Island Wilderness, Late Night [Open]

[Gardsorm]

"Well, I can't see too much out here, but at least we're putting some good distance between us and the farm... Or maybe it just feels like that to me." Archer spoke quietly, keeping a hand gripped tightly around the head of his flashlight to mitigate as much light from bleeding through as he could, his other hand gripping the handle of the toolchest. Let just enough out to find their way, but not enough to potentially see them from further off. Fera was a helpful girl, but she was still injured, and they couldn't just stop to let Sybil look her over because if anyone had noticed where they dug their way out from, someone could have followed the general direction and might have found them. Both of them were strong, they could probably push ahead beforrbwesr and tear hit them.

How long had it been since he did anything related to being out in the wilderness? He was still going through his academic days, if he remembered correctly. Of course those times they weren't exactly trying to fight for their lives, plus they also had other things on hand to make the experience easier for them. Here... This was very much a survival scenario... With some horror elements if those gangs decided to find their way over to them. He looked back to make sure Sybil and Fera were following, before he pushed on.

"I couldn't leave the toolchest behind... Didn't exactly want bring it if it makes too much noise and leads everyone and their pet lizard to us, but it also saves me time needing to scrounge around for more. Assuming we manage to find a place with a generator that doesn't work, I might be able to restore power... But it also risks leading others to us." He paused for a moment to relax against a tree nearby, feeling a dull ache in his arm from carrying the box so much. Maybe the next thing they could do was try to get a vehicle to call their own. It would make traveling the island much easier, if nothing else. A little more time traveling, and Archer managed to locate a decent enough clearing among the trees and bushes to rest for the moment.

"Let's relax here for now... Sybil, are you able to give Fera a proper look-over?" He asked, setting the tool chest down and rolling his shoulder.

[AsBloodTurnsEverCold]

Click! Click! Click!

Only when she thought it was safe to do so. Sybil had relied on Fera to guide her but the smell of blood, though dried, had kept her distracted. The blind woman was not designed to run, not fit to trail behind these more capable figures. She could but worried that her method of sight would get them found but...it appeared they had gotten away. Sybil was quiet, waiting for the moment they could find their breath and relax. They had escaped but peace was not yet an option. She needed to get them but first things first she needed to attend to Fera and eventually they'd find that opportunity.

Sybil kept her head down, listening for steps that were not their own "I am sure we will find a place where your talents can be used outside of the whims of a figure who would only exploit you Mr. Reid." she said confident in that statement though for now the wilderness would provide them cover. Once they stopped she clicked again and found that they had more space. She recognized wood though not the type or anything else. A clearing.

Sybil tilted her head to the side as Archer asked her if she could give Fera a....look over. She would pull her hand from Fera's and motion for the cat to sit "A...Look over...will not be necessary." having already had an idea of what to do from the touching earlier. Fera needed to be closed up and mended. She would shake her head, not looking to either "Fera please sit down." she said gently pulling the medical kit off her back and opening it up "This will...probably hurt a little. I am sorry." she said but luckily this had everything she needed though having Fera actually rest was the best option...somewhere.

[diogora]

Fera had to do a lot of digging to be able to squeeze a woman of Sybil's size through it, but she would do this with a smile on her face, and eventually they succeeded. Fera was breathing a bit more heavily when they made it to the other side, having broken a bit of a sweat from the exercise, even though digging a hole wouldn't usually be enough to really tire her out so much. Once they got through though, Fera would take Sybil's hand again to lead her, her hands a bit dirty from digging on the ground, but she wasn't really thinking about that. Her grip had definitely gotten weaker though, and the girl wasn't really talking anymore, despite how her bubbly self would usually be saying something stupid.

