novelraw Chapter 332 - 274 - Deandra
Chapter 332 - 274 - Deandra
Shouri wasn't sure what to expect when a group of Resonators suddenly assembled in their base camp. A bird, a dog, two cats, and a snake made up the group of lost looking Resonators.
"H-he told us to help with the box," said the snake. As the visibly oldest of the five, she had taken up the role of leader for the wayward band of Resonators.
"Oh, uhh--" Shouri looked to the massive crate. "He never mentioned what the hell is in there. Probably supplies, I'd imagine," mumbled the guildmaster to himself. "I dunno, let's go check it out," he decided. "Paci, Rebby, I'll be right back!"
"'kaaaay!"
The box was actually closer to a small shipping container. How to open it was a mystery to the young guildmaster. "Uhhh…" The group of six took a lap around the big metal box, until eventually they discovered a pair of latches. After some futzing around with the release mechanisms, the container opened with a loud metallic thunk.
Their prize for their efforts was a lot of…stuff.
Shouri wasn't sure exactly what he was looking at. Relief supplies, yes; but he couldn't identify all of the individual items. The snake girl that initially flagged him down grabbed a clipboard which hung on the inner wall of the container.
"Hey! These are instructions on what we need to do!" exclaimed the snake
Before Shouri knew it, the small pack of Resonators entered the container and doled out tasks to one another.
They self-managed, so Shouri left them to it and returned to his own Resonators. In his absence, they finished the tent, which by all accounts was quite luxurious for a tent. It was a three roomer, with plenty of space for the trio to be comfortable. Looking around, the other groups had also finished their own tents, which were the same model. Shouri briefly wondered if this was par for the course for Conductor missions, or if they were trying to be sweet on them.
"We still gotta set up the cots," Pacifica advised.
"It's way bigger than I thought. Do we really need this much room considering--?" Rebecca exchanged a look between her two lovers.
"They probably don't know our sleeping arrangements," Shouri pointed out. "We don't exactly make it public knowledge," he added, quieter.
"Maybe there's a smaller one in there?" Rebecca pointed to where the town Resonators were already hard at work unpacking the shipping container.
"Maybe? We'll talk to Scott about it when he gets back," Shouri suggested.
"I guess we can see if they need help in the meantime," Pacifica proposed.
With that in mind, Shouri and his duo made their rounds around the base camp. First stop was Emily's tent.
"How's it going?" asked the guildmaster.
"Oh, hey Shouri!" Emily wiped the sweat from her brow. "The humidity here is awful!" came her immediately complaint. Soot tapped his fists, index fingers extended toward his Maestro in agreement.
"Preachin' to the choir, sister," Rebecca groused.
"Where's Albarich?" Pacifica asked, as she looked around for the Lunar dragon.
Ritika threw a thumb back toward the tent. "He started feeling like crap cause of the sun, he's resting until tonight."
Shouri nodded slowly. It'd be be bad if any of them ended up sick while so remote. He did recall Cheryth's warning to let Scott know if they needed to be extracted for any reason--people probably got sick during missions like these all the time. It made sense they'd have protocols for such events. "Yeah, make sure he's good. He can sit out if he's not good by the time the Scherzando start to get feisty."
"You think it's gonna be bad?" Emily questioned. She looked over her shoulder at the setting sun. The sky was still tinged a bright orange, but with every minute that passed the daystar dimmed more and more.
"Probably. Storms did roll through here. Dunno the specifics, but I'm sure there's still enough rhythm in the air to make it more dangerous than it usually is," Shouri replied.
Emily nodded. "I'm sure we'll talk tactics when Scott gets back," she offered.
"Yeah. We'll probably split up or something. I'm not sure exactly how strong the villagers are," Shouri added.
"Right, never did learn exactly how Natural magic worked. I'd hope that they at least had some people to defend the town," Emily mumbled.
"I'm prepped for the worst--Sahji's in the driver's seat, after all," Shouri said as he began to walk away, throwing a wave back at his second in command.
