Helping a friend(Tocky)

[Iris Timandre]

57th of Summer, 512
The white isle woman, Iris, recently got herself a decent job as an assistant at the Infirmary. But she has been contacted by a friend for a specific task. Well more than one. Iris reached the front door of Tock's housing and reached her right arm down wrapping her slim pale fingers around the door knob and twisting it. She takes a few steps forward and instantly spots Tock sitting on a chair. By now Iris has learned even more of the common languaged thanks to Tock.

"Hello Tock. I got the letter you sent me. Tell me exatly what you want me to do here. What's bothering you?"

Iris stopped speaking, she lifted her left hand up to her face and brushed her long pink highlighted blonde hair out of her face. When she got the letter from Tock all it said was urgent and that Iris needed to come over right away. So the Konti dropped everything she was doing and rushed over to see her friend. There was a huge concerned look on Iris' face. She never liked to see her friends hurt. And it was part of her religion to cure anyone in need. Even those that are in the wrong.

Iris removed her snow white backpack and placed it on the housing floor. Quickly she unzipped the backpack and pulled out a healer's kit she got right before she left Mura. Opening it Iris saw that she had a few of the things she needed for different causes. A needle holder, multiple needles, some thread, herbs, salves, and bandages.

Tock had to be one of Iris' best friends within Zeltiva. When Iris first arrived Tock was the first person to help her get settled in and find a job. So whenever Iris heard something happened to Tock it made her painfully upset. Iris waited for Tock to speak. But she whispered something to herself.

"Rak'keli guide me in helping my friend recover."

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock was having a bad season. She'd broken her hand, suffered more than one black eye, some bruised ribs, an injured foot (when she dropped a crowbar on it), various scrapes and cuts, more than one of which had needed stitching. Then, right when she was recovered, her bruises healed, her hand no longer aching, and her flesh healed again after the deep gashes she'd received, she just had to go and get attacked in the middle of the night. She'd suffered a cut across her chest right near the shoulder, and another, deeper gash in her right thigh. She'd been stitched up at the infirmary, but Tock was stubborn. She hadn't listened when she was told to stay off the leg for the next few days, up to a week while the wound healed. As if Tock would stay off her feet for a week. She had magic crutches, after all. This morning, she'd climbed into her magic crutches, and piloted the Automaton down to work. Her boss had asked her what happened to her this time, seeing as she kept turning up injured left and right. He had also insisted that she spent the work day sitting, and only working on tasks that wouldn't aggravate the wound. Not for the first time she'd spent the day woodcarving from a seat, thankful that the detailed work that she did mostly required her to stay in one place, carefully carving out designs with her hands. Of course, she hadn't been smart enough to stay off her feet all day. When a group of her coworkers had accidentally knocked over a pile of wood, she'd started shouting at them, trying to direct them where to put it. They hadn't been able to understand her hand gestures and pointing, and, grumbling, she had gotten up and hopped on one leg over to where they were picking up the mess. Along the way she had fallen, landing right on her thigh, and ripping the stitches back open. Sick to death of the infirmary, Tock had refused to be taken there again. She'd gotten help climbing back into her crutches (which could support her weight fully, the four-legged contraption walking without Tock's feet ever touching the ground), and been escorted back home. Not expecting the people at the infirmary would make house calls, she had asked her coworker to get a message to another healer she knew. When Iris got there, Tock was sitting in a chair, going over some blueprints on her table. She was using both hands to work, taking measurements with a ruler in one, and sketching out designs with another. Her third hand, Handy the wooden Automaton, was strapped around her thigh and holding a blood-dampened cloth over the wound. Tock glanced up at Iris when she got there and said, "Oy, Sook, done got some stitches what been pulled out. Think fer ya can does 'em back up fer me?"

[Iris Timandre]

57th of Summer, 512
The graceful Konti listened to Tock carefully. She knew if she didn't get all of the details from a patient of what's bothering them she could make a mistake. And in her training she's been taught that one mistake could cost a patient his or her life. Iris would pay even more attention than she usually did because it wasn't a random patient she'd take care of at the Infirmary.

Back in Mura Iris' mother, Amaris Timandre, bought her up telling her mistakes weren't acceptable. She carried that mindset all through her childhood and into adulthood. The Konti looked up at Tock noticing her still working dispite her need for medical attention.

Iris grabbed onto her medical kit with both of her hands and lifted it up. She walked closer to Tock until she was right in her face. The healer bend down to take a good look at the thigh wound. To a Novice healer this probably would have been a pain but due to Iris' intense study stitching would still be difficult but not anything the Konti couldn't handle and complete well.

