"Ah, finally, the forest edge." I say, a whistle following my words right out. The last of the twig-heavy undergrowth crunches behind me and tall grass quickly goes away. We keep going, going as far as the road and we stop for a moment.
"It's dripping." Heiya reminds me, an awkward huff of amusement coming out of her.
"Thanks for that!" I gently chastise, shuffling the animal's corpse as it continues to soak my clothes a lovely, lovely ichor red. I hate it. I'm going to be naked for a chunk of tomorrow, or I'm going to be stained. Smelling of a kill.
Having the smell of meat on you is one thing, a good meal always leaves the soul hungry. Problem is, I smell of meat because I've got a mangled corpse over my shoulders! This animal better taste good because it's certainly testing my patience. Each drop of it, trickling away down my chest and clinging to my body hair.
Gods above, I'm going to need a bath, not just want one. I'm going to need one. Especially before dinner. Leave all this on too long and I'm going to be licked at by the mutts and more alike.
"Town's not far, at least there's that." I remark, swinging my collection of animals about with my free hand. Some of it flies away, splattering the road with its distinct ruby shine. It's not clean by any means, but somewhat fresh blood still manages to stick out.
"I'll lead the way." Heiya is quite quiet in explaining, doing just that as she goes ahead. A couple of farmers watch us from their field, tools in hand and not much else going on in their lives. I offer a quick gesture that they have no way of knowing the meaning of. And they return it anyway.
I look away, smirk on my shaking head. It goes away much the same, my attention sticking to Heiya as the town comes closer. She offers me a quick gesture and takes a turn. Each step bringing us one stride closer to the familiar sound of a butcher's cleaver striking wood and bone as much as it's hitting meat.
"Ah, a mellow evening made all the more exciting! What have you brought along this time, dear Heiya?" the elderly butcher asks us as his eyes widen in delight at the sight of the haul on my back.
"It's a bit messy, I know. But, should be good?" I point out and ask and the man gently knocks his slab of a blade into the table. He comes close, urging me to lay the wild swine out for his inspection. Metal and parts slide about, my dumping grounds becoming clearer by the motion.
I finally rid myself of the animal, leaving it in the man's capable hands. A thoughtful noise goes through his lips and I dump all the smaller things on the side. A garnish to the finer meal we have laid out for him. He scurries about, looking for a smaller knife and he thrusts it right in. Seemingly no regard for his red-brown stained hands.
"Brutalised and mutilated." he's quick to explain, a knowing click to his words. But, he smiles regardless.
"Still good?" I ask, just to make sure the labour was worth it as Heiya keeps to herself for the moment. Idly glancing at the many other skinned bodies on display. Grim for us of the surface, but, when refrigeration is not a thing... I suppose leaving it for the sky-loving pests is all you can do.
"Very, I'm already barely paying even its ruined weight in value. Taking as is is no loss to me even with so little of the animal in the bellies of my fellows! And they certainly appreciate the plentiful meat for stews and more." he explains and I nod along, not really caring how well-fed others are. Only that I am.
"So, how much?" I ask, and he turns to Heiya, and the pair seem to silently agree to something.
"The usual." he answers, pulling out a pitiful sum of money that even I know is not a whole lot. But, it's not like we need it either way. Bloodied palm relinquishes, somewhat clean paw takes.
"Guess that's that." I say and Heiya takes one more thing from the man. A small little bowl of what looks to be... Carved out bullets?
"An enjoyable evening to the pair of you!" the butcher calls out as we leave him behind. A lot of work for him to do and our meal coming with it-
"OI!" I snap, spinning right back around.
"Hm?" he lets out, surprised by my aggressive action.
"I'll be coming by later, and I expect a good chunk of that 'free' meat for me to enjoy for dinner." I warn him, heading back off as he chuckles nervously, a nodding bobble to his head.
"Hrurim!" Heiya snaps herself and I get going, not wanting to be a bother for her.
"Hold on, we're not going that way. We'll be heading this way." I point out to her, taking control of our journey as I know we can find an open source of water this way. My hands flick away, trying to rid me of what blood I can, but it's a difficult thing. Blood like this needs a proper scrub, not the waving of hands and some air under a bright light.
Some cloud cover would certainly be lovely now... I'm growing a second skin and it's goopy, slimy and glue-like. Better for picking up bits of reeds, splinters of wood and much more. I've got a bunch of fur on me, too. The animals might've been shedding the entire journey.
"Gods above, there's the crystal-clear joy I'm looking for." I remark. The clothes come off quickly and Heiya makes a mocking scene of it as I plummet my half-naked body into the water. All of my clothes are wet, but only half of it is on me.
"Such a drama queen." she points out as if she's not responsible. I give her a knowing look, and she gives me nothing more than a sheepish grin about the fact.
