Johnnie
*Artoria flinched as the bolts came crashing down on Katherine's armor. She told herself that what she had done was necessary as a show of power, a deterrance to stop the macen from coming at her again - despite all that, however, had she gone too far with her firepower? The kitsune, when she felt the slight rumbling of the bolt's impact, turned away at the sight of her foe. She tried to ignore the howling screams of agony echoing from behind that metallic mask, which had shortly turned into a horrific shout of desperation which revertebrated throughout the open plains.*

*For one, Artoria was convinced that the macen had basically been asking for it. I mean, she had given her the chance to walk away, yet she still tried to fight on. Katherine knew what Artoria was capable of, yet still adamantly fought on even though she was clearly dominated. It just didn't make sense to the fox. If their positions were swapped, Artoria would have accepted defeat, even though she would despise it. Accepting a defeat today in trade for a greater victory in the future, however, outweighed losing it all by refusing a loss.*

*Artoria was alerted, however, by a bit of the fire sprawling slightly out towards her. It landed by her foot, the sudden shift of color from the grass from green to black suddenly catching Artoria's eye. Although she knew it was hers, her combative instinct caused her to whip her head towards Katherine's direction - the direction her brain told her the fire had came from. The first thing that made its way into her visage was the sheer amount of flames covering the ground, each one giving off a heat wave that turned the surrounding area a light shade of crimson. Nothing too out of the ordinary; she almost praised herself for how destructive her magic proved to be.*

*Then she saw Katherine.*

*The macen, whose black body projected a booming yet somehow raspy voice towards the fox's direction, was writhing all over the ground. She tossed and turned like a ship in a storm, clawing the ground like a zombie as the flames overtook her person. The air was filled with the scent of burning flesh, with Katherine's legs and left arm both disappearing within the blaze. It was, to say the least, a sight to behold... Though she couldn't find herself taking pleasure in watching. She should have, yet, the sight of this already-defeated nobody burning up entirely caused a scowl to form on her face. Was it disgust? Probably. But the emotion that took over her mind wasn't necessarily one with a negative connotation.*

*She felt pity.*

*For some reason, Artoria found pity where she should've found excitement. She felt slightly remorseful when she should have been overcome with a sense of dominance.*

*She let out an audible "Tch" Sound, fixing her cloak and armor. The fox looked back one last time, and spoke.*

"This is your fault. I gave you a chance to back off. You didn't take it... So you deserve this."

*Then she stopped as she took a step away.*

"Sorry."
Jose
"I'm... So... Rry..."

*Fate. It seems like it wanted her to suffer, dragging her by her feet only to throw her into a stone wall, keeping her moving only to smash into every obstacle along the way, breaking her over and over again, fixing her up just enough so that she would survive the next blow.*

"Hi... To... Shi..."

*If only she were here. Again. No, not even Hitoshi. _Anyone_. Anyone who could heal her, or maybe end her pain, one way or another.*

*No. Not like that.*

*But the pain...*

*Agony. 24 seconds of pure, burning agony. Burning deep, not just the skin and flesh, but she could feel it in her heart. The sheer pain, trauma from it, it nearly stops.*

*She finally stabilizes though, as her mind begins to turn as black as her skin.*

*Far too late though. Far too late.*
Gloria
Despite what one might expect from a blind man, Kohm still went on jaunts through nature relatively often. 

Admittably, while he was quite cautious during his journey to New Salvainia, for he lacked both of his arms, he still had Alum guarding him and his honed senses were more than enough to get him out of danger if needed. Now that his arms were replaced with arguably better replacements and he was more confident about his senses, that caution faded even more.

Of course, he never truly let his guard down- in fact, it was the first time he was going this far out, but he knew that he had the ability to at the very least get out of trouble.

Alas, he did not account for his own proclivity to knowingly walk into trouble.

He really should have known better when he heard the commotion, but his gut feeling ended up dragging him along. He decided to attribute it to curiosity, willfully ignoring the fact he only ever had these sort of feeling when things were *Wrong.*

And thus history would repeat itself. Hesitation quickly turned into regret when he heard the blasts of flame and the ensuing scream, the inflow of information telling him everything he needed to know.

He was a step too late.

Kohm's form burst from the clearing, cloak swimming in the air as he braced his kite shield.

Soulskin reinforced his frame, but his right hand remained empty. He would fight if he pressed to, but it was not the priority. 

Part of him was tempted to strike him down- something told him that after that overkill display, even a criminal as notorious as Arthur Dax- even though he was somewhat confused what the masculine name- would be running low, and most importantly, Kohm was not a normal hedge mage.

