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 Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 8:04 am
Birch's back itched as he flew, an annoying reminder that sometimes it might be better to just keep his beak shut. Especially around agressive, humourless Seekers. It was nothing to fuss about really, and Birch knew that. His encounter with Bracken had lead to a few scratches and bruises, a couple of missing feathers on his back and a severely wounded ego. Serious or not, he should probably take care of the injuries in some way, and he was not very skilled in that department. If he ever found an Apothecary that actually made medicines he might trade for a home emergency kit of some sort.
His visit to an Apothecary he had heard about hadn't been very fruitful since it turned out she was specialised in providing dye for Artisans and had nothing helpful for basic first aid. She did point him to another Apothecary who hadn't been in his territory, and a Medic who had laughed at him and told him she had patients to tend to. Fair enough since they were probably worse off than he was, but it did nothing to make him feel better.
He perched at the edge of yet another Medic's territory and let out a meek hoot.
I'm not dying, I know that... But... Please help?
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Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 11:47 am
 The medic in question is happily dozing… resting her eyes in a very spacious hollow rather close to where the wildtype is perched. Ignoring the small white mus who seemed to have been trying to wake her up for a while now to warn the medic of the presence of the new arrival, she looks stunned for an instant. In a quick recovery, the deep woods female stretches a talon and then the other and preens a few flight feathers before quickly standing up as she prepares to leave her shelter.
Whirlwind is stationed near a small Enclave and is expecting the caller to be a minder or a concerned parent bringing a fledgling or hatchling for her to care. Perhaps that is why she jumps so suddenly into view as her eyes search the darkness for the poor little one who is need of her help. Instead (after following the stare of her insistent mus) she finds an adult, with a colorful fight feathers and… were those bard bells?
Though normally she’d sound a welcoming hoot to draw the stranger closer, the other sounded either weak or shy and she didn’t rule out a serious injury. Perhaps the bard had been frolicking a little too excitedly with the nearby fledglings and… well, accidents happened. Or maybe he was just here to bring her a message from the enclave. Either way, the situation could be rather serious and the medic approaches the other sentinel with visible haste.
“Are you alright?” she eyes the bard with curiosity, looking for injuries. Something feels a bit off though she can’t quite put a talon on what that might be… but at least there doesn’t seem to be anything blatantly wrong with the stranger.
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Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:27 pm
Birch sleeked down further as the Medic hurried towards him. He should just have looked for another Apothecary instead of wasting the time and resources of a Medic. But she would tell him if she had something more important to do tonight, right?
“Are you alright?”
"Yes," he answered too quickly, "I mean no. Or yes! But I... err... I might be in need of some assistance."
He slowly turned his body around while keeping his head still until he had rotated a full 180 degrees, showing his back to the medic. The few visible scratches looked even more pathetic now, and the blood that he was sure he had seen a few hours ago must have dried already. Oh, great...
"Just something for the wounds," he said, "Unless you're too busy, then I'll be on my way..." He trailed off, preening his back nervously until he accidentally hit a sore spot and was unable to suppress a hiss.
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Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 2:33 pm
Whirlwind looked a little confused for a moment but as soon as the bard turned around, she seemed to relax visibly.
“Oh, it’s not too serious…” almost immediately after, the (larger) sentinel hissed and the medic hunkered down looking startled. “B-but... it hurts, I see.”
Truth be told, Whirlwind considered the injury as below minor and bards weren’t exactly on her “most respected” list but it wasn’t as if she could pretend to be ridiculously busy all alone in her post. Besides, the bard had probably been hurt entertaining the adorable children of the enclave and giving him a bit of her time wouldn’t really be that much trouble. Although… the wound did look suspiciously like it had been made by a fellow sentinel’s beak. A territorial fight, perhaps?
“Would you follow me, please? I’ll give you something to speed up the healing process and numb the… wound. It’s a slow night thank Noctus and it will be no trouble at all.” She said softly as she hopped between branches. As she reached the large shelter, the medic looked back with a pleasant smile. “Hope you didn’t lose a good tree along with those feathers. Wit, bring me the flask with the green lid. Green. Oh, and the white one, too.”
“Boy or Girl?” The white mus whispered to Whirlwind looking thoroughly confused.
“It’s obviously a boy, Wit.” The medic replied quickly, looking rather ashamed of her companion’s words. By the voice, it should be fairly obvious that Birch is a male so Whirlwind doesn’t really understand the companion’s confusion.
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Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 8:56 am
Birch sleeked down, looking nearly as startled as the Medic. His ear tufts were flat against his skull and he was far from comfortable with the situation. He couldn't quite work up the energy to try to joke himself out of this so he just did as he was told and followed Whirlwind. Why did she have to be a female?
Tree? Why would he have lost a... Oh... Well a good medic should be able to figure out what had caused his injuries.
