The Castle [03] (Remba, but don't let it stop you)

[Sunblink]

Even in the midst of her attempts to restore her dismantled and shellshocked mind, Keaton found herself irreversibly staring at Mel's body, even as Aisha and the masked newcomer approached Mel and began their efforts to heal her, or at the very least seal off some of the blood loss. All while this happened Keaton just sat there, staring, staring, staring, her eyes almost childishly wide and owlish on her aghast, exsanguinous face. The muscles in her cheeks were as taut as rubber bands, jaw hanging slack and ears plastered flat, pupils pinpricked down to diminutive dots.

Ultimately, it didn't seem as though the group's conjoined efforts to heal Mel were doing any ostensible repairs--at least as far as Keaton could tell. How odd--either her eyes were too aching and weary to register any minute details of her surroundings, or she was too busy feeling her dilapidated mind start to mend itself. Memories came flowing back, of monsters and demons, of running and screaming and cursing. Of emerald light flaring before her eyes and something tearing out of her--

--Oh god.

Oh god oh god oh god oh god.

Stygian scooped Mel up into his arms and proceeded to exit the ballroom. Momentarily he threw her an expressionless gaze, the door opened almost psychically, and he departed.

It's all my fault.

The guilt wasn't visible on her face--after all, she had braced herself through much worse emotions without any observable changes in demeanor. No, instead she just sat there, staring off at the door, expression vacant, as the shards that remained of her mind started to float back together, ushering in memories all the way.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Angel]

Ketefe backed away when the panthress walked up and put a bracer on Mel, that seemed to have magical properties. Then when Stygian picked her up, he said something rather ominous. What did he mean, "after she dies"? Mel wasn't going to die... was she? Ketefe shuddered and decided to ask about getting her mask back later. She was used to wearing it.

She glanced over at Keaton and wondered if she should help her. She walked over to the stunned jackal and knelt down beside her. "Are you alright?" she asked gently.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

In Bambi's mind

Bam was running through the castle searching for a book, the creature's book that started this all.
She can hear the other running after her or was it the Snake Mythos?  it could be both since she heard fighting going on... She had to help, seems how the book was the answer.

she runs from bedroom to bedroom on the floor that is endless. Each great suite, which looks just like the one from Keaton's memory, but none have a book or the book. 

The Bat voice-  "Truth? The truth never helps. It is fact, and action. It is instant. But people always twist the truth, the very moment they lay their eyes upon it,"
......she turn to Stygian  behind her, "But Keaton needs to see the Truth." ....she reach to Keaton...He yells  "No! Do...!"  As the bat's blackness engulfs her and Keaton screams of pain drives her again to run away to search for the Monster's book.  Now, She hears Mel's 
pain from the Monsters' attack.

**Oh NO NO THIS IS ALL MY FAULT, Keaton is worst and Mel dying, but the book will stop the creature.  Please Mel hang on, **thinks Bam as she continues to run the hallway in her mind. The nightmare starts again...

As tears run down her cheek, Bam softly groans "Mel sorry" 


PBH

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha tilted her head as she watched Sebastian pick up the bleeding dragon and walk out of the room, considering his words.  Until AFTER she dies?  Well, fate allowing, that will not happen.  She sighed.  There were after all enough people to tend to the dragon, and so far there seemed to be few complications that would get in the way. 

The panthress shook her head and looked around.  Keaton and the newcomer weren't injured, and neither was Gareeku.  Jeremiah however seemed to be out cold, the only other one with an injury that already was starting to close.  As for Bambi, Aisha quirked an ear, having heard her mutter something in a semi-conscious state.

She came over and gave the fae a gentle shove on the shoulder.  "Hey, amiga...if you're awake, you might as well be of some help."  She motioned to Jeremiah, then turned to the others, setting her eyes on Keaton and the guilt-ridden look on her face.  "As for you, don't look like that.  You weren't yourself."

Her smile was friendly, but urgent.  "Let's get things sorted out before anyone starts feeling bad, because that's not going to do anything.  I'm going to help with Mel," she said with conviction and followed where the bat had gone through the double-doors, only stopping to grab her cape, if it would be needed to cover the wound, as well as a container of water to clean it if necessary...though the magic properties in the bracer would have kept away much infection.

Running to catch up with him, she cast a concerned look at the dragon.  "Hope wherever you're taking her is close, señor.  I'll be of some help."

