"Right. Yes." Kichiro turns jerkily away from the corpse, forcing back the idea of eating it. He lets his brother salve his wound, then says, "I'm going to go see what this ogre was doing over there."
He starts walking towards where the ogre was when he first spotted it.
The taste lingers in Kichiro's mouth, reminding him of what lay back there going cold and unenjoyed as he crests the low ridge that the Ogre had initially settled behind. A locked steel chest lay amongwhat looked like it may have been a makeshift sled, other odds and ends piled on it as well. There looked to be a few body parts, a leg lay a short ways away from the crude sled, tattered and gnawed upon. Everything save the chest was becoming a soked mess, even in the shadow of the tree.
Any tracks that could have been left are quickly becoming obscured by the rain, and with the chill in the air from the season, rest was going to be unpleasant without some precautions taken. Judging by the state of what was on the sled, the body parts might not be older than a few days perhaps.
A meal interrupted, and perhaps for the better.
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Kichiro gives the contents of the sled a quick look-through before shouting to his brother, "Did you find a key or anything? There's a locked chest here."
Satoshi looked up from examining the aftermath of the battle and disarming and packing away his bear traps.
"I don't see one over here, but I maybe could pick it open. I... learned a bit about how to do that, along with the other mechanical tricks. And I...doubt the owner cares anymore..."
As his brother works on the locks (and Kichiro seems unsurprised that Satoshi knows how to work on locks), Kichiro comments, "It does seem like we've killed a threat to travelers on the road, given all this. And I didn't eat him. Quite." His smile as he says this is obviously pained.
The rain has lessened somewhat since you began investigating, but the light drizzle is at least a marked change from the heavier rain that had been falling during your encounter with the Ogre. At least it was less of a hindrance as Satoshi took his time to fiddle with the lock on the chest, his meticulous nature eventually getting the lock to open with a well-maintained *click*. The weight of the box is significant, as inside, are more coins of shining silver than could easily be counted. The smell of the metal made it obvious as to the majority of its composition, whereas the smell of polish indicated the level of care that was taken with the coins themselves.
There is a damaged bolt of linen under the parts of bodies and other detritus on the makeshift sled, though somewhat miraculously, there are two bottles in the center of the bolt, one of Brandywine, and the other being a vintage of wine, quality unknown. Further into the center of the bolt, a potion sits, wrapped in fabric scraps and soaked from the contents of another broken bottle.
Some scrutiny of the possessions on the Ogre will lead to the discovery of two truly remarkable gems, polished but raw: One is a blue sapphire, the other a white opal. A well-cut rose quartz is also among them, but it is eclipsed by the scope of the other two in size, both being almost the size of a fist.
Kichiro's eyes go a little wide. All of this put together was worth more money than he'd ever dreamed of handling. Probably. He didn't really know what the gems were worth, but it was probably a lot
"There's probably no one living to return these two, but... is it really okay for us to take all this?" he ponders aloud. "I guess so, it just..."
He shrugs his soaked shoulders. "Well, I guess I'm carrying most of it?"
Satoshi examined the gemstones briefly, being better at determining the value of such things. He whistled softly; two of those were very valuable gemstones.
"...Better than leaving it lying around in the road. Whoever these belonged to must have been quite wealthy, those are high quality gemstones...If we can find anyone who owns them we should return them, but I don't think that is very likely...."
Satoshi glanced towards where the ogre had been... dealing with its victim.
"...At least we look to have dealt with a dangerous threat on the road. And yeah, probably best if you carry most of it. Though a better method might not be so out of reach anymore next time we find a town..."
Satoshi shifted his actually fairly hefty pack. He carried a lot of supplies for his things.
Kichiro gathers together the items and packs them in his bag--except for the box. He leaves that behind, just dumping out the silver into his pack.
"Well... I suppose we should keep moving. Let's get away from here."
Resolutely Kichiro pushes back the thoughts of returning to the ogre's corpse for a taste and sets back out on the road.
