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1. [DL-J] Glimmers of Hope Amid The Ruins (JP)
From: John Pepper <trissana@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
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Message: 1
Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 20:42:36 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Pepper <trissana@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Subject: [DL-J] Glimmers of Hope Amid The Ruins (JP)
Day 1, Late Evening
Ansel stood at the doors of the med center, lit by the dim glow of the
lights that shone from the corridor inside. "But you don't
understand!" he insisted, shaking his fist. "Tara is my sister, and I
have a right to see her!"
"I'm sorry, rider," said the orderly - one of three very large
orderlies who were posted at the door to prevent intrusion. "We have
our orders from Healer Balagon himself. No one is allowed in except
patients and healers. We're overflowing with casualties from the
battles today, and we just can't afford visitors in here right now."
"But Corwin went in..." he started to say.
"Corwin is a wingleader, and he was bringing in the Junior Queenrider,"
the orderly reminded him.
"But...can you at least tell me how Tara is?" he wanted to know.
"I really don't know, rider," the orderly said regretfully. "Couldn't
you have your dragon ask hers?"
"The queen isn't talking to anyone," Ansel sighed. Short of trying to
break into the med center, it seemed that all he could do was wait. He
turned around and looked out over the chaos that had, twenty-four hours
earlier, been a peaceful and orderly warren.
No more. Both queenriders were seriously injured. Both the Wingleader
and Wingsecond for Alpha Wing were missing, and at least in Gus' case,
were presumed dead. His own Wingleader, Corwin, was inside with Hsina.
He probably assumed that Tanami was handling things, but Ansel hadn't
seen her in some time. She was probably dealing with the Emperor and
his party. He wondered what he should be doing. Surely there must be
something more useful than standing here like an idiot.
Eliase was marching towards the med center with some determination.
She was set on seeing Hsina to make sure that her friend was okay.
Seeing Ansel standing on the steps to the med center looking lost she
paused for a moment before continuing on to him. "What's wrong," she
asked as she got close.
"They're not letting anyone in," Ansel told her, his voice mirroring
his frustration. "I can understand that they're overflowing with
casualties, but..." He shook his head and sighed. "I guess I do
understand. They don't need 'civilians' getting underfoot while
they're trying to work, and in medical terms that's pretty much what we
are. You came to see Hsina?"
She nodded and looked past him to the doors to the center. "Did they
at least say how anyone was?"
"Hsina is in 'stable' condition, they're saying," he told her. "Tara
is worse, but they aren't saying how much worse. All Varaenna will
tell Khamorray is that she'll tell us if there's any change...but she
doesn't respond when he asks how she is right now!" He shook his head.
"Things look bad here...nobody's seen Ce'lot since this afternoon, and
they can't tell me if he was brought into the med center... And Gus..."
All he could do at the mention of her name was to look helplessly at
the ground and clench his fists. "I should have been there, Khamorray
and I might have been able to get it out of range instead of her...we
might have been able to get back...but she couldn't, not in time..."
Eliase moved closer to Ansel and put her hand on his arm. "Ansel please
calm down. We don't know what happened to Gus. And you know what'll
happen if she reappears and heard you saying you could do a job better
than she." She forces a smile. In truth she was as worried as he was.
But she also knew that giving into those worries would do nothing
constructive.
She glanced around at the mass chaos and then back to Ansel. "What can
we do to try and get things under order?"
Ansel shook his head, trying to think of something. "I don't know...I
think there are too many casualties for the med center to handle
effectively. Beyond that...well, I guess people are just used to
having someone to tell them what to do. Right now, there's *nobody* to
do that."
He looked out at the water, calmly lapping at the beaches below the
warren. That huge army still sat out there - if its officers decided
to do so, they could probably storm ashore right now and overrun the
warren. Most of its forces, as he understood it, had never even been
engaged in any of the battles that had taken place throughout the day.
Then something struck him. "Maybe there's a way, at least for the
first problem," he said. "I wonder if Kataani healers would be any
good with human or dragon patients?"
Eliase nodded. "That is a great idea." She glanced around looking for
someone who could ask the Kataani if there is a way they could help.
"Come on," he said, taking her hand and leading her away from the med
center door, where he realized they weren't likely to be able to do any
good anyway. "Let's see if we can find one of the Kataani officers.
As luck would have it, he found Baron Kiriisha himself standing near
the entrance to the stairway that led up to the chambers where the
battles with Counselor Oga had taken place earlier. "Counselor, we
have a request," said Ansel. "As you know, we have many
causalities...now that your people and mine are at peace - or at least
I think we are - we were wondering if you could possibly lend us some
aid. Our facilities are overwhelmed."