"No," he said, starting to feel quite nervous about the flasks and their mysterious contents, "but then I doubt anyone would want my trees. I... I had a run in with someone who must have managed to wake up on the wrong perch that evening."
“Boy or Girl?”
The barely audible whisper made him smile ever so slightly.
"Oh, don't worry," he said, preening his chest, "Your Mus is not the first one to get confused. I get that a lot when I work in the Minder enclaves. Boy or girl... I think the general consensus is that I'm a Birch."
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Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 3:36 pm
“Wrong perch, eh?” though the medic tried to join the bard with a little laugh, she secretly wondered if maybe the wildtype hadn’t just taken a joke too far.
If she found the companion’s question strange, the bard’s answer didn’t seem to help her at all. She was probably going to request some sort of explanation but when the medic’s head turned to face the bard, her eyes met Birch’s gender spots and she was suddenly silenced. Stunned, Whirlwind stood in quiet contemplation with her head slowly tilting to the side until the white mus started nudging her more insistently when she didn’t react to the flasks he had so obediently brought her.
“Birch…?” she finally asked with a silly expression, staring dumbfounded at the third row of chest markings.
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Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 8:25 am
Not even a smile. Great.
"Yes... err...That's my name," he said, grinning in a desperate attempt at regaining control over the situation, "Birch. Birch the Bard at your service."
He eyed the flasks with suspicion and lost the cheerful act again. This was the first time he had had reason to visit a Medic and he had a very hazy view of what they actually did. The one time he broke a blood feather he had been able to remove it himself and his fledgling escapades had usually been harmless enough in terms of injuries. As far as he could remember his parent and Minders had been able to handle things without involving Medics.
For all he knew she might be planning something really unpleasant or smelly or foul tasting... He fluffed up in annoyance. If that Seeker hadn't been such a oversensitive grump he wouldn't even be here.
"Sure hope he just had a bad day..." he grumbled. "You'd think Seekers would know how to behave."
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Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2009 3:11 pm
“Oh. Oh!” the medic’s eyes jumped to meet the bard’s with a sudden jerk. “Birch. Right. Whirlwind. That’s… me. Medic. B-but you know that already.”
Oh, could this really get any worse?
“Anyway, let’s get that wound treated. I’m just going to make sure it’s clean and then pour a something on it that will ease the pain and prevent swelling. There is no bleeding now but it still might sting a little.” For one who had always felt slightly uncomfortable in the presence of males (especially larger ones like wildtypes), Whirlwind found that it was easier to regain control of herself by hiding her thoughts behind professionalism. She preened a few chest feathers as she removed a small metal container from a small dark hollow space and finally acknowledged her companion’s efforts with a small nod. “If it still hurts tomorrow, you should probably pass by an apothecary and ask for an ointment for bruises. Something with arnica would do fine. And a touch of witch hazel wouldn’t hurt either. Apply it two or three times a day, softly massaging the skin.”
Birch’s last words did manage to pull a surprised look from the medic.
“A Seeker, that’s strange… They’re supposed to be, you know… objective and rational… not too quick to judge or act…” The small revelation only served to increase the medic’s suspicions that the bard had been the one at fault. “Can you… come closer and turn around, please?”
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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 12:20 pm
It was not very comforting that she too acted awkwardly so it was a huge relief to Birch when Whirlwind finally started to do that medic thing... At least he assumed that was what she was doing.
"Arnica..." he said slowly, "She's that famous Skydancer, right?"
He realised a moment later how stupid that must have sounded. Arnica was most likely also some kind of plant or tree or... medicine thing. Well, he wouldn't have any trouble remembering it now. And one of his minders way back then was called Witch Hazel so that too was easy to remember. He just hoped he wouldn't need to deal with Medics or Apothecaries anytime soon. Or Seekers. Especially Seekers.
Birch grunted and moved according to Whirlwind's instructions.
"Thought so too," he said gruffly, "But he just asked weird questions and seemed angry when I answered to the best of my ability."
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Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 3:33 pm
Whirlwind gently moved the feathers around Birch’s wound and opened a flask at the same time. At close range, she found it fairly easy to focus her will on several objects at the same time. The bard’s comment however, had her frozen in place for a few moments as her head slowly dropped to the side. And suddenly she let out a booming hoot and she laughed wholeheartedly, unable to contain herself.
“I meant the plant, really.” She said between chuckles. “Small plants… they have beautiful yellow flowers. But I also know Arnica the Skydancer. She is something. Very graceful… and beautiful, too.”
It was hard to feel intimidated around the large wildtype and she found his mistake rather goofy and endearing. The medic couldn’t help but to slowly start taking his side and she began to clean the wound as gently as she could.
