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Post by Rainstorm Aria on Dec 2, 2007 16:42:27 GMT -5
"Yes, I've been to nearly all of the countries surrounding Tortall. You should travel more. Tortall is vast and full of surprises. I think there would also be some interesting healing techniques you could learn from others."
Annikka's jaw almost dropped. "Oh, lucky. I want to travel, sometime, and there is so much I could learn, always so much, but..." she waved her hands in the air, trying to find the right words. "Never the time! I'll have to get one of my deputies to teach me how to take holiday leave!"
"Probably. I'm wearing layers, so I'll be fine as long as we keep moving," Caden answered.
Annikka, brought up in a fief where layers were what you wore indoors and thick coats out, looked unconvinced, and swore to herself to make sure he didn't get freezing cold. She was the one who had suggested going outdoors, after all.
"Ah," she said softly when Caden just nodded abruptly. "Very like you, then."
"This is the way I took to get to their house. Sorry. Why don't you pick the direction."
"Er." Annikka pivoted on one foot, thinking. Not least about how much Caden obviously wanted to see his family, and how much seeing that boy who looked like him had shaken him. "If we go this way, we can go through Unicorn, and that's quite pretty."
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Post by spigurl on Dec 2, 2007 17:21:05 GMT -5
"Oh, lucky. I want to travel, sometime, and there is so much I could learn, always so much, but... Never the time! I'll have to get one of my deputies to teach me how to take holiday leave!"
Caden smiled at Annikka's reaction to his words. She was waving her hands about and her mouth reached the ground. It was quite comical. "You should. When you do find the time, let me know. I'll have to tell you where to go."
As Annikka told him about the place where layers were worn inside, Caden just shrugged. "I've survived worse. Besides, I know you won't let me get cold."
"Very like you, then."
"Yes, almost too much. It was a bit scary," he said softly.
"If we go this way, we can go through Unicorn, and that's quite pretty." Caden nodded, thinking it was a good idea. He turned and continued walking with her.
"So, have you done any shopping for Midwinter?"
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Post by Rainstorm Aria on Dec 3, 2007 16:41:23 GMT -5
"You should. When you do find the time, let me know. I'll have to tell you where to go."
Annikka smiled at Caden. "Thanks. I'll do it someday soon." She grimaced. "As soon as I can trust the Wing to stand on its own two metaphorical feet, I swear."
"I've survived worse. Besides, I know you won't let me get cold."
Annikka took off her right-hand glove. "I'm destined to spend today showing off and bossing around. Left-hand glove off, please." She smiled a little shyly, hoping he wouldn't object to her insisting on this. "I hope you don't mind, but you will be a lot warmer." She took his un-gloved hand in hers, and squeezed gently, transferring Gift and heat to him, and then let go.
"Yes, almost too much. It was a bit scary."
"It can be, like I said," Annikka remarked calmly, wondering whether the boy who looked so like Caden was Gabriella's son. She had dug out her sketches of old friends, and among them there had been one of Gabriella. If the sketch was much of a guide, Caden and Gabriella were very alike. "When they are very like you."
"So, have you done any shopping for Midwinter?"
They walked together towards Unicorn. "Yes," Annikka answered. "Most of it, actually. Almost all. You?"
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Post by spigurl on Dec 3, 2007 18:27:08 GMT -5
"As soon as I can trust the Wing to stand on its own two metaphorical feet, I swear."
"I'm sure that'll happen. Eventually," Caden said in a non-reassuring tone.
He hadn't really intended for Annikka to do something when he said she wouldn't let him get cold. He was thinking more along the lines of, they would go inside or something. So when she asked for his hand, Caden just gave it without thinking. Annikka was the only one he would do that for. Warmth quickly flooded him as she gave him some of her Gift. Caden looked down at his hand, very curious.
"Handy," he remarked, grinning. The knight put his glove back on, but no longer felt like he needed it. Thinking that it would be stupid to leave it off, he kept it where it was. "Do you do that all of the time?"
