After the Storm [Closed/Ayero]

The pair had been successful in finding a doctor, however convincing him to treat the man in Kou attire had been a little work. Initially wary of Jian, the Reimian woman had vouched for his story and in the end the doctor had agreed to tend to the man’s wounds.

Unfortunately life mages were had to come by in such a remote area so Jian was forced to endure the stinging pain of the needle as it guided the thread over his open wound, pulling the skin taught. She had stayed present during the procedure, partially to ensure the doctor that he would not be attacked by “Kou-man” (not that he could do much in his present state) but to also satisfy her curiosity.

She leans back in her chair, she crosses her arms over her chest and observes the situation with a solemn face, replaying the recent events over in her head. She couldn’t blame Jian for stepping in as his people were being harassed, but she wondered if he did so simply because they shared the same country of origin or if he truly didn’t like seeing innocents harmed regardless of their affiliation.

She arches a brow and closes her eyes as he complements her, grunting in thanks before reopening her eyes and casting him a curious look with dark brown irises. ”Ayero Shiiba.” She states simply, not offering any sort of pleasantries but at least she doesn’t look angry or irritated as she shakes his hand with firm grip. ”Tell me, Jian. What brings you to Reim?” Her suspicion isn’t truly gone, but not that they’re out of danger for the moment she sees no reason not to speak a little more casually.

Jian blinked slightly as he looked at the Fanalis girl... although, that would have been hard to discern at this point as the wincing seemed to resemble blinking. Seriously though, what a strange name for someone from Reim.

He had expected something like "Prima" or "Adrastia" or something that actually felt Reiman. Ayero almost seemed... well, Kouese or maybe even from Heliohapt. Then again, he guessed that just because this was her homeland didn't mean that she had grown up here.

"Beautiful name," he said, through gritted teeth. He wasn't lying exactly, the name was nice and all, but he noticed he felt a lot less likely to scream as the needle pierced through already sensitive flesh when he gritted his teeth. Might be why he'd seen doctors give people little stakes of wood to bite into when they had to do the more drastic surgeries.

", but I guess you don't care for compliments from a "Kou dog", eh? Well, no matter, I understand. You might be paranoid about me simply because of my people, but don't lump me with that fool of an Emperor and his lap dog. No, I prefer to think of myself as a man of the world.

Though, I must ask you to look past my ethnicity and treat me just as you would your fellow Reiman. Do I look like I'm wearing my nation's uniform? I'm just a civilian... like you, I assume. You have the bearing of a warrior, but not a soldier. I've killed way too many soldiers to not know their body language when I see it."

The doctor paused for a second as he said that, before he turned to the man and said "Kou soldiers, my dear man... and Heliohaptian, and Balbaddese. Haven't touched a hair on a Reiman soldier's head.... unless those ones earlier were soldiers. They certainly had a bit too much training with those weapons for my liking, that's for certain."

There was something about the man's nature - his body language was completely devoid of tells, and his ability to laugh about almost everything, including the people who had so recently tried to kill him just for his place of birth, was probably a bit unsettling. It was like he was a completely different species rather than just a different race.

"As for why I came here... well, lots of important people all congregate at one place, people from all over the world have come to inaugurate your fabulous new "King", Lagi the first. Long may he reig-"

his speech was momentarily interrupted by a hiss of pain as the doctor yanked the thread taut, pulling his damaged flesh together more than it already was. "Sorry" the man mumbled through his thick beard, a very deep voice thick with age and experience.

"-n. Fact is? My job becomes all the more in demand when a large amount of famous, influential people gather together in one place. Everyone suddenly comes crying for someone to fill a void and there I am to get their money and to fulfil their wishes.

Same reason so many chefs, brewmasters and tinkerers have come over here. When the rich get drunk, the rich get loose with their wallets and the poor man gets rich. Same reason everyone else non-Reiman is here."

However, something seemed to prick the assassin's attention... this girl. What WAS she? Well, she was young, she was a fanalis, and she was skilled with her body. He'd have said she was a soldier were it not for his instinct. Maybe a merc? "What about you, Ayero? What brought you to this village?"

The Fanalis remains unmoved as he complements her, instead continuing to fix Jian with a curious gaze while he speaks. ”To treat you as a fellow Reimian would be to treat you as if you were from Heliohapt or Balbadd…and until recently, Kou.” She leans a bit forward in her chair, eyes still inspecting the man. ”You have to understand that the people of Reim are living in a confusing and scary time. To not be wary of an invading country’s people, regardless of whether they have ill intent or not would be to betray one’s instinct.” After all, who’s to say that the people they’d saved earlier weren’t spies or part of an undercover operation? It was unlikely in a small village such as this, but she could understand the people’s suspicions. After all, she still held her own.

