Birds of a FeatherPrivate - @Solaria and @Kyupin Felnya Kyupin seemed to be a magnet for injured animals. No matter where she went, she found them - young, old, feline, avian... they were everywhere. It didn't particularly bother her, setting time aside to help the poor critters, but she felt bad seeing them in their states. Why were they always getting hurt? What if there were more out there, without anybody to help them? This time, it was a rather small bird. Its beautiful blue and orange feathers were stained red from the blood seeping from its wings and beak. The poor thing was completely battered from whatever had attacked it! Kyupin sunk to her knees, undoing the cape wrapped around her. Behind her, ever faithful, Vulcan whined at her heels. "We good, Vulcan?" He already knew to keep an eye out for any unwanted visitors trespassing in the area while his tamer checked up on the bird. A short huff and brush of the nose were enough of an affirmation for Kyupin to start inching towards the injured animal. The bird squawked as she came closer and struggled a bit, spreading its wings as if to fly away, but the movements only aggravated the injuries even more. "Oh no, no, it's okay!" she whispered softly, channeling her inner beast-taming skills to try and soothe its panic. "Stay still, I'll take care of you." Though the bird understood nothing, it seemed to calm down a bit, watching her every movement with its beady eyes. She put the cloth on the ground and scooped up the tiny bird into a palm. The urge to marvel over its size was definitely there—it was so tiny!—but she had to see where the blood was coming from. Using a finger, she gently nudged the bird this way and that, trying to lift up its wings with as little force as possible. She could see the hints of an injury there, but it was still hard to tell... She used a little more force, lifting, and that was the limit for the bird. Kyupin looked at the tiny beak trying to tear apart her finger. Luckily, she wore gloves, so it was fine. Vulcan wasn't exactly pleased by the slight against his tamer—she could hear him growling behind her in warning—but it didn't hurt. Still. She frowned down at the bird and lowered it to the cloth, tucking it in so that it wouldn't struggle and hurt itself anymore. She wasn't really a vet. She loved animals - adored them, even. But she didn't know how to fix them up. Part of her was scared of making things worse by trying to help. She did know a nurse though. Or at least, a nurse-in-training? Helping an animal was kind of the same as helping a human being, right? Kyupin looked through her friend's list, delighted to see the person she was looking for was 'online'. Kyupin Felnya @Solaria! I need help with an injury. Can you meet me at [USER COORDINATES]? Thank you! > <
Solaria What happened?! Are you alright? I'll be right there, so stay put! It was with great haste that the elfin healer closed out the chat box and rushed towards the direction of a friend in need. It was lucky that Solaria could readily navigate the Astorea map at this point, but she didn't like how regularly she was needing to do certain tasks- namely her healing skills being so widely required as of late. Whether it was tending to those injured knights that protected the castle to a child falling from their attempt to play nearby her, she was regularly working on her skills just in practical use alone, rather than her preferred general practicing. Once she found herself not too far, she began to call out for her friend. "Kyu! Kyupin? Are you here?" These were the coordinates, about, weren't they? She double-checked her chat history to be sure, and it certainly looked right! The longer she called, the more she heard some noises nearby, and decided to follow them. Her eyes caught sight finally of the felis, and she was drawn to look at what the girl was carrying. Running to her side, she gasped with concern. "What happened to the poor fella?" As her lips tugged downward, she took a close look at the injured bird. "Oh man, this looks bad..." Carefully, she put a hand up to it's head to chant, hoping to at least close the wounds. It seemed to at least work to stop the bleeding, but she couldn't see that easily if it helped any internal damage, which didn't help matters. "I'm still worried about it. Considering how much blood it lost, we should probably make it eat something nutritious, but I can't be certain what kind of damage there was inside either. I'm a little worried about testing to see if it has a broken wing, but it feels pretty likely...Any idea what happened to the little guy? How did you find it like this?"