[Stygian]

Stygian kept his solemn look as Aisha made her way up next to him and stepped quickly along with his determined pace. There was enough of a difference in the length and speed of their strides that it would have made the panthress look a bit ridiculous, had it not been for her practiced grace and composure. As it was, she just looked like a cat running along a  big, grouchy wolf instead.
   "I wasn't aware that you knew anything of healing. Not to mention that we don't have much in way of supplies..." Stygian said lowly, eyeing her sideways while keeping Mel steady and his walk level. Behi
   Stygian took the swiftest way toward the private rooms. But from the ballroom, that still meant ascending two stairways and walking quite a bit. It felt like a much longer time though, and though he made no show of emotion, his eyes were still fixed on the dragoness' face, which was developing a decidedly unhealthy shade of grey-blue underneath her scales. And as both Cog and Aisha had greatly heightened senses, they could feel that his scent was slightly tinged with odd and hard to read fragarances, only a part of which they could recognize as worry and discomfort. Considering how little the bat usually smelled of anything but himself, that was a lot.

[Aisha deCabre]

The panthress kept in quick step with the bat, hardly feeling winded as she carried her cape over her shoulder and the water pouch in her hands.  She tried to keep a close eye on Mel as they went, watching as the dragon's condition only seemed to worsen slightly despite the efforts they were going through.  The wound was more deadly than they thought, or a bite from the Mythos had done something else as well...or perhaps the effects were different for dragons...her ears pinned back to her skull in concern of the possibilities.  Still her body took on a small glow due to the bracer's magic encompassing her.

She glanced back at the bat in reply as he spoke, giving a light-hearted chuckle.  "My mentor is a healer.  An adventurer isn't raised in señora Msh'taan's monastery without picking up a few useful things..." she paused to wave to Cogidubnus as he joined them, appreciative of his help as well.

With an apologetic sigh, Aisha continued.  "Sadly I cannot do my own magic, especially light which she excels in and uses for the craft.  The best I can do is physical.  Medicinal herbs and stopping blood flow and such things."  Looking back at Mel and the state she was slowly falling into, as well as sensing Sebastian's own discomfort, Aisha hummed as they started to reach the rooms.  "We might have to make do with what we have.  Should the situation be as dire as it looks, I would contact her."  Her gaze reached the ceiling thoughtfully.  "If I could."

[Prof B Hunnydew]

After Aisha's shake, Bambi jumps with a start and crys "Mel"...then "*sob* Aisha", but she pain makes her fall back to floor.  Breathing heavy, Bambi watches Aisha go to help Mel.  Bambi see Keaton and Jeremiah still laying on the floor. 

"Sorry Keaton" said Bambi to Keaton looking sad and guilty herself.  "Come help our frog"  Bam pulls herself up to her hands and knees to go and check on the frog.  Cautiously she checks his pulse and breathing, not sure what may jump out of his clothes.  Trying to be ready for anything, Bambi removed her shirt and quickly tears it into strips binds the frog's wound on his chest and arm.  She had stopped/slowed the bleeding   Stil Bam was worried that Jeremiah has loss too much blood.

PBH

[Gareeku]

As the others tended to Mel, Gareeku merely stood there, panting heavily as he looked on. He knew he could be of no help, having no knowledge of healing magic. Quietly cursing the fact that he did not, the wolf also made a mental note to try and learn healing magic one day.

It was then however, that Gareeku suddenly fell to his hands and knees. It seemed that the effects of using so much soul energy in such a short space of time had finally caught up with him. Now exhausted, the wolf tried to get back onto his feet, but to no avail. The use of so much soul energy had left him drained.

[Sunblink]

Keaton likely would've been content to simply sitting where she was, hugging her bosom and staring blankly at the door for the rest of the day--or the rest of the century, it didn't really matter--with wings sagging in their sockets and shoulder slumped. As far as Keaton was concerned, in that moment, she was the only person in the room, since she was almost positive that everybody else would've been so revolted with her that they would've abandoned her. Aisha ended up proving that wrong with a gentle, but urgent coaxing.