Caden nodded, taking Annikka's words in again. She was right. Some of her nieces and nephews must look like her. Then again, there were so many, it was more likely. Caden couldn't help but be curious at his own nephew (for it could be none other). Did he belong to Gabriella or Mattei? He was leaning slightly toward the latter. The knight wasn't sure if his sister was old enough to have a child that age. He supposed it was possible. Girls younger than her had children all the time. Perhaps the boy was younger than he thought.
"Most of it, actually. Almost all. You?" Annikka said in reply to his Midwinter shopping question. He smiled sheepishly back at her. There weren't many people he had to buy for. Of the few, he had only gotten one gift. Incidentally, it was for the person he was speaking to. He didn't care if she bought him something or not. When Caden had seen it in the window, he wanted to get it for his new friend.
"Well, I may or may not have done some shopping. It depends on what you call shopping. Does looking at things and pretending you have somebody to get them for count?"
(OOC: Sorry. I feel like I'm writing all of this stuff and giving you nothing to respond to.)
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Post by Rainstorm Aria on Dec 4, 2007 16:25:01 GMT -5
"I'm sure that'll happen. Eventually," he said unencouragingly.
Annikka snorted and stuffed her hands in her pockets. "At the moment, I'm about as convinced as you are."
Caden looked down at his hand with an expression of what looked rather like mingled surprise and interest to Annikka. "Handy," the knight commented, grinning, as he replaced his glove. "Do you do that all of the time?"
"No," she answered, smiling a little in response to his grin. "I do find myself using my Gift a lot when winter comes round. Lighting braziers, as a light, healing my own colds, warming myself. I just use it without thinking overmuch about it."
"Well, I may or may not have done some shopping. It depends on what you call shopping. Does looking at things and pretending you have somebody to get them for count?"
Annikka smiled slightly. "I suppose it depends." She had bought most of her presents weeks ago, having joined a shopping expedition composed of most of her female friends which had rampaged through the city's shops, and returned to the Palace and University with a lot of parcels, but Caden's present she'd bought only a couple of days ago. If her friends had known, they would not only have teased her to death about the Mystery Package (she would have had more sense than to tell them, she sincerely hoped) but wasted everyone's time by guessing. That game would have taken them hours to tire of.
(OOC: That's okay. ^^ Throwing something random into the mix sometimes helps when you feel like there's nothing to say properly in my experience. Like something being set on fire or exploding, a huge accident, a storm...)
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Post by spigurl on Dec 4, 2007 22:16:35 GMT -5
"I do find myself using my Gift a lot when winter comes round. Lighting braziers, as a light, healing my own colds, warming myself. I just use it without thinking overmuch about it."
"So, just giving me heat is not thinking too much about it?" he asked. It seemed to him that there was a lot more to it. She probably just wasn't telling him all. Magic couldn't be glamorous all of the time.
The continued walking until they reached a small inn with a restaurant in the front. Caden was slightly surprised to see it here, seeing as they were in Unicorn. He supposed people could have good business here. He indicated to Annikka that he would like to go in. He hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast, and was pretty sure Annikka hadn't either.
A blast of heat hit the pair as they entered. Caden had a half-smile on his face at the irony. Of course, not to long after Annikka had given him some warmth, they would go some place where heat was in abundance.
"Are you hungry?" he asked.
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Post by Rainstorm Aria on Dec 5, 2007 16:08:48 GMT -5
"So, just giving me heat is not thinking too much about it?"
Annikka looked at him, half-despairing, half-smiling remembering Caden's earlier teasing over her not managing to find him. "Oh, no, not this argument again. I never win. Of course I thought. I didn't mean that I don't think about using my Gift, I mean that it's something to use so I use it. I can't think of not having it."
