Healing and Herbs

[Wynn; Misha]

FROM:: In Search of Herbs

Wynn walked into the Infirmary silently. He took in ever sigh that met his eyes, since that when he was to leave, he knew he'd get homesick and he wanted to see as much as he could. He scratched at the bandage that was around his back and felt some of the blood that had crusted through it and under it, and he closed his eyes in pain as he tried to remove the bandage, while the dry blood fused it with his fur. He grumbled something under his breath and started to look for the jar of candied chestnuts that was alway kept in the infirmiry. "Now where did that squirrel put it..." He muttered to himself.

[Alexis/Drecas]

Drecas followed in shortly afterwards, and noticed Wynn attempting to remove his bandage. He shook his head. "I'd advise against it, Wynn. Your wound's still healing, if you were to remove the bandage now the bleeding would start again. And with the state you're in at the moment it's the last thing you want to do." He took a seat at his desk, and looked around in mild disbelief: He was still quite surprised that they had given someone as young as he the position of Infirmary keeper! He quickly shook his head, focusing on the task at hand. First order of business: He unlocked and opened a cupboard in his desk, before taking out and placing on the desk a jar filled to the brim with candied chestnuts, before smiling at the fox and saying, "Help yourself, you need all the energy you can get at the moment."

[Wynn; Misha]

Wynn grinned from ear to ear. He took a pawful and stuffed them into his mouth. "Fank oo!" He said, thought it was a horrible attempt to say the phrase Thank you, he said it as best as he could anyway. When he finished, he burped a little and he blushed lightly. "Excuse me, and yes, don't take the bandages off. Got it. Right, bleed to death. Got it. Baaaaad." He said chuckling. He picked up a stool and plumped himself down next to Drecas and with him the jar of candied chestnuts, popping one into his mouth every now and then. Wiping his mouth on his tunic he clapped his paws together and looked to the Healer. "Alright then, 'Mission 1' accomplished, get the 'Sacred Candied Chestnuts of Redwall Infirmary'. Now then, 'Mission 2', find out what the plant means. Would there be a book in the library? Or do you have one in here?"

He went to a shalf that had some books in it. He gasped and ran back to the desk and smiled goofishly when he took the jar of reats. "Can't forget these!" He said sillily((Is that a word? I think it is... **shrugs**)) and went back to the shelf. He munched on some more as he looked for a book that had something to do with flowers and plants. He found one that had the title "Medical Uses for Herbs" and took it and the jar back to the stool and the desk. He slammed the book down on the tabletop and coughed as some dust rose up from it. "**coughs**... Okay then, dusty... But is this the book you were looking for? Or was it a differant one? I never looked that hard before as a Dibbun and I still never do." He said smiling to the kind squirrel.

[Alexis/Drecas]

Drecas flicked through his book, trying to hunt down the name of the flower he had picked. It wasn't an easy feat, as he had never seen this particular flower before, and it'd be hard to define it by colour. He kept flicking through, in the hopes of finding an illustration similar to his colourful flower.

At last he found a match. His book was old, and some of the text was faded, including the all-important name. However he was able to read most of the plant's description:

This flower, growing in abundance near the wetter spots of the marshlands, is well known for being brightly coloured in order to lure the unwary to their doom. However, those who successfully traverse the unstable ground to reach the flower will find their efforts more than well worth it, for when a petal of the plant is mixed together with a leaf and a portion of the root, it creates a potent medicine that restores strength in those beasts who have been severely wounded, even to the point of combating blood loss, and possibly even speeding natural restoration of the blood. One advantageous aspect of this is that this plant can yield six potions, exemplifying the rarity of the plant.

"Fascinating..." Drecas said quietly to himself, "This might just be what I need to help Wynn recover from his injury." He dog-eared the page, as he lacked any bookmarks of his own.

[Wynn; Misha]

Wynn looked to Drecas and quirked a brow. "You say something?" he asked him. He got off the stool and walked around the room -of course with his jar of chestnuts- and then stopped at the window. He sighed as he watched some of the Dibbuns play and being scolded by some of the Elders. He smiled at them and watched a small molemaid trip and fall onto her face, just to try and get back up and fall again as a squirrel and a hedgehog tripped over her and the two fell. He had some jealousy in him. He hadn't had the carefree life of an Abbeydweller as he grew up. He had to fend for himself and his two Adoptive-parents, the kind hedgehog and his wife. He popped a candied chestnut into his mouth and looked at a bird flying overhead. 'I wonder what they're doing right now?' He thought to himself. He sighed and walked around the room again, feeling the walls with his paws and he looked back to Drecas with a sleepy look in his emerald eyes. "I feel tired all of a sudden..." He said quietly.

