blood to empower his Weapon abilities, and while it was usually with Kishin Egg's, Yuuri knew that any type of life force would use.

Teresa remained quiet and watchful as he set about settling himself down again, and she wasn't about to let him come at her with a little needle like that all fumbling. He was of no use to her if he couldn't concentrate and save himself by not fretting. If he screwed up, he would blame himself, so she would stop him now to help him later.

"A better idea?" She blinked when he assumed the form of that blade blade that she had wield before. She wasn't actually certain how a sword was going to help her heal; swords were made for killing after all. "Don't you think that's counter-productive?"

She still reached up and picked up the blade, not about to leave it in the grass, and she felt that same zing of sensation up her arm. She set the blade across her knees before dipping one side into the wound. There was a flare of pain, but she ignored it as her blood smeared on the black blade.

"Mmhm! Just wait and see," Yuuri encouraged even as she regarded him skeptically. He knew what he was doing, and it was much easier to simply do the act rather than waste time and explain it to her. She was injured after all! And he didn't want her losing any more blood than she already had.

Yuuri's concerned expression returned back to a smile when she picked him up. The moment that she did, that same feeling from their Wavelengths was felt even as his blade shifted with appearance to grow into his more impressive form. The moment his blade pressed against the wound, the blood smearing the dark metal began to glow weakly. It wasn't anywhere near as strong as when fighting against an opponent, but Yuuri hoped that it would be enough to at least stem the flow of blood.

Slowly that glow began to run all over his Weapon form before moving to also surround Teresa's body. While the wound was hidden beneath the shield of his blade, it slowly began to heal and knit back together from the energies her life force had given his Weapon form.

She watched as her blood settled on the blade, and she found it an odd sight. She had never successfully been struck with another's blade before, nothing more than a glancing blow at least. Certainly she had taken damage, but it was odd to see her blood on a blade.

Stranger still, she felt the warmth similar to forcing her youki to regenerate her body faster. She closed her eyes as she would while activating her youki, and she managed to get a flash of the forest around her, but her was no threat. She began to think it was a brief look into the future, since it had happened three times now.

Her eyes opened when she felt a wave of exhaustion seep through her limbs, she lifted the blade away from her wound. It had stopped bleeding, though there was still a tear in her leg. How long would that take to heal anyway? "Would you like to change back? The bleeding has stopped."

Yuuri focused his attention on healing the wound with what little energy he had to work with. It wasn't much, but Yuuri hoped that it would be enough to at least stop the bleeding. He felt a flash of disappointment when he couldn't heal the wound more than he could have.

Soon enough his energy ran out, and the young Maou had little choice but to change back. It seemed that Teresa was at least happy with the little work that he'd managed to do. Settling back on the grass, there was still a look of concern over his face. "We'll still need to get you to the clinic, but how is it feeling?"

The fact that she was no longer bleeding was pleasing, and she wondered how easy it would be to remove blood from her white uniform leggings. That would be a concern for another time, and for now, she was just content that her wound was sealed enough to allow her to continue on normally.

Setting Yuuri aside when he transformed back, she released her grip on him so he could settle nearby. She set her hands back on her crossed knees, watching him before noting that he had that odd look of concern on his face. She smiled reassuringly. "It feels just fine; thank you for your kindness in healing it."

The reassuring smile did little to actually reassure him. While the wound had stopped bleeding, it still needed to be tended to. That was why he shook his head at her smile. "You still need someone to take a look at it," Yuuri sternly said... well... as sternly as he usually could.

Grabbing the first aid kit, Yuuri didn't hesitate in reaching out to take Teresa's hand. "Come on, I'll take you there now." Moving to stand up, he gave every indication that he wanted he to follow. "You're alright to stand, right?"

She wasn't so certain why she needed to get up and go right away, but she could tell that Yuuri was probably going to insist. He seemed like that type, and so she reached up to take his hand and rose without much concern for her injury. "If you insist, but you know, it's not as bad as you think."

She set her weight on the leg without hesitation, and the soreness was entirely ignored as she looked at her blooded leggings. They would need repairs; it was too bad there were no retainers to provide new clothing. "What more is to be done with it? It will heal."

Once Yuuri set his mind to something, there was little that could stop him. The same went for this situation, but he was at least glad that she reached back and allowed him to pull her up. Of course he tried to hide the fact that he'd almost toppled himself over in the process, but he hid that small bout of embarrassment by focusing on what needed to be done.

"What do you mean what more needs to be done?" Yuuri asked with a gasp in his voice. Tugging on her hand, the young Maou began to make his way out of the park. "You could get an infection, or worse without treatment!"

