Expedition. (8)

Kumkani simply made his way back to his little hide out, but when he arrived, he found a surprise waiting for him. He sensed a presence in there, but it was not the one he was expecting, as he found the cat laying on the floor, panting heavily. It not only looked tired, but it had been bleeding out all over the floor.

"How do you keep finding me?"

Kumkani's voice snapped the cat out of its stupor as it shuffled to its feet, looking ready to scrap. When it saw that it was Kumkani in the building, it relaxed a bit, collapsing again. Kumkani approached it while it kept baring its teeth and growling pathetically.

"What do you think you're doing? You came to find ME. I can help you, but you need to drop the attitude – this body is too tired for attitude."

The cat, which was staring at Kumkani intensely, acquiesced and stopped being so stand-offish. The Venator walked right up to the cat and began to look its injuries over, before placing his hand on its lower back, drawing out a growl which received a scowl and death stare in response, shutting the giant feline up. Kumkani then closed his eyes, concentrating intensely and before long, he gently rubbed the cat's lower back.

'This cat has probably been alone for a really long time and fighting for its life on a regular basis. Great for growth, but maybe not so great for its heart. This one is likely extremely lonely… I might not have to force the final droplet of my Primordial Blood into him.'

"Luckily, we don't need to do much to patch you up. I'll use my bandages on your open wounds, and help you heal."

Kumkani removed his rucksack from his back, and pulled a small first aid kit and a roll of gauze out from it, before performing the most basic of emergency first aid, before cleaning and dressing the biggest wounds. He then stood up and pulled another blood pack out and used it to make changes to the original glyphs and patterns in the Magic Circle he had made earlier on. Once he was done, he looked at the cat.

"Oi, get up and get in the circle." He called, and the cat tentatively followed instructions.

It stopped just in front of the Magic Circle, and sniffed the blood bag, before looking at Kumkani and gesturing with his head that he smelled the Magic Circle and the blood, before smelling Kumkani himself. After that, he entered the circle and the Venator poured a bit more blood on to join the circle which then started to glow deep red. The cat jumped and was on high alert, but Kumkani simply raised his hand to calm it down.

"Don't worry. This is going to help you heal, albeit slowly. Wait, do you even know what albeit means? Anyway, I'll have to leave in a few minutes, but you stay here, and you heal. When I come back in twelve hours, you and I are going to have a bit of a discussion, alright? I'll draw a few masking circles so nothing can find you."

Kumkani didn't even wait for a response, and went outside the hideout, and was about to start pouring more blood before suddenly thinking about something the cat did earlier.

'He intimated that my blood had to do with something… is that how he found me? In fact, is that how the snake found me? But how?' His eyes grew wide as the penny dropped. 'The Rune? The fire from the Rune? The creatures in this place are not only sentient, but also sensitive to things like these? I'll have to be more careful.'

The Mana Circles he drew were altered to not only mask presences, but any and all smells specifically, just as an extra layer of safety. Once that was done, Kumkani entered the hideout and went downstairs into the basement, which was just in time, as the display from the pin popped up and a timer counted down, until it hit zero, and a mini portal similar to the one he stepped out of 12 hours earlier. Kumkani slung the rucksack over his shoulder and walked in, before emerging calmly in the main Encampment, where to his surprise, the Aegis Venators were all waiting, as if to see if anybody had made it back. There was a look of pleasant surprise on the captain's aide's face, as she saluted Kumkani, who simply nodded in reply and made his way over to his little spot. His return was in stark contrast to the rest, as some of them came flying in, screaming and covered in blood. Other teams came in all somber and deflated, and the final team that made it in was quite the sight, as one of the members flew in backwards while dragging his screaming teammate in by the arms. He celebrated having made it back with his mate, however when the realization that he had only pulled in his upper torso, and his half-gnawed entrails were strewn about on the blood-soaked mud, the joy quickly turned to distressed horror, and his screams and wails echoed throughout the whole camp.

Kumkani, who wasn't even facing the portal at that point, simply settled in his chair and closed his eyes, his bruised, battered and fatigued body succumbing to the warmth of camp and falling asleep. Well at least, that was the plan until an approaching presence roused Kumkani from slumber and his head snapped to look at whoever it was. The female Venator was approaching with a blank expression on her face, while dragging something behind her. Kumkani stood up a little gingerly and when she reached him, she stopped and raised what she was dragging behind her with one hand. Her eyes twinkled with pride as she held a large hare, about the size of a medium sized dog.

"…impressive." Kumkani said, not knowing why she was showing it to him.

The corners of her mouth broke out into a small smile and her nostrils flared.

"Thanks." She beamed with a nod. "Wait. I'll be back."