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Far from Home

Started by PixelatedGlory, March 21, 2018, 09:05:22 PM

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PixelatedGlory

Oren was greatly relieved to have the others joking between themselves, even if some of it was at his expense. Teasing he could deal with.

"Whoa, careful now. I can't reattach my arm if you pull it off," He grins towards Shyla even as he picks up his pace a bit to follow her. "I can take care of myself. Mostly." Well that sounded weak. They did find me alone and unprepared.

After making sure Shyla wasn't going to pull him off balance, her turned his attention back to Stella, "Are the rest of your group as friendly? I have to be honest that I've never worked on anyone like you all before."

DragonSong

Both Stella and Shyla rolled their eyes this time. "The Red Howlers are mercs, Oren," the elven girl said pointedly. "Friendly isn't really part of the job description." She shrugged. "They'll be nice enough for a healer though. Just don't expect hugs and kisses for your work."

PixelatedGlory

Oren also shrugs, "I don't care what you do for a living. I've met unfriendly people before and so far you don't qualify. Honestly as long as my patients don't want to kill me that is enough."

It's Oren's turn to roll his eyes, though he does it in a way that he hopes no one can see. "We already discussed how I would like to be paid for my work. I don't expect anything else."

DragonSong

Yet another exchanged glance- though it probably seemed an odd gesture coming from a blind girl.

Neither Stella nor Shyla commented however, save for the lycan woman to call out suddenly, "Oi, incoming!"

The path suddenly flattened out as it reached a curve, and it was revealed that just around the corner there was a sort of plateau, a wide stretch of land that evened out up ahead, with the mountains rising into a high wall of protection all around it. A few smallish waterfalls fed into a trickling stream that flowed away from the plateau and into a larger fall near the northeastern edge, and the water provided a sudden burst of greenery- compared to the mountains' usually scraggly vegetation.

An obviously temporary but still impressively sized camp had been set up across the flatter land, some two or three dozen tents big enough to hold a small family, with three larger ones set back against the mountain face on the western side.

The Red Howlers milled about the camp, at least a hundred of them, probably more in the tents or out scouting. A familiar mahogany shape loped toward the newcomers on all fours, then straightened up and huffed. Aeris looked them over, than offered a savage grin.

"Welcome, outsider," he said, waving a hand at the camp behind him. Shyla dropped Oren's hand and drew her Sight back into herself. She didn't need it here.

PixelatedGlory

For a blind woman, she sure acts like she can see a lot. It's a little unnerving but who am i to judge? Oren was jolted out of his own thoughts by the sudden warning and he flinched before realizing what she meant.

He took in the area with wide eyes. He expected something a lot smaller than this. There were more people in this camp than there were in his home village. Of course they had been farmers so they were more spread out. He'd always enjoyed watching as people went about their daily lives and he tried to take it all in. And that was not even including the sight of the waterfalls.

Oren had to shake his head to focus as Aeris addressed him and he barely noticed that Shyla had dropped his hand. "It's beautiful. I don't know what I expected, but this is far better than I could have imagined." He regains his composure and then in a more professional tone he asks, "Well should I start seeing to your injured?"

DragonSong

"Wait until Aeris introduces you," Shyla murmured out of the corner of her mouth.

Her brother nodded and clapped a hand on the healer's shoulder. "Come on, it'll be easiest if ya meet the council and get things over with-" His voice cut off in a brief, hacking cough.

Instantly Shyla was at his side, one hand on his heavily furred arm. Her head tilted as though she could look up into his face, though her eyes were fixed blankly on a point somewhere beside his left ear. "Ri? You alright?"

He waved her off with a grunt. "'M fine, just a cough. Quit worrying."

PixelatedGlory

Oren nodded at Shyla, forgetting for a moment that she was blind, and then quickly added, "Ok."

He winced as the large hand clapped down on his should just a smidge too hard, but before he could agree to meet the council he was interrupted by Aeris' coughing fit. With a raised eyebrow he too turned to look up at the man. "If I had known you were ill I could have tried to treat you before you ran all the way here," he chastised, "Is this the sickness you were talking about?"

Oren clasped his hand over the larger man's and with a tone of compassion added, "If you need me to meet your council first I understand, but I will need to see to you. Preferably today."

