GTB I. Imported from live Gaia guild archive.
arrow Infirmary Broken arm?
Need patched up?
Extensive operation after a near-death experience in one of your fights?
Some rest under a watchful eye?
Pooling together some of the greatest healers from across the realms that have flocked here to aid tournament contestants, this is the place to be if you've been busted up.
Staff always looking for white mages and the like.
A rather tall man, seemingly a crossbred Archon/Drow in a cobalt blue and viridian robes with glasses and a staff arrived in the infirmary, dragging a rather large and heavy-looking stack of crates. Outside of the room were several more crates, each containing more random medical supplies.
Right now, though, he had to set up his office.
Fifteen minutes later, he'd managed to furnish his office, as well as getting a good setup for general operations. A neatly-organized desk held his magical artifacts, as well as his various surgical tools.
In the wall in three places were tanks filled with an oxygen-rich liquid, fortified heavily by magic and technology for regrowing someone back from something as small as a hand.
Arranged casually on top of the desks were a small pile of what appeared to be 50's-era laser guns. Of course, they were not weapons, but what he liked to call "knitterbeams."
They engineered to repair flesh instead of inorganic material. They could easily repair traumas such as cuts, skin and muscle burns, abrasions, and broken bones in mere minutes, but were less effective at dealing with major internal organ trauma due to the great variance in individual physiologies and body chemistries. The knitterbeam would aply nanodocs under an electrostim field that promotes rapid cell regeneration. Warriors receiving knitterbeam healing would need to take extra fluids and electrolyte supplements to ease the tissue strain of accelerated regeneration.
Part of the function of was reweaving the biological tissue, but knitters were also able to form stitches to help maintain the flesh integrity. Such knittings dissolve over time, and unfortuneatly, knitterbeam work did leave scars, however, as nanodoc healing is somewhat of a strain on cells.
Inside his cabinets were large amounts of potions, as well as his rather useful "HSP" kits.
An HSP kit usually consisted of a spray applicator containing entek docs, painkillers, amphetamines, synapse boosters, and adrenaline in a liquid solution. All sprayers featured a nozzle designed to adjust the spray to access a wound through a variety of armor breaches. The liquid medium surrounding the docs was a general antibiotic and local analgesic, and was also rich in calcium and iron. Since the majority of combat injuries involved burns, the spray generally included a Quikskin option that would cover the wound with a quick-drying bioplas film that would protect against infection.
He also had his staff leaning against the wall, ready should the ancient being need to use dramatic amounts of magic on a patient.
The doctor also offered a few surgeries on the side, dealing mostly with performance enchancement, but they were a tad bit riskier, and by no means permanent.
A man standing one inch shy of six feet with platinum silver air and cautious crimson eyes entered the infirmary soon after the "doc" finished his preparations. He dressed in a casual black outfit with a leather jacket, slacks, combat boots, and leather gauntlets. A bleached white muffler covered the man's neck and shoulders, obscuring his mouth from view. He glanced around at the array of medical supplies and implements which the half-breed had introduced into the infirmary with mild interest.
"Hello, doctor." The man spoke in an even tone, not too friendly nor too hostile. Physically he appeared perfectly in order. He resembled a human, but the most magical beings could tell that he was not a plain human being. In reality, he was not human at all, but he was part of a race that resembled humans; or, rather, a race which humans resembled.
"Get any patients yet?" The man inquired. Though he did not come out and say it, he thought getting to know the people who could end up patching him up could be as important as training. Some warriors did not take the whole fighting business so seriously, too absorbed in their own strength. This man, Curse, hated to jump into battles without plans and failsafes.
"Not yet, I'm afriad." he replied, still adjusting slightly with a control knob on one of the tubes in the wall. His back was still turned to the man, and after a few minutes, he nodded his head.
"Perfect." he commented, turning around in a slow and dignified manner, looking the stranger up and down. The doctor chose not to make any comments on the race, though, especially seeing as how his glasses were on the other side of the room.
"I'm going to assume you're one of the competitors." he guessed. "I'm not a fighter, myself. Too old, and besides, I don't like injuring others. The name's Phenal."
Phenal extended his arm out in the usual handshake that most humanoid races exchanged.
Curse accepted Phenal's handshake pleasantly, though his expression did not change. Still, he was glad to see someone friendly for once and not too wrapped up in the whole idea of combat, even at a tournament.
"Yes, I am competing in the..." He paused for a moment as he tried to recall the odd name of his bracket. In fact, Barton Town itself was not a strange name, but it merely struck him as odd that a bracket in a fighting tournament would be named after a town. "...Barton Town bracket. My name is Curse. It's a pleasure."
He acted pretty formally for a competitor.
"I don't derive much pleasure from hurting others, either... I rather admire someone like you, who seeks to save lives rather than ruin them." In this he spoke the complete truth as evident from his sincere and somber voice. He tilted his head in slight curiousity as he scanned the doctor's well-prepared "office."
"And I assume you have come here to tend to the wounds of the young fools like me?" He inquired. If Phenal could see Curse's mouth underneath his muffler, he could catch a fleeting smirk.
((OOC: hurts doctors for irony whee xd ))
Hiroki wanders about the doctor's office, simply checking out the place while he waits for his turn to fight.
"Not fools. More like adventurers." Phenal laughed after the handshake was finished. "If anything, I'm the fool for not bringing chairs into this room."
He raised his arm, holding his palm curved and pointed towards his staff, which leapt from its resting point and smacked hollowly in his grasp. The small crystal on top flashed as the snakes on the staff seemed to come alive.
Whether or not they were moving was rather irrelevant, as it stopped after a second, leaving a few somewhat comfortable chairs riveted into the walls, as well as a few wheeled black stools, similar to what you'd see in a doctor's office.
"I, for one, do not fight because I feel the pain of others as though it were my own. Healing is my natural profession." he explained, not bothering to conceal it. "I can sense every injury you've ever had, if I focus hard enough. Most of the time, though, I keep my mind a careful blank, or the pain would drive me mad."
"All the comforts of home." Curse noted when the chairs conveniently popped into the room. He glanced at the new arrival, Hiroki, for a second before he, too, looked around the room again at Phenal's various equipment and devices. His eyes snapped back to Phenal when the doctor admitted that he could feel the pain of others.
"I see... Then I hope I don't become a problem when I'm under your knife. I've seen my fair share of injuries." He understated, and one could tell he did not lie or boast. A few small, lingering scars flecked his rough skin here and there, with only a couple on his neck visible.
"But, I think you're in luck, doctor. A fighter is a ram, not a sheep. I gather that most of the participants are too stubborn to come see you." He stated dryly. Few fighters would readily admit defeat, and the ones who don't hated to accept any amount of losses, including injuries that needed proper healing. Only if his mission was in jeopardy would Curse avoid seeking medical attention, but as soon as he completed that mission he would go straight to the medic. He had this odd tendency that most living creatures had of wanting to live, even though he could easily accept death on his assignments.
This tournament was another assignment, so in-between matches he would come here if he needed it without hesitation.
"What techniques do you employ?" He asked Phenal casually. From the looks of it, Phenal meant business. Everything in his station hinted that Phenal was a masterful healer by several means, from the mundane to the magical.
"I personally started out as a cleric." Phenal explained. "Although I am no longer bound to the service of the god, I am still granted the divine arts of her practice. Of course, most of those are useless to the undead and unholy, so I learned arcane healing and what most mortals would call alchemy for a few thousand years before developing these."
He reached his arm out to grab the small white cylinder with a nozzle on it.
"I called them HSP kits. They'll do a somewhat crude, but rapid job of healing, as well as giving you a good bit of energy. As for the guns over there, they use advanced technology to accelerate reparing of the body, and as for the big tanks, they'll let you regenerate limbs."
He put the spray back down. "I generally combine these all together for greatest effect."
After a second, he realized he was still holding his staff, and with a chuckle, he put it to the side.
"As for the competitiors, it's their own choice. However, I'd think that they would seek the skills of an expert for healing. How many of them forge their own swords? Or craft their own ammunition?"
Curse listened to Phenal now with complete interest. So, in other words, the doc could mend almost any kind of wound with a variety of tools and abilities. This Phenal character had really made healing his life, so much so that he went out of his way to practice any and every form of healing he could. Somehow, without the need for any further questions, Curse felt he would be in very, very good hands if he ended up here on a less casual affair.
"True." Curse admitted to Phenal before offering his own counter point. "But, I do not recall a fighter praising his blacksmith or munitions supplier after winning a match."
A roar, barely audible, could be heard coming from the arena. Obviously some matches had started and the tournament had resumed. The Barton Town bracket had opened, and Curse would need to report to his match.
"Perhaps I can come back here in a decent condition so we can chat a little more, but I have a match now. Take care, Phenal." He waved briskly before turning on his heel and walking out to his first match mysteriously and with no apparent haste.
He walked in quietly with a long sleeve jacket on. His right arm was completely limp and lifeless aside from the quiet tick and rattle it produced from his walking.
His face was also windburned from moving too fast and his eyes were veined with red for the same reason.
He merely looked at the doctor and said, "A bullet glazed my ankle. I don't want it to get infected and allow some kilelr to replace me in the tournament. COuld you..................."
A young woman of about average height, or not too tall, not too short, who looked deceptively human, stepped into the room. She walked with a soothing, magnificent grace as her emerald eyes scanned the room around her.
'So many tools.'
She wore a loose, white robe slightly open on her chest to reveal a cerulean pendant attached to a silver necklace. Long, flowing, picturesque blonde hair cascaded down to her shoulders. Along with her slightly pale skin and slightly large... okay, kinda large... okay, large busom, she maintained a pretty attractive appearance, at least for the average, "zealous," human male. To think, she had not really dealt with lecherous stares in a while. She got enough respect from the rest of the members of the Guardian Order.
Her long, shining pearl robe reached down to her ankles. It did not seem to retain even the slightest smidgen of dust lingering in the air, and it always looked absolutely clean. It even sparkled as if covered by a thin layer of transparent mist. Sky blue, swirling patterns around the sleeves and midsection of the robe twisted into intriciate details as they became darker in shade until they ended in a stark black, a direct contrast to the color of her robe. The forearms of her sleeves were attached with material that reached across her back. This didn't really hinder her range of motion as the material would stretch or move with her arms, but it sure did look fashionable.
Her comfortable white shoes padded softly on the floor. She bypassed Phenal, the resident doctor, to approach the man in the long-sleeved jacket. With a cheerful smile she greeted the man with the bullet wound.
"Hello~!" She called out melodically. She grabbed one of the many chairs set aside for the use of healers like her and slid it over to him. She gave his body a quick mental scan to take note of any evident symptoms or injuries. "Sit back and let me have a look at it."
As if magically commanded to do so he plopped down suddenly on the chair with a wide eyed look. Most owuld snicker and sneer that he was some kind of horndog. In reality he was stuck looking at her teeth.
"Dental hygene of a Goddess..... And sparkling eyes to match. Jesus."
He didn't realize it but he had slowly roled up his pant leg to reveal the bleeding wound, still fresh.
