Introduction Private Here I Go Again

[Arthur Barrett]

Arthur moved at a determined -- but comparatively leisurely -- pace towards the infirmary. As he ducked under the bulkhead into his workspace, he marveled. For the first time, he was treating a casualty with a skilled assistant. There were no other beasts to triage or treat, no chaotic battle underway, no one to yell at. Things were going... ...well. Too well, perhaps. But Arthur wouldn't question the small mercies. He'd appreciate them while they lasted. Amnesty was handling the transport of the wounded mouse up on deck, which left him ample time to prepare.

Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast...

Once in the infirmary, he briskly shut the windows and hatches, and turned to open the vents to flood the infirmary with warm air. "A fine job as usual, Mr. Fairpaws..." remarked Arthur to himself, holding a paw to the vents. The towels and bandages were only an arm length away, and the marten quickly staged them before donning his apron.

His little workspace was taking shape quite nicely. All that was left was to fetch his tools from his chest. The marten stored all his surgical implements in a simple roll of pouches, and with a brisk flick, they rolled out perfectly along the cot. At a glance, every pouch was filled, and every instrument clean and ready.

And with that, he sat there, waiting.

GATES, but felt strange being so prepared! Normally everything was chaos, and... ...and things were going so smoothly. The marten wished there was someone else who could have... ...witnessed things, and perhaps appreciated them. But alas, he would have to enjoy the beautiful moment alone.

 

[Amnesty Greysoul]

"Come on now, onto the stretcher, nice and easy. Get those blankets wrapped around him, he's more than cold enough already. You two, once he's on we'll get him down to the infirmary. Just like that."

Amnesty's voice was even, steady, certain. More so than she felt inside, at any rate. Despite the extent of his wounds, the mouse was in surprisingly stable condition. Well. For the time being. She had seen too many beasts succumb to injuries she had hoped they had already overcome. The fact that he was even awake at all right now was... impressive. As they settled him into place, the fox did a cursory search for any kind of weaponry on his person, but found nothing but a small, innocuous bag that he kept clutched in his paw. Given the tattered state of his clothes, it seemed unlikely that there was much else hidden, though she would be somewhat more at ease when they had the chance to do a full search. She would be sure to mention it to Arthur.

Addressing their new arrival even as they lifted him up on the stretcher to start the short trip down to the infirmary, Amnesty did what she could to put the mouse at ease.

"You're safe here, friend. I'm Amnesty, and I'm a healer. What can we call you?"

 

[Amatis Moontail]

Dr Amatis Moontail stood on the deck of the ship. Since he stepped out of the door of his tennament that morning he had been lost, and his talk with the captain had done little to assist with that. After all, there weren't exactly many plants aboard a blooming boat.

He wished he had brought more books.

Dr Moontail jumped as his fantasising about his bookshelf was interrupted by the surgeon, briefly loosing balance before righting himself.

"Right... right."

His eyes followed the Foxkit as he ran passed, this time thankfully not careening into the wildcat. Had he missed something while in the captain's cabin? Someone was hurt?

His eyes landed on the Mouse.

Oh gates oh gates oh gates... Why was he being dragged into this?!? He was a doctor, yes, but not a medical doctor! Plants didn't tend to bleed, nor did insects! And fish were a different matter from beasts dying on the deck!

His legs suddenly felt weak and his mind began swimming in partial darkness.

*No, you were told to do something, so you need to do it. You will not be blacking out. Besides, if you do, you will probably end up sliding off the ship and into the drink...*

The thought of the ice-cold water sent a shiver down his spine as he crossed the deck with wobbly footing. He stood at the end of the stretcher with an even stronger scowl than his usual resting face already was, trying not to loose his breakfast sardine toast onto the mouse.

Memory exercises! That could help! Take his mind off of... Well, all this... Hopefully he would still notice when he was needed to lift the stretcher, even if his mind was elsewhere as he needed it to be...

