They went away from their Inn and left for the streets of the town… There were a few odd looks here and there, but he definitely looked like a drunk that had gotten into a fight. No one would question it, even a few guards who seemed not too interested. Vordan was slowly but surely regaining some mental stability, although he felt himself getting weaker and weaker. There was blood lose causing him to walk very inadequately and probably being a pain for Aaerynn… Yet, she still managed to find a place for them, somewhere.

This is when he had realized what happened earlier and in what true condition he was in. The pain was coming to him quick and he grunted loudly every time he felt that rib move. They entered the Inn, Vordan finally able to really help himself out and up the stairs… When he lay onto the bed, he screamed in agony. He was in a bad state that needed immediate attention.

He was breathing heavily now, although, oddly enough, he had calmed down… He cringed as the liquid poured into his open wound, but then relaxed a little. To her question, he slowly went into his pouch, pulling out a roll. He then pulled out his own dagger.

[b]‘’Here… cut it into lengths that are the size of the wound… Don’t be scared to use a little more.’’[/b] He simply said as he grunted in pain again… He then noticed he trembling and shaking, came over and grabbed one of her wrists. He had a gentle smile on his face. [b]‘’Calm down Aaerynn… You’re going to have to cut me open…’’[/b]

-- Aaerynn turned slightly wide eyed at the mention that she would have to cut him open, but she immediately steeled herself. She dealt in the world of medicine, she knew bodies well. She calmed herself as she ripped off a sleeve of her dress. She wrapped it around her hand that had been used to crush the vial back in the bar. It was black with her own blood and she didn't want to see the effects of elvish rot if it mixed within a human body. She pulled back her hair and began cutting bandages with his dagger. 

"I have to cut where your ribs are right? Your bandages can't heal bones over the skin I'm assuming." She questioned as she worked, all of her body and mind focused on her task. "Should we take care of the stab wound first? You're still losing blood." –

Vordan was trying to relax and calm his body down. If he hadn’t done this type of thing before, he wouldn’t be able to hold up and stay conscious. Thankfully, he got himself in that kind of trouble before and knew how to deal with it. This time, he even had someone that would help him. It was a hefty night, but they had a good payout in the end. Not exactly what should be passing through his head, but it was a comforting thought. 

He turned his head towards her and nodded to her question. [b]“It works in odd ways…. The healing process is…. Hhhsssssshh….. Better if the bone is closer to the bandages….”[/b] He then remembered his shoulder over the pain of his ribs. He sighed and grunted. [b]“No need for now... The ribs are more important… I can do it myself after… If I am still conscious.”[/b] He reached over to pull a rag from his belt and folded. He put it in his mouth so he had something he could bite on. 

[b]“Do it quickly… Oh, and you have a few… mixtures that are quite special...”[/b]

-- "Experiments for medicine that went wrong." She answered him, as she continued to cut bandages. "Certain ingredients that I thought would heal. Except for the smoke one, that's oil from a plant of Furus woods that creates fog when it flowers. Just had to figure out how to speed it up, make it react to air itself. But I've had over 100 years to work on it."

She was rambling, hoping it would somehow help him think about something else. But eventually she cut enough bandages and she looked at him warily. "How do I activate the bandages? Do I just press them against the wound? Does it work automatically?"

Aaerynn wanted to know as much as she could before she did anything. –

Trial an error basically. That was exactly like him at the beginning and now still. He had to keep inventing and the only way was to make mistakes. He smiled a little as he heard it, almost wanted to laugh, but then remembered the pain and immediately grunted. This would be a horrible night of rest, but a lucrative one. He nodded and closed his eyes.

[b]“Apply it to a wound… The ingredients will do the rest. It is… extremely potent. Might want to keep the burnt hand… away from my wound… So the flesh doesn’t melt together… Feel free, to use some… for your burn.”[/b]

He took another painful deep breath. [b]“Don’t worry… If a scream my lungs out…”[/b]

-- "Don't make it sound like I'm murdering you. I think we've had enough fun for tonight." The joke was mumbled out of her lips as she cleaned off the dagger. Aaerynn looked at him for a moment, and motioned for him to bite down. She took a deep breath as she steadied herself, and then performed her work.

