Gashes and Wounds [Midori]

[Selibas]

Dragging his Khan's horse behind him, Khasar made his way to the blue tent of the Chaklai camp. He was nervous to say the least. His jokes weren't making the khan laugh, usually they did. Today however, Selibas was not laughing at anything, or speaking as much as he usually would when walking with Khasar. Instead the Wolf sat hunched in his saddle, gripping the bandages on his stomach, and made little noise but a groan. The jovial swordsman led his Khan through the tents, eyes following both of them and whispers touching the lips of all that saw the wolf atop his little horse.

Finally he got there, and called for help. One of the Chaklai rushed to his side, and helped take the Khan from his stirrups and try to carry him through the flaps of one of the tents and set him up on a table, with a blanket beneath his head. All the time as the went, Selibas moaned at the pain, his eyes shut tightly every time one of the men carrying him moved too suddenly. When they lay him down Selibas grew very quiet, and very still, forcing his breath through his nose instead of his mouth. Without looking away from the Khan's stomach, Khasar said to the man, "GO! Get me a healer! Midori, the pink haired woman! He'll cooperate more with her than anyone else." The man went rushing out of the tent without a word.

Khasar put his hand to his forehead, and scraped it down his face slowly. He didn't take his eyes off Selibas' stomach, as long as it rose, he could make it out of the tent alive.

[Midori]

Somewhere in the Chaklai camp, Midori was meditating. Her day had been like that of any other. A day spent doing the work she was supposed to be doing. Healing those who had been hurt, tending to her animals, taking stock, and helping out the other women with cookery. She had neglected to do her prayers for the day, as the activities of the day to day crept up on her. But, now that she had found a quiet moment, she used this opportunity to pray. She sat in front of a campfire. Around her were small sticks of incense that let out a wispy thin smoke. The scent they gave was supposed to calm those who smelled it. To help clear the mind of distractions so one could focus on the prayers to the spirits. She had a rosary of dark beads in one hand. And her hand-arranged in a simple prayer signal in another. The hand with the beads gently guided the beads over her fingers as she said a different prayer on each bead. Though touch she could tell what bead was what. There were four beads on the rosary that were of a different color than the rest. Blue, Green, Red, Yellow. Each color tied to the Mitama, the very emotions of the spirit. Each had its own significance in her prayers.

Her fingers continued to tick onto the red bead. Red. The color of fire and blood. A bead that symbolized anger, chaos, and destruction. While all three of those things were horrible to experience it was needed. For without the spirit of rage there would be no destruction. Without destruction, there would be no change. No chance for new growth. No rebirth. She was in the middle of giving thanks to the Ari Mitama for its place in the world. She thanked it for the changes it brought to her. And while the war was a horrible thing. It allowed certain things to blossom. Then suddenly, someone interrupted her. Thank you for your quick work?

The messenger was another member of the Chaklai. The boy apologized to her for interrupting her prayers, but his message was urgent. The khan's blood rider was looking for her. Said it was an emergency. Midori nodded softly. She quickly got up. Extinguished the little embers off of each of the incense sticks, grabbed her belongings, and followed the young messenger towards the tent. She entered the tent and froze at what she saw. The grand Khan in such a terrible state. Immediately, she grabbed her staff and approached.

"He got hurt with what weapon?" She asked. Her eyes scanned over him trying to identify what needed to be healed first. The gash along his stomach was the first that would need to be healed.

[Selibas]

His chest felt heavy. It was like a man of incredible strength was pushing down on his heart and lungs, and with each passing moment, the Khan was struggling more and more to breath or even keep his eyes open. Each exhale came out like a wheeze, and Selibas felt his body growing hotter by the second. Each muscle in his body ached, his mouth was dry, and he felt dizzy. If he'd had more strength, he'd have shouted out of anger and agony, but he was too weak to manage either. He was dying on a table after fighting a thief with delusions of grandeur, not in the field against one of the men threatening his people. It was enough to push him to such a rage that he wasn't sure if his rising temperature was for his wounds, or simply his anger.