Settling back into her chair, she closes her eyes in thought. A civilian he might be, but one that has killed enough soldiers to recognize how they move indicated that Jian was no ordinary man. He was a blade for hire. Though she did feel a bit better about the fact that he was not a Kou nationalist, this new information kept her just as wary. ”You fight well.”

She opens her eyes again, acknowledging the man’s skill. While she didn’t catch much of his graceful movements, she was impressed with how he had taken down eight men even if it had left him in this condition.  While it did seem a bit out of place, Ayero had taken his words into consideration. Her trust and acceptance could not be earned easily, especially by someone who takes lives for the highest bidder. She didn’t necessarily agree with the practice, but who was she to say that this man’s way of life was wrong provided that he wasn’t going around slaughtering innocents for the fun of it? Rarely do people just fall into their line of work, there’s nearly always a story and a reason.

The snake resting at her shoulder raises his head, large red eyes watching Jian as he grits his teeth through the needle’s painful sting. He flicks his tongue out to taste the air, but the movement is not accompanied by a hiss or anything else to indicate aggression. Kabu slowly moves toward Jian, eyes reflecting an intense curiosity that was nothing compared to his master’s mild interest. Part of his body remained wrapped around Ayero as he came inches from Jian’s face before circling around his head only to meet the Kou man’s eyes once more. While she would usually scold him for such behavior, Ayero was interested to see how Jian reacted to Kabu’s advances.

She gives an affirming nod toward his reasoning for being in Reim, figuring that his job would bring him here. She didn’t quite expect him to throw the question back to her, though she should have. ”I’m passing through on my way to Remano. Villages like these sometimes have work. Tasks such as clearing away bandits or catching thieves, nothing big but the payout is enough to sustain me.” She recalls how one of the Kou women they’d rescued intervened as the pair left the scene, thanking them profusely and pushing a rather impressive amount of coin onto them in gratitude. Ayero had initially rejected her share, but the woman was insistent to a fault. In the end she accepted, if only to usher the wounded to proper care in a timely manner. That, and it’s not as if she couldn’t have used the extra gold.

”I’d be careful if you reach the capital. I doubt the anti-Kou sentiments there are any better. Not everyone is as friendly as I am.” Her face is stone cold and solemn as she speaks, one would be unable to tell if she was being serious and really thought of herself as being friendly toward Jian, or if there was actually a sense of humor buried in there somewhere.

"Of course I understand that," Jian began, as the doctor began rolling up his left trouser leg to be able to get at his second wound. ", but that's like asking me to get you to understand people wanting to enslave your people.

You're stronger, faster and basically altogether more fit than a normal human. Who wouldn't want a worker like that working under them? Furthermore, nobody likes having to pay for labour, so they'd obviouly want to make you their little money making machine.

That's the issue with human issues like asking us to understand and tolerate slavery or racism - Just because something makes logical sense doesn't mean it doesn't infuriate you. I understand those men who we stopped were doing it out of fear for their future, but does it take away the emotion involved, does it?"

Sighing slightly, Jian prepared to start getting hurt again as the doctor prepared a second lot of thread. "As do you, Ayero. Your skill with a sword makes me envious. I win through grace and knowledge of the human psyche, you can simply crush them with strength and will. I'd hate to have to fight you. You'd rip me to shreds."

It was at this point that the needle pierced into his flesh, causing him to let out a small yelp. He tried, once again, to distract his mind from the immediate worry about the little sharp object constantly going in and out of his body. Anything would do, and as anything would do, he focused his attention on the one thing he hadn't thought about so far. The Serpent.

This serpent, he noticed, had done something to the girl earlier. It had shot a healing balm at her... wait, why the hell was he being sewn back together if she could heal things instantly? Was she just holding out on him or was here something else at play. Furthermore, what kind of snake shot a healing balm?

This world that they lived in, Jian had learned long ago, contained many weird and wonderful creatures. Owlbears, demi-humans, Fanalis and Imuchakk, and yet every time he found something else, he always knew there was something else to find out there. This healing snake was one of them, and it was certainly one of the weirder ones.

"So, does that thing have no venom, or does the venom simply cause a reaction in the human body that forces it to regenerate?" he asked, almost out of the blue. It truly seemed that his blunt honesty had been peaked, without any other reasoning behind it.

