Dawning Skye

“Is there anything the rest of us can do?” Arthur Tanner asked as he stepped forward with Ralph.

Skye looked over to Amara, whom shook her head in the negative. Turning back to the two men, she smiled then replied; “Not right now, but Amara and Murdoc know ta seek out Ralph here, if they need more help.”

Amara and Murdoc shared a glance, both happy that Tidas and Skye weren’t the only ones willing to help them. The party last night had helped a great deal with the bonding between the two peoples.

Right as Skye, her three guards, and the group of Shamans were about to leave; the outside door opened. Nearly half of the doorway was covered in snow, but a clearing in the middle revealed Tidas covered in Highlander furs. He stamped his feet loudly as he came into the bunker, then took off the layers near the door.

As he went to remove the pant covers, Tidas saw the group standing together. He froze for a moment, then hurried his process along. Joining them with a concerned demeanor, Tidas asked; “What happened, and why does it look like you’re taking all of our Shamans with you?”

“Because our hospital is bein’ overrun with a sickness that has ta be treated by Shamans. Otherwise, the toxicity can’t be filtered out in time,” Amara answered.

Tidas stared at them in a hesitant manner, irritating Skye into saying; “Our allies need our help, Husband. Let’s get ta helpin’em.”

Hearing the way she’d worded it: Tidas had no choice but to let the Shamans go. He did insist on going as well, which both Amara and Murdoc had been expecting anyways. They understood that asking Skye to go or do anything also involved her husband, and vice versa.

.....

A few of the other generals tried to argue about Tidas going, but he just issued a few orders that he knew would keep them busy for a while. Once he talked to Ralph and Arthur, he felt secure enough to go.

The Shamans marveled at the same things that Skye and Tidas had when Murdoc took them to Mead Hall. Kari and Ronnie talked a million miles a second while Klaus tried to rein them in. As they neared the tracks, a trolly was waiting on standby to take them directly to the hospital.

The Alconians all hesitated, but Skye ran at it with Ronnie and Kari screaming; “Yeah!”

Seeing General Moonstone climb onto it made a few of the Shamans brave, but the majority looked to Tidas for assurances. He was their Commander, and was still hesitating himself.

Seeing his soldiers’ expressions, Tidas knew that he couldn’t refuse. With a heave of a sigh, he walked over, and climbed onto the trolly. Once everyone was on, Murdoc had the Motorman head off to the south-eastern side of the Highland’s underground city.

Technically, they were in the southern section of the Highlanders’ kingdom, but it was close enough to be called the southeast. Anything with ‘East’ in it’s name or title was generally meant to be avoided since it was where all of the contaminated areas were.

The only thing that was still useable on that side was a small patch of farmland and it’s well system. The water was connected to an underground river that didn’t connect to the east side, or so they had thought. With the rash of sick people in just that section, it seemed obvious where it had all started from.

When Skye and the others had arrived at the hospital, it was chaotic. Several Highlander doctors, Shamans, nurses, and volunteers were running around, trying to organize the patients that were piling up outside. It was about twenty times worse that what she’d experienced in Dragonhorn.

The nurses were trying to group people together based on the severity of their symptoms. Blood and bile lay in random pools on the ground, adding a ripening stench to the hellish scene. People were crying out for help and relief, making Skye’s heart tinge in her chest.

When a few of the doctors spotted Murdoc with the Southerners, they rushed over and thanked them for the additional help. As they started to issue orders to the RMC Shamans, Skye didn’t even wait..

A panicked woman was walking around with her child in her arms; begging for someone to help her. As soon as Skye ran over to her, the golden hair on top of her head let the woman know who she was. Offering her child to her, Skye checked her over, and realized that she was suffering from lead poisoning.

The regular doctors were running around trying to administer Heavy Metal Toxicity treatments, but there wasn’t enough medications. Other hospitals were sending over what they could spare, but the patient count was rising too fast.

Holding the child at an angle, Skye forced the lead from her system by making her puke it out. The HMT treatments forced the metals out by flushing their system. The metals would then be carried out of the patient’s system via urination, or a bowel movement. Skye’s way was more disgusting, but much, much faster.