Then she came into the tent, her pink hair being one of the few things Selibas could make out as his vision grew ever cloudier. She saw him in his awful state, and asked Khasar what had happened. "It was a sword, a Falchion, one of his wounds came from the sword catching fire. It's the stab wound on his leg. The rest of them the sword was just steel." The bloodrider's voice revealed just how nervous he was now that he wasn't casting about orders. He leaned heavily on the table. He didn't want Selibas gone, the little man was his friend and his Khan, and there was nothing he could do. Nothing but try and make him see a smile. He fought to twist his mouth up into a grin again, and said, "Selibas Khan, you fought like hell out there."

Selibas looked up at his bloodrider, then back to Midori. She had her staff in her hands, and was eyeing his stomach. "you.. should see the... other guy."

[Midori]

Midori knew what a falchion was. It was a single-handed sword that was effective at cutting through flesh. Some variants were effective at cutting through horses and crippling calvary. Others had a broader sword to them in order to provide more strength and act kinda sorta of like ax. They left deep gashes in people and those wounds were often very easily infected. But, something else about the blood rider's statement caught her attention. The sword was on fire. A magic weapon.

"What type of fire? Fire like a camp orange.. was it blue.. or black?" She asked with some nervous hesitation in her voice. Burns from plain old regular fire she knew how to treat. Burns from magical fires like that seen with nether magic.. that.. required some assistance. Midori turned to the messenger whom was still standing there with a shocked look on his face.

"You. Boy. Go and get Lady Lucy. She is on stock duty tonight. I will need her help with this." She spoke to him with a voice that was stern but clear. The boy looked at her with a panicked expression.

"Go!" She shouted. The boy nodded and ran. This was not the time for panic or hesitation. She glanced over at Selibas. She took a deep breath in then out. Her mind was working through what to do. She moved towards the table and set her bag down on the table. In the space in between his knees. She quickly rolled up her sleeves and went to work.

"You Blood Rider... I'm sorry I can't remember your name right now. But, I need your assistance. Lean over him. Talk to him. Keep him conscious. If you see him sleep, tell me. My focus is going to be on the stomach for the next few minutes." From the pockets of her bag she pulled out the scissors. The bandages holding his stomach gash together were cut loose. She couldn't heal with them in place.

"This gash is deep. I may need to stitch this once I've got him stable." She spoke out loud to no one in particular. Midori held her staff and started to focus. The warm white light emerged from the glass orb on top of the rod and slowly began to stitch the flesh back together. The gash in the gut would take at least two rounds of her healing with the rod before she felt comfortable enough working with the rest of the wounds. Hopefully Lady Lucy would arrive within the next few minutes and give her some support.

[Selibas]

Khasar gripped the table as hard as he could as he answered the healer's question. "It was red, but while we were riding he kept repeating that it was white hot. It was magical, I have the sword by the horses if you need it for something. I don't know what use it would be, but it's there." Selibas' stomach moved slowly as he tried to focus on his breathing. His nose burned as he took in air, but he kept going.

He needed to make this as easy as possible, so he could get on his feet as quick as he needed. He didn't have a day to lose, let alone a week or a month. These wounds couldn't keep him to a bed, he needed to be in shape to ride, to fight. He would get up and walk out of the tent if he had to, nothing would keep him from doing what was needed of him. Except of course for death, but that was a thought that Selibas forced from his mind. If sustaining injuries that needed rest were out of the question, then certainly to died was even worse. Nothing would be more of an inconvenience to his duty and his ambition than if Selibas closed his eyes never again to open them. No, this must be as easy as possible for her, she would do it if he let her.

Khasar nodded when Midori told him to keep Selibas awake. "Ho Selibas Khan. You remember when we were kids, and you saw me steal those milk kurds from Farus? I gave you two so you wouldn't tell anyone, and then you started stealing a few for us to share every few days? I got so fat that summer, Kaichun was almost faster than me. Of course, then I started getting taller, but you wouldn't know much about what that's like would you?" On the table, Selibas laughed one harsh weeze before coughing, which made it again much harder for him to breath. His next few breathes came through hard, taking a long time to collapse and refill his lungs. Selibas could remember that summer, it was one of the first times he'd gotten along with anyone, Khasar and Kaichun willing to be nice to him if no other children or adults were around. Once they were in the open, it was back to shoving the little Bernese b*****d into the dirt, but in private he could laugh at Khasar's joke and steal sweets with them. "Sorry, sorry Selibas Khan, don't laugh, it hurts you."

