[Sanctuary] Stretching our legs

[Sorian]

Sorian's mind was somewhat marred by the pitiful thoughts within, but he kept them to himself somewhat desperately, wanting to have nothing to do with spoiling everybody's mood. His movements however, spoke of these, as he got up to his feet and lumbered slowly towards Kavala and Danica with a bit of a scrounged-up look. "Okay, Kavala. I'll try." he said simply, trading looks and smiles with the two when asked if he wanted a meal. Sorian didn't mind Kavala's cooking as much as she prodded herself about it, simply sitting down to eat dinner with her whenever food is ready at the table. Having bad tastebuds can do that to a person, and the years of eating raw meat had made anything even remotely cooked smell and taste fine to him. The spartan look of the meals she serves is something he could never escape though. Looking at Danica's hands, he could both see and smell the blood from his height's provided vantage point, even if they were tiny and quite seemingly insignificant even to the Drykas rider. They are a hardened people after all, Kavala's stories and his own experiences with them in the past have reinforced this notion very well. He positioned himself behind the two women, staring at the cleaned out stables and fed horses with some glint of satisfaction in his eyes. The sweat from his run still dribbled from his body, so he made sure his skin didn't touch with either of them. He simply waited patiently for Kavala to lead the way in their small tour. OOC: Secret : I will no longer be using pictures for every post, for fear of copyright infringement.

[Kavala]

Secret :

The Konti hadn't missed the blood on Danica's arms either but she figured they would best be gently swabbed and a little bit of healing applied once they were in the lcinc itself rather than where the horses were.

Kavala smiled. "Thank you... we're just finishing its renovation. It used to be a series of workshops surrounding a forge which folded. We converted the workshops to stalls and the front end to a clinic. I did the fencing myself." Kavala said, proud of this fact. It had toughened up her body some, and for that she'd always be grateful. "I just received the funding and building at the beginning of winter, so there hasn't been a lot of time to finish everything or expand. So far, the only folks that live here are myself, Awsten who's a groom, and Sorian." Kavala said, though she left out the presence of the horses and the other denizens. They were obvious residents, after all.

"The main purpose is a health clinic for animals... a place to bring them to heal. The secondary purpose is the stables, for boarding and training." At that point, Kavala lead Danica around the inside of the facility, showing her the round pen, arena, and the rows of stalls on either side. She pointed out the gate which Dancia had already found, as well as the two assistants quarters of which one already contained Sorian's things. The other one she left for Danica to claim. They circled the inside yard counter clockwise and then slipped into the clinic. The entrance from the inside opened to the exam room (the reception was on the other side of the wall) where Kavala and patted the table. "Jump up on the exam table will you? Those hay cuts on your arms might not look like much, but it can get infected." She added, considering if she should use her gnosis or clean them the old fashioned way.

If the girl followed Kavala's advice and took a seat on the table, Kavala woud take a good long look at her arms. Danica's skin simply looked ill-used, scratched and abraded. "I don't think I even need to clean them. I can use Rak'keli's gift." She said, gently reaching her hands out. "Take my hands?" She asked, turning her head to glance momentarily at Sorian. She knew he'd never seen her heal, and suddenly, she felt very shy about it. She almost wished she'd toured by the ice chest where they kept their fresh food and meat before taking care of Danica. Then, at least Sorian could have gotten started on their dinner.

It was odd. She was getting used to him being around... both of them really. One was a gentleman, quiet, kind, playful. The other was gruff, rude, almost argumentative. Having them both added a great deal of company to her day, and it was a companionship she didn't really know she missed until she had it again. And they were both lurking - she never knew which she would be talking too from moment to moment.

Danica though... was stable. She seemed normal except for the way she lingered over the horses, talking to them as if they spoke back. Most people didn't treat animals like that. It was refreshing that Danica did.

