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Alassëa jumped when Lin took her hand and she reached for her staff; but before her fingers could close around it she stopped herself, taking a deep breath. She wasn't used to being around people yet, and she wasn't used to being touched at all. But she was learning, slowly, not to be so quick to react.

"Heal," she said, sounding somewhat hesitant. Then she repeated it again, more strongly, taking Lin's hand and motioning with it towards Earendil.

Alassëa wasn't sure of the distance, and she ended up hitting Earendil's injured shoulder harder than she intended, making him yelp slightly with the shock of pain that shot through him. Her expression became one of regret, but she didn't yet have the words to apologize, so she said nothing.

"Heal," she murmured softly. "Arm ..."

With his good arm, Earendil took Alassëa's hand and moved it to where he had been injured, from his shoulder to his neck. "There," he told her. "This is where the injury is."

He tugged at the strings of his tunic. Even if he didn't remove the shirts, he was going to have to let Alassëa get her hand in there to heal him, so he needed the necks loose and open.

"Lin?" he said softly, looking at her. "Can you help me with this? I just need the neck loose ..."

"Thanks," Earendil smiled at Lin. He tugged the neck so it would open wider, then took Alassëa's hand and put it next to his injury.

"Right here," he told her, wincing as her fingers brushed against it.

For a long moment, Alassëa let her fingers move ever so lightly over the wound as she determined what type of injury it was and how bad it was. Then she began to trickle magic into it, speeding up the healing process. Even so, it took a long time, and outside the tent the rain picked up in intensity, and before long there was a rumble of thunder.

It startled Andarien, who started to whimper. Then he crawled over to Miyuki and tried to bury himself in her tails.

Andarien whimpered again and crawled up to Miyuki, holding his arms up to her to be picked up. He didn't want to be sitting alone during all this noise!

The thunder didn't seem to bother Alassëa one bit: her concentration didn't falter as she continued to heal Earendil. It wasn't very loud, not yet. It would get worse before it would get better.

Andarien wrapped his fists around Miyuki's clothes and pressed his face against her. There was another roll of thunder, followed by a loud crack of thunder, and suddenly a wind picked up, pushing against the sides of the tent. Something hit the front of the tent with a thunk, and Andarien burst into tears.

"We've got to make sure everything is properly braced," Earendil said, pushing himself to his feet and interrupting the healing process. Alassëa tried to protest, but without the necessary vocabulary she couldn't stop him.

Earendil clenched his teeth in frustration as he sat down again obediently. He hated sitting and doing nothing while everyone else was busy doing something important! It wasn't in him to sit still, and even though he knew Lin was right, it didn't mean that he liked it.

"Sit," Alassëa said firmly, putting one hand back to his wound and using her other hand to hold him still so that he couldn't get up again. Earendil wasn't paying much attention anymore, but rather watching Miyuki and Andarien helplessly.

"Miyuki," he called to her, "just a thought - try stroking his head, a bit like Senka maybe. It might help."

Might. He had no idea.

Sure enough, as Earendil had predicted, Andarien's cries slowed - though they didn't stop completely. Still, it was much better than it had been, and now the only real noise was the sound of the storm outside.

Outside, the falcon was hopping about at the flap of the door - it had been trying to get inside, but the wind had blown it into the tent, which had been the loud noise of the moment before.

"Lin!" Luk hollered, running over to her from the direction of the wagons, which he had been securing. "Do you need a hand with your tent?"