They went into a small restaurant, and Annikka peeled off her gloves and stuffed them into a pocket. It was warm in here; she could see braziers all over the place. Caden seemed hungry, and she was too. Breakfast felt like a very long time ago- in fact, it was, since it had been a roll and an apple eaten before dawn.
"Are you hungry?" he asked.
She nodded, and looked around for the list of food served by the restaurant. It was very popular, even in a freezing day when most weren't outside, especially the sort of people who lived in Unicorn- nobles and rich merchants. It occurred to Annikka that she was a noble, and so was Caden, but they were both out and not as obviously unused to the cold as most who came in through the restaurant's doors.
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Post by spigurl on Dec 6, 2007 15:13:27 GMT -5
"Oh, no, not this argument again. I never win. Of course I thought. I didn't mean that I don't think about using my Gift, I mean that it's something to use so I use it. I can't think of not having it."
Caden smiled. This argument was fun, though. He almost protested aloud, but decided against it. "I know you can think, Annikka. That's not the problem." There was no problem, actually, but that sounded better. Caden didn't really mind Annikka giving him some of her power, as long as it didn't effect her. It seemed not to, so he figured it was alright.
As Annikka nodded, Caden looked around for a table. He quickly located one off to the side. They made their way there and not too long after they sat down, a server appeared at their side. "What can I get for you two?" she asked, smiling a bit too broadly. The knight didn't even bother to look at the menu. All he wanted was served in every restaurant.
"I'll have the soup with some bread," he requested, looking at Annikka next.
When the server took Annikka's order, and left, Caden smiled again. Not for the first time in the last few days, did he think he was smiling a lot. Definitely more than usual.
"Did you always want to be a healer?" he asked, still curious about the subject. "I know there are other fields you could have gone into. So, why choose healing?" The knight had an inkling as to what her answer would be, but wanted to hear it for himself.
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Post by Rainstorm Aria on Dec 7, 2007 17:07:00 GMT -5
"I know you can think, Annikka. That's not the problem."
"Argh," Annikka said inarticulately but with feeling when she noted Caden's mischievious smile, dropping her head into hands out of frustration. "Here we go again. Please stop it, you're making my head hurt. What problem?"
They sat down at an empty table near the side, and a server with one of those artificially bright smiles came to take their order. Annikka glanced at the menu and winced inwardly. Over the years between her departure from the convent, she had learned to tolerate almost all of the things she considered pretentious and posh southern cooks tended to serve. She had even got to like quite a few of them, but prawns she could not and would not eat, and her beliefs on the subject of potato dauphinoise were best left unspoken. Fortunately, she spotted something edible, something she'd always liked. "I'll have the venison pastry, please," she said.
"Did you always want to be a healer?" Caden enquired while they were waiting for their food. "I know there are other fields you could have gone into. So, why choose healing?"
Annikka, taken slightly by suprise, thought for a moment. It wasn't a question people tended to ask the Head Healer. They usually assumed that it was a vocation, and left it at that. "I... yes," she began slowly. "I was the only Gifted one in my immediate family, and my mother rarely used hers, but to be fair she was always out in the village healing if there was a sickness, and she took me with her. We had a village mage, too, and she used to help me learn, and taught me a few useful tricks. I never went in much for pyrotechnics, but I can do battle magic, conjure a little, so you're right. I could have gone into other fields. The attitude I developed was that healing was worthwhile, and by the time I reached the University-" she laughed a little- "the idea that healing was for mages who couldn't do battle magic was one that got short shrift. Very short shrift. And I like doing it, because it's useful and I never wanted to be anything els- I'm sorry. That was a speech." Annikka cursed herself for rambling, although not for admitting that she had never had ambitions to be a lovely Court lady, and decided to try 'turnabout is fair play'. "Did you always want to be a knight?"
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Post by spigurl on Dec 7, 2007 23:03:39 GMT -5
Caden's smiled shrunk as Annikka buried her face in her hands. He held up his hands in surrender.
