[IC] [Closed/Private] An Unexpected Fate in an Unexpected Place

[MyCatGinger]

Aurum town, built some centuries ago, now grows and thrives as a trading town with its location being prime to its purpose: situated just on the edge of a water body that brings in ships with goods and eager traders. Also connected to the mainland, and located near other to-note destinations makes the town no small place. A city in its size, though perhaps not recognised yet, the town brings together many races in its cultural centre, and they have learnt to come to accepting terms of each other for the most part, despite the occasional disagreement. With resources like forests and caves littered across in the vicinity that tempt the residents to come and take, bountiful and benevolent as the gods they serve, it's no wonder it's so popular and 'hip' in its time.
But our story isn't set in this town. Just a little bit away, really.
Not too far away from this happy, bustling little trade-town lies a mighty guild, welcoming to all those who set eyes on the intricate iron gates, ever open, ever warm. The mosaic path beyond leading to the building is to be admired: creams and blues and burnt siennas lighting up the area and glinting when they catch the sun's light. Forests nearby keep the guild under the coverage it needs to be safe, and to provide its members with some challenge. Some adventure, as it were. Caves can be a particular favourite.
Though there comes an occasion where a team is sent far off, outside their comfort zone, to explore what we call a 'dungeon', or a 'labyrinth'. Obviously open to any fool who wishes to try, newbies are sent to the guildmaster's particular favourite to show off their skills, and complete her request. With her eyes and ears ever present in the walls, she learns of the ability of the team, as to set them challenges in the future that they'll rise to.
Our story is set here, in this guild, with some very unlikely people. With some very unexpected fates. Destined to meet in a very unexpected place, and continue to venture into places forth that their greatest dreams and desires could never have imagined.
Aerenthis awaits.

---

Wake up call: 8-8:30 AM (most people don't get up unless there's a horn blaring for several minutes unfortunately)

Breakfast: Served at 9 AM sharp, and can go on to 11 AM. Daily announcements made here and in this time notices are put on notice boards for guild-members to see.

Lunch: Served at 1 PM, and can go on to 3 PM. Not a mandatory meal for most explorers as they can find their own lunch whilst out, but for anyone still at the guild a hot meal remains ever ready.

Dinner: Served at 7 PM, and can go on to 9 PM. This is to ensure that everyone returning home gets a proper meal before a good night's sleep. Second most important meal of the day. (Best food served at this time, in Guildmistress Ivanna's opinion!)

Lights Out: 11:30 PM, to ensure all guild-members get a good night's sleep of about 8 and a half hours. Whatever you choose to do outside of 'lights out' is your own responsibility. But if you bother anyone else's sleep, rest assured, here are consequences.

Rules and timings are set to keep guild-members as safe as possible, and make sure they're cared for.

A fraction of any money earned as rewards for tasks completed for the townpeople goes to the guild, obviously. Most items are allowed to be kept by the guild-members, though.

A storage account can be started at Aurum Town (barely a 7 minute walk away, and a 3 minute ride on horseback) under the name or account of a party registered with the guild, to store any items that cannot be kept in the inventory, or cannot be kept in quarters at the guild. Money can also be stored for safe-keeping, in case of being robbed in an exploration, a dungeon, or just generally.

With two floors above ground, top and main floor mostly for dorms and such, and two floors below the ground and a courtyard that extends behind the guild also containing about 20 or so stable boxes and designated areas for riding, including a path leading off into the wood, it's a pretty big place. Mess hall located on the bottom-most floor, and the guildmistress' office located on the main floor. Notice boards with jobs will be posted on all floors except the top-most, with different job descriptions and requirements and requests. The notice board on the top floor would be reserved for the guild-members, and any personal messages or things they'd like to post up there, as in lost item reports, love-letters, organised events for the guild, etc.
Teaching would take place on the first floor underground of the guild, as a couple of qualified individuals wait, and along with their duties to the guild, happily share their knowledge and school anyone interested. We currently have teachers for hand-to-hand combat, weapons up-close and personal like swordplay, or the use of lances or axes, archery/ranged weapon and how to develop skills with them, different magics, general literature (for those who might not know how to read and write), and some language teachers of different tongues, if you were to venture deep into the hearts of other regions, where the influence of the humans and their 'english language' wasn't as widespread.

Housing in the guild generally has a room for four people, and berths are pretty simple, with rooms being homey more than anything else with tall windows to the outside world and orange/cream internal decor. Each individual would have a chest to keep their belongings in, in the decently sized room, and a main, larger chest for other things like bedsheets and just essentials. Minimal decor, some tables, and attached restrooms with mirrors and running water (thank the guild being located along the line of that water body for the fresh water).

---

"Good morning, miss." came a warm voice from somewhere behind a little lady glancing out of a tall window outside. She seemed lost in thought, and had to be nudged before she responded to the elven man behind her, and then she smiled a warm smile and waved her hand dismissively up at him.
“I’m fine, Adrian. Just watching the morning sun rise as always, and offering it my prayers. I have a feeling something’s going to happen today. Something new.” She beamed, and glowed even more radiant with the light hitting her face. For her thirty-two years, this dwarven woman had kept herself well in shape with her skin glowing to date even without the sun.
“Miss Ivanna, I know, but you say that every day.” The elven man, Adrian, shrugged with a laugh, and an affectionate glance over at her. He even ruffled her hair a little, though she was a good foot and a half shorter than his 6’1. “We’ll see, as every day, shall we?”
“You’re such a tease. Whippersnapper.” The older woman faked an overdramatic sigh before giving him a smile, almost playful now. “Come. It’s almost time for breakfast, isn’t it?”
“You’re quite right, as always, Guildmistress.”
“Good. Then come. We’ll see what the day brings over a nice breakfast, of bread and fruit, as I expect no fresh meat has been bought or hunted for the day.” She looked almost a little saddened. One of her favourite meals was roast lamb, but that would be quite inappropriate at the time, being 8:45 in the morning. Breakfast was at 9, and usually went on to 11, and lunch was served at 1 PM, and went on to 3. Dinner in the evening was at 7, and went on to 9, and ‘lights out’ (officially, anyway) would be at 11:30.
“Of course. Don’t fret though, we’ll have some by the afternoon. For now, let us leave.” His blue eyes shone with turquoise specks from the light pouring through the window, as he put a hand on the shorter woman’s shoulder and led her off to the cafeteria, after a brief stop at her office of course to see what adventures were available, and requests had been made by the nearby townspeople on that day.
One that would prove to be fateful indeed.