"Shut up!" I whine, soaking my top and wringing it a good few times. The red is thick, paler and paler with each tight twist. The moment it barely matters, I slap it onto my stained chest, tugging and pulling.
"I'm not going to help you." Heiya tells me and I roll my eyes, shaking my head quite in time with my scrubbing arms. She dips the end of her gun into the water, cleaning that gunk off of the barrel. Leaving a bit of gore behind in the gentle stream. One can only hope that no one's actually drinking from this at the end of the day. Though, I suppose it hardly matters.
I've had far worse water, too...
"You at least owe me some help on the back." I point out and she relinquishes on that front, leaving her gun to dry. For once, too, she lets go of Ivahstar's gun. Though, it's hardly far away in any loose sense of the word. Always propped up against her, going right back there the moment it slips away onto the grass with a thud.
"Give me your shirt," she demands, clearly not even bothering with the bucket I know full well is back there. She squeezes it out over me, putting more mess on me than she probably takes off. A huff of amusement parts my lips and words are coming right with it.
"Make sure to scrub out the hard to reach spots." I say, knowing full well not all of that water rushing down my back is clean, pure water. I know full well a good few litres of it is the bad stuff.
"As long as hard to reach doesn't mean your arse." she chuffs back and I give a little hop up, getting a smack back down for the trouble.
"Hey, if it gets clogged up with anything but the you-know-what, it needs a cleaning." I say and she gives me one more gentle smack with my shirt. The damn thing wrapping around and clinging to my face.
"Your whole act needs a cleanup." she tells me, taking back the shirt to finally finish her job.
"Body, my body needs a cleanup. After all, carrying your mess certainly made a mess of me." I correct, tacking on a quick chastisement in spite of knowing why she did what she did. Empathy aside, I'm still annoyed I got covered in blood.
"And you'll be carrying around a lot more of my messes in the days to come." she tells me, a gentle laugh to her words as she seemingly finishes up with the backside. I take back my shirt, leaving it trapped under the soles of my boots. The edges catch on the edge of the ditch, but most of it washes away with the soft tide. Bobbling and floating without a care in the world.
It tries so hard to dry in the clear sunshine, but each dip into the water ruins that. Ruins it, ruins it. My hand launches forward, snatching it back up and tossing it over. By the grace of the gods above, it lands on that bit of fencing back there. Though hardly in the best manner.
"Straighten it a tiny bit, please?" I ask so giddily and I rise to my feet, hand on my beltline. My soaked clothes drip and drip, running free of so much water but so little filth I want gone. Me and Heiya move up, going onto the fence together. And, unfortunately, she leaves me to sort my shirt out.
"About earlier in the forest..." she's surprisingly open to talk about.
"Don't worry about it, Heiya. I know what's going through your head is no easy thing to be dealing with." I tell her, almost instinctually looking for a stick to smoke. But, well, I don't have any on me. And my top's soaked.
"I mean more so for getting you soaked in blood..." she clarifies, and I turn to give her a smile. My arm going around her shoulder and shaking her up until she copies the expression.
"You're paying me back with a filling dinner. We have shelter, and this artificial weather is not half-bad. Like, it's so far has always been that perfect mixture of everything. Breeze, daylight. Warmth and the means to stop it from becoming an overbearing slaughter of the senses." I say, knocking my shoes about to try and clear them of some of the water trapped in them.
Actually...
"How many times are you going to lose the boots today?" Heiya asks, waving her hand once again as I find a relatively flat and clean spot to rest my soggy feet on. Sunshine will get the socks dried out in no time at all. Just need them to dry.
"Hopefully, no more times today. Might even be worth walking back to our barn space barefoot." I explain, though, it's not like she has any right to complain. Hwardgon barely wear anything down there. Their feet are natural boots. Though, credit where it's due... Nin didn't exactly keep his feet exposed, and he's a shelled freak.
"We even allowed a fire on the farm grounds? We've been getting our food from the inn." Heiya points out and I shrug.
"Not like they can deny us the right to be warm at night. Besides, we both know how to make a safe fire. And I doubt they'll be cruel about it for the sake of it. Everyone's good-spirited around here." I muse, thinking a few things over.
"Shouldn't taste too bad, either. I'm sure we can scrounge up some vegetables and the like. Maybe pick up a stale loaf if you want to fill out your meal with more than grease and fat." Heiya explains, pointing out the parts of town she's come to know. A modest place, a fair squat.
"I certainly hope it doesn't taste bad, didn't carry it all that way for nothing." I complain, not at all liking the idea of a meal that tastes of lead rather than juicy meat.
"You're lucky I let you eat any of my kill." Heiya chuckles and I turn her way.
"Shut up." I go, knocking at her gently.