"Alright, I give in," he said mildly. "And there is no problem. I just thought it sounded good." It was obvious to him where his social skills were lacking. No person practiced with human behavior would continue that conversation. It wasn't that Caden wasn't practiced with human behavior. Just not up close and personal. He definitely knew his share of different types of behavior. The knight stopped thinking. He couldn't get his own thoughts straight, let alone anything else.
When Annikka stopped after her "speech", Caden smiled. It didn't seem that long to him. Her reasoning pretty much aligned with his thoughts (the ones that made sense).
"So, am I hearing this correctly? You actually followed your mother around?" He grinned, but took on a serious tone. "I think healing is the best way to put magic to use. Anybody would agree, if they've seen battle mages blowing up things around them. Healing is more productive."
"Did you always want to be a knight?" she asked in return.
"I suppose so. Since my older brother decided to follow that path. I always wanted to be just like him," Caden told her. "There were some times when I doubted my decision, but by then, it was far too late to turn back."
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Post by Rainstorm Aria on Dec 8, 2007 15:57:13 GMT -5
"Alright, I give in," he said mildly. "And there is no problem. I just thought it sounded good."
Annikka removed her head from her hands and smiled ruefully. "Don't mind me. I used to hit my best friend over the head with a textbook when he teased me, but I promise I won't do it to you. For one thing, no textboooks," she added jokingly, grinning.
"So, am I hearing this correctly? You actually followed your mother around?" He grinned, but took on a serious tone. "I think healing is the best way to put magic to use. Anybody would agree, if they've seen battle mages blowing up things around them. Healing is more productive."
Annikka see-sawed her hand in the air, pretending to take his first comment seriously. "Frequently, usually because she managed to find me in a hiding place and forced me to wear something frilly so she could take me to show off to all her noble friends who didn't have Gifted daughters, but sometimes because she actually wanted to teach me something or could use my help. Oh, it had its ups and downs and moments in which one was tempted to head for the hills out of sheer embarrassment, like everything. Lots of those, in retrospect." She listened to Caden's more serious remark and nodded. "Yes, I know. I think seeing the disgusting things battlemages can and will do to each other set the seal on my wanting to be a healer."
"I suppose so. Since my older brother decided to follow that path. I always wanted to be just like him," Caden told her. "There were some times when I doubted my decision, but by then, it was far too late to turn back."
Annikka searched her mind briefly, but no, Gabriella had not spoken of her older brother at all to her younger friend. Or perhaps Annikka had just forgotten. "Have you ever doubted it since?" she asked, probably untactfully. "Do you stay in touch with your friends, the people who were pages the same years as you? Most of my friends now are the ones who hung on like grim death when the teachers showed us people who were dying, people who had lost limbs... but some quitted soon after graduating, or in the middle of lessons. I have no idea what happened to them. I think there's one that does battlemagic now." Annikka snorted. "From one extreme to the other. I even hear that he's applying the principles healers can use to kill to battlemagic, and apparently great things are expected of him, the turncoat."
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Post by spigurl on Dec 11, 2007 17:31:39 GMT -5
Annikka teased him about textbooks and Caden pretended to flinch. "Please, no textbooks. They are not friends," he protested.
"Frequently, usually because she managed to find me in a hiding place and forced me to wear something frilly so she could take me to show off to all her noble friends who didn't have Gifted daughters, but sometimes because she actually wanted to teach me something or could use my help."
Caden grinned. "Ah, I see now. It was not a voluntary action. I thought something was odd when you said you went with her.
"Have you ever doubted it since?" she asked.
“Oh yes,” he replied. “Whenever I was stranded in a snowstorm or stuck in the desert I cursed my decision to become a knight when I could have been a comfortable scholar sitting in my lounge chair. Then, there are always those times when I think becoming a knight was the best thing I could have done with my life.”
"Do you stay in touch with your friends, the people who were pages the same years as you?”
“No, not much. I haven’t seen any since I’ve come back to Corus.”
