Regenard's Camp

Regenard stared at her with his exposed eye. He grabbed her wrist and took her hand from his face, then fixed his mask with the other hand.
"I hide because," he said, breathing heavily from the wound, "I need to."
Regenard stood and walked into the tent, emerging a moment later with a roll of bandages.
"Wrap yourself up where you were shot. I'll take care of our friend here," he said. He walked over to Ohanzee and wrapped his wound, then propped his body against a rock.
"He'll be awake soon."

Gaia frowned. "You don't need to hide from me" she sighed, She needed to get away from Ghost. He was upsetting her, he was shutting her out and that bothered her. She knew they'd never be friends, so she should have just given up and let go of the fact that she wanted to know more about him and at least catch one more glimpse of his eyes. She sighed and stood up without a word, walking in the direction of the dead men. She had to get away and she wouldn't let a few bullets stop her.

Regenard watched her leave. His eyes shifted to the bow tied to the front of his rifle, and back to the girl that reminded him of the only man he ever cared about. He stared at the small frail knife on the ground, then at his own bloody cleaver that he'd used to slaughter his sister's murderer.
He stood, shaking from blood loss, and walked to the knife on the ground, picking it up. He then grabbed his rifle and untied the bloody bow. He turned again to face her and, as quickly as he could, chased after her. He dropped the knife at her feet, the blood stained bow tied to its hilt. He nodded, and without another word began to walk back to his tent.

When he reached it, he fainted.

Gaia watched him go back to the tent. When he fainted she felt herself fill with panic and she ran to him, Now normally, she'd take his mask off but she had to make sure he was okay. She grabbed the rag she wiped her tears with and gently took Ghost's coat and shirt off. She cleaned the blood from his wound and examined it. She glanced up at his face, still covered by his mask. What she saw of him was beautiful, Or handsome rather, either way she wanted a better look. She searched around in his tent and found a pair of tweezers. She gently stuck them into the bullet hole. After a while she got the bullet out. She wrapped his wound and sat there. She struggled to lean him against the rock, when she did she kneeled in front of him. She was going to take the mask off, but decided she should attempted to wake him up. She gently shook him. If this didn't work she would pour water on him, and that would require his mask coming off. Gaia sighed and bit her lip. She felt scared and alone once again

Ohanzee groaned and stirred a bit, gaining consciousness. He opened his eyes slowly, every event coming back. When he saw Ghost unconscious against a rock, it felt all the more real. Gaia looked worried...or maybe scared...or both. He didn't have the strength to walk over yet, so he would just watch from his rock, it seemed Gaia was going to try and wake Ghost.

Gaia heard Ohanzee stir and looked back at him, he had woken up. She looked back at Ghost, who wasn't waking up and she felt panicked and afraid. "Ghost...I'm sorry." she gently unclasped his mask, pulling it off of his face. She looked over his face. She let out a breath, suddenly she felt very emotional. What if he died? It'd be her fault. She pressed her forehead to his and her tears started rolling down her cheeks. "I'm so, so sorry..." she pulled back and wiped her tears away, trying her best to hold the rest of them in. She sat there, numbly looking at Ghost's unconscious body. She didn't know what to do at this point, so Gaia was hesitant about what she did next. She leaned in and wrapped her arms gently around Ghost, pulling him into a tight hug, almost fearing his reaction.

Ohanzee looked at the man's face, he studied it with precision, making note of every detail. He was a fairly handsome man, but when Gaia started crying, he looked away, he couldn't stand seeing people cry. He looked around, Ghost had killed the attackers and only got shot once. Yet he lost a lot of blood. Ohanzee had to assure himself Ghost knew what he was doing and that he would be fine. But now he felt Ghost needed companions more than ever.

Regenard's eyes shot open. He no longer felt the comfort of his mask. He then felt the arms of the girl around him. He couldn't move his arms, and his legs felt weak. He saw his mask in one of the girl's hands, and shot his mobile arm up and took it from her. He leaned back, unable to reach his face or move.
"You shouldn't have taken it off," he choked.

