The Queen Kateryn
The Queen Kateryn is one of the older Lonetrains that service the route between the Royal City and the city of Ordon. The train is composed of a slightly dated locomotive, completely sealed as it is customary in lonetrains, as to protect the operators from the deathly cold outside. The second and third carts carry coal and wood, necessary for the locomotive to run, as well as some other first necessity implements, such as tools, food and water. The fourth cart is first class, though few aristocrats and wealthy individuals use the Queen Kateryn anymore, most Daguerrians that travel in the train are able to afford that cart. After the dining cart and a few, mostly empty passenger carts comes the cheapest cart, usually reserved for Majai because of its cost and distance from the sensible locomotive. Finally come a couple of cargo and luggage carts to complete the lonetrain. Currently, the Queen Kateryn travels long route from Ordon to the Royal city with little more than a skeleton crew and barely a few passengers, mostly between the first class and Majai carts. Currently and in the middle of the night, the train is 12 hours into its 24 hour journey.
WoW - The Queen Kateryn 01
WoW - The Queen Kateryn 02
WoW - The Queen Kateryn 03
WoW - The Queen Kateryn 04
Somehow, Zahrah had managed to pull Rill onto the locomotive, almost falling in the process. The train had slowly picked up speed and was now barreling towards the barricade, where the rest of the group stood. Probably trying not to get crushed by the train if it were to derail, the creatures sent out powerful screeches before they turned around and rushed towards the tree line. As usual, they walked through the snow as if they had no weight, and left no foot prints before. Daiyu, Ferrah, Dakai and Paki had but one chance to get onto the locomotive.... after that, they could try to get onto the back of the train before it left them behind. Ideally, they would do this before the train crashed into the barricade, for the shock of the crash could easily send them tumbling down onto the snow!
Having managed to get into the train,
Rill really wanted to get rid of the arrow sticking out of his side. He still decided that maybe he should try to grab the people who hadn't had the sense to run to the train when he did. Therefore, he positioned himself where Zahrah had been and held out his hand to help anyone coming his way. "Here!"
Blood was slowly seeping out of
Ferrah's wound, starting to freeze already as it leaked out to her outer layers. But the creatures had left. They still had some luck. Her head whipped round to the sight of the train approaching and ran towards it - she knew she'd rather be inside the locomotive when it hit the barricade than outside with the danger of flying debris. As she got closer to the speeding train, she readied herself before leaping towards the open door and Rill's outstretched hand (Jump).
Ferah crossed the tracks at top speed to try and get to the side of the locomotive where Rill was holding his hand outstretched. As the train approached and right before it collided with the barricade, the woman managed to jump and grab onto his hand. As she did, she almost pulled both of them down off the train and onto the snow, unless Rill managed to pull them back!
Running as fast as he could
Dakai sprinted to Daiyu through the snow. "Sorry about this princess." He apologized ahead of time before lifting her up out of the snow and hauling her onto his shoulder. He turned and ran to meet the train. He had to get his timing right on this one, with his free hand he readied himself to grab onto the railing by the door and haul them both up.(push/pull)
Dakai managed to grab hold onto Daiyu and run after the train, but the weight of the two of them was far too much for the Daguerrian. He held onto the railing but his grip quickly gave away. Both Daiyu and Dakai fell onto the snow, rolling as the train took off. As they stood up, they had seconds to attempt to climb onto one of the other wagons, as the locomotive was out of their reach!
Zahrah rubbed at her hand, moving away from the door as Rill stood where she had been. Somehow her meager strength had held long enough to get Rill on the train, but she knew she couldn't try that again. Instead she hurried up to her watch post once more, pressing as close to the glass as she could, hands cupped around her eyes so she could see out into the darkness to see when the barricade came up. (Notice)
There was not much Zahrah had to do to look upon the barricade, as it was a mere hundred paces away, in front of the train. As the locomotive approached the logs at blinding speed, the group had but seconds to brace themselves before the collision!
"Hold on!" came
Zahrah's voice from above as she wrapped her arms around the nearest solid structure in an attempt to keep herself steady.
Daiyu yelped in pain as Dakai swung her up but for now she was far to grateful for the assistance than to even consider protesting the rough manner. When they jumped for the train she had to bite her lip as her side was jarred and in consequence was a little late grabbing for the railing, to late in fact and she hissed painfully as she hit the ground. The train was passing by and she forced herself to stand and looked at Dakai frantically, "We need to try again. This time I will grab as well." She said urgently as she forced herself to stand.
With a slight panic created by the combination of the sound of the train moving, the sight of his new-found "friends" hopping aboard with varying degrees of difficulty and the knowledge that there were more of those creatures out in those woods,
Paki jumped for the first doorway he saw (jump).
Rushing towards the still open door of the locomotive, where Rill held onto Ferah, Paki leaped out of the snow in a massive jump, clearing the door and landing inside the locomotive. The man's landing was less than stellar though, falling flat on his stomach on the floor of the locomotive car, surrounded by the snow which had clung to his clothes.
