[Infirmary]The Tide Rises High (Closed/PM for invite)

[Elem Bree]

Spring 1, AV 512

A dream of white waters, flowing over hands and faces. The eternal beauty of Rak' keli, her loving warmth showering him much as it had that night in the Hall. Watching the man before him completely made whole had made a believer of Elem in an instant. His previous lack of belief in the pure light of the Goddess was eradicated by the pure touch of love and light. That warmth, that water. He could feel it lapping against his left foot. It was turning cold and objects bumped against it.

He was awake. Water was still lapping against the foot, dangling off of his bunk in the Dormitory. He blinked several times, yawning and trying to gain a foothold into his surroundings. Short of the sloshing water, the dormitory was silent and strangely vacant. The door whipped wildly back and forth, straining against its hinges beneath a mad wind. He rubbed his eyes, sliding his other foot over the bunk and into the water. Fortunately his clothes were still hanging on the rails of the bunk, slipping them on and rubbing his eyes, the twisting spiral and serpent of Rak'keli's touch dominating the back of his right hand.

A heavy sound of splintering wood and crushing stone brought his attention to a crisp clarity. Wading through the room, he pushed against the door. he was not prepared for what he would see. From a dream to a nightmare, he was immediately assaulted by whipping winds, heavy with stinging brine. He kept his eyes shielded with his marked hand as he desperately tried to remain upright, leaning against the walls where he could. The wind was dying a slow death, receding. Whatever had occurred was ebbing now, but the screams and cacophony of madness in every direction signaled that trouble was only beginning.

He instinctively worked his way toward the Infirmary, pushing through debris and checking on any soul that stood as he did. He also had the unfortunate task of checking the pulses of the newly dead, most taken by water. It was so strange to him that swimming would be so alien in a port city. He saw a girl crying in a courtyard, her head trickling blood from a laceration. Approaching her, he took her face in his hands and smiled as best he could, thinking of Rak'keli's light as he traced his thumb over the wound. It closed itself and he kissed her on the forehead.

"Get somewhere safe."

It was almost laughable if not for the mood at the moment. The closer he got to the Infirmary, the more readily apparent it was that no sanctuary remained, short of his place of work and probably residence over the next week. He could hear his name being called out from inside. It was Elia, the girl he had seen assisting Mistress Claira his first day there.

"Elem! Where have you been? We need you!"

He had no answer. Sleeping peacefully? Perhaps, but it was no time or place to bring up such luxuries. He simply shrugged and pushed past her. If he was not awake previously, he was more awake and aware than he had possibly ever been before. There were easily a hundred people inside a room fitted for thirty. People on the beds, two or three at a time, people on the floor, shivering from the exposure of the inch deep layer of water there. A growing area of dead and dying people in one corner. Wails, screams and moaning in every direction. He could see Elia waiting, standing in the same awe, though hers seemed more panicky. He had the skill and the power to heal and save lives. Now was the time to use it.

[Elem Bree]

Elem clapped his hands loudly over his head, adding a shrill whistle to get the attention of those in the room. His voice boomed with a new confidence which had previously been missing.

" I need all able bodies, meaning you can walk and help, to get these people off of the floor. I want those dead people moved outside. If you aren't sure, check their pulse at their wrist or their neck. Those of you who are injured but capable of moving, I'd ask you to move from the beds and seats outside, please. Form a line and you will be seen in order. Any critical and severely injured patients get the beds first! Capable and walking injured outside, dead outside. Everyone will be seen, if it takes all day and night!"

He stood there, the room eerily silent for a moment as if no one spoke Common.

"I am Elem Bree, a medical student and devoted of Rak' keli. I will do my best to help you all, but we must preserve order."

His voice lowered in volume as a few began to carry the bodies out.

" I understand you are all scared. I am too. We must remember the Zeltiva of yesterday and days before. We willsurvive this, but we must work together."

Elia's eyes widened as she saw the spiraling mark on Elem's hand. He smiled and placed his hand on her shoulder. He looked down at the bunk before him, an old man staring blank at the ceiling. Elem's other hand was pressing against the wrist, feeling nothing.

"This man is dead. Find me a suitable replacement for his bed."