"And ours are not?" the Baron asked officiously. "Your people fight
fiercely. I do not know our army's arrangements, but I am sure we
cannot spare any assistance."
Just then, another figure appeared in the doorway behind the Baron.
Ansel was surprised to see that it was General ****amo, the Army
Commander himself. "What is going on?" the general asked.
Eliase stepped up beside Ansel and looked at the General. "General
****amo both of our people have suffered loss from this battle. Right
now we have many more people hurt than we have people to attend to
them. We were just inquiring of the Baron here if you could possible
spare any of your own medical personnel. In the interest of spreading
peace between our people." She stood back then, hoping her fumbled
words would meet with understanding ears.
"And I was telling this youngster that our own soldiers have need of
our healers," Baron Kiriisha sniffed.
General ****amo looked thoughtful. "What the Baron says is true, but
our casualties were virtually all in the units deployed in the northern
half of our line. The units stationed to the south of your warren were
unengaged, and while I know they have sent aid to Brigadier Sentari's
brigade - which suffered very heavy losses in its unauthorized assault
- I believe they could spare medical personnel to assist you. I do not
know to what extent the physiological differences between our races
might affect our healers' ability to help. However, I will give the
orders." A soldier came up at his gesture, and the General dictated a
written order which he then signed. He handed the order to Ansel. "Go
and take this to Brigadier Mokkari. His unit is at the far end of our
line to the south, so you should find it with little trouble. I have
instructed him to send healers with medical kits. Can you return with
the healers on your dragons?"
Eliase smiled wide to the General. "Thank you so much General. I am
sure that Tara also will greatly appreciate your help." She glanced to
Ansel. "I am sure that our dragons can carry your healers back from
where they are."
Khamorray and Riyanne were waiting for them on the beach, and the two
riders quickly mounted. The dragons took off and skimmed just above
the waves until they were south of the warren, then plunged below the
surface.
Below them, the Kataani army spread out in a seemingly endless array of
soldiers and equipment. And this, Ansel reminded himself, was only the
small part of it that they could see. If it stretched all the way
north to where Gus and Jerram had fought their battle earlier, then it
must be truly immense.
Now he could see why the General had directed them to the brigade at
the very end of the line. They could never have found a particular
unit or officer in this huge assemblage otherwise. So, Khamorray and
Riyanne just cruised along the line until they finally came to its end.
The seadragons were observed closely by the soldiers they passed, but
were not challenged.
They descended until they came to the sentry line for the brigade they
were looking for. Now the soldiers did swim up to block their path.
The two dragons tensed, ready to fire if necessary, but Ansel
dismounted and handed General ****amo's note to one of the sentries.
His eyes widened as he saw who had signed it, and he swam in toward the
center of the encampment while leaving the other sentry to watch them.
Moments later, an officer appeared with several other Kataani following
him. By the ornate design of his armor, Ansel knew he must be a high
ranking officer.
"I am Brigadier Mokkari," said the officer. "Commander of the 336th
brigade."
Ansel tried not to show his surprise. Given his understanding of the
size of a Kataani brigade - only one of which had been involved in the
battle against Gus' Alpha Wing and Jasra's warrenfolk earlier - then
the Imperial army must be very formidable if it had 336 of them! And,
he reminded himself, there was no guarantee there weren't more than
that. Still, he kept his voice calm. "I am Ansel, Khamorray's rider,
of Jasra's Maritime Wing. "
Mokkari nodded. "I have read General ****amo's order, and am happy to
provide assistance." The Brigadier sighed and cast his gaze downward.
"We have heard stories of what transpired on land earlier. Our Emperor
is well?"
"He is," Ansel confirmed. "And we hope the Princess is also. Riders
have been sent to find her."
"This has been a sad day," Mokkari said. "Let us hope that no more
such days come. I am prepared to lend your warren the entire medical
staff of this brigade. Six full healers, and twelve assistants.with
all of their medical supplies and instruments. Will that be
sufficient?"
"That is most generous," Eliase said, bowing. Ansel followed suit and
returned the bow, as did Mokkari.
"Go in peace, then," said Mokkari. Ansel and Eliase quickly set about
the task of getting things organized. It would take two trips for
Khamorray and Riyanne to get them into the warren, but the effort would
be more than worth it.
* * * * *
Late Evening
Eliase watched as the extra healers were welcomed into the med center.
She felt a strong sense of satisfaction that they had helped in this
way. She felt tired and hungry all at once. She glanced over to
Ansel. "Hungry?"
