It happened in slow motion, Hiro Kouen was victorious in defeating the plant monster, but some piece of it lunged at him in its death throes.  Sapphire pushed Hiro out of the way and took a plant spear in the stomach.  Hiro caught her small body, he was moved near tears that this girl, who just met him, would save his ass, possibly sacrificing herself in the process, especially when it was his duty, as given by her Goddess Mother for him to protect her.  Shalwarl was nowhere to be found, she was knocked clear away somewhere, and he couldn't find her.  He had to quickly carry Sapphire somewhere to clean the wound, and get her bandaged up.

"So stupid, I should have been the one to take that blow for you," he muttered weakly, carrying her body toward the river, the only place he knew that would have clean enough waters to help clean Sapphire off.  "I appreciate it, I do, but . . . but I was tasked with guarding you.  Your mother would kill me if I failed to protect you, now you're hurt, and it's because I let my damn guard down."  He could hear the rushing waters of the waterfalls.  The sound of the water drowned out all other sounds of the forest, the sounds of the birds and what not.  The water was clear and clean.  He carried her and gently placed her down on the bank of the river and started to clean her wound with the clear water, using strips of cloth to wipe away the blood and dirt in the wound.  "I'm sorry I can't be of much help, Sapphire.  I don't have healing magic.  The most I can do is to cauterize a wound, or clean it and wrap up, basic first aid stuff."

Sapphire was going in and out of consciousness. She could hear him as they walked though and a smile came to her face. "Don't be stupid. I heal faster than you do." Her words were weak but they were true. She felt his warmth and chuckled softly. He really was a fireball.

"I would not go so far as to think my mother would punish you for this. She is a lot more kind hearted then you would believe. You may have let your guard down but the truth is if I had let that hit you, you would have died. She moved her hand and looked at the blood again. It was odd to see it. She had not seen her blood in a long time.
Wincing as he put her down she let him clean her word. "You are fine. There should be salve in the bag I have. My mother makes it. I am quite the klutz but its been a long time since I've seen blood. Don't cauterize it just clean it up and let my body do the rest." 

She wanted to stretch out or see the falls. "I've never really been outside of Arri or my mother's temple. First time in the outside world and I almost get killed by a damn plant." Closing her blue eyes she felt the sunlight on her body and on the inside of her wound the regeneration had already begun. She winced as she felt each organ, vein, maybe even bone growing back slowly and painfully. "Mother said this hurts. We are a lot more tender than our dear vampire brethren. Not quite the same though so no need to be afraid."

She did not know a lot about Hiro. "You've lived in what I know as the outside world all you're life. That must be amazing. I had… whatever my mother created. The temple is vast and has many rooms and it is almost like it never stops growing. I will have to take you there. Let you see everything and maybe we can watch my brothers train with my mother."

Hiro felt frustrated, conflicted.  "I was supposed to protect you though, that means I failed to prevent harm from coming to you.  What if that blow killed you?  If I was paying more attention, I was stronger, I could have protected myself, I could have prevented you from getting injured.  You could still die, even if you can heal yourself, that wound could get infected or something."  His voice showed his concern, it wasn't just pride.  "I mean, a knight protects his lady even if it cost him his life.  Father would tell me tales of him slaying monsters, protecting the innocent, women and children.  I want to be strong like him, a protector, a hero.  He wants me to be a great person, he gave me this name, Hiro Kouen."

He cleaned the wound and went through her bag, finding the salve she was talking about.  He started slathering some on her, and bandaging it up, to keep it compressed and preventing the dirt from getting in.

"I don't know who the hell made that thing, but hopefully whoever made it is dead too.  It would be embarrassing to get to the gates of heaven and have to tell the guy at the gates you died by a disgruntled house plant," he said with a laugh.  He was nervous, but that sounded funny in his head.  Maybe the humor would help her out.  "Getting impaled would hurt, and be lethal to most people.  I imagine undoing that damage yourself would hurt about just as much."  She mentioned being related to vampires.  "I don't care as long as you don't want my blood.  Or turn me into a vampire.  I was told most vampires couldn't be trusted.  They are selfish."

She explained she lived in the gated world of her Mother's Shrine (or whatever you want to call a Goddess's temple), all her life.  The shrine sounded amazing, but she always wanted to see the outside world.  "It's not like I had explored a lot of the world yet myself.  I explored the forest around the town I lived in.  Dad taught me swordsmanship, some survival skills, fire magic.  He taught me right from wrong.  But he let me go out into the world and explore, and build a name for myself, because I asked him to let me go.  I didn't sneak out on my own, and he trusted me enough to let me go.  He even set up the portal so I ended up somewhere else.  The portal brought me into the rainforest.  I guess it's a bit of a trial for me.  To be placed in a foreign area, and survive on my own.  He gave me a basic sword and supplies and what not.  But I would have to get better equipment on my own."  She offered to show him the temple.  "I'd love that.  It sounds nice."

