cw: animal death

Garnet-Delta didn't want to upset the Doctor further, and it was more than happy to simply spectate at this point. With a swish of the tail, it picked out one of the rats from the Doctor's garden, leaving the one the Doctor had grabbed for their new prisoner. The cat-alien picked up a reasonable sized, young looking rodent by the throat, teeth crunching down on the fragile neck. Did the paralyzed creature even feel it? The body jerked in its teeth, but it didn't even squeak.

The Sentinel stalked up to the nearby ledge and hopped up to perch where it could survey Kethri and the Doctor. It had to pull some grasses free from the rat, but then it was perfectly content to munch on the surprisingly soft flesh. Hm. Not bad.

Idly, the alien tried to pick up any stray thoughts from the owl; just in case it could predict what she would do next, or get any idea on what she was planning. After all, she was certain to try to escape-- especially in the first few days. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, for its victim) Garnet-Delta's mind was slick with exhaustion from dragging her all the way here.

Ah well. It could keep an eye out, all the same, and if she did try anything... She had been warned.

@Doctor

cw: mild gore

Almost as soon as Kethri began to eat, Doctor was explaining.

"Explaining" being, really, half-babbling; and despite the utter dislike the owl showed him, he seemed not to notice anything untoward. Even her 'don't touch me' only earned her a 'tsk.' "Good, good, that should take effect in a few moments--at least, I hope; I haven't tested analgesic effects on avians, you see, or rather only lightly. Less is required for respiratory distress so we mustn't go too hard!"

As Doctor spoke he was picking up the strands of dried grass in his feet, and waddling back over toward Kethri. "Now, please do not make this hard; this will help you, of course, bind the wing in place, and with the plants you shouldn't feel a thing! Or--not much. There are side-effects, of course--motion restriction, primarily, yes; atrophy as the muscle mends, held in place and all that but that can be recovered... As long as tissue rejection is not an issue. Then there might be necrosis--must watch for infection, of course, keep it clean, check the bones..."

He waddled up quite close, then transferred the grasses to his beak, eyes on Kethri's wing. The magic took root abruptly: grasses slithering from his beak, twining for the owl's wing, guided the tiny gap by magic. If she fought, perhaps she would stop it taking root: if not, the grasses would pierce the skin, the muscle, tearing their way through flesh to tighten around bone, dragging the bones back into place like twisted, thick suture and then drawing them tight.

Assuming, of course, that Kethri did not fight it.

@Kethri

cw: mild gore

Well generally, grasses don't tend to just start moving. And then start to grow into her flesh. She froze and could really only watch, only feeling a sort of tingling as it disappeared under her feathers and wrapped around her bone. It was so uncomfortable to feel and watch that she flapped her other wing and squealed, claws clenching as she felt tears well up and fall. She yelped as bone wrenched back into place and let out a muffled sob, squirming and whining like a baby about to get its first vaccine.

"STOP!!!", he yelped, clenching her talons as she slammed her fist against the ground, so uncomfortable and feeling so very violated that she nearly couldn't take it.

"Get it ooout!!!", he moaned, every inch of her skin crawling, "Please-"

Kethri sobbed grossly as she held her wing as far away from her as she could, as if it was diseased or something. She hated it- she hated the Doctor and she hated that stupid cat-bird watching up above.

@Garnet-Delta

Garnet-Delta stretched out its paws, hooking its claws into the delicate meat it had and idly passed it back and forth as it watched. The owl was a good test subject, holding still out of shock and fear. That was for the best; it was getting tired of having to use magic to force its way every step it took.

It was much more fun to watch the show. It took another nibble of flesh, licking its lips and watching with lidded eyes.

The magical vines crawling into the flesh was intriguing-- it had seen the same with the rats, but never watched how the Doctor did it. It seemed very... Surgical. Perhaps it could learn something, watching the Doctor do his work. There was after all plenty of magic that it didn't have mastery over yet...

Bloodholding seemed more effective, as did venom, both silent and efficient, but it liked how Kethri squirmed and pleaded under duress. Maybe useful for interrogation? Its elongated, white-tipped ear flicked with the thought.

