Killing is Easier Than Healing {Levain}

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Maude had warned her about not using her Gift. Her Gift was powerful, and she had the power to heal, among other things. It had always scared her, having this magic. She'd learned the hard way that she couldn't waste it, no matter how much it frightened her. The last time she'd gone without healing, her friend Francis had died. She wouldn't let anything like that happen again, even if it meant using her magic. Alanna's thoughts followed that pattern as she entered the school's infirmary. Maybe the healer wouldn't even let her help. She half worried half hoped that would be the case. While she really didn't want to stop healing, this was no Sweating Sickness. There were just a few kids who, like her at the moment, had managed to hurt themselves. Maybe a few were ill, but nothing of a scale that would require any real help, right?

The whole reason she had finally decided now was the time to ask was because she had hurt her wrist swinging at a dummy at a bad angle. She certainly wasn't going to ask for her wrist to be healed, she could deal with that pain - she was a squire, after all - but she couldn't swing her sword while her wrist was hurt. Or wrestle. Or even really ride. The wrist thing outlawed all of her training but magic. She shivered and fingered her ember necklace that allowed her to see magic. As expected, she didn't see any yet. She let it go before she entered the infirmary.

She realized then that she had no idea who the head healer was, and she hoped desperately it wouldn't be too hard to find out...

[Lancelot du Lac]

It was a little hard to find out. True, there was a designated school healer, and he was relatively easy to spot if you knew where he was. There were only so many people in the infirmary that looked like they were knights straight out of Camelot, and Sir Levain of Astolat happened to fit the bill almost uncomfortably well. However, it was a little harder to find out because Levi had developed this tendency to be away from the infirmary lately. This had more to do with the war and Levi's desire to swing a sword (and protect a certain lady) than anything else.

Still, Alanna actually managed to catch Levi there. He'd actually just come from a training session, having determined that he needed to brush up on his various skills. The knight was thus wiping clean his hands and checking in on his various patients, pausing at a handful of beds. Increased training and nerves meant more patients, and again: Levi was the one most trained to deal with this mess.

So Levi was on the move when Alanna entered, and he paused to look at her. Now, considering that Alanna was busy looking like Alan, and Levi, despite having literal hands on experience in the whole disguised squire thing, was remarkably dense at telling gender, sex, and sexuality, he saw what appeared to be a remarkably striking young man. One that seemed to be favoring a hand.

"Let me guess," said the knight, pointing at the cradled wound, "you got into a fight with someone? Get over here and I'll give that a look," he waved and turned, heading for an empty examination table, obviously figuring that Alan would follow.

[Deleted]

So in the end, it wasn't as difficult as Alanna had worried it would be. In fact, she hadn't really had to work at it at all. She'd identified at least one of the healers right away. She wasn't sure if he was, in fact, the head, but it would be easy enough to ask. "No," Alanna said, something she would have said even if the answer had been yes. If she could handle herself as a page, she certainly could do so as a squire. "I just wasn't paying attention while I was practicing." She followed, mostly so that she could continue speaking to the man easily.

"I didn't actually come to get this looked at, it's only a little sore, nothing big enough to worry about," 'Alan' told him. "I was actually wondering if you would want any help with the patients. I have healing magic and I figure I should probably use it some time..." She said, trying to look confident even though she felt a little scared. There were more people here than she had expected and it worried her. Were any of them seriously injured? Would people die because she was wasting this man's time? She shook her head to try to clear it.

[Lancelot du Lac]

No usually meant "yes, but I'm not going to admit it because I'll look like an idiot." Levi had come to terms with that, having seen it again and again. Even Brianna had serious reservations about opening up to Levi, and he'd been working with her for, well, it had to be months. So he just nodded, before motioning to take a look at the injury.

It turned out that Levi's hurry was causing him to overstep. The knight paused, hand still raised, and looked to Alan as he spoke. Magical healing. Levi lowered his hand, his expression going a little more stony. He turned to look over his shoulder, as if needing to remind himself of the room full of patients.

"We could definitely use all the help we can get," he admitted. He continued looking around as he continued talking: "I'm actually going to be transferring to the front lines soon, since I'm one of the few people we have who's a fully trained knight," he paused, looking back to Alan now, his gaze critical. "I don't think we've met. Sir Levain," he extended a hand, "of Astolat; knight of the Summer Country."

He could go on with titles, of course, but he always figured he could just put out the important ones. Besides, he needed to get his measure of this man, and he just didn't have enough to do that. Not yet, anyway.