The lessening of the rain makes your travel much easier than the day before, but night was already on the verge of arriving when the two of you encountered the Ogre. It is not too much longer before you will have to make camp for the night or risk being fatigued the next day due to lack of rest. The skills Kichiro has learned let the both of you take precautions against the cold and wet, otherwise rest would be scant. Your destination lies but two more days away.
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Kichiro pushed to get as far from the dead ogre as they could before they made camp. "That... could have gone worse. I at least stayed in control. Mostly," he comments to his brother while setting up camp.
Satoshi nodded.
"It's a step in the right direction, at least? I mean... if what people say about the wilderness is true, this probably won't be the last time we have to fight. Better to learn control than go crazy... right?"
"That's the idea," Kichiro says, then sighs. "I do think the potion is helping. I'm not sure I would have held on there without it."
The rain has lightened into something just slightly heavier than a falling mist, but that does keep Kichiro from noticing the scent of the potential threat that was stalking them in the dim light. Satoshi's keen eyes are able to pick out the shape that did not quite seem to make sense in the near-dark, as it was low to the ground and longer than ten feet. Quite large, it was some sort of an animal, but was slowly getting closer as it circled their camp, using the low hills as cover. The light noise of the falling rain was the only constant sound along with the the smells of water and young grasses.
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Satoshi perked, alerted, then intentionally relaxed to try to avoid giving away that he was aware... maybe.
"...Something is approaching. Not sure what, but it's big, and coming closer. Some kind of beast or animal I think."
Kichiro stands swiftly and gives his brother a nod, then realizes Satoshi was trying to act like he didn't know something was coming. "We'd better be ready to scare it off, then," he says, figuring he's already blown that plan.
Satoshi nodded, loading his crossbow just in case.
"Scaring off would probably be better. But preparing for the worst isn't a bad idea either."
Kichiro's sudden motion was a tell that the creature took as a sign and went from cautiously circling to an open rush, coming in from the south, angling towards Satoshi, its shape resolving into a large creature intent on the hunt. Its exploratory attack against Satoshi just misses, several scars visible on its hide, and its breath was remarkable.
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Satoshi briefly coughed at the creature's breath, but it wasn't really that bad compared to some of the smells he had to deal with in alchemy. One downside of having a keen nose.
"Gah! I don't think this is going to scare without a fight!"
Satoshi stepped back, pulled a flask from his belt, and hurled the glass container at the giant animal... though considering it's tough-looking hide, he aimed merely to shatter rather than to try to gouge it with the glass.
Kichiro focuses his shapeshifting powers, forcing them to obey him without taking over. He moves around to one side of his brother, his stride and stature growing with every step until he stands nearly as tall as the ogre they'd fought earlier.
The creature reacted with a hiss, drawing back as the acid burned, turning to face the now larger threat, circling out of range to suddenly dart in and bite at Kichiro, testing his defenses. It seemed intent on a meal, and little difference was made if it resulted in success. A significant bite was leveled at the growing target, and just barely managed to grab on with its jaws, shaking Kichiro viciously as it seemed to throw caution to the wind.
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,
Kichiro roars in pain, instinctively calling on his power to heal himself.
Struggling against the creature's grip, Kichiro proceeds to try to bite it back.
"Hang in there! Well at least it should be easier to hit..."
Satoshi doesn't like the look of the beast's grip on Kichiro, but at least it's focus on his brother should leave it relatively open. Moving to get a better angle and taking deep breaths to calm himself, he aims carefully before firing.
The Dire Weasel had latched onto Kichiro, tugging and shaking as he tried to return the bite that it had latched onto, when A shot from Satoshi took a lot of the fight out of the creature. The sound it made sounded like it had been involuntary, but it must have been something vital as there was an acutely pained sound that interrupted the snarling. It refused to give up fighting, and let go to bite at Kichiro again, intent on killing the two creatures that it was stalking.
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,
Snarling and growling Kichiro tries to find an angle he can strike back from, trying to get his own teeth into this creature that dared to hurt him so.