He nodded wearily. "Yeah...I don't know if they've got anything up and
running at the dining hall, but it doesn't hurt to check." Plus, the
dining hall was directly across from the med center, where he could
hopefully see if Corwin or anyone else exited who might know about
Tara's condition.
The dining hall was deserted, as it turned out, and almost dark.
Still, they knew where the food was kept and found enough for a couple
of sandwiches. Ansel, rather than sitting on a chair, spread himself
out lengthwise on one of the tables.
"I just realized," he said. "We've been going for over 36 hours
without a break. It was yesterday afternoon when Corwin started us on
those maneuvers out at sea." He sighed. "Now we've been through a
war. How are you holding up?" He remembered too that Eliase had been
only recently recuperating from the injuries she sustained fighting off
the assassin who'd tried to kill Hsina
In truth things were starting to weigh on Eliase. In the quiet of the
dining hall it all flooded into her mind. The days of attacks on Hsina
and then the short time of healing from that and then immediately after
the attack from the Kataani. It was all more than she was emotionally
prepared to handle.
She placed her half finished sandwich down and then her head, quiet
sobs shaking her small frame. Gus was gone, Hsina was hurt, perhaps
mortally. Tara was hurt badly as well. It was as if all of the people
she had come to think of as her family here were disappearing before
her eyes.
Ansel raised himself up off the table and slid down beside her. "Hey,
it's okay," he said, putting his arms around her without thinking.
"We're still here...I'm worried too, but at least we know that some
additional lives can be saved by those Kataani healers. Maybe they can
help my sister and Hsina...I think some of them might actually have the
power to heal people with magic...or whatever they use." He knew he
was just rattling on, but he didn't know what else to say to comfort
Eliase. Here in the darkened dining hall, with their world seemingly
ready to fall apart around them, it was hard not to feel despair. But
Ansel had felt such despair before.
"I thought the world had ended for me when I was cast out of my
village..and was almost stoned to death in the process. But I was
wrong. Maybe we're wrong now to see everything as being so black." He
continued to hold her, feeling the sobs that shook her.
Eliase leaned lightly against Ansel, letting her tears fall.
Eventually they dried and she lifted her head from his shoulder,
looking into his eyes. "Thank you Ansel. I didn't mean to fall apart
on you like that."
"After all that's gone on during the last day, I wouldn't call this
'falling apart'," he said. "I'd call it...normal." He looked out past
the open doorway of the dining hall, where some people attended to
their duties while others seemed to be just wondering aimlessly. "I
think maybe everyone's falling apart just a bit tonight, that's what
makes it normal." He ****fted slightly, letting her lean against him.
"I'm sure Tara and Hsina will be okay."
She nodded and then looked down into her lap. "Ansel will you do me one
more favor. You can say no if you want and I would completely
understand." She looked down then, twisting her hands in her lap. "I
just don't want to be alone tonight."
Ansel nodded. "Sure...I don't really feel like being alone either."
He peered out through the doors, to where he could see the entrance to
the med center. "Do you mind if we stay here a bit longer, though?
Somebody may come out that we can talk to about Hsina and my sister."
She nodded. "Maybe we could go check. Now that they have more help
they might be more willing to tell us something."
"It's worth a try," he said, standing up and offering her his hand to
help her rise as well. "I'd sleep better if we knew *something.*
Eliase took his hand and stood as well. She continued to hold it as
they walked over to the med center. She was happy to see that things
looked somewhat more organized and not so frantic. She squeezed Ansel's
hand and looked hopefully to the med center door.
Submitted by:
John (Ansel & Khamorray)
and
Rachel (Eliase & Riyanne)
Jasra Warren
Summary:
Evening, Day 1: Ansel meets Eliase outside the med center after being
refused entry by the door guards. Realizing that the warren is in
chaos because its leaders are either injured, busy, or missing, they
try to help restore order by bringing in Kataani healers to help the
overwhelmed med center staff. They find General ****amo, who writes an
order for one of his subordinate commanders to put his brigade's
medical staff at the warren's disposal.
Ansel and Eliase board their dragons and go underwater, where they
present the General's written orders to Brigadier Mokkari. Mokkari is
cooperative, and summons the healers and their staff, whom Khamorray
and Riyanne are able to deliver to the med center in two trips.
Late Evening, Day 1: After watching the Kataani healers welcomed into
the med center, Ansel and Eliase go across to the deserted dining hall,
where they eat, rest, and try to comfort one another. They remain
together, neither of them wanting to be alone on this night.
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