Chapter Six: Lovely. Just Lovely.

A Chapter by Ari and Sylph

Kaydra, a random ever-so-kind hobo chick, encounters the aftermath of the attack.

Kaydra's Perspective
    Eh, airports aren't the BEST places to spend a night, but they're not exactly the worst I've had either. I waited until the night guards were sound asleep -- a benefit of being a weirdo with special skills -- and slipped off to find a chair or something with room beside it for my ginormic dog, Cale.

    I'm just lucky like that, and the first room I encountered was a bloody mess. My blood ran cold when I recognized an enormous snake, and a girl lying in a pool of blood. It almost didn't register that the snake was the one not moving, and the girl wasn't dead. I can never get an uneventful night to sleep, can I?

    Heedless of what it would look like when I walked around from then on, and the fact Cale actually seemed scared for once in his life, I ran through the expanding pool in my only pair of socks and shoes, and knelt beside the girl in my only pair of jeans. Noticing the cut down her arm, I took the bandage I was using as a belt and tied it at her shoulder, as a tourniquet.

    "Hey, get up." I said, grabbing her by her shoulders. When she almost woke up, then didn't, I smacked her, shouting "HEY, MORON, GET UP BEFORE THE POLICE COME AND ARREST ME!!!" in all my kind, loving nature.

    She moaned, and put a hand over her stomach -- which, I noticed, was actually a large source of the blood on that floor(at least what wasn't from the snake.) "Wha...was that?" She asked, obviously not in too good a mood -- or, for that matter, in too great shape either.

    "That, Miss Artisan, was the Typhrusz." said someone from behind me. I froze at the voice, thinking Oh crap, who's that? Please don't let it be someone coming for their pet, please...

    "Ar - artiwhat?" said the girl, blinking deleriously. "Who's 'miss Artisan'?"I turned and saw an old man -- quite possibly an insane one -- in a long nightshirt, a stocking cap, and duck slippers. He was also petting my dog, which backs up the insanity idea.

    "Oh, and who might you be?" I said warily, preparing to run at the first sign of trouble -- which was unlikely, seeing as Cale liked him for reasons of his own.

    "Cedric Cobbleton." He said with a warm grin. "I'm here to protect Miss Artisan."

    "Who th' crap is Miss Artisan?" shouted the girl. She immediately regreted it, as it sent her into a fit of coughing that couldn't feel good.

"You realize you're killing yourself, right?" I said, pushing my hand down on her shoulder to keep her from fulfilling my earlier request.

    She narrowed her eyes and growled "Bite me."

    "I would, but gee, it looks like something beat me to it." I retorted.

    "Girls, quit fighting." he said. "Kaydra, you know it's wrong to hit someone when they're down."I froze. He knew my name.

    "Oh, and this is for you." he said, pulling a folded and crumpled letter out of his pocket and handed it to me. Bloody fingerprints now covered the side.

    "What's this?" I asked suspiciously. Nobody writes me letters -- I have no mailing address to mail them to.

    "It's a letter." he said, as if that explained life, the universe, and everything.

    "Pft, well I see that." I huffed. "I meant who's it from."

    "Me." he grinned.

    Great. I don't even know the guy, and he's following me into a dark room and giving me mail.

    "Ah, guys." growled the girl on the floor. "I know, this is an epic moment for you and all, but can't I at least get a Band-aid?"

    Cedric What's-'is-bucket and I had apparently forgotten about her.
"Oh," he said. Then he snapped his fingers.

    Remind me to hit him next time he does that.

    There was a sudden jolt, like a sports car managing to stop on a dime, and I fell forward onto a stone floor. I debated giving him a nosebleed for the one he gave me, then decided against hitting an old man like him. Cale wined as he stood up and slunk out of the room.

    "You did that on purpose." I growled.

    "Miss Hobbs." Cedric called in a cheesy fake British accent, entirely blowing me off.

    "Mr. Cobbleton, were you anyone else, I would not have responded." said a woman, with a real british accent as she came closer. I pulled my face off the floor in time to see a somewhat pudgy woman walk into the room. She gasped when she saw the girl, who had mystically appeared in a cot. Lucky...

    I actually got a good look at her stomach wound and realized that...T-snakey-phruss thingy had caused serious damage. She's actually really lucky she got out of there. The fact that the cuts were so deep it nearly went to the bone made me want to puke, which is saying something.

    "We have a little situation." Cedric continued as if it was a skinned knee.

    "Yes, how is the de-" Mrs Hobbs stopped abruptly, then gasped. "Oh, my gosh." She bent over and looked at the wound.

    "Uh... yeah." the girl rasped uncomfortably. "Could you just... sew me back together now, or something of the like? Believe it or not, this really hurts."

    "This can't be... could this be Miss Artisan?"

    "Nobody's answering me! OUCH!!!" the girl interrupted quickly. "Who the Crap is MISS Artisan?!?! And why doesn't anyone have the common sense to try and fix this?! Geez, I'm going to bleed to death before anyone does anything about it!!!"

    "What's your name anyhow?!" I said, irritated.

    "Enough with the introductions." Mrs. Hobbs said urgently. "She's right." She snapped her fingers, and out of thin air appeared a vial and a needle.

    Ugh. This isn't gonna be pretty.

    She poured the liquid onto the gaping hole in the girl's stomach and waited for it to do whatever it was supposed to be doing. The girl cringed slightly and balled her hands into fists.

    Then Mrs Hobbs took the needle, and without thread, started sewing her back. My mouth gaped open when her stomach started healing over itself, the only sign that the wound was ever there being a scar the shape of stitches.

    The girl's knuckles turned stark-white from the tension.

    That stuff must have smarted a bit.

    "Now that we're all healed up," I said impatiently when the thing was over and she was all bandaged up, "who are you?"

    "Ari."

    "Ari...what?" I asked.

    She answered "Just Ari." at the same time Cedric said, "She's Miss Artisan."

    Ari slowly lifted herself up and cocked an eyebrow."Excuse me?"

    "You're Miss Artisan."

    "Really Now?"

    "I'M CONFUSED!!!" I interjected, not actually expecting a response.

     They ignored me.

    "Yes."

    "I-iima go get a drink." I said, jumping out of the room.

    Heck, may as well go check up on the dog.

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