Closed ain't no sunshine.

[Caelum]

Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone. It’s not warm when she’s away. Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone. And she’s always gone too long Anytime she goes away. - Bill Withers. Timestamp: 01 Winter 513 AV It was disgustingly early. The morning was too cold to be up, but Caelum was awake all the same and sweating despite the weather. He wore a pair of ragged trousers and a sleeveless, well worn tunic. His oldest pair of boots were barely half laced and the ragged hems of his favorite set of work pants tumbled mostly out of them. With the dawning of winter the carnelian in his hair had bled to a pale, golden brown; but it was still a little auburn this morning at the tips, tied out of his face by a thin strip of leather. Late yesterday afternoon Caelum had returned to the Sanctuary from his ill timed mission at Rattling Chains. He had seen to Vega who looked to have been run hard, lingering a long while over the windrunner’s care, before disappearing with some of the dogs from the kennels into one of the pastures. He had not shown up for dinner and he had come in late, going straight to his bedroom. It was plain as the day bright on him now that he had been avoiding everyone. The chore he was tackling on this first day of winter was chopping firewood. It had felt like an appropriately physical task to take his mind out of the bitter darkness and stench of terror, as well as one that was well themed for the season rolling down over them with promises of frost and barren plains. The axe he wielded had been borrowed from the barn, intended for these such purposes rather than the fine weapons that Vanator stocked in the armory for battle. Already a small stack of mixed sycamore and birch was lined up against the wall of the boarders barn and his muscles burned from the workout. He welcomed every ounce of the pain, expression black and golden eyes grim. His breaths puffed steam into the cold air.

[Kavala]

She stood silhouetted against the sunrise slowly lightening the facility watching Caelum split wood. Kavala had been out walking with the dogs - not going very far nor fast - but walking none-the-less. Two of the giants flanked her now, and she seemed to lean against Ink and Indigo, the biggest male and female of the group. With her stomach huge to the point of bursting and her frame so small - too small - to hold its extension, Kavala looked frail and slightly scared as she watched Caelum.

She'd carefully calmed her mind, blanking her emotions and needs so that nothing other than the slight ache in her back projected. There was nothing she could do about that because it had been a permanent fixture in her anatomy since her third trimester. The healer watched him sweat and toil, knowing something wasn't right and not sure there was anything she could do about it. But she viciously stifled the need to help within her, instead holding on to the cool stoic steadfastness that was her nature as a healer.

"So, do you want to talk about it or shall I go get someone to cut down another tree or two and harness a team of Seme's to go drag it in here for you to chop up? You are almost through that one and that should get us about halfway through winter at this point." The Konti said quietly, concern coloring her otherwise light voice.

Kavala hadn't been sleeping well either. Part of the reason for her insomnia was the child kicking continuously inside her. The other part was her fear of waking up from a dead sleep someplace else, someplace deep dark and wet, where only her psychology felt it was safe to give birth.

[Caelum]

The ax swung through the air to impact with an almost thunderous crack, the sycamore log splitting cleanly to tumble to the cold earth. The head of the blade was buried a good inch into the stump of a long dead and mercifully chopped down oak that Caelum had been using as a base and the ethaefal propped the split sole of his riding boot against its edge. Rocking the ax forth and back again by the handle, he pried it loose and swung it up again, resting the shaft against the strong curve of his shoulder. Caelum recognized Kavala's voice immediately, and some small part of him automatically processed her unusually static emanations with the sore chain links of his ranuri. He exhaled slowly, heartbeat slowing by degrees from physical exertion, and turned to face her. His mouth was curved down on one side as he made a study of his friend. In the final weeks of her pregnancy, though her belly grew large, she seemed to have shrunk. Her petite frame and easy grace was a great deal more obvious, and rather than appearing sturdy and capable she seemed almost fragile. It was not a look he was accustomed to seeing on the indomitable healer. "I dislike the cold," he confessed. Even to his own ears, his voice sounded weary. It did not fit so well in his mouth. The alien accent that the celestial language left behind in the mouths of the fallen was never more pronounced than when he was angry or weary or pained. He made a sort of helpless gesture at the stack of firewood. It was a tool to combat at least one thing he didn't like, and today he felt that altogether too many such tools were out of his reach. A characteristically loose-hipped amble drew him toward her. "I went to Rattling Chains yesterday to dig a key out of the stomach of a dead girl," he told her, tossing it right out there even as a grimace worked across his face. "It was awful." And he was Caelum, so he therefore didn't really know how to express himself on a personal level much beyond that. "Are you feeling alright?" He hated the trace of fear he spied on her face.