Gaia was afraid that he'd hurt her for removing it, she didn't know what to say or do. She sat silent for a moment and then looked up at him. "I needed to wake you up....You're no longer a ghost to me" she pulled away from him. She'd done the wrong thing. "I'm sorry. I was so afraid that'd you lost too much blood and died...It would have been my fault." she felt like she was going to cry again. "Why are you still hiding??" she gently touched his cheek, she hesitated with every move. Tears rolled down her own cheeks yet she couldn't grasp why.

Regenard's head fell against the rock he was up against and he stared at her, still weak.
"I died seven years ago. I am a Ghost. And I always will be," he said quietly.
"Now, if I am to die, let me. Death takes us all eventually."

Gaia didn't want him to die. She gently took his mask and tossed it aside. She wasn't going to let this man die, or even talk about death. She hugged him close again, her face was buried in his shoulder. Her tears escaped and she didn't bother to stop them. "You're not a Ghost anymore, and I won't let you actually be one." she met his gaze. "Please tell me your real name..." her voice trailed off as she looked back at Ohanzee. She wasn't helping the man in front of her, she was nothing but a burden to him. She gently stroked his cheek. "I will leave you be now, If that is your wish." she started to turn away but paused and waited for his response.

Regenard pointed to the knife not two feet away with the bow tied to it.
"When I die," he said softly, "Stick my rifle in my grave with that bow tied to it. I want to die with her."
His voice was weak. Wind blew heavily around them, whipping his long hair around his face. He didn't care where the girl's head was anymore. He was cold. He had no coat and his shirt was gone. His face was exposed. He was dying all over again.
"My name..." he said, coughing slightly, "... is Ghost."

Gaia looked at him and smiled a little. "I don't believe that to be true, and you're not going to die. Ohanzee, get over here. I need your help carrying him inside the tent, I don't want to drop him and hurt him." she laughed humorlessly and stroked Ghost's cheek hesitantly. "You won't die." she sobbed, which embarrassed her greatly but she just continued to talk. "I refuse to let you" she tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, which was a useless action because the wind prevented it from staying in place. "Promise me you won't die...." she sniffled and pressed her face into his shoulder. Gaia wiped her eyes. "Do you want me to put your mask back on..?" she licked her lips and looked back at Ohanzee, wondering if he had the strength to carry "Ghost"

"Listen," Regenard said softly, "Leave me here. Don't move me."
He looked over at the man across the camp.
"He can't carry me. And I... I don't make promises." He smiled softly and his hair blew in his face again.
He started chuckling, and began coughing again.
"Leave the mask. It rests with me."

Ohanzee cautiously stood and shook his head at 'Ghost'.
"I refuse to let someone die. And I refuse to not help someone when they need it," he said. Sometimes he would try helping and it would backfire, and sometimes he would not be able to help. But he could help this time. He walked over to the pair, every step excruciating, but he didn't care. It was to help someone, and that's what matters to him.

"You've lost a lot of blood. You can have mine" Gaia stated aloud. "I've paid my dues." her tears still came down her cheek at a steady pace and she quickly pulled the coat Ghost had let her borrow off and draped it over him. She was naked, her scars were revealed and she hated it. "Slut" was written in huge letters across her chest, she felt ashamed. Gaia ran inside the tent, finally taking up his offer on the clothes. His clothes were a bit big but she could make them work for the time being. "I'm sorry you saw that" she laughed lightly. She didn't want to put the mask back on him. She loved his eyes, they held so much anger in them, but she loved them. And from the emotion his eyes had shown, she knew he wasn't dead. She layed her head on his shoulder. "You know, at nights when I couldn't sleep...My mom would sing to me," she didn't think he'd care but she continued anyway. "Want me to sing?" she smiled softly at him, she wanted to make him comfortable, even if she couldn't save him from death

Regenard watched the man approach. He picked up his knife, which had fallen onto the ground during the fight, and tossed it at him. The knife clattered at his feet.
Regenard had tried to hit him, try and make him stop approaching.
"Stop, boy," he said.
He then turned to the girl.
"I don't care what scars you wear, lass. If you could see mine, I'd by a hypocrite if I cared about scars," he said, laughing softly, then coughing, and laughing again.
He looked at the 2 AM stars, and thought about how he used to sing his sister to sleep when his parents had been especially harsh. He began to sing softly, coughing every few words.
"The minstrel boy to the war has gone... in the ranks of death... you will find... him... his father's sword... he hath girded on... and his wild harp..." his head fell to stare at his rifle, just feet away, "... slung behind... him..."