[Ndale Soromund]

How exactly she had managed to reach the infirmary…Ndale was not exactly sure. Now that her initial surprise and flood of emotions had calmed she felt nothing. As was her usual save for the fact that she felt no curiosity either. She only wished the mild throbbing that pulsed through her entire being would stop. There was a line of people in front of the building. It seemed to be in otherwise good condition. No true structural damage but remembering the most likely crushed young woman she had no desire to be indoors. But that is precisely where the line was moving. Every sound made her cringe, humans wailing and sniffling. The children seemed quieter, subdued even compared to their parents panic. Her feeling of floating stayed though, all the way until it was her turn to enter the actual building. At first she thought of leaving but a voice cutting through peoples screams caught her attention. Elem. Elem Bree. Without thinking and other wise ignoring the attendant trying to lead her to a bed she walked straight over to the man and sat on the nearest empty bed. For the first time all day her voice worked and she found herself calling out to the only familiar thing amongst the chaos. “Elem Bree.” Before she could continue though the same young woman who lead her in interrupted and asked about her wounds. “My head bleeds and so does the rest of me.” It was short and to the point but while she spoke her eyes never left Elem’s vicinity. She didn’t trust these humans what if they ended up like the other one? “I need to be fixed.”

[Elem Bree]

Order was slowly beginning to take form, with the few hands available sorting as elem had prescribed. He knew he probably didn't have the authority to make the calls he had made, but until someone else stepped up, it was his authority that was saving lives. Fortunately, many of the injuries initially before him were minor and related to shock. Once the majority had gone outside, he traveled from bed to bed, surmising the injuries of those too weak to move or too injured.

Looking up, he saw the dead from the pile being taken out the front. In a harsh tone of the loudest whisper possible, he directed the two men hauling them.

"Put those in the courtyard out back! Not in front of the living people!"

He could imagine that the already sorry state of the survivors would not improve by seeing friends and fellow Zeltivans being piled up nearby. Out of sight, out of mind would have to be the rule at the moment. It only left him with two other actual medical workers. The girl from before and a young man he had seen in his Medicine classes. Both names had slipped away like the tide. He motioned them over, his hands outstretched.

"Take my hands, guys." The two looked at each other reluctantly and held Elem's own with theirs.

"And each other's hand. Make a circle."

A slightly more reluctant pass of glances and they were joined.

Elem bowed his head and as his words came, he passed any healing energy needed to the two in order to serve the population better.

"Mother Rak'keli, we call on you on this day of calamity, to aid us in the great task that lies before us. Help us to heal others in body, mind and spirit, to remain alert and miss no detail and to stand fast against sickness, infection and death itself. Bolster our resolve and ease our hearts so we may bring order and peace back to the citizenry. We thank You, Rak'keli."

He released their hands and found newer brighter eyes and faces looking back at him. He smiled at them. "Now let's get to work." The two set out immediately, the girl stepping out to aid in the line forming, the man getting hot water and blankets. Elem waited as a mother and her young child came in first. He smiled and set the child, who was four or five years old at most, down on the one empty bed he had kept open to see people. The two were wet and cold, as was everyone. He questioned the mother and it seemed they were both disoriented and the child had a nasty cut on his hand. It had congealed a bit, but the child was oddly silent. It was surely shock, so Elem reached down and passed his Mother's light along to the boy's hand, which closed up. He passed a warm rag over the child's neck and forehead, then used the rag to wipe away the wound, or make it appear so. The child cooed and smiled and the mother thanked Elem before moving on.

Elem pushed on, diagnosing and healing as he could until he saw the female worker approach him speaking to a white haired--Ndale! His heart momentarily leapt and sank as he saw her bleeding, her clothes torn. He dipped a rag in the basin and approached her, nodding to the girl who had ushered Ndale in. " I'll handle her. I know her. Can you guys have a look at these? And let me know of any obvious infection cases." He nodded to them and then looked back at Ndale, wiping the blood from her face with the rag, blotting delicately at her head wound. The female worker asked Ndale of her wounds and Elem waved her off. "It's nothing serious, I can handle it." His tone was firm and dismissive. The volume of patients was taking a toll on Elem's tact. he also had little interest in anyone besides the pink eyed beauty before him.