Rill had hoped that one the people who weren't as likely to get into the train on their own had had the sense come to him but he wasn't going to just let Ferah drop either. Not caring that they were going to hit the barricade, he tried to pull Ferah in – he was at least partly inside the train already, and maybe the sudden bump would help him pull her since the train would suddenly slow down, even if just a little bit.
In the last second before the collision, Rill managed to pull Ferah in, surely the massive logs would tear her apart when they hit the barricade had she stayed hanging out of the side of the train, even if the train itself did not derail. The Ranger and the woman fell back into the locomotive, landing right next to Paki.
In all honesty
Tetra didn't care one way or another if everyone made it onto the train - as long as she was on the train as it sped away, she would be fine and could go on living. As she felt the train speeding up, she recalled the barricade still situated in front of the train. Motioning for Ulysses to hide himself within her jacket, Tetra quickly loosened the belt around her waist, tying it quickly and tightly around the armrest of the seat. With a deep breath, she stuck her foot out against the wall in front of her seat and braced herself for impact.
Typically,
Thaddeus was a pretty laid-back fellow. Of course, he also wasn't usually at the helm of a vehicle tens of thousands of ton in weight that was hurtling toward a barrier in the middle of a frozen wasteland. As such, the slim gentleman did his best to prepare for the inevitable impact, his red-rimmed eyes darting from mechanism to gauge to instrument, ready to (hopefully) react if and when he needed to push another button or pull a lever to keep the train on the tracks and moving in a forward motion (Engineering).
With a massive crunch, the train shook and the lights flickered as they hit the barricade. The speed suddenly diminished and everyone in the locomotive felt pulled forward by a powerful force. Tetra, Zahrah and Thaddeus managed to stay in place but Rill, Paki and Ferah were catapulted forward, bashing their elbows and knees against the metal floor of the locomotive cart. The train jumped up in the air as it went cleanly over one of the logs, sounding like a massive bone break. Splinters flew all over the front and several of the small windows were broken by stray branches and pieces of wood. After the jump, the train seemed to swing dangerously from side to side, as it trying to stabilize itself on the tracks once more and, for a moment, it looked like it was about to derail and fall on its side. Luckily for everyone, the wheels soon slipped back into place with another small jump and the train began to pick up speed again!
After the train had gotten stable again,
Rill just lay on the floor for a moment and muttered something about the worst train trip ever. He then got up and looked around to see who of the other people were in. He noted that two people who had been outside were missing but it wasn't like he could do something about that. Instead, he turned his attention to the arrow in his side. He opened his jacket and peeled other clothes before inspecting the wound. "Did anyone of you know stuff about wounds?"
"Many thanks, Ranger,"
Ferrah grunted as she pulled herself up into a sitting position. She pulled off her padded armour and prodded the bleeding wound she'd sustained during the battle. "Less than I deserve for leaving the Shah girl," she said as she bowed her head in a silent prayer to the assumed dead. With Rill asking for medical help, she figured that whoever could help would patch her up after him.
Taking a moment to make certain she wasn't injured,
Zahrah straightened and couldn't help but smile that the train was still moving. That show of happiness was short lived as she heard Rill's voice coming from near the door. Right, wounded. She knew a little about a living body, that which was required of her, but not enough to really be of use. Rather than staying at the top of the stairs, Zahrah descended, giving Thaddeus a nod as she passed him. It was thanks to him really that they were even alive still. She walked over to where Rill was and frowned. "I will look for something to help," she said before she started searching for anything to bandage them up with. (Search)
After getting violently jostled about in his seat and then heaving out the breath he hadn't even realized he was holding,
Thaddeus all but collapsed in in the engineer's seat in relief. His limbs, still trembling from the rush of adrenaline, went momentarily limp after being held so rigidly up until a few moments after impact, until it seemed that they were out of imminent danger of careening off of the tracks. Thad returned Zahrah's smile with a wan one of his own before he glanced back to see who had made it back onto the locomotive. People were bleeding, and his smile faded quickly. First aid was not his area of expertise, and he was hesitant to leave the controls for the moment, so he remained where he was. At least the train was still moving, so Thaddeus didn't do anything else than keep an eye on the things for the moment.
Rill nodded an acknowledgemen
t to Ferah. While Zahrah looked for something to help with tying up, he looked at the arrow in his side and decided that he should just take it out before it made more damage to his innards. He moved the clothing aside so that not too much blood would stain them, though of course there was blood on them already. "I took that weird container of something along. I doubt it's anything useful but someone could look at it," he said, tilting his head at the container. He then proceeded to take out the arrow. (Heal)
Luckily for Rill, his injury seemed to be superficial. Wincing at the pain, he pulled the arrow out while dealing minimal damage to the tissue around it. A quick spurt of blood came out right after the arrowhead, running down his arm before the bleeding promptly stopped.
