Rita
The mouth of the cave stood black and ominous against the rocky mountainside. Da Huine, a gate to the underworld to some, a treacherous cave filled with dangers and creatures galore to others. All knew one thing, though it was a place in which no one would willingly go, any many who went in never came out. From within, the scraping of rocks sounded, loud crashes of falling stones, and the metallic strike against stone. Slowly but surely a pale shape would become visible from within, the skin white like milk and moonstone contrasting against the pitch darkness of the darkened cave.

An arm shot up, above the lip of the cave, in its hand a crimson ice-pick striking into the stone just above. With a groan of effort and pain the figure began pulling itself over the edge and onto the ledge. Strong, muscled arms hauled the figure up and out of the black maw of the cave. Their figure was striking. Silvery-white hair, and pale skin that was both flawless and littered with countless scars and burns. Against his stark white skin, splashes of dark crimson contrasted the light colour. As he collapsed forwards, the wounds on his back were revealed. Jagged claw marks and vicious bites, as well as jagged wounds on his arms and front that seemed to have been caused by the jagged rocks of the caves as he'd climbed to his salvation.

The sun was blinding to him. Years in absolute blackness were swallowed up by the brightness of the surface, even with the heavy clouds overhead.

**"Finally... Finally free..."**

A desperate laugh escaped him before he collapsed forwards onto the burned grass, which felt like the most extravagent sheets of velvet compared to the rocks he'd been sleeping on for the last decade
Ophelia
Long had she dreamed of seeing the rolling hills of Corol Ambo since she read of them as a child. On top of a rather large hill stood a single woman who was captivated by the scenery before her. Verdant and grassy hills contrasted beautifully against the early morning sky that illuminated parts of the mountains ahead with a light red haze. It was everything she had dreamed of and more, making her heart pound against her chest. Or was that from the climb up? Either way, her eyes sparkled with wonder at the scenery before her. Before long, though, she would need to get moving again. The woman, Acantha, reasoned that making her way to the mountains would be a decent idea. As she stepped down the hill, gravity and momentum carried her far quicker to its base, making the woman stretch her hands out and laugh in delight at the feeling. 

The journey across the hills was no easy one, but months of traveling on foot provided her with enough stamina to at least keep going. By mid-afternoon she arrived at the base of the mountains, which towered over the small woman, who felt like a speck of dust compared to their majesty. As she made her way further alongside the base of the mountains, the environment began to grow colder and much more eerie. She hugged her cardigan a little closer and still continued, though with some caution. Just ahead, she heard strange sounds and against some likely better judgement, she sought to investigate its source. The openings of a cave began to peek into view, capturing her interest at first until her eyes landed on a collapsed figure near its entrance. She gasped and rushed over, kneeling beside the man on the grass. Covering his back and arms were numerous gashes from claws, scratches, and bites that stained his clothes with blood both old and fresh. She checked first that he was breathing and upon confirmation, she shimmied her bag off of her back and frantically started to pull things out. 

"I'll help you, don't worry!"

The first thing she

Took out was a curious satchel, faintly labeled "Cuts and gashes", that she then spread out across the ground beside her. A hand hovered over the area of seeds and within a moment, it began to glow with a chartreuse yellow color. Tiny orbs of light drifted from the glow and onto the ground below, where the seeds began to shake ever so slightly. In a minute, sprouts and true leaves emerged from their pods and grew rather quickly. An assortment of herbs bloomed forth, but her attention was focused on pulling out an assortment of items from her bag. When she turned her attention back to the plants and noted they were at an adequate stage of growth, she ceased the magic. She had little time to harvest them delicately, so she ripped out a handful of each type, ripped them apart, and tossed them into a mortar and pestle. She added a bit of oil and mixed, crushing the herbs until the mixture had turned an earthy green. Next, she added a scoop of beeswax, mixed, then another until she felt she had a decent amount for the numerous wounds he had. She set the salve to the side, grabbed a cloth and some alcohol, and gently tried to warn the man. 

"I need to clean you up a little bit. I'm sorry, but this may sting a bit. Please bear with it, okay?"

With that, she began the process of cleaning up his wounds with the alcohol dampened cloth. For any others that were actively bleeding, she made sure to use another cloth to apply pressure, then clean the blood away.
Rita
His eyes were clenched shut against the brightness of the day, but he could hear footsteps approaching. The words took him a while to comprehend, it'd been years since he'd so much as interacted with another person, and he was still on edge. He was still heavily weakened however, he was alert enough to hear the crunch of grass underfoot and comprehend the words. He didn't have anything worth stealing on him, so he assumed the person approaching had altruistic values. How naive... He winced as he tried to move to his arms, but collapsed back down as the magic was being poured into the plants. He shivered momentarily, but as the hand reached forwards to begin applying the poultice he seemed to become far less lucid.

