Leaving the Fields(Closed)

[Zetara]

Zetara looked around her little abandoned hovel with a feeling that change was coming. She didn't know what kind, but she always hoped Iodrah had good intentions. She gathered up her herb pouch and dressed in her finest brown sack cloth dress. Today was her weekly trip to White Blossom's Grace Community Clinic. She would go more if there weren't other places in need of help. This was by far the nicest healer's hall of the ones she visited. That is why she always wore the best clothes in her closet which was really just a broken rafter she could reach. Her handful of outfits were draped over it to keep them off the dirt floor. She looked at the one broken window that she boarded up a year ago. The cleric realized it was in need of replacement so she would have to scronge some more wood soon for the task.

She slung her leather satchel that she managed to sew together from discarded scraps. It contained the medicines she harvested herself in the woods outside the city. Also, all the copper she had saved in ten years was placed inside. The young woman stopped at her door and whispered her usual prayer. "Cecilia protect me and Faunir guide my hand in saving those I can today." Then she stood taller and walked out the door leaving it slightly ajar. This was in the hope that if someone needy arrived they could make use of the shelter. Her friends would let her know if someone dangerous was in there before she returned.

Zetara walked for about ten minutes to reach her goal. The white washed walls stood out against the drab buildings around it. When she entered the well made door of a lighter wood several people turned to look. Some looked scared others hunted, but some that knew her smiled instead. The healer went right to work on the worst she could see.

It was a middle aged man that was clutching an arm with a long jagged gash. That showed her he was on the wrong end of a fight. She pulled out some clean linen strips from her bag followed by an aloe sav. "Stay calm sir I'm here to help." The gentle voice soothed the man as she spread her medicine on the wound. As she did this she added the barest minimum of magic to knit the flesh a little faster. Then she wrapped the gash with practiced hands. "There you go sir, now don't use that arm for a few days at least, alright." Then she gifted him with a beautiful smile that he returned.

"Amazing lass, it barely hurts at all you have a real talent. I swear if I was twenty years younger you would have a suitor in me. Instead I want to give you a bit of advice. Speak to Avani Yadav she works here and I think you would both benefit from having a chat." The older man forgot himself for a moment and kissed one of her blood covered hands. Then he sprung up and whistled a happy tune as he left.

Zetara blushed at the unexpected show of affection. Then stood looking for a wash basin to get the man's fluids off her hands. She tried to remember the name he gave her so she could ask about it latter when there wasn't work to be done.

[The Unreliable Narrator]

Avani Yadav
Healer, Representative - Menagerie: Rabbit
Human - Female | 5' 1"

Crowded was a kind word for the shuffling throng of wounded and maligned that waited in nearly every corner of the clinic. A warehouse wall had collapsed along a busy trade street, so the wounded had been spread to the many halls as best they could be. With White Blossom's Grace near the larger streets, only the heavily secured supplies closet was spared the constant flow of those seeking and receiving care.

Avani stood beside the broad-topped desk at the center of the maelstrom, a bastion of safety and recovery for the clinic staff who maintained a stoic kindness despite their clear lack of supplies and capacity. Behind her, a cadre of staff relentlessly coordinated, logged, and triaged every single person who arrived. It was a marvel of dedication and effectiveness, and one of the many reasons she frequented the hall. A place like this often attracted the sort of driven and kind souls she sought to recruit.

She was a Rabbit, a member of an ever-shifting collection of like-minded individuals who sought to aid and connect the disadvantaged. What had begun as a coordinated group of messengers and logistics teams had expanded and evolved to include disaster relief and route building that knew no borders and found no challenge insurmountable. All of these changes had happened well before Avani's life, and yet she knew the group's mantra had never changed: 'When all is lost, a Rabbit will find a way.'

"Ma'am, you mustn't strain the stitching or it will tear and become badly infected," she explained as she left her reverie, finishing the last delicate stitch to the woman's palm. Knowing a complaint would come, she locked eyes with her patient. "I know that will be difficult, if you need food or firewood while you recover, you can let the staff here know now. They'll help you arrange for supplies; the Rabbits will not allow you to suffer needlessly."

The woman's complaint died and she nodded slowly, a specter of fear still lingering in her eyes. Avani gave her the kindest smile she could manage through the day's exhaustion and squeezed her shoulder. "Idols watch over you, and may you find their gaze brings comfort," the healer intoned. Leaving the woman to her thoughts, Avani rose and moved to clean her hands and tools behind the desk before settling in to note the supplies she had used and treatments she had administered in the last two hours.