She was quick and meticulous. She made the cut deep, but it was fast and clean from a steady hand. Aaerynn didn't give him time to think about it as she applied the bandage with her clean hand and pressed it down. She closed her eyes and hardened herself as she heard him scream, even through the rag. Her eyebrows furrowed as she persevered, knowing how badly it was hurting him. She bit her bottom lip as she could feel the heat from everything melding together.

It felt like it went on forever until finally his screaming stopped. She opened her eyes and slowly took her hand away, seeing the small scar of where she cut. –

The joke she had pulled was quite well placed, rather she meant it or not. He smiled again and nodded to her request. He bit down on the cloth and tightened his fists, keeping his eyes closed. The edge of the blade cut him open, his chest puffing up and his scream of pain chocked down. It was the easy part and he relaxed a little when the blade came off…

As soon as he felt the tissue, his whole body tensed as he knew what awaited him. The green glow came as the other bandages but the luminescence was quite powerful. It was different than last time, as the wound did start to close under the tissue and Vordan was screaming through the rag and his body was jerkin lightly. There were a few odds spasm here and there, then the tissue started to melt into Vordan’s flesh… The wound on his shoulder melded back together too… It left nothing but scars again.

Vordan still screamed a little after this whole process was done and immediately sat up, spitting out the rag. He was breathing deeply, as if he awoke from a nightmare. [b]“By the Creators themselves! That pain is so much worse than before.”[/b] He said, more to himself than Aaerynn. [b]“I haven’t felt so alive in years!”[/b] He said again as he laid back down.

-- Aaerynn just sat there both in shock and surprise. She stared at him with wide eyes. She hadn't noticed that it had healed his shoulder as well until she looked at it. It was closed completely. 

"How?..." She said a bit dazed. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked from his ribs to his shoulder. 

Her shoulders sagged a bit though in relief. He would be ok. That's what was most important at the moment. –

[b]“New ingredient… And it worked EXACTLY as I would expect it to be, although some minor changes need to be done.”[/b] 

Vordan seemed exhausted now, but in good shape. Even the minor gashes and bruising on him was gone. He had thought that the natural regenerative nature of the trolls would reflect in the curing process, just not to that extent. The main difference was he could still feel the pain in his shoulder as if it was still a wound. It meant that the inner regeneration was still going. Wonderful. And so, he stayed on the bed, his breath finally back to normal.

[b]“You know… I made a lot of profit tonight… And you probably still did too…”[/b]

-- Aaerynn took his explanation as she slowly edged off the bed and walked over to a wash basin sitting on a dresser. She unwound the sleeve that was wrapped around her hand, and poured the fresh water on it. She watched as the water in the porcelain basin turned black and she slowly began to pick out the little shards of glass that had been embedded into her palm. 

With her nerves slowly relaxing, and the priority of getting Vordan fixed up sorted out, she was beginning to feel the effects of the night. Slowly the excitement of escape and the fear of healing someone, who could die on her, faded and she was left with the emotional turmoil of what exactly happened. The rot was burning in her. She hadn't noticed it, but now it came full force. She had shoved down memories before and now it beat within her and her shoulders shook with the weight of it. Everything hurt. Her lip hurt, her ears hurt, her head hurt and her hand hurt. 

She tried to think of other things and her ears pricked as Vordan continued to speak. "You can pick what you want out of my bag as a payment for tonight. If you wouldn't mind taking the rest of the paper notes...I don't want them."

The last few words were spoken coldly, and Aaerynn actually had to grip the dresser with her uninjured hand in order to keep standing. She grit her teeth, swallowing down the need to vomit, as her stomach churned and burned. The words that man had said to her, they stung her now, resonating with voices of her past that made the rot in her body singe her from the inside.

[i]Whore.[/i]

How many times had that been thrown at her? Aaerynn flinched as she tugged out a rather large shard of glass from her hand, and watched as the black and brown coagulated muck, that was her blood, bubbled to the surface. 

She waggled her fingers and paused, before wiping the blood away with more water. She spoke up again, mostly to keep herself distracted but also because she had words that needed to be said.