[Kavala]

Kavala watched Caelum quietly, letting him speak. There was no surprise on her face when he revealed what was bothering her. "Did they come here to get you to do that or did you just happen that way?" Kavala asked, knowing the question already. There were things people at The Sanctuary talked about and then there were things they did not.

"I go there about every ten days and treat illness and injury. Only, I haven't lately because when Vanator said no more riding... I didn't feel safe going there driving either. It's one thing to be fighting fit and visit to treat their ... stock. But its another thing to go vulnerable. I.. .found Vanator there in chains once, and a half a season later the twins. They were... captives. Vanator was traded to them by the Zith in exchange for different bloodstock. The Zith had been using him for breeding and he'd done too much of it and they were changing out their stud." Kavala said it just like that. It wasn't a betrayal to Vanator, not really, because Caelum had a way of knowing and seeing that others did not. "It is why he is not himself at times... and why he is alone I think. He carries guilt heavily on his heart." The Konti said. It was a bit of unfaithfulness to her Ankal... but again, she thought Caelum should know.

"Larik and Cadra were not in as good as shape as Vanator was. Larik was suffering, but not because of what they were doing to him. He was suffering because his sister is beautiful and they didn't leave her alone." Kavala added, knowing how the men treated Kelvics - not like people but instead like animals. "It's why I go so easy on them. I really want them to feel safe and loved. They can't always feel that way though. They won't ever totally be safe, at least not in their hearts." Kavala said, reaching an arm across her chest to half hug her middle.

"I wonder who swallowed a key... and if I knew her. I hope she died quickly." Kavala said, knowing the opposite was probably true. "He... the owner... kept a few slaves for himself, ones he favored. At least one of them had a mark like you do." Kavala said, looking like she was going to cry. She took a moment then met his eyes again. When she was more composed she asked him a soft question.

"Did you look everyone over there while you were there? He won't pay you, but he will let you help them. And sometimes he gives us the people that aren't going to make it otherwise. We bring them back here for... a better death or at least care in the end if we can't save them." Kavala said softly, hoping Caelum hadn't seen anyone in that condition. They were probably there, but she had no idea if the men there trusted him enough to reveal their ill. Usually they did to her, but only because she'd done favors for them without charge. They'd even brought her bloodbanes once, so she could add their blood into the Denusk stock.

[Caelum]

“They came here to get me,” he said. One hand rose to scrape back through handfuls of hair. In the sunlight the crimson had paled to light, golden brown and for that he might have seemed less fierce that the blood bright and shadow hues that gathered on him in the fall. He watched her out of the corners of his eyes as she spoke, taking in not just her expression but the line of her throat and shoulder, the complexion of her skin and even her nail beds. When she mentioned Vanator and his children, all three of whom Caelum had come to know well, his eyes came back up to her face and stayed there. There was something grim in the line of his mouth, something black and battered and familiar from the years before he had returned to the Sanctuary. He looked now more like he had then. Even his coloring was correct, caught on the brink of fall and winter, the colors in mid change. He had still been forsaken then. He thought of the lovely Cadra who sometimes liked to sleep on his feet when she was in four paws and a tail, and Larik who talked to him about the sea and the sky and all of the far reaching horizons Caelum had traveled and seen. And Vanator, of course, for whom perhaps he had the most empathy. They shared a great deal of common, war torn ground, though the cities had different names and the people different faces. It was the key to their mutual understanding. “Provedan didn’t give me a name,” Caelum told her. If it was clipped, it was because that dug at his insides, sharpening his tongue. His more charming aspects had sloughed aside at Rattling Chains, leaving the distilled and diamond heart of a man who had waded through blood to get here. And to remain. From the loss of an entire city, to the plague sweeping through another, there was more to the ethaefal than heated smiles and dignified obeisance. “And I didn’t ask for one,” he added. He shook his head, and it was at himself. The axe swung down and he tilted it to rest against the side of the barn. “While I was in there, while I was butchering a girl’s corpse because Proveden wanted me to, I forgot that I didn’t want to be there. I forgot that it was dark and the sun couldn’t reach within and that there was anything but that corpse and this slaver and the other girl with Nikali’s mirror mask flashing at me through her eyes. And I –“ He flung out a hand, not shouting. But frustrated. Angry. For once emotions were clawing up his throat and spilling out like disease. “I couldn’t remember my name. I couldn’t remember Syna’s name. Or her call. Or anything about who I am, Kavala. Not until Nikali looked at me through Provedan’s slave and laughed. That was what reminded me that I wanted to go. I wanted to. Not for anyone but myself. Just me, needing the hell out of there.”

