21 Regroup and Recover (1/2)

Chapter 21:Regroup and Recover

Around Knothole sanctum, the front door opened as Ashewyn, and the others were arriving. The red haired boy looked to his allies, as he let them enter, holding the door for everyone to step inside. Closing the door after everyone stepped through, he followed them all down the long staircase, to the bottom level.

”You guys can sit wherever, I gotta talk to my old man 'bout this.” Ashe said, as he proceeded over to the bar, where Runfaust was stationed.

Solitaire uneasily watched Ashe head over, fidgeting a bit, as she turned to Miles. The feline seemed pretty worried about Nye, pocketing his hands with a grunt, before he walked over to sit at one of the tables near the stairs. Solitaire furrowed her brows with a sigh, as her gaze shifted up at Zyron.

He peered her way, as they exchanged an abrupt glance. He turned away from her, with brief hesitation. ”Quit staring at me, would you.” He grumbled under his breath.

”That's all you can say to me, after all the shite that happened? You're really starting to brass me off, you cheeky bastard!” Solitaire huffed, with a twitch of her brow.

”Well fucking excuse me for having to get dragged into all that crap.” Zyron looked back at her, with a disappointed glance. He decided to go take a seat alone, away from other people.

”Arsehole...” Solitaire crossed her arms, harshly, but suddenly shrieked when she caught Nikolai blankly staring at her. ”Eeeeekkk! Oy, don't do that!”

Nikolai only snickered, before warping upstairs, to stare out the window. Solitaire pouted a bit, not understanding fiends. She decided to proceed over to Miles, joining him at the table a few seats over. Approaching the table was Ashe's sister, Molliana the little cyclops girl.

”Hello. Would you and your friends like something to eat?” Molly greeted, timidly.

Solitaire turned her attention to Molly with a grimace, glancing briefly at Miles. ”Um, I suppose so. You hungry, mate?”

Miles' ears went back, as he averted his eyes from her. ”I don't normally pass up food, but I'm worried about Nye...”

”Look, I'm worried too, but it's better if we fill our bellies while we wait.” Solitaire tried to reassure him.

”I guess you're right... starving ourselves would be pointless...” Miles shrugged.

Molly smiled happily. ”Then I'll bring you both something good to eat. I'll be right back.”

Molliana scurried off to the kitchen of the location, and everyone sat there with stoic expressions of concern.

Ashewyn was sitting at the bar, looking to his adopted father. Runfaust seemed to be contemplating a bit. ”I don't understand why the wild ones would behave in a manner like that. You're absolutely positive that our Queen couldn't control them?”

”Yeah, I'm pretty sure. What's weird though, those fiends acted like it was an ambush. Hive mentalities aren't smart enough to come up with a strategy like that.” Ashewyn leaned to his palm.

”Don't you think you're overthinking this, Ashe? You're insinuating that there is some conspiracy amidst.” Runfaust replied, knowing his son's antiques.

”This isn't me being paranoid pops, something's not right. Nye should have been able to handle them. There is definitely something wrong, and I want to know what.” Ashewyn scoffed, pushing off of the bar table.

He proceeded across the floor, and took a seat with Miles and Solitaire. They both glanced his way, as Molly sat some biscuits and gravy onto the table for them.

”He's not taking me seriously, like it was some fluke or something. I don't know about you guys, but I think it's best we stay here until we're sure that Wynorex is vacated.” He said, rubbing finger tips over his eyelids in frustration. ”First things first, we need to find Nye.”

”Yeah, there's no telling where she's at right now.” Solitaire leaned to her palm with a grimace.

”Finch better get her out of there safely, that's all I'm gonna say...” Miles grunted with his mouth full of food, as he looked to the window, seeing rain hitting the glass outside.

Somewhere in the marshlands, Jack was carrying Nye is his arms through the pouring rain. Both of their hair and clothes had been soaked from the amount of rainfall. The expression on Jackyn's face appeared agitated, wiping his cheek to his shoulder, attempting to remove the trails of water from his brow. His gaze peered down at the unconscious maiden anxiously, as he struggled to keep his boots from sinking into the moist earth of the marsh. Her veins seemed to have gotten worse from the Nightshade poisoning, but Jack's eyes turned ahead as they reached the entrance of the nearby swampy woodlands, trekking onward.

Back around Knothole, Miles and the others were all still contemplating what to do next. Their faces showed that they were all really trying to figure out what to do from here. They knew they needed to locate Nye, but weren't sure where to begin, since the last time they saw her was in the deep roads with Finch.

Miles slammed both his palms down on the table, rising from his seat. ”We can't just sit around here, and do nothing! Nye's out there somewhere, and we NEED to find her!” It was clear he was stressed out, and anxious about the whole ordeal.

”Look Stripes. I know where you're coming from, but she could be anywhere by now.” Ashe shrugged, leaning back in his chair slightly.

”...But, what if she's still down there?!” Miles grumbled, with his ears backwards.

”Simmer down mate. Don't forget, Spooky's got that Finch bloke with her.” Solitaire scoffed, in irritation.

”I-I know that! It's just-” Miles began, but before he could continue, the entrance door opened.

Echoing from up the stairs, was the sound of wet boots trudging down the staircase, along with the sound of the entrance door closing behind the person who entered. As the group turned to look over abruptly, they were surprised to see it was Jackyn. Nye was still in his arms, unconscious, and soaked from the rain.

Miles leapt quickly to his feet, rushing over. ”Uh!? N-Nye!” Miles gasped, but shot an angry glare at Jack, expecting an explanation. ”What did YOU do to Her, and where the heck is Finch?!” He demanded, as he got into Jack's personal space.