“Let’s hope he was just having a bad day. We don’t really need some wayward Seeker with a short fuse giving the task a bad name… and giving the medics more work. Though things have been rather quiet lately.” She didn’t want to openly ask for gossip from a complete stranger but as a bard, Birch probably had some of the most juicy stories to share. “Any interesting stories going around? Oh and do let me know if this is hurting you…”
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Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 1:50 pm
Perhaps the silly mistake wasn't a total waste after all. Whirlwind had apparently heard of Arnica and it might be his imagination but the Medic seemed to warm up to him a bit.
"I'm afraid I don't have the body for Skydancing," he said and winked, "The best I can do is to hang upside down and look stupid for a few heartbeats."
The wound cleaning didn't feel too bad as long as he avoided looking at what she did. He made the mistake once and then quickly turned his head to face forward, feeling slightly queasy. It didn't look all that gory he supposed but... Ugh!
"No, doesn't hurt," he said faintly and then eagerly took the opportunity to talk and think about something else. Anything else! "Uh... There's been this talk about dead Sentinels, I don't know if you've heard the rumours around the Minder Enclaves. I got the impression that this Seeker might be investigating something about a dead chick, but he never answered when I asked him outright."
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Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 5:34 pm
The bard’s wink froze the medic for a brief moment but he was being so jokingly critical of himself that she couldn’t help but to feel at ease and chuckle again in an almost fond way. In a way, it was almost as easy as talking to a fledgling.
She opened the second flask with swift jerks and dropped the creamy contents on Birch’s wound, hoping the generous touch of mint would provide a refreshing feeling to the wounded skin.
“Dead Sentinels? My… nothing of the sort. Oh wait. I did hear some minders talking about a dead chick. Apparently, the poor thing suffered from the white sickness. What was strange was the way they spoke… as if there was something suspicious about the whole thing. Did you hear anything about it?” she tried to hide her interest but it was rather obvious she was curious about the strange case.
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 2:56 am
The potion felt cool and tingly on his exposed skin, but it was not an uncomfortable feeling. A familiar scent reached his nostrils. Mmmm... minty.
"Feels nice," he mumbled, but then rapidly turned his head to look at the Medic as she told him what she had heard. White sickness? He had heard about a Wildtype fledgling with mysterious white feathers and he had even caught a glimpse of her during the Fledgling Festival last spring. But surely that fledgling had graduated already? Unless...
"I know of one fledgling with unnaturally white feathers," he said slowly, "And it's not just from a mixed breeding, the colours and patterns are wrong. I don't think the Minders and Teachers liked her much. But she must have graduated already..."
He trailed off. Why would a Seeker investigate this? Was it some kind of foul play involved? Clearly he needed to visit a few more Minder Enclaves and listen more closely to these rumours.
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Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 11:22 am
“Yes, the poor thing was sick.” The medic was thrilled to know something of interest and smiled intently as her voice rose with excitement. “Some of the minders were saying it came from a very purist wildtype couple. But if you ask me, that‘s rubbish. With all the new mixed type couples that have been popping out, it’s not the first time I’ve heard some… mean-spirited gossip about old well-known family lines.”
Did she sound prejudiced? She hoped not. But this was turning out to be a much more interesting meeting than she’d expected. And the thought that a Seeker had been involved in the matter...! Even if most of it was old news to her, she was feeling rather proud to be the one to share juicy tidbits of information. And of course, Birch was a wildtype so it was less likely she’d hit a nerve.
“A while ago, there was talk of an enclave with an unruly fledgling afflicted with the white sickness but I think she was removed from the enclave and given a private teacher. I can see why… such a risk to the other children… maybe it’s the same one…?”
The medic wondered if that wasn’t a bit of a waste of the Clan’s resources.
“There is another fledgling in a southern enclave… but I believe that one is a bit younger. We don’t hear much about adults with the illness though, do we... Oh, but when I was studying under my mentor, I was told there was a sentinel who had the illness all over his body! Can you imagine that?”
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Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 3:43 pm
Birch came from a family that could track their lineage back through generation after generation of pure Wildtypes, most of them skilled combatants. Whirlwind's hint about old families and her talk about mixed type couples was nothing he hadn't heard before, and in other circumstances he might have started an argument just to see if he could provoke her to show her true colours. Birch was not very amused by the so called values the more conservative of his relatives found important, and he very much enjoyed to annoy them and to be as contrary as possible.
But tonight he wasn't feeling like stirring up more trouble. The encounter with Bracken was still fresh in his mind and had left him rather meek with no desire to upset the female helping him. And so he kept his beak shut, just humming and nodding as the medic talked, trying to be a good listener for a change. He was usually the one in the centre and the one talking, but he wasn't above listening to a good tale or some juicy gossip.
"I've heard about that adult I think," he said as she mentioned a completely white one, "Do you know if it's very contagious?"
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