Keaton looked miserably up at Aisha, hardly convinced, but slightly taken aback by the smile on her face. Ears perked up slightly, out of surprise rather than hope. Deciding she would be of better use off her ass and actively moving than sitting around, Keaton climbed to her feet, arms still wrapped across her chest. She seemed even smaller than usual due to the withdrawn, thunderstruck look about her, face still sticky with bristling trails of greasy, half-dried tears and her only organic eye slightly red with bloodshot. Snorting a little, Keaton inspected her face and flung some strands of dirty-blonde hair out from her weary eyes, hand groping around her pocket for something she almost spasmodically desired.

Finally she found it: her marble, perfectly undamaged as always. Squeezing it slightly in her palm, she walked over to Aisha, remaining at maximum distance as possible without coming across as offensive, and strode to the door, poking her head in.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Prof B Hunnydew]

Startled By Gareeku sudden collapse, Bambi rushes over to him..  Turning him over on to his back, the bare-chested Fae cat presses her head to the wolf's chest to check on a heartbeat and his breathing.  Checking him over Bambi finds that the wolf is dangerously exhausted but that he seems to be fine.  She quickly gets a pillow from a loveseat along the wall and with it, makes Gareeku comfortable on the floor as possible.

  Once that is done, she realizes that Keaton has left the Ballroom.  She seemed Okay, but the trama that girl went though she may need help, still.   "Keaton" "Keaton" She shouts as she looks down both ways of the hallway outside of the ballroom, but no Keaton or anyone else in sight.  Bambi returns to her charges checking on the Frog and then the wolf.  Bambi can't leave the frog or Gareeku with no one, but she worries about Keaton.

PBH

[Stygian]

"What's keeping you?" Stygian remarked back, without tone though in a way that still could not help but seem rather sarcastic, which was another hint of his lack of balance. Another door opened up in front, on its own as it would appear, and he hurried into the room. A large canopied bed lay past, together with a table and three large chairs, as well as the entrance to a small dining room and a bathroom, conveniently enough. He walked in and straight up to the bed, clearing away the pillows and sheets and laying the still bleeding Mel down on it, very carefully. Momentarily, he ran a clawed hand over the mask that was still stemming her blood flow, before turning his gaze against Aisha.
   "We had better start. She's bleeding heavily," he said, almost with a tone of impatience. Then he looked back to the dragon's face, which was going bluer. His last words were with his eyes on her wound, and the thick bluish blood that was running down from it, smearing the sheets as it had his shirt and fur. His face remained level, but something in his scent jumped as he did.

   Altogether though, that the panthress chose that moment to mention her mentor was more heralding than she might have suspected. Not far away, less than half a mile, in fact, a hooded figure vaguely reminiscent of the huntress herself was walking, not too fast but determinately and purposefully, toward the castle gates. A figure with a mission.

[Gareeku]

"Nnnugh..." Gareeku groaned as he was laid on the floor, his eyes shut from the tiredness that had overcome him. A minute or two passed before the wolf stirred. Rolling over to his hands and knees, Gareeku used the nearby wall as support as he slowly got to his feet, though his legs were shaky.
"Damn it..." the wolf quietly cursed to himself, a tired grimace on his face. Thanking Bam for looking after him, Gareeku then slowly but surely made his way out of the room, following the slight trail of blue blood which led to where Mel was being treated.

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha just snorted dismissively at the bat's somewhat sarcastic remark and followed him into a room, lavish as the rest of the castle and even fitting enough for their purpose.  "On it," the panthress answered quietly and with concentration, peering down at the dragon's wound as if it were a puzzle to be solved.

She drew in a deep breath at the sight of the azure blood, and calmly released her tension with a sigh.  The first thing she did was slowly peel the mask away from her side and rolled her crimson cloak up so it became as a giant piece of gauze, similar to how she had used it with Keaton, whom she then noticed was standing at the door.

As she wettened the gash with cold water and started to bind it tight to close Mel's wound, she could only let her concentration stop the overwhelming thoughts and fears that went through her head on the possibility of failing.

*     *     *

The rumors were true, there was no doubt.  Even when some of what she heard was based on paranoia, she could still sense a hint of truth to it all.  Yet no matter what kinds of threats and possibilities came at her ears from left and right, she still walked against the pathway to the castle without a single missed step.

It soon loomed into her view, a towering mass of predominant soothing colors masking the true, darker intent behind its abandoned and haunting walls.  One could not get past the magnificence of the structure or the way it held its towers high above in the mountainside in which it was nestled.  And yet for all of its ancient brilliance she held a stare in her hardened expression which signaled a grimace behind it.  Clearly, if this place had come to life again, it did not feel right.