Pacifica and Rebecca followed, the otter giggling to herself while the vixen rolled her eyes and shook her head with a smile.
Vince and his duo were already in their fully pitched tent. It was hilariously big, especially considering that one of their party was an eighth the size of a person. Perhaps the guild network thought Zephyr liked to sleep around her room, or something.
"Vince!" Shouri called.
The shuffle inside the tent at least told them that the guild's youngest was awake. The boy emerged a minute later.
"H-hey Shouri, what's up?" asked the younger Maestro.
"Just checking in on everyone," he replied.
"Ah, we're fine," Vince replied, a small smile rising on his lips.
Shouri noted Mila sprawled across the cots, head propped up by one arm, while her hand rested on her hips as if to say "paint me like one of your fancy Resonators." He ignored her, and paid a glance to the fairy who sat on her Maestro's shoulder.
"You alright?" Shouri directly asked.
"Mhm! These tents have a crazy cross breeze, it's not bad," replied Zephyr.
"Good. Albarich had to lay down from too much exposure to the sun, just want to make sure nobody is getting sick," Shouri said.
"Nope! Fit as a fiddle, ready to go tonight," said the fairy. She tapped her Maestro's head to urge him to speak up.
"Yeah, we're good. I'd probably complain more if Mils didn't protect me from this heat," Vince added, which earned a "damn straight!" from the cat.
It was nice to see how close the trio was.
"How's Miro? Is he back yet?" Vince inquired, worry on his brows.
That was another thing about Vince; he cared a lot, he had such a big heart. He was always the right choice for PTRS, no doubt about it. Shouri turned his attention to the cliff's edge where he saw Scott take their Natural companion earlier.
"He isn't back yet, but I'm sure they'll be back once the sun is completely down so we can hash out the plan for tonight," Shouri told the young Maestro.
Vince nodded slowly. It looked like he wanted to go down there himself. They were all antsy--Shouri only hoped they'd return soon with an update of the situation on the ground.
Meanwhile, down in the canyon itself, Scott conversed with the local doctors about the situation. Miro caught bits and pieces, but his attention was divided between the Maestro and the various Naturals who lay in a wide array of conditions.
It looked like many of the injuries were relatively simple cases of people slipping in the water, getting cut by debris, or otherwise a result of the flood waters. Not all were so simple to identify. There were many who lie in various states caused by what looked like battle wounds. Miro briefly wondered if there was perhaps in-fighting due to the state of emergency that gripped the settlement.
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As he scanned the ward, he noted there were quite a few Fire elements who shivered or otherwise expressed how cold they were. Miro thought it odd, until he realized their rhythm wasn't as strong as usual. "Riaccendere Malattia," he mumbled to himself. It made sense--Nabhon was the continent of Fire, and a lot of water still flowed through town.
Miro started to wander around the hospital. Compared to the Riterran hospitals he had stayed at, this one was a little old fashioned, but the doctors were still just as professional as the humans who cared for him. If he tapped closely into the ambient rhythm around the attending doctors, he noted a healthy variety of staves placed correctly.
The ones who ran around most were strong-willed. They ran on fumes, and that's all they needed.
Those who sat with patients and explained treatment plans and conditions were strong emotion--their empathy shone through as a beacon in these dark times.
Finally, a group of knowledge-rich doctors stood around some medical charts and discussed treatment plans, as well as how to triage their patients.
Everyone had a place, and it was nice to see. After considering it further, that was how Riterran hospitals worked, too. Despite being segregated into two distinct cultures, both Maestros and Naturals reached the same conclusion in how to best spread their talents.
"Excuse me!"
The shrill cry snapped the boy from his thoughts and he stumbled out of the way of an unusual pair. A human woman rushed by, which was a strange sight in a Natural hospital in and of itself.
"Mi scusi, signore," said a Resonator, as they passed by.
Miro perked a brow as he watched the two rush in and assisted the Natural doctors who tended to the wounded and sick. The rest of the population was so wary of Scott and Philina, but who were these two that blended in like they were Naturals?
