Citizen 988 Nihil

Nihil, one of the experienced cult medics, was often pestered with questions by curious younglings in his family.

One of the questions he was most frequently asked is how he became a medic in the first place.

It was on a particularly cloudy day.
Nothing out of the ordinary for the folks from the Posian Islands, but Nihil having stepped onto the Islands for the first time took his sweet time examining the grass, taking in on how it felt on his paws.

Having been born and raised in a desert didn’t leave a lot of room for these kinds of things.

As the rest of his group slowly got off the ship to separate and go along their more sinister tasks Nihil moved out on his own. As he was young and only starting to work for the family he had easier tasks, foraging for valuables and herbs along the cliffs and fields of the islands.

A quick mental back and forth later he decided to venture out towards the cliffs first, figuring there wasn’t much to find in the first place.

Admiring the view on top of the more secluded cliff faces Nihil was taken out of his thoughts when he heard a quiet whimper.

Then a pained groan.

And again. No mistaking it.

Slowly moving closer to the very edge of the cliff he dug his claws into the ground as best as he could to avoid slipping and falling.

Almost too afraid to take a look he peeked down, noticing a Rexal in bad shape huddled up between some sharp rocks on a ledge beneath him.

Not wanting to take the risk and end up with the same fate Nihil’s survival instincts begged him, tore at his nerves to run away on his shaky legs.

But he was frozen in place, only snapped out of his thoughts when the other Rex suddenly lifted their head to look straight at him, gaze weak.

“...”

“...You’re not going to leave me, are you?”

The Rex wanted to say more, interrupted by a troubling coughing fit spitting up some blood.

They couldn’t have been much older than Nihil, youthful recklessness leading them onto an adventure with a grim ending.

But it didn’t have to end this way.

“I… Give me a moment to think!” Nihil spoke with a slightly shaky voice.

He had seen blood and gore countless times in his family.

But this didn’t feel normal to him. Was it because they were an outsider of his age?

With his heart racing he quickly tried to look around, gathering his thoughts.

I could just leave them. Go back home and forget this ever happened. I don’t live here, we don’t take kindly to strangers.

Nihil shook his head.

As tempting as these thoughts were, he didn't want to give in. Despite everything he was taught he didn’t want to be as ruthless as the rest of them.

I don’t think my tail can properly reach them… But I’ll have to try.

“Here, uh… Can you reach out far enough to hold onto my tail?”

Nihil turned around where he was, trying his best to lower himself to the ledge while not slipping down himself.

The tip of his tail gently flicked at the face of the Rexal, making sure he had their attention and they weren’t about to pass out.

With a quiet whimper the Rex reached out with their hands, trying to get a steady grip.

Figuring it wouldn’t be enough they bit down on it as well in their desperation, causing Nihil to yelp in both pain and surprise.

The extra weight pulled on him and threatened to make him fall, using all of his power in his muscles to inch forward.

The strain on his body was almost too much, leaving Nihil in fear of losing his tail.

A sudden rush of adrenaline in his despair made him dash forward just far enough to get the needed momentum to pull them both back up to safety.

Needing a moment, Nihil collapsed onto the grass, having underestimated the strength needed for this endeavor.

He almost didn’t notice the other Rex snuggling up to his tail for comfort.

Once they had both rested a little, Nihil escorted them back to the nearest town.

But, this actually wasn’t the reason why Nihil decided to become a Medic.

It was a true story, but one used as a cover up to tell the younglings.

He was simply infatuated with gore, medicine, torture and how much a body could take of it.

Author: BRAIN-ARPG