Help Wanted [Solo][Completed]

[Ruka]

Day 90, Spring of 512 AV

It was the last day of spring. The last day of spring. And Ruka still found herself without a suitable place of employment. How long had she been in this illusionary city? With its constantly changing streets and environments that caught her by surprise at every turn? A season. An entire season! An entire season of this city driving her mad every second of every day. Oh how she hated this place. Absolutely despised it. She rolled her eyes to the sky in exasperation, asking herself for what felt like the millionth time why she had decided to move here in the first place.

'This is beginning to become ridiculous. A girl can only take so much before she-' “KYA!” Without her notice, the street had transformed from a safe cobblestone pathway into a rocky terrain with small water pools dotting it at random intervals, making it look as if it had just been raining. Her foot caught on a rock and sent her tumbling, rather ungracefully, into a rippling water pool about ankle deep. Her arms shot out to break her fall, but slid in the mud at the bottom of the pool, sending her face-planting right into it. With a loud groan, she slowly pushed herself up so that she was sitting, rather than laying, in the now muddy water.

“This is just great ...” Scrambling hastily to her feet, she pointed an accusatory finger up at the sky, her eyes set into a fierce glare.

“Why do you pick on me so much! I haven't done anything to you! Quit being such a BIG JERK! You do this on purpose, don't you? You like seeing me suffer!” By the time she had finished ranting, she was panting hard, her muddy face red from embarrassment and exertion. It probably wasn't the smartest idea, yelling at the God Ionu, but it seemed that ever since she had entered the lovely city of Alvadas, Ionu had made it his personal job to make her life miserable. Of course, it was a very silly and absurd thought. Why would a god spend his time picking on someone who looked anything but threatening while shouting up at the sky at him?

“Oh dearest goddess, Rak'keli. Please lend me the strength to survive in this city – because I surely do need it.” She prayed, sighing softly as she went to turn around. Where there was once a pathway stood a tall, looming wall. So when Ruka went to take a step back down her lonely path, she ran face first into its hard, unyielding brick surface. She cried out in both shock and pain, covering her face with both hands. Hot tears stung the corners of her eyes as she willed the pain in her face away, cursing the wall as she quickly backtracked. Having forgotten about the protruding rock she had tripped over earlier, in her haste to get away from the wall, her foot came down on it at an awkward angle and slipped out from under her. She fell to the ground with a loud thud, crying out in pain when her head cracked against a hard rock. Black dots swam in her vision as she tried to gather her bearings, darkness licking at the corners of her vision.

'I really do hate this city,' was her last thought before darkness surged over her like a giant wave.

[Ruka]

Ruka groaned as she slowly regained consciousness. Her head throbbed painfully, and her entire body felt sore and bruised. Her eyes fluttered open, and then instantly shut again as the bright whiteness of the room assaulted her sensitive pupils. After the tingling sensation left her eyes, she slowly opened them again, wincing at the burning brightness.

She was in a rather spacious room, with high, airy ceilings and white marbled floors threaded with gold. Tapestries, depicting the healing arts, decorated the room. Two rows of five beds rested parallel to each other on either wall, leaving a long walkway in the middle of the room between them.

She pushed herself upright, closing her eyes as a wave of dizziness washed over her. She brought her hand to her forehead, and was surprised to find it wrapped in a thin layer of bandages.

“Where am I?” She tentatively touched the back of her head, gasping as her finger hit the tender spot where it had connected with the rock. Pain shot through her skull, causing her eyes to water instinctively.

“You've got a concussion, girl,” came a voice to her right, “you'd best lie back down and get some rest. It's mild, but that doesn't mean ya can take it lightly now.”

She jumped at the unexpected sound, causing her skull to give another sharp throb. Turning her head carefully, her eyes locked on to the frame of an older woman in a nursemaid's uniform. She had a kind, plump face aged with deep wrinkles near her eyes and mouth. Her curly graying hair was pulled back into a tight bun at the base of her neck, with a white nursing cap placed neatly at the top of her head. She wore a thick woolen dress with a half apron wrapped around her waist and tied in the back. On her feet were a pair of comfortable looking leather boots, worn and dirtied with use, and in her hand she carried a roll of off-white bandages.

The woman came around to the side of Ruka's bed and placed the bandages on a small bedside table Ruka had not noticed before. Though unsmiling, the woman had a serene calm about her that instantly put Ruka at ease.

“We found'ya outside, we did. A rather large goose egg on yer head, and knocked out cold on the side of th'road to boot. So we took ya in an' treated ya.”

The woman had a sort of accent Ruka couldn't place, but she wouldn't say it was unpleasant. On the contrary, Ruka actually liked it. It had a certain musical quality to it, like wind chimes in a soft breeze.

