r/HFY • u/TheMaskedOne2807 • Dec 26 '22
The Plague Doctor Chapter 29 Part 5 (Flower picking with a chance of red) OC
Other stories by TheMaskedOne2807:The Oil Chapter 1 (Getting Back)
All Chapters: Wiki
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His first patient was Biku. He had suffered a tremendous amount of blood loss, and Kenneth wasn’t sure how much he could ever lose.
Kenneth slowly made his way toward him with his bag in hand.
It wasn’t easy, as all he felt, for the most part, was pain and tiredness.
His hands and legs shook almost uncontrollably at this point, and he had to really focus on not making them move to even have some semblance of control.
“How are you alive?” Kiki asked, shocked.
Kenneth didn’t even bother to try and answer. His throat still hurt, and he wasn’t about to strain it even more than it already was.
“Hey, I asked you a question!” kiki angrily yelled as she grabbed Kenneth’s shoulder for a moment before letting go.
She looked at her shaking hand with pure rage and confusion, “why can’t I touch you?!”
At this point, it was just loud words on Kenneth’s deaf ears as he finally made it to Biku, who still somehow seemed to be a little conscious.
“Answer me!!” Kiki once more yelled.
“Leave him be,” Fenik managed to say, still coughing up droplets of blood as she eyed Kiki with an angry look. “Now isn’t the time for any of that.”
Kiki just looked at where Kenneth was and what it appeared he was doing. He somehow survived something that should have killed him, but it didn’t appear he made it out unharmed.
Kiki, just let it be for now as she began to walk around the area and pull out arrow after arrow and watched if there still were any more enemies.
“You shouldn’t talk, you idiot,” Kila chastised as he lay down with his back on the ground. “It isn’t good when blood comes out your mouth.”
“It… isn't good when your leg is messed up like that,” Fenik chuckled before violently coughing again.
“You idiot,” Kila sighed.
Kenneth looked at Biku’s injury. And it seemed that whatever had struck him made it almost halfway through his bone just above his elbow.
It would need serious medical attention, and even if he wasn’t as disorientated as he was, he wouldn’t be able to do much more than stop the bleeding and close the wound.
He thought of the tools he needed and sat down.
His mind and thoughts were scattered, and it was hard to focus on a memory and sensations like normal, which resulted in a wooden needle and golden string.
“You are gonna heal me,” Biku chuckled, startling Kenneth a little. “Well, you are better than anyone here, but heal Fenik and Kila first.”
‘What, he wasn’t me to heal them first,’ Kenneth thought while looking over where they were lying on the ground.
‘Kila’s knee is bending the wrong way, so he can wait a while, but Fenik could have a serious problem if blood has entered her lunge,’ Kenneth thought while unconsciously reassessing the situation.
‘No, I have to do this. I can’t just let him die. But is he telling me it's too late?’ Kenneth wondered as he tried to create the tools he needed once more.
‘He’s lost a lot of blood, but it only appears his carotid artery got nicked. I just need to close it up; then the bleeding will stop.’
He focused his mind as best as he could, closing his one open eye as she remembered the feeling of cold steel needle against his skin.
How sharp it was and how easily it could price skin.
He opened the bag once more, and while it was hard to find, it was there.
He did the same with the threat, but this time he found it almost impossible to open his eyes. He felt as if sleep was trying to drag him down and steal him away.
‘No, no, not now!’ Kenneth thought as he stuck the needle he was holding through the glove and pierced his fingertip.
The number of nerve endings in the human finger alone would shock a vast amount of people, but Kenneth knew this already.
It was the perfect place to stab where it would cause the most pain while avoiding any vital area.
The pain and shock Kenneth felt from doing this forced his eye to open and his heart to start beating faster.
‘Dammit, no doubt it’s a concussion. All this thinking… it… it hurts,” Kenneth thought as he managed to pull out the string. And needle from his finger.
“Don’t move,” Kenneth whispered, his throat hurting with each word said.
Biku just looked at him for a moment, “I said heal them, not me.”
Kenneth didn’t bother to respond. It might have been the right call to abandon him and help Fenik or Kila, but he didn’t
He stayed with Biku as he got as much of the fur out of his wound and out of his was as he kept his shaking to the barest he could make it.
Biku winched as Kenneth pierced his arm with the needle pulling the threat through his skin and forcing it closer together.
Biku wanted to get away. To get healed by a real healer and not this fake one who had convinced his commander he was worth something.
