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Description

Whisper pressed her tiny body up against Kestrel and purred. Not because she was happy, but in a desperate attempt to soothe both herself and her dear friend from the agony coursing through them both. It was weak, pained, but she kept it going. Rolling in the dust off Antikutan had helped neutralize some of Guro's saliva, and the irakel juice she was carefully licking into Kestrel's fur with short, quick strokes of her tongue helped with some of the rest. Keeping it from killing them was enough for now, at least. It would have to do until they could take a long soak in the Tarn.
Everything ached, her back burned... she didn't want to know what kind of scars she'd have there later. ...she hadn't been this sore since her training days, and even then...

"Are you holding up all right, boss?" she rested her head on an uninjured part of his side, concern shining in her eyes.
Pain. Burning and caustic pain. Kestrel hissed and kneaded the earth under his paws, purring viciously to soothe himself. He'd thought Zadehdin's poison was bad... oh gods this was something else. He was sure they would both have some new scars from this excursion. At least Whisper knew her herbs, every quick swipe of her tongue left a cooling feeling in its wake. He tried to return the favor, twisted around as best as his acid-raw flesh would let him to lick the juice into his friend's wound. He angled his ears towards her at the question, and purred more forcefully to soothe her when she pressed her fluffy head against his side.

"Can't say I've had worse, but... I think I'm alright." he licked the last bits irakel juice over the acid burn on her back and carefully lowered himself into an easier resting position that didn't strain his own burns, groaning with relief. Maybe they could take a moment to rest? It would be a nice thought, if nothing else... They were quite well sheltered here, curled in a stone tunnel that smelled of miasma-laced-sand and irakel and little else. "What about you?" she didn't seem to have it as bad as him, and not for the first time he envied her plush fur and feathers and downy undercoat.
"I'd say about the same. ...I've gotten good at blocking out pain." she let out a small sigh of breath at the relief as Kestrel licked irakel into her own burns. In truth, she was exhausted--she had to admit at least some worry about whether they'd manage to get out of here at all. She'd move if her boss said to, but for now... she didn't think either of them were particularly eager to strain their injuries any further.

At that thought, as if the world could sense it and wanted to prove them wrong, a deep hiss sounded from deeper in the tunnel, followed by a low rattle of breath. Whisper froze, head snapping around so fast it made her neck and shoulder throb, and bared her tusks at the dark. "...Alseer."
Kestrel sighed in relief, and gingerly rested his chin across an uninjured part of Whisper's back. He had good pain tolerance. Always had... but this... He could hardly think. He just wanted to sleep for a moon until the worst of the pain was over. Pity that that would be a death sentence here--
And as if on cue something hissed and Whisper snapped her head around. Lovely, just lovely. He lifted his head and bristled, glaring at the creature that dared infringe on their refuge. Wavering steps approached, claws clicking on stone, eyes gleaming a hellish orange in the darkness. The stench of decay hit Kestrel's nose worse even than the remnants of Guro's caustic saliva. The Alseer wasn't large. Young, probably a male seeking territory. Not that it mattered, they needed this safe haven a hell of a lot more than it did right now.

He staggered to his feet with a pained snarl. The burns down his back protested with sharp stinging agony once more, and he flattened his ears at the beast. They couldn't fight it, not directly. Not in their condition.
But maybe they could scare it off with an electrical light-show? Talik sparked along his body in a neon green, illuminating the cave for the briefest moment. The alseer froze, groaning a curious sound at the sudden flashes of light. "Don't attack directly." was all Kestrel said to Whisper before he snarled low and coiled his magic through the air--seized the trails of static in the dry furnace of a cave--and let the neon lightning fly and arc around the beast.
The air in the cave buzzed as Kestrel summoned his magic, and Whisper clamped her eyes shut for a moment to guard them from the light. She opened them again as the alseer screeched- watched it back up rapidly, all of its eyes frantically trying to focus. Disorient it... Of course. She could see its muscles tensing, readying itself for a panicked lunge, and she forced her own aching body to its feet. Calling on her magic was difficult, especially when it felt like her brain was sloshing around between her ears, but... she managed some, sparkling around her in golden hues.

The alseer moved, a desperate, unfocused lunge. Whisper dropped low, releasing the static sparking in her fur to surround it, cage it. Dance in front of every single one of those too many eyes. Keep it from knowing which way to turn. She was panting with the effort, but... do or die. And she wasn't dying today.
Whisper's golden Talik sparked and flared and Kestrel clenched his eyes shut just before the buzz could snap into the frantic crackle of aimless lightning. The alseer screamed and its aimless lunge sent it crashing skull first into one of the cave walls, hulking form folding like an accordion before falling limp with a low groan not even a tail-length from Whisper. But it didn't move again and hardly seemed to be breathing, its too many eyes staring unfocused through the darkness of the cave and growing dim.
Kestrel panted, and stumbled back to Whisper's side. Hopefully the damn thing was dead, because they were both too exhausted to run if it got back up. "If it's still there when we wake up, we're eating it." he grumbled before the exhaustion claimed him he fell into darkness, collapsing in a heap beside his friend.