Khasar leaned away from Selibas closer to Midori, "If anything you're planning could hurt him, we need another pair of hands, I don't think I can hold him down by myself, even like this."

[Midori]

Midori was breathing a bit heavier then she was a moment ago. She just used up a large chunk of her magic in just getting the wound stable. The bleeding had stopped and now she needed to heal him again to close the wound.

"I am going to touch him. Please.. put your hand on his chest and hold him down. Use your other hand to hold the ankles together and down. This will be uncomfortable for all of us but I cannot have him squirm." She spoke to the blood rider. When the Khan was secure, she continued to work. She reached a clean hand over the Khan's gash and slowly pinched it. The redden flesh felt hot and mushy. But she could also feel some solidness from the developing clot. She nodded softly. As if content with what she was seeing. She was on the right track. She moved her hand slowly downwards, pinching the wound, and focusing. She had no time to administer a topical anesthetic. And an oral pain killer made from poppy seeds might end up knocking the Khan into the next life given his condition. But, she had to do this.

She focused again. She had to keep the light of healing going for a prolonged length of time. She was going to pinch the wound close and heal as she went along. Kind of like how one pinched the sides of a bun to keep it's meaty contents tucked in. This sort of healing put a great deal of strain on her mind and body. She would be very dizzy and very drained by the end of it. But she had to do it, the Khan needed to live. She spent a tentative ten minutes with the wound gradually closing it with this pinch and heal methodology. The wound had closed to a quarter of what it once was. It was now a large red wet swollen looking scar, about two fingers across.

"You.. may remove your hands blood rider.. sir."

Midori had to grip the table to prevent herself from falling. She was breathing harder now then when she started. But, help had arrived. Lady Lucy entered the tent with a pale face and a look of determination. She saw the Khan and immediately knew what the novice healer had done. Her continuous healing had also helped to lessen the bleeding of the other wounds.

"Good Job Mido." The former Ilian complemented before using her own staff to mend what remained of the wounds.

"I.. suspect.. internal damage Milady. They say he was hit by the magic of a sword." Midori blurted out in between breaths.

"Right. We will come to that bridge soon." She blonde spoke. Her staff glowed with a much stronger light then Midori's did. Her staff was also much different then her own. One with a gold scepter and red orb on top. Her magics was stronger then that of Midori's. She healed remainder of Khan's Selibas' wounds quicker. It also had the ability to heal multiple people in a small area. Her staff was fortify.

"Come. Check his heart rate. I will monitor the breath." She spoke. Midori nodded, she gripped his hand softly. Her fingers still bloodied. She rested two fingers just above the bottom end of his wrist. And quietly checked for his heart rate.

[Selibas]

On the table the Khan twisted his face in pain, and Khasar ran his hands through his hair above him. Selibas' body rang out with pain down to the inch. As his mind slipped, rifling through his memories, he tried to use what faculty of thought remaining in him to focus his breathing. The air entered his nose, and he drew it to his lungs, letting it rest before pushing it back out through his lungs, all on a count. It was something Chlane had taught him.

---

Selibas brought the weighted rod up, barely blocking a slash from his master that would have given him a black eye. A cocky smile split his lips at that, Chlane hadn't been expecting him to be able to block his strike, only parry it. His grin disappeared as soon as the Ilian's massive knee rang against his stomach. Dropping his practice sword, Selibas fell to the knees, struggling to breath. He put his left hand to his stomach then fell to his side, worried that he was dying. The pain of the wind leaving him brought tears stinging against his eyes.

His master hurried to kneel before him. "Come on Little Wolf. Fight it. It's pain, you've felt pain before. Get angry if you have to. You're stronger than a little blow to the stomach. Breathe Selibas. Breathe." Looking up at the Gravemaker, Selibas tried to explain without words what he was feeling. He couldn't tell Chlane that he couldn't breathe, he couldn't tell him anything. Chlane placed one of his massive hands on the boy's shoulder.