There were many, many questions that he wanted to ask rigiht now. He didn't ask how a fanalis found such a weird and magical creature, or about why it was so friendly when snakes were usually so hostile. He simply wanted to know basic information.

"I mean, you mentioned about going through the villages; I assume many of them must be begging at you to heal them when they find out your abilities. Do you hold out on everyone, or am I just special?" he teased, the smile never leaving his face.

Ayero raised at brow at Jian’s example, a flash of anger rising in her eyes before settling back down into cool neutrality. Though it was just an example, he spoke as if she wasn’t aware of her race’s plight. Her own brother had been captured as a slave, and until recently Ayero hadn’t seen him until she and Diego helped free him and many other fanalis slaves during the Heliohapt auction. Slavery was what had fueled her ten year venture from home, or at least that was part of it. She was a bit disgusted that the man would compare such a vile act to the more morally ambiguous situation at hand, but resigns herself to a thoughtful silence. It would do no good to get herself riled up.

”Raw strength and the blade suit me, I’m sure your own techniques were chosen for a reason.” As it stood now, the Fanalis believed that she’d be able to soundly beat the man in front of her. But as his skills developed and he gained more experience through battle, he could certainly make an intimidating opponent. It was pointless to pit such different techniques against eachother for now, both had their strengths and weaknesses. Ayero just happened to be the more experienced of the two.

”Kabu, that’s rude. Leave Jian alone.” Her words may have been scolding but her tone was mild, uninterested even. The snake’s gaze lingers on the strange man once more before he retracts back to his master, settling along her shoulders once more. His large red eyes remain fixed on the assassin in curiosity. Reaching up to pat the snake’s scaly head, the woman shrugs.

”Believe me, he has venom.” She recalls their first meeting, waking up in the great desert of Heliohapt after being swept up in a violent sandstorm. A younger version of Kabu had been watching her as she regained her consciousness and bit the woman at the first sign of offensive movement. ”I’m actually not quite sure how his healing abilities work. He’s only done it twice.” She gestures to a fading scar on her shoulder where acid spit from a desert creature had once eaten away at her skin. This prompted Kabu’s first used of his healing saliva, effectively saving Ayero’s arm from some nasty scarring or nerve damage. She supposed that the glands producing the enzymatically enhanced spit were further back along the snake’s throat, if the way he coughed and heaved as if he were about to vomit before spitting it over her wounds was any indication.

She was a little impressed with how well Jian had been holding up through this procedure, even a Fanalis such as herself would find it painful and unpleasant. ”You look like you could use a drink.” She mused, figuring that alcohol would have probably helped the man more before he started getting sewn up like a ragdoll.

There was a flash of anger in the girl's face, and for a moment he was able to see under her surface. It was obvious why she'd be upset - talking about slavery as an outsider was something that was very offensive to some people. 

The thing was, he wasn't exactly an outsider. Oh, sure, he'd never worn a collar but he had had no freedom and had been used for nothing other than another's profit. Were it not difficult for them to retain popularity without throwing him out, he would likely have still remained their little doll. 

"Sorry, Ayero. I know slavery's a tough subject for your people, but if it makes you feel any better, I used to be in the same position as many of your people. I was forced to perform every single night like a dancing monkey, and they never paid me a dime. Were I to misbehave, they'd refuse to feed me for days on end anARGH!"

As he tried to explain his position, he was cut off once again by a moment of severe pain. It seemed that some of his ripped trousers had gotten into his wound, and had been pushed deeper than it had been before when the doctor didn't notice it, reopening the clotted area by rubbing off the scab. Blood began pooling down his leg as the doctor began to apologize prolifically.

"It - it's fine, sir. don't worry. Ow.." Jian said, trying to comfort him as the doc yanked the fabric out of the wound, making Jian worry slightly about whether he'd left anything in his arm. Whilst he'd gone through this little moment of pain, Ayero had already chided her serpent partner, and he only began to pay attention as she explained how she wasn't sure about how her serpent worked. 

"Yeah, I can understand being (ngh) confused about him. Where'd you get him, anyway? If he's commonplace in that area, I'm sure there's a herpetologist there who'd be able to provide you with more information. But (tsh!) he doesn't seem like he's a very common creature to be honest. Probably one of those ones mutated by life magic - it'd explain it's healing abilities."

It was at this time that Ayero began offering him a drink. Whilst, quite honestly, he would love to have a drink, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to walk to a bar until the pain wore off a bit. "Well, if you're offering," he began, trying not to be presumptuous. ", I'm certainly not going to say no. Just, no wine, alright? I don't see how you Reimans drink that swill."