If Dancia took her hands, Kavala could then channel Rak'keli's gnosis through her body, borrowing it to heal Danica's abused arms. A luminous glow would expand over the patient, matching the glow which would emanate from Kavala's hands, and the irritation and redness of the tiny pinpricks would disappear in a warm sensation that would leave Danica's arms and hands looking perfectly fine.

"I'm not much good at deep cuts or wounds, but scratches and burns or bruises are easy." She said softly.

Then, if everyone was ready, she'd show them the surgery room, supply room and her office and the philtering lab. "Does anyone want to see upstairs? It's just plain furniture, but the view is great." She added.

[Danica]

Danica took in all the sights, her eyes moving to whatever it was that Kavala indicated. It was a nice facility with all the things that a good stable needed to train, exercise and care for horses, although they would probably keep expanding if the money came in. It was nice enough already and Danica found herself wondering what unlimited funds would turn this place into. She would run her hands along the wood of stalls or across the nose of horses. She would stand and admire a place where she could. She was actually enjoying herself on this tour.

She ducked her head into the living quarter that Kavala showed her and smiled at the spacious area. She normally didn’t like being in buildings and yet this place smelled. . . right. The wind off the plains, the hot breath and scent of horses, the earthy smells of straw and hay. She didn’t mind the walls here, and everything seemed open instead of closed. Yet it wasn’t overbearing, like a castle, cathedral or things of importance like that. She left behind the room and again followed Kavala.

They entered the clinic and Danica let out a low whistle. Normally her healing went on in the open plains. Her eyes looked at everything in there, things she didn’t have names for since she had never even seen them before. “Hm?” She looked over at Kavala who was mentioning the cuts of her arms. Danica glanced down like she had just noticed them. “They’re not that bad,” It wasn’t even a half-hearted attempt at refusing treatment. “But if you want,” She shrugged her shoulders and jumped up onto the exam table, legs dangling over the side. Her legs swung slowly back and forth, it seemed to be a habit Danica had never really gotten rid of. Danica let Kavala looked over her arms and she had her head tilted slightly as she watched what the woman would do with interest.

Danica obediently put her hands gently into Kavala’s holding enough so that their hands stayed together. She watched them glow and a warm feeling washed up her arms, making her skin tingle, she almost wanted to pull one of her hands out of Kavala’s so she could feel her arm. When she was done Danica pulled out her arms and gazed at them. Her skin showed no sign of the marks left by the hay. She ran a finger along her arm lightly. “Hm. My arms feel warm but not to the touch. It’s odd. “Feels weird,” She flexed her hands, “But not bad,” She looked up at Kavala. “Thanks.” And with that Danica swung herself off the table and landed next to Kavala, still doing a little flex of her hands, ‘hmm’ing over it.

“Well that’s what most people get right,” Danica brightened when she mentioned the view. “Ooo, you mean you can see the whole grounds?” She stretched out her legs and glanced around the room, thinking that it would be a nice place to live. The horses seemed happy and Kavala was friendly. Sorian was a bit… quiet, but she got the feeling that he was normally like that since Kavala acted like she was used to it. "Well let's go."

[Sorian]

Sorian watched and trudged silently along as Kavala took Danica on the promised tour. He had little to say about it since he had already seen every part of Sanctuary, preferring to mesh with the background as they went about their rounds about the structures and rooms. He watched with a plain expression as Kavala healed her cuts and wounds, recalling the time when she had tried to check him out for some of the same. Being an Akalak gifted with a lot of resistance against normal diseases and conditions, and he has remained impervious to such health issues despite his lack of care for himself. Once she was all healed up and back on her sprightly feet, the big Akalak followed them on, still trying to gauge the best opportunity to say something. Looking at the two he could tell that they were enjoying themselves, and it made him smile somewhat. Secret : Sorry for the late--and sucky--reply. I blame it on the day job.

[Kavala]

Silly!Late and sucky? Naw... thanks for posting. Stop being silly.