Iris looked into her medical kit. One thing she forgot to pay for was gloves. The Konti felt shamed, how could she forget them? Iris clearly didn't understand that no one was perfect. She felt extremely upset when she did anything wrong. The disappointment was shown on Iris' face but she didn't tell Tock what was bothering her. The Konti reached into her healer kit and grabbed the needle holder with her left hand. She looked up to Tock who was still working. She spoke in common. Even though Iris had a heavy accent Tock would still be able to understand every word she said. The ability to study was useful.

"Even though you need medical care you're still working? True dedication to your craft. But before I even think of stitching this up I should check for infections."

Iris moved in and began to examine Tock's thigh, she placed the needle holder down and shifted gears to pick a thin needle up. After she grabs some of the thin thread and began to try to fit the tiny thread into the butt of the needle. A small hole. Iris paused to look up to Tock for a second and asked.

"I heard you've been attacked. All of the details were on the letter you sent me. What...was it like?....Fighting for your life?"

Iris learned how to fight with the Gladius but she's never been in a life or death fight in her thirty years. The Konti just had to know what ran through Tock's mind. And how she was able to handle the situation to keep her life.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

When Iris leaned in close to the wound, Handy tried to swat her away. The magic wooden hand wasn't smart enough to understand that Iris was trying to help. He just knew that he'd been given a task, to hold the cloth down, and this woman was interfering in that task. Tock sighed and reached down to grab Handy, pulling him up onto the table. He obediently released his leather tail from around her leg and let himself be moved. "S'okay, baby," Tock told him. "She's 'elpin' Mommy, aye?" She patted him lovingly, and he scurried up her arm, climbing along her sleeve with his little wooden fingers. He perched himself on her shoulder, slipping his tail loosely around her neck for balance, and started stroking her hair. Tock took it as a sign of affection, but really it was just programmed movement; he was mimicking the same way Tock herself brushed her hair back when it got in her eyes, and she had programmed that into him along with all of her other common hand motions. "Ya 'eard wrong," Tock lied when the woman asked about the fight. The coworker Tock had sent with the request for help must have just assumed it was a fight, due to Tock's reputation. But she had told her coworkers a lie, not wanting them to know what was really going on. "I done fell on some rocks," she told Iris. "T'were rainin' last night, aye? Done slipped onna wet patch, slid down a lil 'ill, an' fell an' cut myself on rocks." She felt a bit bad lying to the girl. Tock normally wasn't one to lie; she either told you what she thought straight to your face without compunction, or else told you it was none of your damn business. But she was expecting more trouble from Corwin down the line. If he was still in the city, he would be after her. That was how it had always been with him growing up. He hadn't ever tried anything when they were kids that came close to what he'd tried to do last night, but he had always tormented her. She was expecting another encounter, and she didn't want anyone knowing she had prior motive in the matter. If she murdered him, she wanted to be able to make it seem purely like self defense, not revenge. "Nasty rock though, aye?" she said with a forced grin. She just hoped the healer wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a gash from an axe blade or one from a sharp rock.

[Iris Timandre]

57th of Summer, 512
The Konti was close to the wound. But it had some sort of wooden hand holding a piece of cloth down. When Iris decided to move in even closer than that the hand moved. It struck Iris on the top of the head with it's fingertips. There was no possible way Iris could have gotten out of the way in time. It caught her completely off guard. The Konti backed up quickly, her bright eyes wide open.

The poor Konti was confused. Trying to figure out how that hand moved. At the same time she held her head in pain. Since the hand caught the Konti on the top of the head her straight hair got messed up but she had no marks. Iris was now cautious about moving in again until Tock spoke to the wooden hand. The Healer was curious, confused, and shocked all in one. She's never seen anything like that in her entire life. Iris couldn't help but ask about it. Iris placed the needle holder down into the healing kit again quickly and lifted both of her hands to the top of her head to pill her pink highlighted blond hair back. Gentle words came out of the Konti's mouth.

"What.....No......How did that hand just hit my head. How did it move? And it's....Touching your hair. I am so lost."

Apparently, the letter Iris had gotten was also a lie. Tock didn't get into a fight. Iris shook her head at the thought. She wondered why someone would even assume things or make things up about Tock. The Konti pushed the thought of Tock fighting someone out of her mind right then. She made got onto her feet and took her needle holder, a needle, and the thread out of the kit again.