"Thank you...for tonight. I'm..." She turned silent, grasping at what exactly she wanted to say. "I'm sorry...about your injuries." –

She went off the bed and towards the basin of water, leaving Vordan to let back down as he let a long breath escape his lungs. The night this finish off as bad as he would have expected: with some bruises needing to be fixed, a few more coins in the pouch and some newly acquired friend in the town. It wasn’t something he would regret at all… And he did get some excitement out of all this. The Syndareans could have been… Avoided but it the end, they had escaped alive and full of money. Not a bad night at all.

Vordan would have added a few more quirky lines, but Aaerynn didn’t seem to be in the mood either. Not anymore anyway. It was odd to see her at her own thing, in her own thoughts again. Was she really just playing the game earlier? If so, then it was a bit saddening that it would only be an image of her and not her true self. She couldn’t really be like that… Right? It was a wonder again as he stood up, his knees shacking a little. He wouldn’t be up for too much longer it seemed. 

With her thanks, he smiled lightly. [b]“Don’t be sorry for me. I am more worried about you and the Rot. I don’t know much about it, but I know the cure.”[/b] He said as he approached. [b]“Live life without regret. Or at least, that’s what I saw. And you are obviously disgusted by something you did or the person you are. You shouldn’t.”[/b]

He came over and just looked at her. [b]“And my payments have changed. I want to know the smoke thing you did and the acid that burnt your hand. I’ll take the notes and change them into some real coins then bring them back. We’ll split whatever you want. Sound good?”[/b]

-- "That's fine." She commented on the new payment but at the mention of the notes she shook her head. "I don't want any money from those notes. Just take it all and use it as you see fit."

She paused though as she thought over what he first said. He was worried about her? Aaerynn frowned as she tore off her other sleeve and carefully bandaged her hand with the cleaner cloth. She finally turned to look at him. He looked like he could barely stand, his knees like a newborn deer. She reached out slowly and touched the new scar on his ribs. "You need to go back to bed and sleep."

Aaerynn looked up at his face, her hand retreating so she could cross her arms. "And you're only barely right about the cure. You can live a life of sin without regret, but the rot would still kill you in the end. The cure is love."

She said it with a bit of disdain, looking down at the floor. "It's kinship, and kindness, and sacrifice. It's acceptance of your past and your choices. It's forgiveness for your sins. Forgiveness for yourself. It's getting over grief and forgiving those that hurt you, used you and abandoned you. I suppose it's also allowing yourself to be cured, and gaining the forgiveness of those you hurt. It's repentance."

Her voice had become rueful and sarcastic. It always sounded so easy. But it wasn't. She looked up at him, but she had slowly lost her edge. Now she just looked tired and vulnerable. "So I suggest you don't worry, because I've brought it upon myself. It's punishment for my pathetic decisions with my life and the consequences that came because of it. I [b]deserve[/b] what happens to me. It doesn't go away with the snap of fingers or because I suddenly don't hate myself. It takes years to purify, years of commitment..." Her voice was soft, pained and awkward.

She didn't know why she was telling him this. Why she even bothered. But whether or not she liked it, they both had experienced something personal together and escaped it together. And whether or not she liked it, Aaerynn didn't hate the scribbler. He was...different and interesting. He wasn't like the human men she was used to dealing with. 

Aaerynn shifted. "If your worry about it is coming from my possibility of hindering the journey, if it becomes that bad then I'll take myself out." –

If she didn’t want the money, then so be it. He wasn’t going to put it to waste, that was for sure. And so, he nodded as he leaned against the nearest object or wall… He could feel the exhaustion of the curative magic he had received still draining him at this moment. Yes, the effects had amplified severely, but it asked so much more from the body. He needed to reduce the amount of troll blood he used for the mixture.

Aaerynn reached over to his scar, touching it lightly… The bed. It was probably a great idea to let himself slumber. Hopefully, without interruption. He was about to get to that, but then, she lifted her head towards him and spoke of the Rot. The cure was love… It sounded like a tale or a legend. Certainly, he could believe her, but it sounded like such a made up story. Vordan was trying to get most of the story, but he felt his eyes wanting to shut. Not now… He needed to hear this.

