'Could it be?' Wren looked closer at the bark of the tree and cursed internally. 'Of course it just had to be this tree-'Wrens thought were interrupted by a high pitch ringing sounds. She immediately closed her eyes and covered her ears but it was no use.
"Uhm, what the-"..."Well would you look at that..." "Such a precarious-"..."Hold your tongue woman! Do you not remember your place!" There were multiple clan members huddled around something near the entrance of the temple's inner walls. There were some thin branches that had snapped off from their impact and were strewn around their bodies. Men and women spoke and whispered to each other on what they thought had happened, while some children resisted the urge to run closer to them. Seeing a man appear out of no where, with his arms wrapped tightly around a woman whose face was covered, and another woman gripping the first woman's hand tightly surely wasn't a typical sight for the clan members,"-Just what on earth happened? Why are you all just standing around? Hurry go find Thaddeus or another Fire Guard. Oh, also a doctor. It looks like one of the woman has a few wounds."
A young man looked at the site in horror. He did his best to remain calm while spouting orders at anyone who would listen. 'Just who do you think you are Aster?! Ugh, I was just out for a stroll so why is...wait i-... it can't be.' The young man gently tapped on Michael's shoulder but got no response. Fearing the worst, he slowly checked his as well as the two women's pulse to be sure they were alive. 'Well, they are weak but still there, thank goodness. Now to see the face of the lady you were protecting Michael,' Aster slowly approached the woman's face, gently moved her disheveled hair aside, and turned her head to better look at her face. 'Holy-' "Oy, Get the elders now. It's our Priestess, Madame Wren !"
Hearing the young man shout once again caused the onlookers to feel panic. "Oh no, not Madame Wren,"..."Wow, so that is our Priestess,"..."Oh no, we must get help,"...Many of them scrambled to find someone to attend to the three young people lying unconscious on the ground. 'Dangit! She's going to be in such trouble when they hear about this. Why would she bring two that are not of Kalina blood through th-' Aster's thought were interrupted by a loud crashing sound in the distance followed by Michael jolting awake, while still holding Wren.
"We-wer..." Aster took a moment to calm his nerves before slowly reaching towards Michael. "You, Madame Priestess, and Miss Naya are all here. We found you three unconscious just inside the inner wall of the temple. You damaged the brush a bit, but nothing else was harmed. I couldn't tell that the woman you were holding was Madame Priestess, so I uncovered her face to see bet-" "Did you find a doctor Aster? She can't..." Michael's voice trailed off as he nervously looked down at Wren's body.
Aster let out a deep sigh, "Yes, Sir Michael, I initially called for Thaddeus and a doctor, but upon seeing her beauti...er heh, I-I mean her face, I called for the elders. I was wondering why she was unconscious like the rest of you, seeing as she is of Kalina blood and can travel through easily, then I noticed the branch that was sticking through her torso and thigh. It's one of the ancient ones right? That's why she couldn't heal herself?" Aster lightly kept his hand on Michael's shoulder while talking, feeling him slowly release tension in his shoulders, then Michael finally nodded in response.
"I was careless Aster. I didn't..I didn't...she saved me. She managed to teleport to me even after expending so much energy and she, she managed to push me out of the way of the tree but she couldn't fully move her body out of the way. It's my fault. If I hadn't been so careless-" Michael winced in pain. He gently put Wren's head on his lap, and grabbed onto his side that caused him pain. He looked over towards Naya to see if she had regained consciousness, but luckily she had not. He knew she would be in a lot of pain if she were awake right now.
"A...Aster...I think, I think I'm going to pass out again...Lady Wren mentioned a note, I don't...p-please take care of her wounds first. Make sure the doctor's don't see..." Michael was breathing heavily and decided to slightly lift his shirt to show Aster his many wounds and the paste that had sealed them. Michael was having a hard time keeping his eyes open and motioned for Aster to move closer. Aster nodded and gently put his fingers to Michael's forehead. "Find me and I'll do my best to explain things. There's not enough time now...Keep these two safe..." Aster felt strange hearing Michael's voice in his own head, but shrugged it off as he slowly lowered Michael to the ground after he passed out.
Just as Aster was moving towards Naya, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching followed by a brief guest of wind. "Is it as we heard Brother Aster? Is Madame Priestess injured severely?" A teenage girl appeared next to Aster and crouched down to look at the three people on the ground. Aster simply nodded his head, " Did they only send you Miss Vivi? I know you're his apprentice but still," Aster spoke with the teenager in a teasing manner. The girl frowned and stuck out her tongue.
"Stop acting so high and mighty just because you're nearing your 20th birthday and I just reached my 16th. You were removed from medical training before completing a full month if I remember correctly. Master is close behind, I arrived before due to my teleportation abilities. I heard it was Madame so I had to see for myself." Vivi, 'Vivian', looked down at Wren's body and noticed the branches. Vivi shook her head, then moved closer to Naya's body. After a brief moment she moved over towards Michael's body, because they were in close proximity to each other, she basically did a small circle around them.
"Vivi, I dont have time to explain, because I do not know the full story myself, but Sir Michael needs to only be examined by you. I trust in your abilities. The Master and the Elders cannot see his wounds." Vivian's face turned a light shade of pink at his words, and bright red after he suddenly grasped her hand. "Please Vivi, I'll make it up to you, get him out of here please. I know you can do this, I believe in you." Vivian managed to shakily nod her head. She reached out and grabbed Michael's ankle, after making sure he wasn't touching the others.
Vivian took a deep breath, looked towards Aster with a bright smile, and vanished into thin air. "I will never get used to that," Aster shook his head and slowly stood up just as a group of men and woman appeared through the brush. "Pardon our delayed response. Another clan member had been attacked, leaving us short handed. Has Madame Priestess woken up?" A middle age man addressed Aster while bending forward to pick Wren up off the ground. Aster shook his head, "No, Sir Shoyo. Nothing-" "WREN!" Without warning Naya sat up and yelled out Wren's name, then just as quickly as she sprung up, she fell back unconscious.