"Come on Selibas. You have to fight through it. Force the air in, through your nostrils." The boy who would be Khan fought to do so. It was not an easy battle, but he did so. "Good, now count slowly to three. In your head say one dead Etrurian, two dead Etrurians, three dead Etrurians." With effort, Selibas tried to stop exhaling, though he didn't know if he was succeeding. "Now exhale, and do a two count before you bring any air back in. Do it all slowly so you don't burn your lungs on the way." Selibas did so, closing his eyes. "You're a fighter Wolf, never forget it."

---

The healing light of Midori's staff pulled him back from the well of his mind he'd fallen into, and he could feel her hand squeezing him as she went across his larger gash. His vision was blurry as he entered her eyes, but with each passing second her magic bathed him in a sort of joy. The pain remained, but he was able to feel the warmth of the stave next to it as she poured the will of whatever made the healing arts work into him. He focused his breathing to keep from moving, and focused his eyes on the pink blur inside the tent.

A new voice joined them eventually, as Selibas' agony continued to lessen. A new glow came, one that felt different. It felt like Selibas' whole body weight lay on top of him, and threatened to push him into the table. It was not the warm glow of the first healing, it was a much more assertive push on him, and Selibas could feel something like static from the magic, as if it reached out to the others in the tent as well.

When Midori took his hand, Selibas could feel his own blood on them. He tried to squeeze he hand in the moment he was able, and forced out a, I'm sorry-" The Khan concentrated on breathing once more, "Midori."

[Midori]

As the light of Lucy’s staff filled the tent it helped to revitalize an exhausted Midori. She wasn't fully recovered. She took the Khan's pulse. His was accelerated which was understandable. Lucy was hovering over his face watching his chest. She knew her healing had done a well enough job. Most of his wounds at this point were healed. At least healed to the point where he would not bleed out. Now the women just had to work on keeping him stable.

“His breathing is fast but not irregular. I do not hear gurgling in his voice nor do I feel it in his chest.” Lady Lucy spoke as she had two fingers resting firmly into his chest. Those were good signs.

"Heart is accelerated but not irregular." Rythmic lub-dubs and not lub-gap-dubs.

Midori wasn't sure why. But she couldn't see too well. Or rather she was seeing something she shouldn't. She saw something within the khan. To her it looked like black ink. Perhaps the day's events are getting to me. She wanted to rub her eyes. But, they were bloodied and Selibas was squeezing the other. With her bloodied hand she prepared to draw upon the powers of her staff again.

“What are you doing?” The blonde woman asked.

“Just one more as a precaution.” She gripped the staff with both hands and focused. Her staffs light filled the air and it's warmth penetrated through the Khan. Into his insides. Into the place where she could see the dark blob. To the damage that was inside. When that was done, when she felt she had banished the dark. Only then did the light fade. And Midori was exhausted. Lady Lucy quickly swing around and grabbed her before she fell. She dragged her student to a small wooden chair and had her sit.

“You stubborn child. You have exerted too much. Sit there and recover.” She ordered. When she returned to tend to the Khan she noticed his condition. Twas a vast improvement from when he came in. His wounds were nearly healed save for a few sores. She could only assume a large chunk of his pain had been whisked away.

“You rider. He is safe to move. I will call another so that he can be put on a stretcher and sent to his tent. No horseback. No walking. For twenty four hours.” Her voice was sort of harsh. But she was concerned over her student.

“I need a few moments to prepare some tonic for pain. I will have Midori send it over. If she is still unwell then I will deliver it myself.” She took a deep breath and slowly let it out through her nose. A heavy sigh.

“Grand Khan.” She was looking at him. Her eyes were a soft blue, she was a stern woman, but in this moment she had nothing but concern for the khan.

“Please I beg of you.. follow those instructions.” She then turned her head to look at Midori. Who had her head resting on her clean hand. She was paler than before and breathing with some difficulty. But, she was oddly calm, and looking back at Lucy, and at Selibas. She wanted to say that she'd be alright. But there was a burning in her chest that prevented her from speaking. She felt like she had just swallowed liquid fire and it was stuck. She date not show it though. She kept her composure as much as she could. But, when it became too much she hid her face in her hand.

“Consecutive healing puts a strain on the healer my Khan. Please don't let her efforts be wasted. Give your body the rest it needs.” She then stepped out to call a helper and a stretcher.