[Nick Emerald Grant]

The Aurum town was emanating sounds of all kinds already at this early hour; from the low breathing of fire-stokers in the bakeries, to the barking of a dog and the ever more common angry housewife, barking at their husbands for either the ale in the breath, or the perfume on their clothes. Despite the rather unsettling situations that happen between 'loving' husbands and their wives, Aurum is actually a content and peaceful town, marketplaces booming with friendly banter and ever so more friendly rivalries within the mercantile business.

Aurum was a town of peace yes, but of course even the most diplomatic of towns needs protection. The local guard saw to that, fitted with all manner of steel and metal crafted to near Elvish perfection, if not greater than that. The force responsible for such an achievement would be the town's smithy, named Hearthfire. The owner of the smithy was the respected Madolche Landstar, a noble Orcish human who earned his rank with his metal. Sadly, the Orc grew feeble with age, and died a peaceful death, leaving the smithy in his more than capable apprentice now turned master, Nick Grant, a human through and through. Madolche took Nick into his arms as an apprentice, taking a form of pity on the boy upon hearing of his past; his parents. Unfortunately, Nick had to work harder than what he anticipated. In noble families, bastards have no right to any fame or fortune the family own, and if you are an orphan, you might as well be a bastard to the world, so naturally Nick had to show his talents.

Within a week of having the forge to himself, he had already re-crafted the town guards' compliment of eighty, complete with blades and armor, leather and steel; that got the town's attention. There wasn't a day gone by that Nick hadn't been at the forge, filling out requests one by one, until this day.

Nick's supplies of coal and metal had run dry, and his supplier had been stricken with a rather bad case of the Orcish Harrowing, leaving Nick with a cold forge and a cold shop.

From his rare visits to The Stag's Head, the local tavern/inn, the information regarding a guild named Aerenthis was given to him; supposedly they pass out open invitations to quests that they forge themselves. This intrigued Nick, if not only for the means of obtaining materials for his work.

Nick never really used his own creations before, so it was quite odd for Nick to be strapping a bastard sword to his back, as well as donning a mixture of leather and metal: Leather vambraces studded with steel, greaves of steel, and a torso wrapped in leather. Nick suited it well.

Nick had spent his third day lodging at the Aerenthis, two days more than he intended. He had traveled here seeking potential information on where to obtain materials for his smithy; he couldn't deny the slight desire he had for the adventure, though the lack of tasks irritated him. It shouldn't be too hard to find a cave or something, isn't it?

Nick was sat in the back courtyard by his lonesome, his bastard sword laying across his lap. He seemed to be holding it firm with his right hand, while his left seemed to be grasping an etching tool, seemingly scratching intricate detailings into the flat sides of the blades. It appeared he was focused into what he was doing, deliberately annoying the elvish man greeting him from afar; that man annoyed him so greatly.

[Aurain]

As the dawn had approached, light flooded the forest that Aurain had found shelter in. As the light bounced from branch to trunk to leaf, it eventually bounced to her face, where it shone brightly. Warmth and light had greeted her as she stirred from the sturdy tree branch she had slept upon, careful not to fall off and land terribly and painfully on the cold, hard ground. She yawned and brought her hands to her face, where she rubbed her eyes against the side of her index finger for a slight moment before hesitantly opening them to see the start of a new day. When she opened her eyes, the light reflected against the crystalline color but caused her to close her eyes tightly against the intensity of the sun. The ferret was nuzzled against her neck, the tips of the ferret’s fur lightly stabbing into her neck and had rubbed his head against her jaw, causing a slight smile to curve upon her otherwise stiff lips, causing Aurain lightly touched the top of the ferret’s head and rub. Her blade and her bow sat carefully on her back, as she slept on her side to avoid having to remove her weapons or getting stabbed during her sleep with her own weapons.
Ain, the ferret, nibbled on her cheeks, as a means to get her to continue walking for what seemed like an eternity for the both of them. She took a moment to take a good look at her surroundings and sat upright whilst doing so, slowly inching forwards to the point where any movement would cause her to fall off, she leapt forwards and landed on her feet carefully, albeit it didn’t stop a thorn from puncturing the sole of her foot. Since she’d suffered through worse, the most she did was stumble and then raise her foot slightly off the floor where Ain slithered off her neck and jumped down, sitting on his hind legs to remove the thorn. After he had done so, she turned her back to the direction of the light and had started walking, treading lightly upon a path well worn-out over the years with Ain following closely by. Eventually, Ain had jumped onto the back of her trench coat and climbed towards the collar, where he curled around her neck and started to nap.
After an hour or two of simply treading, she picked up the pace and had started jogging, which eventually turned to running, managing to avoid small objects littered on the path. Eventually, she had stopped to see a sign with the words “Aurum Town” with an arrow pointed down the path. 'Interesting,' she thought and had continued running down. She had never heard of the town and was interested to see what it had in stock, she may be able to get certain potions or scrolls.
As she ran, she was so caught up in her thoughts that she had forgotten to see the thick tree root situated in the middle of the path, causing her to trip over and fall face first into the ground with Ain flying through the air in front of her. Ain had managed to land on his feet perfectly fine; however, she had cuts and bruises over her face, palms and feet. Just below her left eye, a deep yet small cut had appeared and her right lower jaw was bruised heavily, her palms and top of her feet were covered in gashes with pieces of dead leaves and broken branches lodged within the cuts. She groaned and shut her eyes tightly for a moment, before looking down the path. Amidst the light, she had managed to see the faint outlines of a cluster of buildings with a billow of smoke floated through the air above the buildings. She had managed to get up, stumbling from side to side before getting onto her feet. As she had gotten up, blood had gushed out of her wounds. She swallowed a cry of pain before starting to run towards the outline.
Aurain continued running, biting back painful groans as blotches of blood left a trail behind her. She bit onto her lower lip hard to distract herself, managing to get herself to the gate before sharply turning her head to see a sign with the words “Aerenthis Guild” engraved into the wooden board. The villagers gasped at the sight of her but they didn’t offer any help due to her appearance. 'Might as well take a risk,' she thought to herself as she felt Ain scramble on her back to get to her neck. Whilst making her way towards to the guild, her pace eventually fell to walking speed, where she managed to get in front of the gate before she fell to her knees, and then her chest with a loud thudding noise. Her surrounding shifted to a blurry outline and she closed her eyes, her body slightly shuddering as she fell into a dreamlike state.

