'Month and a half? What is he talking about?'
{What do you mean? It's been a little over a week since I saved your ass}
Gwin signed annoyedly. Umo was the only one who watched his hands while the rest eyed him up with their chilling gazes. Umo tensed at his statement and tightened his grip on his maul. In fact none of them had dismissed their weapons yet, much to Gwin's paranoia.
"You are wrong. It's been over a month at the very least since you lured that fallen abomination away from us. A month and a half by my count. Where have you been all that time? And are you still in control of your body?"
'A month and a half?'
Suddenly a sickenly dreadful feeling filled Gwin's stomach. A cold sweat coated his body as he struggled to take in the implications. He was sure he had spent only a little over a week in the sewers…his internal clock had not been that off had it? Had it really been that long or was Umo mistaken? No…why would Umo lie to him? He barely even knew him! An awful headache split his head as he tried to remember something he couldn't. An even sicker feeling washed over him as a horrible thought came over him.
'Did something mess with my memories?'
If that was the case then how long had he been under its influence? How close had he come to dying? How close had he come to his ego being devoured and becoming a mindless husk? What could have possibly done this? Surely he would remember meeting an awful abomination that could do that. A hazy memory crossed his mind.
There had been something like that hand there? Back in the obelisk something had poisoned his mind to attack Lena. He could not remember the details of that night but his instincts told him he was close.
'We left that thing behind though! Is it…following me?'
Gwin choked back the terror he was feeling. He met Umo's eyes and grinned. Umo and his cohort flinched at this for some reason.
{Ah sorry you are right. My sense of time has been thrown off because I was trapped somewhere without light for a while.}
He explained hoping Umo would leave it at that. Umo watched his hands with an intense glare before speaking again.
"And how did you survive on your own? Can you prove that you are still in control?"
{I survived by being crafty…and if I weren't in control wouldn't I have attacked by now? What makes you think I'm not?}
He signed, irritated. Seriously, what was up with these people and not thinking he was human?! He moved his hand to pinch his brow.
'Oh…right'
His hands and face were still drenched in barely dried blood from the [long body]. He was going to have to spit some shit to get out of this one.
{This is because I was hungry!}
He signed while trying to wipe his mouth off. Umo's brows furrowed at his reasoning.
"I believe you."
He called out while dismissing his weapon.
"Dude, are you sure?"
The sleeper with the halberd asked nervously.
"Relax, he's not a nightmare creature."
"If you say so."
The girl with the sword said with an exasperated shrug. His cohort dismissed their weapons one by one however the tense mood remained. Gwin's leg had been hurting more and more since getting hit by her sword so he took a seat on their table and dismissed his armor over his leg. He looked at his knee and hissed. His skin was deeply bruised and seemed to be becoming green. A deep ache permeated his knee making it excruciating to bend.
"That's going to rot off soon."
The girl with the sword called from behind.
"I didn't know you were a sleeper. I'm sorry but there is nothing you can do to save it."
Her voice was remorseful as she walked around the table to Gwin where she inspected his knee.
"My name is Ada, you?"
Gwin scratched his name into their stone table angrily.
"Ok Gwin, if we don't cut it off soon then it will spread through your body until it kills you."
'What the hell?! She hit me with something that lethal before even confirming I was a nightmare creature? What is up with the people here?!'
Gwin was feeling more than a little pissed. Sure he might not be the cleanest guy but attacking him with lethal force because they thought he was an abomination? Wasn't that just overkill?! He didn't even look like an abomination! Ada's hand filled with a small whirlwind of sparks as a silver dagger formed in it. Its blade was curved and elegant.
'She is serious about cutting my leg off? There's no way I'm losing another limb!'