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The expression on Levi's face, along with his glance around the room made Alanna uncomfortable. "Magic is okay here, right?" she asked, taking half a step back. She would have been told if magic weren't allowed, wouldn't she? It wouldn't be so terrible if magic weren't allowed, anyway would it? Except that she had just mentioned it, and if it were taboo then she would probably be punished. She wouldn't complain, of course, but that didn't mean she enjoyed punishment...

Alanna nodded once. "I'll help as much as I can." She took his hand with a slight smile. She had met so many people who were from places like Tortall. "I am Squire Alan of Trebond in the country of Tortall. It's nice to meet you. I was actually hoping to help with the war effort myself," the squire informed Levain. "I can fight." She desperately hoped she wouldn't be stuck here healing patients, even if she wasn't the most experienced warrior.

[Lancelot du Lac]

Levi chuckled, reaching up to rub the back of his head. "Yeah, yeah, magic's fine. This isn't Camelot," he lowered his hand at the same time he exhaled a breath, looking around. "Not that anyone would think this is Camelot."

No, that certainly wouldn't be a mistake anyone made. while the castle itself was, well, a castle, that was about where the connection to Camelot ended. For one thing, the school here had no qualms about utilizing technology. Sometimes it got so bad you couldn't walk across the infirmary without tripping over a cord. Even if it weren't for wires and tech, the obvious signs of increased sanitation would be hint enough. Levi nodded again.

"Definitely not Camelot," he repeated, looking back to Alan; Squire Alan. "Never been to Tortall, but I'm sure you can find a knight here to squire under," which reminded Levi of his own distinct lack. Most of the squires he knew wanted to eventually wind up in Prince Arthur's service though, and Levi... wasn't. Nor did he ever plan to be.

He took another deep breath, looking around. "It's likely that those that can fight will be shipped off from here. They're not going to waste us back here. You can order someone to hold down bandages, but it takes a lot more training to swing a sword right."

Just what he didn't want to think about: the war. He took another deep sigh, then forced a smile.

"Sorry. I'm just... those that use magic to heal often think of it as the first answer," explained Levi. He waved to the wounded around him. "The human body's more difficult than that. Magic, especially used to heal, can sometimes really mess a person up. Though I guess I'm a horrible judge of that."

He averted his eyes from Alan, looking at the various wounded. Another deep, calming breath. Too much to worry about; that was his problem.

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Alanna smiled. "I wasn't sure how that would work, since I have a knightmaster at home, but he isn't exactly here." No matter how much she wished he was. "Do you have a squire?" she inquired, more for curiosity's sake. And then another question brought a frown to her face. What if Jonathan did come, and she was serving someone else. Someone who didn't even know she was a girl? Would she be allowed to return to her friend? She hoped so.

"Good. I don't want to be stuck here when I could be helping with the war. Sure, healers can be important, but it's better to get the war over faster so fewer people get hurt, right?" Alanna asked. She would much rather be fighting than stuck here, no matter what this knight believed. Anyway, why would he be a knight if he didn't want to fight? She seemed to conveniently forget cases like Thom, who would have been forced to be a knight even though he hated it if not for his twin.

"We've never noticed that in Tortall. I once healed the Prince, and he seemed fine to me," Alanna said uncertainly. Maybe it was because they had spoken to the Gods when she had brought Jonathan back from death's door... But she hadn't noticed it in anyone else either, and surely Baird hadn't spoken to the Black God every time he healed someone of the Sweating Sickness. "But what do you mean, you're a horrible judge?"

[Lancelot du Lac]

"Not at the moment," admitted Levi. He raised that hand back to rub at the back of his head. "I have a rather... unusual situation regarding my liege lord... in that the lord is a lady: Guinevere, Queen apparent."

Which was really dodging around the truth. Levi certainly wasn't going to admit his secrets to someone he'd just met. Even those he trusted with his life weren't fully aware of his love life. Hence why he usually stepped so delicately around the situation. Thankfully, he didn't have to worry as much about that here. Alan provided perfect opportunities to redirect the conversation elsewhere.

Levi nodded, then waved his hand at the wounded again, "Definitely. I don't want to fight any more than the-- well, hell, I'm a knight," he lowered his arm and chuckle, "so I like it a little. I like it a lot more when I'm protecting the people I lo--care about," he frowned, looking toward the wounded again. Damn, when had his life gotten so filled with secrets and problems that he couldn't even say the truth anymore?

Another sigh, and Levi nodded. "A friend of mine had to use magic to heal his lord. It's definitely useful. I've used it myself. It's that most magical healers," he looked back to Alan, "they have a tendency to use it before---" Levi paused, blinked, and had to look again. Were Alan's eyes... he shook his head. Clearly Levi had been spending far too little time sleeping. Given what he preferred to do in the night, between the sheets...

