RP:I Feel Bloody Amazing
Part of the Put Up Your Dukes Arc
Summary: The clinic in Chartsend is full of patients and short on healers. Supplies are low, and Pilar doesn't have the strength of magic yet to heal everyone in the clinic. That is, until Krice gives her his rather potent blood, which invigorates her beyond what normal human blood can do.
Clinic, Chartsend
Pilar was exhausted. She was one of only six healers who were running the clinic now. With no money left, they were all volunteer. People who cared about others and wanted to make sure they were alright. So that meant there were only a maximum of two healers on staff all day, every day. Besides them starting to run out of steam, their supplies were dwindling, too. The clinic wouldn't be able to stay open for much longer. And so Pilar arrived in the morning to relieve Naomi and Elle, the two witches from Larket who had begun volunteering at the clinic, to thank the city that took them in. With bags under her eyes, Elle left to head home and Naomi gave Pilar an update before she, too left. Pilar, dressed in blue scrubs with sunflowers on them, got to work checking on the patients while she waited for her cohort Shawna to arrive.
Krice had been in the clinic since the end of the battle just north of Chartsend-proper, asleep for most of those days. He had only begun to awaken the last two, and now shifted to sit upright as Pilar and the previous healer discussed the state of the patients during their hand-over. He suffered exhaustion, a significant burn to the left side of his neck and shoulder, punctures in the right side of his midriff, as well as various superficial cuts and scrapes - the latter of which had healed. All his injuries had been cleaned and freshly bandaged. The warrior hunched over his lap, rested his arms there - the left one bandaged -, casting his gaze around the room. Half-lidded eyes landed on Pilar before long but he did nothing to garner her attention, simply watching her move around the clinic.
The clinic was full of militia (also volunteer) who had helped defend the town. Many were worse off than Krice. Some were better, and Pilar was hoping to discharge them soon. She eventually made it to Krice's bed and smiled at him. “Hey. Glad to see you awake. How are you feeling?”
Krice was scratching around the elbow-end of his left arm's bandaging when Pilar arrived at his cot. He stopped, let that hand rest in his lap, and regarded her with an even stare. " I'm fine," he said, glancing around the room at the other people requiring care. " A lot better off than the others." He seemed marginally sorrowful about this; that he had been unable to lessen the suffering of these soldiers by being more successful on the battlefield. He had killed many of Kahran's forces, but it hadn't been enough.
Pilar sat on the edge of his bed and put her hand on his good shoulder. “Hey. I wanted to thank you for helping. From friend to friend. Let me take a look at your paperwork...” The door opened and Shawna, an elf in pink scrubs came in, carrying two full bags. Pilar looked over and raised an eyebrow. “What's all that?” “Some supplies. My friend over in the Burrows had a little fundraiser slash food drive for us. It's not much, but it'll help us get through a few more days.” Pilar grinned. “That's amazing. Finally, some good news.” “Right? I'm gonna get to preparing breakfast for everyone, you keep doing what you're doing.” Pilar nodded and looked at the clipboard hung off the end of Krice's cot. Naomi had made a note when his bandages were changed that the injuries were looking better, but he probably needed more time. And he was still sleeping a lot. “Hmm. You might need to stay for a couple more days. Unless...” Pilar tapped her fingers on the back of the clipboard, weighing the pros and cons of her idea in her head.
Krice 's brow twitched slightly as Pilar's hand rested upon his left shoulder, but his gaze remained fixed on hers. When Shawna wandered in with supplies and conversed with the vampire, he was silent to allow them uninterrupted conversation, especially given its importance--talking about supplies for the clinic. When her hand moved away from him, the warrior relaxed a little more and listened to her words, but his gaze drifted elsewhere briefly - from Shawna to the other patients resting around him. As Pilar trailed off, leaving her thoughts unfinished, the enigma turned his crimson stare to her face once more, his own features passive and neutral as he asked, " What?"
Pilar placed the clipboard back. “Yesterday, I used magic to heal someone's wound, the first time I ever attempted such a spell. But it drained me more than I expected. I could try again, but I'm afraid of how it'll leave me.” “That why you were so out of it after lunch yesterday?” Shawna asked. Pilar nodded to her cohort. “Yes. If, if I could, I would do it for everyone here, but I'm not powerful enough for that. Not without something to restore me. Like a potion.” “Or blood,” Shawna said matter-of-factly. Pilar coughed. “Well, yes, or that. But that's not ideal.”
Krice pressed his lips together as he considered Pilar's revelation. She could use her magic to heal all these people? He looked around, his expression one of grim consideration, before asking of both women, " Is everyone here stable?" He turned his head to scan the cots, trying to gauge the condition of the other warriors still resting.
Pilar and Shawna both answered, “Yes.” “I'm still learning the ropes of arcane healing,” the vampire elaborated. “It's like... like learning swordplay, in a way. Not only are you learning a new skill, you're training muscles to go along with it. Push too hard, too fast, and you'll hurt yourself. Magic is much the same.” Pilar looked at her hand. “I knew the spell only in theory, and vaguely at that. I was afraid to use it, because it would be like trying to perform surgery when you'd only read about the procedure, you know? But this boy, he was in much worse shape than any of these soldiers. There was no time to get him to a clinic, he had maybe minutes. So I tried. And it worked. Then he turned into a wolf and ran off.”