She soon became used to the imposing appearance and approached the front gates, passing through them with a creak and walking across the unkempt courtyard.  The point of her staff dug into the porch, and the figure pulled the light blue cowl away from her head.  She was a white tigress, distinguished and with an elderly feel about her, despite the way her looks argued.  The robe she wore around her waist was patterned in the colors and symbols of the healers, a line of which was of her own making.

The doors loomed before her...with a thoughtful hum, she gripped the handle and listened for anything going on.  Her ears swiveled as well to pick up anything strange...the only thing that gave off that air was the foreboding quiet feeling surrounding the outside.  Inside...

The felid tugged on the handle and peered into the gloom, emerald eyes calmly sweeping the entrance hall before her.  If she was to be greeted by anything, Rynkura was certain to be ready for it.  She pulled the door closed behind her and stepped forth with soft and bare pads on the floor, glancing about the huge space.  It would take a little time to investigate, unless she was given a prompt otherwise.  But already she could hear curious activity...somewhere.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

Bambi had been busy using the winter cloak that the frog was still using in this heat as fresh bandages on the frog's wounds.  her own shirt soaked with blood.  When Gareeku decided to get up off the floor, She run to him first trying to keep on the floor but then helping him to a love seat.

"Rest Rest Gareeku Please." begged Bam time and again... BUt the wolf was determined to go and find Mel. So she let him go, as he left following the trail of blood down the hallway and up the stairs.  "GRRR!  stubborn!" she crys out and turns to go finish up redressing Jeremia..

PBH

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Awareness faded in and out for the injured dragon. Pain wound through her consciousness like a ribbon of razors, making those lucid moments misery. She felt someone doing something to her hip and tried to open her eyes to look, but they were just too heavy to move. Her entire body was too heavy, too hot, and as impossible to move as if it was not hers to control. She could hear people moving around and talking, but couldn't seem to make sense of their words. The location of the pain finally brought back a memory of being bitten. She tried to create a healing spell but her thoughts were too fragmented to manage the task. Coherent thought floated away.

[Stygian]

Not knowing what to do as Aisha tended to the wound, Stygian could only stand by and watch as the panthress stemmed the blood flow and cleaned the wound best she could. He knew anatomy and medicine well enough to mend shots and stabs, or infections and sepsis. It was a requirement in what he had made his profession. But that knowledge was merely so that he could destroy a body faster. The sort of messy and torn, not to mention large wound that the dragon had received, was nothing like he could ever have helped heal. Perhaps even worse, had he been able to use anything but the dark magic he wielded, he could have healed that wound completely in a matter of minutes.
   As it was, the bat could only stand and frown with an ever growing sense of futility and shame at his uselessness, and a pain that came from a deeply rooted sense of loss. He wanted to leave, but could not take his eyes from the dragoness, slowly slipping away there before them.
   "I..." he began, then quietly remembered something, and closed his mouth. He reached down into his back pocket, and slowly pulled out a field flask made of some brushed metal, handing it to Aisha. "That should help. There's a lot of alcohol in that..."
   Gently, he traced a hand over Mel's arm, and then suddenly, at the end of the movement, he grimaced, folding his ears. Scents and sounds mixed intensely.
   "She's in pain." He bared his fangs. "Her heart is...!"

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha tried not to let the pressure start getting to her, though as time passed the dragon's condition worsened--and a few of her friends were now in the room watching--it was piling on...bit by painful bit.  She may have known things about healing...but at the point of truth, the huntress was more used to causing wounds.

Still she worked on sealing the rest of the gash that could be covered by her cape, and was careful to handle parts that have been closed already by the magic of the bracer.  The blood was more of a stain on the sheets now and to her knowledge had stopped flowing.  The energy in the room was intense, waiting and watching.  But she worked still with concentration and careful precision.

Her ear flicked back however upon hearing the bat start to speak.  Tilting her head as he took out a flask, Aisha reached with one hand to take it while her other held pressure upon the gash to effectively seal it.  "Much appreciated," she replied, sensing the worry in his demeanor.  All the better to make sure that she didn't fail.  But as she started to treat the wound with it, she could sense urgency. Mel seemed to be falling faster and faster away from any consciousness.  "I know, I know..." she started to snarl lightly herself and sat back for a minute, holding her forehead.  With the binding done, she believed it would mostly depend on Mel's strength at this point...

