Takes place off of this thread. [link]

As the curtain closed about the less than healthy Senako, separating the three Quincy and Kiki from the rest of the world, Kiki said, "Let's just keep the talk about medical things, hmmm?" There was a smile on the male gigai's face for but a moment before it fell to the ground as a tall purple headed woman stepped out of it, bearing a much wider grin as she batted her equally purple eyes at the current company before pointing two fingers at Senako. Time would halt around the man, preventing his injury from causing further problems due to the silently cast bakudou of Jikanteishi. "I don't have time to explain other than I've stopped time around this fellow. It will help anything bad from occurring while I work on him. However, I am also now low on reiatsu." All the while, Kiki spoke in a pleasant tone, as if this were an outing for a picnic. "If anyone here can help stabilize the lesser wounds or start to do as much, that would help me, and this fellow, greatly."

As the young man pulled the curtains shut around the Quincy and himself, the two young twins turned to him with looks of mixed apprehension and gratitude; the presence of another would certainly help them all. And then, suddenly, the man became a woman; or rather, the woman stepped from the man as he slumped to the ground, and the children didn't have but a moment to consider the implications of this before their Vater was suddenly perfectly still, caught mid-breath and thus clearly still alive. The two had heard legends, once upon a time, of beings who could halt time for people now and again; was this, perhaps, an angel, come to save their Vater with divine intervention?

Whatever the cause or case, Kiki's words began to snap Kristian from his fugue, and the boy turned rapidly to Senako, his hands quickly, yet gingerly, feeling for Senako's side, where the other man had touched to cause him such pain. The boy could feel the give in Senako's side, and he winced himself, a tear welling in his right eye. "Engel-sama, Vater Bruno's ribs have been broken, and badly. They are out of place and I fear any that have not begun floating about will be penetrating, if not the liver than near it. Vater Bruno has a type of medicine in his pockets, Anastasia; seek the little pouch Schwester Gunilla gave him, and find the little golden orbs!"

Anastasia responded quickly, the nurse to Kristian's doctor, or doctor-in-training at any rate. Exactly what treatment would be best for Senako, neither of them honestly knew, so instead Kristian turned to Kiki, his arrived angel, and gave her a pleading look. "Engel-sama, instruct me; what will you have me do to save mein Vater?"

Kiki could tell nothing yet with the man's shirt still on so she would take the boy's word on it for now at least as far as to prep for surgery. She strode to a barrel of steaming water used for washing ones hands and dipped her arms into it up to her elbows. "First remove his shirt so I can see the external damage. It should give me an idea how bad the internal injury is before proceeding," Kiki replied as she pulled her limbs out of the water. "After that, wash up. I'll know more of what I'll need from you then." Her gaze moved from the boy to the girl as she walked back toward Senako, pulling with her a moveable table carrying basical metal instruments left in the medical tent for this purpose among many others. "And what is this pill you speak of?" Though her tone was still horribly lighthearted given the situation, it was toned down from Kiki's normal behavior, but normally, she wasn't trying to save dying people. Her medical background lent her the seriousness that she needed to proceed professionally as she had tried to so long ago on the battle field when she was trying to save Shijin.

Moving with purpose now, the twins followed their orders rapidly; because his coat had fallen open as he was laid down, Kristian did not need to worry about that article of Senako's clothing, so with all the rapidity he could safely muster he snatched a scalpel from the medical tray Kiki had moved nearer to them, using it to rapidly slide open Senako's shirt from hem to collar. Anastasia, on the opposite side of Senako, rummaged through is coat pocket only briefly before removing the little pouch containing the special papers and pills Gunilla had presented him.

"The pill is a physical manifestation of an ability some Quincy are able to use, called 'Yozen'; it is equivalent, according to our Vater, to the Shinigami's healing spells in nature." As he spoke, Kristian plunged his hands, as well as the slightly-dirtied scalpel, into the steaming water, to cleanse them to allow him to further follow her orders; for her part, Anastasia had simply pulled a pill from the pouch, stifling her tears to be as brave as her brother was when it was his time to work.

As the boy answered Kiki, her eyes were not drawn to the pill or either of the twins, but to Senako. She was examining the swelling and bruising that flourished across the large man's lower back in a messy radial pattern from where he had been struck. "That should help tremendously," Kiki replied after a pause as she moved to grab a scalpel of her own. "Please insert the pill into the back of his mouth so that it slides down his throat. At that point the involuntary portion of peristalsis should do the rest. The pill doesn't seem to be so large that he'd choke. However, I need one of you on standby at his front just in case by some accident he does."

Kiki brought the scalpel over Senako's injured section as she continued giving orders. "Because of the time freeze, though the energy from that pill should feel him, his cells are stuck in their current state. Once the spell is lifted, the healing effects will start to take place from the inside out. At that point, I'll put what I have left of my reiatsu to work from the outside in. First though, I am going to have to remove the bone fragments. So, which ever of you has more medical experience needs to be at my side once I make the incision to provide suction removal of excess blood. Considering the bruising, there will be a good amount initially. We'll need to work fast to prevent needing to do a blood transfusion. Do you both understand?"