Did she have to be so pathetic about it, though? Maybe it had made the wrong decision. It turned its gaze on to the Doctor, trying to assess how well he thought things were going.

@Doctor

Doctor was... focused.

Shockingly focused, in fact, with only the faintest touch of distress from the owl's wretched writhing and cries. Instead, he was watching the grass, focusing on it deeply and perhaps that was necessary; to lose focus might, after all, do a great deal of damage.

Which would be awful, really.

When the bone was held in place he stepped back, and tsk'd briskly at Kethri.

"Now, now, there's nothing to get upset about; it's mending. It will hold the wing in place, and ensure it properly heals," and there was zero sympathy in him, if Delta was still sensing such things. It wasn't that he was cold, exactly... but to the good Doctor, this was helping. This was certainly the right thing to do--not only for scientific advancement but for Kethri herself.

"Otherwise your wing will not heal right, and you'd never fly again. Now, let me see..." He sent out a wave of magic, a cleansing one, intended to ensure that any bacteria introduced by the grass did not cause infection. Tests using the big rats had proven that failure to do this nearly always resulted in sepsis, and they didn't need that.

"There we are: cleansed. We need to keep on top of that--now, if you run off, it might get infected. And the rats who became infected died rather terribly," he added, with 'smiling' warning, "and you do not want that."

@Kethri

Kethri clenched her jaw and stifled the next wave of sobs, wing held close to her body as she took a few wobbly steps back, not used to being on the ground and hating it quite a bit. But... if the Doctor was right, then her wing would be fine. She could always fly way once it was.

"... Th-thank you,", she finally said, a bit grateful that the leaves he'd given her were still working, or else she'd be unable to calm herself because of the pain. She didn't want to end up like the rats.

The owl fluffed up her feathers and shook gently, running her beak through a few on her chest to get rid of some dust coating them. She huddled in her corner as she started to preen silently, both to calm herself and to keep her attention off her bad wing and the uncomfortable feeling it radiated. Running her beak over it as she groomed her shoulder feathers, she could tell it was hot, swelling as it began to slowly heal. It better do so fast, she had to get back into the sky.

"... W-why are you helping me?", she asked, "Do I owe you something now? Like payment?"

Kethri had nothing to pay. Maybe if the vulture let her go she could possibly find something to bring back. More rats or a fresh jungle deer for him (though it would take effort to carry).

@Garnet-Delta

Garnet-Delta enjoyed the sensation the Doctor gave off; a clear, concrete focus. It was admirable; the first time Delta had actually seen something genuinely worth protecting among the outsiders. Of course, the Doctor had been with them since Delta was a hatchling. There was a reason for that, even if it had been blind to the usefulness of the Doctor. After all this time, it was finally appreciating the Doctor's requisite skills.

It seemed like a lot of the fun of this spontaneous act of voyeurism was wearing thin, though. Rat bones picked clean, Garnet-Delta made a small attempt to dig a little hole for it, pushing dirt over the remains, before rising to stretch and curl its spine.

"Sounds like she's finally seeing sense," Garnet-Delta commented, hopping down from the ledge and sweeping over to land beside the Doctor. "If she gives you any trouble, give a shout," Delta stretched its back leg out behind it, flexing claws into the earth as it stifled a yawn. Time to go find a nice place for a cat nap, hm?

It gave one last appreciative nod toward the vulture. "Thanks again for the dinner, Doctor. Be seeing you." Then, it spread its wings and took off at a sprint, taking flight in two short strides, sweeping off further down the tunnel.

@Doctor ; exit unless stopped

"Oh, oh nO THANK YOU-!" he called after Garnet, his voice escalating into a shout to keep up with its departing form.

He then turned back to Kethri, giving her his full attention; he eyed the wing, settling back in place, determined to keep both a real and magical eye on its progress.