[Kavala]

Kavala offered the only comfort she could to Caelum. She enfolded him in a hug while she was concentrating on all the peaceful things she could think of that made her happy… new foals being born, wounds being healed, bright green grass springing up from the snow in the late winter, She concentrated on how the sun felt on her skin and how the salt water made her entire body relax. Kavala had no other comfort to offer her friend. She’d been to Rattling Chains. She knew what it was like. But she also knew she couldn’t help Caelum unless he helped himself.

“You need to turn around, Caelum, and go right straight back there. Take Larik with you and focus on his needs while you go. Don’t take Cadra, she’s grown to pretty since I liberated her. You need to ride back there and tell Provedan that you are owed payment for your time and you want the pick of his weak stock. Tell him I said so and that I sent you back. He doesn’t understand business any other way. Then you go through his stock and you see who you can save and who has worth. They all have worth and they all can be saved, but some want it and some are already dead. He won’t let you pick the best of the best, but you don’t want those. You’ll know what you want when you see it.” Kavala said, pushing him back gently from her and grasping his shoulders.

“He can’t know you are Ranuri either. Or he’ll have you without an excuse. But you must do this Caelum. And you must do this with resolve. Don’t let that girl die in vain. Let her life buy someone else’s freedom. This is our world, and its ugly, but we can manipulate it a bit if we really try.” Kavala said, then pulled back, searching Caelum’s gaze.

“Tell him I told you that he forgot his payment. And I’ll go find Larik.” Kavala said, turning on her heel and marching away before Caelum could try to reason with her or say something that was going to allow her to say it was okay, and that he didn’t need to go back. He did need to go back though, in the worst way. Facing his fear was just half of it.

She was gone a long time before she returned with Vanator’s son. “Horses are all ready outside, waiting.” Kavala said, and Larik grinned. He looked like he was somewhat eager to go and see if there would be a problem. “We only have two waiting.. Larik can fly home or ride double if the one you bring back is too weak.” Kavala said… finally standing still to await Caelum’s response.

[Caelum]