As Paki stood and observed the others interacting, he could not help but wince. Arrows could leave nasty wounds... He suddenly felt rather lucky.
Not knowing a lot about first aid, Ferah knew she needed to stem her bleeding at least. She tore a few strips of cloth from one of her sleeves, trying to make a makeshift bandage with them and tying them round her to cover the wound (Heal). Still, her heart ached for the apparent loss of Daiyu. Her own lust for battle had meant she'd left the girl behind. Still, her pride would not allow her to shed tears in front of her travel companions.
Zahrah didn't like what she found. She turned away from the storage areas and looked around the place for anything that might help. With nothing on her that was sturdy enough to make a bandage, she finally frowned and looked at Rill. "Mr. Rill, do you have any cloth that will hold?" she asked, wanting to help but not finding anything. "There are no bandages here."
"Huh." Rill looked at the wound and pressed it very carefully. He spent a few moments licking the bigger part of the blood off his arm before Zahrah announced her findings. "I see. Well, the wound isn't anything serious, it's not really even bleeding. I'll just tie my coat around it so I don't need to tear anything." He took the jacket and folded it so that once he tied the sleeves around his waist, it formed an odd sort of padding around his torso. As he saw Ferah trying to tie up her apparently not quite as superficial wounds, he had another thought. "Maybe there's a heal kit somewhere else in the train." He glanced at Paki. "Maybe you should go look for one."
Tetra slowly eased up, back into her seat after the train experienced a large jolt and almost toppled over. She nudge Ulysses, who, using his beak and talons, pulled himself from her coat and perched on her shoulder. Untying her belt from the seat, she fastened it around her waist again, then looked around. No one was up there with her, and it was nice and quiet, but she was still shivering from the cold outside, as was her bird, and the upper part of the cart was not exactly warm. Running a hand over the raven's head, Tetra decided, against her own will, that it would be best to be near the coal fire so the two could warm up, and the girl stood and began heading down the stairs. She hesitated only for a moment when she reached the locomotive's main room, stopping only to count the heads. There were still two missing, one of whom had helped her and the other who had tried to turn her in. The street rat inwardly hoped the latter of the two had perished, but she was slightly concerned for the former, if only for the fact he might be able and willing to help her. "Where're the Shah and the mechanic?" she asked abruptly, showing little concern for anything happening among the others. As she spoke, she shuffled across the locomotive to sit next to the fire, crossing her legs and letting Ulysses perch on her knee.
"Ah! Yes, of course!" Paki nodded to Rill, eager to be helpful. "I shall search every available cuboard and surface for the medical kit!" And with that, he headed for the next compartment of the train.
"They got left behind," replied Rill to Tetra. "Unless they managed to get on the other cars, but I doubt it. They were both hurt."
Although Zahrah didn't think it a great loss that the other two had disappeared, she did hope inwardly that they managed to catch one of the other cars. "We should attempt to be positive and hope they made it," she said quietly as she waited for the boy to return with whatever he found. She was of no use here, having neither bandages or adequate knowledge of healing. Feeling that it might be time to lose some of the pretense, Zahrah lowered her veil, wrapping it around her shoulders and under her hair as she moved towards Ferah, who seemed to be faring the worse of the two. "May I help?" she asked, gesturing at the makeshift bandages before she moved to assist the woman. (Heal)
Ferah's attempts to cover her injury only seemed to make it worse, as every time she moved, the wound would start bleeding once more. Only with Zahrah's help was the woman able to finally staunch the blood. Luckily for her the cut had been superficial, though she still felt a bit queasy afterwards and probably could not move too much or strain without the injury getting worse.
Having been exceptionally focused upon the train's controls, Thaddeus hadn't yet bothered to take full stock of who had and who had not made it into the locomotive, although he didn't know everyone who had gone out to the barricade. However, when he heard Tetra's inquiry and Rill's brief reply, he glanced toward the girl and the man, brow slightly furrowed in polite but genuine dismay at the information the Ranger had provided. He coughed softly, sniffed then sunk down slightly into his seat, abashed that at least Dakai was unaccounted for, as the Engineer could have just as easily gone outside instead of the other man, and had even offered to do so. He dropped his attention downward, suddenly becoming apparently enthralled with a brass button on his waistcoat as he fiddled idly with the shiny closure.
With a little sigh, Ferah lay back against the train's floor. She patted Zahrah's hand and smiled up at the escort. "Thank you, girl," she said, giving kindly eyes to her. "I'm not as spry as I used to be, and never been all that good at looking after myself." She sighed again.
Rill sat down to rest as well and after realising that his mind wandered into the impossible monsters, he wanted to focus on something different. Therefore, he glanced at Ferah and stared at the odd gauntlet. When he figured out that the oddness was because he hadn't seen majai people with such contraptions before, he turned away. He then remembered that he had brought a container with him and picked it up from wherever it had rolled. He looked at it, trying to find some markings or other things that could identify what was inside.
