Eight Intertwined

34 - Kit

It had only been a few short minutes since the group finished their collective explanations about their travels when Ophilia heard a small groan of pain coming from somewhere nearby. She immediately perked up and glanced around the area in confusion. "Did you hear that?" she asked of the rest of the group, keeping her voice low so as to not alert any of the nearby monsters to their presence. 

"I did," Primrose confirmed with a nod. She reached for her dagger on instinct, preparing the blade in case she had to jump in the direction of any of the monsters found in the area. 

"It sounded like a human," Ophilia told Primrose. "I don't think that was a monster at all... If someone got hurt while wandering around here, then we have to do what we can to help them."

Ophilia started to walk a bit faster, glancing around the area as quickly as possible. The Ember couldn't seem to decide if it wanted to glow brightly or recoil at whatever was taking place, but Ophilia ultimately resolved to stick it on her hip and let it sit there beneath her cloak as she concentrated on the task at hand. The rest of the group followed her lead, not saying anything but still clearly curious about what was taking place. 

It only took a minute or two for Ophilia to figure out what was taking place, and a gasp left her lips as her gaze fell upon a young man who was on the grass in the shadow of a tree. He was leaning against the trunk of the impressive show of greenery as he grabbed at his leg. There was a small amount of blood flowing from a notable cut on his thigh, and the man was staring at it with fear and upset knitted into his gaze. 

Alfyn moved to the man's side, crouching beside the blonde. He was wearing mostly blue, though his clothing hardly seemed to be fit for the road. He certainly didn't belong to the forests of S'warkii given his attire, though Ophilia wasn't entirely sure where he could have been from. "What's going on?" Alfyn questioned of the young man as he looked at the injury found on the blonde's leg. 

"A monster came out of nowhere, and it got me in the leg. I can hardly put any weight on it..." the blonde man explained. He attempted to rise to his feet once again, but despite his efforts, he was brought back to the ground once more a moment later. "I hate to be a bother, but do you have a healing grape to spare?"

"I can do you one better," Ophilia smiled. She held up her staff after removing it from her bag, and she waved it down in front of the young man. Light immediately washed over the area with delicate droplets of energy settling over his injury. It didn't take long from there for the wound to stitch itself up, leaving behind little more than a small scar where the cut had once been. Ophilia allowed her staff to fall back down to her side once the healing process was complete. "How does it feel now?"

The young man pushed himself to his feet with the help of the tree he was leaned against, bracing one hand against the trunk as he did so. He tested his leg by taking a step on the foot that had previously been injured, and a grand smile broke out across his features. "Thank you so much!" he cried out. He took another few experimental steps, and when he felt no pushback from his body, he let out a light sigh towards the group of travelers. "Phew! It feels good to be back on my feet. I can't thank you enough. I'd have been done for if you hadn't come along!"

"There are quite a few monsters around here, huh?" Alfyn prompted, though he wasn't particularly expecting an answer. He watched the way that the young man moved for a few moments longer before a satisfied smile appeared on his lips. "It certainly seems like everything is back in order. You're all good to go."

"What's your name?" Tressa questioned as she dared to move a bit closer to the young man. She looked over him in full, seemingly trying to see if she could glean any other pieces of information from him along the way.