What neither of them probably understood was that Kavala had no choice in healing them, even the small wounds and scrapes. Rak'keli's mark made it impossible to refuse to aid anyone who was in pain. And even though her skill level wasn't exactly up to bar in mending breaks and serious wounds, teaching herself medicine also fulfilled this driving need. So long as she was actively working to make someone feel better that was sick or injured, Kavala was happy. She was just glad, to some extent, most of her abilities focused around animals rather than people.

Smiling, Kavala lead them to her quarters upstairs. While spacious, the place was spartan, with only a large stuffed mattress in a corner that the girl slept on. It was as if it was devoid of her sense of self and painfully stark. There was a chair and a desk, which looked rather unused (due to the dusk on it), and a lovely hearth that had no fire laid in it for quite some time. The hearth called for some seating before it, but instead there was just a blanket folded as if someone had once sat there staring at the flames once a while ago. There was a wooden crate beside the mattress that held a journal with an ink pot and a quill pen. There was also a thin glass vial that held a few winter flowers, though they looked sad themselves.

The room existed as if the occupant had absolutely no sense of self.

There was no artwork on the walls, no rugs on the floor, nothing. The place was devoid of any personality and next to no material wealth. A battered old trunk seemed to hold a few pieces clothing against one wall (it was open so they could see it was virtually empty), but it was the view from a full-length balcony that held a chair and another blanket (a re purposed horse blanket to be exact) so that someone could come out and enjoy the view.

"I'm sorry its so... empty up here. The view is great though." Kavala said, leading them past her personal quarters and out onto the balcony. It faced the sea, overlooking a glorious view of angry clouds moving in fast over the Suvan Sea. In the summers, they both could see how beautiful the balcony would be. Now though, it just emphasized how dangerous the storm coming in seemed. Even as they stood at the railing, they could feel the temperature dropping and Kavala's relief that all the animals were kept indoors.

"The storm looks like its going to be here quickly... you've seen everything but the basement that is just a room filled with kennels. Maybe we'll skip that and check on the mare again. She might be down already..." The konti said, turning and leading them both down a set of stairs inside the room that lead back to the clinic. She cut through her office and headed across the arena and cut around the round pen to make it back to the mare's stall. Sure enough, the mare was laying down, laboring.

Kavala stood quietly by the stall. "Have either of you ever helped with a birth? Now might be a good time to give it a try. She looks like its a big foal." Forelegs were already sticking out the mare's womb, soon followed by a nose still half concealed in the birth sack. "Sorian, as soon as that sack breaks... even if the foal isn't already out, I want you to slip into the stall and gently wipe the nose out, making sure there's no mucus in it." She handed him a soft cloth hand towel to do the job with. "Then, grasp the foals legs and gently start to pull... but wipe out the nose first but not until the sack breaks." She emphasised. "Danica, if he moves in, I want you to move to the mare's head and just talk to her... make sure she stays laying down. You look like you have a good way with horses, so keep her quiet by talking to her." The konti said. She'd stand by if needed, but she wanted them to do it.

"If I'm ever not here and this happens, Sorian, you will need to know what to do to help." The healer said, studying the mare without looking at the two. Suddenly, the mare half lifted, bore down, and more of the foal slipped free. The sack tore, revealing a white nose, though the mare still hadn't gotten the foals shoulders free of her womb.

"Now is a good time...." The konti said quietly, but urgently.

[Sorian]