"Always so much to record, but without it the entire chain falls apart," she lamented softly, doing her best to resist the urge to rush back into the fray of people who still needed care as her pen scratched across the ledger with practiced speed and precision. She was confident the most critical cases had been handled, and the permanent staff were making good headway. She trusted those she worked with whenever she returned to Fellsgard. The Rabbits never relied on those they didn't trust, after all.

[Zetara]

Zetara found a washbasin near the back of the building. She throughly scrubbed the the blood and saliva from her hands making use of the plain lye soap set aside for the purpose. She made sure to break off as small a piece as necessary to finish the disinfectant process. Then dried her hands on a plane towel. Next she stepped outside to dump the bloody water down a nearby sewer grate. Finally she stepped back inside and refilled the basin with clean water from a large pitcher set aside for the purpose after making sure the cotainer was as clean as she could make it. Magic would be so much easier, but she was sure that such a quick cleanup would attract attention she didn't want.

Then she had to fill out the parchment set aside for the free agent healers like herself. She always signed with a Z rather that put her full name. As she did her duty Zetara noticed someone currently at the reception desk. The woman was shorter than her, but carried herself with such poise that she seemed taller than anyone else in the room. This caused the eighteen year old to decide to just get that name out of her head so she could focus completely on her calling.

"Scuse me Miss could you tell me where I can find someone named Avani Yadav? The patient I just treated said I should talk to her. If she's busy I can do it later. There is still plenty of work to be done." The young cleric felt a bit guilty about taking the time to speak to another healer. However, from what she could see the people worst off had already been treated. She did realize while she awaited an answer that the place was busier than normal. What could have happened she thought to herself.

[The Unreliable Narrator]

Without looking up from her papers, Alvani offered a cheery but polite, "One moment please-" as she continued to precisely scratch away with her pen. When she'd completed the current line, she looked up and offered a nod. "I am she," she said and took in the woman before her with a practiced eye. 'Ah, a freelancer, clearly worked hard today, perhaps a touch down on her luck but driven,' she silently assessed in the space of a breath.

"There is always more to be done, yes, but you look like you've been at it for a bit now. No sense in making mistakes, when rest is in order. The next crew should be coming in, and there's not been any more disasters today," Avani explained and indicated a group of fresh-faced healers just starting to move about the hall. "Now, do you know perhaps why you were told to seek me out?" she asked, patting the empty chair beside.

Stretching her neck with a faint pop, Avani reached for a stack of cleaned overturned teacups and selected a dented and stained kettle. "Tea? Coffee perhaps?" she offered, filling her own cup with the steaming herbal concoction that immediately forced away the scents of injury, sweat, and disinfectant. Despite the fact that they were still in a terribly busy place, it was as though Avani was in a comfortable cafe, preparing to offer guidance or discuss the workday's proceedings with a colleague.

[Zetara]

When she was told the one she sought was before her Zetara began to smile. She could feel something click as she felt fate taking a hand in her life. "Pleasure to meet you I'm." She paused for a moment as her inner voice dictated she be cautious. "Zetara Miss Yadav, I'll take a cup of tea. Thank you for offering." She had heard of coffee, but never tried it. She didn't even know what plant it came from. However, tea leaves were something she could gather and put to use herself. One day she hoped to find a teapot half as nice for her personal use. Until then she had to go one cup at a time.

She eyed the comfortable looking chair beside the woman. The cleric had never sat in such a well made chair. Bars tended to go with stools slapped together out of scrap wood at least the ones she had been to before. She knew this was because fights tended to break out and destroy the seats. So it was just cheaper to have such simple chairs. The young woman sat down delicately so she hopefully didn't break the lovely chair. She was deceptively heavier than her slim frame could explain due to being dense. It was part of her innate connection to the earth from her parentage.

"I'm sorry Miss Yadav today was the first day I met this man. He didn't even give me a name to go bye. I have been making circuits of the different Healer's Halls for years now. So I guess the fellow doesn't get hurt often. He moved like a warrior of some kind is all I could gather about him. He thought talking to you would benefit us both. What I'm trying to say in a round about way is, how may I help you Miss Yadav?" She sipped her cup of tea to clear her throat. It was very soothing since she rarely spoke so much. Zetara hoped she wasn't giving the confident woman a bad first impression.

[The Unreliable Narrator]

Listening over the rim of her steaming tea, Avani said nothing of the pause in Zetara's sharing of her name. 'Never a fault to have care, and a name can be precious,' she thought as she offered a smile and nod to the woman. She prepared a second cup of tea, being sure to leave some space at the top for the shake of tired hands.