He closed his eyes and murmured to Rak'keli before wiping her head wound away. His hands moved over her arms and hands, light closing the scratches on her body as he could find them. He returned to her gaze and put his hands on her shoulders. "I am glad you came here, Ndale. I am glad you are safe. I am going to be very busy healing for some time, but you are welcome to stay as long as you like." He smiled, his heart back to its buoyancy.

[Ndale Soromund]

Ndale nodded at Elem’s words and allowed his hands and the cloth to soothe over her wounds. Strangely enough she did not feel better. What good were these human thoughts if they did nothing but rip her insides to shreds? What good was being healed if she felt no different? But there was comfort in the fact that this man was a ‘known factor’. He was something she was familiar with in a city where everything was different. Even the air was different, filled with a weight that threatened to crush everything much like the woman from before. Her thoughts swirled in this manner, her eyes bouncing agitatedly. The only thing keeping her grounded was his face. Normal. It was all okay. Her hand twitched. Her leg twitched. Finally she jumped up, pushing Elem away a little rougher than necessary. Even her poor sense of smell could get a whiff of the dead on him; it was making her mood worse. But for the first time Ndale found a genuine relief coming from within her. “Thank you, Elem.” but it was obvious the woman was not healed completely. Somewhere in the back of her mind questions were stored of his healing abilities but for now she needed something. She was afraid. If changes were so drastic in this human life, what of her real life? What of her trees and hunters? Or her prey and her forestry? The twinges of unease sending jolts through her. As much as she loathed the human mindset right now she could not leave it yet. She was not ready to face the changes. “I could help?” a simple question followed by her snatching a rag from one of the passing attendants. “I clean humans.” It was a plea but if Elem said no she would still not leave. She didn’t even know where else she would go. And she would not go anyhow. Healed or not something in her felt drained and sick.

[Elem Bree]

Ndale's initial shove threatened to sink the aforementioned buoyancy, but he didn't have time to question her motives. They were no longer nestled in each other's arms. People were dying by the chime. He took a small breath and smiled at her, albeit not as genuine at first. He felt something , though he would never voice it. Pity.

Before him stood an utterly confused and misplaced peahen, primarily an animal trying to understand the dark side of humanity. This was no time for lessons. Wailing and coughing in the background brought him back to his senses. He saw her pick the rag up and he nodded to her.

"Yes, clean humans, Ndale. But please, don't go to the courtyard in back." His head crooned in the general direction. "There are many dead people back there."

He placed his hand lightly on her shoulder, his eyes passing a sense of longing and support before he turned and found himself before a young man vomiting profusely. The smell could have done it among other things. He grabbed a fairly clean rag and dunked it in a nearby bucket of water. Placing the rag on the back of the man's neck, he called one of the others over.

"Bring me some ginger root. Let this man chew on it."

He knew that ginger worked best as a tea, but imbibing further liquids seemed pointless for this patient. He also knew that ginger would soothe the irritated membranes and calm the bile that gave the man the heaving spasms he had. Another cold rag soon found its way to Elem's own neck, sharpening his focus. herbalism and common sense would have to do as much as Rak'keli's light would, as more people piled in by the chime.

[Nira'lia]

OOCJoining with Elem's permission. Shrieking, Nira'lia ducked for cover as a tree branch when flying past her head. She stood up straight again, scanning the streets. It was absolute mayhem. People were rushing for cover or trying to salvage what they could from the flood. The konti looked scared and concerned, and as quickly as she could, she started to run towards the direction of the university... to the infirmary. Nira'lia had heard that the infirmary needed more hands. She heard that they didn't even have enough beds for the countless patients that were being sent in. Nira’lia wasn’t a student in the university, and she was sure that her knowledge about medicine was lacking compare to those who were already there. However, she simply couldn’t stand the thought of just staying still. Simply stepping out in the streets was dangerous, but she did her best to keep out of the way of the debris. If she wasn't careful, she'd end up in the infirmary as a patient, and not as a volunteer. An old man shouted at her to go home. He yelled that it wasn’t safe to be running around, but Nira’lia chose to ignore his kindness. Finally, she spotted the infirmary. She saw the people that huddled together, lined up and waiting for their turns. They shivered and most had desperate looks on their face. The konti looked at them, worried, as she walked past. Nira'lia entered the infirmary and looked at the situation. She found a someone asking a man if she could help out, and Nira'lia quickly assumed that he was in charge. Looking at him from head to toe, she realized that she had met him in the past. "Elem!" she called as she quickly went to him. Her face was slightly red from rushing to the infirmary, and her hair was in slight disarray because of the strong winds, but hopefully he would remember who she was. "Elem, it's me, Nira'lia!" She stood in front of him and paused to catch her breath. Then she looked back at him, her eyes serious. "I... I'm not a student, you know that, but please let me help. Tell me what I can do!"