She focused on the pink color of Archer's hair while following behind him and leading the doctor along. Her eyes narrowed a bit as she walked after him. It was dark out, but every now and then the pink color would blur and Fera had to blink a few times to focus again. Archer and Sybil were talking, but...were they speaking in that funny language Sybil used? Fera wondered, because she couldn't understand them right now. She just recognized their voices, but the words weren't registering in her mind. Occasionally she grasped onto a word or two, like 'pet' or place' or 'Fera', when she was mentioned. They all sounded so weird too, as though she had her head submerged under water and heard them speak outside. 

Eventually Archer stopped though. Fera didn't even know where they were going to begin with, but she also stopped. Sybil said a few more words, and amongst them, Fera understood the 'sit'. Fera just nodded. First though, she would grab the waist of her, now covered in dirt and blood, shirt and grunt a bit when she had to raise her arms over her head, but she got it off and just dropped it. It was easier to treat without the shirt, right? She wasn't wearing anything underneath, but she also wasn't worried about baring her soft chest and toned body to her friends. She sat down, wondering if they were just taking a break. Sybil apologized for...something. Fera waited until Sybil sat or kneeled by her side in order to treat her...and would oggle the woman's breasts for a moment before just mumbling "Pillows..." and leaning/falling in to bury her face in them. Fera wasn't just being silly though...she finally passed out from the bloodloss.

[Gardsorm]

"Time will tell... It was an easy way to keep myself alive and unmolested, figuratively and literally, simply working for them. But I understood what was waiting for me at the end of the road once my use was up. I'd either be dead, or meat for whoever wanted it. I'm out now, and now the proverbial island opens up. However, the biggest threats are still on the farm, and they'll probably expand our before long as they restore function to the island." Archer sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm content just making a life here for now, but... This isn't a place for people like you or Fera. My time would be better served figuring out a way to get you both off the island so I can just live in peace."

Fera especially. Disregarding the fact she was injured right now,bshe was an innocent and easily impressionable creature. The wrong kind of people could have taken advantage of that. Gods help them if Archer and/or Sybil were nearby, one of them was probably going to be taking more than a few lives for their tiger girl. Speaking of, Archer watched as Fera was brought to relax near Sybil to be examined easier, as well as preserve her energy... Though when she collapsed into Sybil's 'pillows', Archer had to laugh.

"Hahah... Maybe Fera isn't as innocent as I thought. She's got good taste... But it's a good thing she can rest now." Archer sighed quietly. He felt bad for overworking her to help them escape the farm, and then they had to run as far as they could to get away. He approached the two a bit, relaxing on a nearby tree to get a better look at the two. "Truth be told, it was far better to leave if only to keep Anjira from needing to make examples of the both of you. One look at that fox, and I know she would have made good on her promise, and I can't live with that." Archer sighed, dropping to a crouch as he reaches forward to gently brush Fera's head.

"Once we rest for the night here, we can start looking for some place to hole up for the time being. What I really need is a map of the island so I know where we can potentially go, and what I can do to try to make life a little bit easier for us. Maybe if we're lucky, we can find other prisoners that don't want to murder us, or worse. I'd like to believe not everyone wants to pull everyone else down just to keep afloat." He ran his fingertips through Fera's hair and along her ear, before he stood up. "So, I have to ask. What exactly is with all the clicking, of you don't mind me asking?"

[AsBloodTurnsEverCold]

Sybil took a deep breath and caught Fera, letting the tigress rest against her...pillows as she referred to them. She knew however that it meant she needed to work a little faster. She gently guided her over to a tree and gently laid her down. She opened up the first aid kit and gently felt around it for familiar things tilting her head in Archer's direction as he spoke up . He did really seem fond of Fera but his words weren't wrong. Anjira was a threat to them. She didn't bother to tell him that he was wrong about her, and about himself. How of them she, more than any, likely deserved her fate but it was too tiring for the time being. She hoped he would come understand one day but for now she focused on Fera. It wasn't ideal but it would work.