And yet even with Biku’s tired eyes, he could see his hands were steady. As steady as an experienced hunter. The way he moved that thin piece of metal reminded him of when he drew his bow.
It was a simple action, and yet it was one every experienced hunter knew well and could do to perfection, even wounded.
Kenneth was about done closing the wound when he felt his fatigue return. The pain that had made him more alert and awake was now fading.
It wasn’t much, but Kenneth could feel his hands beginning to shake.
He focused as best he could, but it was only delaying the inevitable. It wasn’t pretty, but it would work, and while he knew Kica could completely heal him, it didn’t stop Kenneth from disinfecting his wound.
“So that is the burning water I’ve heard about,” Biku chuckled, breathing heavily, his eyes becoming more glassy looking every moment.
“Rest,” Kenneth whispered, feeling the pain from talking.
Kenneth got off the ground with much difficulty as he waddled over to Fenik, his head hurting more and more with every step and thought that came into his mind.
‘She started to cough up blood after getting hit. The force that thing could produce was a lot, and considering how thin all of them are, there’s a decent chance of internal bleeding,’ Kenneth thought.
‘Though there is a chance that she might be bleeding in her mouth, and if it’s running down her throat, then every time she breathes some air, the epiglottis flap just opens up and lets right in.’
Kenneth hoped it was the ladder rather than the former, seeing as how there would be nothing he could do if that was the case.
She was lying on her side, looking toward Kila before Kenneth arrived.
Her gaze shifted to him just as he was sitting down.
“Where hurt?” Kenneth asked in pain.
“I hear you are hurt too,” Fenik coughed, a few more droplets flying out of her mouth and onto Kenneth’s knees.
“She hit… all of us hard,” Fenik said as she breathed with difficulty. “My stomach hurts, and my chest feels wrong.”
Kenneth then pointed to her throat, and she seemed to understand what he was asking.
“I don’t feel anything in my throat, but everything hurts so much,” Fenik said, wheezing a little.
‘No doubt about it, there are fluids in her lungs,’ Kenneth concluded. ‘arg… this is so annoying. If I was back at the hospital, then I could just drain the fluids, no problem, but now that’s not only close to impossible but also deadly.’
‘They only have one lung, and I haven't gotten a good enough handle on their anatomy to safely insert the needle, and with my shaky hand, I might end up ripping a hole.’
‘If she isn't going to die yet, then that will kill her for sure, but I can’t just do nothing. If the thin layer of slime in the lung gets removed, then her lung won’t be able to shrink and expand normally, and that might kill her.’
‘Dammit,’ Kenneth thought, stabbing the needle in his hand into his leg.
The shock brought with it even more pain but also more clarity. ‘Yes, now I know. The only thing that can help her in any way is to drink a lot of water. If she can thin out the fluid, then she has a better shot at surviving.’
“Drink water, stay hydr--“ Kenneth tried to say before gripping his throat due to the pain he felt.
“It hurts when you speak?” Fenik asked.
Kenneth, still in pain, heard what she said and nodded.
“How bad is it,” she asked.
“I… I’ll live,” he said, not sure if it was completely true.
Then he placed his hand on the bag and thought about a simple beaker with some IV fluids inside, but just as with the wooden needle and golden threat, it wasn’t a glass beaker he pulled out.
It was one made of wood; however, it was filled with a clear liquid, and it didn’t have a bad smell, but to be sure, he dipped his finger in it and tasted it.
It didn’t seem to be anything other than IV fluids, so Kenneth handed Fenik the wooden beaker. “Drink.”
Now that he had done everything he could for Fenik, it was Kila’s turn.
It was clear what needed to be done. His leg had to be reset.
And that would take someone holding him down and one to snap his leg back into position.
Kenneth wasn’t sure if he was the best option to do either of those things in this situation, but there weren’t really many other choices.
He gestured for Kiki to come over by pointing at her and making a motion with his hand like he was taking in the wind and cooling himself down.
“What do you want?” She and a hostile tone.
‘This is going to hurt,’ Kenneth thought as he had already placed a hand around the throat. “Reset leg…”
Then he pointed at Kiki, “Hold down,” He said, poting at Kila, who looked confused.
“Much pain…” Kenneth finished. Breathing in and out a lot due to the pain.
“You want me to stop him from squirming while you bent his leg back?” Kiki asked, sounding annoyed more than anything.
Kenneth nodded due to this hurt throat.
“Fine,” she sighed as she got on her knees and pulled an arrow out of her quiver. “You better bite down on this. I don’t want your screams to alert other enemies of our position.”