He waited for whatever treatment she had in mind while he pulled out a small shock rod and used it to pop open a panel on his right shoulder. His entire arm was metal. He immeditaely begn repairs on a beaten system.
Julius had followed the man they called Zelkin out of the stadium, throughout the entire arena area. He was to congradulate him, as it was his piece of tech. However, he was beyond pissed at his counterpart, as he was stupid enough not to put some basic defense tech into the damn thing. Oh well, Julius would learn from this as it was partly his stupidity.
"Hmmph...what does it feel like for 6 tons of pressure to go against your body? Painful much?"
The woman couldn't help but stare at the man and blink incredulously a few times, but she eventually had to forgo her amusement to tend to his wound professionally. After he rolled up his pants she took a closer look. Along with what he had told her, she immediately surmised the problem. She pulled a stool around so she could sit next to him and tend to his leg.
"Okay, let's see what we've got here..." She began in a soothing tone in the typical way a doctor starts a conversation about the problem; act like it's no big deal, even if the patient has a warhead sticking through his chest. She placed both her hands on either side of the wound and applied some pressure. Her hands felt soft on his skin, if he could still feel around his ankle. Incidentally, she also had to lean over to examine the wound closely, and she had the cleavage thing going on. She had to realize how she could seem like so much of a tease on this world. She was simply so used to being around serious people who could actually repress their sexual urges. Honestly, the kinds of "men" she knew could overdose on viagra and die before ever becoming even slightly aroused.
On to the actual diagnosis, he did not seem to gush blood. That's a pretty good sign. He was bleeding nicely, and no doubt the bullet had become lodged somewhere in his ankle, possibly in the bone.
"This is it?" She said dubiously. No missing arm? No shredded innards? It only took her a few seconds to understand the crudity of her statement before she blushed and bowed her head. "I'll get right to work... It will hurt a little, but certainly not as much as it did when you received the wound."
A completely serious, stoic expression washed over her face as she moved her right hand to hover over the wound. Why do doctors always have to get that freaky, deadly grave expression?
The healing process began immediately. A pale, sparkling light glittered down over the wound from the palm of her hand like millions of tiny snowflakes. A very light blue hue began to taint the color of the aura as the man would start to feel the effect.
Imagine the natural recovery of such a wound, accept accelerated into the timespan of a few minutes. Of course, it wouldn't help if the bullet remained lodged in his skin or possibly bone, so this Zelkin would begin to feel a very slight pain in his ankle. In reality, he coud literally feel the bullet removing itself gradually, as if simply putting itself in reverse or rewind. Of course, typically a huge amount of pain followed, but this woman also somehow surpressed the release of pain to feel perhaps like a very sharp bite and no more. She figured the warriors of such a high caliber tournament could deal with a little pain in the recovery process. It sure saved her a hell of a lot of energy.
Amazingly, the healing did not stop there. If the bullet had, in fact, damaged bone, the man's bone itself would begin to simply regenerate at an astonishing rate. Her hand must hold some kind of elixir, because it basically performed the equivalent of injecting him with life. His cells would gain the supplies and materials to rapidly grow and regenerate, and if needed new cells with the same genetic code as local cells would simply form from the power seeping out of her hand.
It did not stop there, either. The bullet continued to move back outwards, and it eventually became visible as it slid out of the wound gradually. By now, the bleeding had stopped, so only the blood which caked his leg before he came in remained. Blood did not even cling to the bullet as it came out! Some kind of liquid washed over the bullet and polished the scrunched metal to a mirror sheen; a sterile, mirror sheen, at that. Indeed, she had even cleansed the blood in his system with some kind of refreshing tonic that would prevent the possibility of an infection until she closed the wound. Which came next.
Some unseen force in the shimmering light plucked the crunched piece of metal from his wound without so much as a tingle in his muscles--the outer layers of his skin around the wound had become numb at this point. And within seconds after she removed the bullet, the blood around the wound would clear away as a thin layer of seeping water washed it away. Zelkin could then watch as the wound itself would begin to rapidly heal, closing within a matter of a few seconds until it became only a scar. It would probably prove the weakest scar in his life, as it would soon become nothing more than a scab in a few more seconds. Then, it would regress into a simple red welt, and finally, into clean, unblemished skin. Heck, it had even been moisturized!
The glowing light in her hand faded. She clenched her fist, turned her wrist over, and opened it again. Laying flat on her palm in plain sight he could see the small piece of fractured metal which could have threatened his life, completely unmarred by even a speck of blood. It even glistened with a blinding flash in the artificial light of the room. She extended her hand with the bullet lying in her palm and looked at him with a big smile.
"Some people like to keep them as souvenirs." She offered. She even looked at it for a few moments, astonished. Another clean healing operation complete, and she still felt quite energetic, too! "Oh, and I can take care of the rest of your ailments. You look a little bloodshot. I bet I can fix that right up. What say you?"
The doorway to the Infirmary was suddenly filled with a rather tall figure whom twas hunched over; the darkness obscuring his features. But, slowly, his feet carried him in with relative ease - despite how tall he was compared to the room. Ten feet, eleven feet tall? Some lucrative height. Yet, as he began to step out of the shadows - it appeared as though even his height had changed. For, he stood up normally, around seven feet now. A trick played on one's eyes? One's over-active imagination?
However, his appearence was even odder. He wore a doctor's lab-coat, black buttons lining it and put together up to the second & first button at the top. A tie could be seen going beneath the white coat at that point, upon a blue business shirt; below said coat, casual green pants. They were just a tad baggy, overlapping the top of two brown dress shoes. A belt was tied around the upper section of either arm. And, upon his shoulders, were two metal orbs jutting out of the doctor's coat. Obviously, odd attire. Though..
Easily the strangest feature on this man - was a brown, paper-bag over his head, with just one hole cut in it.
"A doctor's job is to cure." The man thought with a sigh of content, a red eye peering around through the hole and over the room. "It is quite sad I couldn't join this tournament. Though, I suppose it would be presumptuous to both wound - and cure my patients!" His chest jutted out a bit against the fabric of the clothing which he wore. And, although he looked human enough.. there were elements of him that seemed, or even 'felt' unnatural.
Calling out to no one in particular, the doctor proclaimed, "Are my services required here? Anyone here with a wound to be cured, an ailment to be treated?" His voice held a polite tone - though, perhaps.. essentric.
A single man would cry out,
"I gots a papah cut on mah pinky from dat dere popcorn bag!"
A sweatdrop oozed down Faust's head - if possible - as he immedietely walked over to the man. Looming down over him, towering over the single man whom had cried out, the doctor then replied: "I'm afraid, idiocy has no cure found in modern science." Patting the man once upon the left shoulder with Faust's own right-hand, the doctor then began to peer over medical instruments with a near-hungry gaze.
"Lieutenant Dan, dis man won't gimme a band-aid for mah papah-cut!"
From the doorway, a beaten man that couldn't walk rolled in on a wheel chair. He was Lieutenant Dan, survivor of the Vietnam War.
"Oh shaddup Forr-" He would then fall out of the wheelchair for no apparent reason. "Ow..."
"Uuuughh...what hit me?"
The young man tries to open his eyes...and is blinded by a wave of sterile white light. What happened? One second, he was fighting that speed-demon-dude, the next...he was dead?
That thought does it...he sits bolt upright, forcing his eyes to open and take in his surroundings. White beds, white sheets, white walls and white lights...this wasn't heaven, it was a hospital.
Meaning he had lost.
"F**KER!!!" Furious at himself, Trei slams his fist into the table next to his bed...only to jump a foot up in the air as the table unceremoniously explodes. "What the hell is going on?"
Slowly, gingerly- lest the floor underneath him go BOOM as well- Trei gets back on his feet. His favorite black shirt was torn, but the doctors had restored him to 100%... Good news for our hero, because he still has time before his match begins to get some more practice in. After that Deity character, the young man's appetite for a good fight is in full stride...
The young man makes it halfway through the room...when he realizes that the appetite that he has isn't for battle like he thought. When did he last eat? The morning before his fight with Deity?
And so, stomach all a-growl, the young man shifts gears. Food first, fun second...after all, he would definitely lose again if he ran out of gas mid-fight. The welcome room's map had said something about a restaraunt or someat like that, if memory serves. So, logic dictates that the map is the place to go.
So he goes.
And then he comes back.
Because, in his brilliance, he hadn't looked to see if his swords were with him in his bunk upon waking. Luckily for Trei, Deity had been kind enough to bring Trei's blades to the infirmary with him, and they were lying underneath the all-too-white bed.
Honour and Glory in hand, he goes again.
The door to the infirmary swung up,within it's frame stood a girl of about 11-12 years in appearance.One her back was a simple pack,a giant red cross spray painted onto it's flap.Her brown eyes widened,feeling intimidated by the others,but she was here to learn more of her mother's profession,to take on the role of a simple medic.
Alli, the blonde-haired healer who successfully removed the man's bullet wound, had taken to a pretty easy life in the infirmary. As long as her comrades remained here for the tournament, she would also stay to tend to anyone's wounds. She didn't even work half as hard here as she did for the Guardian Order most of the time, so it felt like a vacation where she got to meet all kinds of new people. She would be there for a while, too. Ryon's match had only just started that day, and who knows when Curse would have to return to the arena for his second match.
Between the mentally-ill patients demanding intensive care for a paper cut and the man who returned to retrieve the weapons he forgot, Alli had much to muse over. By the time the 12-year-old girl entered, Alli had her nose in some book. The older healer quickly took note of the girl's presence as she usually expected a patient at all times. However, this girl looked fine and she had something else on her mind apparently.
"Can I help you, young one?" Alli asked kindly with an affable smile.
Her eyes moved,breaking the trance just the entrance had put her in."Ah!"The girl turned a light pink,remembering she was in public.Her eyes found the woman,mouth agape,mind searching for words.In a short fit of embarassment,she bowed her head,speaking with respect towards the woman."I..I've come to learn?Uh,uhm...I want to be a medic.A real one."Her head then tilted back up slowly,silver locks falling over the sides of her face."Please...?"
Alli smirked at the child's adorable display of shyness. She stood up and walked over to the young girl, examining her closely but keeping a friendly distance. She placed her hand under her chin in a thoughtful gesture.
"You want to be a medic, hmm?" She reiterated softly, apparently thinking hard about something from the way she shut one eye. She then looked back down at the girl with a sheepish smile.
"Do you know much about magic, child?" Oh how she would seem so lazy to the other medics in the infirmary. Alli had limited knowledge of traditional medical techniques, but she found them vastly inferior to her blend of magic. Still, only few could use such magic, especially to the degree that she could control it. Still, if she could somehow manage to teach this kid, then it would be much better. She blushed, slightly flustered at her odd question, as she awaited the girl's response.
She could see it in the girl's eyes, though. This young girl really wanted to become a medic, for some reason or another. Few possessed that kind of drive, and they ended up making the best healers and doctors. Alli held the same kind of passion.
Red eye veering over to the blonde-haired woman whom seemed to run the infirmary currently, Faust pondered the situation. "The tournament is still young; patients will flood this room far more than they have, soon! So many interesting races, too.. it's too bad I've not come across anyone of apparent discord & violence, I would have loved to disect them." Sighing, as though the situation was beyond his control, the odd doctor was about to ask the healer if she required any assistance - when, a little girl came up, asking for knowledge.