Iris felt bad for Tock, she believed that the woman fell on rocks in the rain. That just sounded painful. Iris hovered over the wound finally slowly pulling the cloth off. She examined it good. But she had no clue that it actually was an axe gash. In Mura, Iris studied at the Opal Temple and learned to stich wounds. And she's studied different types of cuts. But she has never seen an axe gash. So Iris would be able to stitch the wound up perfecly. But she didn't have any information on that exact type of blade wound. Iris hovered her right hand over the wound and then lowered it until her palm was pressed against Tock's skin. The Konti could feel the cut below her hand. The Konti was purifying the gash. Removing all contaminants from the wound. After Iris lifts her hand up. The wound even appeared to be much cleaner than it was before Iris' touch. Iris had a huge amount of faith in her Goddess, Rak'keli. She never doubted herself or healing ability.

Iris responded to Tock quickly.

"Yes that is quite the gash. It must have been painful. I wonder, what do you do for a living?

Iris reaches the needle holder over to the wound and slowly uses it to push the needle into the edge of Tock's wound's skin that was up. The Konti's goal was to pull the skin back together. Iris pushed the needle in further until it started to go through the opposite side of the wound. The healer pulled the needle and placed the holder down. The thread went through Tock's skin. Iris could see one straight thin line going through Tock's skin. But that was one down. The Konti knew Tock needed many more for a wound that bad. And the stitches had to be painful.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

"What, 'Andy?" Tock asked in confusion, as if there could be some other magical moving hand in the room. "Dun worry 'bout 'im, aye? 'E's my baby. I done made 'im." She turned her head and scrunched her nose up, smiling at the little hand. "Ain'tcha, aye? Is you my baby? Huh? Yes ya is, yes ya is," she spoke to the hand in baby talk, then kissed his wooden fingers. The hand stroked her cheek, then went back to playing with her hair. Then Tock closed her eyes as the healing energy surged through her. She still remembered the first time she'd been healed by magic. It was always an interesting experience. The wound still ached, and Tock had no idea that it had already been infected by the accelerated, extra fast spreading germs that came from the Blight in the city. Hopefully Iris's healing magic would cleanse the infection fully. "I's a woodcarver," she said, opening her eyes. The room was filled with things Tock had carved, from her homemade chess set, to her puppets, to all of her Automatons, most of which were made from wood. "Done works for a bloke named Jack, construction 'round the city, aye? Good pay," she shrugged. Her construction work wasn't as important to her as her Animation, but it was a good experience to have. Besides which, she had been working with wood since she was a little girl. She had to bite the inside of her cheek when the stitching started, pain lancing through her at having her skin punctured by the sharp needle. She tried to tune it out; this could actually be a good practice experience for her. She had been learning more and more lately that she needed to keep her mind clear of distractions when she was Animating. Stray thoughts and distractions could lead to accidental transfers, where her thoughts, emotions, and pain were programmed into the Automaton by mistake. So she had been trying to practice meditation, soothing her mind and blocking out any distractions. Of course, she usually didn't HAVE many distractions around the house to tune out, so it was usually easy. Tuning out this pain, however, was harder. But she tried her best, trying to clear her mind and meditate on a peaceful state. She had heard stories about people who could supposedly clear their minds so much that they felt no pain at all. She didn't know how such a thing was possible, nor how to actually achieve a 'trance.' But she did the best she could to focus on keeping the pain out.

[Iris Timandre]

57th of Summer, 512
Iris continued to think about Tock speaking to the wooden hand. And it reacting. There were no words to describe how the Konti felt about that. Iris had seen some weird things since coming to Zeltiva but none like that. The healer looked at the hand for a few seconds pondering how useful it could be. It did hold the cloth down, it saved Tock the trouble of doing it.

Iris thought about what Tock said she did for a living. A wordcarver, that wasn't something Iris had any information on. Maybe she could start up a good conversation by talking about something relevant to what Tock loved to do. Iris examined the wound more, she was happy she cleared the wound of infection.

For a second, all of the carved objects around the Konti caught her attention. She was actually amazed by it. They were all works of art by a great woodcarver. It was actually something Iris wouldn't mind trying out one day. Iris smiled and turned back to Tock's leg to continue the medical care.

Iris moved the needle very slowly and pushed it into Tock's skin again. By now she had a full edge of the wound stitched up good. The Konti pulled the needle back. The three lines of thin thread were visible. Iris wasn't exactly fond of stitching. She knew it would help her patients out but she strongly disliked the pain and discomfort it caused them. It hurt Iris when they were hurt. Finally, the Konti tried to strike up a long conversation with Tock.

