Naoto's Journey Westward

[Christopher Saunders]

“I’ll give you props, for a human, you are one tough little thing.” Chris murmured under his breath, exhaustion bogging down his movements. Rising, his back popped, jolting pain through him. A near silent stream of obscenities slipped from his lips, and he strode over, dropping down to his knees next to her and the unconscious Gallian.

“Before we do anything we need to tend to your wounds, unless you wish to become a snack as soon as he awakes?” Christopher raised an eyebrow curiously, but was already slicing strips of cloth from his shirt. No, this Russian wouldn’t even have enough blood left to try to fight back if she remained battered and bleeding.

“I suppose I’m a luckier one here though, I’d be dead if I didn’t have the immunity.” His tired hands caught her arm, turning her to face him. “Where’s the worst of the bleeds?” He offered her a few of the strips, waiting to see if she’d ask for help. The blonde man's eyes were bloodshot, an angry red against the calm green iris', and black smudges were already forming under his eyes.

[MeloraBelikov]

She hesitated, but she knew he was right, if she didn't attend to her wounds she'd end up dying of blood loss again or even worse, she might get chomped on. With a resigned sigh, Melora returned Chris' gaze. It startled her how old the young man looked after using all of his energy and focus. "I'm..." She stopped and corrected herself. He'd already called her out on not being fine like she claimed to be. "The worse is probably my shoulder and my stomach, the wounds have opened again," she mumbled, returning her eyes to Azura. As she watched him the wheels in her sick Russian mind began to turn and a plan came to her. Her father would die by her hand yet.

[Christopher Saunders]

Christopher sighed, faintest growl lacing into the sound. Forget being bogged down, his body was trying to suck him straight into the grip of sleep. "Shoulder and stomach." Her repeated, running a hand over his face. The strips would be useless tied together, that'd just make knots which would do little for all the punctures.

"Loose the jacket, this won’t be long enough to wrap about it too." He sighed once more, slicing his entire shirt off, then in half with a knife-like claw. In the brief motion it took for him to swivel to get a better grip, sunlight caught his flesh, burning only slightly. With the plants dead, and energy depleted, no real extra defense was at his aid.

“Sssshit.” He hissed. Chris flinched out of the sunlight, burn and silver scars flashing visible on his lower back, and was on her opposite side in a flicker of movement. One of the halves of big fabric he thrust into her hands, the other he spread between his own, plotting the best angle to get pressure on and inflict the least amount of pain. "You get your belly, I'll get the shoulder, then we need to move into a darker place."

[MeloraBelikov]

Melora shrugged off her light jacket, which was already pretty much entirely covered in blood. Casting it to the side she took the fabric he thrust into her hands, ready to tie it tightly around her and hoping it would do some good. When the sunlight fell over Chris' pale form she watched him squirm, rethinking the plan she'd formulated, suddenly all too aware of the consequences of those thoughts. But no, it needed to be done. It made perfect sense. She drew in a breath, tying her wounds off before succumbing to pain, entire body folding on itself as she doubled over. Her breath was short, her vision blurred. Hair cascaded down to cover her features, hiding her pained expression. She gulped as the pain began to fade, knowing that she was about to feel it again as Chris tied her shoulder up. "Just hurry and we can leave, find some shadows. We'll hide there until the day is over."

[Christopher Saunders]

As Melora doubled over around herself, Chris made the choice to let her be. She didn't need 'I'm sorry's, or anything of that sort: she needed to preserved some of the blood that she had left.

So he waited in silence for her to compose herself once more.

Christopher nodded, standing once more before he positioned the improvised bandage around her shoulder. Surprise hit him yet again at her size, compared to some people he'd been around, she was genuinely not much bigger then a young teenager, and surely she wasn't a teen anymore. "I'm sorry." He muttered quickly, unable to help it from spilling out his lips, then gave a quick tug to either end of the fabric.

[MeloraBelikov]

She returned to her doubled over position, mumbling curses of mixed languages to herself. "No...I am sorry," she managed out of gritted teeth as she finally sat up. "Thank you for your help. We ought to get out of here before you get burned again. It's bad enough that Azura is injured, we don't need you all burnt up either." Melora stood, knees shaking but still able to support herself. "Do you think you can help me carry Azura to a safer place?" Despite being almost completely broken, Melora was convinced that she could have still saved Azura or carried him away, which was far from the case. If not for Chris she'd be dead or in the process of becoming as vampire instead of just bleeding all over the place.