"How lovely! Young minds seeking knowledge, a rarity to the eye. Perhaps, I should volunteer some information?" Blinking once, the doctor then remembered an earlier experience with a young woman whom had guessed the state of his hair and was morbidly frightened of those whom were, well.. bald headed - and whom had even attacked him. Then, a sweatdrop oozed down his face.
"On second thought, knowledge is riper when left alone!" Adjusting the paper bag over his head, Faust then reached beneath his lab coat. It didn't look like a single thing was protruding against the fabric, so if one were watching - they'd probably be surprised, when he slowly pulled out a bottle. Purple, but with a comical, white skull-head with cross bones on the glass. "Oh, drat; wrong bottle." Placing it back beneath the coat, he rummaged his left hand around, until it came out with a bottle full of green fluids. This time, a simple, darker green "check" was labeled on it.
"Aha, here we are! This should disinfect and close a wound with ease. Patience, now."
For a moment their eyes met,hers then switched over to look to the side.Then they slowly rolled back,gaining little confidence from the kind gesture."..Magic?I'm afraid not.But I'm willing to learn as much as I need to about it."The girl glanced at the man who seemed to be a doctor,who had commented on her request,but then focused on the woman before her.From a small hole in the back of her loose pants,came a long tail,white and thin.It snaked up her back and onto her shoulder,scratching the back of her neck.The part had a mind of it's own.
"Hm..." Alli continued to think on it. So, apparently this kid did not know of magic. Luckily, the kind of "magic" Alli had in mind could come easily to certain beings, including humans. Not, to only find out who, or more specifically, what this girl was. Alli moved forward and opened her mouth, prepared to speak, when a long, white tail appeared behind the girl. That complicated matters. Alli scratched the back of her own neck after catching sight of the tail. So this girl was not any plain human. That did not ruin her chances, either.
"Well then, let's see." Alli took a final step forward to stand right in front of the girl now. Wordlessly she placed the palm of her right hand flat against the girl's forehead as if taking her temperature. Rather, Alli was checking the girl's pulse and beat of life. A soft hue of blue light began to glow under Alli's palm as the woman in the white robe shut her eyes to concentrate.
In this test, Alli was checking the girl's potential for magic. Every being has a life force, something as-of-yet not sufficiently explained in modern science. In fact, this mystical energy extended beyond one person. Everything living had a vibrant force of supernatural energy laying dormant within, and even nonliving objects had the potential to act with or against this nameless force. Well, not entirely nameless. Some call it chi, ki, chakra, the force--or as Alli and the rest of the Guardian Order called it, Aether.
This power was often used as the driving force or catalyst in a number supernatural, or magical, operations. Quite simply, it can do almost anything comprehensible, and some things not. The trick is to know how to use it, mold it, form it, build it, supply it, and most of all--find it. To find it within is the first step.
This girl would have to find it inside of her, first, if she wanted to continue training with Alli. She definitely had it in her in some form or another, but Alli would never know to what extent unless the girl could show her. Placing her hand back at her side, Alli opened her eyes and smiled down cheerfully at the girl.
"First step, how about you tell me more about yourself? What's your name?" She asked casually. Hopefully the girl would reveal more about where she came from, including whatever race of creature she was, so that Alli could better understand how she might help this girl access her own Aether.
Feeling the warm palm against her forehead made her wonder,but she did not dare interupt whatever it was.She breathed softly,her mind racing with thoughts of what the woman in robes would say,and about her mother.What had been the total light of her life,had killed herself.This had pressed the girl to become just like her mother.The tail had once more dissapeared into her pants,as if hiding from the eyes of the other.
She had been in deep thought when the questions were spoken,causing her to reply a few moments later."I-I..I'm Ayumi Kit Kusa-Kusakabe."Ayumi exaggerated a bitterness on her last name,she had never been fond of it."I'm..twelve.I used to have family,my father left my mother Kat,and she committed...uh,suicide two weeks ago."Glancing at her boots,Ayumi sighed softly,then looked back up,biting her lip with her front teeth."Anything else you would like to know Miss...?"
Without her notice the tail had swung out,swaying behind her slowly.
Alli could not help but smile at the adorable little girl. She felt good a pervading warmth in her chest for the tiny would-be healer, and it was always great to work with someone likeable in this profession; well, in any profession. However, something seemed to trouble the girl. A concerned expression registered on the blonde woman's face as the girl spoke.
"Ayumi? That's a wonderful name!" She announced kindly, trying to help the girl get her mind off whatever made her feel so awkward--even alone and afraid. So, she was twelve years, just as she looked. That did not rule out the possibility of her magic yet. "My name is Alli. It's nice to meet you, Ayumi."
Alli placed her hands on the girl's upper arms gently when she mentioned that her mother, Kat, had committed suicide so recently. No wonder she lacked confidence. Losing her mother like that must've shattered her world, especially after her father left her. Alli almost frowned in sadness, but she did not want to help the girl feel any worse by lingering on it. It might seem cold, but Alli had become used to facing pain and death. Instead, Alli looked into the girl's pretty eyes with a serious expression.
"Why do you wish to become a healer, Little Ayumi?"
She brightened a bit,doing her best to push any negative thought from her mind,it was hard but she had done it for so long."Nice too meet you too,Miss Alli."Bowing her head until her chin brushed her neck,she then spoke again."Please...if what I mentioned about my family,er,situation.Don't worry about me."Ayumi had said that line a lot lately,she had been travelling from bar to bar.Once she realized the expression in Alli's face,she straightened up and took a short breath.
"I'd like to be a healer for three main reasons.So that I can help people my mother could not.Because I want to learn to heal people,friends,family and strangers even,just for...just for that feeling.Not accomplishment but..."She blew out a short puff of air,frusterated a little."Well,I don't think it has a name but..the feeling you get inside when you do something good.For another..."The girl then smiled a little,"Besides,I can't fight worth a darn.I rather heal than hurt."
Alli nodded as Ayumi spoke of her reasons. They sounded much like her so many years ago when she was younger, back when she physically appeared about Ayumi's age.
"It's my job to worry." The woman replied playfully. "And soon, it will be yours, too." She grinned and stepped back, folding her arms before her to rest under her bosom. She smiled down at her.
"We can definitely do this, Ayumi. I feel it in you. You have the soothing spirit of a healer. But, it's not all about being gentle and mending the injuries of others." She said plainly, raising the index finger of her right hand to demonstrate her point. "You will have to heal your own injuries, here..." As she spoke, she lightly tapped Ayumi's chest where her heart was located. "And, you have to have the drive to keep learning, to keep tyring, no matter what."
The woman turned her back to the girl ominously, and her voice adopted a grave tone.
"After all, this will not be easy or painless for you, Ayumi... Are you certain you want to continue? You have to trust me completely before we begin... I can understand if you do not have the passion, the heart, or the stomach to continue right now." She tilted her head to the side to glance back at Ayumi, a fierce look in her eye. "Or do you?"
Ayumi listened,her expression changing along with Alli's words.A bit of puzzlement appeared on her tan face when the mentioning of her heart floated out of the woman's mouth.Ayumi was constantly pushing out her emotions,away from her mind to avoid conversation about such things.Ayumi nodded vigorously,silver locks bouncing about her head and shoulders,she then calmed,hiding excitement.
"Alli-sama,I am certain.I need this in my life if I am to heal..."She then tapped her chest again,just like Alli."My heart."Ayumi then straightened again."I can do this.I'm not afraid."
After a moment of silence passed between them, Alli's pleasant, alluring smile returned to her face. She placed her hands on her hips, her back still facing Ayumi. This girl really touched her. She had such a determination to become a healer, someone who lived to help and aid others, even selflessly. She was ready to thrust herself under the knife here.
"Okay, then..." Alli whispered. She kept the smile on her face--a smile was disarming. "Now, Ayumi, don't move. This is going to hurt a little."
Suddenly, in a flash of her white robe, Alli spun around quickly, extending her right arm again towards Ayumi's heart. She clutched some kind of odd, cyldinrical object with a guard over fingers much like the hilt of a rapier. She pointed the hollow, circular end of the cylinder straight at the area Ayumi tapped--her heart. Within a split second a flash of bright light appeared from the hole in the cylinder, and a spear of light a few inches in diameter piereced straight through her chest like the blade of a sword. It passed through her body and extended out of her back for a good few feet, pulsing softly.
Surpisingly, Ayumi would feel an initial blow almost like getting the wind completely knocked out of her, but she would not feel the kind of pain one might expect from having an energy blade thrust into her heart. In fact, after she regained her wind, Ayumi would feel really no pain at all. Her body would go numb and she would feel paralyzed. Meanwhile the center of her chest would start to emit a tingling sensation coursing through her body to the tips of her fingers and toes.
The energy blade had not really passed into Ayumi's flesh at all. Rather, it had passed into her supernatural soul locked within the frame of her tiny body. Once inside it initially shocked her system, stunning her and keeping her physical body completely numb. While the blade lingered inside her supernatural spirit it would slowly emit an agreeable agent of spiritual energy straight from Alli. After a few moments, Ayumi would actually feel like she possessed more stamina and energy than perhaps she ever felt in her life. She would feel a massive boost of ability, and even her sense would become acutely sharper as she became very, very aware.
Though it emitted a low, pulsing light, the blade did not hum or dismiss any kind of extraneous sound at all, much like the steel of a sword. After a good twenty seconds, where Alli looked from the light blade into the girl's brown eyes, she withdrew it and stepped back to give the girl her distance. She lowered her right arm to her side and the blade of light dissipated as quickly as it appeared. Alli looked down at the girl with a serious expression before her lips split in a friendly smirk.
"So, how do you feel? That could potentially make your much stronger than you have ever felt, allowing you to access the greater portion of your own spirit... or it could make you weaker, knocking you unconcious or even..." She paused with a slight frown. "...killing you."
"How do you feel, Ayumi?" She repeated. Now it was all up to Ayumi, or more specifically, Ayumi's body, if she could stand up to this training.
"Hn?"Ayumi's eyes widened at the sight of the cylinder pointed at her heart,her body tensed strangely as the light hit her.Every nerve she had was tingling at this point,her eyes had clenched shut,expecting pain.When her eyes opened again she felt her mouth hang open,she felt breathless.Something new was inside her and she never felt better.Ayumi closed her eyes again and let her limbs relax under the sensations pulsing throughout her body from the strange light.
As soon as she felt the blade leave her small chest,she began to lose balance but quickly regained as soon as her tail whipped out to balance her."..Stronger than I ever felt?I feel..."Ayumi looked at her hands,balling them into fists then releasing."I feel something more,that's for sure.My heart seems to be beating stronger,my vision has gotten much better,better than my cat eyes...I feel a little shocked,but that,I'm guessing,is normal when you're pierced with a blade of light."Ayumi smiled rather innocently,slowly clasping her hands at the small of her back.