DragonSong

"It was just a cough," Aeris repeated, irritated. "I'm not the one who's sick. We've got about a dozen fighters laid up a lot worse'n me, worry about them."

Shyla glowered in his direction. She couldn't very well say something in front of a stranger, but she was worried. Aeris was nearly twenty-five. He only had two years left, if he was lucky. Any little cough or fall or- or anything could be the end.

PixelatedGlory

Oren planted his feet and stared Aeris in the eyes, "I will see to your people in worse shape first, but don't think I'm going to forget about you. Last thing you need is to become, as you put it, 'laid up' like the others."

After seeing the extra emotion on Shyla's face Oren turned to her and added in a softer tone, "If you need me to step away while you two talk, I can. I will stay within eyesight of course. Otherwise we should probably see this council so I can get to work."

DragonSong

Shyla shook her head quickly. "No. We should get you cleared to work on the injured as soon as possible, come on."

She started off toward one of the bigger tents- and for the first time in a long, long time she wasn't paying attention, she didn't know where she was walking, and her foot caught in an uneven dip in ground; easily avoidable if she'd been looking, and so commonplace for her to typically sidestep that none of her pack thought to warn her.

With a soft cry of surprise she went down, instinctively bracing her hands and knees. Damnit this is gonna hurt.

PixelatedGlory

"Then lead the way. Fair warning: I don't really give off the best first impress- hey, be careful!," he was cut off as Shyla began to fall.

Oren was also getting used to Shyla navigating fine without her eyes but he had been prepared to follow her, guessing correctly that she would decline his offer to step away. For this reason he was in a decent position to notice her trip over the spot where rain and wind had worn a deep groove into the stone.

Without hesitation he leaped towards her. He didn't really expect to be able to catch her, but there was no reason not to try. He had just enough time for a single thought as he reached his arms out, At least I can fix it before it hurts too much

An almost imperceptible spark of violet light flicked between Oren's outstretched fingers in anticipation of being called upon to heal Shyla.

DragonSong

One hand caught her arm and somewhat deadened the impact of her fall, but it still certainly didn't feel good. She hissed out a breath between her teeth and tried to jerk away from Oren- because of course it was his hand, none of her family's hands were so small.

"I'm fine!" she snapped, angry and embarrassed, hands and knees stinging. Though not nearly as badly as she'd expected them to. In fact, the stinging was fading rather rapidly.

She frowned and twisted in what she thought was Oren's direction. "Did you heal me?"

PixelatedGlory

Oren was surprised that he was able to reach Shyla so quickly. He hadn't kept her from falling but with one of his hands on her arm she hadn't hit the ground as hard. As his hand touched her, the tiny sparks of violet light jumping between his fingers grew into small tendrils that crept across her skin. The feeling was unexpected, but as they traveled across her skin they felt warm. Not the sickly warmth of a fever or the burning heat of a fire on a cold night, but the comforting warmth of an embrace from a loved one.

The injuries were slight, so Oren knew it would not take much of his power to heal. Even as Shyla protested the helping hand, tiny cuts and bruises that would not have revealed themselves for a day or two faded away. In fact any lingering cuts or bruises she had previously also faded. The magic did not however reach out to her eyes.

Oren ignored Shyla's embarrassment and claims that she was fine. He held on to her arm with a gentle but firm grip as the last of the minor injuries were healed and the magic faded from view. "Of course I healed you. That's why I'm here isn't it?" His smile faded as he saw her frowning. To give her an excuse to reduce the embarrassment he added,with a wink, "Wouldn't be good for the healer you hired to introduce himself after ignoring an injured member of your group."

With that he let go of her arm, assuming she would prefer to stand on her own. He stood next to her with his hand offered to help her get up if she chose to use it. Otherwise he politely waited to be lead to the council.

DragonSong

"Hmph." Shyla tossed her hair, trying to hide her embarrassment. She hated it when things like that happened- it was why she made a point of being so confident on the path. She could get along fine. Even without her Sight.

"Just- don't waste your magic on me," she grumbled. Aeris huffed, reaching out to touch her shoulder, and she shrugged him off. "Come on, it's this way."