“Thank you very much,” Ruka said, forcing her self to stop staring like an idiot and thank to woman for her kindness, “I was having an off day, and the city got the best of me.” She laughed, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. The woman promptly nodded, leaning closer to Ruka as she began to unbandage her head.

“Yes, well, it happ'ns to th' best of us.” She silently placed the worn bandages in a pile as she studied the wound on Ruka's head, nodding to herself approvingly. “Yer healin' nicely. In a couple weeks you'll be good as new.”

Ruka sighed. She wished she were better now, rather than in a couple weeks. Her head pounded with a relentless headache, and she was all but too happy to lay back down against the feathery pillows. She glanced up at the woman beside her, who was busy cleaning up the old bandages off the bedside table, and suddenly was overcome with a feeling of shyness.

“U-uhm, thank you again for helping me.” The woman glanced over her shoulder, inclining her head in a respectful manner.

“Of course, girl. You dun think I'd let ya rot away out der do ya?” Before Ruka could reply the woman was scurrying away across the room and out the door. The door shut with a soft click, leaving Ruka alone in the large room. She stared up at the ceiling for a while, letting her mind wander to nothing in particular, until a sudden bout of drowsiness came over her. She closed her eyes and relaxed against the bed, letting the darkness of unconsciousness wash over her.

[Ruka]

Ruka awoke a few hours later to the mingled sounds of chatter all around her. She blinked her eyes open and pushed herself up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes with the heel of her hand. When she removed it, she was surprised to find the once empty room with not an empty bed in site. Wide-eyed, she surveyed the room for any signs of what had happened, noting the many injured men and women who had varying levels of scrapes and bruises.

Turning her head to the right, she found a middle aged man holding his right arm which had a long gash from his elbow to his wrist. One eye was closed as blood from a scratch ran down into it, and his clothes were tattered and dirty. Gently pushing the thin bed sheets off her (vaguely noting that she was no longer in her muddy clothes from earlier, but rather in a clean white patient gown), she swung her legs around to the side of the bed and stood. She waited a moment for her legs to steady under her before cautiously making her way to the man's beside.

“Excuse me,” she said, attempting to gain the man's attention, “but do you know what happened?”

“Aye,” he turned his head so that he could look at her from his good eye, “a bunch of us were trapped in a monster den when the streets changed. No one was was killed, but a lot of us were injured before we could get out.”

“That's horrible! Where are all the medics? Shouldn't they be in here helping everyone?”

“Irene's the only nurse on hand tonight,” the man explained, “ she's still out there trying to find beds for all of us.” Ruka looked around the room, just now realizing some beds were being shared with two to three people. Those that had more serious of injuries managed to haggle a bed to their own, but most where forced to share. She turned her attention back to the man, mentally evaluating his oozing injuries. Her eyes caught sight of bandages and antibacterial ointment, rubbing alcohol and all the things necessary for caring for this man's needs, as if someone had placed them there to get back to later.

“Do you mind,” she started, picking up a clean strip of cloth and pouring an antibacterial liquid onto it, “if I clean you up a bit? I've been studying medicine since I was little, so I know what to do.” The man eyed her suspiciously, obviously doubting her skill due to her child-like appearance. Eventually, the pain in his arm won over, and he found himself shrugging only half reluctantly, motioning for her to continue. With a kind smile, she began with the cut above his brow, quickly cleaning it out and placing a patch over it to keep the blood from leaking into his eye. After she was satisfied with that, she turned her attention to his arm.

It wasn't as bad as it looked. The gash was quite shallow, but the smeared and clotted blood made it appear deeper than it actually was. She gently rinsed it out into a small pail at the side of the bed, double checking it once she was done to make sure she got all the dirt and grim out of it. Then she applied an antibacterial ointment on a rectangular patch and placed it tenderly over the injury, wrapping it in bandages to hold it in place. Just to be safe, she did a body check on the man, starting from his feet and ending at his head. She asked if he felt pain any where else and when he answered negatively, she thanked him and turned to back to the room.

“Wait,” he called as she started toward a small child across the room, “what's your name?” She turned back in his direction, a bit surprised but smiling none the less.

“Ruka,” she answered happily, “my name's Ruka. But my friends call me, Rue.”

“Well, Rue, thank you for your help.” Happiness swelled inside her chest as she beamed at the man, politely assuring him that it was not a problem. Pushing away the slight dizziness her concussion brought on, she made her way to a small boy with brown hair and large, tear stained green eyes. She knelt down to his level after murmuring a polite greeting to who she assumed was the boys parents, and shot him a comforting smile.