She looked to the side, Solaria's rapid response catching her off guard. Sure, it was lovely that her friend had been so quick to answer, but she'd expected a little more... delay? Kyupin felt bad, knowing that her message had been so vague. What if she'd worried her new friend? Perhaps she should send another one. A follow-up message to ease any of Solaria's worries. A little "I found an injured bird" or a "No need to rush" would have been satisfactory. Her fingers twitched in the air, ready to type out her message. Then she heard the sounds of frantic shouting in the distance. The guilt settling in her gut seemed to multiply as the voice became recognizable. Solaria. It was not much longer before her companion arrived on the scene, immediately rushing to Kyupin's side with a gasp. She let the nurse fuss over the bird, working healing magic into the breaks in the skin until the bleeding oozed to a stop. Releasing a breath she had not realized she'd been holding, Kyupin leaned back. "Vulcan pointed him out to me," she said. Most of Solaria's words had kind of gone over her head—as most medical things tended to do—but at least she had managed to catch the question. "I seem to find injured animals everywhere." Maybe she was a bad luck charm. The thought hung heavy on her mind as she tried to pay attention to whatever Solaria was doing. She frowned. "What do birds even eat?" Even though she was a fairly decent beast tamer now, it didn't magically give her knowledge on the best foods for animals. Fish? Seeds? Nuts? Scratching at her cheek, Kyupin looked around the area. While her cooking skill was still rather unimpressive, it was good enough that she could sort between 'absolutely poisonous do not touch me unless you want death' things and 'might not kill you right away' things. Hopefully her luck would handle the part where her finds would speed up the birds recovery, rather than its death. Goal in place, Kyupin scouted around the area, spotting a bush with a few berries. They looked... okay? As she picked at the berries, she hummed in thought. "Thank you for coming out so quickly," she said, face slightly flushed. "I didn't know who else to call. And since you said you were a nurse in real life. Or a nurse-in-training, I guess. Um. I thought I could call you?" Her ears grew warmer. "I'm sorry?" she squeaked.
"A nurse is a little different than a vet, but I'm more than happy to help if I'm able." Solaria explained, laughing a bit as she tried to heal the bird with illumancy and light. Her spells were only able to heal it partially, knowing full well there were some wounds she still couldn't heal with her level. Kyupin's looking around for the right food made her giggle a bit more, a hand moving to pet behind the feline girl's ears. "Birds eat a lot of things, it depends on the bird. Some eat seeds, some eat corn and nuts, some eat worms...There are even big birds that eat small animals." Her knowledge wasn't any stronger than that, unfortunately. Whatever this bird really did eat, she had no idea at all. "That said, I happen to have an extra skill up my sleeve that might help us in this. If you could give me some of those berries, and some of those flowers over there-" She pointed at a small, flowering shrub of some sorts, the flowers having a notable amount of seeds hidden in their center. "I can mash them into a small concoction that will help give it some much needed nutrients. I can't guarantee it'll be enough, but they have helpful properties for healing wounds. What'd really help right now with that though is honey." Digging into her inventory, Solaria brought herself to her knees and placed a mortar and pestle over her knees. "Alchemy can be pretty handy for a nurse, too. I'm not that good yet, but I can make some simple stuff. This should be easy enough for most animals to eat and help their cells regenerate faster."
She immediately changed directions, making a beeline for the patch of flowers. "I hope I have enough berries?" she asked belatedly, looking down at the handful of berries. It was getting hard to juggle everything, so she dropped them into her apron's pocket. "Even though you're not a vet, you know a lot," she pointed out. "Do you have pets? In real life..." Kyupin didn't. She had wanted a dog but, especially ever since the accident, would never be able to care for one. Bringing over the supplies, she crushed petals and berries alike into the mortar, looking curiously at the set-up. She settled into the ground, pulling the bird into her lap and gently nudging its head with her finger in a parody of petting. Vulcan curled up behind her, letting her lean into his furry coat. "I don't usually make things to mush," she admitted, "but I guess that's why I do cooking instead?" Sauces and soups were hardly 'mush'. She looked helplessly to her lap, at the poor injured animal. "And I don't even have honey on me." So much for doing cooking. She was a useless chef, too. Sitting here, peaceful and surrounded by forest... it was calming. She closed her eyes, leaning against her wolf companion as Solaria worked. "What ever happened to the bunny?" she asked as a memory popped into the forefront of her mind. "For the little girl?"
As her frenzied friend helped gather the ingredients for the mush, Solaria was calm while nodding, strangely at ease with her alchemy set. Sure, she wasn't used to pharmacology back home- but she did have to crush medicine as a kid at least once. It was nice getting some of those awkwardly fond memories back to the surface. "It's not that I know a lot, I just know a little about lots of things." Her smile didn't wax or wane, merely settling upon her lips in a lazy but well-meaning demeanor. "Most of the things I've mentioned are either from biology classes or game tips I eventually found. It took me a while to actually start working on my alchemy..." A nervous laugh left her lips, a hand taking a momentary break to scratch at her neck. "If my housemate counts as a pet, then I cold say I do. I'm in charge of feeding her so she doesn't eat garbage, at least. But...Nope, never had a pet otherwise. Kind of expensive." The timidity subsided as quickly as it came, and she was back to grinding herbs and fruit together, mixing them heavily with her tools before finally finishing what she wanted to call a 'brew'- even if, quite clearly, it was just a mush of weird plants to others. Ripping at one of her decorative sleeves since she knew she could get it tailored, Solaria used the cloth to dip into the solution she'd made and then dab some of it on the wounds remaining, particularly spots where she was worried about muscle tension. She then put a small amount on her finger, hoping it would opt to take a bite. "Do you think it understands this? I don't think most birds regularly take medicine...Ah, are you okay, though? I didn't even get a minute to take a look at you and Vulcan yet."