He pushed through his fatigue to listen to her whole story. It couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. What kind of shitty curse was this elvish rot? What seed of evil spawned this kind of alteration into a being, to the point of killing them? He wished he could smile and make her feel a little better about herself, but what could he do or say? The story was a horrible one. Yet, he felt there was something that could be said. His eyes stayed upon her for a moment after she spoke… He then made his way to the bed and nearly just crashed into it. You would think he would fall asleep, his eyes closed and slowly coming to a rest, but he spoke lightly.

[b]“Then your cure is simple really… It is harsh and hard to push through, but you know your solution. Work with it… The past is the past and even I know this with my little years of living…”[/b] He said as he then pulled back his sleeves, revealing his mutilated arms. [b]“… We all make stupid decisions… We all have things we would want to change. Yet… I wake up every day with a smile, ready to see the sun rise once more. It is a question of pushing through… To take your courage and determination and keep going…”[/b]

A gentle smile formed. [b]“You don’t deserve it Aaerynn… No one does… I’ll help you… Since I now know what to do to help… And trust me, it will not be a burden for me… More of a challenge and a goal…”[/b] He was speaking more quietly every second. [b]“You need… To live… For… the … day…”[/b] Vordan couldn’t stay awake much longer, slowly falling into a slumber. He wanted to finish what he wanted to say, but his body fell limp and he let himself sleep.

-- Aaerynn was frozen where she stood as she heard him talk. She felt her face scrunch up with emotion as he said that he would help her. That it wouldn't be a burden on him. Her rot seemed to silence as she watched him fall asleep. Aaerynn didn't know what to think, and she stood there in silence with the only sound being Vordan's soft breaths. Eventually she moved and with it the rot grabbed hold of her chest. Old flickers of his face with dark curled hair and bright blue eyes. His face lighting up when he saw her, his grin as his arm reached out toward her. His aged face as he died and fell. His blood that splattered across her skin.

Aaerynn grabbed her head, willing the images to go away, and they eventually faded, leaving behind a painful ache that left her breathless. Her eyes lifted to take in Vordan and she frowned as she approached him. Slowly she pulled the blankets of the bed over him, making sure his chest and his scarred arms were covered and kept warm. She paused as she looked at his face, not entirely sure what to think of him now. Could she honestly believe him? Humans were fickle creatures. They always said whatever they could to get what they wanted. They make false promises, and they lie as if it were in their nature. 

"...You're an idiot." She muttered to his sleeping form. "But...thank you."

She pulled away and sat down in the only chair in the room, making herself small as she leaned her head against the seat's back. She'd stay awake for the rest of the night, making sure nothing went wrong with Vordan and that no unexpected guests would show up at their door. Sleep wasn't really an option either, as her rot sizzled and stretched beneath her skin. –

---

It was a dreamless night for the mercenary, complete nothingness as his eye opened…The first thing to hit him was the pain in his shoulder. It has since become a lesser annoyance, but it was still present. With a loud grunt, he rose from the sheets to sit up. He could feel how sore his muscles were and how tired he still was… But he was alive and well. He yawned and stretched himself out in discomfort. His eyes wondered around for a second and found Aaerynn on a chair, seemingly completely out of it… Or so it seemed.

Vordan go to his feet, looked out for his pouch of coins which had filled considerably from the night before. [b]“Good morning Aaerynn… You alright there?”[/b] He spoke softly as he got everything he needed gathered. [b]“I’ll go get us something to eat.”[/b] As said, he grabbed all the bank notes Aaerynn had mentioned didn’t want and went down to the ground floor… He received a few odd looks, which he didn’t understand too much. His mind had still been wondering in that moment and couldn’t recall clearly why they would act like that. Worse yet, he didn’t even remember why they were in this Inn and not another. He could recall the fight with the Syndareans and crashing through the window… Then a blur up to the discussion they had yesterday which was a little off in his mind.

He ask to get some food and generously paid for it as he came back up. He carefully locked the door behind him and brought a plate up to Aaerynn… Oddly enough, Vordan had an amused smile on his face. [b]"That was one long, painful but amazing night.”[/b] With everything that had happened, it was still a good night they had. Vordan had found quite a lot of excitement that he could still remember.