23rd of Cylus, 720
So after both knight and cat had breakfast, Vivian had donned her armor, mounted Raio, and set off into the Stormlands. Vivian was self-aware enough to admit that the safety of the fort wasn't the only reason she had decided to go scouting, however. In truth, she had been considering the problem of the Stormlands every since she had become a Warden. Granted, the necessities of the war with Ellasin, and now the Siege at Storms Edge, had kept her from really being able to do much more than make vague outlines of what she thought could be done with the Stormlands, but going on patrol would give Vivian the perfect chance to test some things out, assuming of course that she got the chance to come back out into the Stormlands before she got recalled back to Rharne.
Of course, in order to properly perform her test, Vivian had needed a landmark, something recognizable that she knew she could find again. There was, fortunately, a rock formation that could be seen from the walls of the fort, though it was still a good few miles off. So Vivian had set off, generally, in that direction. Since the primary focus of her outing was to scout and patrol the Stormlands, Vivian swund wide to the east of the rock formation, making sure to keep it in sight. That would be the outer edge of her patrol route, and when she was directly across from that rock formation, she'd turn towards it. At first, it seemed like the Stormlands were quiet, but after a break or two, she realized that wasn't really the case. Certainly there didn't seem to be whole armies of beasts roving about, but she did see them running in small groups, or even alone.
Part of her, and definitely part of Raio, wanted to leap into action every time she saw one of the groups, but instead she just marked the group, and their general direction, on her map before going around the group. Her goal was to scout out the Stormlands, not get into random fights and risk getting killed because she got over-eager and bit off more than she could chew. While she chafed a bit each time she avoided a group, she knew the information she brought back could be far more valuable than just killing a few beasts in a pointless brawl.
However, as she rode through the Stormlands, another problem arose. She hadn't done much cavalry work during the war with Ellasin, and prior to that, Raio had been too young to ride. As a result, Vivian was still not fully used to riding her Zephyrus, and the way the big cat moved was different enough from the way a horse moved that she had trouble staying on the big cat when he was going either too fast or too slow. The end result was that she had to carefully manage the speed they were going in order to keep her balance. Even then, she was starting to get sore in places as the cats muscles and body structure weren't quite the same as that of a horse.
Still, thanks to her Mortalborn powers, she was able to handle it better than she had when she had first ridden horseback. She also realized that, thanks to the lack of training riding Raio, she had pretty much no idea how to fight while riding the cat. So, when there were no beasts around to worry about, Vivian would draw Shiryu and start practicing some very basic swings, keeping her motions very controlled so she didn't accidentally startle, or worse, hit her cat. She didn't make all that much progress, but by the time they were across from the rock formation, Vivian felt confident that she could at least use basic swings without damaging either herself or her mount. Granted, that wasn't much use in the current situation since the beasts didn't seem especially vulnerable to random flailing, but it was a start at least.
Once Vivian and Raio got to the outer edge of their patrol area, Vivian turned her Zephyrus towards the rock formation. She hoped that the rock formation would be a good place to rest, eat some lunch, and do a little test to see if her idea for the Stormlands would work or not. If it wasn't, for whatever reason, then knowing that would help future patrols in the Stormlands know to either avoid the place or at least focus on it as a nexus point for trouble. If the place was clear, then it might be a good place for future patrols to rest, especially if her idea worked.
However, Vivian's plans of rest were interrupted when she got to the rock formation. There was a low, strange cry coming from the area around it, one that sounded more pained than enraged or fearful or any other emotion. So Vivian slowed Raio to a walk as they approached the rock formation, keeping their pace slow and cautious, if a little unsteady. Then, when they rounded the rock formation so they were on the side that couldn't be seen from the wall, Vivian let out a slow breath at the sight before her. There was a lone Zephyrus, his fur and mane covered in blood. There were notable gashes in his side and his face was cut up as well. Even his horn was chipped. The poor beast was letting out a piteous sound, moaning in pain from its wounds. Zephyrus weren't exactly native to that part of the Stormlands, not much really was anymore, and first Vivian wondered what the poor cat was doing out there. She had her answer, however, when she noticed the damaged saddle still attached to the Zephyrus. "You...you belonged to the Lieutenant." Vivian said, her eyes wide with surprise as she pulled Raio to a halt.
Raio let a low purr as Vivian slid off of the big cat and the Lieutenant's Zephyrus looked at her, but couldn't do much else besides give her another pained whine. "Raio, stay here." she commanded, and her own Zephyrus huffed, but dropped to his haunches. "Hey, big fella...what are you doing out here?" she asked, trying to approach the injured cat. The Lieutenant's Zephyrus growled at her as she approached and she stopped moving, not wanting to agitate the already injured cat. When she stopped, the Zephyrus calmed down and Vivian paused to think for a bit. "You must be hungry, huh, fella? Don't worry, I'll feed you." she said, stepping back towards Raio. The injured Zephyrus was an ally, at least as far as Vivian was concerned, and she watched the lighter cuts on his face carefully as she opened up her saddlebags.