Sapphire smiled as Hiro got more frustrated. Her hand came up and cupped his cheek softly. "For now lets just focus on my wound." She blushed a bit at his words and then laughed. "In Arri most women protect the men but we have a very different culture. I'm sure you won't let me live down that I got hurt." She was in pain but every wince and every whine about it would only make Hiro feel worse. She would be strong for him as well."You are a great person. You are a wonderful caring person Hiro. I chose to act and that is on me. We'll learn together."

Sapphire laughed with him and found herself wincing from laughing perhaps a bit too much.  "Yeah, undoing the damage hurts but I remember my sister getting a wound like this once. She had been tracking a large creature for days. We get jobs from the people who follow Mother all the time and since gods are trusted to not destroy things its up to their clergy to fix the situation. My sister got cocky and ended up getting hurt and she told me while the wound itself didn't hurt the healing process was what was killing her." Tilting her head she shook it. "That sounds disgusting. I cannot imagine putting blood in my mouth." She stuck out her tongue.

Wincing a lot more she moved her hand to where the bandage was. "We can learn together. I don't know a lot about magic but I do know about my racial traits such as healing wounds. I spent most of  my time in the library learning. There I decided I wanted to be a scholar that maybe I could be of use there." 

Finally the shock came before the scream as blood soaked the bandage. It looked dirty in a way like it was pushing out the toxins and whatever else the plant might have given her. She quickly took Hiro's hand and let out a set of pants before it ended. The whole process took the better part of an hour as she frowned towards him. She was tired and her blue eyes told a story most people would hate. It was still hurting but she was holding it in. "It's purging whatever toxin or would be infection would be there. Sort of like your organs are being individually squeezed." The words trembled from her lips as she laid on him. "Should we stay here for the rest of the day?"

Hiro felt her hand against his face.  She suggested they focus on her wound, and said in her home, the women protected the men, instead of the other way around.  He nodded.  "Okay, let's get you fixed up then.  I'm used to being taught that the men are supposed to protect women.  My father beat that into my head to protect women and children.  Thank you."

He smiled a bit, and listened as she told him about her sister getting wounded while tracking some kind of beast around.  The healing of such a wound hurt more than the wound itself.  "Sounds painful.  I've been hurt before, with blood in my mouth, blood doesn't taste good.  But haven't been hurt that severe before.  Not as bad as you have."

He thought about what she said.  "I know some things about magic, but my father knew so much more than that, he knew all the elements, and even more than that.  But fire seems strongest within me, because both Father and Mother were strongest with fire, it's in my blood.  I know I'm a warrior at heart, but I'm not above learning things.  Especially if it helps me master magic more."  He felt her hand in his own, and winced as she screamed in pain.  He held her hand tightly.  She was in a lot of pain, and he did not know what he could do for her.  "Yeah, we can stay here for now, this place looks safe.  There's a source of clean water here, and we can set up a fire for the night if we need to.  The fire will be no problem with me here," he said with a smile.

Sapphire gave him a smile as they talked. "You're welcome. We're young so we have a lot to learn. We might as well learn together." Together they would have many adventures together and find a reason for all. She was sure about that. He was her sword and she was his book. 

Together they sat and chatted in the water. It was cool and crisp compared to the pain she knew was coming. "I only ever had my mother to teach me things. Though I suppose I can count the clergy and people she hired as tutors for us. My father was a ranger from what I hear. He wanted nothing to do with the daughter he created with a goddess. I can learn sword or magic but I perfer my books." 

She held onto him tightly as she screamed in pain. The wound began to sear hot as she jolted in his arms. The wound was getting rid of anything impure and it came at a great cost to her. She could feel her organs beginning to stitch themselves together and her skin opening their flower like scabs. Finally she was tired and breathing heavily towards the end.

"That would make me completely happy." She coughed a bit. "I'm glad this Lady has her knight." She blushed a bit as she tried to stay happy. She leaned into him. "My mother really isn't as scary as she seemed Hiro. She is very nurturing and loving. She is so full of knowledge. I once watched her real a book on herbal remedies while teaching my brother how to fight. Though that isn't really rare."

She chuckled more and found herself hurting. She winced and knew the worst of it was over. "I could feel it all in that moment. I could feel it pulling and growing a new. I could feel the scabs start forming." She shivered a bit. "I guess that's the price of having such regeneration skills." She sighed a bit and rested in her knight's arms. "You know there are stories about the first Rosenites meeting their would be husbands. They are kind of funny because just like you they tried to protect their ladies. Ended up getting hit for getting hurt. The women healed them back up to health and made them promise never to do anything so stupid again, at least not alone."

Laughing a bit more the girl smiled. "We should make a campfire so we can get dry."