Luckily, it seemed that most of the guards were focused on what lay outside the camp rather than inside it. And at any rate, they all trusted Tanrial by now, since she hadn't tried anything so far.
Mike had been busy breaking out of his cage while she was gone, and now stood outside of it with a knife in hand and his freshly recovered backpack over his shoulder. He gave Tanrial a nod when he saw her and ducked behind a row of bandit huts, waving for her to follow.
Tanrial hurried along to keep up, falling quickly behind Mike in a matter of seconds. It seemed there were no bandits around in this area, hopefully making their escape pretty easy.
(sorry I vanished! It's movie night for my family tonight. I'll reply in the morning, gotta go to bed!)
(All good :) Sleep well!)
Mike led them stealthily into the trees and was about to pick up the pace when, from behind them, there was a plaintive voice. "…Tanrial?"
Shiv was standing at the edge of camp, watching them go with a somewhat lost expression. "You're….you're really leaving?"
"I-" Tanrial sighed, "I'm sorry, Shiv but I have to. There's things I need to do. I can't stay."
Shiv stepped forward, then flinched back when met by Mike's hard stare. "But….What am I s'posed to do? I thought we were friends….I thought you were gonna teach me how to be a medic….."
(I can't make this easy on Tanrial, sorry X'D)
(RuDe)
"We are friends, and I was and if it was up to me I'd stay longer to teach you all those things but I just can't, not right now," She offered a smile, "You have to trust yourself, you're a good person and you're talented, you can be a better medic then I could ever be."
(lol)
Shiv looked pained, but before she could argue further, there was another huge flash of lightning and a crash of thunder. Shiv fled like a frightened deer, disappearing back into the camp without a backward glance. Mike, for his part, immediately darted in the opposite direction, making a beeline for the crest of the hill. "Come on! The storm's about to hit."
Tanrial resisted the urge to go after Shiv but she turned around and ran straight after Mike. Hopefully they'd find some shelter before the storm really hit.
(I'm off to bed now, seeya!)
They ran through the woods as the clouds overhead darkened, avoiding all paths but keeping on a steady northwestern course. Mike paused frequently to look and listen for danger, but so far it seemed their escape was successful. At one point, there came an animal roar from somewhere below them, perhaps from the forest beast as it battled the bandits.
"They should stay busy for a while," Mike said, staring at the thin haze of smoke rising over the trees. "Looks like we'll have a few hours' head start, if we're lucky."
(Seeya!)
Tanrial looked back the way they came, worry creasing her features, "They should be okay, right? Some of them aren't as bad as they seem and I feel bad for just… leaving, ya know?"
Mike gave her a long look, as if she was using a language he hadn't practiced in years. "They'll probably be fine," he replied eventually. "They've been surviving out here, constantly trying to kill each other and eating half-cooked meat, for their whole lives. I bet they're used to taking a beating by now." He kept walking, pushing aside some branches and holding them so Tanrial could pass through as well. "….You really cared about them that much? They were ready to keep you prisoner for the rest of your life."
Tanrial snorted, "Not all of them. There was just two or three of them I cared about. You saw how Shiv reacted when I said I had to go, I feel so bad for the kid… and Rione, if I'd stayed I'd be able to give him more medical attention and now I can't." She said, walking under Mike's arm and the branches.
Mike nodded absent-mindedly, continuing to walk uphill once Tanrial was in the clear. "Hm. Well, with you gone, they'll probably hunt for a new medic as soon as they can. Maybe they'll even run across an actual medical professional this time. There's still some around, believe it or not. So, what I'm saying is, try not to worry too much about them, okay?"
(lol Mike is so bad at this, he still doesn't really understand why Tanrial regrets leaving XD )
Tanrial sighed, "You are… the worst at trying to comfort people, you know that?" She shook her head, jumping over a small puddle in their path, "It's times like these where I wish Bernon was here, he'd understand."
(the poor baby :(( he no understand)
(yeah TvT)
Mike fell silent, glancing up as he noticed the rain that had started filtering down through the tree canopy. Eventually he spoke again, hitching up his backpack. "Well….hopefully you'll get to talk to him once we're back at the fishing village. In the meantime, let's hurry. I don't want to get caught in another storm like the last one…..although so far this rain seems much lighter."
"Do you think he made it back okay?" Tanrial asked, "Like don't get me wrong, he's a string dude but we only just survived that storm."
"Honestly," Mike replied after a pause, "I have no idea. It's hard to remember the details of what happened, but I think he was on high-enough ground that he avoided the worst of the tidal wave. On the other hand, there's no telling what happened to him after that. We'll just have to wait and see…."
He trailed off without warning, going still as a stone. His eyes were locked on something up ahead. Very slowly, he lifted his hand and pointed at a clearing in front of them.
By now, it was raining quite heavily, and mist was starting to build around them, making it harder to see. But it was impossible to miss the huge, thickly furred shape lumbering through the trees only a few yards away. It was a bear, limping slightly and holding its head low. Its fur was singed and badly burned in places. When it reached the clearing it stopped, turned in a circle, and lay down, letting the cool rain soothe its wounds.
Mike glanced at Tanrial. "It's the forest beast," he breathed. "We'll have to find a way around. Be very careful."
Tanrial took a moment to just look before her eyes widened ever so slightly, "No, no it's… there's a chance that that bear is Bernon, Mike. Not the beast."
Mike stared at her uncomprehendingly for a minute. Then his eyes widened as well. "Maybe. But be alert. If it's not, we could get mauled." He seemed deliberately cautious, not want to jump to conclusions in case he was disappointed.
"Come on Mike, how could that not be Bernon? The burns? Bernon can control lightening, remember? That was probably him back at the camp. It all makes sense now." She headed off towards the bear, clearly not caring that Mike could potentially be right on this.
"Tanrial, be careful–"
Mike raised his voice a bit too much, and the bear suddenly stirred, lifting its head. Its gaze came to rest on the pair, and its muzzle wrinkled into a bitter snarl. Stiffly, it got to its feet, growling a warning as Tanrial got closer.
Its eyes were Bernon's eyes, without a doubt.
Tanrial grinned, placing a hand out in front of her through she didn't stop walking towards him, "Hey, Bernon, it's me, and Mike's here too."
The bear hesitated, peering through the rain as if it was having trouble seeing them. Then it huffed in surprise and reared up, breaking into Tanrial's thoughts weakly. Tanrial? Mike!? I….I thought you guys were— Bernon dropped back down to all fours and limped forward, bumping his head against Tanrial's shoulder joyfully. Oh man, you're okay—I've been out here for days, and all this time I thought….I thought……where WERE you!?
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