forum A lost and found of things that don't want to be found (O×O) (RATED M FOR POSSIBLE TW) (CLOSED)

Started March 06, 2020 by @Dirt

tune

(Noted. :)
Heads up I won't be on to much these next few months, but I will try and get on every now and again.)

Vera cupped a hand over her mouth and gasped. no no no, was all she could think. If she was the cause of the fight, if she lost this job- Vera didn't want to think about it.

"get yer' han's off me," Slurred the man when Tolkalee grabbed him. Frankly he was to drunk for a real fight, but that wouldn't stop him from trying.
The drunk threw a punch at Tolkalee, connecting with his nose. His fist throbbed. "don' pick fights ya' ain't ready for boy."

Tolkalee recoiled enough soon enough to avoid a broken nose, however it still hurt. He let go of the man and took a small step back looking at him for a moment. he rubbed his nose lightly for a moment and checked to see if it was bleeding. Yep it was. He gave a sigh and looked at the man again. "Sir, I'm not in the mood to fight you or anyone else right now. Especially not in here. If you really must fight at least take it outside," he said. "But I'm warning you now, should you choose to fight me, I don't play nice, and I don't fight fair." He turned and walked to the door, then he turned and looked at the man. waiting to see if he would follow or sit back down.

"Lucky fer' ya' I don' either." the man raised his fists, making no move for the door. He had no intentions of doing what Tolkalee said, the drunk part of his brain immature.

"You listen to the young man. If you're gonna fight take it out of my bar." The inn keeper glared at the two, and if anything, looked ready to jump into the fight and kick them both out. The inn keeper was old, and to be honest didn't look very fit. But then again, so did the drunk.

The drunk grinned revealing missing and rotten teeth. He stuck true to his word on playing dirty, one of his hands flying out and grabbing a by stander. He hooked an arm over their neck and looked to Tolkalee. Vera couldn't help but gasp again.

Tolkalee pursed his lips and crossed his arms as he looked at the man. The by stander the the drunk had grabbed looked scared and was clawing at the drunk's arm. "Sir, let the poor by stander go," he said slowly. "I won't ask twice." He had a few tricks up his sleeve that he could pull to instantly stop the situation from worsening, however he knew that it would be better if he could talk the situation down. However, he had never been the best at talking especially to men who were drunk. Somewhere in his mind, Tolkalee knew this wasn't going to end very well.

(I forgot to ask. Is magic allowed? Or would you rather not? I ask because this character technically has magic but doesn't need it, so it can be thrown out the window if need be.)

(For purposes of the plot I'm going to have to say no to magic- but also for purposes of the plot I'm not against slightly stronger than normal strength, and speed.)

Vera pulled a pistol from her waist band, hidden by the shirt that was two sizes too big for her. Of course it was a bluff- one of the biggest bluffs she'd ever tried to pull. And possibly one of the stupidest. Guns in the slums where rare, next to impossible to get. It was the one weapon that never made it in, most bounty hunters raided any possible gun factories, destroying everything. But Vera wasn't from the slums, and considering she'd snuck in-
The only problem was it didn't have any bullets. "Let them go," her voice shook. The gun was a last defence, one she'd been trying to keep hidden. She was sure to lose this job now.

The drunk just about turned ghost white. "Tolkalee and the inn keeper have asked you to take it out side, and let your hostage go." Vera looked to Tolkalee, if he hadn't shown up the night before she would habe pulled the gun then. "Now if- now if you'd be so kind as to leave."
but he called her bluff, and before Vera could react the drunk dove for her and that gun.

Not waiting for things to turn worse Tolkalee practically leaped across the bar. Half of him was screaming in pain the other half was pumping out enough adrenaline to allow him to ignore his pain. He dodged around people and came to the drunk. Without hesitating he caught the man's arm, twisted it around, hooked his leg around the drunk's legs and let the man's own momentum to knock the man off his feet. He didn't skip a beat when he twisted around the man like a cobra hooking him in a rear naked choke.

Vera screamed and dropped the pistol. If Tolkalee hadn't been fast enough-

The drunk grunted with the force of his fall. His skull slamming against the wooden floor with a loud CRACK. his head spun, and darkness spotted his vision. "you lil'," he didn't get to finish his sentence before he was out cold.
"Out- Out all of you," the inn keeper was practically shouting. He pointed a finger at Vera, "and you! Get out of here before I tell a bounty hunter what you have!"

Tolkalee let go of the man the moment he went limp. Then he jumped to his feet as if he expected there to be more attackers. He paused a moment took a breath and turned towards the inn keeper. "I apologize for the disturbance Sir," he gave a slight bow to the inn keeper as if that was his way of apologizing. "We'll get out of your inn now, and you won't have to worry about us ever again." Then he scooped up Vera's pistol and took her by the hand leading her out with him. He was walking with a pretty heavy limp again.

"If I ever see either of your faces again, I'll have you locked up!" Of course the slums didn't really have a jail- but there was really nothing from keeping the inn keeper from throwing them in a back room.