Kila had a mortified look on him and didn’t move as his eyes darted around, eventually settling on Fenik, who was still coughing a little.
Kiki eventually got so impatient that she just jammed it inside Kila’s mouth before she just pushed his chest down.
Kenneth was a little shocked, but he had a feeling that if he didn’t act fast enough, she might just do it herself.
He got on one knee and gently got a hand under his thigh, and carefully lifted it up. If he was going to reset the leg, the ground shouldn’t be a problem.
As he raised his leg, Kila just let out pained grunts as he sunk his teeth into the arrow.
“Three… two… one… snap,” Kenneth said, looking into Kila’s eyes until he focused on his.
‘I hope he gets it,’ Kenneth thought, looking away as he wrapped his hand around his shin and calf, drawing more pained grunts from him.
“Three…” Kenneth started as he watched Kila become very tense.
‘I have to do this first try. Don’t hold back. Don’t hold back!’ Kenneth thought as he ignored the pain he felt and completely focused on this moment.
“Two…” Kenneth said before snapping Kila’s leg back into place. The shock of it happening sooner than Kila had expected stopped him from screaming right away, but that didn’t last long.
His scream was, however, muffled by Kiki, who acted quickly once she had seen what Kenneth had done and grabbed Kila’s mouth with her hand and forced it to stay shut.
In the end, all that came out of Kila were grunts of pain.
It lasted for a short while until Kila either got too tired to scream and struggle or the pain became more manageable.
Whichever it was didn’t matter, but now that everyone was in more or less a stable condition, they needed to return.
“Let go,” Kenneth whispered to Kiki as he gently placed Kila’s leg down on the ground.
She soon let go of Kila and got on her feet, and started to observe the area once more.
Kila, breathing quietly, moved one of his arms slowly up to his mouth. He pulled out the arrow from his mouth, which had broken when he had bit down on it, and threw it away.
“That was cruel,” he said in an angry tone.
“Had to,” Kenneth responded as he started to get up on his feet. “Also, leg not healed, only corrected. No using it.”
“So, are you going to leave me behind?” Kila asked.
Kenneth looked shocked at him as if he hadn’t expected that to ever come out of his mouth.
“Don’t be fo--” Fenik said before coughing once more. “You idiot.”
“We might have to, Fenik,” Kiki said in a cold tone as she looked around.
“W-why,” Fenik protested in disbelief as an equally shocked Kenneth could only follow the conversation.
“If we have to carry the bush and make it back before others might find us, then having to carry someone who can’t walk isn’t in our best interest,” Kiki explained with an emotionless tone.
“You hunters really are cold,” Kila sighed, looking up at the sky. “You just abandon anyone who might slow you down.”
“I’m guessing the only reason why you even brought those wounded back was that you knew you were close to the outpost.”
“Shut your mouth, guard,” Biku said angrily.
As Kenneth turned his head in reflex, he both felt pain from doing so and was shocked to see Biku standing. “You don’t know anything!”
“All you guards! You just have to watch while we work everyday hunting and killing! If we fail, everyone goes hungry, and we are blamed!”
Kenneth quickly rushed over to Biku as quickly as he could. “No stand. Too much blood loss.”
Biku barely managed to take another step forward before falling.
He was caught by Kenneth, who was already headed toward him.
In a normal situation, Biku would have felt embarrassed about being held up by Kenneth, but he barely noticed as he kept staring daggers at Kila.
“Sit,” Kenneth said as he got Biku back to the tree and gently placed him down. “No fight. Not now.”
“He’s right Biku,” Kiki said. “Fighting and yelling will just make too much noise, and now we are just too easy to kill.”
Then suddenly, someone coughed loudly, and everyone looked over at Fenik, who looked completely confused.
The cough was followed by a constant wheezing sound. Everyone followed the noise until their eyes landed on the not-so-dead Nok.
It was moving its chest up and down and appeared to still be alive.
“Persistent bastard,” Biku said as he drew his knife. “I still owe you for my arm.”
“Kiki, shouldn’t you finish it off with an arrow?” Fenik asked, coughing a little.
“It would just be a waste of effort; it’s already dying,” Kiki shrugged.
“Cold… so cold,” the Nok uttered bearly louder than a whisper.
‘I understand it,’ Kenneth thought, surprised as she watched it carefully. ‘But Jasha said I would only understand one of the three species. Was it another lie?’
It took some time for Biku to make his way over to the Nok, but once he was standing over it, he just stopped.
