Return of the Emblem Chapter Ten: Converging Destinies

[Phoenix]

Infirmary

"Mmm, vest wouldn't have stopped a blade that size," the doctor assessed as he glanced back to Raquel. "Too strong; too intent on killing. I recommend evasive maneuvers or remaining off the battlefield. Girl seems to lack the body strength for adequate armor."

Reign kept silent for the moment, figuring any other comments on that subject would just distract the doctor from his other patient. Instead, he knelt down at Raquel's bedside and kept an eye on her.

"Alright then, hmmmm," The doctor examined the wound. "Who shot you? Ex? Never mind-stupid joke. You'll have to go under the knife for this one, I think. Also best if you're unconscious for most of it, easier to work when patients aren't screaming in my ear. Chance of infection, extremely high. I'll provide painkillers and some followup restore treatments afterward."

Main Deck

"Cat allergies? Not that I know of, but if she'll just be hunting for rats, she'll probably be out of the way for the most part. I doubt anyone will have any unpleasant run-ins."

Docks

"Hmm? You want aboard too? I'll have to direct you to the captain. Just look for the walking tower," the crewman replied to Grant.

Walking Back

"Fine, I guess. But we lost good people thanks to her and her friends. You're going to take a lot of fire for this, Blake," Shadrak reasoned. "This isn't the first time capturing an enemy has seemed like a bad idea."

Suzume sighed heavily, her opinion of these two plummeting fast.

"What?" Shadrak inquired at the sigh.

"Let me be clear. I have no way to contact the rebels; you killed my only contact. I have no reason to contact the rebels; no one outside of the group you just killed would have any idea who I am. I never tried to kill any of you and never planned to; Master Fyodor would be terribly disappointed in me if I did."

"A likely story, but if you weren't here to kill anyone, why were you with those people in the first place? They're nothing but murderers minus the mage kid."

Glaring at Shadrak she answered, "To protect Alex and Bobby. Alex was my best friend and Bobby's all she had left. Everyone knew there was a chance something could go wrong, and she wanted me for backup."

Edited December 9, 2012 by Phoenix

[Snike]

"Yes, I remember, that was when I was recruited. And, giving that I'm already going to be taking a lot of fire for the manse and for my pre-battle actions, so what's a little more?," Blake asked flatly to Shadrak, before responding to Suzume. "As for you, first of all, I can't take your word about the contacts, nor can I so readily believe that you wouldn't try to contact them out of revenge for your friend. Secondly, you may not be aware of this, but there was a pegasus rider who made it out of the fight, so the rebels could know, and your life could be at risk, without even beginning to factor in any sailors who may have witnessed the fight. Thirdly, I am hesitant to believe you about the whole 'no intent to kill us', given that Bert was down and bleeding near the three of you right as I approached.'

"Anyways, the point is, I can't take you at your word, and because I want to reduce risks as much as possible without just killing you, you're stuck with us on the boat ride," Blake concluded, tiredly. "After we hit port, you're free to go."

***

"Thank you," Grant said, before making his way up the gangway. After maneuvering through both crew and passengers, the duelist found the walking tower, where a female sailor who seemed familiar and a man with a tricorne -probably the captain- were talking. The man decided to wait until the discussion was over, before asking about passage.

Edited December 9, 2012 by Snike

[Mercakete]

"A'right, that's good," she replied with a nod before going on, "I'll just be doin' me normal work, then. That is, s'long as I'm on this ship, I'll be actin' as a hired mariner, if ye want th' extra help fer th' voyage. Regardin' that, technicalla I'm a passenger. If I work, though, does that mean I get me work's earnin's when we pull inta harbor? Usualla I'd expect it, but these aren't usual circumstances since I'm not realla hired yet, heharr." She didn't really notice Grant yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The doctor gave his input on Raquel's situation, then began to take a look at Norbert's injury. His assessment wasn't too encouraging. It was pretty similar to Synthia's too. He sighed as he sat down on one of the cots in the room, figuring he might as well pick one out then and there.

"One of our group's healers was going to cut it out earlier, but my pegasus is pretty protective, so she decided we should come over here. We were both worried someone would get killed if Rizen saw someone knifing me while I was down. She was going to have another of the healers heal me with a staff once the arrow was out. She was also worried about internal bleeding," he decided to report to the doctor. Then he asked, "Is staff healing not a good idea once the arrow is removed because of an infection or something? And do I have to worry about internal bleeding?"

