It took Reiken a few minutes before he realized that he was waking up. Again pain rushed through him. It hurt so badly. Somewhere in the back of his mind he realized that there was someone talking to him. He just could not make out what they were saying.
"There we go...." the voice said, finally clearing up a bit "Now you just need to keep on moving.... We're almost out, just a bit longer"
The voice kept on talking, but the rest of the words were just a jumble through his mind. He realized that he was moving, someone was helping him to move, but his painfilled mind just did not understand what was going on at all.
With every move, it felt like something was stabbing him. Over and over and over again. It hurt so badly.
"Stay with me, Sage..." the voice said, becoming clear again for a few seconds "You'll be fine.... I'm going to fix you up"
Reiken groaned, before his eyes started flickering open.
"....sorry..." he whispered.
"Shit... you're awake..." the voice said "Dammit.... it would have been better if you stayed asleep.... Alright, I'm going to help you, so stay with me"
Reiken whimpered, just holding on to the person.
"Right.... I'll give you something for the pain, when we get to my place..." the voice said "It's a bit of a walk.... but you'll be save there, got it?"
".... sorry...." Reiken whispered again.
"You're really a piece of work, Sage..." the voice said "Why the hell didn't you fight back? You could have gotten away if you wanted to"
"Not even to save yourself?" the voice asked, starting to sound a bit out of breath "That's not good... you need to take care of yourself as well, Sage"
Silence fell between the two.
Reiken whimpered as he moved a bit to much.
"Do we need to stop a bit?" the voice asked.
Reiken nodded slightly. ".... please.... Can't... breathe" he whimpered.
The voice went quiet for a moment before the movement stopped. "It's alright" the voice continued "Just get some rest.... Then we can start moving again when you feel a bit stronger"
Gently the person lowered Reiken to the ground.
Reiken gasped softly, his body relaxing slightly. The hands holding him up disappeared and he looked around. A blurred face appeared in his line of sight.
"Sage" the voice said and he could see that it was the blurred talking to him "I'm going to bandage some of your wounds.... It's going to hurt... they beat you up pretty badly"
"Why...." Reiken whispered "... are you... helping...?"
"Because.... You protected us" the figure said "By the way... I used to be Spirit Clan.... but... please don't be scared of me"
A sadness rushed through Reiken. Ignoring the pain in his body, he lifted his hand, reaching to the figure.
"...Sorry... for... failing you..." he whispered.
The figure caught his hand, slowly lowering it to the ground again. "Don't move, Sage... you'll make your injuries worse"
It took Reiken a while before he realized that the figure was now treating his wounds. Pain rippled through him with every touch. It slowly started to overwhelm him, until he had to bite back a scream.
His vision black out and the last thing he heart was the voice calling out to him.
***
Yuran clenched his jaw as he looked at the Sage. The fire Sage passed out as he reset the immortal's broken arm. It did not surprise him all that much. The torture they put him through just made him so angry.
Why would they do something like that? It's not like the Sage did anything wrong. He just protected them.
And just look at where that got him.
Breathing out, Yuran carefully lifted the Sage again. They needed to keep om moving. He did not want the villagers to find them again. It wouldn't be good for them.
He wasn't sure he'd be able to get them to back off again. They were pretty onto it that the Sage was a monster or something.
If only they knew that he used to be part of the Spirit Clan.
They'd probably try to kill him as well. Unlike the Sage, he wasn't going to just stand there and let them take him.
"Curses, Sage...." Yuran muttered as he started moving again "Why do you have to care about us humans so much? At least try and take care of yourself"
With a grunt he shifted the Sage a bit as he kept on walking. This was going to take a while. Since it almost took two hours for him to walk to his place on his own. So going so slowly with the Sage, it might take them so much longer.
Not just that, they had to stop every now and then so he could make sure the Sage was still alright.
Well... Alive...
He doubted that the Sage would die so easily, but he was not going to take the chance on that.
They were almost half way, when the Sage groaned softly.
Yuran looked at the pale face over his shoulder. "Sage?" he asked as he kept on moving. The Sage's face was so pale that he was surprised that the immortal was still alive.
They were leaving a blood trail behind as well.
