A writhing ball of tightly wound string.
Hand placed upon Polyanna's head and eyes closed, Jin found that it was the most apt description of the Scarlet Rot that resided within the girls. Ever persistent, loose ends extended from the mass, hoping to spread, only for the dim flame that surrounded it to burn them away and stop any sort of advancement then return to a dormant state until the Rot made another move.
He'd never felt anything like it, but, then again, before them Jin had only ever used his flames to kill others.
Perhaps he could burn out the disease until he found its core but that would require a far stronger flame. One the girls couldn't handle. Even if that weren't the case, the disease was so deeply entrenched with their being that he doubted he could separate the two without any consequence.
It was almost as if the Scarlet Rot was a part of them.
"Jin!"
He opened his eyes and looked to the source of the call. Millicent, seated at the front of the wooden carriage they rode in, held a pair of reins in her hands, the single horse they were connected to beginning to stray off of the rocky dirt trail. She was looking back to him, clearly struggling to guide the animal.
"Pull harder." He ordered. Doing as she was told, Millicent managed to put the horse back on track, a breath of relief escaping her.
The carriage and the horse were two recent additions over the last two months that he'd obtained after some overzealous soldiers tried their hand at putting him down. Taking care of a single horse wasn't particularly difficult when they were surrounded by greenery of all kinds and having it made things far easier in the long run. Even now they were using it for their usual errands, several empty barrels lying in the bed of the carriage around his and Maureen's feet.
It also made occasional trades with Kalè or any of his people more convenient.
"Maury." Polyanna babbled, small arms reaching out. Maureen looked up from the book she was reading through, another gifted to her from Sellen, and set it aside, taking the younger girl from him. Polyanna was still a ways off from truly coherent sentences but the basics of language were coming to her. Mainly their names and her favorite types of food.
Standing, Jin pulled himself over in the driver's seat beside Millicent, who tried to hand the reins off to him.
"Focus on the path. You need the practice." He said. She reluctantly tightened her hold on the reins while he focused on their surroundings. Taking this path for what felt like hundreds of times might've left others at ease, but he knew better; anything truly dangerous would pick and choose their time to strike no matter how long that wait might've been.
By the time the trees and bushes began to wane in favor of rocky grass, the salty scent of the ocean had already reached them.
Millicent carefully guided the horse down the hill that led to the beach, pulling them to a complete stop just before they crossed over from grass onto sand.
While he jumped out of the carriage and untethered the horse, guiding it over to a nearby tree, Millicent began preparing the barrels for the water. Typically, he left animal care to the girls, but it was too soon to let Millicent directly handle the horse on her own. The Scarlet Rot already put it on edge around them and Millicent's particularly skittish approach tended to make the animal all the more unruly.
"Jin!" Just as he tightened the horse's lead around the tree, Millicent's yell came from further on the beach. He dropped a hand to his katana and took off, Maureen rushing behind him with Polyanna in her arms. They knew better than to make too much noise beyond the camp, even Polyanna's fits lowering in frequency, which could only mean there was trouble.
Trouble that managed to escape his notice.
Jin slowed as they reached Millicent, sand turning to mush as water pooled around his ankles.
Or maybe he was wrong.
Laid at Millicent's feet, seemingly brought it from the sea alongside bits of driftwood and half buried crates, was a blonde woman. Dress and cloak completely soaked through, her breaths faint, and shivers racking her body, exposure would do her in soon enough despite her narrowly avoiding drowning.
And she wasn't the only one.
One by one more people washed up on the coast, many of them with armor and swords alongside more pieces of wood and crates. The remains of a voyage if he had to guess. The more unfortunate among their number found themselves washed up far too close to some of the land octopi roaming the coast and were swiftly crushed before they ever had a chance to open their eyes.
Their washed-up supplies might come in handy. And-
"We…are we going to help them?" Millicent asked, her first thoughts worlds apart from his own. She'd already dropped down to her knees, barrel abandoned to help keep the woman's head above the shifting tide.
Special case that the girls were aside, he didn't make a habit of rescuing any stranger that he happened upon. Not unless he had a reason to.
Besides, did Millicent even understand what she was asking? He counted two dozen, maybe even more, bodies by this point and that was only the ones that were still breathing. Taking care of a group this size would be no easy task and unlikely to be worth the effort.
A cool presence brushed against his cheek.
A spirit in the shape of a small jellyfish formed beside his face, incessantly pressing itself against his cheek. He attempted to wave it away but it avoided his swipes and wrapped its feelers along the length of his arm. For a moment, a fleeting instant, it solidified and yanked, nearly bringing his arm downward. It floated away hovering near the unconscious woman's head, presence missed by all but him and Polyanna who was reaching out for it.
A spirit, weak and mundane as this one, managing to physically interact with the world?
Jin focused more closely on the woman at their feet.
