"Fucking christ." Adam exclaimed softly in relief as he stared at the radscorpion for a few seconds longer before he looked around to see if there were any more bugs he needed to contend with, and found, for now, they seemed to have dealt with them all. Deccanus had finished up his side, a mountain of bug corpses stacked in front of where he stood as he looked at Adam.
"Are you alright?" He asked as he walked over to retrieve his spear from the radscorpion.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Adam said with another sigh. "Few close calls, this guy is glowing for some reason though, so I wasn't sure what to make of that, kept my distance as best I could."
"Glowing Radscorpion." Deccanus replied simply. "A step below an alpha radscorpion. You are lucky it wasn't a giant radscorpion, that might have been too much to handle alone."
"That wasn't even a 'giant' radscorpion? Wow." He shook his head in disbelief. "Funny that they even have designations though." Adam chuckled softly. "I guess when you live out here, you gotta have a way to communicate what kind of threat it is, huh?" He grinned and then began to feel a bit light headed.
Deccanus seemed to notice Adam's unstable stance and looked at him confused.
"Are you sure you are alright?" He asked again.
"Yeah I just got light headed all of a sudden, not sure why." He said as his vision began to blur a bit, he was having trouble standing and leaned on the shelf nearby. Deccanus looked on confused and concerned until he noticed the cut on the back of Adam's hand.
"The radscorpion, when you were fighting it, did it get you?" He said more hurriedly now.
"What? Why?" Adam asked as his breathing got a bit hard, he decided to sit down for the sake of ease as his head was spinning and pounding.
"Answer me. Did it get you?!" Deccanus demanded.
"I uh… think it nicked my hand with its stinger." He said back.
"Fuck." Deccanus muttered softly under his breath. He then began to rummage through his bag looking for something.
For Adam's sake he was having a hard time seeing and moving. It didn't necessarily feel like he was dying, but it certainly felt like his body was shutting down. What was going on?
After a few moments Deccanus retrieved a small waterskin from his bag and put it up to Adam's lips.
"Drink this, it tastes foul, but it will rid you of the venom." He said resolutely, offering no option but to listen. Adam did as he was told, drinking the foul tasting liquid until Deccanus pulled it away from him. He did not feel a change for a few moments but after a bit his vision began to clear, though he still felt light headed.
"What did you just make me drink?" Adam said, his vision mostly clear but for the sake of his numb body and pained head he kept sitting.
"Antidote." Deccanus replied as he sighed in relief, stood up, and pocketed the waterskin.
"You just carry around a radscorpion antidote with you?" Adam joked lightly.
"Of course." Deccanus returned, not getting Adam was joking. "Radscorpions are a serious danger, more so in the west where they are more numerous, but they can be found everywhere."
"Would it have killed me?" Adam asked weakly, he still felt like shit but he could begin to feel again, the numbness was wearing off.
"No." Deccanus said as he looked at the radscorpion. "Well, I suppose it could have, but likely not." He then shook his head and then knelt next to Adam, helping him to drink actual water from his regular waterskin this time.
"The Radscorpion venom is mostly a paralytic agent. Though with a large enough dose it can kill even a brahmin." He paused as Adam finished drinking and then he put his waterskin back on his side. "I suggest you rest there for some time, it will take a bit for the antidote to fully expel the effects of the venom from your system, in the meantime I shall ensure there are no more surprises for us." Deccanus then turned to walk away but Adam spoke up before he left.
"Hey, Deccanus." Deccanus turned back around to look at Adam. "Thanks." He smiled weakly. "I owe you one." Deccanus stared at Adam for a moment and then smiled a little bit himself.
"You saved my life once before already, I still owe you many times more." He said, then leaving before Adam could make a rebuttal.
It took about 30 minutes for Adam to get back on his feet, Deccanus was long since back by then, reporting that other than a single locked door, he had cleaned up the rest of the infestation here, the only bugs left being some radroaches which he handled with ease. Then he began to carve into the Radscorpion while Adam was still getting his body back under control.
"Why are you cutting up the scorpion?" Adam asked, confused.
"Radscorpion." Deccanus corrected without breaking his stride.
"Sorry, radscorpion." Adam corrected himself with only a small amount of sass.
"The radscorpion poison gland is a valuable commodity. It has medicinal, practical, and combat applications. In the Legion we are taught that all creatures have something to offer, to waste nothing that can be used to better life in the Legion."
"Is that why you are so knowledgeable about all these bugs?" Adam asked, curious. "You were able to identify what kind of bugs we were about to be attacked by just by the sounds." Deccanus paused his carving for a moment, put down his knife, and then pulled out what Adam assumed was the poison gland, still dripping in blood.
"I was a scout." Deccanus said as he examined the gland for a moment before he stood up, put the gland in his side pouch, and then turned to look at Adam. "I was my unit's Venato, the tracker." He paused. "There were times I would be sent out to hunt down enemy positions, track down nests, and bring the rest of my unit through dangerous paths. Naturally these skills came to me as I grew into the role." He said as he walked over to the blood bug now.
"The proboscis of the blood bug can be used in medicine as well, or a weapon in a pinch." He offered as he ripped its needle off. "There is no creature that is without its use." Adam looked at him impressed.
"I must say that is… quite a skill. Though um… are those things valuable?" Adam asked, a bit skeeved out by the bug parts Deccanus was collecting. Deccanus paused as he looked at the mantis leg he was holding now.
"The radscorpion poison gland, yes. The rest?" He turned around, still holding the leg. "No. I would ask to keep them, I have many uses for them if you would permit." Adam shrugged.
"I'm certainly not going to stop you." He said as he slowly began to walk passed, ready to begin searching the building himself.
"What's that one used for?" Adam said as he saw Deccanus rip off another forearm of a giant mantis. Deccanus turned to look at Adam with a slight tilt of his head.
"It's lunch." He said calmly.