Sirya vs. Long Shin II - Arena Battle

[CaptainL]

The two would soon find a road, and following it over the crest of a hill, Long would find the vantage was enough to show him the source of the sounds. Just ahead, the path sloped down into a valley, and before them sat a city of a design foreign to the tiger man. Behind its gates, great towers jutted into the sky, and around them circled what seemed to be massive birds - in fact, closer inspection would reveal that spear-wielding guards were mounted on their backs! Surely a place like this would yield the aid they sought.

In response to Long's questioning Sirya about if she recognized her surroundings, she shook her head. She'd lived her entire life in the depths of the forest, and while she knew some things about the settled lands from the traders she or her fellow Panthers accosted, she had never seen them herself. As they came closer to the gates, Sirya winced at the noise of carts, footsteps, and idle banter coming from within. She was used to the wilderness, and while the Northern Forests had their fair share of noise, it was nothing like what she was faced with now - not to mention her weakened state made things less tolerable for her in general. Groaning, she began to settle against Long. Ordinarily, Sirya would complain about the noise, or object to where Long was taking her; she was, after all, looking quite out of place in her garb of animal skins and bone ornaments, and it was drawing the curious eye of a few guards as they passed. But her vision was growing dark and blurry, and she had no strength with which to complain.

Hearing Long ask for directions, Sirya said nothing, but pointed up at one of the tall towers overhead, one where green banners waved from its walls. She didn't know much, but she knew that green was the color of the Physician's Caste from the stories she'd heard. But, panting and groaning, she was growing heavier in Long's arms, and she slumped over further. Her arm wavered in the air, her finger trembling. "I...nngh...can't stay awake..."

[Mkmd13]

Things were not looking good at all for Sirya, but while asking for directions from one of the guards, it looked like something caught her eye. Long looked over at her and then followed where her finger was pointing. A green banner was waving in the wind and the guard confirmed that were she was pointing at was indeed where a physician was located. Just then, Sirya said something and instantly felt heavier in his arms, "No! Just hang in there a little bit longer! We're almost there!" His words would have little affect though as Long could see that she has already passed out.

"Dammit!" Long cursed as he scooped Sirya up in his arms and made his way as fast as he could over to the banners. Once he arrived, he began to pound on the door and screamed for help as much as he could. The door would finally open to a puzzled looking girl that looked to be in her mid to late 20's and she would say, "Can I help you?" She then would look down at Long's arms and see Sirya... Bloodied and unconscious. She immediately knew that the situation was bad and assisted Long to bring her inside.

The girl would take Sirya from Long's arms and place her on a bed. Taking one look at her wound, she rushed into the back room and told Long to wait there. It would only take a couple of seconds before she came back with some jars, padding, bandages, and gloves. She placed the gloves on and reached into one of the jars and scooped out a liquid that was inside. She then started to apply the liquid to her wound and once it was applied thoroughly, she took some padding and covered the wound with it. Then, unwrapping the bandages, she would place it neatly over the padding to hold it in place, "Whew... That should hold for now." She then turned to look at Long.

"If you took any longer, I don't think she would have made it." Long sighed and said, "Thank you so much! So, she should be okay?" The girl would nod at Long and smile, "Yes. She should be fine, just needs to rest now is all." Long would smile back at her and let out a deep breath, "I'm so glad to hear that..." Just then, Long could feel all his strength leave his body as exhaustion finally caught up with him and he passed out right then and there.

[CaptainL]

Sirya could hear Long calling to her, but her thoughts were slowing and the world around her had become a blur. She barely gave his cries any thought as her vision grew dark, and before long, just staying awake became a task too strenuous for Sirya to bear. Her eyelids were heavy, and her whole body slowed with fatigue. With one slow breath, Sirya let out the last vestiges of strength in her body and crumpled in Long's arms.

How long she had been unconscious, Sirya didn't know. When she finally came to, she was in an unfamiliar room, with bottles and jars of powders and potions lining the walls. She squinted as she adjusted to the light, and as her head began to throb she rubbed at her temples. Sirya took a few looks around, seeing a girl tending to what looked like a bushel of dried herbs from the other end of the hall - and then, Long, lying unconscious on the bed beside her.

