"Thank you, dear boys, your help was much appreciated," smiles Uheale at his four helpers after the strenuth journey that has taken nearly half the night, "You can all leave now… Except you Effiyo, I still need you explain how this girl came into your care."
Effiyo deflates at this for he had been hoping that he could sneak out with the others, "Yes Master Uheale."
The other three all give their fellow fisherman a pat on the back before leaving, already knowing from the healer's tone that Effiyo was in deep trouble. The old healer, while generally very kind and gentle, is someone who can make one feel as if they are nothing more than a rotting fish if he becomes disappointed in them.
As the door finally shuts behind the final night fisherman Uheale's forest green, lemon spotted plumage ruffles up, "What in the High One's rays happened Effiyo? This young lady looks like she has fallen off the city top while forgetting how to fly. It would not have mattered if Offista found out, you should have had the girl brought to me as soon as you docked."
Effiyo shrinks in on himself to appear as unthreatening as possible at the sight of the domineering wing posture of the healer, "I…"
"I do not want to hear excuses young man! Help me with get her cleaned up first and then I am going to help you preen those wings while you explain to me exactly what lead to this situation!" cuts off the fuming elder that is beginning to properly examine the female's torso. This is a difficult task for the only way to not damage her wings further was to place her face down.
Effiyo makes his way around the clinic bed that barely fits its occupant, her almost absurd height on display now that she is laying completely stretched out. She has to be at least couple of inches over seven foot making her a good head or more taller than the average Bellow resident. When in peak physical condition she must pose a very imposing figure just from body hight alone, which is not taking into account that her wings would easily give her another foot of height.
"Preen her wings as best you can," snaps Uheale, his tone contradicting the gentle caring movements of his hands on his patient, "I do not wish to risk her getting a bone infection due to damaged regimes."
The young fisherman says nothing as he quickly starts doing as the elder asked, heading to grab the large preening kit at the back of the clinic ward. He passes the only other patient there, deep sorrow filling his soul for from their state. The specific bottle next to the other man's bed letting Effiyo know this patient is likely not long for this world. Shaking his head, it is not his place to demand details of another person, Effiyo pulls up a chair so he can lay the unknown girls lower left wing in his lap. He carefully begins pulling any damaged flight feathers from the lusciously soft limb, the shinning flecks of each feather becoming dull as they are removed.
"How strange…" mutters the healer that is staring at the falling feathers. The young lady's plumage must be tied to her spiritual reserves, a rather rare trait that only a handful of noble families contain. Children that present with this trait are normally given to the royal barracks upon birth, their abilities typically far superior to those without the trait. These children, regardless of gender, usually end up in powerful positions with the military. Many wish they were born with such power, but they forget that it is a double-edged sword for this small powerful population are restricted by dreadful rules. They cannot marry unless it is a royal family member that proposes to them, they must wear collars that allow them to be tracked and unless on active duty are not allowed to absorb the Lord Sun's energy just to name a few.
The healer catalogues the information for later as he grabs the girl's delicate wrist to check for internal injuries. Sending a pulse of his own energy to travel through her Uheale expects to find extensive damage.
The soft thud of the female's right arm hitting the hard bed has Effiyo looking up from his work. What he finds is something he has never seen before, their ever-knowledgeable healer looks stunned, "Master Uheale is everything alright?"
The wide eyes and pale face of the exiled elder remains still for a moment before in a flurry of movement Uheale is shaking his head, his grey peppered copper hair swishing about, as he grabs the base of the lower left wing, "Stop that, she is in no danger of dying so help me get her wings back in their sockets."
"Master Uheale I'm not even halfway through this wing," lets out Effiyo, his face scrunching up in confusion, "and what of broken bones?"
"I can preen them later and do not worry about her bones I have to rest them regards, a few more brakes due to this procedure will amount to very little extra healing time," comes the reply as Uheale uses a chair to step up onto the bed while continuing position the wing just right, "Fold the wing up for me it will make it easier to get it back in."
Effiyo chooses not to argue even if he can tell something is most certainly wrong with the healer, walking around the bed to fold the wing closed. He feels a tad squeamish holding the wing as he can feel all the fractures under the soft plumage. His nausea increases as he watches in horror as Uheale places his right foot in the centre of the girls back and pulls all while rotating the joint, causing the young fisherman to follow his moments as to not stain the behemothic limb more than needed. It looks so brutal and Effiyo is very relieved that the young lady is unconscious for he knows if he was the one to receive such treatment he would be screaming.
Suddenly a pop is heard, and the wing extends sending Effiyo slamming into the unoccupied bed behind him despite the limbs broken bones. Uheale just manages to stabilise himself, so the movement did not send him careening off the bed, "This wing's reflexes are good. Now let us do the one just above."
Effiyo gives the healer a sickly unimpressed expression, but does as he is told especially after stern look he receives back from Uheale. The older man's face clearly states that no argument would be humoured, those lime-coloured orbs staring into the younger's soul.
An unknown amount of time later finds the two men sitting on the floor to the right of the young lady's bed beathing heavily. They have just finished cleaning up the mess left behind by the reflexive jerk of the third and final wing they had to put back in its socket. It had slammed into the shelving near the bed and sent everything from medical journals to tools flying around the room.