"Try not to move too much until we find something to bandage you properly with," Zahrah said to the older woman, giving her a rare genuine smile, relieved that she had actually assisted. "Let me...just one moment." The escort stood and looked around, finally letting her gaze land on the man driving the train. "Thaddeus," she said, her voice lightening ever so slightly. "Would you assist me in getting her into one of the seats? The floor cannot be at all comfortable." (Persuade) She felt the atmosphere slowly dipping down after the high of getting the train started and the aftermath of that fight and while she didn't like the thought of losing any more than they had to, at least the ones who were here had made it.
Rill didn't look too happy at the container. He got up and went to stash it in a closet or any reasonably safe place. He then returned to his seat and tried to relax a little.
"No need, girl," the Amiri warrior said as she sat up and pulled on her blood stained padded armour. With it strapped on, Ferrah heaved herself up and plonked down in the nearest available seat. "I'm not dead yet," she said to Zahrah with a twisted smile. "Despite my best attempts at getting into trouble." She rubbed at the wound under her clothes. "I don't recommend it if you want to stay beautiful, girl."
Perking up slightly at the sound of his name being called from behind, Thaddeus straightened in his seat and looked back to Zahrah. He glanced at the controls for a half-second, and by the time he was standing, it seemed that Ferah had taken it upon herself to get up to move into a seat from the floor. His eyebrows raised, Thad watched the apparently wounded Amiri woman closely as she sat herself down. After it seemed as if she was adequately settled, he looked back to Zahrah, eyebrows still raised, as if to say Anything else?.
As she hung around in front of the fire burning atop the coal, Tetra tuned the others out, focusing on the red heat before her. If the other two had been left behind, then it wouldn't matter - she could just make a run for it at the train station, since it was likely no one else would be willing to claim the accidental stowaway. The girl's mind went back to the strange creatures that had appeared, wondering what in the world they could be, and a small shiver ran up her spine. They'd all have been dead if that Thaddeus fellow hadn't been around to start the train. The other girl had died regardless, the Lena woman. Remembering her, Tetra perked up a little and reached into her pocket, digging around a little before she pulled out the woman's notebook. Keeping it close to herself so as not to draw the others' attention, the girl what little literacy she had to try and read whatever was written on the notepad (Decipher).
"My name is Zahrah," she responded as she carefully watched the woman move to a seat. Being called 'girl' grated on her a bit, but Zahrah just put on a smile. "Are you cold, do you need anything?" Her question was to Farah, although she did glance at Thaddeus, knowing that if the Amiri woman was cold, she had nothing to give her. If she needed anything, Zahrah was pretty useless.
"Zahrah? A pretty name," Ferah said. She dismissed her concern with a wave of a hand. "Warm enough." She'd noticed Rill's stowing of the canister and pointed to where he'd put it. "I take it that's dangerous. What do you make of this?" she asked as she brought the cylinder she'd taken from one of the earlier dead bodies.
"Oh?" asked Rill. "It was something flammable as far as I could tell. Oh, maybe you should take that off, it could be dangerous too," he replied to Ferah, pointing at the gauntlet. Since Zahrah had just introduced herself, he too remembered to share his name. "I'm Rill Taskinger. How about you?" When Ferah showed the cylinder, he examined it to find out what it was. (examine)
Waiting sedately for a reply, Thaddeus smiled vaguely when Zahrah looked over at him. After Ferah declared that she was fine, the Engineer assumed that his assistance wasn't needed, and he started to turn back to the engineer's seat. The young man tipped his head slightly and surreptitiously as possible to the side toward Tetra and Ulysses; he frankly felt uncomfortable about their presence, and he let his attention linger on the girl's shabbily-clothed frame for a moment before sitting himself down again.
"Ferah Azzal, of the Azzal Amiri," Ferah replied. She raised the gauntleted hand. "After using it some I've come to understand how it works. However, it would look surreptitious on a poor woman in the Royal City." She pulled it off and pocketed the weapon. "I owe you for saving my life, Rill. Without your help I would have been left behind with the other two." She bowed her head solemnly, partly in thanks to the ranger but also in silent prayer for Daiyu and Dakai.
"Good to meet you." Rill nodded to Ferah, acknowledging her words. He was accustomed to helping people survive, even if this particular circumstance had been exceptional. Before Ferah put the gauntlet away, he stared it and at the object Ferah had given. "I don't know what this is, but it would go there," he said and pointed at the gauntlet where another similar object was attached. "Maybe Thaddeus would know." He looked at the mute a little questioningly but didn't say anything.
Since none of her offers to help were of use, Zahrah took Rill's interjection as a sign to back off. She didn't want to be in the middle of all this anyway. The woman seemed capable. The escort took the opportunity to turn her attention to the final person in their little group, the urchin who had made it clear she wanted nothing to do with them before. Her mind might have changed now, however. Zahrah took a step closer, eyeing the bird for a moment before deciding she was close enough. "And you? How are you fairing?" she asked the girl. If she didn't get an answer, Zahrah was fully prepared to make her way to where Thaddeus was and ignore everyone equally.
