Sequoia smiled, saddling up her horse with speed and precision. She pet her horse on the nose one last time before she jumped onto her. Her skirt hiked its way up her thighs, stopping with about 4 inches to go. She yanked it down with a yelp. She felt heat rise in her cheeks. "Uh, let's go. Now."
Aniña nodded and kicked her horse into motion, galloping out of the stables and into the forest with a laugh. This was what she loved. Being free to do whatever she wanted with no limits. She let out a howl of excitement and urged her horse to go faster.
Sequoia followed at a more hesitant pace, letting her horse follow Aniña's at a slow canter. She took in the scenery around her. The trees were fascinatingly tall, dwarfing her by nearly 50 feet. She felt so small. Unimportant. It was nice, not to have responsibilities resting on her shoulders.
Aniña slowed her pace and doubled back to Sequoia, "Can't you ride faster?" She whined, circling her with her own horse, "Come on!" She laughed and took off again, maybe a little slower but still pretty fast, looking back at her wife with a grin.
Sequoia tilted her head in confusion but sped up her horse as she was asked. Aniña seemed to be in remarkably good spirits. It was odd to see her so happy when 90% of the time she was an angry, standoffish mess. Perhaps she enjoyed the outside. Sequoia filed away that fact for later. When her wife pinned her against the wall again, she could get her back into good spirits.
Aniña let out another howl of laughter and the horse jumped over a small river. How she wished she could be out here all the time with just the environment. She slowed down her horse when she heard a noise near by.
Sequoia slowed her horse down beside Aniña, straining her ears until she caught the snapping of branches breaking underfoot. She pulled out her sword and hopped off her horse, hoping this was what she was supposed to do. Her landing was muffled by the wet leaves underfoot.
Aniña frowned. It sound like a four footed creature but… not. She hopped off her own horse and listened again, the snapping and breaking of foliage was drawing closer at a slower pace. She walked towards the sound when another of the same sound came from behind them and Aniña turned around to face the other. Whatever this was, it wasn't a normal animal.
Sequoia brandished her sword. She had read up on the area around here so she could occupy her time with something relevant, and knew that there weren't many animals native to these parts. She got the sneaking suspicion that this wasn't one of the benevolent ones. She hoped it was just a deer, but deep in her heart, she knew. This was not good.
After a few minutes, the creatures came into view. They walked on all fours and their skin was pale, their veins could be seen clearly and almost looked slimy. They had no eyes on their bald heads but a mouth with teeth that looked like it could bite through bone. The noises they made were almost something out of a nightmare. They looked like something out of a nightmare. Aniña's face drained of colour and she almost looked… scared.
Sequoia took in a deep breath, backing away slowly. These things were…abominations. Creatures that lived in the darkest reaches of the night. Their appearance in the daytime was… troubling, to say the very least. She pulled herself onto the horse, moving as slowly as possible and gesturing for Aniña to do the same. The woman seemed shell-shocked, and Sequoia could only help she would do the right thing and jump onto her horse.
Before Aniña could do anything, one of the creatures lunged at her, Aniña only just dodging out of the way at the last second. It let out a bone piercing cry and lunged at her again, her sword connecting with one of its front legs, cutting it off in one easy swipe, "Sequoia, get out of here!" She cried before the thing attacked again.
Sequoia sighed. Despite the fact that she hated Aniña's guts approximately 80% of the time, she couldn't let her get killed. Sequoia would feel Terrible. She didn't know why, but she knew she would. She spurred her horse forward, jumping off it with a yell. Once the horse was between her and the creatures, she grabbed Aniña's hand and sprinted in the direction of the nearest clearing. The creatures should be weak to sunlight.
Aniña winced as she'd already sustained a couple injuries from the creatures which were following close behind. She didn't know why Sequoia was helping her, honestly she thought the other would leave her to the creatures but clearly she was wrong. Aniña yanked her hand away from her wife's as one of the creatures attacked, biting down on her shoulder. Blood sprayed but she pushed her sword through the center of the things body and it let go. She pulled her sword back before decapitating it in one clean swipe before continuing to run.
Sequoia took a deep breath, grounding herself in the moment. The clearing was only a few feet away, in fact, as she had the thought, they crossed into it. Sunlight streamed down on them, casting golden light down onto their faces. She gasped, spitting out "Everaria Prodaren!"
A large, semitranslucent barrier sprung up around the mirror, shimmering like a giant bubble. She was incredibly glad she'd put some time into magic, even though she hadn't taken the time to learn many spells. All she could cast were the things that came easily to her, mostly barriers. She ignored the personal implications of that.
The remaining creature let out an eye piecing screech as it hit the barrier and the sun light hit its body. It back away and into the darkness of the trees, but not before letting out another warning screech. Aniña watched it go before collapsing, her good hand going to grab her shoulder. Her leg also ached and she found another wound there, blood dripping out of it at a steady pace.
"Shit. Alar!" She muttered, assessing the damage. The thing hadn't bitten a chunk out of her arm, thank the gods. They had left huge, deep scratches in the flesh. Scratches that were threatening to let Aniña bleed out. "Fuck. You messed yourself up good, habibi." She ripped out pieces of her underskirt, using the fabric as a makeshift bandage.