Smiling joyously, Alli felt like embracing Ayumi. Hurray! It didn't kill her or harm her. Everything was going on track. Still, it was quite amazing. Few beings could readily accept another person's Aether forcefully injected into their bodies in the span of a few seconds. The fact that Ayumi survived, and with optimal results, proved she was very special.
"You are ready." Alli announced. She nodded her head, beckoning Ayumi to follow. She walked further into the infirmary where another doctor had set up a cabinet holding multiple medical tools. Alli opened a few of the drawers, looking for something. She smirked when she spotted the object, retrieving a scalpel from one of the drawers in her right. She turned and waited for Ayumi, sitting on the operating table next to her and offering Ayumi a seat righy beside her.
"Now, Ayumi... The feeling I gave you is actually a part of my own energy, highly focused and concentrated. Think about it: What if you could eat a meal and pass the energy you gained onto someone else? However, this gets a little more complicated. I did not simply impart physical energy to you, or stamina..." She so said while shaking her head. "I gave you some of my own spiritual energy, my Aether." She couldn't help but smile at the girl again. So young, yet so determined. Hopefully she had some smarts to take in all that Alli would tell her. Being a healer of this sort definitely took some brainpower. Alli thought Ayumi definitely had it.
"Aether is like your physical stamina. You can use it. You can replenish it. You can also make it grow. Some people have more stamina, and they can therefore run longer and faster. It is the same with Aether." As the woman spoke, she idly twirled the scalpel in her right hand in a number of ways with precision and expertise, never dropping it or fumbling.
"Only a healer of my capacity can accomplish this kind of transfer. Usually, your body would reject foreign spiritual energy, especially the more you have. It's like your body's magical immune system. Those with higher Aether capacities are like those with more blood cells--Oh..." Alli stopped and blushed. She tried to avoid getting technical, but she realized a girl of Ayumi's age might not know exactly what blood cells were or what they did. Anyway, the first stage of her training was about 1/3 over. She would be mending wounds very shortly if all went well, so Alli might as well stop to make sure she understood everything. "Do you understand?"
Ayumi,by now had completely forgotten her short spurt of depression,and was now looking forward to being taught by Alli.She figured that now no other adults would try to take her away like before.Ayumi followed a few steps behind the woman.Placing her hands onto the table,she hopped up next to Alli.
"Aether..."She said softly,sounding out and stretching the word to learn it properly."Does everyone have Aether?"Her voice was quiet,unsure if it was right to speak or not.Fascinated by this new term and energy,she listened well.As she heard the comparisons between stamina and Aether,she could not help but yearn for more of the energy,though bit her tongue and told herself not to think in such a way.
"I understand most of it,but what were you saying about blood...cells?"She had come across texts mentioning blood cells,but had never really read them,she hoped for information.
"Yes," Alli replied with a brisk nod in response to the girl's initial question about Aether. "Every living thing possesses Aether, in one way or another. Even you, little Ayumi." She said, playfully poking Ayumi on the nose. She hoped she didn't seem condescending to the young girl, but she also wanted to try to cheer her up. She continued to twirl the scalpel in the fingers of her right hand when Ayumi asked about blood cells for clarification.
"Well, humans and most creatures with blood have special kinds of cells in their bodies that focus almost entirely on locating and fighting foreign subtances, specifically those that cause illness. That's how someone can naturally get better after having a cold for a few days." She did her best to describe everything in layman's terms. Even she did not possess complete knowledge of the most modern medical jargon, especially in conjunction with modern medicine. Alli maintained her own form of healing the body and spirit. Still, someone in her line of work had to know more than the basics, too. "Typically, healthier people will recover even faster. Their immune systems work more efficiently. It is the same with Aether. Those with more Aether, and therefore more efficient Aether, can resist foreign, supernatural substances or energy which threaten the well-being or life of the body."
Ayumi looked like a smart girl who could follow Alli's words pretty closely. Alli thought she should get to the point to spare the girl long lectures.
"I had to use my own Aether to override your smaller supply so that your body would accept it. In the worst case scenario, your body might have forcefully shut down to keep my Aether from joining yours. It could have killed you..." Realizing this sounded more than the least bit threatening, Alli quickly added, "But, as a healer I also had a natural counter-measure planned to save your life. As I told you before, Ayumi, healing is no less dangerous than fighting. Lives are always on the line. It is a serious business, moreso than war." The grave expression on the woman's face only reiterated her point.
"In short, why did I do this?" Her expression lightened up as she looked down at her little pupil with pride. "The fact that your body accepted my Aether with your own is simply outstanding! With this method we can increase the speed of your training perhaps a hundredfold or more! I think it is no mistake, Ayumi. You must live to heal." Now, 2/3 of the way to her healing, Alli paused again. She meant every word, and the prospect of such a wonderful and gifted student genuinely excited her. She sat back and once again folded her arms to rest them under her bosom. "Now, any more questions before we begin?"
Strangely, Faust had completely ignored the entire exchange between Alli & Ayumi - busy browsing through medical cabinets loudly, muttering out loud prescription labels on bottles before laughing curtly. Then, he thought, "Well stocked and with great invetory, this infirmary is! But, some things are terribly out-dated and would do worse to harm than cure, in cases here. This won't do at all.." His left arm reached up, medical coat flapping a bit - and he grasped a small bottle of medicine, idly tossing it in the trash, before reaching beneath his coat with the other - and placing a much larger, white-encased bottle in it's place. "There! The effects from that would be three hundred fold over the old."
Slowly, he turned around; if one weren't positive it wasn't possible, they'd think his height had changed yet again. For now, he was hunched over just to be at eye-level with others; a good nine feet tall, at the least. The paper bag on his head russtled a tad, as the doctor began to peer over other supplies in the room curiously - occasionally messing with things, perhaps, he shouldn't have. Yet, whatever he intended for - Faust seemed rather experienced at it. Not even the slightest notion of hesitation lined his actions.
"Hmph! Their hypodermic needles are rather old fashioned - but they shall do. It's a pity I brought none of the one-shot models!" Busily, the doctor seemed to be evaluating every bit of equipment in the room - and occasionally, swapping objects out, with materials one twould almost be sure not possible to fit beneath his lab coat. Yet, apparently, they did. To the naked eye, at any rate. Faust then thought with a quick bout of boredom, "The tournament must truely be moving along slowly, so few injured have stepped in! What a pity, I could have examined as well as cured these special cases! ..Ah well." Shaking such thoughts aside, the doctor finally stopped scuttering across the infirmary - and then, slowly sat back on a seat, yawning most loudly.
Her nose wrinkled at the touch,as sensitive as it was.She repeated the information silently about blood cells in her head,making sure to memerize this,clearly it would be important later."Aether...I wish everyone could 'contact' and add to their Aether."Ayumi said softly,hands on either of her knees."Ah,so my thoughts were right...I knew there would be a possibility of death.But,I am thankful if it was to ever happen,you would have stopped it."Ayumi spoke with confidence,adding a short nod.
"Ah!I live to heal?"Her eyes brightened,infact her whole being did.She sat up straight,her hands grabbing at the cloth of her loose pants in anticipation."Thank you,Alli-senpai.That was...a boost."She smiled,answering her question with a nod.
"Great!" Alli responded positively. She reflected Ayumi's optimistic attitude in her own pleasant smile. She sat back and placed her left hand on her hip. The fingers of her right hand continued to twirl the scalpel. "Well, then. I think you might know where I am going with all of this." As she spoke, Alli looked down at the scalpel in her hand indifferently.
"You must feel that incredible surge of energy in your body still. Because my supply of Aether is so vast and focused, I can feel it more or less like that all the time. You would, too, if you learned to control your Aether to an extent beyond your so-called "natural" limits. Feels different, huh?" She smirked playfully. "As I said before, Aether exists in all living beings. Even I can not fully explain it, so people like me often use a simple word devised by humans to describe it: magic. Your own Aether exists in your body, seeping out and surrounding it. The Aether of other people and creatures also exists within them, leaking out." She gestured off with her left hand to demonstrate the Aether escaping from the body. Her emerald eyes seemed distant as she gazed about, thinking of ways to explain this mysterious, pervading force, before she fixed her sight back on the little girl.
"You can train yourself and hone your Aether, much like you can hone your body in martial arts. Some think of it as a sort of spiritual or magical training. Starting out, this kind of regimen is very, very difficult and complicated. Fortunately for us, your body accepted my Aether. My Aether will work with yours now, as well as give it a good boost. This will allow you to perform some amazing tasks... including healing." She knew Ayumi came here for this, and Alli had become just as excited to finally get this girl ready to heal. With only a little more explanation out of the way, Ayumi would be ready.
"My Aether is also naturally and inseparably attuned to healing, among other things. You will find it easier to use it in this task. Think of it like a training period. With my Aether, you can probably start mending wounds right now with little difficulty. But, eventually you'll use the supply I gave you up. By that time, you will need to learn how to work with Aether, how to precisely control it, strictly manipulate it, gradually build it, and painstakingly focus it. That way, you can begin to cultivate the Aether within your own body. Your own Aether will work better with you than even mine will. In this way, you may become a healer." Alli had once again assumed a very serious expression and grave tone. Even as she felt optimistic that Ayumi could become a great healer, she also presented a challenge to Alli. Learning to control one's Aether did not come easily. Sure, Alli could continue supplying Ayumi with her own Aether while they remained in the same vicinity. However, if Ayumi never learned to control her own Aether, she would never grow as a healer.
"Now, we begin your training!" Suddenly, Alli flipped the scalpel in her right hand to hold it in a strong grip. She slid her left hand out in front of her on the table, placing it in between her and Ayumi with her palm planted on the table. Her right arm snapped down and in an instant, Alli had driven the scalpel into her left hand. She slashed down, creating a deep, gaping wound on the back of her left hand. She kept her eyes locked onto Ayumi's the entire time, and she did not even flinch when she drove the blade into the back of her hand. She showed no sign of pain as if her entire left arm had gone numb long ago. Blood began to seep out out of the fresh cut. In fact, Alli had to suppress her body's naturally accelerated recovery process. Normally, a minor laceration like that would heal on the spot in the same manner that Alli had healed the man's bullet wound earlier.
She removed the scalpel from the cut, letting loose droplets of blood drip back into the wound. She then placed a scalpel on top of the cabinet from which she retrieved it. Now came the first test.
"Ayumi, place your palm right over mine. The closer the better. I hope you do not mind blood, but you will only see more of it if you plan on being a healer." She did not sound really apologetic, but she did not feel that way, either. If Ayumi could not handle the sight or feel of blood, she would not make a very good healer. "You should feel that energy inside of you bubbling up. Focus it. Draw it inwards and concentrate. Think about its nature and familiarize yourself with it. Then, channel it through your arm and towards the palm of your hand. The palm is one of the easiest places from which you can expel your Aether. Do just that. Think about the Aether, and will it to help me, to heal me. Contact my body, and the Aether inside of it, and transfer your benevolent spirit into my hand to heal me."
