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His head felt light and it took much concentration not to fall on the small woman. The way she used mud to hold him together was comforting in the way that it acknowledged his wounds but didn't try to close them too soon. Just filling them in was sufficient even for a short while. He wasn't ready for his deepest wounds, the ones on his heart, to be closed just yet. But filling them in for the moment seemed appropriate. He set the worry of his ordeal aside and focused on keeping his feet moving straight.

"You're right. Being dead wouldn't be this hard." He commented in reference to his wobbly walking. He wasn't trying to push her over, but it may have seemed that way at times. "I always seem to do things the hard way."

"But if I make it to wherever you are taking me, I wouldn't turn down a warm bath"

Before he knew it they had made it to a small settlement. The healer was in a modest hut attached to the pharmacy/apothecary. Warren sort of just walked in and fell onto a cot. The healer seemed a bit frantic and had a lot of questions he wasn't inclined to answer. Despite the upset, the healer did their work cleaning up and stitching him back together.

Warren waved the anesthetic, mostly because he knew it would probably take more than they had on hand to do anything. He opted to nap/pass out for most of the procedure where he was allowed to lay down. When he was sitting up again they made him drink lost of water and a strange smelling tonic. It tasted bitter and metallic, he was informed it was to help his blood recover. He did not question or care to know how it worked.

He was disappointed to see the wash tub was not large enough for him to actually bathe in. He threatened to bathe in the animal trough after the healer explicitly warned him not to submerge his stitches. At this point he was feeling much better and was half ready to defy them and jump in anyway. After all who would have stopped him. But he decided not to, he would hate to have to come back after getting an infection. The healer didn't have to treat him after all. He guessed it was because he had been brought here by San'thari, people were typically wary of him.

He left almost his entire purse to the healer. They deserved it for treating him despite not knowing what he did to get into the shape he was in. He spent a few more on some herbs and supplies for San'thari. He felt bad that she had gone through the trouble to help him to a healer and used what she could to help him.

Warren hoped he could still had time to say thank you. The Inn was just across the way from the healers hut and he hoped she was still staying there.

*

He slowly made his way to the Inn, the savory smells wafting from the chimney made it him hungry. He had bandages over his bigger wounds and the smaller ones were red from being freshly stitched and cleaned. He just felt stinging and burning all over. The pain was irritating but tolerable. The healer had wanted him to rest but he insisted on not staying there. He convinced them he would stay at the Inn and out of their hair.

As he was about to open the door he was reminded of the last time he had gone to an Inn. He had gotten into a fight with a witu and he looked similarly bloodied. Then too, a stranger had helped him. That person became one of his close friends, he hoped for a similar outcome with San'thari. Good people who help strangers in need were rare and deserved respect.

When he walked in the food practically dropped out of the mouths of the locals. Their gawking did not surprise him. He was a bloody mess and a lumbering brute, not even a blind person would be able to miss him. One of them thought he was smart and commented on Warren's rough condition. He replied with a cold stare and the rest of the table promptly went back to looking at their hands.

Warren scanned the dining area quickly and spotted San'thari on the wall. He had an empathetic look on his face. He was used to jerks harassing him. He just hoped they wouldn't bother her too because of him.

"Hope I'm not disrupting your dinner. I wanted to come by to say thank you."

Warren let out a snort that stopped short of a laugh at her "road kill" comment.
"Well, I appreciate it. I know I can be difficult and probably would have wandered off to my death if you hadn't scolded me." He pulled the bundle of herbs and first aid supplies out from under his arm and took a seat. He set the bundle on the table and pushed them to her.
"I got some supplies for you since you ditched your herb gathering to help me out."

He still looked really tired. The kind of tired that was beyond just physical exhaustion, but mental too. He breathed in the smell of the pot pie longingly. It seemed like ages since he had a hot meal like that, he was not going to say no.
without taking his eyes off the pie, "Yeah, that looks delicious." he reached for a fork and sunk it into the flaky crust without hesitation.

His hands ached as he lifted the forkfull of gravy and vegetables to his mouth. All the pain was worth it for the heavenly bites. Hot comfort food was rejuvenating and made him feel like a person again. He didn't even notice the waiter beyond the mug of ale. He was a bit like an animal in the way that once he started eating there wasn't much that would distract him.
With a mouth full of pot pie he just looked at San'thari and nodded. They were both experiencing the same feeling and it didn't need words to be addressed.

He took a moment to swallow before replying. "Well they told me I couldn't take a bath and I just about walked out right then to jump in to the water trough" He rolled his eyes and shrugged, "But the healer looked at me with such horror, I decided that if I got an infection from it they would have just let me die if I came back."

Warren looked down at the pie again and gathered another bite. "I'm too stubborn to die in a medical bed. But no life threatening. Just lost lots of blood. Pretty sure I got small fractures in my hands though. But that will just make them stronger."

He shoveled another bite in. She was right, he was prickly. He used his appearance to keep people away. But he could tell San'thari was genuine so he didn't mind her company.

Warren moved his hands away guardedly. "It's nothing I haven't been through before. I have fractured my hands dozens of time if not more. I didn't even bother to mention it to the healer." He waved her hands away.

"See I train everyday, sometimes I hit wrong, or punch the tree for to long." He shrugged, "Its a pain I am used to, sometimes I like it because I know it will only make them more solid." He gripped his one hand into a fist, "In a fight they come down, hard as rocks." Warren sounded pleased with himself.
He had worked hard to reach his Guard status. He was proud of his battered hands, they the uniform of a fighter.

"As for the rest of me, most of my scars are from animals. As a prentice, there weren't others my age that were worthy grappling opponents. I protected my father's aldabuk herd by fighting off predators." Warren sure was being rather chatty. He felt a little embarrassed opening up to someone he barely knew. But it also felt kind of nice.

Warren immediately perked up when she mentioned the witu. He twisted so he could point out the large gnarled scar on his shoulder.
"This was from a witu!"He sounded more excited than a normal person would be about it. "It was attacking the aldabuk so I sneaked up and tackled it. It was a scrappy thing, but it got away. That's how I met my friend Gaddok. He helped patch me up then too."
He smiled at the memory.
"Witu are pretty nasty close up, they fight wild. It was good that you didn't try to fend them off. Who was the person with you? How did you two make it out of there?"

He would be interested in knowing about those herbs! If anything he could just have his father tie them to his aldabuk to ward the witu off. "That's really interesting, I wonder if those herbs could be used as wards." He gave her a sympathetic look. "Your story is one of the main reasons I wanted to become a guard. Anytime non fighters go into un-patrolled areas they are at risk of animal attacks, or worse bandits." He shook his head.

"I haven't seen Gaddok in a long while. I am sure he is off doing something important or knightly. He is the hero type. He is also like me and does things the hard way. Probably why we got along so well." He had the same distant look on his face for a moment.

"So what is it you are studying? Are you going to be a healer?"