The child coughed and cried, but she was alright now. The mother thanked Skye profusely as she instructed her to take her little lass home, clean her up, and keep her hydrated while she rested. Once the woman left Skye moved on to the next patient..

Three hours had passed by the time Skye and the other Shamans had gotten a pattern down. Skye was now positioned within the hospital, and handling the worst cases. Most were young children whose bodies were rapidly shutting down.

Tidas, Klaus, and Kari made themselves useful by running food around to the Shamans. Ronnie volunteered to stay with Skye because the sights and smells didn’t bother him as much. He was also a kind of comedic relief to the children.

He had several small bird companions come in through a window to keep children entertained while they waited for their parents. Some were newly healed, but many were waiting for their parents to be treated.

Skye did her best to keep the casualties down, but a few still died from the amount of lead in their bodies. Most were elderly, but a two year old was lost before Skye had a chance to heal them. It angered her that her Shaman magic was so limited compare to the rest of her magic, but there was no way for her to distribute it out like she could with her Water or Earth.

As she leaned against a wall and took a breath, Petrie came running up with a young woman in his arms. She looked to be about thirteen or fourteen, and had brownish-red hair like Petrie. Seeing the unrestrained fear in his eyes, Skye knew right away that she was his sister.

“Skye! Somethin’s wrong wit Regina! Se was talkin’ funny, a-and she wasn’t walkin’ right, and she can’t keep her food-”

“It’ll be alright, Petrie.. I got her: I won’t lose her. Now set her down on the bed, and grab a bucket,” Skye stated as determination flared in her eyes.

Petrie nodded, knowing he could trust Skye’s words. As he set his sister down, he turned and grabbed a medium-sized bucket to catch her puke with. After turning the lass on her side, Skye began to funnel her magic into her right as Tidas came in through the doorway with a tray of food.

Nodding to Petrie, Tidas then said to Skye; “I brought a small snack for you, to keep your magic up. Where would you-”

*Blaaaah!*

“...I leave it over here,” Tidas said, realizing that Skye was too involved in her treatment to hear him.

As the lass laid on her side, Skye noticed that her features were familiar to her. She didn’t really look like Petrie except in hair color, but their was something about her that tugged at the back of her mind..

As the last of the bile came up, Skye checked her over for any other issues. She had a small clot forming in sn artery, but other than that, she was healthy. After dismantling the platelets sticking together, Skye looked to Petrie with a smile.

“She’ll be alright. No permanent damage done. She can go home after she rests a wee bit. Keep her hydrated, and try givin’ her soup for supper-”

“Me bairns! Where’s me bairns?! I swear if ye don’t tell me, I’ll-”

“We’re in here, Ma! Don’t threaten the nurses!” Petrie called out.

When Skye turned her head, she realized that her husband was in the room. He was looking towards the doorway, so Skye could see the side profile of his face. Looking at him, a sinking feeling filled her chest as she looked at Tidas, then back at Petrie’s sister..

Her jawline was similar to his, and the shape of her nose was clearly MacArthur. If she wasn’t in her early teens, Skye would be questioning where or not they were related.

Tidas had turned twenty-one this year, and Skye twenty. Petrie’s sister was either thirteen or fourteen, so it wasn’t like she could be Tidas’ daughter or anything. As theories ran through her head, the door to the room opened.

When she came into the room, Tidas greeted her kindly. Her hair was similar in color to Petrie’s, and he resembled her quite a bit. When she walked over to the bed, he saw the utter surprise on his wife’s face..

Skye literally rubbed at her eyes, she was so shocked. The woman before her was the same one that had taken care of Richard when he had first fled north. Skye had assumed from the screams in the gut that he had killed the woman, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

“I’m So sorry, Maria..”

Richard’s words echoed within Skye head.. ‘Why would he have said that as he left the hut? I thought it was just general lamenting, but now I think I know..’

As the woman gently cupped her daughter’s cheek, the full realization hit Skye like a steel beam: Regina was Richard’s daughter, and Tidas’ cousin by blood...