Growing increasingly worried for his brother, Satoshi rushes around to the back of the beast and tries to finish it off with a stab of his kunai.
The inclusion of an ineffectual creature did not deter it from its focus on the big one, giving it another savaging bite, blood frothing at its mouth from the severe wound. As the fight leaves Kichiro and he starts to topple, it turns to the ineffectual newcomer, intent on rending this one well.
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As the darkness of unconsciousness rises to meet Kichiro, he sees his brother trying to strike at the giant animal. Dimly he recognizes it will likely do to him asi t did to Kichiro himself, and he feels... rage.
Inchoate, infernal rage.
Surrendering to his wrath, in spite of his lifeblood spilling out on the ground around him, Kichiro turns his topple as the weasel releases him from its grip into a lunge, savagely biting at it in an unholy combination of anger and something darker.
Satoshi sees Kichiro flagging and desperately stabs at the beast, while making sure his spare Satiety Tincture is ready and he has a Salve for treating wounds available as well.
The actions of the two of you are enough to succeed, the bite from Kichiro catching its throat as it turned to address the stab from Satoshi, the creature collapsing as its throat is torn out. There is a moment of calm before Satoshi realizes that despite the injuries, Kichiro is not calming. His size is still large, and with the collapse of the large creature, the next moving thing nearby is him.
The falling mist does little to obscure vision, and cover is nearby, but whether or not it would be enough to deter his brother is distinctly unlikely.
The creature that did the damage falls, but there is Food nearby. They are edible, and they smell good.
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Kichiro bares his teeth and starts stumbling towards Satoshi... but as he does, he manages to wrestle his mind back from the madness, remembering just whose liver he's hungering after. He staggers to one side, blood loss catching up to him, and slowly topples to the ground.
Satoshi hovers between possibilities for a moment, before taking his hand away from the Satiety Tincture and quickly going to apply a Salve instead, as his brother topples instead of attacking.
Satoshi's application of the salve is enough to bring some measure of consciousness back to Kichiro, having shrunk back down to his normal size. Any way Satoshi looked at it, just the application of salve should not have been enough to bring him back to wakefulness, let alone heal his brother as well as it had.
Kichiro came to with a mouthful of fur, and the remnants of the taste of oily flesh and blood, the thinning mist not enough to rinse his mouth out. The Hunger was there— as it was always– but it felt different. The smell of the cooling body of the impressively large weasel explained the taste, at least. The rest was hazy memory.
Kichiro groans and stirs, consciousness feeling slippery as he opens his eyes.
"Whahappen?" he mumbles, eyes not quite focusing on the scene around him.
Satoshi looked around briefly to ensure nothing else was approaching.
"...You went a little berserk and finished off the beast, then fell over. I've managed to patch you up a bit, but we should still find somewhere safe to hide for a bit so that I can at least prepare some more concoctions, and so that you can take it easy....at least we won't have to worry about food, this animal is pretty big."
Kichiro blinks a few times. "I... don't remember that," he states, worriedly. "I don't like this whole thing finding new and exciting forms to take. Not to mention I don't like how it doesn't care at all that there's a perfectly good animal here to eat."
He sits up and winces. "Ow." Kichiro sits and pants for a bit, just how close he came to death catching up with him mentally and physically. "I... don't think I'm moving far for a bit."
In about hour, Kichiro feels slightly better, letting him do what he usually did every night to help keep the cold of the night manageable, else they would be remarkably fatigued from trying to sleep through it. The rain lessened over the next few hours, Kichiro recovering more and more. At midnight, the air was chilled, but humid and the rain had finally stopped.
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Satoshi went about his usual morning brewing, though the hour spent waiting for Kichiro to recover on his own was also enough time to prepare a new salve for him that evening.
"...Well, I'd heard that travel could be dangerous, but I didn't really believe it until yesterday, I think. An Ogre and a giant beast... we'll have to be careful... There must be better ways to do this than walking..."