"Well, I purified your wound. There was an infection but it's good now. Are you doing okay? I know this hurts really bad."

Iris thought Tock would be in alot of pain. Finally, the Konti spoke some more.

"About these carvings, what got you into woodcarving? And how do you do it exactly?"

The healer wanted to get Tock to talk more, she was curious about the woodcarver. Iris pushed the thin needle into Tock's gash again carefully. The fourth thread was now in the skin. Pulling it together slowly. Iris was pleased with how it was starting to look.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

"I's fine," Tock lied in a strained voice. It hurt, and her pathetic attempt at meditation to block out the pain wasn't doing much. Her stubborn pride, however, was working just fine, and it wouldn't let her admit to the pain. Maybe talking about her work would help distract her. "My Granddad were a woodcarver," she said, her tone softening. "Done taught me everythin' 'e knew, since I were 'is big..." she held a hand up around waist height. "Left me 'is tools when he..." she trailed off. Technically, her Granddad hadn't 'left her' anything. He had died while she was in a coma, and she had taken the tools with her when she fled home. "Done 'er my 'ole life," she said. Her mind was getting off the pain a bit now that she was focused on something else. "Ya can done makes anythin' wit' wood. Cut it, shape it, put yer 'eart an' soul inta it. Give it life." The moving contraptions around her gave that statement a literal tone. But even before she had ever Animated something for the first time, she had believed there was life in everything she created. Her life, her soul went into everything she ever made. Learning to literally put her soul into things with magic had been such a logical, simple step for her. Sometimes it almost felt like Granddad had started teaching her Animation when she was just a wee lass. Tears filled her eyes, and they weren't from the stitching. She wiped at her eyes, trying not to let Iris see. She didn't like people seeing her crying.

[Iris Timandre]

57th of Summer, 512
The healer listened to Tock's story. Iris loved to hear other people's life story to see how they were different from her own. Most of the time people have had it much harder than the Konti. Iris has a very calm and easy childhood.

Woodcarving was an interesting topic to Iris. It's something she's never actually seen in Mura. A topic she wouldn't mind sitting down and learning hands on.The Konti was always curious and open to trying anything new. It's always been that way.

Iris thought it was really sweet that Tock's grandfather taught her and she followed in his footsteps with the craft. But one part Iris didn't understand was the "Give it life" part. She thought about asking. She didn't want to look foolish but in the end she decided to speak up and talk about the topic. A light lit in Iris' eyes and she looked at the hand again. That's when it slowly came together. But Iris didn't quite understand how it was possible.

"Give it life? I don't see how it's possible. But it is....well I think I should leave the topic alone."

The healer continued to push the needle into the cut. The stitching was close to finished. Only one corner of the cut remained. Iris saw that Tock was crying. And wiping the tears away. Iris thought the stitching really did hurt Tock. The Konti says quickly.

"I was positive that the stitching hurt you, you shouldn't try to hold tears back we're almost done. It's not good for you. I cry alot about things that don't compare to getting stitched up. It's alright."

Iris smiled at Tock and pulled the thread up. She wanted to hurry up but she knew if she hurried just so Tock would stop hurting the stitches wouldn't come out good.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

"Oy, ya done got life in yer 'ands, aye?" Tock asked, trying to distract herself further, both from the physical pain and the emotional strain. "What when ya done gots life in yer 'ands, 'en anythin' ya done gots made wit' yer 'ands 'is done gonna 'as the same life, aye? S'jus' common sense." That was how she saw it. It was no different from someone squeezing life out from between her legs (though having grown up without a mother to educate her on the finer points, she was a bit uncertain about the physics of that...). She bit the inside of her cheek as the stitching hit a more tender spot. She ignored Iris's comments about her tears. She didn't like crying, she didn't like anyone seeing her crying, and she wasn't about to admit that she even was crying. Thinking about growing up without a mom now was just making it worse. She forced a change of subject, hoping for further distraction from the physical and emotional pain. "I done been spent a year in Mura, 'while back," she said. "Think what as I's still gots some o' 'at magic color changin' wood 'round 'ere somewhere... 'cept what as 'ey don't change colors no more, once ya done cuts 'em down. Bloody let down, 'at. Were a darn pretty forest though. 'Specially what when she's in the middle o' the change in winter." Tock had spent winter's eve studying the forest one night. Funny enough, that was also the first night she'd been healed by magic.