this thread is backdated to a day or so before magnum opus

Kethri had passed out until now, her feathers dirty with blood and dirt as she was dragged uncerimoniously across the caves, eyes hazy and dizziness making them want to retch. She was scraped up from being yanked over rocks and the rough ground for such a distance, having lost some feathers from the ordeal. She wasn't in good shape, but she would wish she was dead, soon.

Weakly, she tried to pull her wing away from Delta, crying out as it yanked on her sore shoulder, feeling as if it was going to come off. She whimpered and stayed still, shaking like a leaf. She clenched her eyes shut and swallowed, at least trying to draw her wing back in, but to no avail. Stupid stupid venom...

@Doctor @Garnet-Delta

Finally, after dragging Kethri across two whole caves, it was finally home. The dry air blowing in from the opposite side of the tunnel had the taste of hot sand, warm and familiar. Ahhh.

It dropped the owl's wing, snorting; seemed like it was starting to wake up again. "Doctor!" Delta yowled, "I request your expertise.. And I have a gift for you, too." How polite of it. Garnet-Delta had never been particularly keen on the Sentinels that were... hm. Not born of Old Magic, to put it as tactfully as possible... However, the Doctor had his uses, and if Master Vargas respected him, then so would Garnet-Delta.

It sat down, and waited for the Doctor to arrive, watching its captured victim closely. It wasn't like Kethri could fly with a dislocated wing, and she was still struggling to shake off the effects of the envenomed magic it had put in her system.

cw for some gore

There was an answering flutter of wings, and then a glide: the ruffle of feathers as the vulture's near-ten-foot wingspan carried him in a carrion feeder's soar down to land slightly above the pair, near Delta's feet.

He was cheerful, as always, folding his wings and waddling up with enthusiasm.

"Ahh, hello, hello! Mm--Delta, yes? Garnet-Delta was it? I do apologize if I have that wrong! A little scatter-brained, you see-..." He trailed off, turning to make his way down a final little drop.

Behind him, on his higher ledges, there were experiments. Rats--paralyzed, always, with a careful break in their spines. These were partly woven through with what looked like grass, unmoving, but breathing in rapid jerks. Upturned skulls which would've seemed perhaps more gruesome if they hadn't been mostly buried in sand--these were overturned so that their open craniums served as bowls for water, or planters full of dirt, growing various herbs.

One good eye glanced over Kethri. He wondered, for a moment, if it were some friend of Delta--wounded--but Delta's mention of a 'gift' did make him wonder. Is this the gift, then--or is there something else?

Ahh--but best to ask! "Certainly, of course, I am at your disposal, yes? What is it I can do for you?"

If a vulture could smile brightly up at Delta, he would have; as it was his expression seemed brightly kind, if almost unconcerned with the battered state, thus far, of Kethri. That isn't to say he didn't look her over--he did, and with interest. Broken wing, if he was any judge; and shivering, scraped-up. Obviously in pain. But Doctor would leave it to Garnet to explain.

He considered himself a happy, humble servant--not entirely suboordinate and fawning, but happy to oblige his comrades in science.

@Kethri

Kethri's eyes dragged over the scenery and she tensed and twitched, her other wing rising and falling weakly. Those rats... what was this place?

She saw the vulture drop down and nearly hissed. A dead-feeder. She tried to dig her claws in, attempting to resist and keep them from going any further, before attempting to move.

Her wing raised, and she flapped it hard, struggling as hard as her stiff body could, gasping in pain at her dislocated shoulder. Tears welled up as she squawked and squirmed, talons lashing out behind her.

"Maniacs- let me go!", she finally cried, tongue heavy in her mouth.

@Garnet-Delta

Aaah, right on time! Garnet-Delta straightened, and even managed to not bat an eye as the Doctor took a moment to remember its designation. Considering they weren't exactly interacting on the regular, it couldn't fault him for taking a moment. Besides, he got it right, in the end. The alien-cat dipped its head respectfully, ear swiveling toward Kethri as she whimpered.