[MyCatGinger]

The sun crept through the sky as lazily as Spirit's walking was towards where his mistress led. "C'mon, it's not very far" she clicked encouragingly and stroked his neck a little, though he was stubborn if anything and refused to move any faster, which drew a sigh from the girl's lips, coral and speaking of life in the warm morning air. She loved the sun, and its warmth, and being outside in general and it was her favourite part about being born and raised in a trading town. She'd often accompany family on trips to the store, but that would be about it, before she was locked up again and immersed in her studies. She studied pretty hard, as was expected of most, if not all elves. And she was no different. No, Freija was definitely no exception.

Though in one thing, she did differ from her family,and most of her siblings, and that was her lust for adventure. The only other person she'd thought who even came close to mirroring her in that fact was her older brother, Daeron, one of two. When they were little, they'd often joke and laugh about running away into the woods with Spirit to start their own adventure. And she thought of him as she made her way, past cobblestone and dirt and sand and whatever else led her to the guild, and it made her glow with the warmth, now inside as well as out. Her brother's image and voice played in her mind, and how he used to taunt and tease her about being too soft for adventure, and how his hair and eyes, matching hers down to the very last strand though his was definitely shorter, messy and ending a little above his shoulders, would light up in laughter when he played with her. Her brother would almost be her most favourite person in the whole world, if she were to have one. He was everything she wanted to be, within adventure as well as without.

Whilst she was lost in daydreaming how it'd be like if he could come with her, were he not doing as their parents' bidding and being the middle son of the children, learning the ways of the trade and getting prepared to be married off at his 19 years of human age as well as her oldest brother and his 22, she hadn't noticed just how close the guild was, and was surprised when the gate manifested itself off in the distance. She grabbed the horse's reigns a little tighter and nervousness was evident for about a split-second in her voice, though quickly dispelled, "There it is, Spirit! I...we have to get there. I hope we're not late, I really don't."
They'd been going a little bit, for her parents lived on the other side of town, further away from the guild, and had to make their way through crowded streets, as busy as always in the morning, and that's what took her as long. It was chaotic to a degree, walking through with a horse. You'd think they'd organised some sort of system for those on horseback but alas, though even their guard was equipped with the finest weapons from the finest smithy and the finest eyes that side of the region, they still couldn't see a way to make it easier and less traumatic for the animals and people alike.

It would save a surprising amount of trouble. Heh, would give them less jobs to do and an easier time being rendered redundant, though, too.

Regardless, she pressed on, picking up a bit of speed on a light trot on her horse as they walked past trees hanging down as if to meet them on the path they trod on, with her hands gripping the reigns ever firmer, and firmer still. She tossed her head back and freed the hood of the dark green cloak she'd been wearing from her head and to pool at the nape of her neck, letting her light hair catch the light and finally be able to sway in the breeze like she liked best, though tied back in a high ponytail as it usually ended up being. She adjusted her bangs with a quick swipe through, and urged Spirit faster, and since it took a little bit to get him out of his morning daze every morning, she had to even give him more than the usual number of gentle kicking to get him to move. Drafting horses were built to carry weight, and he had no problem with that, but they weren't built for speed in particular, or to be particularly responsive early in the morning, Freija was coming to find out.

Her heart leapt when the gate approached, its iron designs and the path beyond, and she arched her back and stuck her chest out proud as they walked past, like the noble she'd wished to be for quite a while. It was often her daydreaming she was the commander of some ranks, on her high horse, riding past for all to admire. Though it didn't take long before she was stopped dead in her tracks and had to pull back the reigns. A figure lay at the entrance of the guild, collapsed on the floor and not moving very much either, and it worried her seeing someone look so...collapsed. It didn't even look like a person with all the clothing it wore, and she had no idea what race or even if it was still moving, but a big lump covered in a dark trench-coat was not in the ordinary, and her curiosity got the better of her, and she did decide to check it out.

Spirit wasn't un-used to his mistress just randomly choosing to dismount wherever and whenever, because even when she was learning to ride she did several times for no apparent reason and though it bothered him, he'd gotten used to it, so he held still as always and received a loving cuddle from her as she approached the body on foot, reigns in hand though and guiding the stallion closer. He was at least 17 hands high, as most Clydesdale tend to be, and equally as heavy, but she had little worry about where his feathered hooves landed. He was careful, and there was a certain bond between them. He knew when to stop, or go, just by how her body tensed. They'd been together for the better part of his life, after all.

