Young Writers Society

James had been fine walking until- out of nowhere - a massive, flower-like plant sprouted from the ground right in front of him.

He stumbled back a step, and then another step, and then he lost his balance, landing on his tailbone, which shot a sharp sting of pain up his already hurting back. Seeing spots in his vision, he tried in vain to get up, only scrambling with his hands at the earth for a moment as it registered to him that the gianr plant spoke.

Gods, he felt sick. A wave of nausea built up into his throat, but with it came a spinning light-headedness. Before he could throw up, he was seeing white.

And then nothing at all.

Tiberius was too far away for Evie or Viktor to catch him before he fell. For a moment, Felix leaned forward like he wanted to catch Tiberius. Even if he had suddenly shifted back to a more humanoid form so he had hands to catch Tiberius, it would have been too late.

The three watched as he tried to get up and scramble back when Felix suddenly spoke. Viktor was going to need more than basic first aid supplies to help Tiberius now. He was going to need a potion at this rate, and he wasn't even sure he could find the supplies for those.

"...I'm guessing that's going to make the concussion worse," Evie said.

Viktor sighed.

"He has more problems than just a concussion now," he said.

This whole day was a disaster. No, his whole life was a disaster. He was always making stupid impulsive decisions without thinking through the consequences. That was how he got into this whole mess in the first place.

James's head hurt even more, and his whole body ached like one big bruise. As he fluttered his eyes open and turned his head to the side lazily, he realized he was lying on the forest floor. He could make out the fuzzy shape of someone sitting near him, their legs crossed. Dark hair shadowing a pale face, looking directly at him. It took him a moment to register it was a bounty hunter.

He scraped at the bottom of his mind trying to remember a name. He knew this guy, right? He had to. That's how he got in this situation. But what had he done to him? Gods, everything hurt.

He groaned, throwing his arms to the sides to try to fight against his restraints, only to realize he didn't have any.

Why hadn't they tied him up?

What was going on?

Oh, he felt sick. His ears were ringing so loud. Nausea welled up in his stomach, and he could feel something bubbling up, crawling up his throat. When was the last time he ate? He didn't know, but it couldn't have been recent, because all he felt was the burning of bile and whatever little was in him. Feeling his whole body start to tremble, he turned to his side, vision blurring as he propped his upper body up with his elbows, just in time for him to retch.

His throat burned as he vomited, and he found himself dry-heaving when nothing else would come up.

He wanted water, but his whole head was spinning again. With another groan, he fell back down, rolling onto his back.

Tiberius was finally up.

In the time that Tiberius had been unconscious, Viktor had confirmed his worst suspicions: Tiberius was too injured to treat with the supplies he currently had on hand. Even more so, he couldn't just use his alchemy to make something simple. They would need a healing potion.

Not wanting Felix to antagonize or scare Tiberius further, Viktor and Evie decided that Felix should go with Evie in search of materials they could use for a potion. Viktor was left at the camp they had just made. Out of all of them, Viktor was the one who had the best medical experience. It wasn't anywhere near the same level as someone like Barbara, but it was better than leaving Tiberius with the people who didn't have remotely human biology.

Viktor grabbed a water bottle from next to his bag. He had thankfully gotten Felix to help him refill it after he used it to clean out Tiberius's injuries.

He moved closer to Tiberius and helped him sit up. He kept his previously free hand on Tiberius's back to prevent him from falling over again. He held the water bottle near him, but didn't put it directly to his lips.

"I have water," he said. "I'm going to help you drink it."

James didn't know who this guy was, but he was not enjoying being babied. That said, he didn't really have it in him to fight him on it - at least, physically. He was still so, so dizzy.

"You're... who are you?" he asked, not fully aware that he was slurring his words, and that his question was extremely delayed in response.

...Viktor hoped Evie and Felix returned with the potion ingredients soon.

"I'm Viktor," he said. "You have a concussion and fell out of a tree."

He moved the open water bottle closer to Tiberius's mouth, but didn't press it against his lips yet. If Tiberius lashed out again, he didn't want him to knock the drink over. He would have to wait until Felix returned to get more water.

James didn’t know a Viktor. This man had to be a bounty hunter. That was why he wasn’t back with Leo on the ship.

“Oh, so you gave me a concussion and pushed me out of a tree,” he corrected.

"Evie gave you a concussion," Viktor corrected, sighing. Had he been this difficult the last time he had a bad concussion? "And you fell out of that tree on your own."

James narrowed his eyes at the man. He forgot his name already.

His mind spun slowly as he calculated a response, but then he finally noticed the bottle of water in front of him, and his throat begged for it. Without replying, he grabbed it from the man and started drinking it.

That went better than expected.

Viktor had expected a fight, but Tiberius was so concussed that he hadn't questioned the water. He watched as Tiberius drank it to make sure he didn't accidentally choke on it.

James was relieved as he chugged the water like he hadn’t had any in ages. When he finally pulled away, he felt like some memory was coming back. He could remember climbing a tree, and ice.

Ice?

He set the bottle down to the side and he turned to look at the bounty hunter who was still holding him up.

“You can stop touching me now,” he said.

He knew he might’ve needed the help, but he did not want it anymore.

Viktor removed his hand from Tiberius's back, but he still kept it a few inches behind him. Even if Tiberius thought he could sit without help, Viktor seriously doubted his judgment.

"How are you feeling?" Viktor asked. It was good to know, no matter how quickly the potion would fix it all.

"Like you care," James snapped back, leaning forward and tucking up his legs so his arms rested on his knees. "You're just doing this to keep me alive so you don't turn me in dead and you get your reward."

There was the anger from earlier.

"That's not the reason," Viktor said. Was this what Evie had experienced trying to talk to him those first few weeks they had been living together? If it was, he would have to apologize later. "We're keeping you alive because we don't want to let someone die when we could prevent it. The concussion wasn't even intentional. We avoid hurting people as much as possible when we collect them for bounties."

"But you're still going to turn me in," James retorted sharply, looking Viktor in the eyes with a pointed glare. "Right?"