"Distance isn't the only thing to worry about." Elara placed a hand on his shoulder, barely registering the pain from the movement. "When losing a possible tail, you also have to lose them. And of course it's my fault. None of you would be here if it wasn't for me. No one would be dead or injured." She pulled her hair up and out of the way, shifting slightly to try and get him to let her down. "We have to take a twisting route, and cover or at least blend our tracks with an animal's."
He shook his head slightly. "Your highness, I haven't a hope of losing them. I'm too big, and leaving a trail of blood. I have to outdistance them, which i can do. I'm a Thari, i can walk or run for far longer than them." He replied, picking up his pace and ignoring the pain in his thigh, ignoring the warm blood that trickled down his pants leg with each step.
“And what happens when you cause irreparable damage to your leg.” Elara asked, turning her void stare up on him. Even her silver eye, the one that was always sparkling with something, looked more like an old metal pot than the light of the stars itself. “When the adrenaline wears off and your leg is so shot moving isn’t a possibility.”
He shook his head. "Not a priority. My leg will continue to function until I no longer need it to." He replied. "And the fact remains that if i put you down, we will travel far, far slower than we are now." He continued moving as quickly as possible, taking a faint trail through the woods that had likely been left by an animal.
She didn’t respond, giving up too easily on that. On some level, she was aware that she shouldn’t be drawing into herself like this. And on another, it was the only way she knew how to cope and survive at the same time. She turned to look forward again, eyeing the trees and the path dully. “Keep on animal paths like you’re doing. Don’t make new ones unless you have to. And watch your horns.”
Kieran nodded. "I know, your highness." He replied as he continued, making sure his horns didn't scrape and leave tell-tale markings behind on the wood. He knew he just needed to keep moving. Keep Elara safe. That was his job. Wounds didnt matter. Once she was safe, he could take care of the wound in his thigh, but otherwise he didn't want to stop, for fear that they would be caught and attacked.
The exhaustion from using so much energy and losing so much blood would catch up with Elara sooner or later, but she was determined not to fall asleep until they were at least safe and stopped for the night. "A cave might be too obvious." She wasn't sure if she was talking to herself or to Kieran, but either worked. "A blackberry thicket would cause even more bloodloss that we don't need."
Kieran glanced down at her. "I'm looking for a big tree." He replied. "One of the ones where the branches drape really far down. It would be good shelter, and we can hide in it easily." His leg was hurting still, though his outward manner betrayed no hint of pain.
"Trees. Right." Why did her thoughts feel so muddled? Elara reached up with her good arm, her hand finding the bullet wound. With only a split second of hesitation, she dug a finger into the entry wound, hissing in pain, but grateful for the clarity the pain brought her. The most emotion she'd shown. "A tree is a good idea. A willow? Those are easy to find along river banks and streams, and the water could come in handy."
He gave a sharp nod. "It's an animal trail, it should eventually lead to or near a body of water." He replied as he walked. The tip of one of his horns hit a tree branch, and he recoiled slightly, shaking his head in much the same way an animal does when it has been irritated by something. He blinked, and continued walking.
"You'd have an easier time avoiding tree branches if ya'd set me down." Elara stated, pulling her hand from her injury to wipe a concerning amount of blood off on her jeans. She looked like a mess, for sure, way paler than normal, covered in blood, and a haunted look in her eyes.
"Yes, and I would also have an easier time avoiding tree branches if I was shorter. I am not setting you down, your highness, and when we stop, I need to take care of that wound of yours." He replied calmly. How he managed to stay calm in a situation like this was rather mystifying at first, but if you thought about it, it wasn't. He was Thari, good at blocking and suppressing his emotions until they no longer existed.
“Which one? There are a few. But your leg is more pressing.” Elara didn’t seem capable of looking up at him anymore, and she was pretty sure if she did, her thin and careful control would snap. “With it still bleeding, it'll eventually slow us down. You can say I will all you want, but you’re ignoring your own injuries.”
(tis only a scratch, your highness)
"I am fine, your highness. I have walked longer than this on a damaged leg." He replied. "And you would slow us down because of that ankle. I can walk with my thigh bleeding, but you have already shown that you cannot maintain a good speed with your ankle the way it is." He continued moving.
"I can maintain speed fine, you just didn't want me to." She pointed out dully, the energy for arguing fading with a scary speed. "And it's been healing just fine." It really had. She'd listened to him, staying off of it unless she was using a cane, or the crutches at first.
"No, you're right, I don't want you to." He replied simply. "And damnit, your highness, you need to stay awake and coherent, okay? I know that you are in shock because of what has happened and what you had to do, but I cannot have you shutting down on me." His voice was firm.
"I'm perfectly coherent and fine." She said, absolutely not fine and only just coherent. "And I'm not in shock." Denial. She didn't want to admit that she was weak, she didn't want to admit that the whole thing had shaken her so bad that her mind had gone completely blank.
"Liar." He replied coldly. "You are only hardly coherent, and you are most definitely in shock." He found one of the trees he had been looking for, by a stream, and ducked inside it, setting her down underneath the hanging branches. "There."
"I can;t afford to be in shock, and my coherency is just fine." There it was. There was the emotion she had been lacking. The bite to her words, while not as sharp as it normally would have been, was almost relieving. As soon as she had been set down, she made her way to the edge of the stream, her hands shaking violently as she reached out to touch the water.
Kieran sighed softly. He walked down to the water, and pulled off his pants, not really caring if Elara was watching as he put his leg into the water to clean out the wound. He still had underwear, of course, but his legs were now bare as he waded into the water to wash off.
Elara paused just before touching the water, staring down at her reflection. Haunted eyes and a dead expression. And then it all hit her at once, and she couldn't keep the tears at bay, only keep them silent as they flowed steadily down her face while she attempted to wash her wounds. I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I can't save anyone I can't keep the people close to me safe or here and now people are dead-
Kieran tore a strip of cloth off of his shirt and bound up the wound, then pulled his pants back on. He looked over at Elara, and sighed. Walking over, he put a hand on her back lightly. "Your highness?" He hesitated for a moment. "I am sorry about your friend. But it isn't your fault."
“I was supposed to keep him safe. None of them deserved to die.” Elara whispered, her voice breaking as she shook with silent and choked off sobs. “I killed him. It’s no one’s fault but my own. No one’s fault but my own.”
Kieran hesitantly pulled her into a hug. "He wanted you to. It was a mercy kill, Elara. If you hadn't, he would have spent hours lingering between life and death, dying slowly and painfully. You spared him from that." He said softly, rubbing her back. "It isn't your fault, okay?"
Elara tensed as Kieran pulled her into a hug, confusion flickering through her mind before she was burying her face in his shoulder. “What am I supposed to tell his husband? He died protecting me, and mercy kill or not, I still held the blade.”