*    *     *

Heedless yet of the urgency held elsewhere in the house, Rynkura's curiosity took her further into the castle, the overall ominous feel of the place increasing as it did.  The enormous hall towering over her head threatened to intimidate the tigress, though she walked through the hall with a determined enough air to pay it little heed.  Sightseeing would be for later...she had heard something.  Voices?  It was still too far to tell...but if there were people inside, the first one she found would be giving her answers.  Perhaps I can prompt for a map to this labyrinth, she hummed to herself.

She let the point of her staff gently clack on the floor as she walked.  The last thing that Rynkura wanted was to appear as a surprise to whomever it was she was intruding on, or to appear as a threat.  The echoes traveled across the hall.  Maybe she would be hailed first.

Of course, that didn't appear to be the case.  Various things came to her senses, most of all a disturbing scent...fresh blood.  The tigress halted in her steps and peered around, finally having her eyes drawn to the floor.  A trail crossed her path, leading from a large room nearby up to a set of stairs.  It was a strange hue, a little more azure than crimson, and had a distinctive scent, something familiar but nothing too easy to pinpoint.

Mm.  That would be a good start. She looked around, then gripped her staff decisively and started for the stairs, following the trail.  If it was as fresh as she thought it was, perhaps there would either be someone to help...or something to get rid of.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

click clack tap clack.... Bambi started to hear a noise in the hallways outside the Ballroom,  She had finished with Jeremia's wounds.. His chest wound was not bad, but his arm was still leaking some blood.  She wondered if she should try to burn it closed after sewing his artery, when she heard this new noise.

SHe runs to the hall to see the back of the white tigress following the trail of blood.  She looked like a wizard or a wise shamaness... Hopefully a healer.

"AAHh!!  Ah Hello.." shout a blood smeared catgirl without a shirt and only a pair of shorts and boots on.  Bambi looks tried and worried.  but also shocked to see maybe the answer to her prayers standing in front of her.

PBH

[Cogidubnus]

Rice was delicious.

So much so, in fact, Cog had found that after his meal, he'd take a good wander in the garden that he'd seen last night. So much had been going on he'd found himself rather...lost, and he'd though he'd seen the others out of the corner of his eye as he wandered, he'd figured that some argument or another had broken out. Considering what happened in this castle, nothing to get too worried about. Some time to meditate and reflect, and perhaps run through a few light exercises was much more pressing. He was sure it would help clear his mind, and finally he found a sun-drenched veranda that led to the garden. Walking into the garden and choosing a shady spot, Cog dropped down until he was sitting on his own legs and closed his eyes, tuning out the world until only he and the wolf remained. It was his constant companion and reminder, and one that only sometimes chafed. At such times as these, it was usually quiet anyway. He sat and baked in the sun, and as he meditated, felt himself drowse into an peaceful ease.

*   *   *

Cog awoke with a start, jerking suddenly as a stray leaf floated into his eyes and tangled in his hair. He stood and brushed it aside, putting his hat and glasses back on and shaking his head. Although somewhat startled by the momentary distraction, he did indeed feel somewhat better. At little more rested, at least. After a cursory brushing off of his shoulders, he began walking back to the castle with light steps, his heart again at ease.
He idly wondered if the others had settled their disagreement.

[Gareeku]

As he was making his way to where the others were treating Mel, Gareeku could feel his strength slowly but surely returning to him, though it would be a while before his strength would be fully returned to him. Stopping suddenly, the wolf could hear a sound, like something was tapping on the floor somewhere. His ears swivelling, Gareeku turned round. It was then that he heard Bam's voice greet someone.
Another newcomer...? the wolf thought to himself.

[Aisha deCabre]

Just as Rynkura had started up the stairs, her ear swiveled to suddenly hear running from behind.  The steps sounded urgent, not aggressive...yet still she froze to let it come to her, with one foot on a step above and the other on a step below.  That was when she heard the voice calling for her attention.  With a sigh, the tigress gave one more glance to the blood on the floor before turning to see whom was hailing her.