A storm. The distant horizons belching blackish clouds called out to the inhabitants of Suva, the laces of sunlight that managed to slip through the heavy veil slicing down from the sky in intervals with the tense formations. Sorian's sensitive nose could also pick up the fresh scent of the moisture condensing in the fleeting winds, but the rage that was to come somehow comforted him in a strange way. The last storm had seen him running across the sea of grass alone, the thick rain pouring down on his then disheveled form with all the fury of nature. It was a lonely time, contrasting sharply with the shelter which Kavala and Sanctuary now provided him. Kavala's invitation for them to return to the stalls made his mind turn to catch any sort of noise from below them, trying to listen as to whether Kavala's hunches were right or not. The laborious grunting of the mother mare confirmed this, and soon the three found themselves before the laid-back mother, turned to her side. His companion's question caught him off guard. "Birth?" he asked, quite incredulous. He had seen her do it a couple of times, but he had never thought of helping a mare give birth himself. It didn't seem quite right to him; he had been a tool of death for so long that the process of helping give life somewhat terrified him inside. Still his mind's protests did not hinder him from unconsciously following her instructions, doing it with precision and speed the very moment Kavala urged him to do it. Once the nose became visible he took the towel the towel snappily and started to remove the mucus from its nose, making sure not to block it too tightly with the cloth as he pressed the nuzzle with gentle force to extract every bit of it. The mare pushed on in her task, and soon the legs emerged from within her womb, its hair wet with life fluids. Sorian's hands, more nimble and skillful than usual, each took hold of one leg, and started to pull with as much lightness and firmness as his power allowed him. The thick, slimy recess made the pulling a bit more difficult than it should be, so he took hold of the rougher hooves instead. A few more pulls from the big Akalak and some more pushing from the mother eventually freed the foal. All the while Sorian could feel anxiety and pressure bulging inside his head. His body was operating on sheer will alone, because his mind, curious as it is, refused to come to terms with the task at hand. Once the deed was finished, his eyes remained unblinking, caught in a strange trance as he gazed at the newly birthed baby. Somewhere in his mind was sprinkled the pieces of his broken heart. To think that he was so capable of helping give life when he had used his hands to take it away instead. The former refreshed him, and the latter made him despise himself even more, though it could only have been seen in the silence that fell over him.

[Danica]

Danica shrugged at the emptiness of the room. It was sparse but refreshing. She didn’t really notice the lack of self but she enjoyed the simple furnishings and lack of bright splashy colors. Most homes Danica felt like she was drowning in the décor but she rather liked this. Simple and to the point. Maybe it was the fact she lived on the grasslands and in a tent so possessions were few and far between or only for the most practical uses. Danica nodded around the room and smiled at Kavala with approval of the room, missing the hints of sadness that scattered the place.

Danica stared out at the sea, that endless expanse of dark water. It made her a little uncomfortable and she shuddered before drawing her eyes up to the dark roiling clouds. “Glad I decided to come here tonight,” she said quietly feeling a prickling on her skin, probably gooseflesh appearing on her arms. Danica ducked back inside and followed Kavala back to the birthing mare.

Danica watched the mare as she listened to Kavala talk and gave her a little smile when Kavala told her the job she would be doing. It was a smile that almost said ‘I have a secret and you’re really close to knowing it’. When Sorian uttered the single word Danica just clapped him on the back on her way into the stall. “Don’t be scared big guy,” She was just teasing and flashes him a quick smile to take any sting he might’ve found away.

Danica got down on her knees and moved the mare’s head so it rested in her lap. She leaned down a bit and stared to scratch behind her ears ever so lightly. Danica wasn’t exactly sure what she spoke but they were just meaningless words of comfort. She was more trying to project her own sense of calm on the mare instead of using words in this instant. The mare was focusing on her birth and there was the tiny of tingle of pain beneath it all. It was amazing how animals could do it with only some huffing breaths but human women had to scream and holler.

Danica ran her fingers across the mare’s nose. She whispered light words of encouragement as the time came. She glanced up and saw Sorian was gently tugging on the foals legs. She stroked a little harder and gave the mare words saying that she was almost done, almost there. And finally the foal slithered free and Danica released her hands, letting the mare move to lick and bond with her new baby. Danica stayed on her knees in the stall for a moment longer, watching the two of them with a slight smile on her face. One day she wanted another little foal. Altari might get jealous but she’d just give him lots of attention and he’d get over it.

