Part 13
"Get it offa me..." Duo whimpered. Heero acted instinctively, disregarding the fact that a bandit was ordering him around. He brought his fist down on the base of it's skull, popping the jaws open. Once it released, Heero grabbed it by the tail and it quickly scuttled away.
Duo touched his punctured leg, and looked at his bloodstained fingers. "You need to get the venom out..." he whispered.
"How do I do that?" Heero demanded. Duo pulled out a knife and Heero blinked.
"You need to block off the blood to my leg. Then you need to make a cut in the shape of a cross across the bite and let it bleed, and suck out the blood, as long as your mouth ain't cut." Duo whimpered again. "Hurry."
Heero nodded, taking the knife. He cut away the pant leg, and tore a strip off to make a tourniquet. He used his free and uninjured hand to do as Duo said, cutting into his skin. Duo hissed in pain. Heero placed his lips to the cut and sucked out the blood, spitting it out to the side.
When Duo felt his leg go numb, he gripped Heero's head. "That's enough... I'm either alive or off to shack up with Shinigami." Heero grunted and bandaged Duo's leg with the rest of the pant leg.
Heero looked around and realised that the wind was now exceedingly fierce, and if they didn't get undercover soon, they would be in trouble.
"We need to get to a cave," Duo said weakly, sitting up. Heero glared at him.
"And how are we gonna find a cave in this?" Heero asked, gesturing to the blowing sand. Duo made a face at him.
"I know where to find one," he said slowly and clearly as if speaking to a very slow child. He struggled to get up, hampered by the fact that his leg was injured and he was handcuffed to the glaring sheriff.
"Hn," Heero said and pulled Duo up. Duo swore and stood on one leg, repeating a mantra of "Owowowow..."
"What did ya do that for you... you... townie?!" Duo said lamely. He tried to put weight on his leg but it didn't work, and the wind made it increasingly more difficult to stand. Heero supported Duo.
"You are still under arrest for banditry and thievery," Heero growled. "And resisting arrest."
Duo snorted, supporting himself more on Heero, closing his eyes against the grit. "If you want thieves, look in town. And of course I'm gonna resist arrest, I don't wanna swing. And I'm sure you made the word 'banditry' up."
Heero growled again, his shoulder aching fiercely. "I don't have time for this. If you know where the cave is, tell me so we can get out of here before we get buried."
Duo grinned and hopped in a direction Heero felt sure was farther away from Sanq. "This way," he said. Heero grunted and walked forward, supporting him with his injured arm. "But you know, we wouldn't get buried. Sandstorms can strip a man and his horse of all their flesh. I've seen it..." Heero seethed and kept from showing he was in pain as Duo chattered on about desert storms.
Duo grinned to himself as he searched for the cave he knew was around here somewhere... he thought.
Heero growled to himself. "Where is the cave?" he demanded.
"Hey, it's here. It's not like it grew legs like a critter and walked away!" Duo protested. Heero grunted.
In a period of time that seemed like an eternity, but probably only took a few minutes, Duo and Heero stumbled into the cave. Duo let out a cry of pain and stumbled, falling to the ground. Heero was pulled down along with him, landing on top of the braided bandit and knocking him out of breath.
Duo blinked, his own eyes mere centimetres from the sheriff's blue orbs. He sucked in a breath, bringing with it the dust that seemed to cover Heero and coughed in Heero's face. Heero winced and coughed back, then pushed himself up and away, stopped short by the handcuffs.
"Hn," Heero grumbled and sat down beside Duo. Duo sat up and griped, shaking his head and showering Heero with dust and dirt. Heero cuffed Duo and Duo growled.
"Watch it townie," Duo grumbled, and started to dust himself off one handed. Heero glared at him.
"Watch it yourself, bandit." Heero ran a hand through his hair, letting dust and dirt fall out of it, then dusted off his clothes and made a face. Duo noted his shoulder.
"That's gonna get infected if you don't do something," Duo mumbled, attempting to shake the dirt out of his hair. Heero glared at him.
"What do you want me to do bandit? We're stuck like this until we get back to town," he stated. Duo glared back, wrapping a hand around the lock picks secured inside his braid.
"And who's fault is that?" he hissed.
"Yours."
"You threw the keys away!" Duo shouted, fists balling.
"You were trying to escape!" Heero shouted back.
"Well, wouldn't you?" Duo yelled, feeling somewhat woozy but trying not to show it.
"I'm not a bandit!" Heero yelled back, feeling a wave of dizziness.
"Well excuuuuuuuse me for breathing!" Duo said, thumping his foot for emphasis, that foot unfortunately being the injured one.
"Bite me!" Heero shot back, punching the cave floor for emphasis. This did not help his bleeding arm. Almost as if on cue, their eyes rolled back in their heads and they fainted.
TBC...