In the same moment that the spirit solidified he'd felt something from her. Something familiar yet all together new. His flames, burning just a bit stronger than usual, had reacted to it whatever that sensation was.
Interesting, Too interesting to ignore.
Jin looked out amongst the near dead crew and Millicent's hopeful face. Mary would have more than a few things to say about this.
…
Keep her breathing relaxed. Take aim at her target. A slow exhale as she prepared to fire. Then-
Mary let her nocked arrow go, the projectile gliding over the field of grass before her, slowly beginning to fall after reaching its apex. It nicked the neck of a rabbit. The furry creature quickly darted into taller grass, headed towards the cover of nearby trees as she quickly prepared another arrow.
It turned out to be completely unnecessary.
Amy had darted out from some of the grass in the rabbit's path, grabbing it and running a metal dagger clean through the animal's neck. How'd she get so close without alerting the thing? Mary couldn't be sure.
Mary left her hiding spot among the grass behind as she returned her new arrow to the quiver at her waist and moved to pick up her missed shot. The bone head and wooden shaft were still intact so she returned it to the quiver as well.
"Wow, You suck with that." Amy said as she approached, tying the dead rabbit to her waist beside another.
"Shut it." Mary said. She couldn't deny it though; she much preferred using what Jin taught her with the sword but most animals were far too quick for her to get anywhere near them. That left her with no choice but to rely on the agonizing slow process of using bows and what he taught them about their use.
Still, they were useful and that's what really mattered.
There were two dead rabbits, necks punctured by clean arrow shots, at her waist. Between the both of them they'd caught four of the small animals and that was more than enough. Jin handled catching the bigger animals.
"We're heading back." Mary stated, taking a quick look at the sun above as well as the few distant ruins before taking off towards home.
"What? Come oooon, let's hunt one more." Amy whined as she followed.
"No. We have enough."
Mary ignored all the whining that followed as they cross through the open field, most of her attention on their surroundings. An attack could come from anywhere at anytime; Caelid had taught her that but Jin reaffirmed it. Anytime they were beyond their walls, he was always ready, moving to cut down anything dangerous before it ever got the chance to reveal itself. Even when they were home, she knew that if anything managed to get pass the walls, they'd be on the sharp end of Jin's katana before they got a chance to attack anyone.
She needed to be like that.
"You're so boring." Amy said with a huff, begging finally coming to a stop.
While they didn't exactly have rules like they did back in Caelid, Jin never bothering to set any, Mary had been the only one given express permission to go out hunting after he taught them the basics of archery and tracking. She always brought Amy along, both to keep her from whining their ears off about being stuck at home and to make use of her skills. She talked too much and was stupidly more concerned with fun at times, but she was good at this stuff…more so than Mary herself as much as she hated to admit it.
Most importantly, she wasn't soft like Millicent.
What was so difficult about killing a few animals so they could eat? Mary never understood why Millicent found it so difficult.
It took no time at all to cross the field and enter the forest they spent most of their time in. It took an even shorter time for them to reach the walls of their home, Amy rushing forward and knocking. Maureen was the one to answer, pulling it open and letting them in.
"Amy!" Polyanna called out, dropping the wooden sword she'd been messing with near the training posts and reaching out for them. Amy rushed over, cooing at their sister while Mary was focused on something far different.
Their wagon, in the corner of the camp with the horse tied to a nearby tree, was full of damaged boxes filled with weird bottles and other wrapped up things. And-
"Is that blood?" Mary questioned as she got closer to the wagon. Sure enough there were stains of the familiar red substance all over the back of it. Too many of them. "What happened?"
Maureen, who'd been following her after locking up the gates, shook her head and pointed towards the cave. "None of us are hurt but you should go talk to Jin and Millicent."
A bit weird but if none of them were hurt, Mary doubted anything that serious happened. After hanging up the dead rabbits and placing both quiver and bow beside the cave's entrance, she headed into the rainbowstone lit tunnel, shoulders relaxing. The enclosed space was far more predictable than the wide open space of the forests and field. Still, like Jin, she kept the straight sword he'd given her tied to her back.
She'd planned on heading straight to the sleeping area but froze once she reached the main chamber, eyes zeroing in on the entrance to the chamber that still went unused. Groans, pained and plentiful, came from within it.
Mary pulled out her sword.
She didn't recognize any of those voices and there were a lot of them.
Slowly she stepped through the opening, best done to keep the grip on her sword relaxed but firm.
People, rows of them, were laid out on furs throughout the large chamber. They groaned in pain, some twisting and turning, others so still they appeared to be dead. Millicent moved between them with a bucket of water, placing furs onto some of their foreheads or helping the few that were conscious drink.
And Jin watched whatever this all was from beside the entrance to chamber.
"What's going on?" Mary questioned hotly. "Who are all these people?"
"Survivors of a shipwreck." Jin said without looking her way.
"And why are they here?"
"Millicent wanted to help them."