Avani offered over the cup and laughed softly as she noticed Zetara was treating the chair as though it were glass. "First, relax. Unless you're carrying lead in there you'll not bother a workhorse like that seat," she said when Zetara finished her explanation. Her kind admonishment given, she considered the words carefully.

"Perhaps he knows of my work, many warriors often do. Or perhaps he saw in you a need to help driven by something more than simple kindness," she mused before taking a slow sip of her tea and letting her words sink in. "Have you found yourself looking to do more with your skills? Feeling you must fight constantly just to be able to help with the last scraps of your effort at the end of the day?"

As she spoke, she looked more intently at the woman before her. "I do not wish to overstep, but I was once living this way. Now, I travel to places of disaster and danger, helping those in the greatest need without having to worry for my own care and comfort when I need to rest and recover. Does this sound like something that might interest you?" she asked, careful not to put too much emotion into her voice.

Having acted as a representative through works for several years, Avani was well aware of the strong impetus to help wielded by many of the volunteers she encountered, but she was also familiar with the need to guide rather than pull a potential recruit.

[Zetara]

The seemingly loud creak as she sat down may have been just anxiety. Since the other healer didn't notice Zetara's wince. "Of course I have to give my all everyday, doesn't everyone?"

"That does sound nice though. Being able to help the needy in that way would be like having a wish granted by one of the good idols." Iodrah was not one to grant such a desire without equal compensation. So the cleric wondered what kind of cost would come with such a prize.

"So Miss Yadav, what could I as a servant of Faunir do to earn such Cecilia blessed assistance in my life's work?" She may be young, but the half-elemental had often shown surprising intelligence. Being birthed by an evil genius had to have some benefits she supposed. Miss Yadav was leading her somewhere. However, the final goal was still a mystery for now.

[The Unreliable Narrator]

A smile filled Avani's face as Zetara made her sweeping declaration but she remained silent as the other woman continued. "Your eagerness is good, as long as you temper it with care it will serve you well through all your days," she offered, seeing plainly that Zetara was interested. "As for how you earn such a boon-" Avani began, letting a brief silence linger to stoke Zetara's excitement further. "-that depends entirely on what responsibilities you have here in Fellsgard."

Avani reached into a small side pocket she had added to her robes long ago and removed an equally small card of creme paper. It was embossed with a myriad of intricate designs, all of them coated in silvered ink that shone faintly with the lamp light. "When you have gotten your affairs in order, and can consider travel of at least a week, come to this office and they can direct you through what requires help at this time."

She held the card out in her upturned palm, to be taken rather than given. "There will be several options, there are always those in need; from a nearby village suffering from sickness to a ship going into dangerous waters to quell a beast of the deep. What path you choose is yours, but in all of them you will be called to bring your skills and talents to bear to preserve life and ease suffering." She nodded minutely towards the surrounding room and added, "Do not worry for those here. There are enough healers looking to help and a disaster does not occur in Fellsgard every day."

[Zetara]

Zetara saw the card and wondered what made in shine so. 'Was it magic she thought to herself?' Just in case it was she took it with caution. She wasn't going to risk checking it publicly, but made a mental note to do so later in a more private setting. Then she heard the dreadful news about a time away from Fellsguard. "A week you say?" She tried to hide her fear at the prospect of leaving the city for so long. She spent the last ten years in it trying to avoid her mother's scrutiny.

The cleric hesitated and thought about returning the pretty card. However, she found courage in her beliefs and sat up straghter answering with confidence. "Thank you for this opportunity Miss Yadav I would be glad to help that struggling village." She didn't know how to swim so she wasn't keen on taking that ship. Zetara always worried she would in fact sink like a stone in those circumstances.

She stood slowly and gave the confident healer what she believed was a proper curtsy. She had seen some actors do it to an important character in plays. She had no idea if it was even close to right. She rose from her position and looked the other woman in the eyes with resolve. "I shall return in a few days Miss Yadav. Thanks again for the chance."

After listening to the other woman's response she headed for the door. The teenager stopped short when she heard an elderly woman coughing. She handed her a pouch of herbs that included mint and her own special blend for her cough. "Add that to hot water and take twice a day. It should last you three days. Trust me, you'll feel much better afterwards." She patted the older person on the shoulder and added a touch of magic to temporarily boost the ladies endurance.

She got a smile and thank you as she headed out the door. She realized a while later she forgot to log it. Getting ready for such a journey was distracting. The components she needed for her protection spells required extensive preparation.



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