(no subject)
Who: Kurenai and Asuma
When: Occuring about two days after the RP post located here.
Where: The forest, within walking distance of the rebels' camp.
Rating: Entirely G
Summary: Asuma literally falls at Kurenai's feet after escaping his execution and avoiding capture in the forest. He's wounded and ill and she brings him back to camp to be tended.
To the untrained eye, Kurenai was resting on an oddly-timed walk through the woods. Not many people chose to travel in the depths of these particular woods alone in the middle of winter, but if they had, they'd have been dressed in a style similar to what she wore. Thick winter clothes and cloak muffled her from biting cold and the brittle bark of the tree she was leaning against, seemingly relaxed when she was more alert than usual. Sentry duty wasn't the time for daydreams or naps, when a moment's distraction could lead to disaster for the rebels. But it certainly was boring...
Kurenai fiddled with the bone handle of her belt-knife, red eyes scanning the forest for any sign of other people in the area. Earlier, she'd thought she had seen someone, but it had turned out to be nothing. Better nothing than Akatsuki forces, though. That's the last thing we need.
Asuma stumbled through the forest, bare feet slipping on the leaves scattered on the ground and half-delirious with fever. As far as he could tell he should be getting close to the hideout, but his vision was doing odd things at the moment like swimming in and out of focus. Catching his balance against a tree the knight could feel the half-healed whip scars on his back break open again. Apparently the landing had been rougher than he'd thought. That was a very bad sign. He couldn't judge distance or even sensation accurately anymore.
Taking a deep breath, the dark skinned man shoved himself away from the tree, continuing to stumble forward. Was that the gnarled tree where he was supposed to turn? Asuma couldn't remember. Clutching at rough bark, what remained of his shirt caught on the tree tearing it further and scraping his arm deeply as his tall frame pitched forward onto the forest loam.
Strong hands pressed into the ground trying to lever his body upright once more, but his arms gave out with a wobble, sending him sprawling in front of a pair of leather boots. Leather boots? When did trees grow leather boots?
After the initial shock of having someone fall at her feet in the middle of the forest, it took Kurenai a moment to realize they weren't much of a threat. She glanced around (keeping a good grip on the knife's hilt) to make sure people hadn't been following, and mentally cursed herself. It was boring and sometimes difficult to keep completely alert, but Kurenai was surprised she hadn't seen or heard anyone coming through the trees before now. A lapse of attention like that could cause serious problems in the future.
She didn't see anyone else in the woods, so she knelt down and peered at what was visible of the man's face, careful to rest her hand on his shoulder rather than his back. Her earlier surprise was completely overshadowed by shock when she recognized him. “Asuma?!” Last she’d heard, he was still working as a spy in the castle. Something terrible must have happened, his condition proved that, but they hadn’t heard any news from Konoha for a while now. “What happened to you? Why are you out here?”
Lifting his dark head, Asuma blinked blearily up at Kurenai, a slow delirious smile spreading over his lips. "Ku-," his voice cracked on the first syllable of her name, throat completely dry from fever and lack of water. "Kurenai. Water, please." The battered knight's skin was burning to the touch, and one hand gripped the pale woman's shoulder rather roughly. He wasn't entirely aware of his strength at the moment, and using Kurenai as leverage managed to push himself up to hands and knees.
Sitting back on his heels and swaying slightly in position, Asuma blinked glassy brown eyes up at her. "Prison," he croaked. "Got found out. Tortured," his rough voice failed him at that last.
Fever or not, the weather was cold and Kurenai had already noticed that Asuma's clothes were less than adequate for the conditions. She pulled off her cloak and put it around his shoulders; it was obviously too small, but the warmth it offered was more important than the way it fit. After that was taken care of, Kurenai turned to the sachel she'd brought with her and pulled out the nearly-full waterskin.
"Tortured?" she asked, going back to his side and handing the water to him. She put her arm around his shoulders to steady him, thinking the last thing he needed was to fall on his face again. "How did they find out about you, anyway? You've been there for such a long time without anything like this happening..."
Making a grab for the water skin, Asuma missed on the first attempt. Asuma rarely missed anything. Blinking again to focus more keenly he grabbed it on the second try. Drinking deep enough to drain the thing dry, the battered former knight lowered the empy skin and merely breathed. All of this excitement was already wearing away at what little energy he had left.
Forcibly refocusing his dark eyes on Kurenai, the bearded man fought for the control of his body and mind that he was rapidly losing. There was just something not right going on in his body at the moment. "Think someone...recognized me..." the words slurred out of him, vague and unfocused. "Reported my face."