“Can you tell me what hurts?” She asked, her voice soft as she coaxed the boy to slow his tears. He sniffled, hiccuping and rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand.

“M-my knee hurts. I-I fell a-and hurt it.”

“How about I take a look at it for you.” She stated, rather than asked, “I bet I can make it feel allll better.” The boy looked up at his mother questioningly, who nodding encouragingly down at him. Turning back to Ruka, he nodded shyly and allowed her to help him into the bed next to his mother.

“Now let's see,” she hummed to herself, taking in the scrap that coated the boys' knee, “it doesn't look too bad. Would you like to help me bandage it?” He nodded shyly, watching with big eyes she took a piece of clean cloth and applied an antibacterial liquid to it. She handed it to the boy and let him rub it on his knee, laughing when he made a face at the numb stinging it induced. When he handed it back to her, she flipped the cloth over and ran it over his knee again, just to make sure all the dirt and pebbles were out of it. She placed the dirty cloth to the side and handed the boy a band-aide, letting him put it on his knee himself.

“There you go! All better.” He nodded, smiling with an innocence only a child could muster.

“Yeah! Thanks, lady!” Ruka turned to the boy's parents next, checking them and taking care of their scratches and bruises. When she was done, the mother smiled at her kindly, holding her son protectively in her lap.

“I saw what you did for that man before, even though you're a patient here as well. Thank you for your kindness, my family and I appreciate it greatly.” Ruka felt that same swelling of happiness she felt before when the man thanked her, and smiled bashfully at her.

“I-It's nothing really. I didn't really do anything.” The mother laughed.

“There's no need to be bashful. It's about time Irene had a reliable aide here to help her out. It must be hard running this place with little to no help at times.” Ruka thanked the woman for her kind words before turning and walking back out into the room. The truth was, Ruka wasn't an aide to Irene (who she had figured was the elderly lady who had taken care of her earlier), but didn't have the heart to tell the woman other wise. The door opening brought her attention to the front, where Irene helped an elder lady into the room. She watched as Irene looked around for a place to put her, before her eyes locked onto Ruka's. Before she could say anything, Ruka was already moving to help her.

“She can take my bed,” she said, gently taking the elder woman's free arm and guiding her to an empty bed near the middle of the room, “I don't need it as much as she does.” Together, the brought the woman to the bed and helped her into it, placing the pillows behind her back so that she would be comfortable. Once done, Ruka walked to the foot of the bed and waited for Irene to address her.

“An' what do ya think yer doin', girl?” Irene asked, her face a serene calm. One look into her eyes, however, alerted Ruka to the fact that she was cross, but she swallowed her nervousness and answered politely.

“I-I'm sorry ma'am. I just thought that I'd help out. There are a lot of injured patients here, but there was no one tending to them. So I took it upon myself to do what I could.” Ruka's eyes fell to the ground, her body tense as she felt Irene's scrutinizing gaze studying her. Her head pounded, as if to remind her of the concussion she had sustained earlier, but she stubbornly pushed it away and attempted to focus on the problem at hand. Before either of them could say another word, the man she had helped first called out a happy greeting to the duo.

“Oi, Irene! Is that your new aide? She's quite a catch! Patched me right up - and was as polite as can be.” Irene turned her attention at the man, studying him for a few moments. Thanking him for kind words, Irene turned her gaze back on Ruka, who still had her eyes to the floor.

“How's your head, girl?” She asked. “Be honest.”

“Eh?” Blinking, she shyly chanced a look at Irene, “I-it hurts a little, but nothing unbearable.”

“Do ya think ya can handle this room? I have another room full I have ta deal with.” Surprised, Ruka stared up at her wide eyed, her mouth slightly agape.

“Y-yes ma'am!” Irene nodded, side stepping around Ruka swiftly.

“Don't push yer'self. If ya feel yer'self gettin' drowsy, dizzy, nauseated – anythin' connected with that concussion of yers, go rest. Understood?”

“Yes ma'am! I understand.”

“Good.” With that said, she quickly stalked out of the room and closed the door behind her. With a feeling of utmost importance, Ruka surveyed the crowded room and sighed happily. It was going to be a lot of work, but Ruka was ready for it.

[Ruka]

Ruka was tired. No, she was beyond tired. It was well into the night by the time Ruka had finished tending to the many wounded civilians of Alvadas, and all she wanted to do was sleep. One by one, she escorted and checked out patients that were well enough to return to their homes, sending them off with tired, yet happy smiles. Those that were in need of further treatment were sent to the second room where Irene worked.