He listened to what she said about her friends, while thinking about his own. He didn’t know what had happened to most of them. In fact, he hadn’t even run into any since he returned to the Palace. Then again, he spent a large portion of his time exploring other places and generally avoiding people.
“It sounds like you have good friends. Do many of them work with you now?” he asked. Upon hearing that one practiced battlemagic now, Caden rolled his eyes. “Healing to kill people. I’m surprised nobody in Tortall thought of that earlier.”
(OOC: Sorry it took so long. I got sick and busy.)
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Post by Rainstorm Aria on Dec 12, 2007 15:41:29 GMT -5
(OOC: That's okay! ^^)
"Please, no textbooks. They are not friends," Caden pleaded jokingly, mock-flinching.
Annikka grinned the most evil grin she could summon up, not being naturally inclined to such expressions. Her eyes gave her away, though she tried hard not to let them do so. "Aha! A weakness. Watch out, Caden!" Suddenly, her words took on a literal meaning as a waitress attempted to squeeze between their table and the table nearby in the fairly packed restaurant: she was carrying very hot food and drinks, and it looked very much as if they were going to be spilt.
"Ah, I see now. It was not a voluntary action. I thought something was odd when you said you went with her."
Annikka laughed and nodded. "Exactly! There are a lot of people around my home who have formed a lasting impression of me as a small girl dressed in something unpleasantly elaborate and looking very unhappy about it."
“Oh yes,” he replied. “Whenever I was stranded in a snowstorm or stuck in the desert I cursed my decision to become a knight when I could have been a comfortable scholar sitting in my lounge chair. Then, there are always those times when I think becoming a knight was the best thing I could have done with my life.”
She snorted inelegantly at the picture thus presented to her mind's eye. "You? A sedentary scholar? I don't see it. And everyone has ups and downs in their job, I suppose... times when you want to head for the hills for some peace and quiet, and others when you wouldn't rather be anywhere else..." Annikka trailed off, smiling slightly.
“No, not much. I haven’t seen any since I’ve come back to Corus.”
Annikka looked a little surprised, and then recalled her brothers' occasional complaints that they were being sent all over the place for reasons that escaped their sister's memory. Naturally, it must be difficult to keep in touch- and of course, the Scanran border was very difficult at the moment.
“It sounds like you have good friends. Do many of them work with you now?” he asked. Upon hearing that one practiced battlemagic now, Caden rolled his eyes. “Healing to kill people. I’m surprised nobody in Tortall thought of that earlier.”
Annikka nodded. "Oh, yes. There're some with rooms at the University for their experiments and studies, quite a few have practices of their own or partner in practices in this city or in Port Legann, Caynn, other places... A number work at the Palace most of the time, though." She caught the roll of his eyes at the battlemagic comment, and was gratified to note that a fighter understood how disgusting that was to a trained healer. "Actually, they have. His gimmick is that he's worked out a way of teaching others his methods. Any healer can calm a pulse or breathing rate, and they know how to use their specific level of magic to shut things like that right down, but he's managed to find a method anyone can use with no training." She frowned, tapping her fingers on the table. "I got his research paper yesterday, a copy passed on by the university. I need to have a few words with him, and none of them will be 'Goddess bless'."
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Post by spigurl on Dec 13, 2007 21:37:59 GMT -5
Caden's eyes flickered in amusement as Annikka tried to look sinister. It wasn't a half-bad impression, but she shouldn't try out for the Players anytime soon. Just as the healer warned him, a waitress hustled by with a tray laden with food. Caden wished it was theirs, being hungry. Just as if his wish had been granted, their waitress appeared with a tray looking much the same. She smiled, spoke a few words, and set down their food. Caden smiled, and picked up his spoon.
"I've grown far to used to palace life. I expect meals to be ready for me at any time of the day," he commented. "That won't do for when I start traveling again."