As ridiculous as it sounded, it could work. Very few ever succeeded on the first try, but Alli would not tell Ayumi that. If Ayumi did succeed, she would prove to be a prodigy not often witnessed. Alli figured she would have to explain a little more about how Aether worked for Ayumi to understand it, and--for that matter--believe in it. In essence, the Aether filling Ayumi's body would recognize Alli's Aether, communicate with it as the link to her body, and induce cell's to grow, regenerate, form, and even exist. Her Aether could actually feed the victim's body with the right building blocks of life to reform the tissue and repair the damage. Such was the nature of the ethereal, esoteric force most often referred to simply as "magic," but which Alli and her fellow Guardians knew as Aether. To master Aether meant ascending the limits of the average body and typical existence; to even become a deity.
As Ayumi tried, Alli fondly recalled her own first attempt at healing. She had received the initial lesson a tad differently. For one, her instructor had forcefully and unceremoniously injured Alli at the time, pretty severely, and demaned that she heal herself to live. As hard as she tried, she could not save her own life that day, and so began her hellish practice in the art of healing under her spartan Magister, or instructor. Fortunately for Ayumi, Alli injured herself instead of her pupil to get things started.
Silently, almost imperceptibly, Razen enters the infirmary. Oblivious to the previous goings-on, he clears his throat loudly to get the healers' attention.
Razen: Sorry to interrupt, but I need someone to take a look at my hands...
He then proffers the reddened and blistered palms of his hands to the healers.
Razen: I need them healed by the next round, please.
He winces as he finishes gesturing the last phrase, involuntarily flicking his hands as he does.
As if already starting,Ayumi's hands twitched through out the explaination,she was still trying to hide her excitement.The comparison between martial arts and Aether training helped her greatly,it reminded her of her original bloodline,which she disowned out of shame and hatred.If Alli's Aether would boost her own,then she felt somewhat superior to others her age already.Shrugging off the useless feeling,Ayumi's eyes darted to the scalpel's path,knowing the intentions of Alli's way.She didn't cringe at all at the sight of blood,to tell the truth,she sort of liked it.
Something inside Ayumi warmed.Wordlessly she obeyed her instruction and placed her right hand over her palm,barely brushing the skin and blood.Immediately that warmth grew up from her gut,and she focused a strong gaze onto the cut.The nature Alli had spoken of seemed...familiar to the girl,it was like the chakra her godmother had spoken about.Lost within this deep though she didn't notice the warmth travelling through her shoulder,arm or hand.It wasn't until a slight 'tug' at her hand told her to focus once more."..hn."Ayumi forced her hand to move closer to the woman's hand,using her will power and urge to please her teacher to push the Aether to heal her hand.Very slowly she felt the warmth gather at her palm,she pressed her hand into her instructor's hand.
Feeling ignored, Razen gestures swiftly to no one in particular:
Razen: Fine. I guess I'll have to take care of myself.
Rifling through the medicine cabinets, he finds some bandages and anti-burn salves. He liberally applies the salves to his hands, then wraps them with bandages and puts his gloves on over the bandages. He flexes his hands experimentally, and nods in satisfaction when there is no pain from the blisters that cover his hands. He then exits the infirmary, making as much sound as a light wind through grass.
Razen's second trip to the infirmary is much messier than his first: badly scabbed wounds cover his chest, and wheezy painful breathing dominates the sounds he makes. He stretches himself out on one of the gurneys, letting his legs dangle off the edge to gather kinetic energy to shift his ribs so they could be realigned and set...he winces as they scrape back to their original positions.
Razen: "Is there a doctor in the..."
Before his raspy voice can even finish the cliched line, he begins to hack and cough violently. When he finishes, a crimson glob of phlegm flies from his mouth into a biohazard bin. He leans back into a prone position and waits for someone to have mercy and heal him...
...for three days he waits, keeping his ribs set in place with his kinetic abilities and occasionally getting a drink of water, the pain in his chest making him cry out as he walks...
...then he gets up, wincing slightly as the skin on his front protests the new set of movement assigned to it. His ribs hadn't finished healing yet, but they would remain set until he could find proper medical treatment. He shakes his head wearily...then realizes how hungry he is. He almost collapses, but manages to collect himself enough to leave the infirmary and look for a place to eat.
[unstrike]Rynn hobbled into the infirmary and crashed onto a bed, looking very exhausted. After all, he had just lost a foot. Still, the ice that he had used to numb it and provide a surface to walk on was now beginning to melt and let the blood flow again as well as the pain, et cetera.
Several grunts and loud noises of pain came from the room Rynn was in.
Suddenly, Rynn's foot regrew- illogically, seemingly without reason, and certainly without an explanation.
(( stare Sorry for the crazy, but I want my own damn foot back. No machinery or plastics or whatnot.))
Rynn would then leave the infirmary calmly and begin fine-tuning his skills. [/unstrike]
Temp-nixx due to fight continuation
The new patient was a bit funny. Much of that being, upon examination, the doctors had concluded that besides a serious break in one upper leg and ankles thrown out rather badly, he had nothing but superficial injuries and a very bad concussion. So, they did worry he would go comatose as he was already unconcious, but after about four hours of bed rest, he proved them wrong.
The first time it happened, everyone was in shock. He suddenly started convulsing, clenching, twisting, turning violently in the hospital bed, moaning in sadnees, to snarling in rage, and whimpering of fear, all in some twisted, interconnected dream. His body would sweat violently, blood coming out with the sweat, staining the sheets and shirt, and with mix of a less base fear and longing, he'd start to mumble the same word and each time not quite produce it from onconcious lips.
They'd had to restrain him after the first time, very carefully, and remove that shirt after changing him to a new bed. It was hard to deal with someone who's entire body was bloody and weak from stress. No injuries, but all of him seemed just ready to collapse. An oddity for sure.
At one point, a nurse tending the restrained fellow in one of these sleeping bouts, not so lucky as to have pulled a shift between, took the fellow's hand to try and sooth him. He shrank back in his sleep at first, then simply stayed a moment, before his hand all at once clenched mercilessly and broke several bones in her hand. People avoided his hands after that.
He'd have been medicated to calm the sleeper down, but they worried that anything given would probably overwhelm his body at this point, and either kill him or produce some mental defect from their overinfluence. Permanant damage was not to be done. Not that this didn't look like it might be bad.
So, now that he couldn't turn and tear out IV's, they left the patient in his own strength of body which remained, and whatever was buried in the subconcious will, to treat itself with the best medecine. Time.
Time.
All consuming, all devouring, always changing, making, unmaking, bringing men to great acheivements so they may be torn down once more.
The ticking clock counted your days away and devoured your breaths as they remained, one, by one, by one, by one, by one...
Four days. Four times had he missed the sun as it passed over.
Eyes like the sky blinked, empty of that light of sun.
Around him, the ward was dim, but not dark. Somewhere distant, that he could only scarcely make out in a partial haze, doctors, people, forms moved. Where...?
Why...?
He shut his eyes, letting a haziness consume him a short while longer before he made those eyes open again.
Where?
Sitting, he waited for the world to come clear, clenching his teeth and focusing when his mind refused to resolve on it's own.
He was nude beneath bed sheets, and tied down firmly at his wrists, ankles, and waist. He ignored the IV running into his arm. He was in a hospital.
Why?
He settled with this slowly, wrapping his mind around the idea and slowly letting that bizarre experience come back to him in fragments. He tried his voice. "Doh-" Hoarse. The soft tone seemed hushed and scratchy, and just producing the sound hurt. He was being nourished by the tubes into his blood of course, but it didn't change how thirsty he felt with that dry throat. "Doh-chk-tor-!" he choked the word out loudly, and settled back to wait in partial patience for the nurse to come running. "Ow-ta..." he rasped, clenching an arm against the restraints. "Let... me si-teh up..." he croaked miserably, voice harsh as death and grating his own ears with its terrible echo. His skin was sore as well, but he'd felt injuries worth and ignored them. Which was probably not good for him, but all the same. That creaking voice, though, it reminded him how very much in the grave he already was.
She undid the straps after consulting a doctor, and let him up slowly. The first action, naturally, was to wobble woozily as he sat up too quickly, rubbing his wrists where the bands had been. "Aahhhh..." he closed his eyes and let himself adjust slowly again, feeling out his body. It was okay. Tired, sore, horribly weak and near deviod of those energies he relied on, all devoted to recovery, but it was in one peice.
He looked at the hands he was rubbing, staring for a long moment. "W-where-!?" he burst out looking around. The nurse seemed startled by the grating sound in outburst. "My coat-eh... where is my coat..." she shook her head. "BRING IT HERE!" he shouted, rubbing his sore throat. She ran from the room to retrieve his posessions, while a doctor came in to chastise him about various things, all of which he completely ignored.
Finally, the nurse came back with the coat. He didn't put it on, or fiddle with anything else, but went straight for the inside pocket of the badly roughed garment, and let it drop to the floor. Rivven carefully took the golden ring with inlaid diamond and slid it down over one finger, and lay back to sit and rest in peace until he felt ready for such a bout of excertion again.
Thats an odd thing about time. For one man a week can seem to stretch for months while for another it is gone in but a mere instant. To the medical staff the figure that moved through the infirmary seemed barely to move at all. His armor had been removed for this purpose, cast to the winds as mere dust and the sands of time. The trenchcoat he wore was held behind him as if frozen in the infinite span of time that seemed to have been afforded to Rivven and his rather unusual opponent during the next round. A mere whisper floated past his lips as he slowly advanced to Rivven's bedside, his words calling upon he whom the Cleric called Lord. Divine light began to brush across the eyes of this one Tacitus as his hands were set aglow.
When he stopped at Rivven's side many were wary of his intentions. For why else would a future opponent in a competative tournament seek out his chosen adversary but to slay him in his weakened state? Those that could identify the effect despite the temporal differential were somewhat calmed, but altogethered puzzled. The divine grace that was bestowed upon Genesis was transfered in a unique manner. The glow extended and settled around Rivven, pulsating with the beating heart of a being far beyond this realm. Divine Vigor channeled through the field itself, giving not positive or negative energies, nor even holy or unholy, but a connection to the change of this world itself.
The main component of life is change and the fundamental building block of change is time. For but a brief moment in relation to those in the infirmary itself it would seem that the lifeblood of the multiverse itself was coursing through the man before their very eyes. The comparison loses its dazzling display when crossing temporal differentials, acting not as the envigoration built upon entire planes of existance. The simple act was merely what one might call a good ole cup of joe in the morning to get you going. You know, or a double espresso latte whatever...thing.
The sculpted form of Jonas, the most peculiar Vexic, had not been confined to the infirmary for the purpose of healing himself, but for the betterment of others. In a realm with an unlimited pantheon he was representing his beliefs to those that entered on the threshhold of death, giving his own breed of hope. His frame had quickly reassembled itself after he regained consciousness, but the fleshy exterior and brain took two long days of effort to rebuild to the point where he could sustain it without the major organs that it would still require to live on around his frame. With one arm shorter than the other by a few inches, a misshapen jaw from inability to find all his pieces, and a face that simply did not have a place for a second eye he was a sight to be sure.
The cracked left eye was still sealed away within a cage of metal, and now flesh. At a glance it looked as if someone had merely erased half of his face whilst it was being carved. As opposed to being bitter, emo, or sadistic he was actually rather normal when he conversed with patients and helped to ease away their pain. Not only was it fortunate for the patients that they did not need drugs to block out the pain, but Jonas was afforded the building blocks by which he could repair his eyes and become whole once more.