*You mean a cruel and sloppy display*, his anger told him. What kind of monster would waste all their mana on such a barrage on a downed opponent? There was simply no practical benefit to that, aside from sentencing someone to a cruel death for their own amusement.

His fist clenched, and for a moment the spell formulas needed to summon his most powerful spell came to his mind, unbidden...

But in the end, he stayed his hand. The girl was still alive, but he couldn't be certain she would be if he delayed any longer.

"Leave now. You know your chances." Kohm stated, his face stone cold.
Johnnie
*As Artoria stepped away from the fallen macen, a new voice - one deep and studious - echoed from behind her, towards the brush and trees where the plains ended. She saw an old man, clad in a set of woolen clothes and cloak, looking straight at her. By the gods, how many people would she just 'run into' today?*

"I know my chances. Luckily for you, though, I burned all my energy making an example of the fool that lies before you. And it's not worth getting my hands even dirtier than they have to be. Thank your lucky stars."

*Without another word, Artoria would, with a sense of arrogance, swiftly turn and flourish her cloak as she walked away from the scene. There was nothing else for her to do here; why stay?*

"See you."
Gloria
Kohm snorted in disgust as he watched Artoria leave. He supposed that such a crime was nothing to her, judging by that wonderful attitude of hers.

"What a devil." He muttered.

The moment she was out of sight, he rushed over to Katherine, only to recoil a bit as the smell of cooked meat assaulted his sinuses.

"By the gods... It's not often that someone gets this fucked up, and definitely not on purpose." He murmured. 

Then he got a good look at her, and froze.

Deja vu was knocking on the front door, and he was not happy with their gift.

Only when he let out a stale breathe did Kohm realise his face was twisted in great grimace.

Sighing, he filed away his feelings on the matter for now and got to work.

Carrying Katherine was simple, the lack of limbs making it all too easy. Part of Kohm wondered if that was how his unknown saviors felt, but the lack of legs were the biggest factor, so perhaps not.

Setting her on a patch of unburnt grass, he popped off the cork of a Great Healing potion with practised ease and poured, moving the bottle over every corner of Katherine's brisket of a front torso. It didn't take long before the potion permeated through the rags, fusing with carbonized flesh.

Seeing that it was taking effect as flesh reknitted itself in front of his eyes, he sighed a breath of relief. Deeper treatment was needed, but for now it would keep her alive.

Pointedly ignoring the hollow look from the remains of her eyes, he took off his cloak and used it to wrap around her body, covering her torso and hiding her face.

Now, all that was left was to return. Moving on foot would be a pain, but in hindsight, if he had travelled by camelback as he once could, he wouldn't be here.

And thus, Kohm Fidres begun his long track back to civillisation, whole roast in tow.
Jose
*The vampire was just about to black out when she hears _something_. She can't quite make out what it is, but it's there.*

*Am I going to die?*

*Feeling herself being lifted by what seemed to be smooth, gauntleted hands, she would wince in pain as she was moved, her shallow breathing increasing. She would feel a smooth, nearly bloodlike liquid being poured onto her chest, and would gasp at the sudden contact. A breath would be let out as she felt the pain subside? She was saved! She would feel the blissful euphoria as the searing pain was replaced by a seemingly bloody cloth sticking to her.*

*Katherine would then find herself being picked up, wrapped in a large, somewhat rough cloth. It would sting as she could feel the fibers rub ever so slightly against the charred skin.*

*Though her vision would remain the same.*

"Th-thank you. Who... Are you?"

*Her voice is shaky, unstable from going into shock.*
Gloria
Kohm raised an eyebrow, not quite expecting Katherine to still be able to speak so consciously. That was quite a testament to her will, he supposed, solemn respect rising in his heart. He certainly couldn't imagine himself going through the same thing and still having the energy to speak a single coherent sentence afterwards.

Speaking in a soft, gentle tone lathered in empathy he attempts to soothe Katherine. If there was anything her mind needed, it was most definitely a geniune reassurance and ample rest. 

That he knew as a tested fact.

"Just rest. You are in safe hands now."
Jose
*The vampire would listen as her voice began to drop in volume, taking the man's kind words to heart.*

"Ok..."

*Ironic, wasn't it? Her whole life was based on near death experiences, yet she kept running straight into them. Over and over again. Maybe one day, she would be strong enough to hold her own. That was her dream, wasn't it? Grow strong enough to protect others? How could she, when she couldn't even defend herself?*

*Finally, sweet release, as her mind shut down and blocked out the pain.*