Douaga: the search for Brother Dalton

[Alberich]

Audie broke off from making faces at the bear, which at this point was dead and couldn't see them. There was work for him now. "Eh, miss?" he said, turning to Therese, "may I be havin' a look at that? Here." He encouraged her to turn so he could get to work on the shredded arm. "Don't be cryin' now." Of course she wasn't. With a touch he had the blood flow slowed and stopped. His brows knitted as he focused on healing.

Anfisa came running up as well but there wasn't anything she could do, so she stayed a foot or two back while the healer got to work.

[Browncoat]

When Argus's spell killed the bear, Mordan's barrage stopped. Mordan clutched his gut, fighting the urge to vomit. The emotions from being part of any animal's demise were usually enough to make him hurl. The fact that there was no other real option was enough to hold it in check...barely. After a minute of unsteady breathing, Mordan was in control enough to wander over toward Therese and Audie. When he saw what Audie was doing, Mordan's eyes went wide and his lips parted.
"Oh," Mordan breathed. The sight of magical healing was enough to distract him from further thoughts about the bear.

[Graybeard]

He's good, Sister Rose thought as she watched Audie at work on Therese's shoulder. I couldn't have got that blood stanched so quickly. Father Red was right: he'll be handy to have along ... although he is still a boy.

There was still work to be done on the wounded woman, however. Quite understandably, she was showing signs of shock. Well, Rose knew what to do about that, and so did others in the group; it was pretty basic first aid, after all, and not necessarily of the magical variety. She knew that, at the minimum, Desiree knew how to handle it; she'd seen her do it before, with Argus. She gestured to the half-elf priestess, not worrying for the moment about whether having a decidedly non-Luminositan spellcaster involved in proceedings was going to set Sister Helen and Father Morton on edge. "Can you help me out here?"

A part of her remembered that that previous "treatment" of Argus' shock had involved Desiree getting in very close contact with him. She'd had just the tiniest moment of resentment back then, before she realized that in no way would the priestess be competing with her for Argus' attentions. (Of course, she was oblivious to the brief idea that had passed through Desiree's mind at the time regarding a threesome ... but even that wouldn't have been considered a threat, just -- well.) What would be Therese's reaction to something similar? This might be worth watching, she thought, even as she summoned healing magic to help get the blood flowing to Therese's extremities again.

Now she turned her attention to Mordan, who also looked to be getting sick, for reasons she didn't fully understand. "Are you all right?"

[Browncoat]

Now she turned her attention to Mordan, who also looked to be getting sick, for reasons she didn't fully understand. "Are you all right?"

Mordan's reverie was interrupted by the lady's question.
"How did he learn to do that?"

[OOC: Mordan has had no training in healing magic, but wants to learn]

[Drusia]

Therese is hurt. And that boy is healing her.

I step up and help.

"That was very brave of you," I say to Therese. I glance at the dead bear, then away. All that... blood. I mean, a little blood is one thing, but that... that's just... awful. I wish I could have done something to calm it. But it would probably have killed me had I tried.

Audie has the bleeding taken care of, so I work on dulling the pain and making sure all the bits heal properly. I wouldn't want Therese to lose any movement due to scar tissue.

-- Desiree

[Graybeard]

The shock was passing now, and Therese was slowly getting her natural aplomb back. "Thank you," she said first to Audie, enfolding him in a motherly hug ... although there was a troubled look in her eyes as she did it. "And you," she said to Desiree, but the hug this time was considerably less motherly and more ... well, deeper. But the concern in her eyes also deepened, and she pulled away after holding the hug for a while and looked at her wounded arm.

"I -- don't have any feeling in my fingers," she said with quiet concern, holding up a hand that had gone to neutral position.

------------

Sister Rose had not waited in line for her turn at Therese's embrace (indeed, had not even heard the soft concern about possible nerve damage), and in fact, was already moving on to the next problem. "Somebody should check out that body, but first, show me this hill, this underground burrow that the bear came out of," she commanded Shortround, who was clearly looking for something to burn off the adrenaline rush that had occurred when the bear went on its rampage. "Yes'm," the boy replied, and skittered over to the hillside.

Not exactly a bear's den, not with an entrance like that, Rose rapidly deduced. A quick bit of detection magic showed nothing magical, or alive at a level she could detect, beyond the now-open doors ... but there was something down there. In addition to the obvious observation that large carnivores from the polar regions didn't just materialize in the tropics, there was simply something about the place that wasn't right, in no way that her sensory magic could identify.

"Well, I think we're going to have to check that out," she announced to anyone who would listen. "Who's going with me? Probably a sideshow, so we won't spend long there."

But somehow, I don't really think so.

[Browncoat]

"Well, I think we're going to have to check that out," she announced to anyone who would listen. "Who's going with me? Probably a sideshow, so we won't spend long there."

Mordan took a deep sniff at the air from the burrow and frowned.
"S'not right," he muttered.
A snap of his fingers, and Mordan triggered his night vision spell.
"I'm goin' in with ya"

[Alberich]

Audie's body responded to Therese's hug just as one might expect. His mouth went dumb. The chemistry between Therese and Desiree was quite lost on him.

"I -- don't have any feeling in my fingers," she said with quiet concern, holding up a hand that had gone to neutral position.

That started him up again. It might be years before he learned a full "bedside manner" but even at his stage of training there was a standard way of talking.

"It be nothin' to worry about, ma'am, and a long sight better than feelin' pain there all the time. 'tis healable quite, just be takin' some time is all. If maybe there's a place 'round here for you to lie down, I can be gettin' to work."

"Well, I think we're going to have to check that out," she announced to anyone who would listen. "Who's going with me? Probably a sideshow, so we won't spend long there."

Audie's sense of adventure rose at that, but his sense of duty tamped it down. He'd better be staying with Therese and getting those nerves healed.

Anfisa, having nothing to say, wasn't speaking. She'd go wherever Desiree went.

[Graybeard]

If Therese noticed that the young healer was -- reacting -- to her hug, she said nothing about it. She flushed slightly, embarrassed at the attention that her hand seemed to be drawing, never mind that she still didn't have any sensation in her fingers. She shook it tentatively, but without effect. "No, no, it'll be all right," she protested. "We need to find out where that bear came from."

Sister Rose fixed her with a hard stare. "The bear can wait until you're healed," she said, a bit of tension in her voice. "Do as the healers say." Then to Audie and Desiree: "Can you help her?" The tension had given way to real concern now.

[Alberich]

"Aye'm," said Audie, "just be needin' some time, and better she have a place to rest while I'm about it." He'd probably need a place to rest right after - healing could be tiring work - but he was confident in his ability to do this.