In one motion he'd turned to face the woman, grabbed the wrist with the cloth roughly and glared at her with burning amber eyes, behind which stood an animalistic instinct, burning fury, and a healthy helping of fear. It seemed his reaction to people getting close to him was immediate self-defence. Though quickly his eyes softened as he collapsed again. He could smell the herbs, and he slowly realised her intention as his head sank into the grass and he prepared himself for the burning poultice. He was allowing her to get close now, seemingly accepting of the help.

The man seemed almost like a traumatised animal, though he was lucid enough to understand she meant him no harm. Words left his lips, muffled slightly by the grass.

***"Th.. Thankyou..."*** 

His breath was ragged, and his condition wasn't critical, but he was severely wounded. His reactions spoke of an unimaginable ordeal, and he was clearly still suffering.

***"You... Scared me."*** He coughed, blood dropping from the corners of him mouth as he shook again in pain. He didn't seem to mind the stinging of the poltice, but his wounds were definitely giving him grief.
Delbert
His sudden grab of her wrist shocked her, making her pull it back in reaction. Soft and worried eyes met his defensive glare as she tried to ease his worries with a gentle tone and smile, much like a mother's. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Let's get you healed up, okay?"

She resumed cleaning him up after he let go of her. At a certain point, she grew mildly annoyed at her hair getting in the way and tied it up in a ponytail. Once the cloth she was using was stained thoroughly with his blood, she switched to a new one and applied a fresh amount of alcohol to it. As she continued to gently clean his back, she found herself wondering about the cave. What lingered down there that posed such a threat like this? How long had he been down there to gain such a wide array of injuries? 

When she'd sufficiently cleaned the blood and wounds, she moved to applying the herbal salve she had mixed earlier. A delicate finger smeared it around each wound, then covered each with an individual cloth bandage that stuck to the salve. 

"Are you able to sit up? I can wrap these around your chest to hold everything in place."

Acantha placed a tender hand on his shoulder while her other hand reached out to offer him assistance if he needed it. She noted the blood he had coughed out. If he had internal injuries... There wasn't much a salve could do. They would need to find a doctor of some sorts nearby, if that was the case.
Rita
His expressions had softened slightly, and he seemed less distressed now, though hissed through his teeth as the wounds were being smeared with the herbal mixture. Her caring attitude puzzled him, after all he'd barely said anything to her, and had even been threatening, but her first reaction was to heal him.

He relaxed and pulled himself up with his arms, sitting up so that she could wrap the wounds properly. He watched her as she treated him, his eyes squinting against the dull light of day that felt like a blinding glare to him. He could make out her features, just barely. 

**"Your name.. What is it?"** His voice was calmer, and now that his breath was less ragged, it carried confidence. He wasn't exactly greatful, more... Touched. He hadn't experienced tenderness in a decade, and maybe even long before he had been cast into that abyss. He smiled at her for a moment, his lips curling up as he watched her tie off his bandages

**"I am Salvador... Though i have not had use for the name in many years... Not much for conversation down there"** He glared at the cave momentarily, his eyes now fixed on the exit. It was almost as if he kept his eye on the edge he'd never fall again, but he slowly dragged his eyes away with a sigh. 

He looked down to the wounds on his arms as she bandaged them, which were still bleeding. As the man focused on the wounds, the flesh seemed to ripple slightly as the ends of the capillaries and veins that had been slashed tied themselves off. He was controlling the tiny veins within him in order to stop the bleeding and speed the healing process. Slowly, the smallest of wounds began to close at a rapid pace, though it would take far longer to heal the more greivous wounds. 

**"I won't forget your kindness... Though i cannot promise you any reward"**
Delbert
Once he had sat up, she got right to work on bandaging him. She needed to get rather close to him to wrap the roll of bandaging around his chest, exchanging it from one hand to the other and then smoothing down bandage with her palm at each pass. Once she'd finished with his chest, she'd get to work on his arms using the same process.

"My name is Acantha," She replied, returning his smile with her own pleasant one. What features he could make out would mostly consists of fair skin, sage green hair pulled back into a ponytail (except for her bangs, which laid just above her brow), and eyes that reflected like emeralds. 

"It's nice to meet you, Salvador. I don't need or want a reward for helping out someone who is hurt. But you came from that cave? Why were you down there for years?" 

She failed to notice the ripple of his skin mending the tiny wounds as she finished bandaging him. She'd used up every single bandage she had, but it was well worth it. If he opened one of the larger wounds and bled through, though, they might be in trouble. Getting him to the elves of Corol Ambo would be their best bet, but was he in any condition to walk, nonetheless the vast hills. It was certainly a predicament she'd found herself in, but nothing she wouldn't try to figure out. 

As he'd respond, she'd shuffle backwards on her knees until she was near her bag once more and started to clean the area up and put items away.