Kichiro notes how quickly he's healing with a bit of concern. "Satoshi, how good was that salve of yours?" he asks, warily.
"How does anyone travel without a half-dozen guards if one day is like this?" he asks rhetorically, agreeing with his brother. "Though I suppose we could have avoided the ogre. I just..."
Kichiro trails off for a while, before quietly adding, "I wish this Hunger would at least let me get away with animals instead of... you know."
Satoshi scrunched his nose in thought.
"...Pretty average, I think? It seemed to work unusually well on you... and you healed oddly quickly on your own... which probably means it's associated with... all that. At least fast recovery isn't something intrinsically bad."
Satoshi continued thinking. "I think I remember that a lot of caravans do hire guards for this kind of thing. Wasn't it implied that travelling alone was really dangerous?"
Kichiro sits on the ground and pulls his knees to his chest, split tail sprawled on the ground behind him. "It's definitely getting worse," he whispers. More loudly he says, "What are we going to do if... if bandits attack us? What if I... can't stop then?"
Satoshi took a deep breath and looked his brother in the eye.
"We do our best to avoid it, and if it does happen, we cross that bridge when we reach it. I'm not going to just give up, that's for sure."
Kichiro sits unmoving for a long moment.
"I don't think I'll be able to sleep for a while," he says at last, still without moving. "I'll take first watch."
The night turns cold, but it is of no matter to the brothers, as Kichiro finds himself healing as time passes. The import of it did not bode well, but then again, that was a particularly vicious fight. Maybe it was part of a berserk reflex, or desperation thing? There is a lot to consider as the night passes. No animals venture near for some reason, though that may just be that the corpse of a creature that large would mean that there's an even bigger creature around.
The Hunger was still there, though even it seemed tired, distant not like it was receding, just somewhat quiet. Kichiro can almost forget it was there once or twice. Eventually the watch passes, and sleep beckons.
Kichiro does his best to pay attention to his surroundings and not think about anything else during his watch, which of course means his mind goes over and over just how bad things almost were. What if he'd attacked his brother?
What if they'd both died to the dire weasel?
Needless to say, his nerves were thoroughly frayed by the time he wakes his brother for his watch. Exhausted in body, mind and soul, Kichiro wraps himself up in his bedroll and hopes sleep comes quickly.
Satoshi glances nervously at Kichiro's retreat into his bedroll, hoping that his brother can at least gain some respite in sleep. He mostly keeps watch, but does occasionally distract himself with odds and ends of tinkering and fiddling.
Quite unsurprisingly, they night passes without any further incident, as it was very likely that the two largest threats in the immediate region were now gone. Dawn brings the return of slight warmth, and another day of travel. Hihibo was two days away at this point, and the acrid smell of a smithy could occasionally be caught on the air, as the height of the hills slowly started to increase. At least it seemed that the rain was done for now. The cold night had done a bit to keep the corpse of the weasel from turning too quickly, but once it warmed, there was no guarantee about what scavengers would come looking.
Kichiro is clearly in a hurry to leave in the morning. "I don't want to stay here any longer," he says, trying to break up camp at the same time as eating a cold breakfast. "The sooner we get moving, the sooner... we'll find out what we can do. About this."
Satoshi considers the weasel, but doesn't really have the necessary skills to do more with it than cut off and cook a few of the more obvious meaty bits in the morning to save on prepared supplies.
"A-alright. I'll have to look and see if there are any ingredients that look like they would make that tincture more potent. I... guess we can actually afford some expensive components due to the... ogre."
Satoshi also gets to packing up, putting away his half-finished tinkering project as he does so.
"I was starting to worry about our money, so what we, er, found does at least help with that."
Kichiro sighs and looks at the ground. "Satoshi, how are we ever going to get through this? I almost... almost..."
He falls silent for a bit then shakes himself. "Okay. I can do this. We can keep going. Let's keep going."
As soon as everything is packed, he determinedly sets back out, setting a quick pace to get away from here and hopefully get towards help.