She had eyes the color the sky turned at twilight. They were a rich indigo, velvet and deadened in the dank of the stone corridor. Caelum stood over her, caught off guard by the sweep of her hand against the ankle of his boot. It had halted his progress through the damp mining hall, wading as he was though a collection of the weak and the dying. This felt like an all too familiar hour of his life. Larik was directly behind him and crouched beside a prone slave, tilting the contents of a glass vial Caelum had given him into her mouth. The eagle kelvic also happened to be brushing the back of Caelum's leg with his arm and he had not moved much farther from Caelum either since dismounting in the yard of Rattling Chains. The close confines literally forced Caelum to focus the divine magic of ranuri on Larik rather than on the chaotic and varied mixture of needs and desires thrown out at him by the very air of Haev Provedan's sordid little kingdom. Grim determination had bit deep into Caelum on the ride back to the old Forivec Mine. Kavala had turned him back, swinging him like a compass needle toward the bitter, little hell he had run from the day previous. He had watched her with low, heavy eyes return to him in the Sanctuary yard with Larik and horses and for a little while he had despised the friendship that lay thick between them, trapping his feet in a sudden mire. It was an old thought, undeserving of them both, and it belonged largely to the man who had lost his soul on a sunset in Ravok years ago. That man's soul had been prepped by his bright goddess for just that surgical removal, sullied and brutalized until he had run, and run, and run without once looking back to glimpse the sun who threw his shadow so long ahead. He had only ever wanted to stand in the sunlight, to be day's lover while Leth slept and the planet lazily revolved. After a long series of lifetimes, he finally earned his place, but it was only to be kicked back down to the crumbling earth mere centuries later. Since then the only thing he had wanted with any consistency was to go home. That was why Elise's desire sprung through him like summer, flushing up from the soles of his feet to burst through the blood of him. It created conflagration in his chest and coupled it next with familiar longing. He dropped hastily into a crouch and closed his hand about her wrist before it could tumble away. His fingers curved, seeking a pulse, an answer to the question his heart was suddenly drumming -- could she be saved? Would she live? "Caelum?" Larik used his name like a beacon, close to his ear. Dark lashes flickered and he found that she was looking at him now, focusing through Dira's feverish veil on the lines of his face and the tales they told. They had a lot of talking to do. She smiled, and Caelum turned to Larik to say, "Her." The Denusk son squinted down at the slave, dubious. After all, they had already been an hour among the small colllection of Provedan's weakest slave stock. There were seven of them and Caelum had been moving among them decisive only in the medical treatment he gave them. Three slaves Caelum had dosed with death, pouring mercy into their mouths so that they could slip out of the skin of this life while sleeping and ease into the next. He had been too long here to still imagine Rak'keli and Dira embattled. Such idealist opinions were better left for the young and naive. "You're certain?" Larik prodded the physician. "As the setting sun," Caelum shot out of the side of his mouth, wrinkling his nose at the eagle before with a roll of his shoulders he shrugged right out of his jacket. He felt Larik's hands, helping him lift the leather and cloth, warmed by his body. "We're leaving now," Caelum told the slave. She was burning up with fever and curled around the last hope of her life. He understood she did not hear him, but maybe later, far flung years from now, she might look back and recall. "We're leaving and you are not coming back." With utmost care, the slave was bundled into his Caelum's winter coat while Larik finished the distribution of the healer's orders in regards to the others. When the ethaefal rolled to his feet in an elegant line, the slave cradled against his chest, Larik was there with a hand at his elbow and it was firm. "Remember, now we leave," the eagle hissed. Caelum blinked slow and slumberous at those, in leaving, they were leaving behind. "Leaving, leaving, leaving," Larik chanted almost singsong and Caelum's shoulders tightened with the pulse of the kelvic's desire. Desire to leave, to go, to get out, to get him safe, to go home, to see the sky. To be in the sun. A smile, private and so old it was almost new again, spread over his mouth and the three of them together left the dark of Rattling Chains and stepped back out into the light of day. "Provedan hasn't approved your selection --" Decath called out, strides lengthening to catch up with them from where he had loitered amid the tent city. "He's right there," Caelum muttered at the slaver, inclining his head to where the Head Slaver slouch dead eyed and smiling by their horses. "Haev," he named him. "I'm taking this one. It's owed and we both know it." Larik stepped around, strong arms lifting the slave out of Caelum's arms so that the ethaefal could mount his horse in a single, swinging motion of long practice. He was fluid as the wind sweeping through the grasses and once he was settled he reached right back down for his slave. His fingers curled to Larik, a beckon, but his eyes were for Provedan who stills slouched there, and still smiled. The slaver cast Caelum's human burden an assessing glance. "That one? Fine. She'll be dead soon, you realize." "No, she won't," Larik muttered, flicking his eyes to the man who bore him almost no recollection. Slavers like Provedan did not recall vivid and interesting details about their stock. Not person details. The eagle mounted, more interested in riding than flying while still within sight of Rattling Chains, and Provedan returned his regard to Caelum. "Her name was Janice," Provedan said. Caelum's stomach knotted. The corpse, the key, the open armed darkness drawing him in. He blinked. "What's her name?" He returned, hard and quick, indicating the slave lost in fevered dreams bundled against his chest. "Elise." Provedan smirked and stepped away. Their horses were off like arrows, equally as eager to depart this place; and, this time, Caelum wasn't leaving a life behind so much as he was racing towards the saving of that in his arms. By the time they reached the Sanctuary gate, Elise was unconscious. At least she was in the sun.

