Her eyes nearly closed, but popped open again. "But, your wounds..." she looked at him, not wanting to go to sleep because she knew he also needed care. She reached out, grabbing a blanket she had brought and pulled it over his shoulders. "maybe we can both sleep, dearest." she carefully leaned against him, waiting for sleep to take her. "we cannot stay long..." she knew a search party would be out at some point looking for them.

He woke, the pain in his chest still present. It was still dark, yet daybreak was not far off. The first grey streaks of sunlight were beginning to appear. He found that he had a blanket around him, as well as Nienna sleeping against him.
He didn't move much, so as not to wake her. She truly does look after mehe thought as he pulled the blanket tighter around her and watched her sleep. How peaceful she looks. It astounded him to think of how much she had given up, how much she had done to protect him and keep him safe.
He hoped her wound was beginning to heal, he could not go through the emotions again. He loved her and was glad she was alive.
He knew at some point they would need to leave for somewhere,anywhere safer, further from Gondor. They would need supplies and would need to travel without being seen by anyone searching for them. Nienna shifted slightly.
She is all I need to get by

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She awoke slowly. Her eyes still closed. She didn't want to move, she knew her body would be stiff and sore. A grimace came on her face as she felt the burning pain of her wound. Then she remembered Niko and shoved her own pain into the back of her mind. She opened her eyes, and looked up at him. "Good morning, love." she said as a soft smile graced her features
How much she loved him, it was truly unlike anything she had ever felt. "How are you feeling?" she was concerned, it pained her still to remember how much pain he was in. She hated It.

" I have felt better. Yet I have also felt worse.
"It was true, his chest made breathing slightly painful, but he had his health as well as Niennai, he was thankful.
" How do you feel?" He was concerned and ready to do whatever she needed.

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She opened her mouth, then shut it. She was in a massive amount of pain, she knew something internal was injured. But, like everything else, it would heal. "I am fine, sweetheart." she slowly worked her way to standing, the movement making her dizzy. She set her hand on the cave wall for support. When she re-gained her balance, she began to pack their meager things into the bags again.
"Are you up for a long ride?" she didn't know why she asked it. It was their only means of traveling if they wanted to escape. Walking was not an option for either of them. Raven stood and walked to Nienna. The horse nuzzled Nienna gently, seeming to sense the pain. Raven then sniffed Nienna's side, and her ears went back. She pawed the ground, snorting. Her horse had never done that before. Nienna watched in surprise.

Niko was shocked at the actions of the horse.
He painfully got to his feet and went over to Nienna, genuinely concerned.
"How do you feel?" He asked. "Has that happened before?". He was scared for her and was ready to do whatever he needed to do for her.

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She shook her head. "Raven has never acted that way." she avoided his other question. If she shoved the pain into the back of her mind and ignored it, it would dissipate. although she thought she knew why the animal was doing what she was at the moment. She sent the horse a look to stop it.Raven shook her head, snorting again. Nienna turned to Niko. "Are you ready?"

He didn't like the way she avoided his question, Raven seemed to be uneasy as well.
He moved closer and put his hand on her shoulder, "tell me what is wrong" He was worried for her, it showed in his voice.

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"I'm alright. It's probably just the internal injuries she is sensing." she tried to laugh to lighten up the mood, yet failed miserably when the attempt made pain race through her side. She turned the gasp into a cough, keeping her face still to not show the pain.

" Let me take a look" He asked.
Raven would not have acted so if things were right
"If there is something wrong, we need to attend to it, no matter the cost" .
He was worried, to the extent he was considering returning to Gondor if that meant she would be looked after if he could not help her.

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She turned red from embarrassment. "uhm...I..I am sure it's alright." she laughed nervously. There was something about him having to lift her tunic a bit to see the wound that made her nervous. He wouldn't see anything. But still. She ducked her head, not sure what to say or do.

He understood her embarrassment as he saw her face turn crimson. But there could be something wrong.
''Please, we just need to take a look.You need only lift your tunic so that we can ensure nothing is wrong.''
He moved so he stood before her.'' I need to know that you are well''

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She swallowed, red from her neck all the way up to her face. Her eyes seemed to swallow her face. But she nodded stiffly. She lifted the edge of her tunic enough to take a peek at the bottom of the bandage. Her eyes were still huge as she looked at him.

He gave her a nod as she lifted her tunic slightly. He looked and saw what he thought to be a rash, out from beneath her bandaged wound. He made no move to touch, out of respect for Nienna and of fear of aggravating it further. He was not sure what he would find if all the bandages were removed.
''What do you make of it?'' he asked slowly. ''It is what's happening internally that gives me the greatest worry. ''

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She had no idea. "I don't know. It could be irritation from the bandages." she resigned herself. "It would probably be best to clean and re bandage it." she sat down, then gave him a lop sided grin. She pulled out a bottle she had swiped fromthe Healer's place. It was ale. Maybe this will help us both. She removed the corn and took a swig before handing it to him. She tried to remove the bandages herself, but the movement of her arms was not helping anything.

As he saw the ale he gave an amused sigh. The one thing missing
He took a drink and found the ale to be very good. He handed the drink back to her.''For the pain.''
He noticed how her arms restricted her movements.''Allow me'' . Slowly undoing the bandages, he cleaned and bathed the wound taking care to do it as easily as possible so as not to cause her further discomfort.
''There'' as he finished applying fresh bandages. ''Is that any better?''

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