It was here that Jonas would be found, sitting beside a spectator that had filtered in from a fight in which the stadium had collapsed in the entrance of a rather large beast. It was a welcome distraction from those streaming in complaining of explosive diarrhea, another unfortunate side effect of one of the current matches, apparently. Blood covered the hands of our perfect being as he removed shards of bone, carrying on small-talk with the conscious patient who was rather distracted watching Jonas remove the lower half of his leg so it could then be properly regenerated.
Unlike Jonas, Yusuke didn't really have that much to worry about. He had a pretty good scar across his right cheek, and was aching in a few areas from his high use of those acrobatic movements he pulled off during the match, including several high powered energy blasts, but with a bandage against the wound and himself now lying in a bed in a separate room, he was content, his eyes opened as he would be staring toward the ceiling, thinking about what was to come next. He was being eaten inside by the disappointment of letting those people die here today. How he really hated that Jonas, but to him, he believed the guy dead now. If that was so, then that was sort of relief, but not entirely. It didn't bring back all those who innocently died because of a madman's mental torturing.
This made his face squenches as his fists tighten. "Damn him."
Genkai would be sitting there to the left of his bed, her arms folded as she looks forward and away from her former pupil, but he could be still seen as a student after her having to give him a few rude awakenings out there. She was one person that wasn't happy with what happen today. To her, the match wasn't her concern. It was the thought of Yusuke's opponent using the spectators as his weapons that stirred her conscious.
"It's not your fault, Yusuke. However, you're going to have to endure more than this if you're going to ever think about progressing through this tournament. I was skeptical at first about you even joining this event. This place was just filled with high powered people in every square inch. I somehow thought you wouldn't even make it this far, despite your power and experience. But you surprise me in many ways, so at least that's one thing to look forward to: your unpredictability."
She then turns her head toward him. "However, it seems like you still need a bit more training now. At first, I didn't think you will have to ever face people this powerful and so specialized in advanced fields like these fighters, but it looks like I have no choice but to now teach you the even more expert techniques of the psychics, abilities that are considered nearly incapable of usage by the inexperienced. But who knows: you might just be able to wield the power of the high tiered beings in this world."
Happy as a clam Jonas began cleaning up the wound received by the spectator, which meant cutting off the unsuitable parts. Each moment of pain the poor man would have to endure flooded Jonas's mind and body, putting him at ease and focusing his mind for the task at hand. Once he was satisfied with his work he called for some of the propper staff to come round and impliment the regeneration of the limb. With a smile he looked to the patient once more, "I wouldn't walk on it for a day or too, just to be sure. There may be some small pain in the coming days as your body readjusts to the limb after the shock of losing it. Don't worry though, just thank whatever power you believe that you have been blessed and grow because of it."
With blood still dripping from his fingers he glided through the infirmary, popping his head in on random patients. He'd review their charts, if they had one, and if there was nothing his unique talent could not solve he would be on his way, though usually with strange looks. Most didn't know which was weirder, the blood dripping from his hands or the lack of a full face. After three rooms with no such luck he found a familiar face, "A hospital bed is no place for a winner, Yusuke [pronounced correctly]. Here I thought I told you to evolve, not sit about and soak up the A/C and what passes for Jello." Was this truly the same man that Yusuke had fought?
"Huh?" THE HELL?!
Yusuke suddenly sits up, his eyes shot out wide as he found himself staring at what appeared to be the guy he thought, yes thought, he killed! The spirit detective leaps out of bed onto his feet, already showing himself ready to take this guy down again.
"You just keep coming back, do you," Yusuke would say, his hands balled into fists as the room takes on a vibrant display of energy from him, preparing himself to vigilantly take down this guy. They were in a hospital after all. Lots of people. That was bad for this situation.
"If you want to settle the score, then come on, I'm ready!"
Genkai was already up to her feet, too, thinking he had to be here to try to take out some vengeance on Yusuke. And with this being outside the match, she was now allowed to interfere to her will without penalty.
"What do you want," she says toward him. "If you're looking to kick a lion while it's down, then I'm afraid you're going to have to go through me first. Yusuke may not be able to handle your mind tricks, but I definitely will not care less who you kill if you try anything now, for I'll make you wish you were dead in a heartbeat. No doubt about that."
With a dismissive wave of his hand he seemed to ignore the hostilities, "You need to learn that not everyone holds a grudge." He did not enter the room, but leaned against the doorframe as he continued, "I'm not going to say that I'm happy about losing, and I'm not going to tell you that you did me any service for defeating me, cause you didn't." He gestured to the surroundings, "This place is full of those dying and in pain, and hardly any of them asked to be put here. What I did was simply more direct and saved many others from this fate. A handful of innocent bystanders killed is preferable to every last one maimed or soured on such sporting events. Besides, with as wretched as this world can be, those that died can only have moved onto a better life."
A smile grew over his lips as he closed his single eye, "I'm not here to kill you, Yusuke. You won and gave me a little fun along the way. I should certainly want to kill you for nearly destroying me, but such risks are those that we take in this business." He half-opened his eye and glanced to Yusuke again, "There are more than likely a few more patients that can benefit from my services. I request that you pay me a visit at my dorm room tomorrow. Until then I ask that you consider the fact that pain forces us to strive harder, pushes us beyond our normal limits. Without pain I would be but a simple physician in a backwater town in the middle of nowhere. I may cause massive amounts of pain, but today already I have healed a man's shattered leg, removed the memory of trauma in a young woman's life, and quelled the suffering of many more. I'm no more of a monster when I have to be than anyone else, but I'm just a man." He would slowly retreat to find others whom could benefit from his expertise unless Yusuke stopped him.
((And then you can skip forward to tomorrow and post in the Dorms thread if you like, unless you wanted to interupt him. ^_^))
((I'll do a post there after this one.))
Was he serious? He couldn't believe this guy. First he says he not only asn't here to kill us, but also tells him that he as doing those people a favor. No one had the right to kill another unless for reasons desirable, but he just took those people lives ithout their consent. His right fist was shaking as he thought of this injustice and he knew what he was going to do.
"I'm going," he says to Genkai. "Even if it's a trap, I can't let myself be held back because of someone's fear tactics. You can try and stop me, Grandma. But let me do this on my own, okay?"
She turns and glances at Yusuke, seeing the determined look on his face. "Yusuke, if you're thinking about killing him, don't let yourself fall so lo. Remember what I said."
That's all she could really do. If he wanted to approach Jonas personally, then she'll let him. After all, his decisions were his own now. She could do no more but continue to train him while she still had life in her.
Gods it hurt...
Lian gimped loosely into the infimary area of the 'tournament' looking around with a swollen gaze. Wobbling over to one of the chairs that usually people were stuck waiting in longs periods of time, she plopped down with a heaving sigh. Knocked out. Her opponent Deity had done a clever move by just throwing her in to a hole he had made while she was out cold for a time being, making her a ring out. Damn, the legs.
Her right knee, which was wrapped in a make-shift bandage was horridly contorted from getting blown in the knee. In the same fashion, her shoulder was wrapped in the same material, her shredded shirt, to keep it still. Her head was fine.
"Hellooo...Kinda need some help here..."
(( >_> ))
Not usually in the medical field, it's hard for Snow to say that he's fit to be a doctor. Yet, since his abilities do lie within the confined areas of water manipulation, having a restorative skill like his is a decent asset to the infirmary...
After all, he paid quite a lot of visit to the heavenly place often. The battle with Vercellius, the fight with the masked Armor... The list goes on, but Snow learnt his lesson the hard way. If one can't heal oneself during battle, then sooner or later the damage will build up, and eventually put the fighter at a disadvantage.
But since it's been quiet as of late, Snow was wandering around back to the infirmary from the arena when he heard a small plea of distress. Opening the door which separated the hallway from the infirmary, he peeked his head in, looking about --
Before noticing a girl with some nasty wounds.
"......"
He scratched his head, before walking in, squatting down and looking up at the girl silently.
"......"
A crow could be heard in the distance, but to cut off the awkward moment --
"Does it hurt anywhere else, other than the leg and the shoulder?" He questioned, reaching out to examine the wounds a bit.
The elf quirked an eyebrow, before shifting uncomfortably in the chair. Peh, doctors. Sighing, she pointed to a few places that were scratched and damaged.
"By back is all scratched up from skidding, head's got a few lumps on it...Hip on the damanged leg feels awkward but other then that....Ouch." She said with a shrug using her good shoulder.
Deity, the young fighter she had fought off before, had given her quite a few lumps and the leg, she felt, was loosing feeling in the toes because of severed nerves and tendons. Looking at the wierd looking man examining her, she cleared her throat.
"Uh..."
A finger quickly shot out from his hand, pointing right into the Elf's face.
"Take off the clothing which are hiding the wounds, and I'll see what I can do about the more serious injuries on your leg and shoulders." He muttered simply, brushing his cloak back and revealing a brilliant set of bloody red hair and pupils.
Glancing down at the Elf, he sighed, closing his eyes while rocking his right shoulder, as if preparing for some major operations.
As for the table or bed, however the doctors called it...
He motioned for her to follow him, opening the door which led to one of many beds for the patients. If by an untrained eye, is it just the narrator, or did his hands just started to glow a slight white under the pale lighting?
Lian nearly jumped out of the seat when she saw the finger right in her face, crossing her eyes to stare at it before uncrossing them when he pulled it away. Getting up stiffly, she limped after him grumbling someting incoherently about 'pain' 'jerk' and 'chair'.
"Ugh, could you have at least wheeled something in?!"She groaned grouchily at him.
Well, considering how he's not the type to be all formal and polite to any girl he meets, he cocked his head back, looking at the elf in her cocky attitude.
"...."
He turned back, and in one swift motion, swept the Elf into his arms gently and carried her instead to the bed, where treatment will begin if she stops yapping about it.
"Wheeled something in? What do I look like, a nurse?" He sighed, another crow beginning to cawk in the background from this awkward moment.
Lian let out a 'yipe' when she was picked up. Blinking, a bit of her bangs fell messily over her face from it's swept off look before. Narrowing her eyes at him she huffed.
"No, but...." She said non-chalantly before grimicing. He was carrying her at the angle where her injured contorted knee was bent painfully and her arm was pushed to closely to the point it was pinching.
Perhaps it was best to start the healing process, however miniscule it may feel right now. Finally arriving to the bed, he then gently lowered her into the sheets while pulling his sleeves back, revealing a surprisingly lithe body that seemed a tad bit young, despite the mature look in his eyes.
"This is going to feel a bit wet..." He cautioned, slowly outlining a finger down towards her knee, where the injury is located. Immediately the moisture around where he touched began to glisten, as Snow slowly incited the skin to absorb the moisture, letting it accelerate and increase the repair rate of her blood cells, fueling the action through the very presence of water itself.
He leaned closer to her knee, breathing a soft, but surprisingly cold breath at her injury, and the icy coolness was more than enough to act as a pain killer to deaden her sensations, only to be replaced as if feeling a cold breeze in an winter season.
