The pieces of April

[baldrshand]

Who: Ethlyn and thee (prior to snek plague)
Where: Various places in Aldrip
What: Local(?) woman is confused and irritated about it
Warnings: None!


1. Healer, get thyself together
[It was strange enough waking up in a house that seemed to be made of squares and triangles, all white with steel appliances on the inside. But what's even more unsettling is what Ethlyn sees when she returns to the familiar grounds of the Willow Clinic. Why? Because they are familiar. It's as though someone picked up the farmhouse and the gardens around it, willow and all, and plopped it down in the middle of a modern city block.

There’s a shelf full of medical books and every book is full of ribbons. She can almost remember putting them there.]

I was a healer… [she closes her eyes.] I am a healer. That’s right. I know what these are. [She takes another look at a ribboned page and falls into a mutter.] Actually, I’m not so sure about the jejunum... that sounds like some foreign fruit.

[Wait. Wait that was the bell over the door.]

Oh! Hello, sorry!

2. Memories, rising from the pavement

[Deirdre. Sigurd. Leonster. Thracia.

She’s sitting at a table in the public library with a notebook and loose leaves scattered around her, trying to sort out which is which. On one page is a sketch of a sword, and a list of names–to a casual glance by a modern person, all looking like they’re about 800 years old. She’s trying to identify them. “Quan = husband” is one entry. The rest are covered with smudges and the tapping of a pen.

Finally she sighs and leans back in her chair, pushing her hands through her hair.]

What a coward I’ve been.

3. We want YOU

[Well. Whether or not she is Ethlyn the busy widow or Ethlyn the lady and battlefield healer, the Arztenritter exists and needs to be rebuilt. Right now it’s herself, Marianne, Emet-selch, and Minato… she’s… pretty sure. She isn’t entirely.

But she’s out and about around the city, on a horse named Venture, with a load of rolled-up posters in her saddlebag. Whenever she spots the outside of a likely-looking building, she’ll hop off with a hammer and nails and starts putting it up.

She found the posters in the storage closet of the clinic. Possibly they were made by someone with a passion for graphic design.]

Right. This ought to be eye-catching enough.

4. Wildcard
[If none of these suit, feel free to make up your own or plot something out with me! I'm in game disco, on plurk at compassinks, or open to PMs.]

Comments

1.

[memori3s]

[ Eventually, Minato manages to find his way to the Willow Clinic. Koromaru trots at his side, clad in his little shirt and angel wings.

Minato figured he should at least try to find Ethlyn's clinic, now that he'd been roped into her brigade. And now that the inn was asking for people to start coughing up cash, he had another question he needed to pose to Aldrip's resident doctor...

After enough asking around he finally found the building. It likely helped that the farmhouse and gardens stuck out anachronistically in its more modern surroundings.

The bell over the door rings gently as the two step in. Minato offers Ethlyn a polite nod, and Koromaru gives her a friendly bark. He doesn't tread further into the clinic though, and instead, glances down at Koromaru before looking back at Ethlyn again. ]

...is Koromaru allowed in here?

[ He'd forgotten that not every establishment would let his buddy in, even if the dog was always on his best behavior. ]

3-ish!

[threadmage]

[ Sandry notices a poster when she's walking around town and frowns at a sudden memory. She wove bandages with Lark. Or at least she has the memory of doing so, whether it's real or not. Still, if a clinic needs help, she can contribute that much.

It takes a little while to find where it actually is, but Sandry enters with the chime of the door. ]

Hello! I saw your poster.

3

[bonobos]

[ the horse is what catches his attention — sha-ming lingers in its direction, leaning in to look it in the eye. they stare at one in another in silence before fingers rake through its fur, his touch brisk and featherlight.

then he notices the woman — and the poster. he sidles up behind her quietly, peeking over to gander a view of it. ]

Gotta say, that’s reallll outdated. When was the last time someone used parchment, anyways?

[ but, onto the topic itself: ]

…You doin’ this for free? The whole doctor thing, I mean.

[baldrshand]

[That is one unexpected benefit to the new situation--it'll be a lot harder to get confused about where the clinic is now that people can just say "it's that FARMHOUSE in the middle of the CITY."

Ethlyn smiles when she sees Minato, and raises her eyebrows when she sees his small friend. Part of her thinks that there is good reason for barring animals from the clinic--so many restaurants ban pets being brought in--but she has too many memories of dogs being around and welcome in most spaces back at home, in her old life--the life she thinks must have been real, even if it doesn't always feel that way.]

He's small enough. As long as he's well-trained, I don't see a problem.

[baldrshand]

Oh! Miss Sandry!

[At least Ethlyn has no trouble recognizing her--and at least Sandry's guise in their falsified lives was similar enough to what it wasn't that it isn't distractingly confusing. Unlike everything else around here.]

Yes, we're in rather desperate need of more healers right now. [She stops suddenly, mouth open to continue, and then she closes it and puts her hand to her eyes briefly as though trying to recall something. Which is exactly what she's doing.] I... feel very strongly that we need to have people equipped to run out and respond fast during emergencies.