Well, this was a sight.  She looked blankly down at the felid before her, who looked fearful and tired...not to mention covered in blood.  A different color from this blood, a different smell...but it came from the room in which the trail originated.  Rynkura immediately regarded her with suspicion, though in her state she looked more like an intended victim than anything.

The white tiger stepped off of the stairway and set the end of her staff loudly on the floor.  "Who are you, and what has been going on here?" she demanded in a deep voice, not overly disciplinary yet still strong enough to intimidate.  "Are there others?"  She gestured to the stairway and the blood over the floor, then stood fast and awaited her answers.  She wasn't going to move until she recieved them from someone.

[Angel]

Even if she was worried about Mel and Jeremiah (how it had taken her this long to notice the frog was knocked out, she'd never know), Ketefe was relieved to see Keaton get up at last and follow the panthress and Stygian. Then Bam awoke and helped out the white wolf and Jeremiah, Ketefe still kneeling and watching. She had found herself a little drained by the events of the past few hours, so she decided to sit and rest for a while. Gonna need my mask back eventually, though... I hope the panthress knows what she's doing.

All too soon, Ketefe smelled something (someone) unfamiliar. Bam noticed it too, apparently, because she got up and ran out of the room. Curiosity.....

No. Not yet. Jeremiah was still injured and unconscious, and she knew he'd be more than a little freaked out if he woke up alone. She stayed in the room, keeping one eye on Jeremiah and listening to the conversation between Bam and the owner of the new scent.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

The tigress has the air of a head nurse or a queen.... Someone with an Authority anyway.  That she didn't laugh at her, and act more like a mother finding cubs up to mischief. make Bam want to trust the white tigress.

"ah ah ah... Be you a healer?  Please please..*heavy Sighing to calm*.Sorry I Bam. we fight big Monster Mythos, many hurt, but Mel Worst  Hurry, Ice dragon may die... Please Please up to Mel.!!!" begs Bambi.  Fae feline quick runs around the tigress and half up the stairs, where she motions the tigress  to follow her up and follow the blue blood trail...The close looks at the catgirl shows the Fae was acting nurse for someone else with matted blood stains on her arms and hands. She has no blood near her mouth, and only one smear on her front head.   She seem very worried about this patient Mel that is upstairs, but refrains from grab the healer and pulling her to Mel. 

With Tearful kitten eyes, Bambi asks begs "Please Come"     

PBH

[Boog]

Jeremiah shifted where he was, half-opening his eyes wearily.
"Hey..." he smiled slightly at Ketefe, "Nice'f ya t' wait. Very nice. Yer a nice lady, Ket..." He closed his eyes again, and stayed that way a while longer before a small, weak chuckle escaped his lips.
"I think I'm sick, Ketefe," he said, continuing to laugh faintly.

[Aisha deCabre]

The tigress listened with an unreadable expression, but the look softened somewhat as she listened to the girl speak.  She indeed sounded afraid, and also like she had just lost some of her ability for speech.  The felid also sounded sincere, for all that she appeared.

Her ears pinned to her skull, hearing the rest of Bambi's story with a mix of curiosity while taking in her urgency.  A Mythos...and an ice dragon?

"Calm yourself, child," the tigress said in a soft but commanding tone, holding up her hand.  "Yes, I am a healer.  You speak in fact to the leader of a monastery of healers, just a journey away from this place.  Rynkura Msh'taan."

Her eyes narrowed, but she had a quiet smile on her features.  "Relax.  I will see to this dragon friend of yours, if what you say is true."  She observed once again the way that Bambi was covered with blood up to her forehead.  Despite the cat's appearance, the tigress sensed that perhaps she was trying to do more good than harm.  Rynkura started up the stairs after a pause, gently pushing past Bambi.  "You go back to looking after whomever is injured in the room you came from," she insisted.  "I can find it on my own."

The tiger then started following the blood trail upwards, stepping up a little faster this time, and her expression hardened with some determination and, yet still, suspicion.  By gods, what shall I find now?

Her answer came almost immediately though, as soon enough ahead of her she sensed another presence.  Not knowing if it was a hostile one, she approached calmly, leaning towards caution as well.  "Who's there?"

[Angel]

Ketefe did a little gasp when Jeremiah woke up and spoke, but smiled pleasantly when he thanked her. A minute and one sentence later, though, she grew concerned.