He repeated the effect for a minute or so, at least doing it to first calm her uncertainty and pain before the restorative effects slowly heal the bruises in a natural manner. The healing process may take a bit more time like the others, but unlike the normal healing effects, its intended to at least bring a bit of relief to the patient before healing it without any side effects.
He did it again to her wounded shoulder, occasionally using his palm so that the moisture would speed and increase the body's self-healing properties to an extent that would cover the wound naturally.
As for her bruises... As soon as he finished - in about...ten to twenty minutes or so, he motioned for her to test out her legs and shoulders - which should feel fully rested by now, before motioning for her to turn around so he could apply some simple moisture to kill the pain on her back.
Lian sat on the bed, looked down at him with a slightly pained look as he took care of her leg. The sensation was a bit..odd. The wet feeling mixed with the icey coolness of his breath. Her eyebrow perked some when she found that she could bend it with little agonizing pain.
Then the same with her shoulder as she moved the shirt aside to show the wound. The same sensation, the same coolness before she found it was feeling a little better then before.
For her back, she removed her shirt before lying down on her stomach on the bed with her hands on her arms. It was easier to get to every scratch that way and she could relax a little easier.
"Well then..."
Slapping his hands together, his hands moved about to stroke and massage her back, letting the moisture cling and be absorbed into her skin through that simple masseuse, per se. Reaching about, it was relatively easy to spot where the wounds were, and how it can be treated. With the water, the ability to dull the pain works perfectly here.
It's quite surprising though - how a girl's skin is softer than he would've thought. Most of the time when he'd sparred against a girl, it was either trying to keep his life intact, or trying not to be killed by a girl with acidic shadows or something like that. But not thinking much about it, the bruises were finished earlier than he expected.
And with it, he pulled himself back, breathing a little out of his breath. "Don't move your healed areas too roughly - let it rest for an hour or so, and the pain, along with the injury will be fully healed. If there's still anywhere on your body that's uncomfortable, now would be a good time to tell me."
Lian blinked, surprised at how...good it felt. She lay on the hospital bed with a content look, her eye lids drooping slightly. Her back no longer hurt but there was the 'tingle' of pain in her shoulder and leg. Other than that, she was feelin' pretty good right now.
"Alright...I'll just lay here for a nap to keep from moving around. Anyway, nothing hurts anymore and if there were, it'll heal after a period of time. Thank you for your help...." She said before letting out a tired yawn.
Bloodloss, pain and having no help getting out of the hole she had been thrown into then having to limp here afterwards.
"Mm." He simply hummed under his breath, getting back up and pulling his sleeve down. "I'll see you around then." He simply responded, turning about and giving a light wave to the girl without looking back.
Dimming down the lights a bit, he finally closed the door to let the girl get some rest as he went back into the hallway, looking for the way back to the Arena.
So...
...Which way is the arena again?
After a reasonably long nap, Lian sat up from the infirmary bed, rubbing her sleepy blue eyes. Yawning, she rubbed the back of her neck, swinging her feet over the side. The leg no longer hurt but there was a notable stiffness to it and the same was with the shoulder.
"Bloody hell..."She mumbled as she slipped her undergarment for her top and her shirt, before adjusting herself so she looked a little more presentable despite she had blood and holes in her pants, and her once long sleeved shirt was sleeveless.
Problem.
Now finding himself at the basis of a dead end, the lounge was to the left, and the courtyard to the right. If his instincts is correct...
Damn. He's lost again.
::The infirmary is touched by the Orinian's presence for - perhaps oddly - the first time. Though he took hits from Malazar far overpowering what he sustained in his last battle - and emerged nearly unscathed - in said more recent battle he was in his normal state. He tends to take more damage when his ki is not at maximum, and thus his defenses are lower. That said, he isn't here for his own treatment. Though he possesses the means to heal his leg between matches, it isn't so detrimental that a few bandages won't suffice. The reason he appears is to see how his last opponent is fairing.
Though cleaned up and with new clothes, his leg sports a mild limp, his left toe never straying as far from the floor as his right as he walks in. His armored gauntlets and alloy padding are gone, giving his step a dramatically lighter impact. As opposed to the quakes he was causing earlier, the tall, slender boy can't weigh much more than two hundred pounds now. Soaking wet and holding a brick, anyway. With a black undersuit covering up to the middle of his neck, a rusted silver locket and red button-down shirt are visible under his open black trenchcoat, a belt holding up his black jeans. His boots are much like his last pair; black, leather, zipped up the side. As always, a red cloth is tied around his eyebrows, one-way lenses in his glasses helping to hide his pale face.
Following his nose, in a manner of speaking, Deity finds himself entering a new room to find Lian seated on a medical bed....chair....erh, thing. Whatever it is. It seems she's been healed in some fashion. He didn't exactly bring his sword along, but he was willing to help her with that. Someone beat him to it, apparently. Though his eyes and brow are entirely covered, his mouth still manages to form a sheepish little smile as he first sees her. Somehow achieving an even greater silence than he did during their match, he stands relatively still, slipping his fingers into the pockets of his jeans as he faces his former adversary. She seemed battered enough for him to want to check on her, and interesting enough for him to want to learn more about her.::
Lian had finished dressing when she heard someone entering the room. Turning at an angle to look out the corner of her eye at her former opponent and winner of the last fight. Turning back around she picked up the katana and the rapier, putting them in their appropriate sheathes at her hip.
"Hello Diety."she said plainly before she turned back around and started at a gimping pace towards the door. "Is there something you want?"
She paused just in front of him, looking up at him from just the top of her eye. Just at the hairline, was a cut that seemed to be healing over slowly from where she had gotten struck on the skull. A few nicks here and there along with the healing knee and shoulder.
::The tall boy pauses for a few moments after the woman speaks, blinking in silent thought to himself. Come to think of it, he didn't arrive with a prepared response. He rarely does, actually. Really not the best of habits, but it's something his girlfriend seems to find cuter than not. Clearing his throat, he responds softly.::
Deity....just dropped by to see if you were al'right...
::It's hard to tell at this point whether or not she is particularly disappointed with the way their match ended. Deity, for one, was aiming for just such a climax the entire time. Lian didn't seem the type to forfeit, and killing her wasn't big on his priorities. So he couldn't have hoped for a better finish. Well, almost. Unfortunately, he had to put her through a lot before he had the chance to toss her out. At least she isn't dead or anything.
Shaking his head to awaken from his thought-induced stupor, his smile widens gently before he continues.::
....which you appear to be.
"Eh, this isn't the only beating I've taken..."Lian said, grimicing some as she brought her other hand to her shoulder. It was starting to twinge. Looking back to him, she quirked a white eyebrow before sighing.
"Course it's the first time someone's skewered my knee cap. It's unfamiliar pain...otherwise...I'm dandy, Diety." She tried to say in a calm tone. With her knee aching and her stubborness against doctors orders, she hobbled back to the bed, flopping back onto it.
...better than not.
::Deity responds in the same gentle, quiet tone as before. He takes note of the fact that Lian seems to have things on her mind, whether it simply be her injuries or something else. Maybe he's irritating her? It could just be his imagination, of course, but still, he'd like not to be a bother.::
Hope you recover nicely...Deity apologizes for the knee.
::The final word trails away softly, his tone denoting that it'll be his last for now. With that sheepish smile finding it's way back to his lips, he gives the lady a shallow bow, keeping his hidden eyes on her as he does. As he stands, he turns on his right heel, headed for the door and, ultimately, the exit.::
Lian sighed. She'd scared off another person with her grouchiness. It wasn't the fact that she lost against him, it was just the slight pain from slowly heeling and not to mention the bones were realigning in her knee and entire leg. Pain made her a bit...bitchy.
"Oye, you're not going to stay? I've got a little time before I'm completely recovered but otherwise sit and talk."She said as she sat back on the infirmary bed, pulling off her boots and rolling up her pantleg to allow some air to get to the scabbing leg.
::Though opening his mouth to speak, Deity remains silent as his hand reaches for the door, legs bringing his tall frame to a halt. Or, he could stick around. Letting his arm fall loosely back to his side, his left hand leaves its pocket to remove his hat, which lets his long, spiking locks of midnight hair slowly rise back to their natural positions. A brief tousling of his free hand oddly helps to speed the process along. Lazily tossing his hat onto another quasi-bed-what's-it as he turns about once more, he scratches at the back of his neck, lost in thought with his lips pursed.
Bending down and tucking a hand under a stool from the corner, he steps over before dragging it closer to where Lian rests. Tossing his coattails around behind it as he swings one leg over, he takes a seat, intertwining his fingers with his elbows resting upon either knee. From here, his seemingly emotionless face aims toward the lady, his body hunched forward slightly, forcing him to tilt his head back in order to see her.
Not a word. The tall boy has never been a huge talker, especially with his friends - even his beloved has some work ahead of her if she intends to hold a conversation with him. But it can't hurt to stay and hang out as long as Lian is here to help her wounds heal faster. Not that his words will leap at the oppurtunity. If the way in which their match played out is any evidence, Lian will have something to say first.::
Lian dug around her pockets for a moment, before patting her chest pocket. Pulling out the long slender pipe, an extra she had tucked away in case the first broke, she set it on her lap before pulling a wooden box from her pocket that was slightly bent out of shape from hitting the ground too many times to count.
"Tall, dark and kinda spooky. The spooky type are not big talkers so I'll do the talking if you don't want to ask anything." Lian said at random, as she sprinkled some blue dried herbs into the end of the pipe. "That was an interesting match...but I'll have to say, I guess it hurt my ancient ego to get thrown into a hole."
Picking up the pipe after speaking, she snapped her fingers once, a small flame igniting on the tip of the index which she brought to the end of the pipe before sticking it in the corner of her mouth, shaking her finger to ignite the flame.
...how old are you?
::His voice is as soft as a whisper, but clear and easily understood in the ambient silence. Odd as it may seem, that is something that has been on the boy's mind since the beginning of their fight, and he finds it best to ask now - after she has half-heartedly mentioned it - rather than bring it up randomly later on. She seems older than Deity himself, though he technically can only remember so much. Either way, she doesn't seem normal, as her very energy told him when she first stepped foot into the ring. The Orinian gets the same feel about his father's ki, though it comes off as much more potent - the guy is old.::
"Let's see...I've been near the Greeks, the Romans...the Egyptians...Ancient celts...I would have to say holder then 3,000 years...I was born around the Jomon Era." Lian said as she calculated the years, the number of documents and items from the passing eras. One item she did treasure in her library of rare objects was a pot that had scratched designs on it.
Pulling the pipe from her mouth, she blew a long stream of light blue smoke off to the side before plopping the long pipe back into the corner of her mouth.
Huhh....thought so...
::Though he hardly seems surprised, the quiet stranger takes a moment to piece what she says together, up until the outright estimate of her age. He isn't as knowledgable on Earthling history as, say, an Earthling studying it would be. He does, however, realize how long ago some of the eras she describes were. The ancient civilizations of Egypt and Greece were alive and well quite some time before Deity ever arrived on the planet. To view and remember them would make Lian just as old as he imagined.