"Thank the Lord Sun that I keep ingredients in the cabinet and not on the shelving," breathes out Uheale as he goes to stand, "Now you go to the receiving room and start figuring what excuse you are going to use on Offista for not telling her about this straight away while I set my guests arm and ankle."
Effiyo instead of moving looks awkwardly at the respected man before him causing Uheale to say, "Well what is the matter?"
"You've been calling her by anything but a title or name…" speaks up Effiyo looking over to where the girl head lays, she appears almost child like with the softness of sleep relaxing her features.
Uheale breaths a deep sign knowing where this is going to lead but knows there is no way around it, "And what about that Effiyo?"
Even if the healer was expecting it what the fisherman says next is still like a slap to the face, "You don't know who she is, do you?"
There is silence for a few moments before a careful, "Correct, I have no idea who this young lady is," comes out of Uheale, "But I know for sure that she was in a situation only a little better than what we have down here."
"What makes…" Effiyo next question is cut off by Uheale putting is hand up signalling for the young to stop.
"Effiyo, my young friend, until you have told me what you know and I manage to speak with my patient I do not wish to disclose my theories," calmly states the exiled royal healer, "So please just go to the other room and wait for me, I will be out shortly."
Effiyo understanding that the wise older man was clearly unnerved by this situation stands and nods before taking leave of the room. After closing the door he could hear Uheale moving about along with a bit of muttering from within the ward. He choses to ignore that and move over to the line of chairs next to the door to wait for the healer.
It only takes a few moments before Uheale emerges carrying the preening kit, "Come now, bring your chair here, and I will get those wings clean."
Effiyo nods and does as asked, placing his chair in the middle of the room while Uheale locks the front door. Once the door is locked Uheale rounds the fisherman, who is sitting backwards in his chair, and begins to pluck some of the older dull looking feathers.
"So, what happened today?" quietly questions the healer as his ever-steady hands glide through Effiyo's left wing.
"I went out east of here, I knew it was a Larrogon's territory but there's barely enough food for the orphanage children as is and…" Effiyo starts leaning his head on the top of the chair back.
"And safe zone levy has gone up, young Sister Annimee was telling me earlier," Uheale finishes for him.
A heavy sign leaves the younger as he nods, "Yeah… So, I took a chance at going to a unprotect area. I'd been to this particular Larrogon's territory before and it normally is no where to be seen during the day, its as the sun sets that you have to weary."
Uheale hums letting the younger know he was listening properly before Effiyo continues, "It was just floating out in the open, something that its never done before. It noticed me before I had time to leave and so I began to use anything I could to fight the beast off. That's when the bastard creature flicked the rest of its body out of the water suddenly flinging the girl out of the water. I'm honest, Master Uheale, when I say I've no idea where the girl came from, she was just suddenly there."
Effiyo goes silent for a moment as he having a hard time trying to make sense of his own memories of the incident prompting Uhelae to ask, "So you did notice the girl before the Larrogon turned its sights on her?"
"Well, that's the thing the Larrogon looked just as shocked as I was when she came out of the water. It did go towards her, but it didn't get far…" Effiyo trails off, still unsure how to explain the next part to Uheale as even he himself did not completely understand what he witnessed, what happened should have been impossible.
Allowing the fisherman to gather himself for a moment Uheale walks over to one of his cabinets, it would do the younger man some good to have his feathers conditioned. Effiyo clearly has not preened in a long time but is not unusual for those of the Bellow to not preen from many months as it takes more time than many can spare. Most down here cannot fly anyway so wing care is a secondary priority but one Uheale really wishes it that was not the case.
While the specialised wing clocks the community wear do a reasonable job a keeping their feathers from becoming too dirty, they are not perfect. Many forget that wings are one of the first indicators of health, he often has patients turn up that if they had just taken the time to look their wings over they could have avoided needing his help.
"It didn't get far because she had a last chance response," finally lets out Effiyo causing Uheale to stop his musing to stiffly turn away from grabbing the conditioning oil and stare with barely hidden shock at the fisherman's back.
"It was both terrifying and beautiful, I've never seen anything quiet like it," comes the soft murmurs of Effiyo, "She was floating, Master Uheale. Floating above the water, eyes glowing a brilliant silver… It was like time had stopped as she called forth the plants to attack the beast. She bound the Larrogon so tightly that it become nothing more then a living statue."
The healer comes back to begin lathering oil over Effiyo's wings, "Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure this is what you saw, it was not a hallucination you had while having your own last chance response?"
The younger man nods while a disgruntled half laugh leaves him, "Do I look like I've had such a response?"
Beginning to comb the feathers before him Uheale takes a moment before replying, "No you do not… What happened then?"
"She fell unconscious, I somehow dragged her into my boat and sped out of there like a mad man," states the fisherman, looking up at the wooden ceiling, "She woke up a while later and was saying that she didn't have wings. She even asked me what a noble was before I had to force her wings into the boat, so a Bullhead didn't get the chance to drag her into the water. She passed out again not long after that."
Silence settles over the two as Uheale continues to preen Effiyo's pure white wings, the healer trying to make sense of the story he has just been told. He almost wants to laugh at the younger and tell him to stop joking but Effiyo has always been an honest boy so it looks like he only has once choice left. Uheale, the exiled former royal healer, for once is going to have to accept that despite his immense knowledge he does not have all the answers and will just have to wait.