She would clean the wounds with the iodine in the kit first identified by the irritating smell. Slowly so as not to disturb Fera too much but she listened as he spoke "I don't think Fera would have been satisfied trying to leave you behind..." she said rubbing her head gently "I should not have tried to defy her. I am so sorry." she sighed but went back to cleaning. Once the smell of blood was relatively removed she would move her fingers through the kit, pulling its layers until she found what she could identify was the stitching kit. Despite her blindness her familiarity made it very easy to thread and start to stitch and then came the question. She didn't stop working however guiding herself with a gentle touch, memory, and noise. 

"It....is how I 'see' if you were permit me the blasphemy. Echolocation you would call it." she said "God...took my eyes as an infant. A product of a past life of sin my....parents said." finishing one side she took to the other thankful in some way that these cuts were...somewhat uniform due to whatever method Anjira used. She took a deep breath "The clicking is a method I was taught to compensate, but it can be done with almost any noise but clicking and humming is just the easiest." waving her hand in front of her face as if to emphasize that she couldn't see anything though the way she spoke of it might have come across as somewhat odd.

"It hasn't hindered me if you are worried about that. I know some people are worried when their doctor is blind but....I know the body well. I might not see them but I have at least been allowed to understand the beauty of form through study." she said. She did know of expression in the way people twisted their faces though and she shuddered to think of what face Archer was perhaps making as she revealed this too him. No doubt he was judging her guilty just as the others in the family had. She wouldn't blame him she just hoped he'd still allow her to aim him if he needed it.

[Gardsorm]

"For better or worse, I kind of got the same feeling... But sometimes we can't always get what we want in life. All we can do is settle on what we can get " Archer sighed and shrugged. "I'm a guy sentenced to prison for a long, long time. I can't exactly drop all of that to help get her off the island... There's really nothing for me outside here anymore." The redhead continued, not really a story he wanted to get into all that soon... But he had endangered himself and them helping them all escape from Anjira, so the least he could do was be upfront and truthful to them. He had no reason to lie to them anymore, even if they weren't near someone who could subtly tell when someone wasn't truthful.

"There's no need to apologize, Sybil... Also, feel free to drop the Mr. from my name and just call me Archer. Makes me sound like an old geezer, and I'm not exactly keen to feel like one yet, hah." He gave a soft laugh, trying to help Sybil to be a little bit more relaxed and not so... Apologetic. "There was no helping the defiance. Nothing short of open compliance and making our secrets known to that vixen would have been enough. Something like that, she wanted dirty details on everyone to blackmail them into compliance. That's why she used the kind of threat she did... If she can't hurt us, then she hurts those we care for. Textbook psychopath behavior, if you ask me." 

Sure, their future was uncertain right now, but it was probably better for their collective health in the long run to be away from her. They were now the sole owners of their future for the time being. He stood there, watching her try to treat the unconscious Fera, finding it weird she seemed to take just a bit longer to perform the act, but the reason didn't dawn on him until she spoke.

"... W-wait. You're blind...? Like, literally, honest-to-goodness blind? ... Oh my god, I made all those requests and asked you to do so much, and... Oh, geez " Archer winced as he pushed himself to a stand and put a hand on his face. How... No, why did it take him so long to notice this?! Her compensation for the lack of sight was so good, he confused it for an efficient replacement. So the clicking and noise was an attempt to essentially replicate and 'trsce' her environment. It was the epitome of insensitive, to say the least, and he had to recall Fera chastising him for foolish actions earlier... Oh, if only the tigress understood just how foolish. 

"Still, that's... Quite the revelation. Far be it from me to speak on religious matters, especially their ramifications. But I can't say it's just or fair to be judged for a past life you haven't lived in this time." It screamed false pretenses to him. A birth defect, perhaps? A product of the sins her parents committed before they found their religion? Punishing Sybil for the sins of those that came before her... It sounded much more likely, but any outcome he could consider would only be baseless conjectures. The truth of things was known exclusively to her, even if she had her own view of circumstances.