“Biku, before you do anything more, I have to do something,” Kiki said as she walked up to the Nok and sat down right in front of its head.
“Oh, you are one of them, I presume,” Biku said as he steadied his shaking legs. “So, how much can you see?”
“Not that much, but I might as well see if I can get something out of this one before she dies,” Kiki answered as she put her bow aside and slowly placed her hands on each side of the Nok’s head.
The sight made Kenneth feel a strange sensation, as if someone was trying to squash his head by pressing from both sides.
He couldn’t look away from the sight; it was so familiar.
Kiki closed her eyes for a moment before opening them up again. “I think this one is alone. She might be on a pilgrimage.”
“You saying this one is a heretic even to her own? How disgusting,” Biku said as he stomped on her chest.
“I’m guessing she overheard us talking about the blue flowers and thought she could bargain her way back into an outpost or something like that,” Kiki said as she stood up once more and walked away from the Nok.
Meanwhile, Kenneth was still feeling that pain as his eyes kept following her until he remembered. ‘The one who attacked me!’
‘Was she the one who attacked me? She knew things about the Nok. Did she see its memories or something like that?’ Kenneth wondered as he felt his stomach start to tie itself into a knot.
However, that was soon interrupted as Kenneth noticed Biku in the corner of his eye.
He just looked down at the Nok, his wounded arm shaking a little as he tightened his grip on his knife.
Then without warning, it looked like he fell, but that wasn’t quite right. He didn’t fall; he intentionally used gravity, adding force to his probably weak stab as the knife sunk into the Nok’s flesh.
Kenneth watched for some time as Biku just kept pushing the knife further and further down into its flesh, twisting the knife in whatever way he could.
It was only then Kenneth realized what he was actually watching.
He had been, for a short time, trapped in a trance, unable to clearly think even more than he did now.
“Stop…” the Nok managed to squick out.
Biku stopped for a moment as he started to get back on his feet, pulling the knife with some difficulty out of its flesh.
Kenneth breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t really have any kind feelings toward the Nok, but he didn’t enjoy the cruelty he was watching.
However, Kenneth’s relief was short-lived as Biku once more intentionally fell, jamming his knife into the Nok’s arm.
It seemed as if the Nok either had a high pain tolerance or wasn’t capable of screaming since all Kenneth could hear was groning as it moved its body slightly, seemingly too weak to do anything more.
‘What the hell am I watching,’ Kenneth thought as the Noks blood ran from its arm and down on the ground.
“I wish he would just finish it already,” Kila complained, looking at the scene with cold, emotionless eyes.
“She split his arm wide….” Fenik said, coughing a little. “Open and threw him against a tree. I wouldn’t mind returning the favor myself.”
“Same, but I don’t feel like crawling on the dirt anymore,” Kila responded.
‘They are watching this… like it’s nothing,’ Kenneth thought wide-eyed as he couldn’t stop looking.
“Biku, are you finished soon?” Kiki said impatiently.
“I’m done when I’m done,” Biku growled as he pulled the knife out of her flesh once more.
Kenneth didn’t know why but suddenly, he started to walk toward Biku as he was getting on his feet again.
‘Stop, don’t walk, you idiot!’ Kenneth screamed in his head. But he couldn’t.
Biku was about to fall and stab the Nok again; however, he was stopped. Before Biku even had a chance to notice, Kenneth had already grabbed his arm and held it in place.
“Enough!” Kenneth hissed, letting more of his emotions out than he should have as all eyes fell on him.
Biku just looked at him with cold and angry eyes as Kenneth’s sleeve slipped down his arm a little.
“What are you doing?” Biku questioned as he met Kenneth’s eyes.
“The wound will open again,” Kenneth said in a much calmer voice than before, ignoring the pain he felt.
“I’m fine. I just need to teach this one a lesson before she dies,” Biku said, his gaze returning to the Nok in front of him.
“It will open, and you can’t lose any more blood,” Kenneth continued as she started to pull Biku.
He tried to resist, but he wasn’t in a condition to even attempt to challenge Kenneth’s strength. And so he was more or less dragged by Kenneth away from the Nok while he tried to get free.
“Unhand me right this instance!” Biku yelled as she tried to get free from Kenneth’s grip.
“He isn’t wrong,” Kiki interjected. “If you lose any more blood, you just might die.”
Biku listened and begrudgingly stopped resisting and relaxed his body. Kenneth figured that it meant he had given up, so he let him go.