Dakai exhaled deeply as he made his way into the main cart, battered, bruised, and slashed across the chest, with a precious package in his arms. "Excuse me everyone but is there any first aid kits here? Miss Daiyu is in bad shape. She hurt her leg and as far as I can tell it's bruised or broken or something pretty bad because she can't even walk." He walked over to an open seat and laid her down gently so she wouldn't have to be ashamed of him carrying her.
"They're alive!" Ferah gasped at the sight of Dakai and Daiyu. She was immediately out of her seat and at Dakai's side, looking down at the Shah girl. "The gods are smiling down on us." She turned to the young man. "I owe you a debt. I swore to defend her and I left her behind, both of you." She knelt down and held one of Daiyu's hands. "Girl, how do you feel? I will never leave you in the hands of our foes again." Her scarred face was solemn, and genuine with its remorse.
Rill also turned to look at whoever had come in and was a little surprised to see the two he thought had gotten left behind. That was good news at least. However, for some reason, he was more surprised at Ferah's reaction and stared at her for a short moment. "There are no first aid kits here. That big majai fellow went looking for one. Didn't you see him?"
Having never really received a formal education - aside from what little they had tried to teach her in the orphanage - Tetra had some trouble understanding a few of the words written on paper, but based on context from what she could read she understood the gist of what she found inside Lena Rose's notebook. She flipped through a few more pages, studying the various things that had been scribbled down, before a voice behind her nearly made her jump out of her skin. She closed the notebook and shoved it back into her coat pockets before turning to face the female figure behind her. "Fine," she answered curtly before promtply placing her hands on the floor of the train cart and beginning to push herself up. The door opening caught her attention once more, however, and she looked up quickly to see the two they thought they had lost standing in the door way of the cart. Tetra stared for a moment, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief but saying nothing. She couldn't let herself get her hopes too high yet, either - she didn't know for sure if the mechanic would help her get back in the city or not. The urchin's face scrunched up in disgust as the older woman fell to her own knees and began practically worshiping the Shah woman. Rolling her eyes, Tetra looked up at Zahrah briefly before turning away and shoving her hand into her pocket. The girl dug around for a moment, and after pulling her hand, empty, from her pocket she groaned - she had been hoping she had at least one biscuit left, but apparently either she or U had eaten it, or it had been lost in the scuffle before the train. With an annoyed frown, the girl crossed her arms and simply watched the others interact.
Daiyu hissed in pain when Dakai set her down but she did manage to pull herself up a bit while keeping her leg still. She chose not to say anything, the man beside her having said everything necessary already. She was completely unprepared for Ferah's reaction, however, and for a brief moment surprise managed to glimmer across her face before it was quickly replaced by the cool mask she usually wore. "I will survive." She said quickly and then paused (charm), "Thanks to you and the others we all will. It is difficult to keep one's wits in the heat of battle, there is nothing to apologize for." She said quietly. She couldn't blame the woman, I mean honestly, who would expect a Majai to keep her word? Still... at least the woman had admitted her mistake and now had given an oath to protect her... it would be interesting to see how it played out.
"Well yes we did meet but i was simply wondering if one had been found in his abs..." Dakai was cut short as Ferah rushed to Daiyu's side. She almost tripped over herself to get to her. Well i suppose my care here is not needed. "Yeah we barely made it onto the last cart." He scratched the back of his head a bit unsure what to do now. Keep trying to help miss Daiyu or investigate the other members, the silent male seemed to have a good amount of knowledge in the engineering department and that intrigued him.
Zahrah looked around as the door slid open, hoping it was the boy returning with medical supplies, but her heart skipped a beat when she saw the other two. Then Farah jumped up and Zahrah got a stern look. "You just stopped bleeding, please sit down again," she said, her word choice gentle but her voice taking on an air of command. (Intimidate) She didn't want the older woman to start bleeding again before they got actual bandages. It was rather annoying that she jumped up like that. Looking down at Tetra, Zahrah pursed her lips, not in aggravation at the girl but rather at the situation.
When Rill spoke his name, Thaddeus sat up in his chair, having fallen into some sort of distracted reverie, thinking about various things: Tetra and the notebook he spied her holding; calculating the time and distance remaining in their trip; wondering about exactly what life would hold for him back in the Royal City. He looked back at the older man expectantly, and was regarding the Ranger as such when Dakai and Daiyu appeared, looking rather worse for the wear. Standing, he turned, blinked rapidly and shook his headful of wavy brown hair slightly, as if he were shaking his previous thoughts out of his head. In turn, he looked to every member present, then back to Rill, who had originally spoken his name. Someone would tell him if he were needed for something, right?
