Death and Discontent

[Selena]

Selena winced, knowing she was going to be barely even able to stand by the time she was done. “I would if I could, but my training never got far enough for me to learn how to separate different injuries. All I can do is start the process and let your injuries pull what is needed out of me.”

Moving over to the bed, she carefully examined the other female a little more closely, giving her a small smile as she did. “What little I do know tells me that you were really lucky out there not to get ripped apart, but then, you knew that already.” Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly. “There will be a wind in here while I’m working, but that’s normal, so don’t worry about it.”

Holding her hands out over the female dragonkin, Selena closed her eyes and concentrated on calling the air to her. Immediately, the wind picked up, catching at her hair, but she ignored it, focusing on channeling her energy into the female lying on the bed before her.

((Sounds like a plan to me! =^.^=))

[Tsukuyomi “Nichts”]

(Cool. Would you like my aristocrat NPC to purchase Tiancai, Yukari? It was unintentional, but it’s possible for me to set it up in such a way.
Also, I’m gonna rename the child NPC to Michael as to not get confused with the actual Matthew; it was the first name that came to mind. xD)

By the time they reached the concession stand, the announcement of the early shut down of the arena had come and gone. The man running it seemed exasperated for a moment, glaring particularly at Auralyn as if she had committed a crime, but he eventually relented to sell to the kids. She wasn’t the one buying anything, after all.

The she-wolf flicked her ears as she noted his terse attitude, then padded off to the side until the kids were satisfied with their purchases. She didn’t want to be falsely convicted of whatever nonsense this guy wants to stir simply because she was a Stranger. One benefit for living alone on the streets, she supposed, was direct interaction as she could just avoid them all together without making a huge deal.

She kept a vigilant eye around her, making sure no one would dare pull a move on the children. Of course that left an opening for such actions to be pulled on her, but it was practically expected as a guard. She nearly got into fights in the beginning of her career as some just simply got on her nerves even with her apathetic facade, but she learned, and she wouldn’t want do fight with little Michael and Marissa closely watching and close to danger, when it was only due to her anger and frustration.

She didn’t know what to think of it, to truly care for these two even though it was completely understandable for Strangers to despise humans. These two seemed to genuinely enjoy her company, unlike their grueling father, unlike every other human in this hellhole of a city. She supposed this, too, was understandable… to grow attached to the only things that attached to oneself.

Auralyn blinked out of her musing, catching eye of two particular individuals who were just… sitting off to the side of the stand. Not particularly doing anything. She flicked her ears in curiosity and her body was tempted to walk up to them, getting on her paws to slowly tread closer, but she felt the soft tugs on her leash and immediately backed off. She wrinkled her black nose and sighed, then prodded back to the sides of her young masters. They had some bags of sweets in their arms, smiling and giggling as they huddled up on her sides again. She gave them a weak smile, suppressing the temptation to look back over her shoulder, then they made their way back to their seats so they may take their leave.

[Professor Kokonoe]

“Fine. Just heal my legs and ribs. If you can, heal up my arm.” Her arm was less important for the time being. That was sure to heal on its own without assistance. As a dragonkin, her wounds would heal about 24% faster than most other species, even with the seals. She expected it to be functional in a little less than three weeks without external healing.

//Sounds like a plan, Reina~ Have the people buy her.//

[Selena]

Selena looked over at her as the winds grew in strength, and sighed. “I’m… not sure you understand what I meant. Your injuries will all pull at my winds, taking what they need all at once. If I’d had more training from my village healer, I would be able to do as you ask, but…”

Her face was pale under her fur, but she knew she had no choice. “But I can’t. Before I start, you should know that there will be a mark on your body somewhere-a hexagon, with a triangle and then a circle inside it. It will disappear bit by bit as the healing sets into place, but until that happens, you will need to be careful with the amount of stress you put on your body.”

She, on the other hand, wouldn’t even be able to walk. With injuries like this, she’d be lucky if she could open her eyes afterwards-so it was safe to say that she was not looking forward to the results. It was too late, however, and while her message to any of her kind that may still be alive and free had gotten out through the bars of the windows, it was time for her to do what she had been brought here to do.