Sirya was confused. She didn't know how she had gotten here, or why the tiger man had decided to go out of his way to show mercy to her. She didn't even know what this place was, before it all came together in her head. This was what an office of the Physician's Caste looked like. The kind of civil society many of her elders only spoke of with disdain. She had grown up only hearing of how if she dared to set foot within the walls of a city, she would be killed. Sold at a slave market if she was lucky. Yet...that hadn't happened. The people here had helped her, even if she wore the panther skin of a feared outlaw. Everything had gone against what she'd been taught to believe, but at the same time, the thought was strangely welcoming. Could...people be trustworthy after all?

Collecting her thoughts, Sirya slipped her legs off the side of the bed, pushing herself to her feet. Stopping and shuddering, she felt the pain in her side as she rose, and as she rubbed at where she had been wounded, she noticed for the first time that her wounds were bound with bandages. Though she pondered who would ever care enough to help her in such a way, Sirya soon looked up at where Long lay on the bed next to her, still passed out. Her thoughts returning to the real world, Sirya rolled her eyes with a groan, and she stepped up to prod at his side.

"Wake up! Jeez...you didn't even get hurt!"

[Mkmd13]

Long's consciousness was finally returning to him after passing out at the physician's office. It wasn't quite the way he wanted to be waking up though with Sirya jabbing away at his side and giving him a slight ridicule, but he was happy to be hearing her insults once again, "Ugghhh... What do you mean I didn't get hurt. You did a number on me during our match." Long would say softly as he slowly raised upwards in his bed and started to rub the back of his head. He had a major headache from blacking out like that, but he knew that it was only temporary and should subside soon.

"I'm glad to see that you're doing okay. How's the wound?" Long would say over to Sirya as he slowly slung his legs over the side of the bed to look at her. His eyes would wonder down towards the wound and he could see that it's still bandaged up, "At least it's looking a lot better than before, the bleeding has stopped." Just then, they both heard a bit of humming coming from the room over and Long's mind instantly thought of the physician that helped the both of them out, "Oh! We should go thank her for all of her help."

Pushing off of his bed gently with his arms, Long began to raise up from his bed and stood up on both feet. He was still feeling dizzy, but not bad enough that he wouldn't be able to walk. He made his way over to the other room and called out to the physician, "Hi, I don't think I introduced myself to you yet. My name is Long and I wanted to thank you again for taking care of both me and Sirya." Long would turn his head over towards Sirya as he said her name and nod towards her.

"Oh my! You're out of bed already!?" She looked surprised by his quick recovery, but then would give him a soft smile as he introduced himself and Sirya, "It's very nice to meet the both of you, my name is Alice." She would then look over Long's shoulder at Sirya and say to her, "It looks like she is recovering just fine as well and she is so cute! Is she your girlfriend?"

[CaptainL]

Sirya had to roll her eyes as Long cut in - sure, she might be able to concede that he didn't emerge unscathed, but when she had nearly bled out from the gaping wound on her side, she couldn't find their predicaments comparable. Still, she smirked a little as she heard him praise her on her efforts; it never hurt to be recognized.

What she was less pleased about being brought up was the wound on her side, something she looked down toward as Long brought it to her attention. "Eh...I'm fine, I'll be f-" she began, only to be cut off in mid-sentence as a wave of pain shot through her body. She was sore still, and now that Long had brought that to her attention she was finding it hard to look past. Moaning in pain, she grabbed her side and doubled over with a wince, but still looked back up at Long nonetheless. "As I was sayin'...I'm fine."

When Long offered to give their thanks to the physician, Sirya paused for a moment, reflecting on how unused she was to dealing with people. But she shrugged her shoulders and accepted it. Any concerns she might have had over her safety in a place like this were calmed by how the girl had been so willing to tend to her wounds - though she would still let Long do the talking as she hung back with a huff, pulling her cloak closer around herself.

That was, until she heard Alice bring up how cute she was, and pondered out loud about what was going on between her and Long. At this, Sirya's face went red, and she took a step forward, her foot landing with a heavy stomp as she raised a tightly-balled fist. This was something she couldn't just sit back and let happen; she had to set things straight! "HEY! I am not cute, and I'm not his girlfriend! You think I'd wanna...go out with this loser?" She looked off, her eyes narrowed as she bit her lip in frustration.