The knight slumped forward then, burning forehead pressed against the brunette's shoulder. "Helped out too much...were going to hang me. I missed you." Trembling arms lifted just enough to slide loosely around her waist, the normally strapping Asuma with barely the strength of a kitten at the moment. "Not followed...lost in rain..." The empty water skin fell to the forest floor, completely ignored.
She couldn't help shivering when Asuma said they had been planning to hang him. It was horrible to consider, almost worse than seeing the obvious signs of abuse, and Kurenai felt tears stinging her eyes as Asuma leaned against her. She put both arms around his shoulders and held him closer, trying to be careful with his injuries. "I missed you, too. You can't go back there. Someone else can do the spying if we need them to, but it's too dangerous for you to go back."
Kurenai pulled back and held one hand to Asuma's forehead. He was burning up; they needed to go back to the camp for help instead of sitting in the woods.It was one of the few times she regretted not learning more healing skills from her mother. A quick message sent with her magic alerted someone to take her place at the sentry post, which was one less thing to worry about. "Do you think you can make it back to the camp from here? I can't carry you, you know."
Asuma merely nodded at Kurenai's words. He was well aware of the fact that it was too dangerous for him to stay in Konoha anymore, but it wouldn't stop him from eventually going back. There was too much to be done there. That was a far away day at this point though and his baritone voice rasped out of a raw throat. "Yeah. I made it this far, a little more isn't going to kill me. I know I need help right now."
The feel of Kurenai's arms around his shoulders was the most wonderful thing in the world right now. It meant that safety, warmth, food, and her company were at hand. Putting one dirty, cut up hand on the nearby stump, the former knight hauled himself to weary feet once more. He could hardly feel the ground underneath them. Swaying slightly, dark eyes blinked blearily at the red eyed woman. "Let's get moving. I want a cigarette like you wouldn't believe." What he really wanted was the security and peace to be able to smoke a cigarette. That wouldn't come until they'd made the camp though.
Kurenai smiled slightly as she put the water skin back in her sachel and stood up, slinging the bag over one shoulder. If Asuma could talk about cigarettes, maybe he wasn't as bad off as he looked. She walked over and looked up at him, lingering concern hidden by a smile. “We’ll be at the camp soon, you can have one when we get there…After a healer looks at you, of course.” There was no doubt in her mind that any healer worth their salt would forbid him from smoking until he’d recovered from this ordeal. She also didn’t doubt that he would ignore whatever the healer said. “Tell me if you need to stop. We don’t need to rush getting back there.”
Little did Kurenai know was just how much strength it took for Asuma to have been able to speak so clearly. A wave of dizziness swept over him as he returned Kurenai's smiling gaze, nearly sending him to his knees once more. The knight mumbled thanks to the tree stump that was holding him up. Pulling the too small cloak more tightly around his broad shoulders, Asuma gestured weakly. "Let's get going. I just want," the rest of the sentence was garbled by a coughing fit that doubled him over.
Drawing in a ragged breath, the former knight straightened up his tall frame once more, resting one hand heavily on Kurenai's slim shoulder. It was going to take every last ounce of remaining strength to make it back to camp. Too tired to even speak anymore, Asume gestured with his chin and started walking slowly towards the camp.
She linked her arm with his as they walked, more as an effort to keep Asuma steady than anything else. It was worrying to see him like this when she couldn’t remember him being this ill before. They were making good progress on the return to the camp, despite Asuma’s condition, and Kurenai allowed herself to relax a little. She was still concerned, but she knew that everything would be alright when they made it back to the rebel’s base. A healer would take care of Asuma, and she wouldn’t have to deal with the sometimes overwhelming fear that something terrible would happen to him. Losing the services of such a well-placed informant was a blow to the rebellion, but that was the last thing on Kurenai’s mind at the moment. All that mattered was that Asuma had escaped execution and she wouldn’t have to worry about what would happen to him in Konoha anymore.
The entire way back to the camp Asuma leaned on Kurenai's slender but strong shoulder, that too small cloak pulled tight around his body. The shivering wouldn't stop, and some small coherent part of his mind knew that a few of his wound were inflamed. That was too be expected though when he'd been spending all of this time running and hiding from pursuit on top of being heavily damaged from that thankfully brief stay in the castle dungeons.
Part of the former knight also wondered if he would ever be able to have anything good happen without it being preceeded or immediately followed by something horrible. Being found out and captured, stripped of his title, thrown into the dungeon, tortured, and then nearly executed was worth it to be back with Kurenai and his friends among the rebels. Even if it meant losing the advantage they'd had with him still in the castle.
All of his thoughts came to an abrupt end when he and Kurenai had made it back to camp and all of his strength left him. The world spun away in darkness not that Asuam was finally able to let it go. He was as safe as he could possibly be here.
