Meanwhile, Deygo was making slow but deliberate progress up the barely discernable trail on the cliff. As he climbed, he thought about what he would do once he reached the cave. What if the cat wasn’t there? What if it was? What then? The more he thought about things, the more he realized he really didn’t know what he was actually going to do. Deygo reached for the next handhold, his mind still elsewhere, and as he grasped the rock it crumbled away in his grip, causing him to slip and catch himself with his other hand. He quickly regained his footing and paused to catch his breath.
“Shu’teh,”1 he muttered. Deygo silently berated himself for not paying attention to what he was doing and tried to regain his calm, his heart still beating rapidly from the adrenaline rush of his near-fall. Gotta concentrate, he thought, as he moved more cautiously in his ascent.
(A while later…)
Deygo was standing on the small ledge that was a few feet from the top of the cliff. He had himself pressed against the rock face, the ledge being so narrow, and slowly edged himself toward the roaring water and the cave he knew to be behind it. Deygo could feel the spray grow stronger the closer he got, and he shut his eyes to keep the water out, since it was too dark to see, anyway. Abruptly, the rock wall in front of him disappeared, and he fell forward, taken off-guard by the sudden lack of support. He quickly clambered to his feet, crouching low, surveying his surroundings.
Immediately, Deygo saw what he had come for. The cat, only no longer a cat, lay bleeding on the other side of a small fire. The woman lifted her head weakly to look at him, her eyes slightly glazed, then lay back down, saying in a small voice,
“{{Just kill me. I know that’s what you’re here to do. I’ve lost enough blood, it probably doesn’t matter now, anyway.}}”
“{{I’m not here to kill you. I’m here to help you.}}” Deygo quickly moved over to the woman lying on the ground and made a cursory exam to see where the bleeding was coming from. He reached out and gently touched the two holes in the woman’s shirt, where she had been stabbed by a knife. Deygo quickly took off his cloak and tore several strips from the bottom, then reached into his pouch and pulled out a small bundle of some sort of herb.
“{{What are you doing?}}” the woman asked, confused by this display of kindness.
“{{I told you, I’m helping you. This shirt’s going to have to come off so I can bandage your wounds and stop the bleeding.}}”
“{{But…}}” the woman started to protest.
“{{Hush. This is purely professional. Unless you would rather bleed to death.}}”
She stared at him a moment, then turned around, to maintain some modesty, and after taking her shirt off, covered herself as best she could under the circumstances. Deygo applied some of the herbs to the first wound and instructed her, “{{Here. Hold this here while I put the bandage on.}}” The woman did so. She hissed and winced, much as a cat would, as Deygo tightened the cloth over the wound. “{{Sorry,}}” he apologized, as he repeated the process for the second injury. Once through, the woman carefully put her shirt on again, blushing. Deygo pretended not to notice.
“{{Sorry,}}” he said again, looking at the ground.
The woman shook her head. “{{It’s okay. Thank you.}}” There was an awkward silence, as neither knew exactly what to say. After a moment, Deygo got up without a word, went to the waterfall, and filled the small water container he carried with him and brought it over to the woman. She took it gratefully and drained it.
“{{Thirsty?}}” Deygo asked sarcastically.
“{{You would be too, if you’d just spent the afternoon getting stabbed then running for your life.}}”
“{{Point taken,}}” Deygo acknowledged. “{{By the way, what’s your name?}}”
“{{Kai’ter’ah, though mostly I’m known as Kai.}}” Kai waited expectantly for Deygo to introduce himself, which he didn’t. She finally asked, “{{And who might you be? I am grateful, of course, but a name would be nice.}}”
“{{Deygo,}}” he answered, quickly and abruptly.
Kai looked at him, his name seeming familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it. But she found herself currently too tired to ponder things. “{{Well,}}” she said. “{{As much as this is lovely conversation, I am rather exhausted and need to sleep for a bit. I hope you don’t mind. You really don’t need to stay if you don’t wish to. I’ll be okay, and again, I thank you.}}”
Deygo nodded and turned to go, then hesitated. “{{No,}}” he said, stepping back. “{{I will not go. You are in no state to protect yourself if the villagers happen to get by Ris.}}” He sat himself down on a nearby rock and sighed, settling in.
“{{Suit yourself,}}” Kai said, yawning and laying down to sleep.
1 "Shoot"
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