[Mkmd13]

Listening away to the physician as she began to talk to Sirya, he wasn't prepared on the words that would come out of her mouth. Long's face instantly became red on the mention of them being boyfriend and girlfriend and basically in sync with Sirya, he would deny that statement, "Oh no no! We are just merely friends is all!" With the sudden commotion that both Sirya and Long were making, the physician was taken aback, but then put her hand up to her mouth and giggled slightly, "Oh, my apologies! I just thought that the two of you made for such a cute couple!" Long looked back over at Sirya and oh my... If looks could just kill! Both Long and Alice would have been shot dead right then and there!

"T-trust me... I think it's better to just drop the cutesy stuff around her." A bit of sweat was forming on his brow as he didn't want Sirya to lash out at the good physician here. I mean, Long knows that he can take it, but this woman just saved her life. Long then turned back around towards Sirya and started to lead her away and back to her bed, "It's just a misunderstanding is all, let's get you back to your bed." There was a bit of protesting from Sirya, but she finally decided to follow Long back to the beds.

Long would sit down on his bed across the way from her and began to start up a conversation, "So, what do we do now? We finally escaped and it looks like you're going to live. Are you planning on going back to your home in the forest?" Long was pretty sure that's what she was going to do, but the real question was, what what he going to do? He knew nothing of this world and is utterly lost so to speak. The only person he really knows is Sirya and it would be a shame if she would ditch him right here. Then again, he couldn't really control her.

"I think it would be best if we stuck together, but the choice is yours." Long would look her in the eyes and tried to gauge her reaction.

[CaptainL]

Long and Sirya might not have agreed on a lot of things, at least not outwardly. But if there was one thing they could come together on, it was that they definitely weren't dating. As soon as the topic had been brought up, they both reacted in disbelief if not disgust. As soon as she heard his words, Sirya looked over at Long out of the corner of her eye curiously, realizing how their outbursts had aligned. She might have been able to enjoy the irony of it were it not for Alice calling them cute again, something that made her clench her teeth as her face went red in both anger and embarrassment. "I told ya! I am NOT cute!"

At once, she was back in her fiery spirit, the soreness in her body seeming far in the past now as she was determined to prove the physician wrong. She balled her fists in the paws of her panther skin, drawing up their claws and pointing them toward Alice - which, ironically enough, would only make her look like a young animal that hadn't grown into its feet yet, given how big they were by comparison. Still, Sirya didn't care about how she looked. She would let Alice know that as much!

"C'mon! Let's see how 'cute' ya think I am now, huh!?" She started to swipe at the air, clawing in Alice's direction in what was supposed to be threatening, only for Long to start hauling her away. "Hey, hey, wait! C'mon! C'moooooon, I'm not done yet!" In the end, it was the reminder of the pain in Sirya's side that did her in, as she felt its sting go up along her ribs. Shuddering, she clenched her teeth, but turned and followed Long back anyway, where she sat back down and looked off with a pout.

"I mean...I guess, yeah," Sirya said, in regards to Long's question. "What else is there to do? It's what I've known my whole life, and even being in a city like this is...weird. It's new to me." She sighed, her shoulders slumping as her body deflated into the bed. But soon, she shrugged her shoulders, eventually raising her head to look at Long - and there, hearing his offer, she tilted her head toward him.

"Stuck...together? Why would I want to do that..?"

[Mkmd13]

The way she was swiping at the air reminded Long of a playful little kitten trying to act intimidating, but if Long would have said that to her, well... I think the physician would have to treat him for wounds a lot more severe than the one Sirya had. As they sat opposite from one another and talked, Sirya would ask him a question back about staying together and wondering why she would do that. Long leaned back a bit and thought. He didn't want to tell her outright that he loved her company and that going into this new world alone would make him uneasy if not down right scared. He was just kidnapped for goodness sakes!

Then, it hit him, that could be his excuse! They were just kidnapped and he didn't want that to happen again so if they stuck together, there would be less of a chance for that to happen, "Well, you just saw what happened. We went our separate ways before and we both got kidnaped and had to fight for our lives. If that happened in just a few days of use being on our own, who knows what else is lurking out there to do something just as bad or worse." Long leaned forward again and looked down at her wound. "Also, you're in no condition to fight right now and I would feel awful if I left you alone in this state."

