The Adventure

Gevin gives a 'humpf' "You call that wounded? I've seen you come back with far worse!" He smirks. "You have experience with this area. Your knowledge and fighting strength would be of great use." He continues. "So yes, I'd be happy to have your company."

He heaves his backpack onto his shoulders again and walks in the direction that Etta pointed at before. "50 yards? That's not too far. Do you need help with the bandage? If not, I'd like to get going." He says, eager to continue his missions, but also slightly worried for Etta's wound. Even though he made light of it, wounds can always go ugly quickly if not taken care of.

Etta laughs at Gevin's teasing, but does quickly stand up, to prove she is indeed capable of aiding him. This causes her to wince, but that doesn't concern her; as long as they stop every so often so she can rest and change her bandages, she should be fine. It'd also be helpful if they could find plants with healing properties to apply to the gash, but with their combined abilities, that shouldn't be an issue.

"Eager to make a name for yourself, eh? Be leery, Gevin...I've heard even Rackon himself got into trouble sometimes by being too hasty! Oh, but who am I to lecture you on patience?"

She laughs again heartily, but then her expression becomes serious.

"You took an Iron Vow, yes? What did you say, exactly? If you'll hold a moment, I would also like to make a vow. I want to be your Ironsworn partner in this, not some tagalong with little responsibility."

"Will you hear my vow, Gevin?"

Gevin didn't consider that Etta may want to join in this vow. So far, even though it hadn't been that long, it was his burden to bare. He had not thought about sharing it with someone until just now.

"Uhm..." He stumbles "Yes, of course I will hear your vow." Then he explains his own vow and gives the information he had gotten from elder Caldus. "I would be honored if you vow to join me in this." He looks around for a good symbolic place to do the vow at. "How about over there, near the waystone?"

Etta nods and moves closer to the waystone. Funny...she'd always considered it just a hunk of rock, but now that it'll hear her Iron Vow, it takes on a special significance.

Placing her hand on the rough stone, she takes a deep breath, then speaks:

"I swear to aid Gevin Obrek in his mission to investigate the cause of this red-eye witchery, and end it if it's in my power to do so. Let Gevin, the spirits, and the gods hear this vow."

But as soon as she finishes, doubt creeps into her mind. How exactly were they supposed to find the cause of this? Just keep meandering south, directly into clear danger? Gevin also seemed to have doubts....

"Well...[long pause]...that's that. Few words, but they feel...heavy. But don't worry, Gevin; I'm no oathbreaker. I intend to stay by your side until this is finished."

"So, what now? Shall we continue south? I don't believe you'll find anything of note in this area. Oh, what about your supply? Do we need to fortify ourselves for the journey?"

"I think if you bring water, we'll be alright for the journey." Gevin says. "We can forage for food if needed."

He looks to the direction Etta mentioned she was attacked at earlier. "We go that way and see if we can find anything that brings us to the source." Though unsure of how to handle this, he knows which way to go and is quite determined about it. Hopefully that'll remain that way as the journey progresses.

As they walk towards where the red-eyes have been spotted before, Gevin notices that Etta is lagging behind. Which is not what he expected to happen since she's an experienced huntress. After giving her a few seconds to catch up, he notices the bandage that Etta had put on her leg is leaking blood down her leg.

"That doesn't look good, Etta." He says pointing to the blood she may not have noticed. "Would you allow me to have a look at it? It's always easier to bind someone else's wounds rather than your own." He frowns, realizing he should have offered that before. "I'm sorry I didn't realize that back at the clearing."

Etta scowls at Gevin's words. She didn't think she'd been lagging behind. She's been merely...surveying the scene. Slowly. Carefully.

"Oh, this ain't nothin', Gevin! Barely a scratch!"

But then she steps on a rock awkwardly, and grunts in pain. The blood running down her leg also drips onto the path, turning a few spots of dirt maroon.

After a heavy and grumpy sigh: "Fine, take a gander at it." Then smirking: "But this better not be an excuse to get your hands on these fine, shapely legs o' mine!"

Finding another log to rest on, she dexterously and quickly removes the soaked-through bandage. With her precise hands and focus, she could probably make a fine healer. She then reaches into her pack and pulls out another bandage.

While waiting for Gevin, she uses her waterskin to wash away some caked-on blood. The wound is long, but doesn't appear to be that deep...though the fact that it's still bleeding is surely concerning....

Gevin kneels in front of Etta to take a good look at the wound. At least with her cleaning it with water, it looked better already. But the flow of blood wasn't stopping. "Looks like a nasty cut. I have nothing to sew it shut with in my backpack, so I'll have to just put enough pressure on it and hope that does the trick." He tells her. "I do have some poultice that I brought from the village. Though it's actually to cure itching, it may be useful to plug up the wound a bit."

He takes a bandage and places it on the back of her leg. "Hold this and brace yourself for some pain." Then he takes the poultice and applies it generously. When that's looking good he starts to wrap it as tightly as possible.

Etta grimaces as Gevin does his work, but when he's finished the wound does feel better. More importantly, it's no longer dripping blood.

The archer paces back and forth, then squats and stretches to test the leg further. While still sore, she should be able to keep pace with Gevin without much difficulty.

"Not bad! I thought you had hands o' stone, but you did pretty well there! Now let's get moving, eh? No need to waste more daylight!"

---

The duo now proceed in their mission. They examine the area where Etta was attacked, but find nothing of note, so they decide to proceed in a generally southward direction.

The further they go, the more rugged the trails are, until they're mostly walking on narrow game trails. The woods press close, and the noises coming from the forest are perplexing. One moment, they hear the normal sounds of birds, beasts, and the wind in the trees. The next, it's eerily silent.

As they round a corner, they see what at first appears to be a normal forest scene: three deer, a buck and two does, walking on the trail towards them, about thirty yards away. But then the deer notice them...and both Gevin and Etta clearly see a red gleam in their eyes.

The deer let out a horrible blow and wheeze, and rush towards the two Ironsworn!

Although Etta had already fought a red-eyed hawk, and should've been prepared for any sort of attack, seeing three normally-skittish deer galloping towards her stuns her for a brief moment.

But she recovers quickly enough, notching an arrow and jumping behind a tree for cover.

Reasoning that the buck's antlers are their biggest concern, Etta expertly places an arrow right between his eyes! With a strange gurgling, sputtering noise, the deer tumbles end over end, finally banging against a tree. Though it's still somehow breathing, it's out of the fight, and will soon perish...right?

Surprised by the sudden attack, Gevin tries to quickly grab his axe and shield which are hanging off her backpack.

In his hurry, his axe falls to the ground and lands right under the hooves of the deer that heading straight for him. Just in time he manages to hold the shield in front of him as the creature raises its front legs in an attempt to kick Gevin in the chest.

The hooves of the doe slam against Gevin's shield and continues in the direction is was already headed. He's knocked onto his behind, but not injured. Before the doe can come in for another attack, he manages to scramble to where is axe is and pick it up. Now that he's got some time to prepare.