Synthia gave off that impression of being knowledgeable, so he trusted her assessment enough to feel he should bring it up.

[Balcerzak]

Sinbad had agreed with the doc that it was taking longer than expected, and been contemplating heading back to make sure the man hadn't gotten lost, but just before he could he showed up at the door, with his cargo still in his arms. The lighting in the sick bay was better than it had been outside, and not as pressed for time, the cowboy got a much better look at the woman after she'd been laid out on the cot.

She didn't look too badly off, as near as he could tell. The opinion seemed to be shared by the man with significantly more medical experience than Sinbad as well, which was a bit of a relief. He'd been contemplating asking a few questions of the man that brought her in, now that the danger had passed, but was struggling with where to start off without being too forward. Then came appearance of a fairly pale man with black hair and dark red eyes, clutching his side, from which a shaft and fletching could visibly be seen sticking out. Sinbad's jaw dropped a little at the sight.

The man seemed to be somehow connected to the other two, and clearly there'd been a whole lot more going on than just the explosion and the fire that lit up, what with the doc's statement about how the woman's vest'd been ruined by a large blade. Finding out she was the group leader, from the man that carried her, was a fair surprise as well.

Feeling like he should maybe defend himself against the doc's insinuations about preferential treatment, Sinbad explained, "Well, I never saw no man with an arrer sticking out o' him, not sure when or where he come from. Surprised he didn't snap it off if he had to be moving about, and now I'm almost worried to ask but should I be going back and looking for more of ya? Maybe someone with a gunshot wound, or an axe lodged in their back, 'll be coming along next? I don't think I'm any help to the sawbones just standing here... Though actually, suppose I could fish out a bullet for the fella here to bite on as you put him to the knife."

The ranger didn't have much to comment on regarding neither infection, nor internal bleeding, nor anything else really technical that had started to crop up, so just kind of let that pass him by.

Edited December 10, 2012 by Balcerzak

[-Cynthia-]

Connor

"Oh," Connor replied simply to Gabbie's news, keeping his head downward. I wonder if there's something I could have done to help them- made a better suit of armor or something and given it to them for free or I dunno... he thought to himself.

Veronika

Veronika made her way onto the ship shortly behind Volga. She decided to approach the first sailor she saw.

"We have dead from the battle that we would like to take on board- would putting them in the brig be acceptable? We also may require a large amount of ice if you have any on board- I'll petition Captain Delan if necessary," she said, trying to keep her mind off of her sorrows for the moment.

Nadya

Nadya simply watched the rest of Raquel's group begin to go onto the Prometheus. "I'm gettin' less and less sure about this job by the day Luca- sure the pay's good but now that people are dyin' well...it makes fortune tellin' look awfully good," she said with a sigh, scratching him behind the ears.

[roymbrog]

Now onboard the Prometheus, Katrina wasn’t sure what to do with herself or her cargo. The bodies could stay on the wyvern until Veronika told her what was to be done with them. The problem was going to be the wait. Katrina sat down by the railing while Volga lay down on the deck. “I could really use a drink after this. Or chocolate, at least…” Katrina said, rubbing her now red eyes. She really didn’t want to start crying again.

-----

Synthia arrived back at the ship a lot more tired and depressed than when she had left it. Her priority was to make sure Bert had made it to the infirmary, but unfortunately she had no idea where that was. Luka was on deck though, so that helped. Approaching the cleric she asked, “So, what happened?”

[Mercakete]

Norbert looked up with a rather puzzled look when the other man in the room spoke. I've never heard anyone talk like that before... Some sailors kind of do, I guess, and Nadya has a similar one, but... Wait, what's a "sawbones?" That doesn't sound too pleasant... He got the gist of what the man was saying, though it was mostly unfamiliar phrases he was using along with that strange accent.

[Eail]

Zach

They had finally made it to the boat, finally it was just a chance to sit down and rest, to think. But more importantly it was a time to grieve, the best way Zach knew how. Taking a glance at the girl he'd walked back to the boat with he could see she was still in just a bad as shape as he was.

'Misery does love company, and right now we both seem to be pretty miserable.'