"I'm no judge of character, if you've made a living this far understanding the body despite your circumstances, then I would certainly take a chance. Of course, I also speak that as a guy with nothing really left to lose, so... Your mileage may vary. But I can at least feel that your working on Fera there tells me you're dedicated to your craft and your study, and I've got no reason to think otherwise." He spoke, crouching down once more to get a better look at not just Fera, but Sybil as well. If it wasn't because he had seen them meet for the first time, he would have thought Fera and Sybil were friends from West Wing before all of this insanity. Sybil had risen in support of Fera so fervently, he expected it... But then what did it say about him, a guy from East Wing caring for Fera?

... Well, somehow he got the idea everyone's first instinct would have been uncouth thoughts, especially considering how impressionable she was, and how attached she seemed to be to the two of them, but that simply wasn't the case. He had to consider how to broach certain subjects with Sybil, as the way she spoke made him think she was a religious person, but... He couldn't tell. "I've got my own opinions on things, but I'm going to withhold them so as to not cause offense. But what about you? Do you feel there's a higher power driving your actions here? Do you feel you're being punished for everything happening right now?"

[AsBloodTurnsEverCold]

"True but if it can be helped then I believe it should be. I would not have felt comfortable doing such a thing either." she admitted with little hesitation. It seems he was there for a long time but as was Sybil. If he had years, if he saw an end to his time if all things hadn't broken down then perhaps he really was not deserving of this place and the heaviness he placed upon himself. Sybil shook her head slowly "I am sure, Mr. Reid, that you could rebuild." but they were all clearly not so keen on sharing their pasts. They had risked their lives for each other but for it all Sybil and Archer still had their secrets. Fera might have been an open book, but the two were not so innocent. Sybil simply had the idea that Archer was not some remorseless sinner. He could be saved. He deserved to be safe.

"I know you are not some old man Mist- Archer." she said unused to speaking so casually with anyone. She took a deep breath "All I care for is right here." she said though perhaps it was odd to say so. They had only just met but it was about as true as it could be for Sybil. These kind people deserved that care "And she still hurt them anyway....I should have struck her down in the dark like all the others then maybe-" it was wishful thinking. She chose to approach in kindness and she had her forces. She would have been killed before begin given the chance. Ah she needed to relax. Stay calm. Focused. She was almost done.

His surprise at learning she was blind was quite amusing in some way though he seemed sad about something "It is fine. I can manage." she said to calm him down "It is only natural that you ask something of me. I am sorry if I misled you." though the Anjira woman had identified her blindness back in the basement she supposed not everyone was so ready to acknowledge those like her. It did often come across as a surprise to others. He did not sound....judging. That was comforting on some level even if a part of her thought it was wrong. She was judged already, it was only right to be judged further.

"It is what God feels just. Someone like me is only to be punished." there was no joy in her words as she spoke of this only....an admittance. She finished the stitching and gently cut the ends. She next cleaned the tigers wounds again with the saline, and applied an antiseptic. Here was hoping Fera did not rip them. Once that was done she found the bandages feeling around for a moment before she wrapped it around Fera. She would need time to heal. She was happy with Archer's words "Good. I desire nothing more than to help you." she said and was on some level glad that he had acknowledged her skill. It was....something she was proud of. The long lonely nights pouring her fingers over the pages. The long practice. The arguments to allow her to care for the forms of people more worthy than herself despite her blindness. She was proud of it once.  She even helped at the infirmary now and then because of it. It was one of the few gifts she still possessed.

With that done she gently rubbed Fera's head. Sybil looked tired.

"From the first birth to my last, that is all it has ever been. It is all a thing such as I deserve...." tears were coming down her face though she didn't seem to recognize it. She simply made sure Fera was comfortable "Please. Watch over her for the time being..." and she'd get up to walk away. They needed rest and Sybil needed to....Listen. It did not sound as though anyone was approaching yet but for a time she would listen.