"I'm fine…" Aniña whispered, trying to not show how much pain she was actually in. Everything hurt like hell and she felt light headed. She honestly wished she was dead so she didn't have to deal with the pain. The scratches would leave more scars to add to the mess she already had, "I'm fine…"
Sequoia gave a harsh snort. Some people had such a problem showing weakness. She supposed it was merited. "Sure you are, Habibi. Sure you are." While she didn't care much about showing physical weakness, she was rather cold when it came to personality. She wasn't one for being vulnerable in any emotional sphere.
Once Aniña's shoulder had been properly bandaged, Sequoia helped her to her feet. "C'mon. I'll fix you up better when we're at home." She began staggering forward with Aniña on her shoulder. They weren't far from the house. They could probably make it in…20 minutes? 30 minutes? She hoped the creatures wouldn't come back.
"Why are you helping me? I thought you hated me so why not leave me to die?" Aniña asked, her voice low and raspy. She honestly had no clue why the other was helping her at all. Honestly she wanted to die because the pain was so bad but she tried to hide it as best she could. With every passing moment the pain grew and grew.
Sequoia shrugged as best she could with someone who was at least 100 pounds leaning on her shoulder. "I honestly don't know. Part of it is seeing people in pain, part of it is me needing an alliance with you, and some of it is me not wanting to leave you for dead." The manor was in sight now. Sequoia nearly screamed in joy when they dragged themselves through the door. She left Aniña on the couch and ran off to the armory where she had seen a first aid kit.
After Sequoia had left, Aniña let herself let out a small moan of pain. It felt like her entire body was burning and burning. Even though she hated her wife, she was kind of gas she was helping her, even if she wanted to die in the moment. The pain was overbearing at this point and she felt so so tired.
Sequoia grabbed the first aid kit and rushed back to the living room. She unpacked the kit, movements careful and precise. She wracked her brain for information on the creatures as she pulled out bandages and gauze, remembering they were poisonous. Fuck. There were some herbs in the kit, a few of which she recognized as medicinal. Hopefully, they'd help Aniña.
"Hey, Habibi, can you eat these?" Sequoia was kind of terrified. She and Aniña had their differences, sure. That didn't mean she could leave her to die. She pressed the herbs to Aniña's lips, praying that the girl would eat. Could eat.
Aniña slowly nodded and eat the herbs quickly before another pain groan erupted from deep inside her, "Jurun kure irren. Morsyel pollot irt harlirat viernen…" She didn't even noticed when she reverted back to her native tongue, pain clouding every sense.
"Shit. Fuck. Hey, Habibi, can you speak the Diplomat's Tongue to me, please? I can't understand you." Sequoia ripped the fabric of Aniña's shirt even farther, grabbing a wet cloth and clearing her shoulder of blood. She threw down layer after layer of gauze, bandaging the shoulder under a thick swath of bandages. She rustled around the herbs, finding one she hoped was a painkiller and fed it to Aniña.
"G-Ginger, lemon, mint, devil's claw, boswellia…" Aniña muttered, hoping her wife would know what she meant. A pain relief cure that would also help slow the poison until the proper antidote was found.
Sequoia nodded. "Okay. Thank you. Antidote or a temporary fix?" She rifled through the kit, scrambling to find each herb and combine them. She finished in what felt like hours, though in reality, it was only a few minutes later. She fed Aniña the herbal mix. She could already tell she would be doing a lot of praying. She wove her fingers together, muttering a brief prayer. "ya sihat kabirat 'adeu allah 'an yubarak zawjati"
"Temporary…fix…" Aniña eventually breathed out, her eyes closing and her breathing slowing down. The pain wasn't as bad as it was before but she was still in a lot pf pain. She wished it was go away, "Irren kir te seravat. Irren kir te ysethen. Irren kir te hotar. Irren kir te lysif…"
"Okay. Okay!" Sequoia hyped herself up, shooting off the couch. She knew she had an encyclopedia with the creatures in it. "I'll be right back Habibi." She shouted, running down the hall and grabbing the book. She found it on her dresser, third book to the right. She all but tore it open, ripping through the pages until she found the one she was looking for. Nocte Occiditis, better known as 'Night Stalkers'. There were a few antidotes to their poison, each difficult to make.
After a few minutes, more like 15 if she was being honest, she walked back out to Aniña. "Hey, Habibi, I found some antidotes. If we send out a servant we can have one in 2 days. 1 and a half if she hustles." She rung for a servant, sending her out to fetch nightshade, lemongrass, lavender, and chamomile. She would have to mix them together according to the recipe if she were to make a proper antidote. Hopefully, she'd be up to the task.
Aniña nodded slowly, "Why… what does… what does Habibi mean?" She asked, opening her eyes carefully to look at Sequoia. She no longer cared or maybe it was the poison running through her veins that made her not care. But she didn't look or feel like her normal cold edged self. Her features were soft, her eyes warm instead of cold, her 'good' were clear instead of hidden away.