Ohanzee looked at the knife then at the man. He was halfway there, he wasn't going to stop now. He continued walking towards the man. He began to feel numb, he supposed a consequence of the pain, yet he continued to go towards the pair. As the man began to sing, Ohanzee noted his voice would be absolutely beautiful to hear if it weren't for the coughing.

Gaia reached her breaking point and she hugged him closer, sobbing into his chest. "Please, Please don't die..." she swallowed hard. Maybe he wanted her to leave. "It's all my fault," she sobbed louder this time. "Oh my god it's all my fault..." She deserved to die, Not him "I want to know your name, that way if I lose you it burns my mind each time I blink" her lip quivered and she stroked his hair, smoothing it from his face. "And, it's not the scars I care about. It was my nudity" she laughed softly. "Hush, rest your head. Not on that rock though. You have my shoulder here, or I can bring you a pillow from the tent" she didn't want to believe that he was dying. She took in a deep breath. She felt weak and sick, she never really properly tended to her wound and it was still bleeding. She had only just now noticed, but it was no time to care about herself. This man was dying infront of her.

Regenard's head fell to the girl. Blood was seeping through the shirt she'd taken from him.
He reached over to his wound and tore off the bandaging, and pressed it to her with all the strength he could.
"There, there," he said in a whisper, his eyes shutting, "Everything's going to be all right. Just like... before... back home... when they killed her... and I killed them..." he was fading. He reached for his pocket and pulled out a syringe and jabbed it into his arm slowly, causing a sting of pain. The clotting agents in the syringe's contents went to work quickly and began to close his wound. His blood cells started duplicating. He wasn't going to die today.
He looked over at his mask, then at the man, then at the girl.
He didn't think he was coming back to life, either.

Ohanzee finally made it to Gaia and 'Ghost', now feeling half numb, he looked down at the pair.
"Would you like me to help you into your tent?" he asked, not completely sure. Gaia looked like she was trying to make him comfortable, but the tent would be better for 'Ghost' in the long run. He just really wanted to help.

Gaia blushed. "I'm not the one you should worry about..." She cupped his cheek and stroked it. What the man had said got her curious again. "Who did they kill?" she was still crying a little. "Don't even think about it," she teased. "That mask stays off. You may be a Ghost, but you've haunted me. And all ghosts have stories. Tell me yours." she sat next to him and gently took his hand in hers. "My ears are open and they won't close until you're done talking," she stared at the fire for a moment. "I still believe that your eyes are beautiful, I'd hate to lose my glimpse of them"

He stared up at the man.
"I... can make it... myself..." he said, trying to stand.
He turned again to the girl.
"And like I said... you're lucky... you look like someone... I used to know..."
He forced himself up, and limped slowly to the tent, shrugging the man off. He continued humming 'The Minstrel Boy' as he walked.

Something sparked in Gaia, she remembered the man mentioning his sister many times. That was it. That's who she reminded of. "You haven't killed me because I look like your sister" she followed him into the tent, leaving Ohanzee alone. "What happened to her?" she gently grabbed his shoulder. "You must have a story to tell," she hesitated and pulled him into a tight hug, resting her head on his shoulder. "I want to hear it"

Ohanzee was left alone outside. Alone like he always was. He absolutely hated being alone. He didn't understand how Gaia could be so fascinated, he knew he was, but she wouldn't let up. He still felt bad, he still wanted to help. Gaia was injured. 'Ghost' was injured. He was injured. But he wanted to help these two before he fixed up himself. Ohanzee thought back to when 'Ghost' could have shot him or allowed him to freeze up in a tree. Though he didn't understand...why hadn't the man shot him or let him freeze?