Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Purgatory ❯ Sympathy and safety ( Chapter 11 )

Disclaimer: If only. Not mine though.

 

A/N: Okay, thank you all so much for the reviews. It is nice knowing that even an amateur writer such as myself can get that many good compliments about my tale. I hope you all continue to like it. This story just seems to want to be written and it also has a mind of it's own. Nothing I start to write ever works out that way. This whole story was going to be a one shot. Yeah, right. Enjoy!

 

Purgatory

 

Cale was lying down on the edge of the cliff, looking down on the camp below. Natural instincts told him to remain hidden and it looked like he was very smart to follow them. That woman below seemed to be very unstable. Yulie though was a wreck. The poor kid's leg was in a rather rough splint, his chest was wrapped poorly and his left arm…it may not be salvageable. From the blood dried on his head he may also have a concussion. Dried blood on his lips told of possible internal injuries.

 

From the evidence on the trail it seemed that the boy had been running full tilt for a long time. Signs on the ledge told of a sudden stop, and then how he had apparently turned and backed up. Up to the edge and then he slipped and fell, landing on a large outcropping of very unforgiving rock. Blood on said rocks told of how he had been moved with very little care and much haste. Dragged over to the small flat space to the side.

 

`Idiot! If he had broken his back or a blood clot in one of those injuries he could have died from being handled like that! As it stands, I'll bet money that the poor kid has at least two broke ribs and when the bitch tugged and dragged him like that one or both punctured a lung.'

 

Seeing that Yulie was conscious and alert Cale's opinion of the boy rose considerably. It was hard to stay conscious when one wasn't used to pain. Not only was he awake he was talking to the woman, asking her to let him go, but she seemed bound and determined to keep him. Even when he threatened that the Ronins would come after her she just laughed in a strange way saying she would like to see someone try to take her son. Son??? If that was the boy's mother then why the hell….? Never mind, he just needed to get the kid away from her as soon as possible. She was obviously hurting him more than she was helping. Mother or not.

 

Wishing heartily that it were night when he had the dark to use as his cover, he debated on whether the boy could last till at least this evening. A sharp cry and whimper in the next moments changed his mind. The fucking bitch was apparently taking it on herself to set his leg! Pulling and wrenching on his abused appendage all the while she sat on his stomach. That sight in itself sent sympathy pains running through his body. Enough is enough.

 

He slowly backed away from the edge of the bluff, when he was well away he stood looking for a way down. Finding a path to west he made his way cautiously down and through the forest towards the camp. Yulie appeared to be unconscious, not really surprising seeing that he was probably in a hell of a lot of pain. The bitch was no longer sitting on him or trying to set his leg. She had rewrapped it and was now singing softly to the boy, it was almost touching if not for the blood on his face and her hands.

 

One step out, two, silent as a shadow Cale crept up behind her, on blow to the head and she would be out cold and out of the way. Directly behind her now, arm raised and fell with total silence yet somehow she realized he was there and ducked out of the way brandishing a knife in defense. With startling accuracy she slashed his forearm open as she ducked. Backing away from him he realized that she was as wild as a fucking rabid animal. Falling into defensive position he held himself ready for attack, her breathing telling of fear and anger. In fact her eyes glowed with fierce hatred and fury, her body posture of one defending something. As he analyzed her stance something screamed for attention in the back of his mind. Dismissing it as unimportant, since he hadn't done it or noted it immediately. Details were not important right now.

 

She was skilled with the knife but got no more strikes in. A few light blows and she fell to the earth, whimpering away like a child. Suddenly getting up and racing to the forest she sought shelter in its dark embrace. Cale began to chase after his prey when he realized that he needed to get the boy to safety first. He would hunt the bitch down later.

 

Turning he went to Yulie, who was lying still as a stone. Immediately Cale checked for a pulse, faint but it was still there! Quickly he checked over the boy's injuries. As he had suspected Yulie had a concussion as well as two broke ribs. Checking the boy's fingernails he saw that they were an unhealthy shade of gray, a telltale sign of internal injury. The arm was in better condition than he had thought but the leg was not in good shape. All of that pulling a wrenching the bitch had done no good. It was going to have to be set right and best set now. Quietly apologizing to the unconscious boy Cale quickly unwrapped the leg. After a quick examination of the break he took hold of the leg and one swift twist he heard a satisfying snap! and the bone now had a much cleaner break. The boy did not even wince in his pain-induced unconsciousness. This time he was much more gentle with the leg as he set it properly.

 

Now it was time to go about making a way to carry the boy out of there. Cutting down to sturdy saplings Cale set to making a stretcher when suddenly he felt an incredible burning sensation in his back between the neck and the right shoulder. Turning slightly he saw the bitch's golden eyes aflame with furious satisfaction. The mother-fucking bitch had snuck up from behind and stabbed him! Suddenly what had been in the back of his mind earlier now came to the fore. He had not put on his armor! Not even his sub-armor!

 

With a scream she forced the knife in deeper, burying it hilt deep into the muscle tissue. Furious at himself suddenly for being a fool and at her, he mentally called for his full armor. Suddenly standing tall he dislodged her from his back, knife still buried deep into his tissue. Whirling around to face her with near inhuman speed he slammed his clawed left hand into her body, aiming straight for the bitch's heart. Wrenching his hand back his gaze piercing and snarled wordlessly down at her.

 

Backing away from him she had her hands over the wound, then in disbelief she looked down at it. Cale found his own gaze drawn to the wound, for no blood poured forth, it was merely a hole in her body. Still she stood, then looking up suddenly at him she screamed a high shrill sound and ran from the glade.

 

Standing still as if he had been stuck by lightning he gazed after her. Then looking down at his claws he saw no blood, a little flesh maybe but no blood. Shaking these thoughts from him he knew he must address other things first. Like his own wound. Banishing his outer armor, leaving his sub armor on he reached up and grasped the hilt of the knife and with one swift pull is was removed. Unfortunately it was of course a serrated knife. Ridges ripping his skin and muscle even more. Falling to his knees he searched for something to staunch the blood. Once he had bandaged himself he resolved to get both Yulie and himself out of this forest fast.

 

After he had finished the stretcher and was about to slide the boy onto it, a crashing noise alerted him to prepare for another visitor. The figure the came from the forest was not the woman but that of White Blaze. Ryo's pet tiger. The great cat looked at the scene before him. Without any stupid remarks Cale nodded to the beast in welcome. “ If you're willing to wear a harness you can bear part of his weight. We need to get this boy some help fast.” The cat nodded and soon they were off. From deeper in the forest a pair of yellow eyes watched with fury.

 

 

 

 

A/N: Sorry but I have never seen Cale as a really nice person. Always a direct and blunt person in my mind, not to mention he probably the least refined of all the Warlords (once again, my opinion.) He's a get it done and done now type of guy. And definitely not the type to come up with lame statements like “Boy am I glad you're here!”