The Tonepian bobs his neck gently in a thoughtful nod, taking his gaze down slightly as he rolls that over in his head. It's important to note that she doesn't look very old. Of course, most creatures of such age tend to not look it, and have some other means of determining the duration of their life. Many beings the boy has met simply grow larger with time; like his father, to some extent. Perhaps she's a demon of some sort; though being of the same kind he is familiar with is very likely an impossibility.
Deity says nothing further, tapping the pads of his thumbs together as he thinks to himself. Aside from that idle patting, the only other sound is that of the occasional cough, his shoulders jumping each time. Every few seconds, he ducks his head as he coughs into his shoulder. Never been a fan of smoke.::
Lian blinked, her eyes going to the smoke in her pipe. Though it emmitted a sweet smell instead of the bitter one in their fight, the smoke however seemed to bother him. Pulling it from her mouth, she took her thumb and extinguished the burning plan with a grinding motion before tapping the ashes into a separate container to be considerate of the infirmary.
Tucking the pipe away, she brought a hand up to steady her injured shoulder while she rotated it around to get the feeling back into it.
"Anyway...If there are anymore questions please do ask."
::The tall one stays in thought for a few moments longer, almost like he has forgotten that there is someone else right there nearby him. Getting lost in thought is one of his worst problems. Coming in closely after it are sleepwalking and stuttering. He cringes his nose a bit in his relative silence as he taps his thumbs together, clearing his throat with a quick, dull coughs as he waits for the smoke to fully clear the room. Scent or no, smoke is smoke. The boy can't even stand incense.
His quietness is broken moments later, a few hidden blinks a sure sign of his resuscitated awareness to Lian's presence. Lifting his head, he parts his lips as though to speak, perhaps thinking to ask her to repeat herself; he shuts his mouth without a word. A simple, slight shake of his head and a quiet grunt tell her he has little else to say, his head once again drooping down as he keeps his thoughts to himself.::
Lian sighed before hopping off the bed. Using her good leg, she hopped to the window, jiggling it some before it opened to let the fresh air in. Turning back around, she hopped the same way to the bed, a larger hop sending her back to her seated position.
"Much better. Sorry, it's a habit I need to stop around other people." She said as she waved her hand around, seemingly trying to wave the smoke out of her face. After a moment, she reached over and grabbed a roll of bandages which she fiddled with just trying to get the annoying tape off.
::Shaking his head with a gentle smile, Deity raises one of his hands and waves, his lips finally letting loose another verbal response.::
....mm, we all do.
::His eyes drfting elsewhere and his hand joining his other once more, the boy thinks over that last sentence for a moment. It sounded right in his head. Another habit of his own is to respond when more in tune with his own thoughts than with what is actually being said to or asked of him. No reason to reiterate if she caught his meaning, though. As he falls back into his silence, he lets out a few snapping breaths through his nose, like he got something in a nostril and is blowing it out. Smoke leaves an 'icky taste', as he would put it.::
Lian shrugged some as she growled as the tape refused to come off. Biting off one of her gloves, she used some of her nail to peel back the tape and let the gause loosen its slack in the roll. Reaching over, she opened a pack of squared gauze, putting on her wounded knee and proceeded to bind it tightly with the wrapable guaze itself. Tying it off, she wrapped the more stretchable tan wrapping around the white guaze, and tied it off to make a bandage that allow her knee to move and protected it from the elements.
"Strange how it's addicting but a traveling healer in aroma therapy said it would help calmed down my already wracked nerves. Hasn't worked but the different dried herbs make my house smoke different colors." Lian said before she let out a slight cackle.
A man is wheeled into the infirmary, a slight orange glow around his visible body with an odd device affixed to his forehead. No blood drips from the gurney, but the way the cloth rests over his lower half reveals that something is definately wrong. And wrong indeed as a second gurney is wheeled in with a sheet covering the upper half of another patient, though the way it rests suggests nothing is there. No blood comes from either of the two, but when a third comes in there is nothing but a sea of stagnant blood.
As the three split off to different directions, two heading for surgery while the other heads towards the morgue, a single creature follows after. Xanite, the Acquisitions Officer for Genesis hobbles along behind, his five arms and one and a half legs only causing his floating eyeball of a head to look that much more bizare. Xanite speaks in a high pitched voice as he storms after the two halves of his commander, "You cannot treat him here! Healing magic will fail upon his altered body and nanotechnology is not advanced to knit him back together correctly. I only ask you surrender him to my care willingly. I've no desire to do things in a more difficult manner."
A doctor looks back at the odd being, "Are you nuts? This man was blown apart, he's dying. Moving him as is was likely one of the worst possible ideas, but letting him leave?! You can't be serious!" Xa`nite glared at the physician, "You don't understand the technology we have available. Right now the only reason that man is alive is because of he is locked in a temporal stasis. The only reason you could move him or inspect him at all is the device on his skull. Just give him to me peacefully and we'll be on our way."
The doctor declined, "I can't let you do that, not in good conscience." Xanite gave a frustrated sigh and spat out a few words in an unintelligable tongue. His body seemed to relax as he looked down with his massive eye, "God damn humans. If not for that man I'd just kill you all and be done with your entire god damn ignorant race. The filth of the knowledge of your tongue burns in my brain, a searing hole that is liable to drive a man to suicide or insanity. So ya know what? Eat my bran muffin you pepsi quaker." With a faint glimmer of orange light Xanite and Tacitus, both his pieces, faded from view.
Lian was jolted from her nap after Diety had left her waiting. Yawning, she listened to the yelling and odd bickering down the hall from the room as the wheeled beds were moving around and doctors were making a huge fuss. Shaking her head to clear it from sleep, she thought it best to get moving and leave the infirmary as soon as possible. You know, places to go, things to do.
With a slight grunt, Lian flopped over to the floor, standing on one leg as she reached for her clothes. A few hops, yelps and screeches later, she was dressed. Grabbing her hat, gloves and shades, she hobbled out of the infirmary room, toddling towards the front enterance where she might have to bum a ride off of someone to get to her home province.
"Ehh Taxi!" She yelled. An awkward silence ensued before she lost her balance and fell backwards onto the pavement. "Gyah!"
A slender man with a mess of ashen grey hair seemed to have come from nowhere, a hand extended to her fallen form. A smile was hidden within the dancing grey locks, "Need a hand? Though you'll have to excuse me for saying it, I might also ask if you need a leg up." His eyes were a brilliant shade of blue, the sclera tinted with a hint of azure that gave his eyes the impression of an endless sea showing but a section of deeper waters. Something in his mischevious smile made the comment about her missing appendage sting somewhat less. This man -The Azure Phoenix- had come to see his bisected father, but instead had found opportunity. Nothing nefarious of course, simply the opportunity to help someone in need, whether it be a ride or a bit of aid with her injuries. Well, not really aid with them, as they would likely heal on their own in time to be just as they were, but...perhaps improvement would be the correct word.
Lian blinked, sighing in a bit of frustration as she took this new man's hand and helped herself up. Reaching a hand back, she patted off the dark fabric of her pants in her buttocks region. Afterwards, she examined the man with some interest. "You could say that. I'm all bandaged up but it seems more worse for wear then it looks." She said, inidcating to her knee and shoulder. Tipping her hat back, she looked up at him with a raised white eyebrow. "I'm trying to get a ride home but it'll probably be better to wait a little longer. The last thing I want is the dang thing amputated."
The ashen haired man seemed to almost hold more interest in the woman's injury than her person as a whole. His eyes kept falling to her knee and skirting along the outline of her shoulder, a faint glimmer in his eyes. When his gaze met hers once more he seemed to be tabulating figures in his mind, "Such an inconvenience, inuries that is. Even when they heal properly they can leave behind aches and pains for ages to come." That mischevious grin came to the surface again, "Perhaps I could help, not only to get you home a bit safer than a taxi in these barbaric lands of Gaia, but to help mend your wounds. I'm no healer by far, but I've had experience with mechanisms and arcane infusions. What is the body but a living machine with the power of magic burning at the core?"
Lian tilted her head some, her glasses sliding down her nose some at an awkward tilt. Reaching up with the arm that had no such injuries on it, she pulled the string which kept the hat attatched to her head and let it fall into her open hand as she straightened her head out. "I see...well then by all means you're welcome to experiment in trying to heal these. I'm a robotics engineer for a cybornetic's corporation which deals with making fully functioning automatronic limbs for amputee's who can well...take the pain." She said with a slight shrug. "I'm a woman of science. There is only very little magic that I believe in."
He chuckled slightly with a shake of his head, "The irony. The one I should find who can benefit from my knowledge is as the reverse of the same coin. Like the moral and ethical axes we could find harmony in the mechanism of human life or dischord in our different approaches. Which would you prefer, hmm? Celestial peace or an unending Blood War?" His almost serious tone faded away as his hands flicked out to the side, energy in the air drawing to him and generating a catalyst reaction. Power began to build within him before passing harmlessly away, two violet wings extending from his back before bursting into azure flame. The feathers fell from the wings in a brilliant shower, reconstructing themselves into what looked to be a grand chariot stylized with flames and feathers, a majestic design of a phoenix. It was but a wheelchair, bourne on wings of flame, floating about an inch off the ground. He looked back to her with a smile, "Your chariot, mi'lady. The majority of my supplies for field work are in my dorm room, with the rest in one of my warehouses, for lack of a formal building for research and development. Your choice, close and limited or distant and complete, albeit a bit stuffy. Never did like the warehouses...all dark and depressing."
Lian jumped slightly backwards with a wobble. The sudden explosion of feathers caught her slightly off guard and so did the materialization of a wheelchair. Sighing, she felt like there was no other option. It was either stay here and eat nasty infirmary food, or go with this new guy that could make objects out of purple feathers. Either way, the guy did make a point. With a slight hop, she hobbled to the 'majestic flying wheelchair-thing' and flopped into it, her body adjusting to the awkward...Downey softness of it and not the usual pleather. "Alrighty then...To the Warehouse. Normally, I'd say yes to the dorms but...It'd feel really awkward if I did."
The ashen haired man flashes her an impish grin, "I'm a happily married man, miss, and rather professional in my trade." He seemed to laugh it off, a wide smile replacing the grin as he gestured to the skies, "To the warehouses, then. I do believe the closest one is in Durem, if I can find the key... If not, well, I'll just have to improvise." The air grew thick once more as energy danced about his form, drawing from the world at large to once again act as a catalyst to his efforts. Again a large pair of wings extended from his back and he lifted about an inch off the ground. With a quick glanced to Lian he was off like a shot, soaring into the skies towards Barton, the chariot slowly rising to catch up with him, its increase in height and speed gradual. Lian would likely spot him having a bit of fun in the skies as he awaited the chariot to get up to full speed.
((I've no time to post in the thread for their arrival. If you could do that I'd greatly appreciate it.))
Lian's position changed to that of a state of clinginess. Her body had shifted so her legs were over the arm of the chariot and her arms clinging to dear life to the back of the seat itself. As it ascended higher, her head was beginning to sweat bullets out of sheer fright. Monsters, Demons and even other alchemists like herself she could handle but flying was her greatest enemy!