Advent Of A Gunslinger

Meanwhile…

Mio slowly blinked until he realized he was awake. The palpitations of his chest were calm, but labored. It was difficult for the abyssinian to breathe. The last thing he could recall in his mind was being viscerally burned by the gold dragon and hearing Spitha’s voice as she chased him off with angered roars and bullets. After that, he essentially blanked out with no memory of what happened afterward…

“...Where...where am I? How did I get here…?”

The more he came to, that’s when he could feel the world around him better. Thankfully, his beady yellow eyes were spared from the damage of the flames, so he was still able to see--albeit barely. His glasses were missing from his face so everything was a tad blurry.

However, from what he could tell, he was lying down. Nearby, he could hear the periodic, rhythmic beeps of an EKG which confirmed that his heart rate was steady. Next, he realized that he couldn’t quite feel his face and that was due to the bandages that wrapped around every inch of his head, save for his eyes.

Mio then sat upright, and realized he was in a hospital bed. “...What?” he thought to himself out of confusion, “But this doesn’t make sense. Klugetown doesn’t have any real hospitals…”

That was correct. Minus the little ‘facility’ beneath the mining operation Rongu had been a part of, there were absolutely no medical professionals or buildings located within Klugetown. It left him paranoid with a sense of dread as his eyes darted around the room.

“Did someone bring me here? What happened to Spitha? What’s going on?”

At long last, he would have an answer.

Someone would enter his hospital room. A familiar yellow abyssinian woman who was clad in a doctor’s uniform “...Mio? You’re okay...thank goodness--ahem.” She cleared her throat and stowed her personal concerns in order to speak professionally as she looked at a clipboard. “...Mio Karidi Thuong. Is that right? You suffered second-degree burns all over your face. Thankfully, the dragon’s fire wasn’t entirely concentrated, so you were spared from third-degree ones. Are you able to speak?”

“...Yes?” The tom sighed with relief, thankful that he wasn’t going to be permanently scarred. Though, he was still confused about something. “Doc...where am I? I know I’m not in Klugetown…”

“Oh yes, that’s right. You’re actually in Panthera--Abyssinia’s capital. A red dragon woman flew you all the way here, sobbing with you in her arms…” The doctor paused, and set the clipboard down. “But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s get those bandages off of you, okay? We performed surgery to restore your skin as well as a bit of potion-based elixirs. Hopefully you’ll have returned to your normal state.” She approached him with a small mirror in hand. “Are you ready?”

Mio mulled over everything he had just been told. “...Panthera. Okay. Guess I’m in familiar territory. And Spitha brought me here herself, huh? I need to make sure I thank her the next time I see her. As for my face...I suppose I have no choice. Best not delay the inevitable.”

“...I...yes I am,” he replied with a nod.

“Okay…hold still…” Mona would proceed to remove the bandages from his face. Rows and rows of them were untwined. His ears were free first, then his forehead, then his mouth, and lastly, his chin. “Alright...here goes, sir…” she offered him the mirror.

Mio grasped the mirror, and held it in front of his face. There was a massive, X-shaped scar that crossed over his entire face. “...I’m a bit uglier than before, it seems.” The tom thought to himself, then looked up at the doctor to express his gratitude. “Thank you for everything. Words can’t express how grateful I am.”

“Not at all,” she replied with a smile, “But you should really thank Spitha. She was the one who brought you here.” The smile slowly faded as soon as she looked the tom in the eyes. “Oh but...I noticed that you had a pair of glasses on when you arrived. Those were destroyed, but I’ve already contacted the optometrists to make you a new pair.”

Hence why his vision was slightly blurry. “...Those glasses were all I had left…” Mio’s ears flicked upon hearing that his glasses were unsalvageable, but didn’t vocalize how he truly felt. “...Understandable. I’m just happy to still be breathing. You’ve done more than I would have expected anyone to do for someone like me. I don’t deserve your compassion.”

“Perish the thought,” she replied swiftly, “That being said, the dragon woman actually wants to see you. Do you mind if she comes in?”

Mio shook his head. “Not at all. I’m sure she wants to see how well I’m doing.”

Mona nodded, and walked towards the door of the room. “Understood. I have to go check on some other patients. My nurse will come by eventually, alright?”

“Understood.”