@Elliot Berkshaw @FinnianBrightfur

 

[FinnianBrightfur]

Finn had cheered up substantially, what with work to do. Though he had been assigned a new role as Aide de Camp, he didn't suppose Gyles had relieved him of his infirmary duties. In fact, he couldn't even imagine that possibility!

Finn helped Amnesty load the mouse onto the stretcher -- capable little thing he was! "'ello there!" he called out cheerfully, peering upside down over the mouse. "You alright? You look awful!" he blurted out.

But suddenly, he imagined how Mr. Barrett would have reacted, and flinched instinctively. "...awfully wet!" he said, trying to salvage the awkward greeting. Sheepishly, he glanced to Amnesty to see if she'd caught the faux pas... Oh dear.

Gripping the stretcher, he looked around at the small party of beasts, and wagged his tail excitedly. Dr. Moontail came by to assist, and Finn waited patiently for everyone to take their places.

"Alright mates... On three! One... Two..."

Finn hoped Alwyn was watching...

 

[Alwyn Ryalor]

Alwyn was indeed watching, as he carefully made his way inside the infirmary, staying close by the door and observing for the most part. He did not know much about the field of medicine other than how to apply bandages and tourniquets, and if need be make some basic poultices and cures from common locally available plants to stabilize a patient as he had recently gone through a survival tactics course in preparation for joining the Hide, but what he could do was assist any of the far more skilled beasts in getting anything that they may require that was not in the room, and, if need be, shove any unwanted intruders out of the room.

If push came to shove I could maybe buy the mouse a bit of time to see a proper medic, and certainly carry him to one, but with these injuries...I hope this Barrett who I’ve heard so much from Finnian about lives up to his legend. Maybe I could learn at least a little something here as well.

@FinnianBrightfur @Amatis Moontail @Amnesty Greysoul @Elliot Berkshaw

 

[Elliot Berkshaw]

Everything had honestly been a blur since the large ship had shown up.

Elliot had been lifted up into the air from the rowboat, in some sort of harness thing, and had ended up on a stretcher once he was on the ship.

Now he was being taken to some infirmary.

At some point, he had gone from sitting on the cot thing to laying down, whether that had been of his own movement or someone else, he didn’t know.

Elliot had closed his eyes, but opened them to take stock of who was carrying him.

A small fox, probably a younger one by their voice and structure and… a wild cat with somewhat fancy clothing (compared to him) and glasses.

Elliot eyed the wildcat for a bit longer than necessary, his eyes slightly wide and his body - what was left of it - notedly tense.

This was not Zephyr. This was someone else - who didn’t look too happy to be carrying him around - if he didn’t know any better, he’d say this other Wildcat was a sort of researcher, based on what they wore.

Somebeast had asked for his name. He didn’t feel like talking to them just yet. They could wait a bit longer… at least until he was situated.

For now, he could rest. The mouse’s body went limp on the stretcher and he closed his eyes again.

He could rest now, because he was “…. Safe.”

After a harrowing few days, he was finally, finally safe, and his life was now in the hands/paws of hopefully gentle beasts…

 

[Amnesty Greysoul]

Amnesty stiffened. She had seen too many beasts relax like that just to die moments later, as if their bodies were too weak to remember how to hold onto the tiny thread of vitality. And she wasn't going to let the mouse do the same without a fight.

"No, no sleeping yet, friend. Open up those eyes."

Her paws moved quickly, tapping the side of the stranger's face with a firm, gentle insistence. The beasts preparing to move the stretcher were all in place-- perhaps grudgingly, in the case of Dr Moontail... 'gates... that beast has never lifted something like this before, has he? Young Finny is doing well, though isn't he? Too late to change positions now.

"Dr Moontail, keep your grip, lift with your legs, call out if you're about to drop him. Alright, double-time it, there we go."

And so chaos descended on the infirmary. Amnesty made eye contact with Arthur as they came inside, barking out her cursory report above the madness and the hubbub.