Freija stopped just before the figure on the ground, kneeling over and nudging it with her hand, and then pushing it slightly, with a voice soft and worried to a degree, though a definite childlike curiosity came through as well. "Hey....hey, are you...alive? Are you...okay?"

[Nick Emerald Grant]

The intricate etchings that Nick was engraving into his blade were beginning to take shape; both sides having small grooves etched in, though they were barely visable at a simple glance. Most likely the etchings will be visible once it has tasted battle with something or someone.

"Master Grant!" Nick's eyes darted up to the elf man, briefly remembering his name as Adrian. The human stood up from the cobblestone ground, returning his sword to its sheath. The elf continued, "We require your assistance at the gate. There is an elf who is hurt, we need you to carry her inside." Nick contained the sigh of annoyance, nodding his head indicating the elf to go on ahead of him. Rather than taking the stairs and crossing through the junction into the building, Nick simply cut across the courtyard, reaching the side exit, looking above him. Thanks to the years in the smithy, it wasn't difficult for him to secure a grip on the wooden balcony, and pull himself over, throwing his feet over and landing on the panel flooring.

Now on stable ground again, Nick made haste to the guild gates, seeing the Mistress of the guild and her pet elf, looking down at a second elf currently unconscious on the ground, with a third elf busy checking whether it was alive or not.

"Move." Nick ordered the dwarf and elf, as he strode over to inspect the situation. The mistress turned, quickly stepping back, the elf Adrian taking longer to respond.
The female elf looming over the unconscious one appeared rather young, the curiosity and slight fear apparent on her face. The human knelt down on the other side of the unconscious elf, inspecting her condition with his eyes.
The stench of blood pooling strangled his nostrils, having to turn his head from the scent.

"She has multiple lacerations on her hands and feet; there's also one under her eye that needs tending to. Any of you have healing remedies? Herbs? Potions?" Nick's voice was heavily accented, most likely of english descent, furthermore making his tone and words seem more of an order than a request.

"We have bandages and suturing equipment inside, but we must-"

"Get her inside yes I know, don't remind me like i'm an idiot." Nick interrupted the elf, reaching out to place the unconscious elf-girl's hands inwards, resting them on herself, as Nick slid his arms underneath her shoulders and the backs of her knees.

True to what is said about the elves, she weighed little to nothing, and proved no difficulty to Nick as he lifted her body off the ground, an arm already drooping off her and flailing in the air as he stood.

"Go." Nick ordered, Adrian taking a fraction of a moment to understand what he meant, before leading the way towards the infirmary, where the elf in his arms could be tended to.

[Aurain]

She managed to notice that because of her attempts in trying to distract herself from the main source of pain by biting her lower lip, she managed to create a small puncture in her lower lip. In her current condition, she was unable to do anything but instead managed entered a dreamlike trance for a mere few seconds before she could feel the pain surging throughout her body as the pain surged from head to toe, the vibration of something similar to a stampede due to all of the people around her constantly shuffling and moving about forced her body to tremble as well. She could head the voices and the mutters around her, and in that moment, one of her eyes opened, revealing the hazy surrounding around her.
Growing up, she could never take wounds without crying nor could she stand them which often made her burst into tears because she couldn’t handle it. She attempted to go on this journey in hopes of strengthening her physique and mentality, but having gone away from home for nearly two years now, she hasn’t made any progress in anything. Her physique didn’t help this whatsoever, as she was and is easily cut and easily bruised. In this case, what should’ve been only simple, slight scratches and tiny bruised doubled into great gashes and heavy wounds.
With her eye open, she took notice of a young elf by her side, a sort of blonde hair from what she could see with a single eye, but due to the blood loss, even that sight was blurry and fading quickly. It felt as though tremors ran through the ground as another person had walked towards her, she could faintly hear a deep voice and something about herbs and bandages. At that point, she felt the urge to break into tears but had no energy of doing so, so she closed her eye and focused on hearing. The small ferret slipped off her neck and hissed at the young man taking Aurain’s limp body but after a short moment, it noticed the intentions behind lifting her body.
Ain then looked at the young elf who had first come to try and figure whether the little ferret’s companion was dead or alive and leapt onto her, visibly shaking in fear as it didn’t understand what to do at this point, having never seen his companion react this way. Meanwhile, as her hands were placed onto her body and as she was lifted up, a slight groan of pain escaped her lips due to the placement of her hands, as at any point, any bodily movement made by her could possibly cause further pain or possibly widen the gashes. The only thought that ran through her head was ‘I wish I didn’t inherit my mother’s delicacy’ or something along the lines, as this condition of hers is due to her mother and her mother’s childish acts as she grew up, prior to meeting her father, having taken numerous and countless different potions and concoctions from the Alchemists’ store in her hometown.
Aurain felt the urge to scream internally as she felt the dead leaves and pieces of broken branches stab at her muscles and skin, creating a burning sensation within the cuts. She then re-opened her eye and glanced at the young man handling her tiny body and slightly parted her lips, in hopes of saying something but was unable to do so, as she was afraid of ending up in tears, something she strived to hide away from strangers. Rather than saying something and having one hand still on her body rather than flailing about as though it had finally found freedom, it crept towards the young man’s chest and poked lightly, in hopes of having got his attention but found herself poking hardly against his chest.
She thought it was time to don the personality she had been working on for years, and managed spend whatever strength left in her body to mutter two simple, and what she believed to be effective, words: “hurry up.”

