( log 02. 🔮 locked. )

[thricefold]

Who: Zita and Mordred.
When: March 03.
Where: The Docks.
What: A normal trip through the city soon makes the two realise there are dark nights ahead. (An influence job log focused on the Dark Knight task.)
Warnings: Depictions of violence.

[ if you asked her how this happened, the most zita could (sheepishly) say is that she's not all that good when it comes to direction. it's never been her strongest skill and it's never been a skill she thought she would need to strengthen over time.

now? she wishes she had given it more focus when she was studying or learning something. at least learned how to read a map properly before her arrival here, mostly because...

well... mostly because it would mean that she and mordred wouldn't be in this very awkward situation of theirs: lost in the streets that should be taking them back to the queen's residence, not sending them on a wild goose chase through alleyways and strange, winding paths that might be taking them further and further from their current home-of-sorts. ]

I think we're... [ zita holds the map up higher, like that would help her understand it better. ] I think we're heading towards the direction of the Docks? If so, perhaps we can finally run into someone and ask for direction...

[ zita looks uncomfortable while putting the map away in her cloak. the evening has come quickly and the darkness unnerves her. she'll like to think one can't blame her for her uneasiness. the past few memorable events - the riots and the fires, the explosion and the assassination - all happened at night. she knows people who worked in the evening could benefit from her free healing services, but she admits she's a coward and scared of getting dragged into the chaos personally like the first time.

the only thing that's keeping her from being too nervous is the presence of mordred by her side. knowing she was there and knowing she had her back is a boon. ]

I'm sorry for getting us lost. I didn't think one wrong turn could lead to this.

Comments

[thricefold]

[ zita does a quick examination of the man now that he's laid out on the bench. the smell of blood and worse is overwhelming but she power through, quickly taking off his shirt and jacket to see what's been hidden from view.

she tries to note what the worst injuries on him. those are the ones she'll be healing right away after she's done with her assessment.

while inspecting his body and what he's sustained before her and mordred's intervention, she gives mordred a tentative verdict to keep her in the loop of things: ] I think... I know he'll live.

I don't know how he'll be in the long run but I know he'll live from this after I take care of these injuries on his chest. [ she winces when she shifts her bad shoulder and feels a sharp lance of pain stab through. this is certainly not something she would recommend happening to anyone. ]

Ah- Can you help me get this off while I'm working? I'll be grateful.

[arrogator]

[Mordred's glad to hear the guy's going to make it. She would not have been happy if she'd lugged this guy all the way over here only for him to kick the bucket here on this bench. In fact, he'd be lucky he died because if not, there would be words at the least. Just don't try and figure out how Mordred would have angry words at the dude for dying if he had been dead.]

Yeah, all right. You want me to just pull it out or is there a better way to do this?

[She looks unsure, placing a gloved hand on the wooden shard. Her first thought is that's the way to do it, but Zita knows more about healing and medical treatment than she does, so she'll ask first instead of just doing it.]

[thricefold]

[ she hisses when she feels mordred's touch on the plywood that's lodged on her shoulder, feeling it cause the wedge move and shift as a result. it reminds her of what's going to happen and, again, not something she would like to experience again.

this is going to hurt and zita almost stops herself from saying this answer but- ]

No- [ she tries her best to sound firm. firm and serious. get this over with and help the man and mordred who both need to be looked at. that's what she tries to tell herself to get through this hurdle. ] Just pull it out in one go.

It'll be faster that way and my magic should be able to handle the rest.

[arrogator]

All right, here goes nothing.

[She's just going to put her other hand on Zita's shoulder to steady herself and like Zita said, just yank the plywood out in one go, pulling it straight out so hopefully it doesn't make a bigger wound or splinter. She's trying not to make things worse.]

[thricefold]

Fu-! [ even when getting a large piece of broken wood yanked out of her shoulder, zita can't bring herself to really curse.

in that moment, she takes placing a hand over her mouth to suppress her scream. she prides herself in her composure so she steels herself, trying to keep her body from giving into the urge in doubling over and yelling in pain.

thankfully, zita's improved(?) magic kicks in and the wound begins to immediately heal itself. muscle and bone and flesh knit together, the bloody wound left by the plywood almost vanishing within moments. ]

... Thank you. [ she takes a deep breath, shaking but relieved it's finally out of her shoulder. looking over mordred, zita smiles at mordred with gratitude clear in her tired features. ] I owe you for that.