And the injuries were already beginning to grab at her. The winds all converged under her hands where she held them over the female’s leg, the energy pulling out of Selena and channeling into her patient’s body. As she watched, the leg straightened out, no longer crushed, perfectly healed again. More energy was pulled from her body, more and more, and it felt as if it was never ending.

Selena knew that her ribs would show after this, that she would be thin and her fur would lack any shine to it, but as the last of the injuries healed and the mark appeared on the female’s body, the drain of the energy was just too much.

Her mind went black, and she never even knew when she landed on the floor.

[Tsukuyomi “Nichts”]

(Sorry, again. Busy, and got in a really awkward situation to find these forums again; still a newbie here. c: )

As the three returned, some guards were quick to intercept them, glaring right down at Auralyn. She flattened her ears, returning the glare in defense. She was used to this sort of reaction, but she wouldn’t let them get their dirty hands on her pelt without reason. They looked just about ready to whisk them right out of the arena, them opening their mouths before they noticed her collar holding a special tag, baring an insignia of an aristocratic guard. They shifted around and backed off, then looked to the two children.

“So, kids, who’s your father?” one of the guards inquired, his posture and partisan perpendicular to the ground.

“Our dad? Wilhelm Odo Ward,” Michael replied, looking up at the man as he did. He was used to getting these questions from guards, as their father is in charge of some local ones in their neighborhood.

“Yeah… Where is Dad? I don’t see him anywhere,” Marissa added on as she took a nibble from her candy, going on her tiptoes in hopes of spotting him from over the guards and around the seats.

The guards perked and looked right at each other, then back to the kids; almost completely ignoring the she-wolf’s existence at this point. “Ah yes, Sir Wilhelm, right right. He… went to do some business. Grown up business. However, he did want us to keep an eye out for you so we can bring you to him.”

Auralyn blinked at that, her ears twitching and flicking. What ‘grown up business’? She swiveled her head around, trying to see if she could try to piece this all together, trying to look for a single clue, until it suddenly dawned on her. With her keen vision, she spot some men leaving the arena that were sitting in the same quarters they had when the matches were still going on. The look on their begrudged and scowling faces was all she needed to know.

The guards then took the hands of the kids, two reluctantly latching onto their sleeves as they were taken with them, and another pair of guards immediately fell on top of Auralyn before she could even react. She yelped and squirmed as they fitted a muzzle over her then took a firm grasp of her leashes. She winced some, then her tail lowered in defeat and submission. She thought she would be used to this already, she was a guard herself after all, but she supposed she wasn’t entirely; she was still very much a Stranger to them, as well as a literal stranger. They gave her a curt tug on the leash, prompting her to move, then they were then led down to the ground level of the arena.
===
Within one particular room, the moment the winds began to fade, the moment the snow leopard went down, guards began to spill into the room. They picked up the limp shifter and went right on their way to bring her out. A couple more went to line the walls just as the door shut. Several moments passed of stilled silence, then the door was slowly opened by another guard, making way for another man garbed in an almost similar but more refined outfit. There was a glint on his glasses as he stepped into the room, looking at the treated dragonkin, the door being gently closed behind him.

“Ah, yes. Lóng Tiāncái. I am Wilhelm Odo Ward. A pleasure to meet you in person, O Prized Victor,” the man greeted with a trained smile, him taking his glasses and cleaning the lenses with a soft cloth. “Or, should I say, my Prized Victor.” He slid his glasses back on, just carefully resting on the bridge of his nose as he approached slightly closer. “Honestly, and frankly, not many didn’t expect you to win- in fact, practically the whole crowd wasn’t expecting you to win as you can imagine. The bets were all stacked against you, trying to see who would guess the seconds you would last. It was interesting, however joining those polls was guaranteed to make a man as poor as the scums in the streets or as rich as the Heavens soars.”

“But I wasn’t about to join that train wreck. Instead, I placed them right on you. It was considered a crazy and maddening choice as they were easily the first to go in previous games, but someone had to- and I had a little… key hint, in that regard.” A ghost of amusement was momentarily splayed on his lips, but he shook his head. “Long story and rambling aside- I’m boring myself even- everything paid off oh so great, and I could easily afford to buy you off from the now non-existing competition. I haven’t owned many Strangers myself, but I will see to it that you are comfortable, better off than you are in these blood-soaked grounds.”