"Garnet-Delta, yes. I trust you're well, Doctor?" Pleasantries, and entirely unnecessary, but it wanted to make it perfectly clear to the owl what the score was.

A slight purr bubbled up in its throat as the Doctor asked what it needed. Something about the interaction made it feel like it was a Commander (or even, dare it suggest, an Overseer); and it was the kind of thing that made its ego swell. There would be time to celebrate later, however.

"This owl here tried to attack me," Garnet-Delta chirped, which was only a half-truth, but its word held more weight than the bird's, "unfortunately it was injured in the attempt. I thought you might like to use it as part of your experiments. You can do what you like with it, as I think without your help, it'll simply starve to death."

As Kethri struggled upright, Garnet-Delta tried to reign her in, but again it found it hard to latch on to. "I had injected it with a venom, which appears to be wearing off..." It noted, dutifully informing the Doctor of the situation. "It crashed into the ground when the paralysis took effect, and that's how its wing was damaged."

It eyed Kethri, a low growl in its throat as it warned, "As long as its useful to you, it may live... But if it gives you any trouble, then I'd be happy to bury its stone in the Hydra's sands."

@Doctor

The owl's anger took him aback, and he blinked his single eye, pulling his head away just a tad. His attention then shifted to Delta, fully on it as it spoke.

"Hm? -Ah, yes! Yes, I am well, very well, of course! Well, my experiments are-... heh, a little slower than I'd like, a little problem with necrosis, tissue rejection you see but nothing to worry about! Not a problem," he added, ruffling his feathers.

He looked back at the owl as Delta explained that it had attacked. Hm. Wariness entered the Doctor's demeanor, a little tenseness and he edged back half a step. "Attacked-? Ahh, is it dangerous?" He was fairly certain that given her much smaller size, he could easily restrain her--but Doctor had little combat experience and that, he knew, counted for a great deal.

So did magic.

And while he did not know Garnet-Delta well, he trusted it to be a better gauge than he, particularly with a creature it had already tangled with once. But--ahh; Garnet-Delta was making a very clear threat. Doctor didn't doubt that the owl would, if she could, make an escape (and he was already warily turning his one good eye at a slight angle so she couldn't nab that).

"A venom--how fascinating! Do you think you could show me how it--provide a sam--oh, no no no no, my apologies you are busy, of course, of course--to business, to business." He shuffle-hopped around Kethri to get a better look, keeping a couple feet between them. When at last he addressed her it was still in a cheerful manner, despite the rather grim situation. "Broken wing, is it? Hurts? I have something for the pain, but let's see... Hm, you're already an adult--are you not?--so you shouldn't experience the damaged growth from an early break in the way of Subject One... Bacterial infection? Its effects on bone growth are fascinating but we have ways of cleansing that so it is--Hm. No, no! I know. It... will take a bit and it will certainly hurt but not if I administer-... hm, yes--right, I do think I have a plan. Thank you, Garnet-Delta--do stay? Have a rat?" he chattered, happily, even as he turned and hopped back up the few steps to his garden. He passed the rats, going instead to the planters, pulling free the long and winding twists of dry grass from the one on the far right.

"Please, please, do make yourself at home. Have a rat," and this time he looked to Kethri; "It doesn't matter which one, I am already almost done with them, you see--oh, and I can put that learning to use with you! We'll have your wing fixed up in no time, eh? Free food? A place to rest--perfectly safe, I assure you, yes? Healing your wing-?"

He seemed positively enthusiastic to have company; maybe a bit too much. Possibly, having only a single miserable test subject and dead or dying, paralyzed rats for companionship wasn't great for one's state of mind.

@Kethri

Kethri squawked at Delta indignantly and hissed, feathers fluffing up, "That was not what happened! You missed a few steps you no-good-"

Curses were thrown wildly as she flapped her good wing, snarling at him like she was a dog rather than an owl. She squirmed and wiggled, but she failed to gain even an inch of ground, to her dismay. After struggling and putting up a fuss for a good minute or so, she finally stopped, panting gently as she eyed Delta and the Doctor.