Walking over he took a seat against the railing next to Katrina, pulling his satchel off and digging around inside for something. 'Ah, here it is.' after not long he found exactly the right thing, pulling out a bottle of 107% proof Jim Walker bourbon whiskey blue label at that, the good stuff. Popping the top off Zach took a swig of the liquor, not even a grimace at how strong it was. 'Just like always, that touch of caramel'

After his short little drink he held out the bottle to his green haired compatriot. "Zach Fairweather, I don't like to see a girl cry or drink alone."

Luka

Oh good, Synthia had just arrived as well. "As soon as I got here he kinda stormed off to the medic's quarters. I'm supposed to be going with you guys back to Master Weyland's, but I don't exactly know what to do right now..... It looks like everyone that needs healing already has it."

[Phoenix]

Infirmary

"Yes, better to remove the pegasus element first. Attempting a delicate procedure while under attack presents an interesting challenge, but ... too risky," the doctor replied to Bert mention of his pegasus. "Internal bleeding? Could be. Feeling lightheaded? Weak? Short of breath? Any pain relatively close to the wound?" While waiting on that answer he addressed Sinbad. "Could use an assistant for this, certainly. I'll need him unconscious, though. Should just take a minute or two," he explained. He spoke to Norbert again saying, "I'll need you to remove your headband." And then, glancing back to Sinbad he added, "No hunting knives or anything of the sort. Grab a scalpel, forceps, two probes, both of my staves, and that half finished bottle of vodka from my desk-no the vodka is for me before you ask."

Gabbie

"We've been extremely lucky in the past," Gabbie noted. Since Ringo had stopped to lay down, Gabbie took a seat next to him, leaning back against his shoulder. "I'd almost forgotten what that feels loike, watching allies doie roight in front of me ..."

Captain

"Perhaps," Delan replied. "What would you normally take for work like this?"

Crewman #1

"Ice? Oh dear," the man Veronika approached responded. He looked around a bit before replying, "L-look, we have options, but no 'actual ice', or at least no way to keep some on hand. Our chef's a mage though; she might be able to help you out." And with that, he shrugged helplessly and waited to see if she would go for that idea.

Luca

Why were all the humans so sad? Wait a minute, one of the wyverns was missing. Oh ... the herd must be mourning some losses. With that in mind, he nuzzled Nadya affectionately. She was still here at least. That was something at least he was happy about.

Almost Back

"Revenge?" Suzume echoed. "No, I'm not like that, and besides, you people are paying enough for getting in Alex's way, already."

"Shut your mouth!" Shadrak snapped, leaning in aggressively.

She sighed again saying, "I suppose I'll just have to cope with the yelling and mean looks until we get to wherever it is you people are going, then."

Edited January 1, 2013 by Phoenix

[roymbrog]

The mage Katrina had walked with came over and sat next to her, soon pulling out a bottle of alcohol, taking a swig, and offering it. “Katrina Curik,” she replied, taking the bottle. She swallowed a mouthful before handing it back. That might help a little bit. “Mmm. Thanks.”

-----

Ok, so Bert had gotten to the infirmary. Luka didn’t know what he should be doing though, which wasn’t that surprising considering Synthia didn’t either. “I have no idea…” she replied, trailing off. With nothing to do, she was likely to start dwelling on things she rather wouldn’t. Oh, there was something they could probably do. “We could get your pegasus set up in the stables, I suppose.”

[Mercakete]

"I usualla can work somethin' reasonable out with whichever captain I'll be sailin' with fer that span o' time. Varies dependin' on who th' captain is, a'course. Me main job is t' protect th' ship n' cargo from pirates, not t' break inta someone's finances, after all, hahaharr!" Gytha chaarily replied before continuing with that question, "Me services won't cost much more 'r less than th' pay o' one o' th' crew. Not sure how many o' these swabs can fight n' then how well, so that's taken inta consideration. Ye seem fairla well-off, though, so pay will probabla be around th' same.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow, this guy talks fast. Norbert noted. He was also getting a bit worried as he thought this particular doctor might be a little touched in the head with his comments about cutting someone open while being attacked by a pegasus. Maybe that was supposed to be a joke? If it was, this guy is terrible at jokes...

There wasn't a whole lot of time to think, though, as the doctor then shot off a full volley of questions. "Uh," was all he managed before the doctor was talking to the other guy again, talking about something taking a minute or so or something. This guy goes way too fast... Suddenly, he was being talked to again. Apparently he was supposed to remove his forehead guard. At first, this confused Norbert a little since his head was fine. It was his side that hurt. Then, he realized that was the problem. The doctor was going on about some list of some stuff to the other guy. He had little to no idea what most of those were and then the doctor asked for alcohol and mentioned it was for himself.

