"Oh, there you are, Brook!" Seneca trots up to me, Icarus close behind. Her hooves create little puffs of dust every time they hit the ground. Icarus's claws throw up clumps of dirt with each step.

"Hey," I manage to get out. Blood runs down my side, a sickly warmth against my skin.

"You're injured!"

"Oh, really?" I chuckle humorlessly, grimacing as the movement sends the pain spiking.

"Was it him?" I nod, widening stance a bit to keep my balance and remain standing. Seneca turns her attention to the Soldier. A smile spreads across her face, but there's nothing friendly about it.

"She betrayed My Sovereign, Hi-."

"Cut it with the name. How can you honestly expect anyone to remember that? It's ridiculous."

"You will not speak about your King of Ragdon like that!" The Soldier gapes at Seneca, horrified.

"I'm not from around here. He's not my King. So are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?"

"Do what?"

"Your death, of course! You hurt Brook, so you die. Easy as that. Not much logic to it. So, easy way or hard way?"

"I'm not dying."

"Let's just agree to disagree. You still haven't picked, and I'm getting bored."

"I'm not dying."

"Agree to disagree, remember? On the count of three, I'll make my move. Decide what you want to do.

"Three.

"Two.

"One." As soon as Seneca gets the word out, she lunges.

I watch her through the haze of pain making my vision go blurry. I blink sleepily. Gotta stay awake. You have to make sure Clap is ok. My legs grow wobbly, and I rock on my hooves, but I cling to consciousness.

"Deep breaths, Brook. Clap's getting you a doctor. Do you, uh, want to lay down. I don't know. Haven't really been in this situation before." I can barely hear Icarus's words. My head falls so it's hanging by my knees. Icarus curses.

"What's going on? Soldier's thoroughly dead, btw's," Seneca says before cursing as well. "Wow, that's a lot of blood. How much do you think she has left?"

"I don't know. Brook's pretty out of it. I think once you got here and went after the Soldier the adrenaline started to wear off."

I'm right here, you know... 

"Where's Clap?" 

"Getting a doctor," Icarus replies.

"Better get here soon, or we're gonna have a problem."

Footsteps approach quickly. "I'm here. Wha-." Miles curses, speeding up more. "I'm here, Brook. What happened?"

"Sh-she was fighting Guard a-a-and Soldiers. A-and they ATTACKED her! O-one of th-them c-c-cut her with h-his s-s-sword... me-meanie..." Clap whimpers, her words coming out jumbled and slurred together. I barely notice as Miles gets to work.

"She got into a fight with Guard and Soldiers. One of the Soldiers cut her on the flank with his sword. She's lost a lot of blood."

"Yeah, she has." Miles's words hold a bit of thinly concealed panic.

My vision blurs further, and I can no longer make out aspects of the world around me. I sway on my feet, stumbling a step to the side.

"Brook? Try to stay still."

Am I supposed to be feeling something? My legs give out, and I collapse to the ground. Luckily I fall onto my right side; I don't have the energy to roll over.

"Get the hell out of here. All of you! Miles is trying to focus, and your obnoxious chatter isn't helping. So go. Shoo. Scram. Get out of here."

Under different circumstances, I'd've smiled bit at Seneca's words. But I don't have the energy to do so or fully process what Seneca had said. The voices around me sound like they're miles away and underwater.

"Why won't it stop bleeding?! Seneca, can you come hold these down, please? Even pressure across the whole wound."

"Ok."

"Thank you. I need to find something that'll help stop the bleeding. I'd tell you where it was, but I can't quite remember. I knew I should've organized my tent when I had the chance!"

"What the hell is going on?" Wyatt's here...

"Oh, hi, Wyatt. I'm going to find something that'll stop the bleeding."

"Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"It just happened. Now care to help me keep pressure on the wound?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. S-sorry." Wyatt drops to his knees behind me and presses his hands onto the cloths Miles had put over the wound. The pressure stings, but I barely feel it. Blood loss clouds my vision, and my eyelids flutter shut. My body grows numb, leaving me unable to feel much of anything.

Hang in there... You need... You need to make... sure Clap's ok...

I drift on the verge of unconsciousness, teetering like I was balancing on a knife's edge. I hear voices around me, but I can't make out what they're saying. The voices grow more urgent as I slip closer and closer to unconsciousness. I pull back from my body as darkness closes over me. The voices fall silent.

xxxx

"I-I-I told you s-she'll be o-o-ok! Why won't you listen to me?" Consciousness slowly comes back to me in bits and pieces.

"Brook lost a lot of blood-."

"Be quiet! S-she'll be ok! Why w-won't y-you listen t-t-to me?" Clap... My thoughts are muddled, but I'd know that voice anywhere.

"Finally. Took long enough to get back. Um, yeah, coming through. Move, people. Jeez, what part of 'coming through' wasn't clear to you? Dove, so you're telling Brook what we figured out with Wolf, right?"

"Sure." I hear the footsteps exit the tent.

"Who are you?" Miles is here too.