She wasn’t sure how long she sat there but she finally rose to her feet and gave her clothing a quick brush before she turned to face Kavala. “Beautiful,” She smiled. “But I believe you were saying something about food earlier and I am starving! Perhaps we can leave these two to get acquainted while we eat,”

[Kavala]

Kavala watched passively from the stall door while the others helped the foal. Sorian was gentle, which shouldn't have really surprised her, but for some reason it did. And Danica's voice had a great soothing effect on the mare. All and all the foal extraction worked very well. But once it was out, the mare lunged to her feet - which was to be expected - which tore the umbilical cord. Kavala moved into the stall at this point, a few supplies in her arms. She had a small dish of iodine which she quickly wiped the bloody stub of the cord with using a towel and then discarded. The mare, most of all, needed attention now.

"Sorian, Danica... can you both start rubbing on the foal, getting its circulation going and make sure you touch it all over, pick up its feet, and put your hands in its mouth and ears? It's really important that we do this in the first couple of hours so the baby grows up to be a horse used to being touched." She said, as she moved to the mare's rear. The sack still hung loose from the mare, and Kavala gathered it up quickly. She tied a few knots in it about at the mare's knee level so there was a steady weight on the sack without actually pulling. She didn't want to tear or invert the uterus, so the knot was about the perfect steady pressure. The mare turned then, and nuzzled the people aside to whicker softly at the baby. Milk streamed from her udder, and the foal started to struggle to its feet.

"Let... her get up on her own." Kavala said, checking the baby's sex. A filly! That was a good sign. The konti smiled one of her rare smiles and watched with shining eyes as the baby struggled to take its first steps. About that time, the mare contracted again, and the rest of the placenta fell free. Kavala grabbed it and dragged it out of the stall. She opened it up, and carefully examined the large grayish white mass of tissue, looking for lesions and checking to see if it was intact. It was. Carefully she carried it over to the burn pile and laid it up top, letting the flames consume it.

She was back in a moment, happy to see the foal was already looking for milk and then finally nursing. "Food sounds good actually if you both are still hungry after this. Let me just clean up and wash up. I'm going to blanket both of these guys after the baby has had a good long first drink." Like her mother, the foal was white. Frostmarches rarely came in any other color. "If you guys have any ideas for a name, that'd be great. This is the first foal born to Sanctuary... and she's early. If she was still out on the grass, she might not have made it being born so soon." Kavala said, already picking up her small birthing table with its supplies and beginning to pack them away into a crate that went on a shelf above where the table normally folded up in the tack room.

Kavala had blood on her shirt from handling the placenta and knotting it, but it was nothing that a quick change of clothing could fix. She was fastidious about cleaning up outside the stall, then washing, then changing her clothing - which turned into something equally boyish by the time she'd reappeared.

"Is Sorian still cooking those flank steaks?" She asked, curious.

[Sorian]