What. "Whoa, whoa, slow down!" Norbert interjected, "I don't know most of what you just said" this guy's a whirlwind... "but you are not cutting me open while drunk!"

Edited December 10, 2012 by Mercakete

[-Cynthia-]

Connor

"You're...remembering something from before then?" Connor asked Gabbie out of curiosity, snapping out of his previous line of thought for the moment. Gabbie doesn't talk about her past much- probably because she doesn't remember most of it.

Veronika

"I don't know if ice magic would work or not...worth a try I guess. Thank you," Veronika responded quietly to the sailor before coming further onto the ship, still carrying Sophia. There she noticed the ice mage from the last battle near Captain Delan and decided to approach.

"Excuse me- would you happen to know if you can use ice magic to preserve bodies? We'd like to have funeral services of some kind when we reach land, but having the bodies mostly...intact would be preferable," she said. It was certainly an awkward subject to breach, but she felt as if this had to be taken care of sooner rather than later.

Nadya

Nadya responded by kissing Luca on the nose. "Ya don't need to worry though, wherever I end up goin' you'll be comin' along. We'll head on this ship for now though, I ain't ready to head back to Kigen yet that's for sure."

Edited December 10, 2012 by -Cynthia-

[Snike]

"Shadrak, control yourself. I don't need to be carrying an unconscious druid back to the Prometheus," Blake warned, frowning. "And again, I can't take your word for it, so your point is moot."

They were in sight of the Prometheus now, so now it was time to focus on getting the magician onto the ship.

"If you have any sort of hood, now would be the time to wear it," the swordsman remarked to Suzume, as he eyed the people on shore. "Just in case, anyways."

EDIT: ICE GUY!

***

OK, so, a Skotian woman- one of the mercenaries- had randomly approached Grant and queried if he could preserve some bodies - the ones from the previous battle, it seemed- so that they could be buried once they reached mainland. That was an awkward topic to begin with, but the bloodied body of the Ursian cleric from the manse battle, which this woman was still carrying for no discernible reason, made things several times worse. Why in Truth's name did she not store the body yet?

"Yes, I can preserve them," Grant said, trying to avoid looking at the dead girl. "However, can this wait until I can speak to the captain? I don't even have passage yet." What a compassionate individual.

Edited December 10, 2012 by Snike

[Eail]

So Katrina was her name eh? At least his drinking partner had a name now. Thinking it over in his head for a minute Zach decided to try to make some small talk, not before grabbing the bottle again though. "I didn't know John all that well really... But he was a good guy, I'm sorry to see him go." he said after the familiar burn of the booze passed down his throat, passing the bottle back.

-------

"I suppose that isn't such a bad idea... would you mind coming with me though? I'm not exactly comfortable around so many... burly and possibly drunk sailors given my looks." He embarrassingly admitted to Synthia before climbing off of Rika and holding her reigns

Edited December 10, 2012 by Eail

[Balcerzak]

Scalpel, forceps, probes... ay carumba, just what on Sardius? Sinbad thought to himself as the doc rattled off a list of instruments. He looked down at the tray and tried to guess at what exactly might be needed here. He grabbed something resembling a tweezers, some sort of spring-loaded contraption that was like the opposite of a clamp, a pair of general pencil-looking things with hooks on the end, and a sharp cutting utensil. He also picked up the bottle of vodka, and, hands full, decided he'd get the staves on a second trip.

"Uhhh... not entirely sure which of these is which or if I even got the right things here. Way more technical than I think I ever learned words for there..." he apologized as he presented the tools for inspection. "Also, you mind if I take a swig o' this first?"

[Phoenix]

Infirmary

"While drunk? Of course not-it's a celebratory swig for after the operation," the man quickly clarified. "Now please, remove your headband." When the tools arrived, the doctor wasn't surprised to see the results. "Not bad for first attempt. Also no, don't much mind. May need a replacement bottle soon, though. Know any good vendors in the next port?"

Main Deck

"Wasn't too long ago, and it does happen from toime to toime. Remember when that other kid doied? Sammy? Not that they were much for alloies, but we lost some people in that artificial bust in Ursentius too," Gabbie explained. "I was mostly on my own before Weyland hoired me, so not a lot of alloied deaths there ... not really," she explained dejectedly.