And you? Do you need any help with any injuries you got from that fight?

[arrogator]

Nah, nothing I couldn't handle this time.

[She's bragging, but unlike the power plant debacle, she means it. As much as today's events turned into a mess, she's not the one in need of medical attention this time around.]

Just wish I'd taken them down sooner, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to drop all that on you and him.

[Still, she's pretty sure they won't be starting too much trouble anytime soon, so that has to count for something, right?]

[thricefold]

It- It could have been worse. [ that's what she's going to keep telling herself for this entire incident. it's how she's going to get through the shock that's attempting to settle on her and she's struggling to shake off. ]

I'm simply happy we were able to get to him in time. If we hadn't... [ taking a deep breath to calm her beating heart, zita now rests a hand where the wound once was. she still finds it that she could heal so easily from such grievous injuries. it makes her wonder if this trade for her immortality was better or not.

but now that they're no longer in immediate danger, it allows zita some time to think about the past events they've throttled through. something about this whole thing worries her the most... ] I wasn't able to get a good look at them with how dark it is. Did you?

[arrogator]

Yeah, could've.

[Mordred says this with the absolute certainty of someone who's seen her fair share of worse. And done, but that's not necessarily the point right now.

But as far as descriptions go...]

Didn't get the greatest look at them, but they just looked like some guys to me. I know I messed up that guy's leg pretty bad. Probably going to take a pretty skilled healer to fix that, right? You hear about anybody who suddenly can't walk or needs treatment for some kind of surprise accident nobody's heard of, it's got to be him, right?

[thricefold]

[ she nods in reply, looking impressed by mordred's forward thinking. ]

It would take a substantial amount of aid in having something like that treated, magical means or not. [ though it is true that men have been jumped and hurt, someone coming in for a broken limb would be a person a healer would remember.

she hums in thought now, thinking about this more carefully. ] ... We can ask someone to keep an eye out for someone seeking aid for that sort of injury. Hopefully one of them will be caught and be made to answer this.

... And... Thank you, Mordred. If you hadn't intervened, I have no doubt that this man would have not seen dawn. zita turns to him one last time, her expression becoming sad at his sorry state. ] I do wonder how we can help this city. The violence, the hatred, the anger- It almost feels like a cycle here. How are we meant to combat against that?

[arrogator]

No problem, it's what I'm good at.

[She's better at fighting things than figuring out all the hard parts of fixing society and things like that. It's stuff she has to learn if she's going to be king someday, but she still has more to learn there than she'd like.]

I don't about all the other stuff though. We're doing what we can, but...

[It's really not enough. And that pisses Mordred off. It's not like it's any of their fault or someone's not pulling their weight, everything here is just awful all the time.]

[thricefold]

We could have done better.

[ she tries to make the assessment a touch more gentle for both of their sake after that they've been through. though they both know what the harsher and more truthful statement is, zita feels like it doesn't hurt to lessen the sting of what they've been through.

but the wind blows in that moment, bringing a chill that has zita shivering more than she'll like to admit. the rush of adrenaline is gone and zita feels herself crumbling, crashing from how tired she feels. ]

-Perhaps it'll be best that we try to head back to the Queen's Residence now. [ she pauses. ] After we find a place to leave this man for his sake.

[arrogator]

...yeah.

[She won't argue otherwise, looking down at the ground momentarily. There were a few things she could've done better. And the situation shouldn't have happened at all. People shouldn't go around doing stuff like that, things are supposed to be getting better, not worse.]

And yeah, we should find some place for this guy. Don't want to leave him somewhere where somebody else'll attack him.

[thricefold]

We should get going then. Last thing I want is a new group deciding to take advantage of the hour.

[ zita begins to sit the man up, apologising to his pained groans as she throws one of his arms over her shoulder so he could brace himself against her tall frame. she looks over to mordred, hoping for help, and ready for the long trek to somewhere safe.

it'll be a while before they can find such a place but there's no time like the present. ]

[ ooc; we can end here if you want! this was an amazing thread to have. :> ]