The children turned stony-silent at Kiki's commands, nodding briskly before moving to follow orders, Kristian moving to stand by her side, the unspoken truth being that he simply was the more medically-able of the two; Anastasia, on the other hand, did as asked and gingerly placed the Yozen pill in Vater Bruno's mouth, softly placing a palm on the giant man's chest, waiting to respond should he react poorly to the pill.

And then, Kiki put the scalpel down. Her eyes had caught sight of how far the bruising had spread toward his back indicating more injury to his kidney. She chewed on her lip for a minute, drawing blood of her own before gingerly placing both hands on Senako's left and injured side; one hand rested on his hip while the other went to his shoulder. "I'm going to have to turn him. The internal damage spread further than I thought. Boy, stand on the other side to make sure he doesn't roll off when I start to shift him."

At Kiki's orders, Kristian hustled to obey: his hands were firmly braced on Senako's shoulder, prepared to help pull as Kiki pushed, and to hold the man steady when or if he began to slide too far. Anastasia stood at Senako's head, also prepared to help however it seemed she would need to. For his part, Senako was still silent, frozen in time, his body as easily manipulated as any furniture.

The combined efforts allowed for Senako to be rolled over with the least additional damage possible. What remained of his shirt was then pulled free of his frame leaving his torso completely bare so that Kiki would work her magic. Or not magic. Not quite yet. "Remember to provide suction," Kiki said to the boy, reminding him of her previous orders before she made the first incision. It was not made directly over the wound, but rather above the damaged organ. Kiki didn't want to cause further injury to it, so the opening would be made in a circle around it. The flesh would be clamped back, along with major veins, and blood would flow as the insides were revealed of the time stabilized patient.

The scalpel was replaced with tweezers and Kiki started on on the hard part; removing bone fragments. They needed to be removed so that when both the healing pill and what Kiki could use of her Chiyudo afterward healed the wounds, they could be healed properly. As amazing as such abilities were, they couldn't make bone fragments dissolved. Kiki also need the fragments to piece back into place where they belonged; it would lessen Senako's recovery time, for even with healing, he would still feel pain as his body did the fine touches over time. Still, with each fragment that Kiki removed, blood gushed from the unblocked wound. She worked quickly though, only pausing while her temporary assistant provided what she needed and soon all of the fragments had been removed. In quite a rush, Kiki sterilized the extracted pieces and laid them on a clean cloth to begin reassembly. She knew the body well and she knew which part of the anatomy had been broken, so reconstruction was done quickly as efficiently. From there, the bone pieces were placed back into Senako, one by one, following the pattern Kiki had reformed. Then the clamps were removed and the wall of flesh laid back down.

Kiki took a deep breath as she washed her hands then prepared her use of Chiyudo for when she let the time halt go. "I'll need both of you to hold onto him in case he thrashes once I let the spell go or else he may hurt himself and undo what I've done before the healing can start," Kiki stated wearily. Such things often wore one out mentally, throw in using such a draining spell, and it was no wonder the usually bubbly Vizard was tired.

At the angel's direction, Kristian nodded and turned toward the tool tray, immediately reaching for the 'unique' tool he required: a long, hollow plastic tube capped with a large rubber bulb. Turning back to his Vater, the boy nodded to Kiki, showing he was ready to help; Anastasia did little but bite back a sob and keep her hands on Senako, to keep his body steady while the Engel and her bruder did their work, which to her was nearly magic.

Whenever Kiki paused in her bone-collecting, little Kristian dove in to do his named duty, squeezing and depressing the bulbous end of the tube to cause it to draw up the blood filling the 'incision'; before long, the process had been caught up, and Kiki was closing the 'wound'. At the order to hold Senako down, both children nodded and murmured their agreement with the order; Senako, all the while, remained in the black depths of unconsciousness, lost to the world, ignorant of the hole in his side or the fact that it soon would be sealed, sending him down the path to recovery.

And at last, Kiki released the time halt spell that she had cast directly around the Quincy preacher. She didn't know how he would react initially, so she was prepared to assist in holding Senako down as well should she need to do so, even though her whole body was tired, but she had a more important task to start. From the inside, the pill that the younger female had inserted into Senako's mouth would provide a flood of healing energy created uniquely by the Quincy though it resembled Kiki's own Chiyudo which was now flowing from her hands over the major wound on Senako's back as it had been from the moment she had released the lingering kidou. She hoped what reiatsu she had left combined with the Quincy's special pill would be enough to do the trick to fully heal the wound. However, even if it wasn't, Kiki was sure it would be enough to prevent Senako from dying. Still, her lips were pursed tightly as she poured her energy into the man.

The wonderful thing about the 'healing arts', as Senako had learned many a year ago, was that they tended to have effects on their 'targets' that one didn't necessarily expect, but sometimes took for granted. One such effect was pacification, at least on a small scale; medicine only worked best, after all, when applied to a patient not suffering from stress or what have you, and thus had God's Miracles come with the small ability to imbue the patient with a small manner of tranquility. Receiving such from first the small Yozen pill in his throat, and then from the chiyudo pouring from Kiki's hands, Senako would return to regularly passing time with a slow, deep inhalation of breath before simply settling against his bed, practically melting into the surface and pillow; Anastasia had to turn her Vater's head to keep the man from smothering himself against the pillow, and Kristian's tear-streaked face was all smiles as he gazed upon the weary Kiki.