"... You don't want to help me,", she said warily, glancing at Delta, "Not if you affiliate with this mongrel. Y-you're gonna kill me, aren't you?"

Kethri wanted to be brave, she honestly did, but she was so scared that she was honestly just running on adrenaline at this point, and she had no idea how long that would even last. She curled up a bit to be as small as possible, feathers flattening and making her look tiny. Not full-sized, yet, a juvenile.

"... Get off of me!", she snapped at Delta, wiggling again, before glancing at the Doctor and wiggling harder.

@Garnet-Delta

"Only as dangerous as a starved rat," Delta dismissed with a snort, craning its neck to lick at the scratch on its shoulder from the scuffle. The owl kept trying to get up, flailing about uselessly, but a single paw pinned down her wing nicely.

A sample? That... Garnet-Delta's ear flicked as it considered. What could the Doctor do with a sample? Come up with a cure, or find a way to store it for future use? That caught its interest, even as the Doctor politely dismissed the idea in case somehow Delta had taken offense or considered it a waste of time. It tried on the spot to summon some venom, but it couldn't concentrate enough to get the magic to manifest.

Oh well. It listened to the Doctor's invitation and gave an amused purr, eyeing the testing rats. Normally it wouldn't accept such a measly (and slightly concerning) meal from the Doctor when it could hunt on its own, but who was it to turn away such a well-meaning reward? While Garnet-Delta wasn't one to put trust in others, the Doctor had always been loyal to the Sentinels, and the only second-thought it had was that the meat wouldn't be as good on the weak prey.

The owl was starting to squawk again, finally falling still after struggling for so long. It eyed its captive. "Why would a doctor want to kill you, birdbrain? -- No offense, Doctor." The feline tucked its head down, "I'll stay for a little while. Thanks for the dinner."

Garnet-Delta stepped forward, leaving Kethri to her thrashing if she so desired, and went to pick a rat for itself. Tail swishing behind it as it pranced to the garden and started poking at rats, it spoke with its back turned to Kethri, "Listen, owl, I expect you to treat our Doctor with respect. Unless you want me to pull out your talons, pluck your feathers, and break some more of your fragile little bones." It gestured with a sweep of its tail to several of the paralyzed rats, as if making a point. "So, be polite, or shut your trap. He's going to save your life, after all."

@Doctor

He was a bit taken aback, to say the least--not first of all by Kethri's assertion that Garnet-Delta was a 'mongrel.' "Oh, that's--not very nice," he murmured, concerned. Then Garnet was insulting back, and oh it was all so very unpleasant, but at least they were staying for dinner-!

He tried to lighten the mood. "Oh, come now, there's no need for all of this! No, no, I'm not going to kill you. My work here is to help with healing, not harming!" ...Which was technically true but 'means to an end,' and all that; "Here." He'd set down the dry grasses and now, instead, he brought over a few green leaves, round and small.

"Eat these--ahh, Subject Three; it'll help dull the pain."

He seemed enthusiastic about this much, at least. If the owl didn't want to eat, well-... There wasn't a whole lot he could do about that, but the next bit would hurt a little worse.

He paused, then, stepping back to focus on the two. They both seemed healthy enough--an infection would have made heal-time slower and a bone infection--well he had yet to investigate the real repercussions but he suspected that the answer would have been "not good."

@Kethri

Kethri fought back pained tears before she was finally released, a gasp escaping her as she drew up her good wing and fought back to her feet, limping away to the nearest corner to hide in. She faced her back towards the two and hid her face, shaking as she tried (and failed) to regain her composure. She faced the Doctor and glared at him, not trusting him at all.

She glanced at Delta before reaching out to delicately take the leaves, eyes burning like she really wanted to just bite the doctor instead. She took a nibble and waited for a few moments, staring at the doctor. When she didn't die, she ate the rest, grumbling about the taste and sticking her tongue out in disgust. Ew, plants.

"... Don't touch me,", she said as he just... stared at her.

Kethri huddled further into the wall and tried to hide as best she could in that situation, eyes clenched shut like it would all go away when she opened them.

@Garnet-Delta