[MyCatGinger]

The man coming over didn't frighten Freija, and even as he commanded the others to move she held her ground. It didn't seem like it was directed to her, anyway, so she just looked the half-elf on the ground over, same as the man on the opposite end. "It's good they're okay. I'm actually a healer-" she began, but the voices of the people around her drowned hers out and it made her clench her fist with a little pout, albeit determined. She repeated out loud, "I'm actually a healer, so if you'd let me take a good look at her..." but it was too late and the man carrying the woman beneath her was already gone.
During this, she'd been startled by the pet ferret scrambling up her body, and though she flinched, she quickly took to soothing the animal with gentle words and even phrases in the elven tongue, almost like incantations though they most certainly weren't. She stroked over the white fur before getting to her feet and sighing as she watched the man hurry away with the woman in her arms, hoping that they were competent enough to even deal with her wounds. When they'd turned her around, she looked pretty damn severe.
"Hey, little guy. It's all okay." she cooed some more as she went back to a surprised horse. She even left a kiss on the stallion's muzzle, with a white star-shaped cut and nuzzled into his neck a little before taking him by the reign. He stood a good foot and a half or more taller than her with his head raised high so she had to put in some effort to do so. Regardless, she had one hand on the frightened ferret and the other on the reigns, quickly binding them at the opportunity she got to a post with a trough of water just beneath it, a station post for horses as it were, and fastening the reigns around the bar and giving Spirit a reassuring nod before stepping away from him and to the two people still dazed and standing there, and with the badges they wore, assuming they were important. "Excuse me, could you lead me to the master of this guild? I'd like to enroll myself as part of it, please, and was wondering for requirements, and rules, and...ah. Apologies, sincerely."

[Nick Emerald Grant]

"Hey! If you're a healer then stop kissing the ferret and get your arse over here!" Nick yelled back out towards the pureblood, pausing in his pacing to turn back towards it. Nick's face was one of furrowment, his brow creased into a firm line, the more determined look revealing itself.

"Nick. In here." Nick turned his head back towards Adrian, who had already opened the main door to the infirmary, waiting impatiently for Nick and the girl he carried. Nick gazed down at the girl who he'd just vaguely noticed was prodding him in the chest. Her eyes barely managed to remain open, and her lips moved with a somewhat sarcastic tone, saying simply 'hurry up'. Nick couldn't help but scoff once in amusement.

"Yeah, that's what i'm trying to do. Just keep your eyes open alright? Stay conscious." While it did seem as if Nick was being courteous, he was merely instructing her to stay awake for medical reasons; trying to revive her would be a nightmare if she stopped breathing.

Regardless on whether the supposed healer was ready to follow him or not, Nick took the woman into the infirmary, the dwarf and Adrian right behind him.

The infirmary seemed sterile enough. The bed was what drew his attention first, Nick striding over to it, carefully placing the fragile elf down on the bed.

"Where is a pair of tweezers and alcohol? Her wounds need to be cleaned."

"There's a bottle of alcohol and a roll of thread and needle in that drawer, but shouldn't we wait for that healer outside?" Nick had already went over to the drawer, pulling it open and withdrawing the items he mentioned.

"Crude methods are always the better option in comparison to just waiting and letting her wounds fester."Nick's logic was indeed sound. It would be considered best if wounds were tended to immediately compared to just waiting for more professional care.

However, Nick's logic got the better of him, as he stood over the elf, pondering on actually waiting for the designated healer.

"Hey! Hurry the hell up and get in here! Magic is something we kind of need right now!" Nick yelled out towards the pure-blood, the annoyance clear in his voice.

[Aurain]

As she listened to the young man yell for the healer, she couldn’t help but wonder what was to become of her. Everyone had seen her in a broken, messed up state after simply falling over a thick tree root, but it’s not like they knew the reasoning, for all they know, Aurain might’ve been in a fierce battle with a group of bandits! She looked up to the young man as he noticed her poking and blinked slowly prior to noticing his scoff. When she noticed it, she couldn’t help but attempt to dig her nail into his chest as she didn’t like the sound of his scoff. ‘What if I close my eyes? What will you do then?’ She thought but then ended up giving into her thoughts for what seemed like minutes, shutting them slowly. This was nowhere close enough for her to die, but it did do its fair share of damage against her.
Once placed against the bed, her eyes opened in a sleepy fashion as she gazed at the young man but then wanted his attention again after hearing him say something about the healer. She wanted to move her arm and to prod him once more, but her arm fell stiff after staying in the same position for too long and bit down onto her lip, onto the same wound which made her groan with a small stream of blood trickling down her lip and onto her chin, where it begun flowing down her neck ever so slowly.
After noticing the tweezers, she urged her other arm to move, and instead managed to point towards the tweezers. She had nothing against healers, but because this was taking longer than intended, she couldn’t help but find the simplest and fastest way out. Using tweezers and alcohol was simple and effective, and she couldn’t wait any longer. Aurain shuffled and attempted to sit up but instead caused herself more pain and blinked back the tears that were on the verge of being shed.
“Help,” she managed to mutter, her eyes now shut tightly as she felt her head spinning. Once more, she muttered the same word, a little louder this time in hopes of getting the young man to start taking the debris out of her wounds as the stinging sensation grew worse with every moment that passed by. She took matters into her own hands and once more she attempted to sit up, she managed to do so this time, after much effort. Her breathing was now audible and heavy as her hand had started inching towards the tweezers in the young man’s hand. She was visibly scared of what was to come, as she had never tried this but thought that it was straightforward, place your fingers through here an—the thought was quickly diminished to nothing as the moment she closed her hand around the tweezers, the slits on her hand had widened and like fire, her only instinctive was to drop the tweezers near instantly. Obviously, it wasn’t the smartest move and had accidently caused a tear to shed and she yelled, albeit it wasn’t a very loud yell. Aurain managed to get her knees up, where she hid her face and muttered: “get the healer or do it yourself.” Where she had found all the energy to do this, she could only thank the magic that coursed through her body.