Mary glared up at him, his short answers only adding to her growing frustration but she knew better than to blame him. Unless it came to their training or anything else vital to their survival, he allowed to them as they pleased, even going as far as to help them with what they did.
The only reason these strangers were here was because of Millicent.
Marching around the sickly bodies, Mary made her way to the heart of the room, seizing Millicent's arm and pulling her to her feet, bucket spilled and damp fur dropped. She didn't put up a fight, quietly following along as Mary pulled her out of the noisy chamber and back into the tunnel leading into it.
Now that they were alone, Mary let her go and turned around with a glare. "What were you thinking?"
"They…They were going to die." Millicent said lowly, staring at the ground and rubbing the elbow of her right arm.
"And? That's not our problem."
Millicent's head snapped up, her eyes wide. "How-How can you say that?"
"We don't know these people." Mary said. "Whatever was going to happen to them doesn't have anything to do with us."
Disbelief, surprise, and for the first time, even anger spread across Milicent's face. "Jin didn't know us but we needed help and he gave it to us. He-"
"And the old man is strong, he can do whatever he wants." Mary's glare intensified alongside her anger. "How are you going to feed those people? You can't even hunt for your own food let alone all of them." Millicent's slight glare crumbled instantly. "And what if they're sick? What are you do if one us gets whatever they have?"
"I-"
"And even if you do save them, what do think is going to happen once they're on their feet? Did you forget that everyone wants to kill us because of this stupid rot!" Anger at all time high, Mary didn't realize she'd raised her voice until Millicent flinched away, bumping into the cave walls.
She closed her eyes and took a slow deep breath. Calm. She needed to stay calm just like Jin was teaching them.
"You shouldn't have helped those people." Mary said.
…
Overlooking the room of half-dead people, Jin picked up on the heated whispers of Mary and Millicent. He wasn't surprised that Mary was angry; her one and only care was her sisters. She wasn't concerned nor did she share in the innate morality that Millicent did.
"Ugh…" A faint groan drew his attention away from their conversation and back to the blonde woman from before. Like all the others she laid on old furs, her skin having only paled since they brought her here, their dip into the vast ocean coming with severe consequences by the look of things. As her eyes cracked open, the spectral jellyfish that'd been floated around him shot to her side, nuzzling the side of her cheek. "Aurelia…" She muttered.
As the groans of those scattered about reached her, the woman slowly beginning to rise up. Her gaze met his but it was only for a passing moment, her odd, almost turquoise colored, eyes sweeping around the room. Slowly, through a mix of encouragement from the spirit and her own resolve, she pulled herself up and dragged herself towards the side of one of the others.
Hands shakily brought together, she began to mutter something and a silver circle formed on the ground beneath her. It light was dim, nor more than a shadow of what it could be, but the spiraling symbols did their job, the groans of the survivor before her fading as their pained expression settled.
She fell back and he'd already moved forward, catching her before she hit the ground and guiding the now unconscious woman back onto her furs.
By all means, she should be the weakest of the group.
She was certainly no soldier, the lack of armor and some of the things he found on her telling him so. The lack of callus on her hands meant she was some attendant or slave either. He'd bet she was royalty of some kind where she came from; the intricate embroidery on her red cloak wasn't the sort of thing just anyone would have.
And yet, sick and on the brink of death, she was the only one to rise among all these people. And her first action? To try and heal them before sparing a single thought for herself.
Like Mary, he didn't put much stock in the morality of things, but the strength of this woman's will, foolish as many would've said her actions were, was something to be respected.
As he replaced the hot water soaked piece of fur that'd been placed on her forehead, a piece of his power, no more than a spark far weaker than anything he used to keep the girls' sickness under control, jumped from his hand, spreading across the woman's forehead and sinking beneath her skin.
A bit of color instantly returned to her face and her faint breaths strengthened as Millicent took a seat beside him.
She clutched her knees to her chest, staring out across the room with a frown.
He waited.
"Was I wrong to try to help these people?" She inevitably asked.
"I would not have." He admitted. Perhaps the blonde and her spiritual companion might've caught his eye, but had it not been for Millicent, the rest of the group wouldn't have been spared a second thought.
Millicent clenched her legs tighter, face darkening.
"In my clan, individual strength is the thing we pride ourselves on the most. If you lacked strength then you were looked down upon." He stated. "But at the end of the day, we were still a clan. There were battles we fought together. Choices made often affected all of us, not just one."
"Whether or not your choice to help these people was the right decision is something only you can decide. What you should start asking yourself, is how your choices will affect others." Jin, after a brief moment of consideration, placed a hand on her head. "Your sisters are your clan. It is up to you how you choose to live your life but so long as that remains true, your choices will always affect them in some way. Keep that in mind."
Millicent slowly nodded, not smiling but her downtrodden expression lessening somewhat.
Whatever came of helping these people, he'd be sure the girls survived the worst of it.