[Elem Bree]

Washing the sweat from his face, the cold rag relieving him, Elem tried to get his mind in place. The horror of the last few hours was plaguing him, but he knew he had to wrap his mind around it and get focused. People needed him and relied on him. He took a deep breath and put the rag down, finding another familiar face approaching him. It was Nira'lia, the Konti he had mistaken Avari for at the Ball. She came to him and he naturally took her hand in his own, gripping it firmly. He remembered what had happened before but he didn't have the mindset for social politeness, only managing a smile. "Hey, of course I remember you. Just jump in where you think you can? I've got some stuff I have to deal with pretty quickly."

He tried to retain eye contact and a pleasant face, but he knew what was waiting for him behind the curtain. He soon stood over a critical case, a man bleeding heavily from a leg wound. The edges of the wound were raised and carried the smell that permeated the area. Infection. Between the storm's damage and all of the debris entering wounds, it seemed inevitable that not staying on top of the patients would cause more bodies to pile up. He had to steel himself in order to stare into the wound, to look for the severed artery. It was a stark episode of deja vu, remembering when Faylon was lying on a table at the Ball. Rak'keli saved that patient, but now he would have to do so himself.

Knowing he had the Goddess' touch, he believed in himself. She had believed in him, so there was no reason not to believe in Her. He poured warm water into the wound, which ran along the man's thigh. Diluted blood poured forth, where he could see the large vein spurting. Without thinking, he nimbly caught it in his fingers, finding the lacerated end to join to it. His hands glowed slightly as he watched the vein seal and the angry flesh at its edges soften, the septic tissue retreating. He was not out of the woods, but a ray of sun was filtering through the canopy.

[Nira'lia]

Elem took her hand without her consent -- she had not even seen it coming. If she had, she would have backed away as quickly as she could, just like what had happened on their first meeting. However, this time, she had no chance to react. Before she knew it, her hand was in his, and images flashed before her eyes. The images were... shocking. It was a vivid scene of Elem with the woman he had been speaking to just a few moments earlier. To put it simply, while it was Elem's happiest moment, it was also his most sensual one. The two of them were in a room, beneath blankets, partaking in actions that Nira'lia would rather not have seen. "Oh, geez..." she managed to squeak out as she took her hand back. It was not uncommon for her Konti gift to give her visions about sensual memories, but she always felt uncomfortable about it... especially if the person in question was someone right in front of her, and the woman he was with was there as well. Nira'lia face went scarlet in an instant, and she had to mentally kick herself to understand the words Elem was saying. In the end, she wasn't able to pick up the words he had told her. Her mind was still in mush from what had happened, even if she tried to shake herself out of it. The konti's face was still beaming red as she decided to follow after him. He was tending to a man who was in critical condition, and Nira'lia insides churned when she saw him. The konti stood there and watched Elem do his job. He was fantastic at what he did. His hand knew what they had to do, and she felt nothing but amazement as she watched him. Her eyes flashed over the gnosis mark on his hand -- that had not been there before! "Rak'keli has blessed you!" she said, startled. Amazing! She felt happy for him. Nira'lia gave him a huge grin and stepped away to see if she could be of help somewhere else. Nira'lia grabbed a pair of gloves from her bag and put it on her hands. They reached up to her elbows, and she used them every time she had to work with patients in order to avoid any unnecessary visions. She went to the curtained bed that was beside the one Elem was in. Nira'lia opened it to see find a little girl and her mother. The girl was bawling and clutching her bleeding head. Her mother was frantic. Nira'lia rushed to her side and slowly and gently took the girl's hands from her head. On the left side of her forehead was a large gash that reached to her temple. It was skin deep but looked extremely painful, and some wooden splinters jutted out of it. "Okay, okay, just breathe..." said Nira'lia as she attempted to calm the girl down. The little girl held unto her mother's hand, and Nira'lia started to clean the wound. Slowly but surely, she proceeded to take out the small shards from the girl's skin. When the shards were gone, she cleaned the wound with water. "It's only skin deep, don't worry, it looks worse than it is." Nira'lia scouted for a clean needle and some thread, and then proceeded to stitch the wound shut. It was quite difficult because the girl started to scream and attempted to run off, and her mother had to hold her by the shoulders tightly, hushing her. The girl flinched with every prick of the needle. Nira'lia had to be very careful, but soon enough, the stitches were done. Nira’lia grabbed some bandages and put it around the girl’s head. “Please be careful, don’t move around too much... however, you will have to rush for shelter elsewhere, we will need these beds for the other patients,” said Nira’lia. She remembered the line of injured people just outside the infirmary. After she was finished with the girl, she looked around. She searched for Elem to see if there was anything else that needed immediate attention. As she did, she passed by the pale-haired girl that had been in Elem's memories. Blushing furiously, Nira'lia turned around, saw Elem, and rushed to him.