She sank down into the nearest bed and massaged her sore and tired muscles, her head pounding like a mallet hammer against her skull. She groaned and gently lowered herself down so that she was laying across the mattress, her legs dangling off the side and her short hair tumbling over the opposite edge. She closed her eyes against the soft candle light of the room, inhaling a deep breath of air that smelt strongly of chemicals. At first she found the smell sickening, but her sensitive nose soon got used to the scent. She heard foot steps enter the room, so she opened her eyes and pushed herself up onto her elbows. Her eyes met the calm face of Irene.

“Thank ya for yer help today, girl.” She said, coming to a stop beside the bed Ruka currently occupied. “Let's get that bandage change.” Ruka pushed her self up all the way as Irene sat next to her, gingerly removing the bandages for her head. She examined it, applying a thin layer of ointment before taking a roll of clean bandages and re-wrapping it.

“What's yer name, girl?” Irene asked, breaking the silence that had enveloped the two.

“Ruka, ma'am.” She answered, suppressing a yawn. “But my friends call me, Rue.”

“Tell me Ruka, where did ya learn how to practice medicine?” Ruka turned to face Irene, who was studying her curiously.

“My Granny. She was a healer in Mura, on the Konti Isle. She taught me all she could before she passed away last winter.”

“I'm sorry ta hear that.” Irene stood, and motioned for Ruka to lie back properly in the bed. Ruka obliged, turning her body the proper way and reclining back onto the mattress. Irene took the thin sheets that were scrunched up at the end of the bed and pulled them over her, patting the sheets down around her.

“I'd like ya ta stay over night so that I can observe yer concussion.” Ruka nodded mutely, this time letting the yawn that had be threatening to escape breeze past her parted lips. Irene studied her for a few more moments before nodding to herself, as if agreeing to a silent conversation only she could her.

“Ruka?”

“Yes ma'am?” Irene pursed her lips as Ruka proceeded to blink the sleep out of her eyes.

“Would ya like a position here as an assistant nurse? We're currently understaffed, and with yer current level of skill, I can't offer ya a full nurse's position.” Ruka sat up straight, her eyes bright with excitement and her drowsiness temporarily forgotten.

“Yes!” She exclaimed enthusiastically, her eyes shinning brightly against the candle light. “Yes! That would be so wonderful! I can't believe it. I get to be a real assistant nurs-” her eyes caught the patient gaze of Irenes, and she cleared her throat, some what embarrassed by her sudden outburst, though the large smile remained on her face. “I mean, yes ma'am.”

“Good. We'll talk about hours and payment later on. Now get some rest. We've a long day ahead of us tomorrow, we do.” With that, she turned on her heel and stalked out the door, closing the door softly behind her. Grinning, Ruka laid back against the bed and closed her eyes. An assistant nurse. She couldn't wait.

~.: End :.~

[Fallacy]

XP Award! Name:Ruka XP Award: Medicine- 4 Massage- 1 Lore: Qualms with Alvadas Cleaning and Dressing Wounds Finding Happiness in Helping Fighting a Concussion Ionu's Mercy Irene Notes: A little note, in Mizahar we dont know about bacteria and so antibacterial ointment doesnt exist. Of course, that is not to say bacteria isnt treated for, just it isnt known. We do herbs and other natural remedies for that. Also the gnosis of Rak'keli Mizas medicine isnt nearly as advanced as modern medicine. Think like, uh, the kind of medicine in medieval times and we are close to that. Dont let that get you discouraged though, you are doing fantastic! Same thing with band-aids, but you are getting the drift. It would be wrapped like most wounds Here: http://www.mizahar.com/forums/topic21931.html Above is a link to your Storyteller Secrets Thread (Called an SS Thread for short). It has the terms of your employment at Inou's Mercry. You will make a base income of 8 GM a day, skill bonuses are calculated by your Medicine skill. A further explanation can be found here. To earn seasonal wages you must do 2 job related threads, but I think we talked about that. This counts as one. If you want, you can do one more (last minute) to earn full wages, or you can just turn this one in and get half payment. That is if you want Seasonal wages this season. I know you just started. How about this, if you accept seasonal wages you also accept to calculate your seasonal living expenses. If you do not turn in wages this season then you dont have to do seasonal living expenses. Know that this offer is only for THIS SEASON because you are so very new to Alvadas and Mizahar. Please remember to add that SS link to your user profile. Its added just like how you added your CS to your profile. I also wanted to comment on the quality of writing found within the thread. Wow. You are good. Keep on writing. I cant wait to see where this character is going. If you need help starting a thread or need ideas, please PM me and we can talk ideas. I want to see your character out there. Start "Open" threads, meet people, put up an ad in the Matchmaker Forum, post in the Alvadas OOC thread. I want to see your character get out there because I absolutely love your skill and how you write for your character, and Im sure people will love to RP with you Any questions or concerns about the rewards gained please send a PM