Gwin threw up a hand to stop her before inspecting his leg closer. It seemed either her aspect or sword one had caused his leg to be infected by a very fast spreading rot. It permeated the flesh surrounding his knee but did not affect the bone. A sick and twisted idea of how to fix it filled his head. It would be gruesome and unspeakably painful but it would work…in theory. The rest of Umo's cohort watched on with mixed expressions, some pitying, some indifferent, to Gwin's plight. He spared a thought to wonder just how jaded and cold hearted these people had become living…no…surviving here for as long as they did.
The ache in his leg pulled his attention away since it required his full attention. He closed his eyes and focused on the anatomy of his leg, namely his nerves. If he could pull this off then he wouldn't have to go through the agony of fixing his leg. He found every nerve in his left leg and where they led to. And then he used his aspect to replace them with the muscle tissue of the perforated hunter. It required immense concentration to do such a precise transformation but he was managing just barely. He felt himself lose control over his leg and felt it go numb. He propped it up on one of their chairs and readied himself. His right hands fingers became hooked feline claws and two stubby panther ears sprouted from his head. A long winding tail sprouted from his backside and twitched on the table behind him lazily. He didn't need these features for what was next but truth be told he just wanted to show off. For the final step he dismissed his charm and summoned the [Kiss Of Kesh].
With everything in order he raised his hand and with one swift swipe cut several deep lines into his knee. A mix of fetid green blood and crimson blood splattered to the ground. It dripped from his claws and his tail twitched behind him.
'I didn't feel a thing…'
He was ready to scream and cry if that didn't work and yet thankfully his plan to basically numb his leg had worked. Not wasting a moment he began applying the milky cream to the inside of his wound to draw out the rot and fix his leg from within. He had been careful to avoid the bone with his strike and so he only had to worry about the flesh. He moved with anatomical precision to halt the spread of the rot. If he wasn't careful these open wounds would only serve to hasten its progress. If it got into his bloodstream he was really screwed. If that happened he was as good as dead. Thankfully his decisive strikes into his own flesh as well as his candid method of thrusting his hand straight into his own open wounds made quick work of the rot much to the horror of those watching.
It took a few more precise cuts and he nearly ran out of petrifying cream but after about five minutes of exploring his own leg he had vanquished the rot from his system.
'Damn! That was close!'
He was drenched in sweat from focus and his jaw ached slightly from how tight his jaw had been clenched. He fell onto his back while dismissing the change in his leg. Slowly but surely the feeling began to return in it. It was followed by a horrible ache though. It seemed he wouldn't be able to escape all of the pain but that was fine. His tail writhed up under him scraping against the metal of his armor. He looked around at the pale faces of Umo and his party. Even Umo with his usually stoic expression wore a shocked expression on his face. Gwin gave him a smile and thumbs up to show he was alright. They only seemed to flinch harder at that.
"Woah…that was hard core."
The sleeper who wielded the halberd muttered under his breath. Ada, who had gotten the best seat in the house since she was standing right next to him, stared at his knee with a strange expression as if expecting to fall off at any second.
"You really saved it…you are a lunatic. How are you even conscious?!"
'Ah…they think I just carved up my leg while feeling every bit of it. I'm not that freaking crazy! I'm not crazy at all!'
He scratched a single word into their table again after sitting up.
"Numb? You numbed it?"
She asked with a pensive expression. Gwin's tail flicked smugly behind him as he stood up and began testing his knee. His feet landed in a puddle of red and green blood.
'Damn that stinks!'
He gagged a little at the smell. His panther ears tucked back to his head as he looked at Umo.
{Sorry about the mess. It was an emergency.}
"Ehem…right don't worry about it. Is it really alright for you to stand on it? I've never seen anything survive that rot."
Umo said, clearing his voice and regaining his composure. Gwin took note that he was particularly ambiguous as to whether the rot was an enchantment of her sword or her aspect.
'Everyone is so secretive…am I the weird one?'
He might have tried to keep secrets but he was inclined to believe that all of the sleepers needed to stick together and help each other out in this hellscape. Umo scanned Gwin's feline features before asking.
"So that's your aspect huh?"