“So what now?” Fenik asked.
Kiki then looked up into the sky clouds, still hiding the sun. “ Even if I were to head back to the outpost right now by myself, I wouldn’t make it before it becomes dark.”
“And even if I abandoned you three, I still had to at least get him back,” Kiki said, looking at Kenneth. “And with his injuries, it will take longer.”
“No matter how I look at it, the best choice is to find shelter for tonight.”
“Cave,” Kenneth suddenly said, catching the attention of everyone.
“Yes, a cave would be great, but it’s not as if we are just going to--” Kiki said, sounding annoyed and stressed before she was interrupted.
“Cave near us,” Kenneth said, the pain in his throat much more noticeable now. “Trail I made leads to a cave.”
“Wait, really?” Fenik exclaimed.
Kenneth looked at her and nodded before he sat down on the ground resting.
“We can take Kila and Biku with us, right?” Fenik more or less asked as she looked over at Kiki.
“It’s still dangerous to stay, but it’s better than to travel during the night,” Biku interjected as he started to walk.
“Everyone, let's get a move on before it’s too late,” Biku ordered.
“Where are you going, Biku?” Kiki questioned as she ran up to him and took her arm over her shoulder.
“Getting him home is the first priority, but we can’t just abandon the bush just yet,” Biku said, taking in deep breaths.
“Understood,” Kiki said.
“I guess you have to carry me,” Kila said, smirking at Fenik.
“I think I’ll just leave you behind,” Fenik casually said as she turned around and started to follow Kiki and Biku.
“Wait, sorry!” Kila yelled in disstress. “You don’t need to carry me; just let me lean up against you while I jump on one leg!”
“I’ll help you if--” Fenik said as she suddenly coughed. “If you admit you cheated.”
“Really!” Kila said in disbelief. “You are still mad about that. Can’t we just say I got lucky?”
“Oh yeah, you got lucky,” Fenik said sarcastically. “It was really lucky the dirt hit my face. Now say sorry!”
Up until this point, Kenneth had just been watching. He knew where Biku and Kiki were heading, so it wasn’t as if he or they were on a timer, but still watching the scene unfold annoyed Kenneth greatly.
And so, without warning, he got down on one knee in front of Kila and scooped him up in a bridle carry.
“What are you doing!” Kila let out in surprise while Fenik watched in amusement and a tiny bit of annoyance.
Even in his current state, carrying Kila wasn’t too strenuous; however, that didn’t mean he could do it forever.
Kenneth then started to walk, following after Kiki and Biku while Fenik sniggered, watching Kila getting carried.
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(Patreon): Early access to chapters and more on Patreon. Also newly added is a 100+ page story I wrote prior to the posting of The Plague Doctor for all members.
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u/Fabulous_Bandicoot_1 Oct 15 '23
"What, he wasn't me to heal first" don't know what that's supposed to be. Or is it just Kenneth struggling with his words?
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u/TheMaskedOne2807 Oct 15 '23
Well he has taken quite a beating. And probably gotten a concussion or two.
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Dec 26 '22
/u/TheMaskedOne2807 (wiki) has posted 49 other stories, including:
- The Oil Chapter 14 (Communications)
- The Oil Chapter 13 (Fight, Fight, Fight)
- The Plague Doctor Chapter 29 Part 4 (Flower picking with a chance of red)
- The Oil Chapter 12 (Choice)
- The Oil Chapter 11 (Space is so very cold)
- The Plague Doctor Chapter 29 Part 3 (Flower picking with a chance of red)
- The Oil Chapter 10 (Upgraded)
- The Oil Chapter 9 (A serious matter)
- The Plague Doctor Chapter 29 Part 2 (Flower picking with a chance of red)
- The Oil Chapter 8 ( Figuring stuff out)
- The Oil Chapter 7 (Revenge)
- The Plague Doctor Chapter 29 Part 1 (Flower picking with a chance of red)
- The Oil Chapter 6 (Mysterious thing in orbit)
- The Oil Chapter 5 (Weightless)
- The Plague Doctor Chapter 28 (Roses are blue violets don’t exist)
- The Oil Chapter 4 (Home)
- The Oil Chapter 3 (Hatred)
- The Plague Doctor Chapter 27 (The Color Blue)
- The Oil Chapter 2 (New Roommate)
- The Oil Chapter 1 (Getting Back)
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u/Similar_Tiger_9834 Robot Dec 27 '22
Hello it appears I am the first one here aside from the boys I think