[Christopher Saunders]

“You’re very welcome Ms. Belikov. And pardon, but there’s no way in hell you will be able to carry…” Several names, some mean or insulting, popped into his head before he settled with something basic. “Azura Gallu in this condition, I do believe you’d only injure yourself further.”

Christopher looked down at the unconscious Gallian. "Goliath." He muttered, lowering himself to hike one of the much larger man’s arms over his shoulders, supporting the rest of him with an arm around his rib cage, though taking care to avoid where he’d been stabbed.

Fifteen grueling minutes later, the group had shuffled off into a darkened spot in the tunnel where it grew wider. Chris deposited Azura on the ground, propping his back against a wall before he turned to Melora.

[MeloraBelikov]

Melora sank to the ground, leaning up against the same wall Azura had been propped against. "Chris. You called me someone else earlier. Do you have someone waiting for you back at the Citadel? You may want to call them and apologize. I'll do my best to make sure you make it back alive, but as you can tell, it may prove difficult." Melora smiled at him. Though her words were far from comforting her smile was. She wasn't meaning to be malicious or unsettling, she was meaning to be funny, joking about their terrible predicament.

[Christopher Saunders]

The ghost of a smile quirked his lips ever so slightly. "Serena. She's a very close friend of mine who's blood was on my hands a few years ago when I was helping her. Severe punishments were inflicted on all who were involved with her... injuries in the first place." Chris's eye bluntly stated to leave it at that.

When Melora offered her protection, he opened his mouth as though to add something, then shut it and turned away a bit. "This is probably the safest place for me at this point though, a call will only be traced to send more... more... animals after me."

[MeloraBelikov]

"I know it's not of much help, but I know who's responsible now." Melora wiped her fingers on her jeans before running them through her curls, stress getting the better of her. "And apparently I'm going to be forced into leading the new world of vampires? I think not. I would rather die. I'm sure you already know that killing my father won't do us much good," She glanced up at Chris. "Well, I take that back. It'll do me a whole hell of a lot of good, but it won't stop the clans from falling into an all out war, your clan included."

[AzuraGallu]

"Honestly, you'd think the both of you would shut the fuck up after getting splat against the walls like bugs," Azuras voice quietly broke the silence around them. The raspiness in the broken words served as an indication to exactly how the vampire was feeling at the moment. His eyes were barely open, the sheen of them dulled by his eyelashes that practically brushed his cheeks as he fought to stay conscious.
Slowly, he leaned his head back against the wall of the dugout tunnel, making a strangled sort of pained noise in the back of his throat

[Christopher Saunders]

Christopher's eyes immediately shot toward the Gallu. "Its a good thing to know you didn't die while we were getting splatted." He remarked, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. His focus was over-stretched, his mind and body exhausted, and emotions beyond truely feeling for a while. "How do you want us to go about fixing you up?"

[MeloraBelikov]

"Azura..." Melora turned over to face him, now on her hands and knees, looking him over. Then, she leaned forward, arms outstretched, and pulled him into a hug. She couldn't manage a tight one, only a frail and tiny one, like being hugged by a small child. "I'm glad I followed you, otherwise you'd be dead! And if you died showing up to save me, I don't know what I'd do!" She took another look at him, inspecting him while her hands rested on his shoulders. He wasn't in good shape at all, but he was alive for now. She embraced him once more, ignoring the reddening of her cheeks. "Please don't die, Azura."

[AzuraGallu]

"You definitely got smacked upside the head, Mel," Azura teased after a short intake of breath between his teeth when she'd initially hugged him. It hurt, but he wasn't about to tell her to get the hell off either. And as it stood, he would have hugged her back if only his muscles could manage it, but he also wasn't about to look like a retard trying, either.
He looked down at her fondly for a minute before turning his attention to Christopher. "It'll wear off. Started to already."

[Christopher Saunders]

Christopher nodded, mumbling something in reply before he look a seat on the opposite wall, closing his eyes. Cracking one lid back open, he shot them both a look, before seeming to fall back into the grip of sleep.