Middle Carts(Paki, Daiyu and Dakai)
After leading the locomotive, Paki came to the cart immediately after that, which was one of the two coal carts. This one the one from which Dakai had taken the coal to run the locomotive earlier, and the group would do well to move some more coal into the locomotive at some point. Trying to get out of the bitter cold, only made worse by the razor wind outside the locomotive itself, Paki quickly opened the double, sliding doors to the coal cart. What greeted him was a smell so foul he would not have believed it if he had been told about it. It struck him in the face like a slap and the man felt like he was going to faint and throw up at once. Luckily for him, his constitution managed to keep him from doing either.
Paki's face scrunched and contorted at the stench, but he reminded himself that the medical kit was necessary. With that thought engraved in his short-term memory, the man began his search (Notice).
As this first cart, and the next one, was little more than storage for coal, it was obvious there would be no first aid kit. Moving in, Paki checked the walls and some of the floor, but found nothing. In the darkness of the cart, he saw the shapes of the two bodies Rill had brought in earlier, the stench seemingly clinging to him the more he remained in the cart. Unless he wanted to dig into the large pile of coal on the far side of the cart, there was nothing else there which might hide a first aid kit or anything of the sort.
Paki decided to leave the pile of coal alone--even if the kit was in there, who wanted bandages covered in coal dust?--and instead headed to the next compartment to search.
Paki went through the first, coal compartment and towards the second one. This one was before the first class cart and contained tools, water, food as well as plenty of wood to burn in an emergency, if the coal was not enough for the train. It seemed it had been ages since people so much as entered the cart, however, as cobwebs and dust covered everything. The food and water could certainly not fit to be consumed anymore. It was a given, considering The Queen Kateryn ran with a skeleton crew and barely carried passengers, that the extra supplies would go untouched for weeks, even months. Even the lights of the compartment were out, and Paki could see little through the sparse moonlight peeking through the windows. Suddenly, the door of the compartment on the opposite side of the cart opened and Paki saw Dakai stumble into the door, looking beat up, bloody and tired and carrying an even worse off Daiyu.
As he entered the cart Dakai noticed that it was actually occupied unlike the previous ones. He recognized the large man from the battlefield. He tried his best to carry Daiyu carefully without letting her legs bump into anything. He wanted the beautiful shah to take a shine to him even if he had to play the knight in shining armor part. "Hey, are you the only one in here? Have you seen a med kit possibly?" He asked in succession.
Daiyu had been concentrating on keeping silent, her head was still turned into Dakai's chest when he started to speak. She immediately looked for the person he was speaking to and even managed to blush deeply. Even through the pain she was ashamed to be caught in such a compromising position by the man who stood before them. She even managed to try and straighten her clothes, stirring slightly in an attempt to gain her feet before the pain forced her to give up and let Dakai continue to carry her.
"Ah! Thank Tara you both live~!" Paki grinned widely at them before the severity of their wounds sunk in and his expression turned solemn. "I'm afraid not. The man up front was struck with an arrow and I was sent back here to search for one. But there is a woman up there who did some stuff. It might have helped him a bit?"
Dakai was honestly surprised by the mans friendliness. Most Majai, let alone Kkala, were not always elated to be around Daguerrians. He was disappointed to hear Paki's report though, no bandages and even more wounded than he had thought, or even worse maybe someone had not even made it on the train. "I see, well maybe we can tear up some rags or something to fashion a splint and see what she can do. This lovely Princess here," Dakai tried his best to ease her nerves with some charm before he spoke his next words(charm). "has managed to hurt her leg. I dont know a whole lot about first aid but it might even be broken as far as i can tell."
Hmpf. The Daguerrian certainly seemed to have a gift with words, Daiyu thought to herself defensively, as if trying to reason for the slight softening she felt towards him. Even though she knew better than to trust such a person her blush deepened and she turned to hide her face in his chest once more. She was not used to hear one speak of her in such a manner, certainly not in such an easy tone. She could only guess at how mortified her family would be to see her in the arms of a man, let alone a Daguerrian. However... he was not like most, she was willing to admit.
"Ah! The woman up front might be able to make a splint!" Paki exclaimed with a wide grin as if this revelation will solve all the world's problems. "Oh, but you're both injured. Can I help you to the front? You should breath through your mouths, one of the carts is very smelly."
"Im alright, the bleeding has stopped and i can get around almost normally." Dakai was slowly getting more relieved that Paki was so friendly. He noted how Daiyu seemed to look into his vest as if to hide her face. Perhaps shes juts not trying to show the pain shes in. "Just get the doors i suppose. Other than that i hope she can help, but i have to do what i can since I kind of owe Miss Daiyu some deal of debt after she tended to me when i was stuck down earlier." He admitted feeling guilty that she had rushed to help him after he foolishly ran to inspect the train. He followed behind Paki as they made their way through the cart deciding to take his advice and breath through his mouth. "Miss Daiyu please use one of my clean cloths or my jacket to filter the smell if needed."