[Fiera]

Awakened by the commotion in the dormitory common room, Fiera trudged sleepily down the stairs. She had been working late into the night the day before, cleaning the West wing of the university, then finishing an essay for her Auristics class under candlelight. All sign of exhaustion disappeared from her face as she caught a glance of the common room. Pausing three feet from the bottom of the stairs to avoid getting her feet wet, Fiera surveyed the damage. Shrieks outside caught her attention and, paying no heed to the knee-high, muddy water, she stepped into the common room to better see the view outside the broken window. The amount of casualties at the infirmary would be large. Fiera silently thanked Laviku that she had not been in her tent at the time of the storm. This occurred to her as funny, for it was Laviku who had sent this flood. Fiera shook her head; this was no time to ponder the actions of deities or other paradoxical occurrences. She knew where she was needed most. The infirmary was on the opposite side of the university campus and by the time she had reached it, Fiera had acquired more than a few bruises and scrapes. Slopping wet, she stumbled into the wide corridor. Further along, bloody corpses littered the floor. Passing them on her way into the main hall, Fiera locked eyes with a few of the frightened people, mumbling reassurances. Those outside the hall were only slightly injured, or dead. The serious casualties took up the beds inside. An unattended corner caught her eye and she made her way over to it. She called out a quick greeting to Elem as she passed him, but he seemed so engrossed in his work the he might not have noticed. Despite having sat together in the same class since the beginning of the course, they had only exchanged names a week or so ago. The five beds that occupied ‘her’ corner were taken by four men and a woman. One of the men nursed a broken thigh bone while the others all seemed only to have deep lacerations. Washing her hands, Fiera quickly checked all five of her patients for unseen injuries. She discovered a few bruised ribs that looked broken, a sprained ankle and a dislocated shoulder. After examining the patients, Fiera paused. She didn’t know who to go to first. The broken thigh bone seemed to be causing the most pain, but most of the cuts were bleeding profusely and would quickly become infected in the current state of the infirmary. In the end, she approached the man with the dislocated shoulder first. It was the only injury that she could see that would take the least amount of time to relieve the pain. “Relax and breathe deeply,” Fiera reassured him with a smile as she reached to straighten his dislocated arm, “This shouldn’t hurt much. Tell me if it does, I will stop” Her smile dropped slightly as she concentrated on her patient. The smiles and kind words, it was all an act, but it was important in maintaining the patients morale. Fiera straightened the arm to the side, then rotated it behind the head of the patient, watching his face for any signs of pain, but not forcing the arm. She had followed the instructions that she had read earlier in a book, but the arm still remained dislocated. Fiera glanced up, and waited until Elem had finished with his current patient before calling out to him, “Elem, when you get the time, could you come here for a second? I need your help” OOCSorry, I just assumed that Fiera and Elem would get to know each other during their uni course, hope you don't mind