Meanwhile Delan spoke with Gytha while getting bits and pieces from the other nearby discussion regarding the recently departed. It was hard not to notice in general with one of the bodies right there. "Not all of the crew is good in a skirmish, but for safety reasons, they all know how to operate the cannons in case we need it. We have barely have enough men to man all of them in a serious fight, though. How does twenty-four for this trip sound? It's about two weeks to Sergio."

Docks

"Why are you even letting her keep her tome of all things if you don't trust her not to try and get revenge?" Shadrak protested.

Suzume was curious about that too, but put the tome into a satchel now that the topic had come up. Since she also had vengeful party members to worry about, she began to change her appearance a bit. She took off her scarf for a moment and placed it on her shoulder. Next, she untied her hair and then quickly put it into a chignon. With that out of the way, she took the scarf and put it back on, but used the tails to form a small hood. Shadrak's opinion of her hadn't improved much during that minute makeover, but he was impressed she knew how to do all of that with her hair and a simple scarf. He wasn't sure about the hood though. She could seem even more suspicious that way. "Satisfied?" she asked Blake.

[-Cynthia-]

Connor

"Oh...right," he said, feeling a little ashamed he had forgotten their deaths. "So you worked alone before working for uncle? What does a lone mercenary do anyway?" he asked her, still curious.

Veronika

"Oh, of course it can wait, sorry. They should be in brig when you're ready- thank you for your assistance," she said to the ice mage before heading back to Katrina who seemed to be drinking with Zach. Seems appropriate given the circumstances... "We can take the bodies to the brig for now- and people will use ice magic to keep them preserved for later," she interjected into their conversation quietly.

[Mercakete]

"Me services also include Maw's help with keepin' th' rats out o' th' food stores," Gytha added cheerily. This was looking to be a nice job, excellent pay included. She hadn't had pay in a while. Interestingly enough, she received her last pay in Sergio. Then, she met Raquel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Norbert still wasn't at all confident. In fact, he was wondering if he was going to die. Still, he untied his forehead guard and put it aside as instructed, then decided to answer some of the doctor's questions from before. "I don't feel lightheaded, I don't feel all that weak, I'm not short of breath and yeah, my side aches." He was beginning to miss Oscar.

[Snike]

Suzume did some pretty fancy work with her scarf and hair, and was soon sporting a hood and a chignon. Remarkable.

"That works," Blake said, masking any sense of being impressed with an even tone. The Prometheus grew closer with each passing moment. Once they were almost to the ramp, the swordsman continued, this time quietly. "To answer your question, Shadrak, I'm letting her keep her tome because she may need it for self-defense from some of the more rowdy members of the group, should they overpower me.

"There's also the fact that, well, our guest here had the opportunity to try and kill us throughout the whole walk back between the southern port and here, yet she didn't. That tells me, at least, that she's going to be relatively harmless if isolated, as she realizes that she can't take us all on and hope of winning. So, I don't see the harm myself in letting her keep the tome." As he said this, the man relaxed his grip on his blade's hilt. Hopefully he wouldn't have to use it again, at least, for the next day or so.

***

"No problem," Grant said, as the Neviskotian left. He had probably been a bit too rude, but, well, he was tired, and he had a bruised arm, and right now he just wanted to see if he could actually get on a ship or not. The freezing business could wait.

Edited December 10, 2012 by Snike

[Balcerzak]

When the doc gave his verdict, Sinbad looked visibly relieved. He hadn't bungled anything too badly it seemed. One quick pull from the vodka bottle later, he promised the man "Don't know of any, but I will make it a point to set you up with a new one. Might not be a full-sized one, but definitely a little something. Oh, right, the staves!" Remembering he'd left the job only half finished, he set down the alcohol, and quickly retrieved the final(?) necessary objects and bringing them to the bedside, where they would be needed.

Edited December 10, 2012 by Balcerzak

[roymbrog]

“Well, I guess you could pass for a Lucy…” Synthia said, contemplating Luka. Was the kid afraid one of the sailors was going to proposition him or something? That was kind of hilarious in a morbid way. The mage made a note to keep watch for any confused sailors. “Sure, I’ll come,” she replied. She needed to stay busy as long as possible, for her sanity’s sake.

-----

“He was just a kid, you know? Barely seventeen…” Katrina said, taking back the bottle. Dammit, she was going to cry again, wasn’t she?