[Kavala]

In Kavala's typical fashion, she tried to think of everything. There was nothing she could do for Caelum in her current state of pregnancy. But if she had her druthers, she would have rode out with him. In all honesty though, it was for him to do. Healing wasn't an easy life. Being a healer wasn't all roses and sunshine. The darkness they faced was worse at times than the deepest stories people told children to keep them in line. Kavala and Caelum's folks, Rak'keli's healers, had nightmares that were real. The Rattling Chains was one of those.

So instead of pacing which would have done her nor the baby any good, Kavala made ready for the pair - hopefully trios - return. When they came back, they would find the horse gates thrown open and the stable yard clear. The arena would have no loose horses in it and its gates would also be thrown open. The gate at the far side leading straight to the healing clinic would also be thrown wide. And perched as a lookout on the wall while seemingly only flying a falcon or two, Chalce was quick to whistle down so Aweston could drop what he was doing and be ready to take lathered horses if they had to ride hard to return.

As it was, the Eth and Kelvic could ride up to the very gates of the clinic itself and dismount where eager hands were willing to take gear, horses, and any burdens they might have. Furthermore the door to the clinic was thrown wide, despite the flurries of snow, and all the hearths were going. One exam room had a hot bath already heated with water on a stove ready for more if necessary. And by the smells, Caelum could tell Kavala had all manner of fresh medicines, poultices, and healing augments brewing in the lab. Triage number one was wide open, with a freshly made up bed and an array of bandages laid out.

Kavala didnt know what Caelum would come back with - man, woman, or child. But she did know that whatever he ripped out of Haev's grip would be near death or not expected to live long afterwards. Kavala hoped Caelum picked well, meaning someone they could save and not someone he simply wanted to save. Half of healing was about the heart of the person, their will to live, and less at times about the abilities of the healers involved.

Though.. in this case there were plenty of healers around that were more than capable of facing off Dira for a time. No one could hold the Queen of Death at bay forever, but Kavala and the crew at the Sanctuary, Caelum included, had lots of practice trying.

It was all the encouragement and welcome she could give him. It was her little bit of support. And she stood leaning against a doorway, well out of the way of a man carrying a burden, waiting to see what the dice of fate had rolled for them.

[Caelum]

Golden eyes caught Kavala's when he passed her, and there was a thick collection of shadows huddling behind all of that light. The slave was bundled in his arms, wrapped snug in Caelum's winter jacket and seeming terribly small. He had no trouble carrying her up the steps of the healing clinic and within, his strides long and determined, eating up the space that stretched between them and Elise's healing. Larik was at his heels, shaking the cold off of himself like a ruffling of the feathers he was not presently in. "I hate that place," the kelvic muttered at his aunt. "She's burning up with fever, Kavala," Caelum's voice carried back, an unfamiliar slant sharpening along the edges of his vowels. It tasted just a touch like desperation. He had settled his burden onto the exam table and was in the process of unwrapping her from his jacket, the heavy article of clothing cast aside so that he could turn the whole of his attention to his patient. Elise's lashes fluttered, but otherwise she failed to protest. She was barely conscious, addled by the intensity of the fever blazing through her malnourished limbs. A human girl, nineteen or twenty, with dark hair that might shine once all of the dirt was washed out of it; and her skin was pale, might be even be creamy if she was clean and healthy again. "Here --" Caelum pulled out Elise's right arm, turning her palm up to display the ugly gash curving down from her shoulder to wrap nearly to her elbow. The surrounding skin was hot and inflamed, virulent color radiating outward in sickly hues of saffron and, worse, celadon. The ethaefal bent down, golden brown hair trickling into his face, to sniff lightly over the surface of the wound. His nose promptly wrinkled. "Septic," he pronounced.