"You've done it, Engel-sama! You've saved him!" The boy's voice cracked at the exclamation, and in a rush of emotion his hands left Senako's back, the young man practically lunging at Kiki's side, his arms attempting to wrap about her waist and hug her tightly in thanks, weeping freely against her side; he was young, and innocent, and most tellingly physically weak, so pulling away would by no means be difficult for Kiki. For her part, stroking her Vater's hair, Anastasia simply gave Kiki the biggest smile she could muster, though her eyes, too, shone with tears; it would seem these two had obtained a new hero.

Kiki was too tired to avoid or pull away from the boy, but at the very least, she patted his head. Granted, her hand was covered in blood. The blood of the father. She chortled absently then she let out a loud yawn. "It does look like he'll be okay," Kiki drawled tiredly. "He needs to stay here for the rest of today and spend the night. I'll be back to check on him in the morning, but I need you two to guard him and make sure nothing happens." She looked at the boy at her side. "You seem to be somewhat of a medic, so keep track of his vitals."

At the instructions, the duo nodded before moving to meet their own goals: first, Anastasia knelt to the ground and fetched up both her bow and her brother's cross, Kristian's having lost it's form during the hubbub while her own, having stayed at her feet, had been capable of keeping shape. She would hold the cross for her brother until he was free to wear it again, which surely would not be too long.

Kristian, on the other hand, nodded before reaching out to take Kiki's hand, blood-covered though it were. "After what you have done, Vater Bruno will be fine, Engel... but now you, too, must rest. Please, take my chair; you've worked powerful miracles, and Vater Bruno says these are the most draining sort, those that heal the body and soul." As he spoke, the boy attempted to guide Kiki to the chair at Senako's bed generally reserved for guests or doctors; it would not be the most comfortable resting place in the world, but it was near and would provide Kiki the resting place she needed. Kristian had slept in less-comfortable places, and knew how to make the most of them.

"I will fetch you a pillow and blanket, as well as a wet rag to clean yourself. Please, Engel-sama, rest." With that, the boy turned and dashed away, slipping through the curtain of the 'room' to find a new water basin and some rags, as well as a pillow and blanket. For her part, Anastasia shuffled uncomfortably, watching after her brother before turning to Kiki.

"Thank you for your help. I don't know what we would have done without you." She spoke from across Senako's bed, and bowed her head lightly as she did, but there was a slightly different air about her; though she, too, called Kiki Engel, she had a few more doubts concerning the female's identity than did her brother. Though Kiki had never spoken a spell, Anastasia knew what Shinigami Chiyudo was, having been very, very briefly taught of it in the Homeland, of how to identify the medics on the battlefield; in truly fierce war, she had been taught, these were the ones to target first, though when the battle was done and both sides were tending their wounded, this would be an unforgivable sin.

Kiki blinked owlishly as she was shepherded to a chair. The lanky vizard had no intention of staying in the room for now. She wanted to find food and the others, but she was too tired to resist, or even answer. Her eye lids felt heavy and she blinked more sluggishly at the pair. Perhaps this was sleeping in the lions' den, as the children of religion might put it, but Kiki waved a hand drowsily, brushing off the formality and weight of her deeds before yawning. Just a little sleep couldn't hurt. Her eyes closed to blink, but this time they did not open back.

The children stood watch as long as they could; honestly, it was a strong effort, but as children, and on a very stressful day, they were as weak as any other, and sleep claimed them before too long. Thus, when Kiki awoke the next morning, it would be to an altered bedding area: the children had been carefully huddled onto the bed, their crosses no longer bows and clutched firmly in their hands, and a blanket had been draped over the sleeping Vizard. Further, her Gigai had been moved to the floor beside her chair, propped up against the wall in as comfortable a sitting posture as possible. And at the edge of the bed sat Senako, dressed and staring at the floor until the sound of the waking woman turned his attention to her.

"An' ye must be the one tha' saved m'life. Thanks be to ye, Shinigami, for bein' better'n th' rest o' ye. May th' Lord shine 'is light e'er on your path, ye shepherd of lost and wounded lambs." And with that, the preacher again lowered his head to stare at the ground. Perhaps he was in prayer, perhaps he was asleep; in any case, he was apparently alive and well, which meant Kiki's saintly work was done.

Kiki was quite groggy by the time Senako spoke to her. It was morning, or so she thought by the way her muscles were cramped from sleeping in the chair for a long period of time. Which meant Shikome had already had her fight. Kiki jumped up. "Uh, you're welcome," she said hastily then merged with her gigai as Senako returned to his mental solitude. Then she scurried off to find the other Vizard.

[exit]

The Quincy would stay in the room for another couple hours, at least long enough for the children to wake of their own accord; when they questioned Senako on what they would do next, a pat on the head would be their only response. It would seem the Preacher was still in repose, and would be for quite a time.

[Exit]

Thread Rewards:

Senako - 9 Points

Post for placement.

Reiatsu, please