Veronika approached before she took another sip and she handed the bottle right back to Zach again before standing up. The swordswoman had Sophia, the mage was probably going to carry Lia, and John was pretty heavy. Katrina was going to need help. “After you’ve taken Lia, can you help me move John?” she asked Zach.

[ReformBlade]

Mushirah was still not quite sure things happened the way they did, but she couldn't help but feel sad for that group. Tough break, losing three of their members like that.

Davod kept to himself, silence comforting him. Or so he wanted it to, in reality he just wanted to lash out but that wasn't going to solve anything, at least nothing long term and meaningfully anyway.

Aneda though? She wanted to sit back and let the grief overcome her but the rider wasn't going to allow that to happen. There's enough moping going around here, I'm not going to contribute to it... And besides, it won't bring them back... At the mention of needing help, Aneda jumped straight up and butted herself in the conversation. "I'll help, Katrina." she uttered softly yet audibly.

[Phoenix]

Infirmary

"Ah, much appreciated," he replied to Sinbad. Once he saw that Bert had taken off his guard, he said, "Best to hurry in case of internal bleeding. Now ... just relax. Close your eyes and shut out everything, thoughts, pain, all of it. Slow deep breaths," speaking slowly for a change as he put his fingers against Bert's forehead. He used his other hand to carefully do something similar to the back of the pegasus rider's neck. Not the most comfortable position to be in, but the doctor was now using a technique he knew to slowly put Bert to sleep and dull the pain enough for him to stay that way. It would still be another minute before it began to work in earnest, though.

Main Deck

"Kill people I have no history with mostly," Gabbie answered Connor flatly before feeding Ringo some more jerky. "Pretty much the same thing you've seen up til now but by myself. The methods are ... different. I'll be honest, I prefer these methods," she added, her tone and mood declining once again.

"Duly noted," Delan replied. With that matter settled, he decided to investigate the bodies issue. "The girl I mentioned earlier, our cook, she's a mage and knows a little ice magic. If you need a little help, don't hesitate to ask," he informed Veronika and Grant.

Tagging Along

"Maybe ... that or she's got bigger plans," Shadrak speculated.

"I do," Suzume interjected. "My plan is to try and survive you people until we reach our destination."

"Survive by 'what means'?" Shadrak quickly came back.

"Staying out of sight and hopefully out of mind."

[Eail]

'Damn, John was only seventeen? I thought he was older than I was, no telling how old that other girl was either, and Lia....'

Shaking those thoughts out of his head Zach spoke "I know it probably won't make you feel any better..... but I made sure personally the person that killed him won't ever hurt anyone again." he was just about to take another drink when Veronika approached about dealing with the bodies, the booze would wait for the moment. Putting the top of the bottle back in place, the liquor went back in the satchel. Seems Aneda wanted to help as well, that was good

Standing up he took a look at the corpses on Volga, letting out a sigh. "One of you can carry Lia there, I'll get John if the other can help me." Didn't feel right to carry the lightest of the three while the women carried John.

_______

Luka let out an inner sigh of relief when Synthia said she'd come along, that kind of thing had happened before and he wasn't too keen on living it again. Giving a nod to his fellow healer the pink haired boy made his way towards were he assumed the stables would be below deck. Still slightly suspicious of any crew members as they walked.

"Oh! I don't think I actually introduced you too yet. Synthia, this is Rika, my partner and best friend!" He said, affectionately patting the pegasus, who gave a snort of acknowledgement to the greeting.

[Mercakete]

Well, it seemed the price wouldn't be going up and Gytha could hardly complain. "Sounds like we've reached an agreement, then," Gytha replied, extending her hand to the captain. She'd worry about the other goings-on once this was taken care of.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, this was weird. So, he didn't receive a bludgeon to the head. Instead, the doctor's fingers rested on his forehead, then on the back of his neck. What in Mercy's name...? Ok, this is weird. Uh... So, I'm not supposed to think or feel pain... I can ignore pain fine. This is just...odd, though. I have no idea what this guy is trying to do. Is this some sort of weird sailor thing? No, Oscar never did anything this weird. Well, this guy is pretty strange. Maybe it's just something he does? I have no idea how this is supposed to help... Oh well. And finally Norbert decided to follow instruction and close his eyes. He also did his best to only focus on his breathing, slowing it from normal and breathing deeply.