Paragon

Hisui Incursion [19]

PARAGON

Hisui Incursion Arc [19]

Chapter 71 : Diamond in the Rough

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Hisui Region - Crimson Mirelands

"Here." Rei knelt down and gently lifted a leaf of steaming water to Riley's lips. The Guardian was laying down but he raised his head to drink.

"I'm sorry about this," he mumbled, water dribbling down his chin as he lay back down.

"Nah, don't be," Rei said. "Stuff like this is pretty normal in the Survey Corps. Gotta have each others' backs out in the field, right?"

Grotle and Sneasel kept watch over their small camp, which was no more than a smoldering campfire in a small clearing. It was night now and shadows danced in the quiet, yet Rei knew the Mirelands were full of nocturnal predators. He moved as little as he could, always staying attentive to the smallest sound.

The fire had been easy enough to start, but it'd been more difficult to find large leaves that he could coil into vessels to boil some water. He'd messed up a few times, burning a hole through one and tearing two others, but eventually, he'd been able to boil enough water for drinking and for wiping down Riley and Ash's wounds. Akari was far better at technical things like that and he sorely wished she was here with them. His stomach gurgled but he ignored it.

Ash lay beside the fire stripped of his ruined clothes. Rei had done the best he could but Ash's skin was still stained red and blood remained crusted on his face and in his hair. The only upside of his unconsciousness was that Rei didn't have to worry about hurting him as he furiously scrubbed Ash down with the near-boiling water. And now that he was relatively clean, the extent of his injuries was clear.

Lacerations of varying depth and thickness covered his chest, arms, and face. It looked like he'd been slashed by hundreds of knives and swords. Most looked like they would require stitches, and when, or if, he awoke, he'd surely find movement next to impossible.

However, it was the infections Rei was truly worried about. Once upon a time, he'd scoffed at the notion of invisible forms of death, only caring about the danger posed by wild pokémon. After spending a month on the brink following a survey near the Sludge Mound, he'd learned to fear disease. And with how many open wounds Ash had, it was basically guaranteed. Placing him close to the fire was Rei's way of hopefully staving that off, though it was probably a fool's task since they had nothing to dress his wounds with.

Riley had been sleeping for most of the time since they'd stopped. As Rei suspected, the brief healing session he'd provided Ash with had totally drained him, which only lengthened the recovery time for his own injury. However, after thinking about it a bit more, Rei realized that Riley had probably known that fact, yet had healed Ash anyway. That probably meant that without Riley's healing, Ash may have already died. Upon realizing that, Rei stopped badgering him about resting and let him do as he deigned.

While Riley rested, Rei had went looking for some Pecha Berries, but the Scarlet Bog wasn't known for its flora. He had found some berries, though he couldn't identify them. After giving probably more than he needed to to Sneasel, ultimately, she'd verified their safety and he'd been able to put something in his stomach. Riley ate some too, and Rei crushed some down and emptied the paste down Ash's throat. Unfortunately, whatever these were didn't seem to have a lot of protein since the few that he'd found hadn't done much to banish his hunger.

"When do you think you'll be able to search for the others?" Rei asked, his anxiety over their continued absence boiling over for just a moment.

"Give me three days," Riley croaked out. "If they're in the Mirelands, I'll find them. I promise,"