[MyCatGinger]

"Wh...what!" the blonde turned on her heel at the mention of a healer being called, even from inside the building now, and had to bow her apologies to the remaining of the officials before hesitating, and throwing them (well, the dwarven lady, anyway) one last glance, cursing herself under her breath and making her way into the building, following their trail down to the infirmary. It didn't take her too long to get there. Just follow a path, how hard could it have been? Though she never would have found it otherwise, if she was all by her lonesome. The man with the half-elf in his arms definitely had some knowledge of the place. Strange.
She burst through and stood at the door, panting, with her bangs falling in her eyes which shone with adrenaline and excitement, as her chest rose and fall with the breaths she took. "I heard shouting for a healer, and wanted to ask which son of a gun thought he could talk to me the way he did."
She shot a glance to the man standing by the elf, and growled, as much as possible, under her breath, before pinching the bridge of her nose and taking a deep breath before effortlessly gliding right past, nose stuck in the air and not even giving him a second thought, to the woman on the bed. She looked her over from head to toe and sighed at noticing all the little cuts and bruises, indeed wondering how someone could have gotten themselves into this case. She actually leaned forward to brush some stray strands of hair out of the patient's eyes to get a better look at her face, and clicked her tongue against the side of her cheek knowingly at the little trail of blood that ran down her cheek, even reaching with a thumb and gingerly wiping some off. "I see. I wonder how you got yourself into this mess, miss. But I'll fix you right up."
And indeed she did. Forgetting the use of magic for now, the first thing she did was to grab the tweezers and dislodge any bits of debris that had found themselves in any of the half-elf's wounds, and then tend to the cuts still bleeding, and applying pressure in the areas where needed, whilst keeping a cloth she'd grabbed and cleaned with water then wrung out from somewhere ever present and dabbing at the blood as it poured out of the places where pressure was applied. Before cleaning anything with the alcohol present, one would have to make sure the cuts stopped bleeding. And that, unfortunately, took her a while to tend to them all. She liked working by herself, and even had waved the others aside, the elf and the human who both looked quite lost.
"Where is this guild's damned healer? If not here, then they're doing a pretty bad job." she mumbled under her breath. Thankfully to her magic, she could finish up faster than normally applying pressure to all the wounds, and then proceeded to dab at with some more cloth and alcohol, breathing a tiny warning of "It'll sting." just prior and bracing herself for any outbursts the girl might have. "It'll sting, but you'll be fine. An infection however will most definitely kill you."
The wounds later had to be closed up again, and here's where the elven woman stood away from the body and shut her eyes, hands in front of her and concentration apparent on her face as her thin brow furrowed and she even hummed something soft under her breath, and with the power of thought and the murmur of something, almost like a spell but not quite under her breath, her hands made weaving movements and the wounds, ever so slowly, began to come together again and shut and seal, like stitches would have done. This was one of the easiest things an injury would call for. Healing a broken or dislocated bone, now, that was one of the definite hardest. And perhaps most painful to both her and the patient.
Though in due time, the elven woman was finished, and slumped into a nearby waiting chair with her head in her hands and a little groan, having pushed past the men in the room to get some air. She was prone to dizzy spells, and magic left her the tiniest bit woozy every time she'd applied it. It took training and clearing of her mind to get rid of the spell, which she did sit and do in said chair, even if for a couple of seconds.
It was only then she noticed the ferret still around her neck, and decided to reach out and put him down so he could find his way to the stretcher and scurry right up a leg should he want to see his mistress, with nothing more than a little smile and tired eyes, quickly regaining their clear shine though.
She said nothing to the men in the room, for she was in that state and had no need. They were busy checking on the half-elf's healing anyway. That was good. She should be taken care of. Surprisingly, the only cut she'd forgotten to tend to was the puncture in her bottom lip, out of sheer loss of focus and thinking she was finished way before, though if need be, she'd tend to it soon enough.

[Nick Emerald Grant]

At last this elf healer finally managed to make herself present, stepping into the infirmary doorway, easily telling them to make way for her, which Nick easily granted in this situation. He didn't particularly care of the elf's discomfort from the way Nick spoke to her; he could care less even after the growl emanated from her.

The elf girl strode over to the stretcher where the half-blood sat, inspecting her wounds with much more professionalism and a considerably better bedside manner, though it still brought a fair share of annoyance to Nick regardless.

The elf seemed to know what she was doing, snatching the tweezers off the ground, moving to begin extracting the foreign objects out of her cuts. Nick had stepped away from the elf at work, leaning against the doorway, his arms folded across his chest.

Magic was a force unknown to him. He was aware of its existence yes, but hadn't had the personal experience firsthand, be it of a destructive nature, or a restorative nature; this would be his first glimpse of magic.

The elf had finished clearing and cleaning the wounds of the injured one, and had set the tweezers aside, taking a step back from the stretcher. It appeared to him that the elf had brought her hands together; he couldn't tell for sure as her back was facing him.

The humming noise was first to enter his senses. At first he thought it was just a psychosomatic thing, which he attempted to scratch away briefly, but when it wouldn't stop, he went back to the elf, and noticed the portray of her concentration. It seemed she was casting her restorative magic on the half-blood, already her cuts seeming to seal themselves and fade back into the skin; Nick would be lying if he said he wasn't impressed.

After the initial healing, the elf seemed to stumble, landing in a convenient chair to collect herself. The other one on the bed seemed to have recovered as well, unsurprisingly. Nick had no more business staying in this room.

"Ivanna. When you're quite ready to actually give me a quest to leave with, come find me." Nick said rather coldly to the dwarven women who had followed, before he swerved out the doorway, taking a left to return to the courtyard.

