Gypsy Camp

Caitrin felt for the longest time that she was floating. Barely aware of the pain in her shoulder, she remained suspended in limbo, caught between the darkness of unconsciousness, and the noise and chaos of being awake. The sounds began to dim, leaving a slight ringing in her ears, and for the moment she thought she'd actually slipped away...

But then the pain sharpened her senses, a pain that radiated from her shoulder, causing her to grimace and hiss in a breath. Her eyes flew open, blearily taking in the vision of Ciara as she worked over her, cleaning the wound. There was no one else.

That was when the horror of the situation began to dawn on her. "Spirits.." she whispered, face white, eyes wide with terror. "I was bitten...."

Cassier has been in town, lightening a few purses, and been on the way back when he saw the smoke. What? What was? The man took off running, visions of the camp burning filling his eyes. So soon after Cait had returned! No! He wouldn't let her, not again!

The fire was not coming from the main camp though, but from Ileana's vardo. He watched a few leave his own vardo and his eyes widened. They only would have placed Cait or Ciara in there. What was? He didn't bother with those leaving, instead, he entered and took in the scene.

"Ciara?" He asked, eyes on Cait in the bed. "What happened to Cait?" Nothing, right? Just a wound. There was no reason for Ileana's vardo to be burning, she hadn't been near that. What happened to his Cait?

“Ile-” Ciara began before breaking off. “The beast fled into the woods.” She didn't turn around to look at Caitrin, and instead focused on scrubbing away at her hands in an effort to distract herself from saying what they were both thinking.

“Cassier! Where on earth have you been,” Ciara exclaimed as her brother arrived, though her expression quickly turned somber at his inquiry. “She'll be fine, physically. But...”

She hesitated a moment before pulling Cassier to the side, speaking lowly. Not that Caitrin hereslf wouldn't know the situation, but simply to try and avoid upsetting the woman. “It was Ileana,” she finished in a hushed tone. They both knew the weight of implication that lay beneath her words. There were remedies and cures for the affliction, many of which Ileana herself had been subjected to, but success was rare. “I'm sorry.”

She sat up slowly, shifting to sit on her hip as she turned her head to observe the bite. Her eyes, at first wide and sharp with panic, became hazed, blurry with threatened tears. Putting a hand to her mouth, she closed them, covering her face with her opposite hand.

She heard Cassier come in, but refused to look up. Shame emenated from her form, shame and fear of what he would think...what he would do.

The purse in his hand slipped from his fingers and landed with a heavy chink. He gulped and shook his head slowly. "The-she-I." He didn't know what to say, but finally slid to the ground and sat there, somewhat dazed. "She is unclean. We are unclean." He pointed out, still in shock. That didn't stop him from taking her hand gently, as eh tried to process it all.

"There are rituals so we can stay in contact. And there must be a cure. Something will work."

“Most of the remedies were lost in the fire,” Ciara added. It always felt like kicking a puppy to bring up more bad news on top of already bad news, but it needed to be said. “Wolfsbane doesn't grow this time of year,” she explained. “And the shuvani won't be back for another two weeks, she's still seeing to that outbreak of Chesher fever with the Timeron clan out west.”

It hurt to be called 'unclean', whether or not it was true. She gripped Cassier's hand, looking up to watch his face. "I'm so sorry," she began. "I found her out there, I thought I could help, and she just...she changed so quickly..." She shook her head, staring off into space.

"B-but...there's no full moon for another cycle...we still have time..right?"

"If we get rid of it before you...before you change, maybe." He admitted quietly. "I will talk to the gadjo's if I must." He would speak to their magic users, if only it would safe his fiance. "Whatever it takes." Though using gadjo magic was not the ideal solution. If it cleansed her of this curse, he would.

"The gadjo shops may have wolfsbane, also, though I hate to deal with the gadjo so much."

“It's possible. There's more ingredients also, but I don't know them. Ileana is the only one that studied with the shuvani, before...” she paused with a wave of her hand, vaguely indicating the incident that left Ileana outcast. “Without either of them, I don't know where to begin,” Ciara explained.

Suddenly, a swirling vortex appears to the southwest. You can see something appear in that direction.

Crystalline Sprite has arrived, coming from Cursed Wood.

Zanarthu Blackrose has left the area, heading north towards Wanderer's Camp.