When: Occuring about two days after the RP post located here.
Where: The forest, within walking distance of the rebels' camp.
Rating: Entirely G
Summary: Asuma literally falls at Kurenai's feet after escaping his execution and avoiding capture in the forest. He's wounded and ill and she brings him back to camp to be tended.
To the untrained eye, Kurenai was resting on an oddly-timed walk through the woods. Not many people chose to travel in the depths of these particular woods alone in the middle of winter, but if they had, they'd have been dressed in a style similar to what she wore. Thick winter clothes and cloak muffled her from biting cold and the brittle bark of the tree she was leaning against, seemingly relaxed when she was more alert than usual. Sentry duty wasn't the time for daydreams or naps, when a moment's distraction could lead to disaster for the rebels. But it certainly was boring...
Kurenai fiddled with the bone handle of her belt-knife, red eyes scanning the forest for any sign of other people in the area. Earlier, she'd thought she had seen someone, but it had turned out to be nothing. Better nothing than Akatsuki forces, though. That's the last thing we need.
Asuma stumbled through the forest, bare feet slipping on the leaves scattered on the ground and half-delirious with fever. As far as he could tell he should be getting close to the hideout, but his vision was doing odd things at the moment like swimming in and out of focus. Catching his balance against a tree the knight could feel the half-healed whip scars on his back break open again. Apparently the landing had been rougher than he'd thought. That was a very bad sign. He couldn't judge distance or even sensation accurately anymore.
Taking a deep breath, the dark skinned man shoved himself away from the tree, continuing to stumble forward. Was that the gnarled tree where he was supposed to turn? Asuma couldn't remember. Clutching at rough bark, what remained of his shirt caught on the tree tearing it further and scraping his arm deeply as his tall frame pitched forward onto the forest loam.
Strong hands pressed into the ground trying to lever his body upright once more, but his arms gave out with a wobble, sending him sprawling in front of a pair of leather boots. Leather boots? When did trees grow leather boots?
After the initial shock of having someone fall at her feet in the middle of the forest, it took Kurenai a moment to realize they weren't much of a threat. She glanced around (keeping a good grip on the knife's hilt) to make sure people hadn't been following, and mentally cursed herself. It was boring and sometimes difficult to keep completely alert, but Kurenai was surprised she hadn't seen or heard anyone coming through the trees before now. A lapse of attention like that could cause serious problems in the future.
She didn't see anyone else in the woods, so she knelt down and peered at what was visible of the man's face, careful to rest her hand on his shoulder rather than his back. Her earlier surprise was completely overshadowed by shock when she recognized him. “Asuma?!” Last she’d heard, he was still working as a spy in the castle. Something terrible must have happened, his condition proved that, but they hadn’t heard any news from Konoha for a while now. “What happened to you? Why are you out here?”
Lifting his dark head, Asuma blinked blearily up at Kurenai, a slow delirious smile spreading over his lips. "Ku-," his voice cracked on the first syllable of her name, throat completely dry from fever and lack of water. "Kurenai. Water, please." The battered knight's skin was burning to the touch, and one hand gripped the pale woman's shoulder rather roughly. He wasn't entirely aware of his strength at the moment, and using Kurenai as leverage managed to push himself up to hands and knees.
Sitting back on his heels and swaying slightly in position, Asuma blinked glassy brown eyes up at her. "Prison," he croaked. "Got found out. Tortured," his rough voice failed him at that last.
Fever or not, the weather was cold and Kurenai had already noticed that Asuma's clothes were less than adequate for the conditions. She pulled off her cloak and put it around his shoulders; it was obviously too small, but the warmth it offered was more important than the way it fit. After that was taken care of, Kurenai turned to the sachel she'd brought with her and pulled out the nearly-full waterskin.
"Tortured?" she asked, going back to his side and handing the water to him. She put her arm around his shoulders to steady him, thinking the last thing he needed was to fall on his face again. "How did they find out about you, anyway? You've been there for such a long time without anything like this happening..."
Making a grab for the water skin, Asuma missed on the first attempt. Asuma rarely missed anything. Blinking again to focus more keenly he grabbed it on the second try. Drinking deep enough to drain the thing dry, the battered former knight lowered the empy skin and merely breathed. All of this excitement was already wearing away at what little energy he had left.
Forcibly refocusing his dark eyes on Kurenai, the bearded man fought for the control of his body and mind that he was rapidly losing. There was just something not right going on in his body at the moment. "Think someone...recognized me..." the words slurred out of him, vague and unfocused. "Reported my face."