Daiyu had been listening to the exchange between the two men, though they didn't say much of importance. "It was nothing." She muttered, as was the custom of her people, to downplay her actions. It was quite possible that helping this man had been the best choice she'd made so far in this trip, a sad thought to consider. She nodded in acknowledgement of Dakai's offer, though this time she did not answer.
"If you are sure that is all the assistance you'll need..." Paki nodded to Dakai before opening the door for them. Holding his breath as he back-tracked through the carts he previously searched, Paki returned to the cart he found Dakai and Daiyu in and continued his quest for a med kit or anything else that might be of use (Search).
Paki came back to the supplies room where he had encountered Dakai and Daiyu a few minutes earlier. The place was loaded with all kinds of rusted and old tools, containers of water probably not fit to drink anymore and other supplies for long trips the Queen Kateryn did not undertake anymore. The only thing that was probably still good were dry rations if they could be found. Paki stood in the middle of the room, looking around, but he would have to narrow his search considerably if he wanted to find something.
Rill came through. First he checked in on the bodies he had picked up, to see that they were the same as before and had not inexplicably reanimated or something. He then continued looking for any kind of first aid kit, searching and if need be, asking other passengers whether they had seen one or had one on them. (search).
In the meantime, Rill had crossed the coal cart where he had stashed the bodies. They were as dead as ever, but the stench of the creature had gotten much worse. He could not approach it without risking losing the contents of his stomach. Finally, he came to the second cart where Paki was standing, but he too could not search for anything unless he narrowed his focus.
"Ah! Ranger-man!" Paki exclaimed as he noticed Rill's entrance. "I'm afraid I've found no medical supplies yet. The two that we thought didn't make it onboard did though! Without a doubt we are blessed and will find what we need in no time!" The Kkala grinned widely.
Rill was a little taken aback by Paki's enthusiasm. "Uh... yes, they came into the locomotive, though I can't imagine why." He looked around. "There's a lot of stuff. Have you searched through this already?" he asked, though he did also start going through it himself. He didn't bother with the tools or the boxes that might have contained food or water, but looked for boxes that could have been marked as first aid kits or other boxes that would be of suitable size. (Search)
"Nope. I'm examining each and every box just in case. People hide emergency supplies all the time, yes?" Paki replied as he looked through the boxes that Rill decided to ignore (Search).
Rill looked contemplative for a moment. "I don't think they do," he then said. "Why would anyone do that?"
"Well, my father always used to say 'if it's worth stealing, it's worth hiding." Paki nodded to himself.
Looking through the boxes, Rill seemed to come up mostly empty, there were some blankets which could be broken up and used as bandages in a bind, but they were all rather old and raggedy. In the meantime, Paki checked some boxes which seemed to be a bit too big to hold a medical kit, but did have inside some rope, a hand spade, a bedroll and some old rusted tools. All in all, however, there was enough to put together a somewhat functional survival kit.
Rill wondered whether Paki's words meant that Paki was partial to stealing. He frowned and decided to keep an eye on Paki. "This isn't that useful. Maybe if there's nothing else, but I'm going to look elsewhere first." Rill then headed to the next car but waited for Paki so he could come as well.
"Ah! I found a box! I found a box!" Paki grinned as he opened his prize. "...It's nothing medical, though..." His smile lessened, but at least he found something useful!
"Huh?" Rill came to look at the contents as well. "Hm, I guess those could be used to make something. If there's nothing better. But I'll still go look elsewhere."
"Ah, yes! There are too many injured to discontinue our search!" Paki said as he closed the box and started for the next car with it.
The pair passed through the familiar First Class cart, the entire cart was in disarray after the fight that had taken place earlier. Since the windows had been broken by the arrows of the creatures, the cart was as cold as the outside of the train. The wind came in through the broken windows and cut like a frozen razor upon contact with the skin. There was nothing there they had not seen before so they passed straight through the nearly frozen cart. Finally, they came to the next cart, the dinner cart. The dinner cart was organized in a dozen booths, half a dozen along each side of the train cart. The first third of the cart, however, was dedicated to a sort of pantry and, on the opposite side, a bar complete with bar stools attached to the floor. Every single bottle and glass on the bar was strewn over the floor and broken, which had most likely happened during the train's sudden stop.
