Everything was blurry and echoing. The two figures that stood around her fade in and out of view, and their voices echoed in Wynter's ears. Her head throbbed painfully, and when she moved to at least sit up, a wave of nausea forced her to stay still. She could not understand the voices that hit her ears, for they were a garbled mush of sound due to her disoriented state, and could dimly feel the rumbling beneath her body. Her bow and arrows were pinned uncomfortably under her body, her duffle bag directly beside her head, and through some fortune she had managed to keep a vise-like grip on her violin case.
"Darrian, I've told you multiple times to stop calling me. I'm heading home from classes, have had a long day, and I really don't need your stalking me to add onto my pile of crap going on right now. Good day to you sir!"
Snapping her phone shut, Wynter leaned back against the oak tree, her bag and violin head in front of her legs and her bow and quiver across her chest and back. She was thee only person there, and the cryptic message she had gotten gave her no clue of how many people would be there, but with a sigh, she settled back to wait.
It wasn't much later that three others appeared, one by one, and they had no chance to introduce themselves before a large hole appeared behind her back, ripping them all into the tree.
Wynter groaned softly, forcing her eyes open a crack. A man crouched over her, his hands lightly patting her cheeks, and for several minutes his image blurred, going from two, to four, to three, and finally to one. She blinked a few times, only to find her body being moved and tossed across the man's back.
The voices were still echoing, but at least now she could decipher them. Her eyes slowly opened the remainder of the way, and despite the immense pain in her head, she managed to focus on the trees around them.
"W ... Wh-what ...?" she murmured, her voice soft and her words slightly garbled.
The first thing that she noticed was the trees. They were
endless. The next thing she noticed was that they were
not in Central Park.
"Todo, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore ..." she muttered, easily maneuvering off of the man's back and onto her feet. She stumbled, reaching out and clutching the man's arm so as to avoid collapsing. Her hand moved to the back of her head, and could feel the bandanna that had been wrapped around it. Slipping her fingers beneath, she hissed and drew them back, finding them sticky with blood. Moving them to the left side of her forehead, she found the same result along her hairline, and grimaced.
"Great ..." she murmured sarcastically, closing her eyes for a brief second. Finally, she straightened and looked over at her companions, releasing the arm of the man.
"I think it would be best if we find our way out of this God forsaken forest before whatever made those loud sounds finds us. Whatever it was, it wasn't an animal, and it definitely wasn't human. We also aren't in Central Park anymore. To be frank, who knows
where we are. But obviously we're in some forest, somewhere, and without a map or proper navigating instruments, we stand no chance of finding our way out of it. Once we're out of this section of the forest, we can go from there. That would be ideal, correct?" she asked, reaching down to grab her violin and bag, her eyes moving between the two, and she adjusted her bow and quiver as she straightened.
"I vote that we find somewhere that's open just enough for us to have room to camp, set up said camp, and find some food and water. We can go from there. Does that sound alright to-"
Wynter cut off, pausing and turning her head slightly. A piercing pain shot through her skull, but she ground her teeth together, closed her eyes, and then reopened them. They focused on the crumpled figure of a man, and for a moment, the air stood still. Snapping out of her frozen state, however, Wynter slid easily around the man beside her, before walking briskly over to the one who was collapsed. Crouching beside him, her two fingers moved to his neck, and after a moment she looked up at her first two companions.
"He's alive, but we need to get him somewhere safe and secure before I can assess his injuries. He's lost more than just a little bit of blood, and I need to treat him as soon as possible," she said, pulling his arm across her shoulders. Her legs trembled slightly with his weight as she rose, but after years of constant physical training, it wasn't impossible - but her injuries made her weak, and she was a bit breathless by the time she had completely stood.
Her eyes moved up to her two companions from before. "I don't know about you two, but I'm finding somewhere safe and I'm going to treat this man's injuries. You can come with me if you want, or you can stay here and become creature-food," she said. She didn't intend to sound harsh, for she truly didn't want the two to get hurt, but at the same time she didn't have much of a choice. She knew this was what was best, and she wasn't about to let herself get killed by some unknown beast.
*Very Short Time Skip {Five Minutes Later}*
Wynter collapsed to her knees, nearly dropping the man. Instead, she managed to somewhat-gently lower him to the ground. Removing her jacket, she skillfully and quickly folded it, lifting his head and slipping it beneath. Pushing herself slowly up, she moved around the small area that she had stopped at, surveying its surroundings. She plucked up several stray branches as she did so, before moving back to his side. Dropping to her knees once more, she used her gloved hands to dig a pit, tossed the branches into it, and quickly started a fire with the lighter she always kept on her. Rising and leaving his side again, she managed to gather enough rocks to satisfy her, before she returned and placed them around the fire so as to avoid setting the entire forest alight.
Finally, she turned to the man, frowning. He was incredibly heated, and sweat drenched his body.
"What in the world happened to you?" she muttered, reaching down and struggling him out of his jacket. He was obviously very ill, and while sweat allowed a person to rid themselves of the illness, too much heat could negatively affect them. They could become dehydrated and die - which was the worst outcome, but it certainly was plausible.
Turning, she unzipped her bag and removed a water bottle and towel that had remained in her bag after dance class. Wetting the towel, she folded and placed it upon the forehead of the man. After a moment, Wynter began to gently move her hands over every centimeter of his body, expertly checking for any wounds that he may have that weren't visible to the eyes - wounds that could have either been hidden by his clothing, or broken bones. Finding no broken bones on the upper body, she moved to the lower, only to find a several bruised kneecap. There really wasn't much that she could do without an ice pack, so instead, she dug around in her bag before removing a roll of athletic tape and a roll of Pro Wrap. Sliding his pant leg up to mid-thigh, she quickly wrapped his knee with the Pro Wrap, before easily taping it down.
Finally, Wynter moved up to his head, brushing his hair back from his face and momentarily removing the towel. Blood was scattered across his cheeks and forehead, some of which she could not tell if it was his own. Using the bottom of her shirt, she wiped most of it away. Pulling the first aid kid from her bag, she snapped it open, removed some alcoholic wipes, and began to gently pat at the wounds. After several minutes, she bandaged and wrapped the more severe wounds, before replacing the towel on his head. She removed the spare shirt she kept in her bag and wet one end of it, lightly moving it across the cheeks and neck of him in an attempt to cool his flaming skin. Her other hand moved across his head, her fingers threading through his hair and probing the skull for any damages. Satisfied that there were none, she moved from her crouch so that she was sitting cross-legged, continuing to pat at his cheeks with the cool water.