[Aurain]

After what seemed like an eternity, the elf had appeared. Aurain didn’t take a look at her, but simply continued to keep her face at her knees, hidden from the people within the room. Her whole body stung and trembled due to the pain and the sensations that continuously ran throughout her body, with small sparks of pain close to the slits. Through everything, she heard the sound of the elf and barely looked up, taking in a tiny glance of the elf. ‘Ah, it’s her,’ she thought to herself, the one outside who had first tried to figure out whether or not Aurain had died on the spot or not. With each and every piece of debris removed from her wounds, she felt at ease, as though the burning sensation cooled off and she let out a sigh of relief against her leg, as though it had been a burden all along and had finally been lifted off of her.
The sight of the elf casting her magic reminded her of the lesson that her teacher had once taught her, many years before, of healing magic. Since it had been such a long time, the memories of the incantations and the spell had faded from her memory, but had now somewhat triggered the old memory but not fully, leaving out the most important pieces of the memory gone. That also triggered the urge to cast one of her own spells, to create a storm or an odd chill right now, but she had something else in mind.
Suddenly everything around her felt as it should have, her sight wasn’t blurry and her head wasn’t spinning, and after the elf had cast her magic, the wounds had disappeared, except for the puncture mark on her lower lip. She could feel the warmth flow through her body again and it was better when Ain had managed to get back to Aurain. She raised her head and saw the little ferret run towards her, holding her hands out and lifted the little ferret to her neck when it had reached, a small smiled playing on her lips with her dimples showing ever so slightly.
Once Ain had finished curling around her neck and nibbling her skin, she looked for the young man, as she had never gotten a clear look at him, nor did she ever get to thank him but he had already left after the elf had cast her magic. She slipped off the stretcher and stumbled at first before regaining her composure and thanked the young elf quickly, muttering a quick “thank you very much” as she walked straight past her and out of the room, in hopes of finding the young man.
She left the room and caught a faint glimpse of a shadow turning left, and she followed, quickly running after him before she noticed him. She ran towards him and walked alongside him, glancing at him and taking in his looks.
“Thank you, by the way,” she said lightly, her voice was soft, and some had even gone as far as saying that it was sugarcoated with honey, or something along the lines. “But that makes me wonder, why didn’t you take out the leaves and twigs by yourself? You could’ve done so, as opposed to waiting for the elf to come,” she questioned him, because she knew as well as he did that no matter what was to happen, the elf would’ve come along, sooner or later.
Only after Ain had nibbled on her collar bone hard enough for her notice and look down, she couldn’t help but see that one of her buttons had fallen off, the button that had managed to seal the sight of her covered breasts. Her cheeks lit up with a bright pink color as she covered herself with her trench coat tightly but then was unable to face the young man in front of her. ‘Must’ve been when I fell because of that damn tree root..’ she thought to herself. Aurain hesitantly looked up to see the young man, just from the corners of her eyes as she had twisted her head rather sharply straight after finding out about her little “incident”.

[MyCatGinger]

A handful of seconds passed, perhaps a minute, maybe two at most. The elven woman in the chair with her head in her hands sat a little more straight and breathed a little sigh before clear blue eyes met the world again, curious, playful as they most usually were. They met those of the elven man from earlier, and she'd told by the shape of his ears and how his facial features echoed a definite elven bloodline. She gave him an innocent wave with a little blush and a smile just after, before straightening herself out and adjusting her green cloak around her neck a little, pulling her hair free from its lavender tie and allowing it to cascade down her shoulders to her mid-back, straight, shiny blonde locks. Trying to give your best impression for a second time would need all the physical charm one could put into it, and she had no idea what the elven man's name was either, though his deep blue eyes definitely left her reeling.
"I...suppose I would like to join this guild, please. Sir, and..." her eyes fell on the stunned-seeming dwarven woman who seemed to be murmuring something under her breath at the hot-blooded youth that was now stalking down a hallway, and she bowed her head to her and even got on a knee, as elven custom was to someone you respect.
"You give out quests, my lady? You...must be the guildmistress. It's an honour to meet you. My name is Freija Kiraiian, of the Kiraiian bloodline, and I'd be honoured if I was to be able to join your guild. For the thrill of adventure, and for the experience it will provide me to mature as an explorer, a healer or tactician, and most of all, a person, to grow into a stronger woman with more under her belt and able to provide more to the world overall."

"Well then. Welcome to Aerenthis, miss Kiraiian. I think it would be a pleasure having and being able to train a healer of your abilities." The dwarf smiled and even gave the girl, who rose to her feet from her position with two fingers to her lips in respect still. "It's strange where our resident nurse has gone to, today, however. I most certainly will have to find out why she's been slacking. Adrian over here is my right-hand man, and it actually is his job to give out quests. You report to him once you choose to take one so he can tell the others who'd like to take it, or know where you are if help needs to be sent." she gestured to the elf, who smiled through brown curtains falling down and hiding his own eyes, which made Freija run another hand through her bangs self-consciously.
"Thank you, ma'am. Miss...uh. Guildmistress..um."
"Ivanna, child."
"It is an honour, Guildmistress Ivanna,"

Her exchange with the two remained short, and all the while she had a nagging feeling. They got past formalities and agreed to register her after breakfast, which already had been served by now. Most of the guild remained oblivious to the victim who showed up at the door, going about their own business as such. Freija requested, nervously, to go and attend to Spirit who had been waiting at the station post outside. She was restless without him whenever she knew he was around, and not in a particularly appropriate place. Granted permission, she thanked the two, and proceeded to the main gate in order to move the horse to a stable box he'd been assigned to, which would mean walking him around back to the courtyard and the fields beyond.

On the way, she happened to find herself walking behind the two from earlier, the young man and the mysterious woman, and she loomed close behind, trying to make herself as unnoticeable as possible, though her curiosity got the better of her as always and she found her sensitive ears twitching, dying for some gossip, and leaving her eavesdropping as subtly as she could, with her head lowered, in all respect, should they turn back and notice her.
Who are these people, I wonder. And I wonder if the man can help me out, being new at this guild. Though that means I'll have to be nice to him. And quite frankly, he's quite uncouth, himself.
But the woman is new. She seems strange. She gives off an aura, must be magical to a degree because it's not as strong as a usual elf but I can detect traces of the elven signature there. She must be a half-breed, elf and some other race. I think she's a human.
He most certainly has no magical aura about him. Not even the kind humans can cultivate. So I'm assuming he's useless without his playthings. Interesting.
Very, very interesting.