She noted the way he almost fell over, but she turned her face away to make it seem like she had been focused on other matters. He didn't keep his balance well when he was doing that concerned thing that he seemed to do often. He certainly was an interesting human.

She followed without complaint when he pulled her along. She saw no reason why she should go, but there was no reason why she shouldn't either. "I don't believe I've had an infection before," she replied thoughtfully.

He hadn't released the old on her hand as he quickly made his way through the park. The sooner he got her to the clinic the better, since then either he could take care of the wound, or one of the doctors if it was too bad. While he was fairly easy going with most things, caring over injuries was something that he was almost obsessive over after the incidents with Conrad and Yuna.

"You said before that you've got the healing rate of humans, right?" Yuuri asked as he glanced back over his shoulder to her. "Humans get infections, so we want to make sure that you don't get one either."

Teresa followed along at the pace that Yuuri set, not finding it particularly straining. It was still a nice day, though apparently it was going to rain at some point. She would probably have to find a tree to sit under when that happened to keep her from getting too wet.

"It appears so. The bleeding didn't stop without your aide," she replied, though she still was trying to think about when she last had an infection. Perhaps it had been when her hair was black? "You seem very concerned over the wound I have."

Well... that was true, but he still wanted her to get it checked out. Besides in order to even suture the wound, she'd have to take her pants off, and Yuuri would never ask her to do that out in a public place! He couldn't even ask her to do it in the clinic... maybe he should get Doctor Watson after all...

"Of course I'm concerned," Yuuri said with a gasp as he looked back at her in shock. Why wouldn't he be concerned? She was injured, and no amount of reassurance would make him less concerned either!

She was still not all that certain what the big deal with the injury was now that it had stopped bleeding. She was extremely healthy, and she figured that a simple repair to her leggings would be good enough to keep things clean enough for healing. He didn't seem to think so, which meant he clearly knew more about human healing than she did.

Tilting her head to the side at his shocked look, she didn't pretend to understand his reaction. "It's not like it's serious enough to kill me, so why be concerned about it? The wound will heal," she murmured as she continued to follow him towards the clinic.

Yuuri was frowning lightly at her persistence, but not because she was asking questions, but because he was worried that she didn't seem concerned with injuries at all. Dropping the hold he had on her hand, the young king turned around to face Teresa as he peered up at her.

"That doesn't matter at all. It could be just a small gash like you have, or one that's life threatening, it will still make me worried," he said before trying to look determined. "Besides, you're my friend, so of course I'd be worried about you!"

Teresa had the mind to keep walking, but the dropped hand from her own signaled that something was about to happen. She stopped when Yuuri turned to face her, and she was amazed by his odd logic. No one had chosen to care about warriors of the Organization before, not even the retainers.

"I don't see why," she offered in return. She stared at his claim that they were friends; she had never been called that before. Certainly Clare had indicated, but their relationship had had more maternal aspects as well. "Friends? I've never had a real friend before."

"Because that's what people and friends do for each other," Yuuri counted in return. It really was just as simple as that in his mind, and the young Maou would never change his opinion on that. He had seen how people had reacted in hatred towards others, and even towards himself, but that was something that he could never understand since he didn't hate anyone. Sure he may have disagreed about things or sometimes been annoyed or disliked things about others, but he never found himself hating anyone else.

"Eh? You haven't?" He blinked at that confession before his expression softened lightly. "I like to think that you're one of my friends, and I'm sure that you'll find lots of others here as well," Yuuri said.

She supposed that she would do such things for Clare, but she had never particularly considered it for another human. It wasn't that she particularly disliked humans; she always found their fear to be amusing but isolating. The fact that she wasn't constantly subjected to it in this place was a novel concept. "But this injury isn't anything to be too concerned about. It will heal."

Eyeing Yuuri in response, Teresa wondered how he could just... take her in like that. He trusted her implicitly, and that was very strange in her mind. "No, you are the first to call me that since I arrived here."

This was like talking to Conrad sometimes, and he found himself sighing while shaking his head. The fact that there was an amused, but fond, smile on his lips took away from the gesture, and he glanced back up at her while attempting his best to give her a determined look. "Of course it's something to be concerned over! Look at how much blood there was! How long had it been bleeding for before I got there?"

His expression flickered with surprise that no one else had, but it wouldn't distract Yuuri either. Gesturing her to follow again, Yuuri began walking as he spoke, "Give it time. Some people just take a little longer, but I'm sure that there will be others soon."

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I would walk five hundred miles [OPEN]

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