"Patient is a young mouse, missing his left arm and likely a great deal of blood from various severe wounds. I also suspect exposure injuries. He's going in and out of consciousness at the moment, but had the strength to sit up in the boat when Kinza got to him. What do you need, Doctor?"

@Arthur Barrett @FinnianBrightfur @Amatis Moontail @Alwyn Ryalor @Elliot Berkshaw

 

[Amatis Moontail]

Amatis lifted the stretcher and was staggering forward under the weight of it when he jumped slightly as he heard his name. He turned his ears towards this new speaker, but kept his focus on carrying and not being sick or fainting.

Oh Gates, was he that bad at this that someone would not only notice but point it out?! He did really have no idea what he was doing, to be honest. These other beasts had the air of knowing their way around stuff and here he was not carrying a stretcher properly and barely being able to walk straight. They were expecting him to be useful, but he was just getting in the way and would just make it all worse before the end of this. They would all end up on the floor, or in the drink, or this mouse would die because they didn't get there in time or...

He felt sick.

Well, more sick.

The world was spinning and darkening, sound was fuzzy, and his stomach churned.

Medical emergencies, rocking boats, and the knowledge that he was doing perceptively badly did not mix well with Dr Amatis Moontail, and they all seemed to be ganging up on him together. Also, had he had anything to drink today? Now he thought about it, he thought the answer was likely no. Well, it seemed yet another factor joining in on ganging up on the Wildcat.

Finally they made their way into what he assumed to be the infirmary and they put the stretcher down. Wobbly on his feetpaws but not wanting to bother anyone else or break some rule by sitting down, he moved to the corner and leaned, trying to look casual while looking away. In actual fact he was stiff and looked even more furious than his usual grumpy demeanor. His thousand yard stare had quickly become a two-thousand yard stare.

Even if he could walk further than a few steps, he had no idea if they wanted him to stay or go. Better wait for confirmation. But would that just make him look stupid?

He pulled a random book from his bag and started to read as the darkness slowly receded until it was only partly there. It was just a field guide he had read a million times, but it felt comfortable in his handpaws.

@FinnianBrightfur @Alwyn Ryalor @Elliot Berkshaw @Arthur Barrett @Amnesty Greysoul

 

[FinnianBrightfur]

Finn didn't like the tone in Amnesty's voice. It wasn't motherly, per se. It was gentle and reassuring... and underpinned with a frightning urgency. But at the same time, it sounded as if she were just nudging a friend who'd dozed off at the opera. Finn studied her carefully as they fumbled their way down towards the lower decks, carefully and laboriously transporting the wounded mouse down the ladders. But as if lost in a daydream, the foxkit suddenly realized he had a job to do, and a patient to attend to. He looked down at the mouse, eyebrows pinching at the missing arm. Gates... 's not gonna die is he? Finn swallowed nervously, and strained to help put the mouse on the table.

Arthur immediately began work with Amnesty -- leaving no room for the little kit to get in. Finn tried to edge his way in to help, but Arthur shooed him away. "Mr. Brightfur, some warm blankets, if you please!" he called out briskly. With an eager hop, the young foxkit raced over to the side of the room, and excused himself politely as he bustled past Dr. Moontail. As he lifted a small hatch, a warm puff of steam rose out, adding to the pleasantly warm atmosphere. Reaching into the enclosure, Finn returned with several warm blankets to cover the mouse as they removed his soaked clothing.

"I'll get a tourniquet for his arm!" he called out, turning to a cabinet. Before he could leave, however, Arthur raised a paw. "Staged them already Finn, thank you!"

"O-Oh! I could get you bandages!" he tried again, tail flagging with excitement. "Do you want help wi--"

"Ms. Greysoul will handle the bandaging, Mr. Brightfur. Please, fill this wash basin..."

The foxkit hopped forwards without delay to fetch the wash basin, but couldn't help watching jealously over his shoulder as Amnesty took his coveted spot next to Mr. Barrett.

Am I... being... replaced? <8C!?!?