”Hmph.” Jack could only scoff, as he brushed passed the shorter male.

Zyron was still seated away from the others, but seemed uneasy about Jack's presence. ”(Fuck... It's that guy from before... Shit... What is a Dream Weaver doing here anyway!?... Okay Zyron, chill out. It's gonna be fine. They seem to know him, and the girl he has with him.)”

Miles turned to Jack, whose back was now facing the feline. ”Get your filthy hands off of her! I want answers!!” Miles hissed.

Ashewyn and Solitaire had gotten to their feet, and drew closer, with the look of uncertainty to the Angel of Death. They too wanted an explanation.

Jack halted, slowly shifting to gaze back at Miles with an annoyed expression. ”I don't have time to deal with you right now. So back off!” He growled.

”Something's not right here, look at Spooky's veins... They're almost black...” Solitaire timidly spoke up.

”You're gonna make this worse if you don't explain, and quick.” Ashewyn took notice too, intruding with a stern tone. There was a few others in the lower level, watching the situation, including Nikolai upstairs.

”Then you best shut up, and listen. That 'friend' of yours, the doctor. He infected her blood with some type of toxin. The more time you waste, the less she's going to have. I'm your best bet you have of saving her, so stay out of my way.” Jack retorted, coldly.

”You mean with ichor magic. That's risky, and besides that, for all we know, YOU did this to her!” Miles was growling angrily.

”Stripes. Let's not jump the gun here. Remember, Finch has knowledge in this field of things, so it's possible this guy's not lying. (If what he says IS true, then maybe my theory is right...)” Ashewyn tried to calm the feline.

”Listen to your friend, you're just wasting time here.” Jack shifted away from the group.

”That doesn't explain what she's infected with!” Miles snapped, getting passed Ashewyn. ”She NEEDS medical attention!!”

Zyron seemed annoyed with the banterings, and stumbled to his feet. He was still uneasy about this, but decided to approach, stopping not far off from Jack and Miles. His knees quivered slightly, and he tried to remain calm. He decided to turn his gaze toMiles. ”It's Nightshade poisoning. Fuck, I get that guy, Finch, may have saved me... but, it seems likely that this guy's telling the truth. Trust me, I've been around enough of that kind of shit to know what I'm talking about.”

Miles seemed surprised, letting his gaze shift to Jack; as did the others. Jack looked away inresponse, preparing to head upstairs.

Zyron crossed his arms, looking back to Jack. ”Look. The only way we're going to be able to cleanse her of that shit, is if we use charcoal powder. To do that, we're going to have to disembowel a Venember to get the mineral. Problem is, it's a fucking risky encounter.” He explained.

”I don't like this, but if that's what we have to do, then we need to try.” Miles groaned, concerned about Nye's safety.

Jackyn however, turned back around, walking up to Ashewyn. ”Take her.” He said, passing Nye off to the surprised red head. ”Just keep her alive, and I'll deal with the rest.” He said, phasing off into shadows as he abruptly left the safety of Knothole, slamming the door right behind him.

Ashewyn watched Jack's abrupt leave, before glancing to the others. ”We're gonna have to trust this guy, but in the meantime I think it's best we get Nye upstairs to rest. Pinkie, mind getting a damp cloth from my sis?”

”Me?” Solitaire blushed a bit.

”Yeah you. Go grab one, and meet me upstairs. She's burning up.” Ashewyn shrugged, proceeding to carry Nye up the stairs, to the second floor.

Solitaire nodded quickly, hurrying over to Molliana. Miles was left standing there with Zyron. The feline had his arms crossed, glancing over to the canine. ”So. You know about toxins and remedies?...” Miles inquired, trying to open up, but serious.

”Not that it's any of your business, but yeah. I believe you met my former master... So... I'm sure you can put two and two together with that.” Zyron looked away from Miles, feeling a bit of shame.

Miles furrowed his brows, relaxing a bit. ”The witch... I see, so you must have had it harder than I thought.”

”Let's not get into crap like that right now.” Zyron replied, seriously.

”Yeah, we got other things to worry about at the moment. Like Nye, and what happened when we got separated. I don't trust Jack, but what if he's telling the truth about Finch?” Miles seemed worried.

”Just ask her when she wakes up then. Simple as that.” Zyron stated, with a soft groan, as he noticed Solitaire heading up the stairs to help Ashe.

”What if he wasn't lying though? That would mean there's something else going on... and if it is, you're just about the closest thing we got to someone with medical knowledge.” Miles admitted, sheepishly.

”I get it, you want me to stick around to help out. I don't exactly like being around people, but it might be safer here, than out there where Inferna can find me again.” Zyron replied, hesitantly.

”You mean it?” Miles was surprised.

”Yeah, just don't make me repeat myself.” Zyron closed his eyes, with a slight shrug.

Elsewhere, within the nearby dreary woods, combat was commencing between Jackyn and a massive Venember. The rain was picking up, and the battle was getting heated. Jackyn's boots skidded backwards along the gravel of the ground, as he was slammed back hard into a rotting tree trunk. It broke upon impact, and Jack was hurled right through it. Looming closer was the gigantic horned reptile, slithering it's body around the broken trunk of the tree, before peering down to the rubble Jack was laying in. He had several cuts and bruises, with blood beginning to form a small puddle. The Venember's body was just barley in the blood as it opened it's mouth, to lunge for a bite. However, as it's face came close, Jackyn shifted fast, rolling out of the way right at the fangs collided with the debris.