There was truth to both of his statements, but it wasn't the full truth. Sure, there are strength in numbers, but Long seemed to have grown attached to Sirya. He wouldn't go as far as to say that he loved her, but more along the lines of a blossoming friendship that he wouldn't mind continuing and seeing where it went. Long felt like he could see past her rough and tough exterior and know that there is a sweet girl deep down inside her.

[CaptainL]

Sirya had been reluctant to agree to Long's proposal at first. Yet the more she considered it, the more she realized there wouldn't be much use in arguing. She was too weary, and her wound was still healing. The ache going up her side stood as enough of a reminder of that, as she shuddered from the pain.

But what was more...she had to admit that Long had a point. She blinked a few times as he related his thoughts, at first with confusion but then with curiosity. As much as Sirya wouldn't want to admit anything that would make her seem weak, she had indeed been kidnapped, and she'd only narrowly managed to escape with her life. And that was, indeed, something that all started not long after she had left Long's side.

When he mentioned feeling bad about leaving her in her current state, Sirya was less enthused. She crossed her arms, looking away with a pout as she sunk lower on the bed. "Hmph! I've lived on my own just fine up until now, y'know! I can handle myself! You don't need to pity me!" Then she winced again as the pain in her side acted up, and she realized it was useless. Not even Sirya herself believed in what she was saying. Letting out a sigh, she looked down at her feet, her legs swaying in the air idly. It was time to owe up.

"But...you do have a point, I guess...I didn't see these guys coming. I mean, they don't usually come around my neck of the woods, but..." It was then that Sirya took a look around the room she was in, noting how unfamiliar she was even in merely having a solid roof over her head. She looked toward the window, and the light streaming in, unfiltered by the canopy of tree leaves, made her squint. She was completely out of her element now. In coming to the cities, she was just as much in a new world as Long himself was.

"...I really am...over my head, I guess." She sighed again, humbled by her own confession. "I don't know much about what it's like out here. I guess...having another person around doesn't hurt, right?"

[Mkmd13]

A bright smile would appear on Long's face as it seems as though he would accept her offer of staying with him. He felt relief that he wouldn't have to be alone in this strange world and knowing that he wouldn't have to worry about Sirya's well being. But, as she has demonstrated time and time again to Long, he knows that she could handle herself, even with an injury like that, "Thank you Sirya, I'm glad that you're okay with this." He would say as he slowly rose up from his bed, "We should probably get going from here, I think Alice has done all she can for us." Long began to walk over and signaled towards the physician.

Alice would take notice of Long and then say to him, "Oh, is there something the matter?" She said as she tilted her head in a puzzled look. Long would shake his head and give her a slight smile, "Oh no, we were just making our way out. Thank you again for all of your help! How much do we owe you?" A look of concern would appear on Alice's face when she heard that they were leaving, "So soon? Are you sure you two don't need more rest? You can stay here for as long as you need." Long would nod at her and then look back at Sirya who looks to be rearing to go as she appears to be really uncomfortable in this kind of setting, "Thank you for the kind offer, but we should really be going." Alice seemed to understand what Long was saying and gave him a loving smile back, "I see and don't worry about the cost, the first time is free." She said with a wink.

Long was relieved that they didn't have to pay since he didn't have any money on him and he didn't even know if his currency would even work in this world. Also, he seriously doubted that Sirya had any kind of cash on her either since she lives out in the woods and most likely has no need for that kind of stuff. "I truly appreciate that. Hopefully we can meet again under better circumstances." Alice would nod back at him and say, "I would like that. Take care out there now!"

Heading for the exit, Long would hold the door open for Sirya as she would make her way outside with him. The sunlight felt good on his body as he could finally relax and soak it all in. It's been awhile since he had this feeling as everything really felt like a blur up until this point. He looked up to the sky and then back down at Sirya, "Well, shall we get going?" He began to walk towards the edge of the town where the forest would meet it. It's been quite the adventure up until this point with many ups and downs, but he wouldn't change it for the world since he got to meet a girl as wonderful as Sirya in the process.