[Nick Emerald Grant]

Nick didn't wish to stay in that room any longer; too many elves in the same room. Not to mention the only one who hated socializing, he thought anyway. Nick had turned the corner once again before the recently healed elf padded up behind him like all elves seem to do, to great annoyance. Her eyes were scanning his posture and physique already; he only hoped the rumor involving Elven mating rituals was false. She opened her mouth to speak words of thanks, something Nick never was particularly fond of hearing. Pleasant emotions of gratitude and thanks, outside of the workplace of his smithy, was just alien to him, and he never took their consideration to heart.

"I was told to carry you inside, so I did. Not exactly a messiah of healing here," His raw English tone made his phrase sound more harsh than simply cold and devoid of any real emotion.
"You should be back in that infirmary bowing down to the other elf who weaved her fingers and brought your cracked shell back together, not the guy who just damn well carried you." Nick was part hoping the elf lose interest in communing with him, in hopes of pursuing potential friendship with the other and leave him be, but she pursued him further, ending up having followed him back to where the courtyard lay. She pressed on why he didn't proceed with extracting the foreign contaminants out of her wounds, the question furrowing his brow.

"Well how would YOU feel if the hands of a hardened blacksmith held a pair of tiny tweezers instead of a hammer, and they tried to extract even tinier pieces of leaf and twig out of cuts? I am not suited for first aid. Simple as. Unlike a particular HEALER somewhere in this place." Nick ended with a sneer. This elf was beginning to be annoying to a whole new level.

Nick only just noticed the ferret that was currently draped along her shoulder height was actually alive, and seemed to bite her on the collar bone. She made no flinch in pain so he assumed this was their way of communicating. He did however understand why the ferret bit her where it bit, as upon her looking down...She began to freak; with good reason of course.

That one button must've been guarding the sight of her cleavage, and due to his respect as a man, he averted his eyes for multiple reasons, mainly because being labelled a pervert wouldn't do good for potential quest-giving. Her figure moved, assumingly covering herself with the coat she bore, allowing him to turn his head again. She now had most of her back turned to him, her head twisted to the side afterwards. Nick just shook his head with dismissal, and walked on back to his previous location next to the rather intricately made set of wooden stairs ignoring the half-blood's predicament.

"Whatever. Leave me to myself and I'll do the same for you. Get someone to find me when they break for Dinner." Nick said dismissively, before leaping over the steps and seating himself on the cobblestone ground, taking his bastard sword off of his back, returning to what he was previously doing with his engraving tool the blade face.

Sorry I took an age to respond. Rough and unsettling times were stricken upon me. I'll try to respond frequently from now on. A thousand pardons.

[Aurain]

The young man in front of her seemed to be very cold, despite his age albeit she shouldn’t be one to speak. The atmosphere around him shifted and turned into something dark and antisocial and she started to become shifty about it. ‘So… dark and mysterious,’ she thought. ‘Mixed with a little bit of stubbornness.’ She never got the chance to meet a lot of people, but from the people that she did meet, she hated people like the young man in front of her, almost to the point where she despised them for their attitude to the people around them and their inability to receive a word of thanks from people who are grateful for that they’ve done.
After listening to what he had to say, she looked down to his hands and noted that they were as big as he was implying them to be, at least, not to her. “Sorry for giving you credit, even if you did such a small job.” The urge to sock him right across the face grew and continued to do so, but she had managed to contain herself. She then looked up towards the young man in front of him and gave him a long, cold glare. Ain bared his fangs towards the young man who stood in front of her and stood on his front two legs, standing on level with her jaw line.
“You know, maybe if you didn’t act like such a brute, things wouldn’t be so cold for you,” she muttered, just barely loud enough for him, managing to hold a very serious tone whilst doing so. Seeing people like him and listening to how ungrateful they were made her blood boil to a whole new degree, to the point where a small bright spark came off the tip of her right index finger, as her right hand was now by her side. She wasn’t in the right mindset to care about what was exposed and what wasn’t anymore. When the spark had come off, Ain bit onto her jaw line hard causing her to wince at the pain. Aurain took a moment to regain her posture and walked off before he did, not paying attention to what he had last said, something about leaving him and dinner.
Ain had restrained himself from puncturing her pale skin to cause bleeding but managed to leave a small mark with the skin cut. With the change in her attitude, a small cold breeze had circled around her body in an attempt to cool her off due to the “talk” with the young man. She lifted her left hand to her neck and stroked his fur whilst angrily muttering to herself. “How could someone like him be such a brute? His attitude is no different than a troll’s, simple minded, cold and.. and rude! I’d find the troll to be of more comfort than that thing!” Once finishing her small rant, she had re-entered the room to which she was carried and attended to by the elf. On the way, Aurain had passed by the elf and didn’t give her any notice, even though she could feel the pure elf’s presence throughout her short-lived conversation with the human. The room was empty, so she had left and started to try and find the dwarf and elf that had stood by her side.
As much as had she hated being around people sometimes, she found herself wandering the guild with a tiny smile playing on her lips, but managing to hide it from any people passing by. Her walk was slow, so that she could assess and take a good sight of what she passed by and had come up with an idea, an idea to stay and become a part of the guild. After all, she would be able to meet interesting people, and mages who could possibly help her with her own powers. Subconsciously, she rolled her wrist and twisted her fingers, causing a small sphere of contained pressured air to form at the tip of her fingers, where it had circled around her hand as though it had a mind of its own. And to a degree, it did, leaving its spherical shape to form a small cloud above her hand and then back to the sphere as the three of them walked through the long halls.