Welcome to Gaia! ::

((Hoooookay. Maybe I'll just post again, in an attempt to resuscitate this thread. Since I haven't heard back from P'g, I'll just, erm, wing it?))

Shaking slightly, Faust slowly lowers his arm, letting Eliza's skeleton rest against his thigh. "I can't hear them anymore," he says. "Let's just hope that the wolf was the extent of their malice." He stops speaking to catch his breath. "Shizuka, you and Manta try to get some sleep. I'll keep watch until I'm no longer able to, in which case I'll wake up Manta. Sehr gut?" he asks, slipping to a sitting position near the fire. "I hope another shaman comes along soon... one that we know." Faust brings out a needle and thread and, after dousing his wrist once more in alchohol, begins to stoically suture the wound closed with trembling fingers.

Manta furrows his brows, wishing that he was able to understand the subtle signals that shamans seemed to comprehend automatically. "Wake me up if you need to rest, Faust. Promise?"

"Yes, I promise, Manta," Faust answers, locating several powerful antibiotics and swallowing them. Remembering that Shizuka seems to be put off by drug use, he tells her quickly, "These are just to prevent infection. I still have no idea what this is... but I feel terrible. I hope it's just rabies."

Manta recoils. "Just rabies, Faust? What is with you?"

"I'm frightened!" Faust snaps softly, his face pale. "There is reassurance in knowledge, yes? There's so much I don't know.... so much I can't know... but ignorance is fear, which may explain why I haven't yet autopsied the wolf... I'm afraid to know... God! Why was she taken from me? She always knew what to do, no matter how dire the circumstances!" He clenches his fist , pressing his closed fingers against his mouth.

"Get ahold of yourself!" Manta says harshly, not noticing Shizuka slipping away. Faust, whose back is turned away from the fire, is also distracted.

"It's no good," Faust says softly. "She's gone, Manta! I did everything I could, and it wasn't enough... if everything isn't enough, what is there left to live for, Manta? Manta, what is there?"

"You're talking about Eliza..." groans Manta. "You're off your meds, aren't you?"

Faust nods wretchedly. "I feel so much smarter without them, Manta... but the world is such a bleak place, what's the point?"

Manta and Faust are still completely oblivious to Shizuka's departure. "You're a piece of work," says Manta, a note of disgust creeping into his usually wheedling voice. "How can you expect to take care of other people when you can't even take care of yourself?" Faust doesn't say anything in reply, but stares at the fire as if his world consists of it.

Manta turns away. "Hey Shizuka, guess what? Faust deliberately..." he stops, not seeing Shizuka. "Shizuka? SHIZUKA? Where are you? Faust, she's gone!"

"Shizuka?" Manta calls again, breathlessly. "Crap... how long has she been missing?" Angrily, he snarls, "Faust, this is your fault!" Faust hangs his head, and Manta instantly feels terrible. "Sorry... both our faults."

"I'll find her." Faust stands, skirting around the fire to avoid passing Manta.

"No," Manta protests, blocking his way even though his height barely reaches Faust's knee. "You're sick, and probably freaking out because of your meds..."

"I'm fine. Do you honestly think, Manta, that you can track Shizuka and her quarry alone?" Snapping his fingers, Faust focuses his mana and the dead wolf moves, raising itself to its feet in one fluid motion. "We'll find her, Manta. I promise. Can you trust me?"

Manta presses his lips together. "OK," he agrees.

"Ow!" Manta groans, tripping on a tree branch and sprawling into a pile of leaves. The reanimated wolf nudges him clumsily. "Darn it... Faust, why did she just leave like that? Wouldn't you think that... wouldn't you think that she'd have said something?"

"I don't know what to think," says Faust quietly. "I'm sure that she has her reasons."

"Is that the best you can do?" Manta asks, staring at the rather pitiful wolf corpse stumbling along beside Faust.

"Yes," replies Faust after a moment. "I'm saving my serious mana for any fighting we'll have to do."

"I think I hear her!" Manta says, straining his ears against the wind whistling through the tree branches overhead.

"Shizuka?" Manta calls, taking several steps forward as the sounds of rustling, crackling leaves draws nearer.

Seizing his arm, Faust yanks him back. "What gives?!" Manta shouts, angrily shaking Faust off.

"That's not Shizuka..." explains Faust. "The footsteps are too heavy. And the aura is all wrong. I know you run fast, Manta, so I want you to run if someone attacks us. Don't worry, don't look back, just run, okay?"

"But what about you? What about Shizuka?"

"We're Shamans. We'll survive. But you, Manta... you'll only get in the way, if you stay and put yourself in danger. Please understand. You'll be a greater protection to us and to yourself if you leave. I'll have Loki follow you until you're out of the woods," Faust says, indicating the wolf cadaver. "Eliza has my back."