"I'm Dove. And they are Ky, Phoenix, and Ice."

"You're back! Oh, thank goodness. The White Tent Sea needs you."

"I was told Brook is in here?" Dove... Dove, you're back. Miles starts to reply, but he's cut off by Clap.

"Dove! T-tell them! I-I-I s-said Brook is g-gonna be ok, b-but th-they d-don't believe me! Tell them!"

"What happened?"

"Brook and Clap got into a fight with some Guard and Soldiers. None of the Soldiers made it out alive, but one of the Soldier's swords cut a deep gash on Brook's side. She lost a lot of blood."

"Let me in. I want to see how she's doing. She'll want to know that we're back."

"Of course. I'll be back in a few minutes. I need to go run and grab something from my own tent. Keep an eye on Brook please?"

"Of course."

"Um, excuse me. Who are you and what do you think you're doing?"

"Who are you? I'm Dove and I'm going to check on Brook."

"I'm Seneca. This is Icarus."

"What the hell? Are you working for KG14. Like some stupid spies or something? Who do you think you are demanding that we say who we are? We don't have to tell you anything. So you'd best be scurrying along back to whatever hole you crawled out of. Move over. We're seeing Brook." Still got your trademark temper, Phoenix.

"Well, where were you when Brook got into that fight? I came as soon as I knew something was wrong. But you were off doing who knows what. Some friend."

There's a pause.

"We're not friends," Phoenix growls. "More like allies out of pure necessity. But I like you. Can we keep her, Ky?"

"I'm right here, and I'm my own person."

"What she said, Phoenix," Ky replies.

"I," Dove says. "Am going to check on Brook. Ky, make sure no one gets into any fights. I'd like to get a chance to talk to Seneca and Icarus."

The flaps of the tent open again, this time when Dove walks through. "Hey, Brook. Oh, looks like you're still out."

"I-I-I said sh-she'd be fine. No one believed me."

"They believed you, Clap. Brook's a fighter. It's going to take far more than a simple sword to bring her down."

"Th-they didn't! They were j-just s-s-saying that she lost a-a lot of blood and s-stuff. I-I wish we were s-s-still in the G-Green Grass Field..."

"Do you?"

"Yeah. Then none of this would've happened. Brook would be fine."

No. But then you wouldn't've gotten to meet Ice. Or any of our other friends and allies. Do you really want to be stuck in that paradise prison?

Come on, Brook. Wake up the rest of the way. Open your eyes. Dove's here. You need to see if he found Wolf and tell him what has happened in the White Tent Sea since he left. Open your eyes!

It takes a few more minutes, but eventually I manage to crack open my eyes. I exhale sharply as the light streaming through the flaps of the tent blinds me, but I keep my eyes open.

Clap immediately scampers over to my side. "S-see? I-I-I told you she'd be f-fine!"

"Hey, Brook. How are you feeling?"

"Fine. So did you find Wolf?" I roll to my stomach, ignoring the spark of pain that ignites on my side.

"Not exactly. But-."

"Oh, you're up, Brook. Why don't you lay back on your side; you need to rest some more."

"I'm fine, Miles. King Garonda XIV's not going to wait. It doesn't hurt. I'll be fine. I'll just take it easy for the next few days. Do you have anything that'll speed up the healing process?"

"I've been using those! How do you think you're still alive? That was one hell of a wound you got! I couldn't get the bleeding to stop for the longest time. In all my time serving the White Tent Sea as a doctor, I've never had someone who was in critical condition for that long! It terrified me, Brook. It terrified me. Sorry, I'm snapping at you. It wasn't your fault. It was just incredibly stressful. Please don't do that again, Brook. What if I can't keep you from slipping away?" Miles paces a step or two to the side as he runs a hand through his hair.

"King Garonda XIV's not going to wait or stop. I promised Freedom I'd keep Clap safe, and I intend to keep that promise. There's no way I'm going to let anyone lay a hand on Clap if I have anything to say about it."

"Stay safe? I know you're going to keep Clap safe, but I don't want to be the one repeating yesterday's events. Please, Brook. Don't let that happen again. I don't want to be the one keeping you tethered to life while Clap is begging me to save you and you to live."

"I'll do my best."

Miles nods. "I'll let you catch up with Dove. Come here, Clap. I have something I'd like to show you," he says before leaving. When Clap looks at me, I nod and she trots after Miles. I turn to Dove, who had been standing quietly in the corner, watching impassively through his grey eyes. He pushes off the shelf he had been leaning against.

Thanks for reading! Please comment your thoughts and consider a vote if you enjoyed this chapter!  We're getting a little closer to the end of Relearn, the fifth section of The King's Remorse. Once Relearn is done, it'll be the sixth and final section.

Any guesses as to the name of the sixth section?

Dove and the group have returned! Finally!

The White Tent Sea needs Wolf and Dove, but since Wolf's missing, will they be able to keep King Garonda XIV from completely rebuilding the White Tent Sea to fit his vision perfectly?

I hope you all are staying safe and healthy!

-Werewolf14-