When Kavala left to change her clothes, he paid little heed to her words in his mind. Sorian's face was still blank, but the sides of his mouth were beginning to curl downwards. He looked at the newly birthed filly with a rather sad gleam in his eyes, and he left the stable to Danica without saying another word, proceeding to the open kitchen to do as he was told. On the table was laid out the garnishes and the chunks of meat which he was supposed to cook. Quietly he tried to recall what the basic steps were, supporting his jaw with his hand in contemplation. He looked at the unprepared steaks, befuddled over what he was supposed to do. Asking Kavala would probably irritate her again; she had already taught him how to cook this, and even though she could cook about as well as a ten year old could, he wasn't too confident about his own culinary skills either. The myriad of thoughts that were blocking his perceptions made him operate like some broken down robot, a recipe for certain disaster. In a brushing moment with his hidden 'to hell with it!' attitude, the confused Akalak heated the furnace of the stove with a dozen dry branches of firewood, then placed a big pot of water on top of it. The water was only up to half the height of the container, so that the boiling would not spill over. Then he took the big bowl of meat and dumped it all in. While he was sitting on the table, absent-mindedly cutting up some vegetables and spices with a big knife, his nose, which, unlike his mind, never rests, inhaled a distinctly heavy dose of uncontrolled smoke. To his shock, he turned to face a monstrously fiery inferno; the stove was already overwhelmed by the thick black smoke, and a belching fire was threatening to lick the wooden walls of the kitchen. Instantly, the thought of a burning Sanctuary crossed his mind, and the implications that it would bring to Kavala horrified him. Throwing the knife to the ground, Sorian rushed to the burning furnace, numbly taking the searing pot into his own hands and cradling it against his body and arms to balance it and prevent it from dropping. The scalding metal tore and bit at his skin savagely, but only the safety of Kavala and their home mattered to him at the moment. He bit his lip to prevent Kavala or Danica from rushing in, with only muffled roars pouring out of his lips in his torment. Charging out of the building, he hurled the pot into the open ground, watching the angry flames dissipate as he collapsed to his knees in relief. His eyes remained open in the face of his botched handiwork, but the fierce blue that was supposed to be heralded within was noticeably absent. Only the coldest and faintest shades remained inside. His breathing was very irregular, and the throbbing of his heartbeat was dull. On his great chest, his hands and his powerful arms were the marks of very severe burns, his pale blue skin scarred with black and red in alternation, and pockets of blood clot shot out from his damaged form. He didn't complain through his pain as he returned to the thoughts that marred his mind earlier, an even lower feeling sinking into him slowly with every second of his solitude. OOC: Sorry for the VERY long delay.

[Kavala]

The confusion around the kitchen area (which was actually outside on the veranda - piss poor planning on the part of whomever used Sanctuary before Kavala) and the burning flames of the oven did indeed threaten the wood that sheltered the Veranda from the sun and elements and caused Kavala to stop and stare in the direction of all the smoke. She did take enough time to notice Sorian's plight and him carrying the massively hot pot of ... food?... further out into the courtyard area.

Kavala knew instantly he was hurting himself. The tightness of his expression, the way he didn't cry out, the lost look as he was trying to get the flames down. She dropped what she was doing, having already thrown the placenta on the burn pile and discarded the rags to be washed and put away the medicines) and turned to rush full on to intercept the slightly dazed looking Akalak.

"Sorian? What happened? Are you hurt... by the stars....!" She saw the angry marks darkening the pale blue of his skin where he'd carried the pot and burned himself. She knew immediately it was beyond Rak'keli's power at her mark level to heal the burns instantly, though she immediately turn and begin running to the well to get cold water to splash onto his skin to cool the angry burns down. "Sorian, your burned! Stay still." She was back in an instant with a bucket of water which she immediately grabbed part of his wrists that weren't burned and thrust them into the water. Then with her cupped hands she dosed his chest with the handfuls of water to cool the burn. She knew ice was bad for burns or she'd have used the snow, but the best way to help a burn was to stop the tissue from continuing to burn and that was to remove whatever was burning the skin and cool the skin as fast as one could. She knew all the wives tales were wrong. Butter didn't work, nor did aloe immediately. So instead she simply cooled them down, let them dry, and then ran for the clinic to get cause and pads to begin bandaging them. Keeping them clean so they could blister and heal was important.

"It was stupid to ask you to cook. I'm very sorry... very sorry.... Gods so stupid." The konti said softly, painfully, as she began to wrap Sorians arms and chest. "I just need to learn to cook better.. I didn't want Danica eating the crap I usually feed us." She said softly, apologetically, wishing she hadn't asked him to help. He wasn't here as a servant, he wasn't even particularly paid to hang out. Asking him to help had been wrong of her and she felt acute regret. When it came to Sorian, Kavala had done just about everything wrong that was possible to do wrong... and then some. If anything, it proved to her that she was not ready for any sort of .... the thought was cut abruptly off.

Not ready? No... she never would be.

Kavala glanced at Danica, shook her head, and frowned before stating the obvious. "I don't know what happened, but he burned himself. Did you see anything?" She asked.