With that, the yellow feline woman left the room. A few moments later, the red dragon woman would enter…

“...You’re alright. Good.” She walked up to his bedside, and put her arms around him to give him a hug. “I am so sorry for what that dragon did to you. I should have been there to protect you. I’m sorry…”

Mio’s eyes shot wide open with his mouth agape. For the first time in what felt like forever, he was being embraced by someone who actually cared about his safety. Such a feeling was completely alien to him, and only now could he comprehend such a thing. “...She...cares about me? Why?” As a result, he was stunned. Looking off into space like a deer in headlights.

Spitha pulled back, and looked him in the eyes to get his attention with both hands on his shoulders. “...Are you okay?”

He snapped out of it by blinking a few times. “Huh? Wha? Y-yes, I am. But...I’m confused. Why save me? Why bring me all the way here when you could have easily saved yourself?”

“Well…” Spitha let go, and sat down on a chair next to the hospital bed. “If I’m being honest, you could have done the exact same thing. You could have easily not bothered to tell me anything and simply run away from Klugetown never to be seen again. And I would’ve just...went on not knowing who Ron really was…”

Mio looked down at himself. “...It’s something that anyone with a sense of self-worth would have done. That dragon has none.”

Spitha nodded, and continued to speak to him--even going as far as placing one of her claws on his hands. “But then...you could have easily refused to assist me. You didn’t have to take me into your home nor did you have to stand up to Ron. And yet...you did.”

Which was entirely due to Mio’s self-respect and desire to keep everything honest on all ends. He glanced at her without saying a word.

“So...I figured that I may as well return the favor…” she explained while letting his hand go, “I couldn’t just leave you there to suffer because of something that had nothing to do with you.”

“That...makes sense. However…did you kill him?”

Spitha fell silent, and broke eye contact for a moment.

From that response, Mio could instantly tell what the problem was. “...He’s still alive, isn’t he?”

“...I couldn’t bring myself to kill him,” she leaned forward with her cheeks resting in both of her palms. “My heart--I hesitated because that was still a man I had thought I knew and loved for over a decade. But it was all a lie. A lie that I wasn’t ready to face. So like a coward...I let him escape.”

Mio sighed, and shook his head. “...While the act may have shown cowardice, that does not automatically label you one. Not permanently. As much as we dislike it, we are all puppets to our own emotions.” He flexed one of his arms, and then flexed the other to make sure his limbs still functioned properly, “It’s a matter of knowing how to play your own hand. The next time you see him, I want you to promise me: End his life. His existence is only going to make things worse for everyone.”

Spitha sniffled, and wiped a tear from her eye. “...I’ll do my best. I can promise you that, Mio.”

“...Good. So where do you think you’ll go from here?”

“There’s a hotel nearby,” she replied, “I plan on staying there until I know you’ve recovered. I have plenty of gemstones to pay, so don’t worry about me.”

“And she’s going to stay nearby until I get better? Why the hell did Rongu constantly lie to this woman? Sumbitch never deserved her...and now her entire life is in shambles. How is she going to trust anyone ever again? I can’t allow him to continue to draw breath. Next time I see him, he’s litter...I swear it.”

The more Mio thought about it, the more it ate him up inside. His hands tensed, grasping the sheets of his bed and jittering ever so slightly. “...You’re a great woman, Spitha. I just hope that you’ll be able to recover someday. The damage I took is ultimately temporary, but the emotional and psychological damage that you’ve taken from this in the long run…--”

“Shh, shh, shhhh…” The dragon lady shushed him as she put a finger over his mouth. “...I know. It won’t be easy. But I’ll figure it out. Right now, my priority is ensuring your safety.”

“I...I respect that. Thank you very much.”

A few more minutes passed and the door was opened once more. A chubby abyssinian female with white fur entered the room. This was the nurse that Mona had referred to earlier. “...Mr. Thuong? Could I have your attention please? And ma’am, I will have to ask you to leave the room momentarily.”

“Oh. That’s perfectly fine,” Spitha got up, and passed by the nurse on her way out, “I’ll be back later, okay?”

Mio waved as she left. “No problem. See you then, Spitha.”

As soon as the dragon left, the nurse shut the door.

“...I read through your file, and realized some...disturbing things,” she explained in a neutral tone, “So I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

“Go for it.”