Krice considered Pilar under the weight of a thoughtful stare, listening to her reply attentively. When she was done, he cast a brief glance past her at Shawna, but his attention ultimately returned to the vampire. " If you take some of my blood, you'll recover faster, and be able to heal more." He looked around, nodding to indicate the ward at large. " The most serious injuries, at least. People who will struggle to recover on their own."
Pilar was surprised by Krice's offer... but not really. He was a noble man, a good man. “I couldn't ask that of you, not while you're recovering,” she said. Shawna stopped preparing the porridge for the patients and said, “Then take some of mine, too. I'm a big girl, I won't miss it.” Indeed, Shawna was on the portly side. Pilar looked at her hands, considering it. She eventually nodded. “Okay. Let me finish making my rounds, and we'll get started. Thank you, Krice. And you, Shawna.” The elf nodded and went back to making breakfast. Pilar got up and checked on the rest of the patients, making a mental list of those with the worst wounds. Out of the two dozen or so injured, she counted seven who needed her magic the most. The ones who needed the most care and attention. Krice was not on that list, but if she had the strength, she would try to heal him, as well.
Krice pressed his lips together in a thoughtful line as Shawna offered her blood as well. He was silent, letting the woman get back to her food preparations, and Pilar to her medical rounds. Only once the vampire had returned to him did he say, " She doesn't need to help. My blood's a bit more... potent than the average." Surely her vampiric senses allowed her to tell as much; his scent sweeter, cleaner than other humans." Don't heal me. I'll be fine." And it would be a waste of her abilities. He'd need a container to put his blood in, something from which Pilar could take multiple little doses through her healing duties.
Pilar did indeed notice that he smelled different, but there could have been many reasons for that. “Um... okay. We'll need to draw your blood then. And, um... Shawna, do we have anything to hold his blood?” “Got a jar over here. It was holding the cornmeal. Let me rinse it out...” “It's fine, save the water for something else,” Pilar said. She fetched the jar and the bloodletting tools, a bandage for the wound she'd be making, then returned to Krice's side. “Okay. Are you ready?”
Krice waited patiently, without any evident anxiety for the coming procedure. Once Pilar arrived with tools in hand, he nodded that he was ready but offered a final point for her sake. " You also won't need to drink as much to recover." The blood would reinvigorate her nearly instantly, heighten her senses, quicken her speed. Over all, she would feel like a new vampire without weakness.
Pilar got to work. She tied off Krice's arm and had him squeeze a rubber ball to make his veins easier to see. She inserted the needle at his elbow, and ran the tube into the jar. It took about ten minutes to fill. She removed the needle and tubing and placed her hand on Krice's arm. Compared to the wound she'd healed the night before, this was nothing. "Thank you, Krice," she said. The blood smelled so sweet. She wondered if Krice really was just human.
Krice was patient and silent and kept his gaze off the task at hand as Pilar drew his blood. Given his own recent injuries, he was tired and lethargic, but he managed to stay awake and motionless as the vampire worked, his chin supported in the hand of his opposite arm. When Pilar was done and voiced her gratitude, the man straightened his back and turned his attention to her face, dipping his head in a nod of acknowledgment. " Use it sparingly. It won't take much to help each person." He grimaced slightly, an expression that was vaguely warm but mostly still guarded.
Pilar closed the jar and nodded. "Got it." At that point, the porridge was done, and Shawna brought a bowl over for Krice, smiling at him. "Here you are, hon. I gave you a little extra, to help with the blood loss." Pilar gave Krice a smile of her own before she made her way to the most grievously injured of the warriors. She sat by her side and placed her hands on her forehead and chest. Closing her eyes, she concentrated hard, and her hands were engulfed in golden light. Her magic worked its way into the woman's body and began mending wounds. The bones in her arms, already having been set, knitted back together. The gash across her leg and the stab wound in her stomach were both sealed. Sadly, her eye did not grow back, but the bleeding stopped, and the soldier stirred. Pilar, exhausted, sat back and grabbed the jar. She opened it, pressed it to her lips and took a single swallow. It took only a few moments for her to feel its effects. It was as Krice described. She got to her feet and went to the next patient, then the next, then the next, taking a sip after each one. Even with the vigor Krice's blood gave her, healing such dire wounds was taxing, due to her inexperience with that particular magic. Still, one by one the patients were healed, given breakfast, and discharged from the clinic.
Krice glanced away from Pilar to the approaching Shawna, hesitating a moment before he reached out to take the bowl of porridge in his healthy hand. He murmured a quiet 'thanks' and lowered the dish to his lap, spending a few seconds staring into the thick food therein. As Pilar's magic began crackling in the air, however, it drew his attention and he glanced her way. It didn't take the man long to gather up enough strength that he could move, easing out of his bed and pushing back the sheet that he could maneuver more easily. He left the bowl of porridge of the side table before stepping away in search of his items. A nurse assisted him whilst Pilar was busy, allowed him some privacy to change, and then led him away from the clinic to the exit. He wasn't ready to leave yet, but clearly the warrior felt that he needed to. Confident that his blood would help Pilar help -others- without fully sacrificing herself, he was able to depart with a clear conscience.