The small group trudged toward the largest tent in the camp, then Shyla paused and braced her hand out beside her to stop Oren. Aeris nodded at her and ducked inside.

"We need to wait for him to announce you," the elven girl muttered out of the corner of her mouth.

PixelatedGlory

Oren stood silently next to Shyla and grinned when she stood back up without his help. He felt no awkwardness or embarrassment even as he put his empty hand back down to his side. He was elated to be healing people again without the risk of being killed for it. Oren looked over Shyla again and recognized that she was uncomfortable with what had happened and his smile faded a little. It seems like she doesn't like needing help from others. Maybe she thinks it makes her look weak? Wouldn't be the first time I had a patient like that.

He leaned towards Shyla to whisper quietly to only her, "I'm sorry for healing you without asking. I acted without considering how you would feel and will ask first next time." In case others were watching he spoke a little louder for their benefit, "Your injuries were minor, it took barely any of my power."

Oren followed the others to the large tent, taking in the sights of the active camp. He smiled without showing teeth and nodded at anyone who seemed to look at him and made sure he didn't stare anyone in the eyes too much. He didn't really know how to act with the lycanthropes around but he remembered some basics about how to act around wary dogs. It probably wasn't applicable here, but it was the best he had.

As Shyla paused by the entrance to the tent, Oren also stopped. The hand holding him back was almost funny. He supposed it was her turn to assist him when he didn't really need it.

While waiting Oren tried to use his fingers to tame his hair a bit and fidgeted with his clothing. He really wasn't dressed for introductions but he would have to make do. He was also nervous that he might say or do the wrong thing and anger this council of theirs.

DragonSong

Shyla grunted in acknowledgement, gruff, but it did make her feel a bit better that he planned to ask before healing her again.

She could feel his fidgeting and rolled her eyes. "What are you fussing with? It sounds like your rubbing a bunch of cloth together, could you please stop?"

PixelatedGlory

Well this is going well. Hope the others aren't too proud to take my help or it'll quite a short stay.

Oren could almost feel the eye rolling coming from Shyla as he waited anxiously to be led in before the council. "Just making myself presentable. I can stop if it is bothering you so much. How long is this going to take?"

He really was going to just let his clothes be, but all the eye rolling stuck in his mind. The hint of a grin crossed his face and he shuffled a bit to make his cloak rub against his shoulders one more time.


DragonSong

"Okay, now your just doing it on purpose," Shyla muttered, twisting slightly to give him a deadpan look.

Before she could snap at him, Aeris and Stella returned. "Come on," he brother said brusquely, gesturing for them to follow inside the tent.

PixelatedGlory

Oren did his best to hide his smile as he raised his palms up in surrender. Before he was able to take a step back from Shyla the others had returned to open the flaps for the tent and bid them enter. He was glad that whatever reaction Shyla was about to lash out with had also been interrupted, though he expected some sort of retaliation later.

Oren simply nodded to Aeris and Stella and followed them into the tent. In his rush, anxious to get this over with, he didn't pay any mind to whether he should have let Shyla go ahead of him or just follow the others as they had asked.

The large tent was certainly no castle, not that Oren had ever been inside one, but the interior was comfortable enough and clearly the people here had designed it to show their respect for the members of the council. What struck him the most, however was the pressure that important people were here and awaiting him to judge his worth. Just the thought of what could go wrong made his stomach lurch.

All the very limited knowledge Oren had of etiquette cycled through his head as they entered. Do I bow or kneel? How should I address them? I'm not prepared for this. In the end he decided that he would keep his head respectfully bowed and just try to be as polite as possible once he was called upon. Maybe with some luck one of the others would speak first and give him an idea of what to do.

DragonSong

Inside the tent, the council were sitting around the embers of what had once been a rather large fire, most in various states of "lounging". There were twelve members, and they rotated monthly, to ensure that the pack was run with input from as many of its members as possible.

"This is Oren," Aeris said bluntly as the group ducked inside. "He's a healer, and we're in sore need of one. Any objections?"

The full dozen council members gave the human a quick once-over, and most shrugged or grunted an affirmation of their consent.

Shyla nodded, as though she'd seen the entire interaction. "Alright. If you've got anything to declare, now's the time," she told Oren under her breath, nudging him forward a step

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