[baldrshand]

[Venture makes a slightly disgruntled huff when his brand new friend loses attention in stroking him, but that's all the warning Ethlyn gets before the voice behind her makes her start and almost smack her thumb instead of the nail.

...Ah! [Right. The question. Yes.] Yes--well, we have some sponsors, and if you can afford to pay, we accept that too. But for emergencies, like what the Arztenritter is meant for--it wouldn't be right to ask people to dig into their pockets when they have, say, a sucking chest wound.

[See, she knows modern medical terms in spite of having parchment posters.]

2

[entreats]

[ Considering Ethlyn is one of those rare people Ange can be around without having to justify being social either to herself or to the other person, she actually feels kind of glad to see the woman when Ange also happens to be visiting the library. She approaches the table, perhaps even looking less moody than she usually does, but..

She doesn't speak up right away. Mostly because witnessing those notes renders her speechless for a moment. She thought Ethlyn might be researching something, judging by how she was sitting there and writing, but she didn't expect to read these words.

They make her think back on the maze, even though it feels like such a while ago by now. ]

.. Ethlyn? Did you.. forget?

[ She's not sure what else these notes could mean, but that implication is very concerning. ]

[baldrshand]

[Ethlyn studies the redhead out of the corner of her eye as she approaches. She is familiar... not one of the native townspeople of Aldrip, but one of the Chosen brought here, with a slip of parchment...

I care about you. You're my friend.

The words float up, and Ethlyn's gaze fixates on Ange's hand--but it's clean and unmarked. So she's not sure why that would be a cause of concern...?]

Hello, Ange. [More than worry, Ethlyn feels as though Ange is someone she can trust. If she's been caught out muttering to herself as she tries to reconstruct her own life, Ange isn't the worst person to do it.] ...Yes. Not forgotten, entirely... but everything is mixed up.

[memori3s]

[ The dog barks twice, tail wagging enthusiastically upon hearing he's been granted entry. Both Minato and the dog take a few more steps into the clinic until to Ethlyn. ]

Koromaru's always been pretty well-behaved.

[ Neither Minato nor any members of SEES ever trained Koromaru. By the time the dog joined their team, he was already familiar with basic commands. In fact, Koromaru seemed quite capable of understanding everything being said to him.

Minato glances at the bookcase. Each tome's spine is embroidered with words that have way too many syllables and way too many letters. He reaches out to pull one off the shelf, examining its cover with a small frown. ]

"Conditions of the Thoracolumbar Spine"...

[ Although he'd agreed to help out at the clinic, Minato doesn't have a clue when it comes to anatomy. ]

[threadmage]

[ Sandry hadn't realized who runs the clinic. She gives a warm smile. ]

It's good to see you, Lady Ethlyn.

[ She is a lady... right? They had that conversation before. Or maybe they didn't. But it's the first thing that pops out of her mouth. ]

I may not be a healer but I can help by making you bandages! With my thread magic I can weave spells for quick recovery and cleanliness into the cloth. It won't be a significant difference, but it will help some. Would that be helpful for you?

[ Her mind keeps telling her it's not real, but deep down she knows she can do this. That her magic is real. She proved it to herself already, didn't she? And she loves her magic, her weaving... ]

[bonobos]

[ sorry, horsie. he'll be back soon!

he shouldn't be shocked by this woman's selflessness -- but for a moment, he blinks, as if trying to process what she's saying. ]

You serious? Thought it was normal for doctors to extort you for everything you're worth. [ a shrug of the shoulders. ] Dog eat dog universe, what can ya do. What do you get out of savin' people's lives? You really don't ask for anything back?

[ crazy thing to say, but the concept makes little to no sense to him. ]

[baldrshand]

I'm glad to hear it.

[It can be difficult to take pet owners at their word in all things, but so far the little fellow does seem to be as Minato says.

She watches Minato peruse the bookshelf, indulging in some sympathetic amusement at the look he's giving some of the titles. She's sure she looked much the same when she began reading words like Escherichia coli and duodenum and ventricular tachycardia.]

It's a book about why your back hurts.

[memori3s]

[ Oh. That definitely explains the artwork adorning the book's cover. It's a man hunched over with a pained expression, hand pressed against his lower back. ]

Do all of these books belong to you...?

[ There sure are a lot of them, offering a wealth of knowledge.

Minato glances over at Ethlyn with a sheepish expression. He'd agreed to assist in her healers brigade, but there was one small problem. ]

...I don't actually know much anatomy.

[ Who needs science when you have magic!! ]

[entreats]

[ Something about Ange's gaze instantly softens. It's not something she calls attention to - maybe the girl doesn't even realise just how much her pokerface drops in this moment as she's staring at Ethlyn with some worry and sadness in her eyes. Maybe it's a little more instinctive for things to slip around the other by now.

She moves a little closer to the table, pulling back one of the chairs so she can sit down as well. ]

I thought that all our memories went back to normal at the same time when the town changed.