Sure enough, her Mortalborn powers were affecting the cat as well, and she could see the lighter cuts on his face already starting to heal. Taking out two large chunks of raw meat, she gave one to Raio to keep her own mount satisfied, then walked back towards the injured Zephyrus, holding the raw meat out in front of her. The big cat pondered the meat for a minute, and she could see his feline mind working as he looked from her, to Raio, to the meat, and then back to her. After a moment, he let her approach, then daintily took the meat from her hands before he began tearing into it. As he ate, the injured cat let Vivian look over his wounds, but she noticed he got growly and snarly if she started to touch his saddle. "The Lieutenant must have left you this, huh big boy? All right, I'll leave it alone. Someone back at Storms Edge must know you well enough that you'll let them take the saddle off you." she said, before turning her focus back to the cats injuries.
"I need to get you back to the fort. But right now, you're not in any condition to travel, I need to heal you up a bit first." she said, holding one hand out to a relatively uninjured portion of the Zephyrus' flank. Vivian's fingertips started to glow as she drew the Rune of Regeneration on the cat. It still took a bit for her to write the Rune, but the cat let her work in peace, and soon she had a Rune of Regeneration going on his flanks. "Not enough. We'll need more." she said, before carefully moving up to the cats head. Some Zephyrus could be touch about their heads, but this one was either trained to be comfortable with people around his noggin or was just too wounded to care. Either way, he left Vivian alone, not even growling at her, as she set up another Rune of Regeneration on his his head, which started on his facial wounds.
"That's a start, but we'll still need more. You're still not in any condition to travel." she said to herself, then looked at the base of the rock formation. "Might as well start my test now. "Fins, I need an Oasis." she said, and the little shark dog nodded and dove into the ground, creating the Brightgleam Oasis for her. It would take five minutes for the Oasis to finish, but that gave her time. Going back to her saddlebags, she got another hunk of raw meat for each of the cats, then went back to the injured Zephyrus and started putting Runes of Regenerations on each of his legs. Each Rune would last for a break, and thanks to one of her mutations, Vivian could see how long each Rune had left. Then, while the Runes did their part, Vivian went back to her saddlebags and drew out a bowl she used to water Raio when travelling. She took the bowl to the now fully grown Oasis and filled it full of water before taking it back and pouring the turquoise water over the cats wounds, making as many trips as needed to get every wound.
Between the Mortalborn powers, the Runes, the Oasis water, and the food, the cat was looking much better after a break had passed and the Runes started to wear off. All the lighter wounds had been healed, and the more severe ones were much better, but Vivian was fully aware that she was not trained to deal with the wounds her powers couldn't heal. "All right, big fella, please tell me you can travel." she said, trying to coax the Zephyrus to his feet. At first the injured cat was very recalcitrant and stubborn, but after a while, he finally sighed and hauled himself to his feet. Vivian walked back to Raio, who rose instantly to his feet with a superior sort of look, and remounted her own Zephyrus. Then she took a rope from her pack and held it out to the injured Zephyrus, who pondered it for a moment, then allowed her to tie the rope to his saddle.
Vivian considered whether she should take the opportunity to try and examine the saddle bags for clues as to where the Lieutenant was, but she figured it would be better not to push her luck. Pausing for a moment, Vivian dismounted Raio and left him to watch the injured Zephyrus while she walked back to the Brightgleam Oasis. Taking off a gauntlet and pulling her dagger, Vivian gently poked her finger until she got a drop of blood on the edge of her knife. Holding the knife out over the Oasis, Vivian shook it until the drop of blood fell into the water, turning it into a Font of Life. "There. If that holds, this should make a nice rest stop for other patrols. Shame the Brightgleam Oasis doesn't last though, the healing properties are quite effective." she said, before she went back to Raio and remounted her Zephyrus, then took up the lead rope of the injured Zephyrus.
Owing to the Lieutenant's Zephyrus's injuries, Vivian kept a slow pace on the way back to Storms Edge, but she abandoned her planned patrol route and instead made a beeline for the fort. If this cat had important information somewhere among the saddle bags he carried, it was worth abandoning the patrol route for it. Thanks earlier patrols, they roughly knew where the beasts liked to congregate already, so Vivian led the two cats around such places. It took longer than it otherwise would have, but Vivian managed to get back to the fort without any incidents and led the injured Zephyrus through the shattered gates. "Get his wounds looked at, and find someone who knew the Lieutenant and his Zephyrus well." she ordered as a stablehand came running up. "This fellow still has his saddlebags, but he won't let me at them, but he might surrender them to someone he knows. Hopefully, there's some important info in there." she said, letting another stable hand take Raio as she dismounted. Then, as both cats were led away, Vivian went to go make a more detailed report of her patrol, including the location of the Font of Life she had set up in the Stormlands.