"Sick?" she said quietly, her eyes narrowing slightly. It felt funny narrowing her eyes without her mask on. She rubbed her scarred eye softly, blinked once, then stood and walked nearer to Jeremiah. She crouched down to face him eye-level, examining his dressed wounds. "Well, you did get a pretty nasty bump before you passed out. And you lost quite a bit of blood, but Bambi took care of your gashes," the feline reasoned, gesturing to Jeremiah's many bandages. "Do you feel dizzy, or are you sick some other way? How do you feel?" Ketefe's medical knowledge was limited to the most basic battle wounds, so she knew if Jeremiah was sick some other way, he'd need a healer.

[Boog]

"Dunno 'bout healers... Real sick..." the frog coughed and laughed a little louder, shifting one arm, "And the worst bit is, knowing I'm sick dun' help. I's suppos' t' be worse when you don't know... jus' feel crappy for no reason, but I know 'xactly whass happenin' and it dun' help at all," his voice was taking on a slightly panicked tone, but still chuckling. Slowly, conciousness began to slip from him again...
Deep within Jeremiah's mind, a figure in a coat and a mask continued making changes to his marionette. He had new parts to work with, with the New Management in charge...

[Gareeku]

Listening to the conversation closely, Gareeku raised an eyebrow. Whoever this newcomer was sounded authoritative at least, but from the sounds of the conversation, she was a healer. Steadying himself against the wall as his legs shook somewhat, the wolf then heard the wolf call out again, only this time it seemed to be directed at him.
"Only a guy trying to regain his strength." Gareeku answered back, his voice a calm one, yet one could sense the weakness within him that reflected his weakened state. Looking on as the tigress came into view, the wolf could not sense any hostility about her and so was relieved. However, always the paranoid one, he held a slight amount of caution anyway. "Sorry if I sound rude, but who are you, may I ask?"

[Aisha deCabre]

As the tigress came upon the wolf and heard his answer, she settled down somewhat herself and greeted him with a nod.  Looking on his weakened state, so far it seemed that what the felid had told her was indeed the truth, and could only think of how coincidental it seemed that a healer might be needed...and from the previous encounter, urgently.

She couldn't help but chuckle slightly as the warrior posed his inquiry.  "In my short life I have met many that I would call rude.  I wouldn't call you so; since I just walked into this place, I might be the rude one."  She smiled.  "Everyone has the right to know who they are talking to.  And as you might have heard from the conversation, my name is Rynkura.  It may be good to know yours as well."

The tigress paused for a moment, regarding the trail before her and the space which lay beyond.  There was still something that felt somewhat disturbing to her about the place.  Whatever energy that she was expecting to sense as per the rumors was nowhere to be found, and yet there were injured.  With a hum, she shrugged it off and decided to focus on the task at hand.

"I'm guessing you are headed in the same direction as I am," Rynkura said, turning back to the wolf.  "Are you in need of much help?"

[Stygian]

Biting his lip, Stygian tensed and fought to straighten out the numerous conflicting sensations that ran through his mind. However much the bat hated himself for it in a situation like this, and no matter whether Mel's blood was blue and smelled odd enough to make the sensation a bit off, he was still excited by the very idea of bleeding by nature. And with so much going on and being agitated as he was, he couldn't help but feel the things he felt. That he usually depended on sensations and feelings so much was a bit of a difficulty as well. Fortunately, he had practice at distancing himself. And so he closed his eyes and breathed deeply for a while, leaning with his hands on the edge of the bed.
   So finally, he noticed something that had bygone him before. He had let down the spell anchored to the castle that would let him sense intruders before, but his senses were sharp enough in themselves that he easily noticed, once he got a hold of them again. And what he noticed was a new presence.
   His eyes blackening over as he opened them, Stygian's face became still as he focused, and his ears twitched just a bit.
   "What is...?" he said, turning his face a bit to the side, and then against the door. He began walking, but just as he was to place his hand on the handle, he hesitated, pondering whether he should go secretly. Then he shook his head to himself. Last time it had only been a girl. And this stranger was together with Gareeku, and had already seen Bambi. If she, for it was a she, had wanted to do something, she would most likely have tried a different approach of entry. It was proper to go straight ahead. But he would still...
   Quickly, he slipped out the door in his usual silent and smooth manner, and then briskly walked down the hallway, still really making no sound as was his habit. It was just a few moments before he came within eyeshot of the wolf and the tigress.