"Exactly! There are a lot of people around my home who have formed a lasting impression of me as a small girl dressed in something unpleasantly elaborate and looking very unhappy about it."
"I wonder: a good or bad impression?" Caden grinned, thinking both.
"You? A sedentary scholar? I don't see it. And everyone has ups and downs in their job, I suppose... times when you want to head for the hills for some peace and quiet, and others when you wouldn't rather be anywhere else..."
Caden pretended to look indignant. "I could be a scholar. Not for long," he added. "but I could be one." She looked a bit surprised when he mentioned not keeping contact with his friends, but chose not to comment on it. Caden chose to go along with that. There was really nothing that could be said. The only person he had remained contact with was an old teacher. Even then, it was very infrequent. The knight was always on the move and letters were hard receive. The occasional correspondence was nice and Caden was now glad Larseld's last letter had reached him. At first, he was reluctant to return to Corus, but now happy he had.
"Actually, they have. His gimmick is that he's worked out a way of teaching others his methods. Any healer can calm a pulse or breathing rate, and they know how to use their specific level of magic to shut things like that right down, but he's managed to find a method anyone can use with no training."
Caden also frowned, not liking what he heard. He had met mages in other countries that had also found this skill useful, and it had never turned out for the better. To have an advantage over another like that was an amazing power and should only be trusted to the most worthy. Sometimes not even them.
"Well, I hope whomever decides on this will consider what has happened in other countries. I don't know if this is common knowledge, but many others practice this ... 'technique'. The results haven't always panned out as well as some think."
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Post by Rainstorm Aria on Dec 14, 2007 17:22:17 GMT -5
Annikka breathed a very small sigh of relief as the nearly-accident swooped smoothly past, and their own lunch arrived. She smiled and nodded at the waitress. That venison pasty smelt very good, and came with fresh bread. She picked up her knife and fork.
"I've grown far to used to palace life. I expect meals to be ready for me at any time of the day," he commented. "That won't do for when I start traveling again."
She grinned ruefully. "I wouldn't know, but I bet you'll re-adjust quickly enough. Are you going wandering soon?" Annikka asked. It would be a pity if he was. She liked talking to him, and got the definite impression that he was a very infrequent correspondent. And since when did letters form any substitute for a decent conversation?
"I wonder: a good or bad impression?"
Annikka laughed. "Oh, a terrible impression. They must all still think that I wear that morose expression all the time, and that's just not true. And as for the one that says as clearly as words that the dress itches, that's probably best left alone."
She read his indignant look as about as truthful as her own sinister look earlier, and smiled. "I could be a scholar. Not for long," he added. "but I could be one." The smile widened. "Oh, but you'd get bored so quickly," she teased. "What would you research?"
Caden's face echoed her own feelings. "Well, I hope whomever decides on this will consider what has happened in other countries. I don't know if this is common knowledge, but many others practice this ... 'technique'. The results haven't always panned out as well as some think."
"It's not exactly common knowledge, no," Annikka said quietly. They were now moving into slightly darker areas of her profession, and although she was happy to keep talking about it for now, it might not be too long before she would prefer to put a stop to this line of questioning. She hoped he'd understand what she had to say now, and not think the less of her. "That is to say-" she indicated the rest of the restaurant's customers- "I doubt most of these people are aware that healers are capable of using the spells that heal to kill. Among healers, it's very well known. The problem is, Caden, it's something many healers have had to use, especially those working in forts and miltary camps under attack. The basic idea is a first line of defence when knocking them unconscious is not an option. I've used it myself to survive, and on the whole it's a better death for a soldier than a messy one involving scalpels." Annikka took a deep breath, watching the knight. "But transferring the exact technique to anyone with a hint of Gift in that direction is not so certain. Since so many have some Gift, that means many soldiers could administer certain- and if untrained, probably agonising, half-death because it's not done properly -to anyone within really quite a large radius. The, er, ex-friend in question has convinced he's done nothing wrong, but we'll see about that."
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