"Owe? -Oh, no no, my dear, you are contributing to science! Doctor exclaimed, with genuine enthusiasm. His one good eye took careful stock of the wing, of Kethri's pose, of the way she stood, as he went on. "You see, the more we treat, the more injuries and sicknesses we learn to deal with properly, the better our body of knowledge becomes. Well, the first time a child comes--yes?--with a broken leg; we do not know what to do. But when we have mended a dozen rats with broken legs, in different ways--we learn what works. What does not! And then we use that on real Gembound; and we see what continues to work. It is all experiment at first, yes; but in time we learn, and we can treat, with confidence! -anything that comes to us."

It wasn't quite clear who this royal 'we' or 'us' was, aside from 'just Doctor' himself, but he seemed both cheerful and honest with his assessment. "To explain it better, more clearly: I have mended legs in the past. But not like this. I have tested this method on the rats, yes, and it works, but it must be watched closely for infection. If your wing mends--and it should!--then I know that it will work for others, in the future, too."

So, basically, Kethri was an experiment. How kind...

@Kethri

Kethri swallowed and looked down, shuddering at the thought.

"Well... when I am healed, will you study your results and then release me?", she asked, hoping that he said yes.

The owl looked at the Doctor and listened to him speak, listening to his methods. Well, it was for the good of many should his experiments suceed, she reasoned. It wasn't totally bad. Rats weren't intelligent and they were basically food, perfect for testing possible treatments on.

And what had anyone else ever done for her, anyway? Sure, there could be good people out there, but so far she'd seen exactly none.

"... Doctor,", she said, voice a bit soft as she continued to think, "Could you... explain your methods further? I'm er... a bit curious, I'll admit."

Kethri felt no shame in the admission regarding the possibility that she might be delving into information regarded unethical by many. Then again, she was stubborn about her hatred of others that didn't prove themselves right away.

And she wanted to draw the attention away from her fit of sobs earlier.

@Doctor

"Release?" A blink--of one eye--as if he were surprised, taken aback; as if he hadn't thought of this. Or maybe as though it was a given? "Oh, yes, I would presume so, unless one of the others has another use for you?" he answered, readily, honestly.

Doctor straightened up, an expression like a flash of alpenglow across otherwise-craggy ridges: brilliant, bright. Someone was taking an interest in his work-!

"Oh, my methods? Certainly!"

...Rambling time.

"Well, some might see it as simply throwing ideas around, to see what sticks, but truly it is a far more methodical approach! We find the rats, you see, first--and," and here he began to waddle over to indicate the rats still lined up, grass twisting their wounds closed--"Well--they are rendered immobile which is not very pleasant but it must be. Then we apply our testing criteria: are we searching, yes, for--ahh, to see how--infection cleanses? How broken bones mend over time? Subject One, for example, was a test: if a Gembound's bones are broken when it is young, will it properly heal? The answer is, without proper resetting of the bones, it might permanently affect its growth and movement, which is not good but the bones heal surprisingly strong, but that tells us we must splint-... How does disease in youth affect growth? We test this on the rats, yes? How does disease affect the healing of concurrent trauma? -This is important to know because of course all of the test subjects are subjects of concurrent trauma, ha!"

A few more steps, and he touched a foot to one of the rats, checking it for... something. Whatever it was, it seemed to spike pain in him--a backfired spell, perhaps? Or maybe something was very wrong with the rat; whatever the case he backed up with a brief hiss of pain, a click of his beak. It took him a moment of shaking his head quickly, as if to clear it, before he returned to his monologuing. "And of course control groups are important! So for every group of rats who are sick, then we have the ones who are not, so that we may compare--otherwise it would be useless, no? Ha. So, this tells us many things! If we have a Gembound who returns from Hydra dehydrated, overheated, but wounded--what is the best order to give water and healing in? Have we tested this on rats? On other Gembound? Will we accidentally kill him, chrysalize him, by treating him wrong, or have we learned-? A Gembound who has been envenomated, by a Scorpion--how do we treat this? Oh, this lot, the Sentinels, they wish this knowledge to keep their Champions strong but it is also for the betterment of all the caves! I am... fairly confident-! -that your wing will heal better held in place with the grass sutures rather than a splint but that we must wait and see, ensure there is no infection, test for constriction of blood vessels and so forth--we will see, yes?!" he finished, enthusiastically beaming.

@Kethri