"Pft. What a mess." Rill expressed his disapproval when he entered the car. He wasn't sure whether a restaurant car would have a healing kit, but then again, judging from the amount of glass items that had broken, it was more than probable that such items had broken before as well, so it might have been useful to have a healing kit near by. He started going through the kitchen cabinets and closets. If nothing else, he would grab a bottle of the strongest booze he found, since that could be used to clean wounds. He was fairly sure something would have stayed intact, either in a snug cabinet or a stronger container. He ignored the eating booths. (Search)
This time, Rill's search was fruitful. Underneath the bar in one of the double cabinet doors, he found a small bag marked with the all common red cross on a white background indicating medical supplies. It was designed to be slung across one shoulder and carried. Opening it, Rill saw the standard medical kit containers, some tiny paper packages of powdered opiates, a couple of glass vials of antibiotics, gauze, cotton, bandages and some needles and thread. Many of the bottles and glasses in the cabinet had also broken, but luckily the medical bag had been spared from the spilled liquor. A trio of bottles were still intact, however... one was short and roundish, with a yellowish label on it which read "Leeds Preserve 1515", one was long and slender and had a honey colored liquid inside, the letters on the label were in some Majai language he could not read. The last one was lying on its side and read "Ordon Spiced" and was a light red liquid in a classic wine bottle.
Rill didn't make a fuss out of finding the kit. He just took it out, checked that it contained what they needed and closed the cabinets. He left the wines where they were. "I found a healing kit. I hope it's enough, but you can look for another if you want," he said to Paki. He then moved toward the first class car and started making his way back.
"Bandages and perhaps sewing should be enough, yes?" Paki asked. "If they need anything else I suppose I could look...but for now, let us find out." He headed towards the front right behind Rill.
Back of the Train
"OK ill go down a bit and try to jump onto the caboose deck. If i make it ill try to grab you when you jump." Dakai Rolled himself out of the snow while helping the Shah woman up. He did his best to try and steady her with her injury before turning and setting off down the track to meet the end of the train. He steadied himself and focused on the railings and opening of the deck. "Come on I can do this." The gear head tried to psych himself up. He put all his leg strength into leaping out to the deck(jump) and even try to grab onto the hand rails if he didn't make the jump(push/pull) if he made it he was going to turn around and try and help Daiyu.
Daiyu nodded at Dakai and waited until he jumped and then followed after (jump). She was hoping to provide some help as well and grabbed for the railing (push/pull). Though there was probably no hope of her pulling herself aboard she was hoping that at least it would be easier for Dakai to help her get to safety.
Daiyu and Dakai heard the locomotive crash into the barricade, though they could not see it all the way by the back of the train. As the train shook and lost some of its speed, Dakai managed to jump onto the deck. The wound on his stomach stung like he was getting stabbed as he landed on the Deck, his legs hanging off the train. Daiyu tried to jump as well, but with her hurt leg, the woman could barely even run. It seemed like the train would leave her when Dakai managed to grab onto her wrist, reaching out as much as he could with his left hand while he grabbed onto the railing with his right. Daiyu's legs finally gave in as Dakai held her and the woman ended up being dragged behind the train, the wooden planks of tracks nearly destroying her legs and bruising every inch of them before the man could finally pull her onto the ledge completely.
Dakai collapsed into a pile beside the bruised and battered, Daiyu his stomach searing in pain but he hadn't let go of her wrist yet. He lay on his back still not completely believing he and the pretty Shah woman had survived. A silent moment passed before he started a low laugh, it was pained and began to build into a wincing loud chuckle that some how made it over the clacking of the tracks. When he finally regained his senses he turned his head to her. "You ok miss Daiyu?"
Daiyu was in agony. Her eyes stung with tears that she refused to let through but she couldn't stop the trembling off her body. Would she even be able to walk again? She couldn't open her mouth, even to answer Dakai's question for fear that she would start screaming. No, she must show the strength that was expected of her. She couldn't show her weakness and instead turned her face towards the ground.
Dakai Managed to heave himself up enough to see that Daiyu was in much worse shape than himself. He needed to get her inside, someplace warm. "Come on then lets get you in the cart, maybe break off some icicles to put in your legs to keep them from swelling." He bent low and winced a bit from his newly agitated chest. He gingerly tried to lift her up (push/pull) to try and carry her inside.
Dakai reached over to Daiyu and actually managed to pick her other easily, as the young woman was rather light and, even if he was wounded, Dakai was not a weak man.
Daiyu managed to muster one outraged thought at being picked up by a man but this was quickly and utterly overwhelmed by the feeling of her legs and the knowledge that they were still there. She grabbed on to Dakai's arm and held on tightly as she gritted her teeth and struggled to move her leg out of Dakai's way and hopefully make it easier for him to move. She only had a moment to rejoice in the feeling of her legs before she was almost knocked down as, what felt like a needle, pierced her bone. Thankfully, she was able to keep quiet, as she turned her head in towards his chest. She suddenly remembered that he too had been injured only a bit earlier and she glanced up at him, "What about you?" She asked hoarsely, her pride forcing the question.
"Im ok. Working near the furnaces and steam engines has made me pretty resilient and quick to heal." Dakai put on a strong face with a gentle smile as he looked down at her. He managed to make his way through the carts toward the front of the train. "Lets try and find you a med kit and get something for your legs when we meet up with the others."
Daiyu nodded silently but didn't say anything else. She was in agony and she gritted her teeth against every movement. Right now she was past thinking, and only concentrated on not allowing herself to cry.
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