Description

Whisper pressed her tiny body up against Kestrel and purred. Not because she was happy, but in a desperate attempt to soothe both herself and her dear friend from the agony coursing through them both. It was weak, pained, but she kept it going. Rolling in the dust off Antikutan had helped neutralize some of Guro's saliva, and the irakel juice she was carefully licking into Kestrel's fur with short, quick strokes of her tongue helped with some of the rest. Keeping it from killing them was enough for now, at least. It would have to do until they could take a long soak in the Tarn.
Everything ached, her back burned... she didn't want to know what kind of scars she'd have there later. ...she hadn't been this sore since her training days, and even then...

"Are you holding up all right, boss?" she rested her head on an uninjured part of his side, concern shining in her eyes.
Pain. Burning and caustic pain. Kestrel hissed and kneaded the earth under his paws, purring viciously to soothe himself. He'd thought Zadehdin's poison was bad... oh gods this was something else. He was sure they would both have some new scars from this excursion. At least Whisper knew her herbs, every quick swipe of her tongue left a cooling feeling in its wake. He tried to return the favor, twisted around as best as his acid-raw flesh would let him to lick the juice into his friend's wound. He angled his ears towards her at the question, and purred more forcefully to soothe her when she pressed her fluffy head against his side.

"Can't say I've had worse, but... I think I'm alright." he licked the last bits irakel juice over the acid burn on her back and carefully lowered himself into an easier resting position that didn't strain his own burns, groaning with relief. Maybe they could take a moment to rest? It would be a nice thought, if nothing else... They were quite well sheltered here, curled in a stone tunnel that smelled of miasma-laced-sand and irakel and little else. "What about you?" she didn't seem to have it as bad as him, and not for the first time he envied her plush fur and feathers and downy undercoat.
"I'd say about the same. ...I've gotten good at blocking out pain." she let out a small sigh of breath at the relief as Kestrel licked irakel into her own burns. In truth, she was exhausted--she had to admit at least some worry about whether they'd manage to get out of here at all. She'd move if her boss said to, but for now... she didn't think either of them were particularly eager to strain their injuries any further.

At that thought, as if the world could sense it and wanted to prove them wrong, a deep hiss sounded from deeper in the tunnel, followed by a low rattle of breath. Whisper froze, head snapping around so fast it made her neck and shoulder throb, and bared her tusks at the dark. "...Alseer."
Kestrel sighed in relief, and gingerly rested his chin across an uninjured part of Whisper's back. He had good pain tolerance. Always had... but this... He could hardly think. He just wanted to sleep for a moon until the worst of the pain was over. Pity that that would be a death sentence here--
And as if on cue something hissed and Whisper snapped her head around. Lovely, just lovely. He lifted his head and bristled, glaring at the creature that dared infringe on their refuge. Wavering steps approached, claws clicking on stone, eyes gleaming a hellish orange in the darkness. The stench of decay hit Kestrel's nose worse even than the remnants of Guro's caustic saliva. The Alseer wasn't large. Young, probably a male seeking territory. Not that it mattered, they needed this safe haven a hell of a lot more than it did right now.

He staggered to his feet with a pained snarl. The burns down his back protested with sharp stinging agony once more, and he flattened his ears at the beast. They couldn't fight it, not directly. Not in their condition.
But maybe they could scare it off with an electrical light-show? Talik sparked along his body in a neon green, illuminating the cave for the briefest moment. The alseer froze, groaning a curious sound at the sudden flashes of light. "Don't attack directly." was all Kestrel said to Whisper before he snarled low and coiled his magic through the air--seized the trails of static in the dry furnace of a cave--and let the neon lightning fly and arc around the beast.
The air in the cave buzzed as Kestrel summoned his magic, and Whisper clamped her eyes shut for a moment to guard them from the light. She opened them again as the alseer screeched- watched it back up rapidly, all of its eyes frantically trying to focus. Disorient it... Of course. She could see its muscles tensing, readying itself for a panicked lunge, and she forced her own aching body to its feet. Calling on her magic was difficult, especially when it felt like her brain was sloshing around between her ears, but... she managed some, sparkling around her in golden hues.

The alseer moved, a desperate, unfocused lunge. Whisper dropped low, releasing the static sparking in her fur to surround it, cage it. Dance in front of every single one of those too many eyes. Keep it from knowing which way to turn. She was panting with the effort, but... do or die. And she wasn't dying today.
Whisper's golden Talik sparked and flared and Kestrel clenched his eyes shut just before the buzz could snap into the frantic crackle of aimless lightning. The alseer screamed and its aimless lunge sent it crashing skull first into one of the cave walls, hulking form folding like an accordion before falling limp with a low groan not even a tail-length from Whisper. But it didn't move again and hardly seemed to be breathing, its too many eyes staring unfocused through the darkness of the cave and growing dim.
Kestrel panted, and stumbled back to Whisper's side. Hopefully the damn thing was dead, because they were both too exhausted to run if it got back up. "If it's still there when we wake up, we're eating it." he grumbled before the exhaustion claimed him he fell into darkness, collapsing in a heap beside his friend.