Hunter Or Huntress

Chapter 27: Home Safe

Everyone had waited till the patients were up and about again, and seemingly stable. There had been some worry when Tom had told them adrenaline only worked for about 15 minutes. Dakota had collapsed after nearly an hour of hyperactivity, finally falling asleep, but she seemed stable. She did claim she managed to hear the color purple but and tasted her mother's voice when she woke up again. Tom told them that sort of thing was normal. Sapphire just sighed, though Jackalope seemed to find it hilarious. This stuff was clearly not meant for anything except emergencies. She had never seen medicine work like that before. Most things she knew weren’t potent enough to kill you. That was clearly not the case with Tom’s stuff.

When Dakota had woken up propper, they had packed up the camp. Tom along with those too injured to fly had climbed aboard Archeon to make the quick hop home. There were a few injuries spread around, Esmaralde had a nasty cut on her leg, and Fengi had taken an arrow through the wing membrane and all of the remaining escorts had suffered to various degrees, but all in all, they had gotten off lightly. That seemed in part at least due to the fact Tom had drawn so much attention standing on the middle of the dragon's back, firing his booming weapons. Even if he needed to work on keeping his back clear, it had been very helpful.

He had also been responsible for 3 out of 7 kills alone, with one going to Archeon’s little snatch trick, Dakota getting one before the whole water incident, and two more going to Archeon's escorts. They had started out 7 strong now there were just 4 left. Not counting Vulzan, Archeon’s navigator.

Archeon himself had also seen better days, it had been a bitter fight to get her. As they landed back at the greeting hall the light of the torches made it clear just how wounded the venerable old dragon was. Some wounds were still dripping bright blue. Those who were able to, set to work trying to fix what they could. The groans of pain from arrows being removed and wounds being cleaned could be heard long into the night, echoing through the keep.

Tom and Dakota were taken to the infirmary along with Esmeralda, Fengi, and the escorts. Even if only to have their wounds treated and washed. Some of the escorts would be here for a while though, having suffered quite a bit. One had an arrow embedded deep in his shoulder, another was missing the lower part of her leg.

Tom, for one, definitely didn’t need to be in a horde of kids right now and so stayed in the infirmary. He had calmed down at least, but he just seemed distant as if he wasn’t really there. He had been having nightmares waking up in the night screaming and crying. Combined with Archeons groans of pain it had been a rough night for all.

He had slept through most of the next day along with most of the other wounded. When she had gone to check if he was in a state to join them in the grand hall he was nowhere to be found though. Sapphire found him sitting in a corner of a corridor with Kiran in his lap. He was just sitting there bobbing his head while petting the little guy, who was fast asleep, clearly lost in thought. She thought he might be meditating or something.

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This had been a very bad day, nearly died again, arguably twice, nearly killed Dakota. Things that shouldn't be dug up were back on the surface. Even if Tom had gotten off with only a few minor scrapes and claw wounds, he knew he was beaten up in other ways. Sleep had not come easy despite needing to lean on Kokashi to get into bed. When sleep came, Tom wished it hadn’t. It had been years since the nightmares had stopped being so vivid, he still got one every now and again. But not like this. He shot up in the night several times, dripping with cold sweat frantically calling out to people who were no longer there. It was hell and it just wouldn’t stop.

To Tom’s eternal embarrassment a guard had been posted to keep watch over the wounded in case any of them got worse during the night. Kokashi had looked like he was ready to draw his blade when he was subjected to the display. At least the other wounded slept like rocks. The poor guard didn't even know why Tom was behaving like he was. Better to keep it that way, Tom was not going through that charade again. At least he left Tom alone after being reassured everything was fine.

Apuma had been more surprised than anything, coming over to check up on Tom, and refusing to just let him be. What the hell, might as well pass the time. It wasn’t like he wanted to go back to sleep.

“Apuma, you have bad dreams?” Tom opened

“Sometimes, we have visions every now and again?”

“Future?” when he said visions did he mean li

“Sometimes yes, others we don’t know”

“Huh?” So both then?

“You're having bad dreams then I imagine?”

“Yeah, bad past. Scary”

“At least it not a warning of something bad about to happen,” Apuma said with a chuckle, clearly trying to cheer Tom up.

“Yeah that’s something,” Tom thought about that one for a bit. That must be even worse knowing something bad will happen at some point. “Vision sound terrible”

“They can be good too. But yes, it can be a terrible burden”

“You have bad visions?”

“No, not for many years.”

“Happy for you.” Tom was almost as happy there weren't any signs of impending doom. Even if he worried about what it would take for them to get such a vision. Apuma’s daughter got about as close to dying this night as possible.

They had continued small talking for a bit until Tom finally dozed off again. Even if the nightmares didn’t go away, startling Raulf around early morning. Tom really hoped this wasn’t gonna be a trend for long.

When Tom woke up again he found it to be nearly afternoon. The others were still lying around and Jackalope was standing guard.

“Good morning. Good to see you can sleep when you need to” Tom wasn’t sure if he found her happy go lucky attitude comforting or grating today. It wasn’t about to change though, so might as well live with it.

“Good morning, powerhouse. Wings ache?”

“A little, that chase was damned hard work you know, especially with you clambering around like a curious child.”

“Yeah, yeah I know. I killed, all good”

“All good” Jackalope echoed, cracking a smile, which vanished again quickly “How about you, are you good?”

Tom pondered what to say to that one for a moment “Been worse” It wasn’t wrong.