If the demons did not follow the smell, he'd be shocked.
Taking a deep breath, Yuran kept on moving. The sooner they get to his house, the quicker he can take care of the Sage's injuries.
The Sage woke up another quarter of the way towards Yuran's home.
"Sage" he said "Are you still alright? We stop a bit if you want to?"
"....I'm... sorry..." the Sage whispered, pain in his voice "... don't worry.... about... met"
"I really hope you don't think that I should just leave you here"
The Sage lifted his head slightly. "... don't... want to... cause trouble" he muttered before coughing.
Yuran could hear just how painful that was.
"Don't talk, Sage" he said "Just focus on staying awake"
Silence fell as they kept on moving, until a small house came into view. Not a house exactly, more like a cottage.
"We're here" Yuran said softly as he carried the Sage to the small cottage "You don't have to worry about anything here... The people wouldn't bother you"
The Sage lifted his head slightly. "Thank... you" he whispered.
"You don't need to thank me, Sage" Yuran said "I'm just repaying the favour"
"I.... don't... understand" the Sage said, before coughing again.
"You've saved my life before" Yuran said as he opened the door carrying the Sage inside "And you didn't care that I was Spirit Clan... So now I will make sure that you have a save place to stay"
Yuran let the Sage lay down on the small couch. "I'm going to get my treatment bag" he said.
Sage's eyes flickered open, glancing towards him.
"Thank... you" he whispered.
Yuran nodded and quickly disappeared deeper into the small cottage. When he came back again, the Saga was sitting up slightly, pressing a hand against his side.
"You shouldn't be sitting up" Yuran said, kneeling in front of the sage.
"...Who.. are you?" the Sage asked, his voice weak, but also very gentle.
"My name is Yuran... Sage" Yuran said, surprised.
The Sage shook his head slightly. "Don't... call me... that" he said "...my name is... Reiken. Thank you"
Yuran blinked, before he nodded. "Alright" he said "I... need to treat your injuries. It's going to hurt"
Reiken nodded slightly. "...I know" he said "It's alright"
"I'm going to get some water... we need to make sure none of the wounds get infected" Yuran said, getting up again.
Reiken just watched as Yuran left. His head hurt so badly, not that the rest of his body felt any different. At least the bleeding had stopped. Clenching his jaw, he just waited. There wasn't anything else he could do. He was sure they fractured his leg and broke his arm badly.
When Yuran returned, he carried a bowl with water.
"I'm sorry if this is going to hurt" he said "But we need to clean it and... it looks like I'll have to.... um... reset your arm"
Reiken nodded. "Thank you" he said.
"Alright..." Yuran said, carefully taking Reiken's broken arm "Let's do this first"
Before Reiken could say anything, Yuran twisted his arm back into place. He smothered a scream as the pain tore through his arm. His vision blurred before the pain overwhelmed him completely and he just slumped to the side.
Yuran cussed softly, but did not say anything as he caught the Sage, carefully letting him lay down again.
"Now I need to hurry" he muttered to himself. If he could take care of most of the injuries before the Sage wakes up, things would be much easier.
Quickly Yuran started working, going as fast as he could.
When the Sage woke up again, Yuran already took care of his injuries as was working in the kitchen.
Reiken slowly struggled to his feet, ignoring the pain in his body. Slowly he limped over to where the sounds were coming from. The young man that helped him before, was moving around in the small kitchen.
Hesitating, Reiken glanced back towards the couch.
"You shouldn't be up" the now familiar voice said, making Reiken jump and quickly look back.
Yuran stood in front of him, looking worried.
Immediately Reiken stepped back, only for a bolt of red hot pain to shoot up his leg. It gave in beneath him and he fell.
Yuran's eyes widened slightly, as he shot forward, catching the immortal.
"Hey... Don't go doing stupid things like that..." he said, holding Reiken up "You are going to hurt yourself"
"...sorry..." Reiken whispered, his voice feeling raw.
Yuran sighed. "That's alright... just be careful" he said "You got pretty beaten up"
Slowly he helped Reiken back to the couch. "Don't get up again... I'm making us some dinner" he said "After we've gotten something to eat, we can decide what to do next"