Kyupin looked on curiously as Solaria talked about her life. "You have a roommate? From the medical school?" she asked. She watched carefully as Solaria rubbed the treatment into the bird's wounds. Her voice was soft, aura exuding as much calm and ease as possible. The bird seemed to shy away from Solaria's finger, beak snapping in warning at the elf. She clicked her tongue. "Hey now," she said. The bird stopped, peeking up at her hesitantly, watching. Kyupin smiled down at it and nudged it's little head with a knuckle, enjoying the way it rubbed back against her finger with a soft 'caw'. "She just wants to help. You'll let her, won'cha, lil fella?" She giggled, practically feeling the bird's pout resonating in her. At least the fear seemed to be easing. She nodded to Solaria. "Try again?" With a gentle grip around the bird, she helped lift it up so it was closer to the other's hand. "Ah, yeah," she giggled, trying to mask her embarrassment, "that message sounded bad, didn't it? We're fine. Just worried about the bird, y'know?" She smiled as the bird took a tentative nip at Solaria's finger, "Thank you for coming out so quickly."
"Ah, no, we both go to the same general university, but we're studying different things. My roommate and I are buddies from birth, basically. A childhood friend, you'd call her, right? We went to the same general school mostly for my parents sake. I've always wanted to be a a nurse, but medical stuff never interested my friend that way. So, she's studying something else. We just share an apartment." She laughed a bit as she went on and on in a tangent. Solaria was rather well known for being an open book, much to said roommate's chagrin. "Do you know Amherst College? It's in Massachusetts. That's the area where we live, and the school we go to. It's a nice area, but it takes some time getting back home to Concord to see my brother during time off." The bird seemed to struggle against her at first, but with the help of her friend, the bird was starting to listen and let her help it. Kyupin was amazing with animals. It was an inspiration seeing how her words affected such a small creature! "If either of us should be a vet, perhaps it oughtta be you. The animals really love you, after all, and you love them!" As the bird was starting to recover and Kyupin found herself embarrassed, the elf opted just to smile instead of making another peep about the worry that had been caused. In the end, there was no harm done after all. Perhaps that was the best thing to note, in fact? "Yeah, no harm done. At least we got to help this little fella, right?"
"So you're basically like sisters, huh?" she said, peeking at Solaria with a tiny smile. "What does she study?" The name of the college sounded fairly unfamiliar to her, but Massachusetts was an easier one to recall. "Uh, I don't know it. Is it far from Boston?" Everything was easier when it was relative to her hometown. She kept a careful eye on the bird as Solaria fed it whatever concoction she'd made. It seemed to be recovering? Then there was the mention of being a vet. She laughed uncertainly, continuing to soothe the bird with a hum here and there. It wasn't for the bird, really. It helped keep her calm. "That might just be the game, I think? Since I have beast taming..." Kyupin shrugged. "I don't know. I can't even have a pet in real life." Ah. She trailed off as she watched the bird started to unfurl its wings, tentatively looking around itself. She kept her palms open, letting it use her as a platform as it inspected itself. "So," she looked to @Solaria, "have you heard from that Yladian girl? With the bunny?"
"Really? I know it's kinda far from you- Boston's like two hours away from my school minimum- but it's not that unknown. I mean it's a section of the state university, you know? There's a second college around here though too, a liberal arts one. I go to the big campus for my nursing studies. Ay- er, my friend- goes to the liberal arts division." As she thought about just how far they'd gone to school, she was realizing why her father worried quite so much. "Our hometown's kind of small. Concord is just under an hour by bus to Boston, but I mean, that's still pretty far. It's hard to believe how much farther I moved for school, isn't it?" Her laughter at this moment was a bit unsteady, her mind starting to put together some puzzle pieces she hadn't for at least a year. Her hands hid behind her back for a moment as she was standing a bit more fluidly, feeling pretty confident in the bird's health compared to before. "Being unable to have a pet is different than being unable to be a veterinarian. I mean, look at me. I'm in nursing school, but I still get uneasy at the site of things like blood. Doesn't make me want to do it any less!" It seemed she might be giving too much emphasis on the future. As focused on the bird that seemed to be feeling better, studying its environment now that the pain wasn't dulling its thoughts, a sudden question had surprised her. "Yeah! I saw her again recently. Her mom's been one of my biggest customers, so to speak. At least in that area. I help NPCs and stuff with health a lot when I can, since I can make medicine and use holy magic to heal. I figured it'd help them feel better about us 'adventurers' they're not as comfortable with, you know? And that girl is so cute~ I can't help but be happy anytime I get to visit!"
