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Lin's sudden appearance startled just about everyone, and after she asked her question, everyone looked at each other in surprise.

"Is someone hurt up there?" Earendil asked. "You found someone?"

Elven hearing he may have, but even he couldn't hear anything that had happened above the top of the cliff.

"I can probably help," Lancaeriel offered hesitantly, "but only if it's just a wound that needs healing. I can't remove arrows without causing more damage ..."

"You should ask Kyrie," Andarien spoke up, slipping his arms through the straps of his bag in preparation for his climb. "She's got like a million scars, I bet she's had to treat wounds like that before."

"Shiro?" Andarien was immediately concerned. "You better hurry, Nana!"

He looked up to see where Kyrie was and saw that she was already more than halfway up the cliff. She still wasn't using the rope, though he was sure that she could go faster if she did.

Kyrie heard Lin's shout, and she cursed harshly in another language, though her tone made it quite clear what she was saying.

"Is he in any more danger?" she asked, shuffling sideways along the rock and grabbing the rope in both hands. She leaned back and started walking up the cliff, pulling herself up hand over hand with the rope. Her jaw was set with grim determination, her eyes dark and fierce.

Kyrie kept climbing, taking only the briefest moment to glare at Lin.

"Use magic on me and it will be the last thing you ever do," she told her. "I'm almost there. You get back up there and make sure Shiro and Kaito aren't in more danger!"

By this time she had only a few more yards to go, less than a minute of climbing. It was more important that no more injuries be caused than that she save thirty seconds in getting there.

Kaito was still kneeling next to Shiro, his hands pressed to the wound. Blood was still seeping through his fingers, though, and Shiro's breathing had slowed and become laboured.

"Is someone coming?" Kaito called back to Lin, his voice thin and high-pitched. His skin was white, nearly as white as Shiro's, and his eyes were wide.

There was no one else in sight, though from the direction of the trees, the same general direction the arrow had come from, there came the sound of crashing or thrashing around.

Kaito just nodded, too shocked to do anything else, and focused on keeping pressure on his brother's wound.

A moment later, two figures emerged from the treeline, both of them running full tilt. One was tall, the other smaller, and both of them were carrying bows in their hands. They spotted Shiro, Kaito and Lin, and the taller one stopped the smaller one, who looked to be nothing more than a child, holding him back from the three of them.

As they stopped, Kyrie appeared over the top of the cliff. She spotted the two strangers immediately, assessed them, and promptly ignored them. They had no arrows in hand, their bows were not drawn, and they were not approaching. Instead, she knelt next to Shiro to examine his wound - though she did keep an eye on the two strangers.

"Lin, keep an eye on those two and make sure they don't come any closer," Kyrie requested softly, though she was glaring at the two. "This is going to be tricky ..."

She set her bag on the ground and opened it up. Without looking, she reached in and pulled out a small wrapped package. She spread it out beside herself on the ground and pulled a tiny blade from it. With her other hand she took a bottle from her waist and uncorked it with her teeth. She poured some of the liquid onto the blade, then replaced the cork and put it back at her waist.

"Move your hands," she ordered Kaito. The neko moved aside, though his eyes remained fixed on his brother's wound.

Meanwhile, the two strangers still had not moved, and both of them were staring at the odd group. The taller one was speaking to the smaller one, who didn't seem to want to listen. He was struggling against the grip of the bigger one, apparently straining to get away from him.