[Alexis/Drecas]

Drecas looked up at the fox. "That's what I was afraid of," he said, "you may have lost a little too much blood. However, I found out what this herb does, and it seems it might help. When I mix just one petal, leaf and a small portion of the root of this plant, the resulting potion restores strength in the wounded and combats blood loss, even to the point of speeding the natural body's restoration of blood." He reached into his herb bag, pulled out the flower, a vial and his mortar and pestle. First things first, he washed the flower, just to remove any foreign objects that might render the potion useless. Next, he took the stopper out of the vial and filled it with water. That having been done, he picked a vibrantly green-coloured petal from the flower, then a leaf, then he cut off a small portion of the root. He put the three into the mortar, and ground them together into a fine dust with the pestle. Carefully he poured the dust into the water, then gave it a shake to mix together the contents. The water turned the same shade of green as the petal had been. "Very interesting..." he said to himself. He walked over to Wynn and handed him the vial. "There, drink that, and get some rest so that it can get to work. And don't forget, drink plenty of fluids and let one of the staff know if you're feeling dizzy."

[Wynn; Misha]

Wynn nodded a thanks to Drecas and took the vial, looking at the liquid first. "It doesn't look very appetizing." He muttered. He took a quick whiff, then gulped it down hard, coughing as it got into his stomach. He coughed a few more times to clear his throat and punched his chest to get air into his lungs again. "Doesn't taste very appetizing either." He said. He rubbed at his throat and sat on a nearby bed. "I still feel tired, but, hopefully that'll stop soon." He looked to Drecas and smiled. "Thanks for helping a wanderer like me. You could've used the potion on a more suitable person than me." he said kindly.

[Alexis/Drecas]

Drecas was somewhat curious. Almost hesitating, he asked, "How exactly did you get that wound, anyway? Looks like you were in quite the scuffle with someone or other." No accident could've caused a wound that big, he thought to himself, This lad's been fighting something that's decided to fight back. Doesn't seem the type to be killing the Redwallers, even if he is a fox...

[Wynn; Misha]

Wynn looked to Drecas before turning his gaze to the floor and his footpaws, where he shuffled them around a bit. "Around midnight last night I found a white mouse in Mossflower. She carried a large broadsword. She looked like vermin, so I shot off an arrow after her. Well, one thing turned to another and we were sword-fighting. There was a small fire and she went into the smoke where she snuck up behind me and she slashed at me with it, though luckily I got out of the way in time to only get grazed. And eventually a hare from Salamadastron and some weasel got into the fight. And while we three fought, the mouse escaped, so I ran as well, though I fainted a few times until I found you earlier this evening." He took a deep breath and exhaled, feeling over the bandage again with his paw. He shut his eyes and he felt a tear leave his eye, slide down his fur and land on the stone floor. "I left Redwall to avenge my parent's death... They were killed by vermin when I was born, so I vowed to myself as I grew older that I woul kil any vermin the got in my way." He started to squeeze his paw hard, and only stopped when he noticed that he pierced his paw with his claws, and that blood was dripping from it.

[Alexis/Drecas]

Drecas listened quietly to Wynn's explanation, and then said, reassuringly, "Given your situation and history, it's perfectly normal to mistake a mouse for vermin, especially one wielding a broadsword like the one you met. I'm... sorry about your parents." he fell silent for a moment, unsure what else to say. Eventually he piped up, "So... vermin slayer, is that right?" He showed no emotion, but inside his mind he felt extremely happy at this fact.

While a pacifist himself, Drecas had a disliking for vermin, rats in particular. He never really explained to anyone why this was the fact, but that was because he feared they might mis-interpret his story. Perhaps Wynn would be able to understand.

[Wynn; Misha]

Wynn looked at him and nodded. "I still think she was vermin. If she was a goodbeast, you think she qould've told me that. And it's okay about my parents. What happened happened, and you can't do anything about it, no matter how much you want to." He smiled slightly at Drecas and nodded some more. "I suppose you could call me that... But so far I've done a bad job..." He licked up at the blood on his right paw where he punctured it. "Do you think I'm doing a good thing...?" He asked him quietly. He heard a Dibbum scream going by the door of the Infirmary and smiled a little at the sounds he made as he was picked up by a caretaker.