[Kavala]

There was a flare of understanding between the pair as golden eyes met pale blue. As Caelum passed with his burden, Larik hot on his heels, The Konti swung into action. Kavala reached out and touched her nephews shoulder, squeezing it gently as she turned and followed them, closing doors and battening down the clinic in the trio's wake. The inside temperature immediately flared, with all the hearths roaring.

This was what the did. In a way, this was the purpose of their existence. And while Kavala might not be a human healer, she still had what it took to get things done. Modesty aside, she helped Caelum strip the girl of the filthy clothing, knowing she was going directly into the bath the moment the healers were done. The room temperature was likely warmer than the chilled girl in the clothing anyhow. Once relieved of the filthy rags, they were able to get a far better look. Her arm wasn't the only wound, but it was definitely a problem. Kavala ran her hand down the girls legs and all but growled in anger. There were rat bites past where the shredded remains of her foot gear had ended running all up her legs as well.

Kavala moved around the table to stand beside Caelum. She reached behind them and got out a large scalpel. She handed it to the other healer and pulled a cloth and a bottle of liquid from the cupboard. She dosed the cloth with the liquid and walked to the girls' head. "She's in and out of consciousness. But if we are going to carve up her arm, I want her out and not remembering it." Kavala said, gently pressing the cloth over the woman's mouth and nose and holding it there. One hand restricted her breathing to just her mouth while the other positioned the cloth and soon enough the woman on the bed went entirely limp.

"We have ten chimes." Kavala said, tossing the cloth back to the counter off to the side and gestured to the arm. "Open that wide up... down to the bone if you have too. Then get your hands in there and clean it out. I'll close it up on my way back around." Kavala said, moving swiftly and retrieving her own scalpel. If there were other wounds that needed opening, Kavala preferred to use a blade rather than anything else.

The Konti took a moment, concentrated, and then began scanning the woman with auristics, looking for off systems, flares of unusual aura, and other signs in the magical vision that indicated pain.

She started at the woman's head, moving down her body, soothing bruising and cleaning flesh. There was one particularly wicked wound on the side of her breast that Kavala decided was a human bite mark because as she forced its rapid healing, it lost its ugly odd shape and took on more of an impression of teeth. It healed quickly, but left a tiny row of scars in the shape of an upper mandible. Moving down her hips, the girl was relatively alright, just suffering minor bruising and some problems on her right leg. Her knee had some damage, unseen, with the muscle work, that was repeated in the other side. Kavala assumed it was trauma from being forced to her knees. Moving down her legs, Kavala healed the woman's bites, and then ran into some nasty infections in one toe that had been broken. It took her a great deal of time to heal that nasty bit of work, before she moved upwards.

The Konti didn't waste any time but thoroughly examined the girl's reproductive system and made repairs there. After a quick palpation and staring at the woman with her auristics flaring, Kavala made a few judgements. "She's not pregnant. And she's relatively healthy. I would say if she wants them she can have children later." It was to be expected that there would be damage there, especially given where she'd come from. But the Rattling Chains crew pretty much kept their play to a minimum with the women they were going to sell to the Akalak's as breeders. This girl was obviously going to be one of those.

It was no less than she'd had to do for Cadra when she'd arrived, though to look at the kelvic now, there was no sign she'd ever been hurt by men.

Another toe needed attention, this time because of a bit of old frostbite. And finally Kavala was back up her leg, and at Caelum's side. If he hadn't done so yet, she'd close the arm wound he'd thoroughly cleaned out, repairing the muscle and tendons on her way out.

"Can we roll her to check her back?" Kavala didn't know if she had whip marks or not, but it wasn't' uncommon and she didn't want to leave anything undone. "We're almost done... get her into the bath first... then we can treat for fever. I've gotten meds ready ahead of time so once shes soaking and coming back around, we can get them in her." Kavala said, acting as lead on the repair team. It wasn't something they hadn't done before. They had. Too many times. And Larik by the doorway watching was just one of them. He looked like he was ready to tear someone's eyes out and eat them. Kavala almost smiled. Anger... was so healthy. If he'd been standing there with no emotion on his face at all, a part of her would have died. But her Nephew cared.. he cared enough to be enraged, and just that fact alone told her that he was well on his way to being okay.