“Come now big guy, you did great. No one else here could have pulled that off” The smile returned to her face, even if Tom was fairly sure it was a facade this time. Tom still let out a chuckle.

“Didn’t do great, they got behind 3 times. I Did shit”

“If you stand in the middle of them, they chose where to hit you from”

“Yes, yes I know”

“How did you not freeze or drown in the water? ”

“Humans can swim, you learn too I’m sure and warmblood remember. But still got close damned cold.”

“Damn cold indeed,” she replied

Tom could still feel the shivering even if he was more than warmed up by now. He needed to get up and moving, the bed held too many bad memories for the moment. Jackalope didn’t seem to protest just moving to try and help him. He stumbled a bit but it seemed the resting had mostly done its job, as he got his balance with only a little help. He felt lethargic and sore, but that was hardly surprising.

He had gone to retrieve his headphones, he needed to lose himself for the time being. As he entered the greeting hall, he was faced with the massive dragon he had fought to defend yesterday. It really was the size of a bus or something like that, thanks to the tail it even longer. Four legs and back-mounted wings he noted, staring up at the slumbering creature. Classic European dragon then.

It was covered in scales that looked thick but it all still interlocked beautifully, not many sharp edges or hard protrusions. From this distance, it looked more like snakeskin, than the weird rocky skin Tom had thought of when thinking of dragons. It was the most wondrous color too, the scales shone like they were polished, and they seemed slightly transparent. They were a deep cobalt blue even though the hue varied a bit, being a lighter shade on the belly and deeper on the back. The claws were onyx black and were about as long as Tom's forearm.

It seemed to be sleeping for now though, so best not disturb it. Tom went over to rifle through his things, looking for the headphones and a mobile phone.

As he was rummaging through the crates, he felt a tug on his trouser leg and turned to see Kiran looking up at him. The little guy was doing his best puppy eyes today. Tom just tilted his head.

“What is it?”

“Heard you sad” Oh come now, that wasn’t fair. He was sure someone was to blame for this.

“Come here little bugger” Tom picked him up and gave him a little ruffle.

“Who told?”

“The others talking, sounded worried”

“Well how can be sad when you so cute? Come, want to show you”

Tom had found a quiet corner and sat down with the little one. Getting earbuds in Kiran’s ears had been a bit of a challenge so he went for the headphones and a splitter instead. Then he just got out some of the music he had put together for this over the years. As he sat listening with Kiran finally at peace everything was gonna be just fine.

He didn’t know exactly how long he sat there, going through track after track, Kiran eventually fell asleep, So Tom took the headphones off of him. Tom chuckled a bit. It was good the little guy didn’t understand any of the lyrics otherwise there would have been a lot of questions.

He might have dozed off a bit too, or maybe Sapphire had just been sneaky. He did a bit of a start when she poked him.

“What are you two up to now Hmm…?”

“Sleeping and listening” Tom replied, gesturing to Kiran

“Listening to what?” Sapphire sounded quizzical, her tone was soft most likely trying to comfort him.

“Sit down, I show '' She did so. Looking at Tom with something between a worried and excited gaze.

“Tom queued up Flight Of The Silverbird, remembering she liked Two Steps last time. Then got out the headphones again. It was a bit of a struggle with her large long ears and it didn’t look too comfortable. But it seemed to work alright.

As the song began she just looked ahead, jaw opening slightly, then looked back at Tom seeming incredulous.

“An even smaller music box?”

“Kinda” Tom answered, tilting his hand back and forth. They sat there listening to the different songs. After a while, Sapphire spoke up.

“You seem distraught, anything I can do to help?”

“No this not now. I deal just need time” Tom hoped that was true, in the end, it would be. The question was just how long it would take this time.

“Wanna go meet our guest or do you need some more time?” She sounded very gentle, clearly doing her best not to pressure him. But what was he doing sitting here, there was a freaking dragon in the hangar. Distractions had always helped, there was a reason he was so keen on exciting experiences after all.

“Nah, have questions. Let’s go” As Tom got up, Kiran let out a distressed sounding squeak.

“But comfy” the little guy protested, getting a chuckle from both Tom and Sapphire.

“I know, sorry, we go see guests now” Tom apologized

“Oh, say hi to Archeon?” “The little guy perked up again. Who could blame him it was a dragon after all.

“Dragon called Archeon?” Tom questioned

Sapphire had clarified for him. “Yes, he is an old friend of the keep, he has been passing through for as long as I have been here, most likely quite a bit longer than that. He and Vulzan have been partners for quite a while as traveling traders."

“How long you be here?” That was news to Tom he just thought she was born her or something

“Since I was 17 here from the capitol. I had moved there when I came of age at 15, there wasn’t really a spot for me back home.”

“Have you ever been back home?”

“Once, that was years ago, I did meet one of my sisters in the capital not too long ago”

“You go there often?”

“Somebody usually goes once or twice a year, for errands. We usually take the kids to every few years”

“Huh, wonder what that is like?” Tom had heard about this capitol before, judging by the sound of it, it was almost like they only had one city. It was nice to learn a bit more about Sapphire. Leaving home so early was rough though, but maybe that was normal here.

“It is an amazing place, all the grand buildings, and towers, I’m sure you would enjoy the royal guard and the palace. You might get to see it one day if you want to?” That would be fairly awesome, even if it was just the visit. Tom was very aware that going to a place like that, he would likely no longer be in control of anything. Here he was able to put his foot down on certain matters and they seemed to respect it. Better to keep it that way.

“Would love to one day, but much to do here.”