Vera muttered her apology on the way out. She'd be lucky to survive another week in the slums after that fiasco. "Thanks," she said to Tolkalee. If anything she was feeling incredibly stupid at the moment, and incredibly grateful.
"I'm so sorry. That was so stupid," she groaned, "you keep having to save me- are you limping? Are you okay?" Her tone turned to panic.

"Don't worry about it," Tolkalee reassured her, though by now his adrenaline was wearing off and he was in an immense amount of pain. "Problems seem to follow me around to. As for the limp, it's fine. Just that old injury I told you about when we first met."
He glanced down at his leg and bit his lip. He could see blood seeping through his pants, and knew that he'd ripped the stitches. Now he had to restitch it again, and he was hoping the Vera didn't notice. She had enough on her mind right now without his injuries helping.

"Tolkalee- you've done so much for me, let me help you," Vera's eyes flicked to his limp. She saw the blood, "that is not an old wound." She tried to think of before. Before the slums, back then she had been in training. Recalling any medical training was almost useless. She'd never done well in that course, but that wouldn't stop her from trying. "You're bleeding."

"Yep, and we can not stop here to treat it," Tolkalee stated, sighing internally. "And it is an old wound. Problem is, that this is the second time it has reopened so it's taking longer to heal. I have supplies back at my hideout. You don't have to come with me if you don't want."
His ribs ached and his leg was burning, as he walked. He glanced ahead on the street they were walking, and a chill went down his spine. He moved into an alleyway pulling Vera with him. "Do you trust me?" He asked suddenly. He was very quiet now.

A small yelp escaped Vera. She had been about to ask Tolkalee why stopping to treat his wound would be so bad. In her experience this city was dangerous, but who'd be stupid enough to approach a guy who carried themselves like Tolkalee did.
"Trust you?" The words came out harsher then intended. Trust was a tricky thing, and even though Vera did want to trust him- "Yeah." The word left her mouth before she could finish the thought.
There was something off about they way he'd suddenly grown quite, and she didn't want to figure out the hard way what was about to happen.

"Good," he handed her pistol back to her, and leaned out slightly to look back down the street. "There are several people just ahead that do not like me, honestly they probably want me dead. Big shocker I know. People don't like me very much because I hold them accountable. Do you remember where my hideout is?"

"Not really," Vera quietly admitted. Most of the slums looked the same to her if she was being completely honest.
She held the pistol close to her chest, holding it tightly as if it would grow legs and run off. "But I'm sure I can find it, what do you need me to do?" She forced her voice not to shake.

"Can you use that gun?" Tolkalee asked. He didn't really want her to use it if she didn't have to, but right now he was in no condition to fight more than one person. He leaned out again to check where the people were. They were moving away. "You know what, never mind," he gave a small sigh of relief. "Come on, let's get out of here." He moved out into the street again and let Vera decide if she was going to come with him or not.

"Its not-" Vera chewed her lip, not knowing if she was ready to admit that it was a bluff. That it didn't have any ammo.
She had always prided herself on her brains, but the fact that she hadn't grabbed any bullets when she'd grabbed the gun, that was possibly the most stupid thing she'd ever done. Well next to ending up in the slums that is.
A such of relief almost escaped her when Tolkalee said that. As far as anyone should be concerned the gun was loaded. Vera quickly followed after him, safely tucking the gun back away.

By the time they made it to Tolkalee's hideout, his leg felt like it was on fire. Blood was soaked through both the bandage around the wound as well as his pants. It hurt to breathe because of his bruised ribs. He hated to be leaning on Vera, but he didn't have much of a choice. His leg hurt so much that he could barely put pressure on it. Little black spots had started floating around his vision, and he knew from experience that he didn't have long before he passed out. He hoped he would be able to stay conscious long enough to patch his wound again.

"Some old wound," Vera mumbled under her breath. She was by no means a doctor, but something told her that blood shouldn't be coming from from a wound like that. Especially if all he's done was walk on it- but of course Vera didn't know of what else Tolkalee had been doing.

Once inside his hideout Tolkalee leaned against the wall and took a moment to breathe. "Hey, across the room, in the cabinet by the bookshelf there, that's where I keep my medical supplies." Tolkalee explained. "Just inside on the middle shelf there should be a little light gray bottle that says antiseptic in it, Next to it should be a little curved needle with some thread attached, and on the bottom shelf there are three different kinds of gauze. Bring me the needle the bottle and the heavy duty gauze please."
He moved to sit on the stool he had by the fireplace, and waited for Vera to get what he'd asked for.

It took Vera a moment to find all the things Tolkalee asked for, especially since she had no idea how to tell the gauze apart. She took a best quest and hopped it was right. "Need any help?" She asked even though the thought of sewing a wound shut made her breakfast want to come back up.
One would think that living in the ramshackle city for at least a week now would would give them a stronger stomach.

Tolkalee glanced at her and noticed that she seemed a bit uneasy. So he shook his head. "No that's okay," he replied. "The other way you can help me is by talking. Any king of distraction helps with this sort of thing."
He cut his pants away from the wound. Grimacing at the fact that he would have to repare them later. "How long have you been here?" He start casual conversation as he started cleaning the wound for the third or forth time.