The little fox was curious, so he tailed the two as they helped where they could. Their tasks required no medical knowledge or insight. The pair acted as extra pairs of paws, fetching fresh water, or bandages, or food stuffs. It was menial labor, but invaluable considering how stretched thin the hospital staff was. Their services were offered without complaint or hesitation.
His curiosity got the better of him and he eventually managed to muster up the courage to speak to them.
"Excuse me," Miro called to the two.
The Resonator, a small boy wearing a bed of crystals on his back, went to speak on behalf of his Maestro, but Miro cut him off.
"I speak Maelish," Miro told the two.
"Oh, that's a surprise!" The woman exclaimed, exchanging her astonishment with her Resonator. "I don't know any Naturalian myself, so I've been relying on Walter to translate," she explained. "I'm Deandra, Dee for short," she introduced herself.
"Miro," the fox replied in kind.
Walter looked the Earth Natural over and found the little sash he had tied to his arm with the PTRS emblem on it.
"Oh, you must be the one they were talking about," realized the Resonator. "He's the Natural boy that's in the guild," Walter informed his Maestro.
"Oh!" Dee gasped in shock. "You're such a cute little thing though!" she smiled brightly.
Miro wasn't sure whether or not to take that as a compliment or an insult, he erred on the side of positivity and treated it as praise. "Thank you." Now that they had stopped moving, he could properly appraise the strange pair.
Walter was shorter than even Miro himself, no taller than a child Resonator. The way he held himself felt more like a wizened old man. Now where had Miro seen such a thing before? It felt hopelessly familiar. He wore brown robes in various shades. Adorning his back was that strange crystal formation, with a bed of rocks underneath. It almost resembled an open geode. A small reptilian tail poked out from underneath the odd back wear.
"I'm a tortoise," Walter spoke up.
Miro flinched, as if caught in the middle of a crime.
The small boy chuckled. "Sorry, you were looking so intently, I had to speak up."
Dee joined in with a giggle of her own. "We were in the area when the storms hit and hunkered down here in the village. We had no idea the flooding would get this bad, so we offered to stay and help until relief supplies got sent this way," she said.
"The Scherzando in the area have gotten quite feisty since the storms have come through. There have been quite a few injuries from that," Walter chimed in.
Miro recalled the injured Naturals when they first walked in, the ones who looked like they lost a fight.
"This is such a remote area, there aren't normally many Scherzando, so the towns usual defenders got overwhelmed when the storm came through and attracted the beasts to the area," Walter further elaborated.
It made sense. He remembered when the storm came through Dalliva that Shouri and the others had to go fight some intense waves of Scherzando. The rhythm in the air was thick, but nothing he wasn't used to. That must not have been the norm for this part of the world.
"That must be another reason we were asked to be here," Miro mused to himself.
"Oh, your guild is here! That's right!" Deandra clapped her hands together. "I want to see them, but there's so much work to be done here." She frowned, as her gaze swept across the full ICU.
"Perhaps we could meet them out when the Scherzando start to swarm," Walter suggested.
"Oh, good idea. We'll probably serve better helping defend the city than in here." Dee nodded in agreement with her Resonator.
"We can always use more hands out there," Scott said (causing Miro to jump from his sudden appearance.)
"And the conductor, always a pleasure," Walter bowed to the man.
"You're familiar?" asked Scott with his usual bright smile.
"Of course, conductors are so fascinating. Admittedly, I haven't seen one in action--so I'm excited by the prospect," said Walter.
Scott grinned toothily. "Well, I hope I live up to your expectations, little man!" Scott tousled the Resonator's hair before turning back to his own. "Philina, Miro; let's head back up to the base camp. I got a good idea of the situation down here, so we'll gather everyone up and talk about tonight. We only have about an hour or so before the Scherzando start appearing, so we gotta hustle."
The conductor rushed out of the hospital like he was the star of an action movie. Miro turned back to Dee and Walter. "Be seeing you!" He waved before rushing off after the overzealous human.