D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

Kat nodded and got to work. It was one thing to say she wasn't going to apply salt to Yang when the consequences of such a thing were much less clear. Xiang was already starting to heal after a generous application of salt and not doing the same for Yang felt a lot less like respecting her wishes and a lot more like leaving her to die. Besides, they hadn't heard a single word from her in a few days now. A minor blessing, but really not worth all the pain.

Kat's first job was making a new place to put Xiang. It was pretty rough, he just needed a bit of shade so underneath a nearby tree was good enough. A small hole and two rows to funnel what little poison was left and Kat was willing to call that good. Kat carried Xiang over and plopped him down, ignoring the slight wincing and groaning he made while being moved, no longer twitching from the salt, but still not the best perhaps.

Then Kat turned her eyes to Yang. *God I don't know how I want to do this. Hmm… guess I should properly prepare.* So prepare Kat did. The first thing she did was gather up a few buckets, though when Lily asked to help Kat refused her. With that in place, Kat started to make larger and larger buckets until she feared for the ice's integrity. It wasn't the best building material and Kat hadn't made them all that thick.

Once the buckets were ready Katt then carved out a small igloo with an 'entrance' to sit over Yang's neck. The idea was to keep most of the gunk off her face and then pull it off once the gunk was somewhat washed away. One final touch was to drastically expand the holes for the gunk. With experience, Kat now knew what she'd need. It was a bit of a rush job, and the once idyllic little brook was pockmarked with large holes and ruts through the ground. It was a necessary evil. So Kat took in a deep breath as she scraped more salt into her stash and moved over. They knew it worked this time, no reason to hesitate. With the igloo helmet secure Kat dumped all the salt onto Yang's legs.

That's when the screaming started. Unlike Xiang, who apparently had a very strong pain tolerance, Yang did not. Or perhaps it was caused by the waiting. Near immediate action may have helped reduce the pain and amount of poison to clear out? Whatever the case, things were not going as well this time at all. The gunk still turned yellow and it rolled off Yang in waves until Kat heard the sound of cracking. SHIT!

Kat grabbed a bucket and dumped it over the rough area where Yang's head was to find what she'd feared, the ice had cracked during Yang's thrashing. *I didn't think she had much strength left! I'd have reinforced the dammed thing if I'd known!* Kat didn't have much time to curse at her mistake though, the yellow gunk just kept coming as Yang thrashed about and quickly covered her face again, muffling the screaming somewhat but likely causing more problems for Kat. Another bucket of water later and things really hadn't improved like Kat wanted.

She had to baby sit Yang's head now, dumping water every time the gunk climbed up to her head. Kat praised her foresight in making sure they were on slightly elevated ground, most of the gunk did end up flowing down past Yang's feet but there was just so much of it that Yang's head was regularly at risk. She was also thrashing about all awful lot, sometimes flipping over completely so her face was in the muck-soaked dirt. Luckily, even in this state Yang was able to realise that a potent concoction of poison, poison by-product and mud wasn't something she should be digging her face into, inevitably leading to her flipping over again quickly, only to forget that listen a few moments later.

Lily started to make her way over. The yellow whatever-it-was hadn't stopped, but the violent force behind it had left and Lily felt comfortable… well not really approaching but hanging out on the edges and refilling buckets for Kat. The demon was going to need them. So Lily got to work. When Kat noticed her efforts, she moved the rest of them closer to the water.

Kat didn't complain, it was risky but she was glad. Most of the time she would have needed to use filling the buckets wasn't the moving, it was waiting for the water to sink in. Even if she 'scooped' the water in a swift motion the air pressure and momentum made it nearly impossible to fill properly with that method. Still, Lily was putting herself at risk. Not as much perhaps, as the yellow stuff just seemed nasty but perhaps not poisonous… but Kat really wasn't all keen at all to test it on Lily to confirm that guess.

In the end, they had to work in concert for a full half an hour before the gunk was completely cleared away. The screaming had stopped at about the ten-minute mark after Yang's throat had been destroyed. It was just an awkward harsh breathy sound with some gurgling mixed in. Lily found herself actually pushing her new physique a bit. She'd been estimating the water based on what she THOUGHT she could carry. So when she looked away for a second and then accidentally managed to lift a completely full bucket, it shocked her… but only for a moment. There was work to do, and it could be looked into later.

Perhaps that was now though. Kat found herself dumping Yang next to her cultivator buddy under the tree. Another line down to the hole that luckily wasn't collecting any more poison, and Kat dropped down next to Lily, her feet slightly in the water. "I'm so glad that garbage is over!" exclaimed Kat.

Lily drifted downwards and pressed herself up against Kat's side and said, "Yeah… that… it wasn't pretty. Still stinks to high heaven but at least there's nothing else to bother with. Maybe dumping some dirt in the holes and filling them over will reduce the stench,"

Kat shrugged, "Maybe, I don't really know anything about this sort of stuff. Keeping myself is one thing, and keep you safe is another but… well… I didn't see this coming. I mean, I knew the swamp water wasn't GOOD for you, for anyone really. I trusted my regeneration to keep me safe, and I made sure you didn't touch it… but I never really thought Xiang or Yang would have problems like this. I just… I guess I trusted them both to know enough about their own world to not end up poisoned just for walking through water.

"Which… I don't know… is that a silly thing to think? I'm not their babysitter. They're my clients… and I don't think I've really had any contracts where I'm just protecting someone mostly from their own mistakes. And that's what this is. I'm not going to say I should have know or expected something like this. Yet at the same time… I'm also used to the kids that were sort of my responsibility anyway. Even if technically it was Gramps I still felt responsible…

"So maybe this is just an extension of that. For some reason, despite the fact that these two are both annoying… I feel… perhaps more responsible than I should and I'm just not sure how I feel about that. Hmm… I got a bit lost on the way to the point. I guess my real question is how much should I be babying the cultivators? Or maybe just people I work with specifically. Sure they're adults but I'm basically indestructible. They're not that much stronger then children would be to a normal adult. So… eh I don't really know what else I'm saying,"

Lily pulled in a long breath of air. A mistake perhaps, and even though Kat's scent was closer, the yellow gunk was overpowering it. Lily scrunched her face up in disgust and tried not to retch. When Lily finally recovered she said, "I don't really know either. I mean, I like the fact that you care quite a lot and it's never been smothering before… but that doesn't mean it won't ever be the case. So… I'll just let you know if it ever gets to that point. The problem though… the cultivators…"

Lily sighed and continued, "Yang would never have listened. I don't thinks she'd have taken really any help you might be willing to offer her. She's just that kind of person. Xiang… well Xiang proved it when we were walking. He's not as angry but just as proud and stubborn if not more so. For these two at least… I think you have to let them make their own mistakes. Maybe be a bit more ready to catch them… but I doubt they'll let you help as much as they should,"

Kat pulled Lily in closer to her body and sighed. "Yeah. Seems that way…"