The knight slumped forward then, burning forehead pressed against the brunette's shoulder. "Helped out too much...were going to hang me. I missed you." Trembling arms lifted just enough to slide loosely around her waist, the normally strapping Asuma with barely the strength of a kitten at the moment. "Not followed...lost in rain..." The empty water skin fell to the forest floor, completely ignored.
She couldn't help shivering when Asuma said they had been planning to hang him. It was horrible to consider, almost worse than seeing the obvious signs of abuse, and Kurenai felt tears stinging her eyes as Asuma leaned against her. She put both arms around his shoulders and held him closer, trying to be careful with his injuries. "I missed you, too. You can't go back there. Someone else can do the spying if we need them to, but it's too dangerous for you to go back."
Kurenai pulled back and held one hand to Asuma's forehead. He was burning up; they needed to go back to the camp for help instead of sitting in the woods.It was one of the few times she regretted not learning more healing skills from her mother. A quick message sent with her magic alerted someone to take her place at the sentry post, which was one less thing to worry about. "Do you think you can make it back to the camp from here? I can't carry you, you know."
Asuma merely nodded at Kurenai's words. He was well aware of the fact that it was too dangerous for him to stay in Konoha anymore, but it wouldn't stop him from eventually going back. There was too much to be done there. That was a far away day at this point though and his baritone voice rasped out of a raw throat. "Yeah. I made it this far, a little more isn't going to kill me. I know I need help right now."
The feel of Kurenai's arms around his shoulders was the most wonderful thing in the world right now. It meant that safety, warmth, food, and her company were at hand. Putting one dirty, cut up hand on the nearby stump, the former knight hauled himself to weary feet once more. He could hardly feel the ground underneath them. Swaying slightly, dark eyes blinked blearily at the red eyed woman. "Let's get moving. I want a cigarette like you wouldn't believe." What he really wanted was the security and peace to be able to smoke a cigarette. That wouldn't come until they'd made the camp though.
Kurenai smiled slightly as she put the water skin back in her sachel and stood up, slinging the bag over one shoulder. If Asuma could talk about cigarettes, maybe he wasn't as bad off as he looked. She walked over and looked up at him, lingering concern hidden by a smile. “We’ll be at the camp soon, you can have one when we get there…After a healer looks at you, of course.” There was no doubt in her mind that any healer worth their salt would forbid him from smoking until he’d recovered from this ordeal. She also didn’t doubt that he would ignore whatever the healer said. “Tell me if you need to stop. We don’t need to rush getting back there.”
Little did Kurenai know was just how much strength it took for Asuma to have been able to speak so clearly. A wave of dizziness swept over him as he returned Kurenai's smiling gaze, nearly sending him to his knees once more. The knight mumbled thanks to the tree stump that was holding him up. Pulling the too small cloak more tightly around his broad shoulders, Asuma gestured weakly. "Let's get going. I just want," the rest of the sentence was garbled by a coughing fit that doubled him over.
Drawing in a ragged breath, the former knight straightened up his tall frame once more, resting one hand heavily on Kurenai's slim shoulder. It was going to take every last ounce of remaining strength to make it back to camp. Too tired to even speak anymore, Asume gestured with his chin and started walking slowly towards the camp.
She linked her arm with his as they walked, more as an effort to keep Asuma steady than anything else. It was worrying to see him like this when she couldn’t remember him being this ill before. They were making good progress on the return to the camp, despite Asuma’s condition, and Kurenai allowed herself to relax a little. She was still concerned, but she knew that everything would be alright when they made it back to the rebel’s base. A healer would take care of Asuma, and she wouldn’t have to deal with the sometimes overwhelming fear that something terrible would happen to him. Losing the services of such a well-placed informant was a blow to the rebellion, but that was the last thing on Kurenai’s mind at the moment. All that mattered was that Asuma had escaped execution and she wouldn’t have to worry about what would happen to him in Konoha anymore.
The entire way back to the camp Asuma leaned on Kurenai's slender but strong shoulder, that too small cloak pulled tight around his body. The shivering wouldn't stop, and some small coherent part of his mind knew that a few of his wound were inflamed. That was too be expected though when he'd been spending all of this time running and hiding from pursuit on top of being heavily damaged from that thankfully brief stay in the castle dungeons.
Part of the former knight also wondered if he would ever be able to have anything good happen without it being preceeded or immediately followed by something horrible. Being found out and captured, stripped of his title, thrown into the dungeon, tortured, and then nearly executed was worth it to be back with Kurenai and his friends among the rebels. Even if it meant losing the advantage they'd had with him still in the castle.
All of his thoughts came to an abrupt end when he and Kurenai had made it back to camp and all of his strength left him. The world spun away in darkness not that Asuam was finally able to let it go. He was as safe as he could possibly be here.