"But yes, it's useful. I'm just--" he shrugged, "not a fan."

He shifted, looking toward the wounded. "Look, we can keep talking, but we're going to have to work and talk. There's too much here to do for me to stand for too long, really."

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"That is strange," Alanna admitted, but then dropped the subject, though she was a little curious. She didn't think Levain wanted to talk about it, so she continued with the rest of the conversation. Maybe she would ask him later.

Levi's constant changing of his phrasing threw Alanna off a little. "I understand. I'll use traditional methods first. I've not been trained as a doctor, though," she admitted. "You direct me, where should I start first?" She wasn't sure what to do, honestly. Was there really a problem with magical healing? It was practically all they used in Tortall, excluding basic things that didn't need attention.

Alanna noticed the knight staring at her eyes for only a moment, but it was long enough. "They are purple," she informed him. "You looked like you thought you were seeing things." Then her cat trotted in and wound himself around her legs. "Er, is Faithful allowed in here? He isn't diseased, and he doesn't have fleas."

[Lancelot du Lac]

Levi shrugged, "That never stopped me."

He'd been trained as a healer back at Avalon, or at least, he'd had those memories embedded within him. He'd certainly gotten plenty of hands on training. Plus he'd gone to college for nursing, which gave him more than enough training to deal with what they had here. He was just casually leaving all that off for now. They had things to do, after all, things involving healing and tending to patients.

Levi motioned for Alan to follow him as he began checking the first patient. Since they hadn't actively engaged in war, they only had cuts, bruises, and simple stuff to deal with. It was more a matter of showing up and looking competent than doing anything else. Though, as they'd started, Alan had filled some things in for Levi.

"Yeah, sorry about that. We get a lot of strange people, but that still--" then the cat showed up. Levi stared at the cat. Then at the guy. The guy with purple eyes. and magic. And a cat. "Oh, God, you're not a witch, are you? Or whatever it is they call a boy witch... a warlock? You know," he waved a hand, "demon magic and devil worship?"

Well, it was about time that something happened that exposed poor Levi's fundamentalism. You'd almost think Fate was being too nice to him, letting him ride through all the craziness.

[Deleted]

(( xD I love him ))

Alanna didn't mind the paperwork, though she thought it was a little odd. She was determined to help however she could, if only to obey the Great Mother. She'd been given the Gift, and it was her duty to use it. Since she had nothing better to do, she might as well... Even if she was just holding bandages, there would come a day. "It's no problem, really--"

"I'm not a necromancer, if that's what you mean. I respect the Black God and he takes whomever he will, it's not my place to interfere with that." Most of the time. "If I'm honest, I don't like magic at all. I just want to be a normal knight, my brother is the one who likes sorcery... Magic scares me." She had never confessed that to even Jonathan, and she didn't know why she did now. Only Thom and Maude knew how much she had hated her magic, and now she'd told an almost complete stranger.

"And I'm not evil either," Faithful mewed irritably, his tail switching back and forth.

[Lancelot du Lac]

Not a necromancer. There was something else there, something about respecting a black god. Levi wasn't all that great when it came to understanding other religions; truthfully he was about one Crusade away from mowing down infidels sometimes, but he at least understood that people had different beliefs. He nodded at Alan's admission, though it was a slow, thoughtful nod.

"Magic scares the shit out of me," admitted Levi. He nodded, turned, and walked to the nearest patient. The tasks were routine enough, and Levi appreciated doing something. He frowned as his thoughts tried to figure out this new helper. Had magic; didn't like it. Had a black cat; didn't worship some demon of some kind. Why was it that just when Levi thought he had a handle on all this mess, something new had to pop up?

"right, well, if you mean to help," he turned to Alan and nodded. 'Then you're going to help. Do me a favor and look over some of the bandages over there," he pointed to a section of beds. "Some of those knights hate me, for some reason," Levi paused, giving that section a slightly longer look. "I think it has something to do with Gawain, but I really don't know. Anyway, head there, and let me know if you run into trouble. Or, you know," he waved a hand, "someone."

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"Well, at least we understand each other," Alanna murmured, following Levain over to the bed. She half worried that he might make her leave, and she would be completely useless once again. He was a knight, though, right? Knights faced their fears, and surely Levain would as well. He wouldn't make her leave just because he was afraid of her magic. She would have to watch out for that, though. It seemed a lot of people were uncomfortable with magic here.

"Gawain?" 'Alan' questioned, but she nodded at the order and went over to help the knights. The head healer seemed nice enough. What would he have to do to make other knights hate him? Were they just jealous? Levain clearly had many skills, if he were a healer as well as a knight.