[Alexis/Drecas]

Drecas answered the fox's question on whether he was doing a good thing. "If you mean by setting out to kill vermin, I don't really have any opinion. The Redwallers will possibly see you as a hero, while the vermin will see you as a threat to their kind. One's morals come from what they themselves see as good and evil. However, I will say that I have something of a disliking for vermin also..."

Drecas watched as the dibbun was picked up, and he nodded at the caretaker, approving of the way she handled the situation.

The squirrel looked back up at Wynn. Continuing, he said "I may be a pacifist, and I may be seen by some as a fence-sitter for not choosing to be part of the conflict, but between an organised place such as this and a brutish place such as the various vermin settlings, I'd prefer being here."

[Wynn; Misha]

Wynn smiled thankful. "Thanks, that helps a lot." he got up from the bed and stretched carefully, to make sure to not ruin the bandage. "Is there anything else needing to be done?" he asked him.

[Alexis/Drecas]

"Not at the moment," Drecas replied, "You just need to relax now. Remember what I said, you should drink plenty of fluids and speak with a caretaker or me if you start feeling any worse. Also, a caretaker may stop by from time to time to check how you're doing, I know for some beasts it gets frustrating but bear with us, it's a routine thing."

((Personal experience tells me that people who have sustained any severe injury (like myself, I was in a car accident once) will usually end up in the Accident and Emergency part of an infirmary, and nurses tend to check you every hour when you're in there, just to make sure your condition isn't worsening.))

[Wynn; Misha]

Wynn nodded again and sat down on a bed, just to lay down and sigh in satisfaction. He looked to Drecas and finally made up his mind. "Just a few seconds ago, you said you had a somewhat personal disliking for vermin... May I ask, but what did you mean by that?[/b]" He asked him. Curiousity got the better of him and he propped himself on one elbow to hear.

[Alexis/Drecas]

Drecas said "Alright, so as I've said, I'm kind of a neutral beast when it comes to the whole Redwall versus Vermin conflict. I just gather herbs and heal the wounded. A couple years back, before I was appointed Infirmary Keeper, I was gathering herbs in the marshlands when I stepped into quicksand by mistake. Fortunately however I was rescued quite quickly. Unfortunately, my 'rescuers' were a band of rats who decided since I was good with potions and stuff, they could use me for a while. You'd never believe some of the stuff they've asked me to make. I eventually managed to sneak out one of the nights and decided to seek refuge at the Abbey here." He waited patiently for a response from the fox regarding his thoughts on the story.

[Wynn; Misha]

Wynn gulped, trying not to get too mad. "How could they do such a thing to you?" He growled out. He looked away and sighed. "Life would be better without vermin I say." He smiled and laid back down stretching himself out on the bed. "I feel tired... But I can't fall asleep." He said to nobeast in particular. "Come on!" WYnn exclaimed. "There's gotta be something to do!" He protested.

[Alexis/Drecas]

"Sounds like you've got a case of insomnia," the squirrel said, "Could be a side effect of that medicine. I might have a solution, though." Drecas reached into his herb pouch and pulled out a dried root, which he put into his mortar and ground down with his pestle, as he had done with the other plant. "What I'm mixing here," he said to Wynn, still grinding down the root, "is the root of a herb called Valerian. It's known for its qualities as a sedative, and can help with general sleeplessness. I don't usually tell anyone this, but despite my being a pacifist, I've been working on using this herb to make a non-lethal poison applicable to daggers and arrows. Simply cut someone with the coated edge and the stuff will get into their bloodstream, causing them to fall asleep. I've been thinking of trying other things too, such as nettles or gorse, to try and make a stinging poison."

Drecas finished grinding the Valerian and put the dust into a vial of water, which he shook vigourously to mix the contents.

[Wynn; Misha]

Wynn looked on as he said all this, nodding every few seconds and going 'Uh-huh' and 'Yeah' though not understanding what Drecas was saying. "So, in plain english, it'll make me fall asleep." he said, putting it into easeier words to understand for a non-medical beast.

[Alexis/Drecas]

Drecas nodded. "That's basically the idea of it. Like I said I've been looking into making a poison with the same herb, that you can apply to your daggers or arrows. It's totally non-lethal, and is best used when you need to get past a rat without alerting anyone else. Just cut them a little bit and they'll fall asleep for a good hour or two." The squirrel smiled at this thought.