She smiled weakly, wanting to tug at her skirts or fiddle with something. Anything to rid herself of the restless energy in her limbs. "I probably heard about it but I guess I stopped caring after," she paused and gnawed at her lip, "after graduation." Her applications, all her good grades and extra curriculars, none of it had mattered when the accident happened. She'd not thought of education in a while now. Kyupin cleared her throat, glad that her change of topic had been enough to seemingly distract Solaria. "So you've been helping them? That's good! Didn't think there'd be so many injuries to heal." Her ears twitched, tail swishing lazily behind her as she noticed the bird tentatively flapping its wings. "I'm glad she's doing good now, the little girl. It's a good thing we found her bunny." The bird hopped around in her cupped palms, looking for the perfect perch to launch from. "They, all of them, they deserve a happy ending... I hope I, or we, can give them one." It flapped its wings once, twice. Kyupin lifted her hands, rising to her feet to give it some extra height. And then it was off, soaring dangerously low to the ground before picking itself up and shooting into the sky. The felis tilted her head back, watching the bird fly away, a real smile blooming on her face. "Would ya look at that..." A while after the bird had long since left her sights, Kyupin turned to her friend. "That was all I really called you for," she admitted sheepishly. "Thank you for coming to help me." She turned towards the city, whistling for Vulcan to follow after her, and looked to Solaria with curious eyes. Whether or not the other decided to join her on the walk, Kyupin was going to head back into town and get some well-deserved rest. She had a physio-therapy session coming up soon anyways, according to the clock.
As her cute kit-friend spoke, the elf couldn't help but catch the hesitation in her voice. "Now that I think about it...I blabber a lot, but I never hear you tell me much about yourself. What graduation do you mean? High school? College?" Her curiosity had coated her eyes quite visibly, but her mouth, rather than showing a spherical questioning, was a small smile beneath her nose. Very small, in fact, for Solaria. "I'm sorry for prying. I just want to learn more about you, Kyu. You're like a little sister to me already, you know?" For all the girl knew, Kyupin was older. For all she knew, Kyupin was actually a guy. In reality, Solaria couldn't say she knew that much about the girl outside a few things: she was sweet, loved animals, and adorable. Having joined in watching the bird fly off with it's wounds mostly healed, she couldn't help her smile feeling a little sad, a few tears staining her cheeks. "I wonder if it's possible to have empty nest syndrome at a time like this? I miss the poor thing already..." Giggling over her own silly sentimentality, she hugged onto the felis gently. "If anyone should be thankful it's me! You trusted me enough to call for me, you knew I'd want to help. It shows you think of me, enough to rely on me when you need help with something. It shows both your own strength and the strength of our bond, don't you think?"
Shouldn't she feel joy? The bird had been saved, even able to fly now. They'd aided the creature and nursed it back to health. But all she could feel was a worry, stewing over in her guts. Kyupin leaned against her friend, chewing at her lip as they walked. Even though Solaria had kind of let it drop earlier, she couldn't help thinking about it. So much talk about trust and bond, and yet truly, Solaria knew nothing about her. Not her real name, not her age, her family, her friends, not... about her legs... Kyupin took a shuddering breath and squeezed her friend tightly. She took a shuddering breathing. "Sol. About earlier." Why was she bringing this up? They'd dropped it. They were walking along, ready to move on and forget about it. But Kyupin... Kyupin didn't want to leave it at that. "I'm... I have something I to do soon. In real life. But..." She could do this. She could do this! Just say the words! She would explain it all. She blinked back tears that wanted to spill. Solaria was a friend! She had every right to know the truth. To know that, in reality, Kyupin was nothing. In reality, she was just Valentina, the legless burden. Pathetic Valentina, probably hated by her family for how useless she was. In reality, compared to this sweet-hearted Kyupin, good with animals and always eager to help, Valentina could do nothing. Could she really say that? Could she bear sharing that and being rejected? One of her hands fell to brush at her legs, gathering her skirts and bunching them up in her fist. She was not strong. She was not trusting, or good, or... or anything. "I..." No. She couldn't do it. She felt sick, shaking her head. The words just wouldn't come out. She'd just say something about high school or whatever. That'd be fin— "It'd be nice to meet sometime." What. What did she just say?! Kyupin bit her tongue, almost jerking away from Solaria and bumping into Vulcan instead. Her heart pounded, thudding in her ears, too impossibly loud. "Ah..." She stared at Solaria, mouth dry. And then Kyupin and Vulcan were gone, their bodies disappearing from the server without a trace. It seemed that Kyupin had logged off.