[ Mostly because she hasn't ran into any of these cases yet. Both Ragna and Scott seemed the same as her - meaning that Ethlyn is the first she's seen who's still struggling. ]

[baldrshand]

Please, call me Ethlyn. I might have been a noblewoman back home, but there's no need to stand on ceremony here. [And when she says might have, she does mean it unfortunately literally. She is fairly sure.

Her eyes light up when Sandry says what she can do with her thread magic. Weaving healing power into the bandages themselves? Ethlyn imagines the energy from her own healing staff, laced into cloth, bound close to a wound for many hours.] That would be incredibly helpful. I don't think you've been here for very long, but we've had some disasters that have wounded lots of people at once. Every little bit of healing help counts... and just ensuring that a wound won't get infected does so much.

How many can you make? And how long will the enchantment last?

[baldrshand]

[Ethlyn sighs. She's not unfamiliar with the phenomenon. It saddens her when people have lifesaving talents and only think of how easy it is to turn it into a coin mint... going so far as to seek out communities that have no other option.]

For some doctors, but not for me.

I do it because it's my duty. [Just as it was her elder brother's duty to defend their family lands with his sword, it was hers to care for them with her staff.] We aren't in an active war zone here, but we are all in a bad situation together, so I'm still responsible for doing what I can to help people when my skills are needed.

[baldrshand]

That's all right--I had a great deal to learn when I first came here. And I began my training as a healer when I was younger than you.

[Do all the books belong to her... Ethlyn stares at the bookshelf for a moment. The obvious answer is yes, but she's not entirely sure that it's right. Wasn't there someone else here? She did not always live in Aldrip, of that she's sure, and so this building was not always hers. But then whose was it?]

I've been studying those... probably since I first arrived here. But do you know any first aid? As an emergency healer, that will be most of what you do. And it's much simpler than understanding stomach acid and the movement of lymph.

[baldrshand]

[It's a relief to hear Ange say that. Ethlyn would hate if everyone was in this situation, and Ange is a person who has... enough troubles? Probably. Even if she doesn't, not being able to understand your own life is too big of a trouble even if you don't have any others.]

Mine didn't. I haven't figured out why yet. [She looks back down at her papers.] It's like I'm remembering two lives side-by-side, and they both seem equally real, but equally muddled. And the town becoming a city overnight hasn't helped.

[Otherwise she could walk around, try to suss out what was really familiar and what only seemed it. Now all of it is relegated to memory, with all the fallibility that entails.]

What did you think you were, back when we all thought we'd been living here all our lives?

[solitarysoul]

[Finding a library in this new city was like a godsend (if he liked gods), so outside of trying to learn the layout of the city Levi's spent a good amount of time in it. He's sitting at a table near Ethlyn, reading a novel, when she speaks. He lowers the book some and looks to her.]

Huh?

[threadmage]

The enchantment should last for a year or so, so as long as we don't build up too much of a back supply I don't think we'll have to worry about the magic fading. As for how much I can make... how much do you need? I'll need to secure a supply of thread so it will take a bit of time before I can begin, but something like bandages I can make quickly. If I set aside a day to focus I can probably do 150 or 200 yards, though I'll need some time to recover from the magic after that.

[ Sandry still has moments where she doubts herself, her memories, but her thread magic is impossible to deny. Even more than her memories she can feel it's tied to her soul. She knows how to do the magic weaving that will allow her to make these bandages. ]

[entreats]

I thought I was a student at the high school.

[ Nothing too interesting there. But Ange doesn't feel like Ethlyn is just asking that because she's looking for an interesting story. Is she trying to separate the real and fake memories in her mind by asking that? Seeing what Ange's fake life was like, so she can strike through any memories that seem similar to it?

In that case, Ange could tell her more, but she isn't sure how useful stuff like Ragna being her big brother would be..

She frowns, thinking about this, but then the girl realises something else entirely. ]

I know a few things about your real life. You told me, months ago. Would it help if I told you about the things I remember about your life?

[memori3s]

[ That's the equivalent of telling him she'd started studying to go to med school before hitting high school. Truly, Ethlyn's from a different time and place...

First aid though, that's something he can do. Minato nods in response. ]

I know a little.

[ Everyone in each sports club had to learn a thing or two just in case an emergency arose mid-practice. ]

How to do your best to stop a wound from bleeding, CPR: things like that.

[baldrshand]

[A student at the high school... yes. But also, no.]

That sounds too ordinary for you.

[Her gaze goes back to Ange's hand. Ethlyn is pretty sure she does remember seeing it covered in blood, yet not from some dreadful accident.

But when Ange offers to share what she knows about Ethlyn's real life, Ethlyn's eyes snap back up to her face.]

Yes. Please--[she looks down at her notes, the shame rising again.]--Anything helps. I need to know what my life really was.

[baldrshand]

Oh! [What an embarrassing thing to have someone overhear.] Sorry, am I distracting you? I got a little caught up in my... well, in what I'm doing here.

You're one of the Chosen, aren't you?

[He's familiar, she feels like she's met him, but frustratingly, his name is not coming to the surface.]

[solitarysoul]

I-its okay. I'm not doing anything important.

[He nods.]

I am...you are too, right?

[He's sure he's seen her around.]