A/N- I do not own anything from the Tortall universe, because alas I am not Tamora Pierce. I only take credit for my storyline and the weird OC I throw in here and there. Like Adeline and Gerald. RR thx :) Warning this is a sloooowwwww build but I just need to get to the fun bits then it'll pick up.
"When Adeline was cleaning up their campsite and readying the horses for the day ahead, she did not expect to find a naked young woman and an unknown pony laying among the horses, covered in dirt, grime, and blood. The girl looked like she was dead, and that exactly what she told her father. "Daaaa, I think there's a dead girl laying by the horses!?" Adeline was both confused as to how she got there and if she really was there.
"Mithros knock me down if this is another one of your games," Gerald said as he set down their bedrolls in the cart, shaking his head he started walking toward the horses when the strange new grey pony lunged for his arm when he stepped back the pony did as well, going to stand over the naked body. "Great Gods…" Gerald breathed out, turning to the pony, "How do you expect us to do something if we can't get near her?" as if the pony understood, she let out a huff of air and stepped away. Pausing slightly, now that's something to figure out later, Gerald took a step forward slowly, when the pony didn't make a move to stop him, he bent down to check on the girl, as he turned her over to check for a pulse he saw that she was younger than they had previously thought, barely out of childhood, she couldn't be more than 12 or 13 years old. But the biggest surprise was that she was alive, she had an injury to her thigh, but most of the blood on her didn't seem to be hers, her breathing steady, and other than being slightly underweight, and having some scratches she seemed to be in good health.
Gerald saw his daughter slowly inching her way towards them, "don't worry Addy, she's alive" he could hear her take a sigh of relief. With a glance at the pony, Gerald lifted the girl and lay her down in the empty space in their wagon, unrolling his bedroll to use to cover the poor girl. "Addy! Fetch some water and grab your med bag, I'll start a fire so we can boil some water. This girl needs some cleaning up and medical attention, seems you'll get to work on your healing before we thought." The last part he mumbled under his breath more to himself than to Adeline. Adeline was quick to act, grabbing a bucket and running towards the river that they had camped next to.
The trip from Coolspring to Cria was only about a half-day ride, but with the wagon, that slowed them down, and the snow that coated the ground made getting there into closer to a 2-day trip. Adeline had begun coming to and fro with Gerald with his wagon since the local healer had said that she taught Addy all she could, and Addy had a lot more potential to learn. They've yet to find a mage with enough knowledge, who wasn't asking for bags of gold and who would even teach a girl. Addy may not be showing it, but she was taking it harder than she showed, and having a new patient would be good for her.
When Addy came back, the fire Gerald built was going and the pot over it was warming and waiting for the water. As the water heat, Addy worked to get together her supplies, clean bandages, herbs, needle, and thread. That chore done, with the remaining water in the bucket, using the cleanest cloths they had, they worked to wipe away the grime from the girl's skin. Her features were darker than most Gallans, her skin tan, the mass of hair brown and curly, and she looked as though she was used to labor, there were scars on her arms and legs. Once her skin was some semblance of clean, Addy got to work on her leg, first with natural mundane techniques, clean water on sterile cloths, and then moving on to working her light blue gift into the wound to clean out any infection, and then to work a little bit of the gash closed, it seemed to be from an arrow, and was already beginning to heal on its own. Although Adeline didn't know any big magics to work, she did have a strong healing ability and was able to progress the healing quite far, stitching the remaining wound closed, and strengthening her body with a jolt of her gift.
When Adeline was finished the girl looked better, but was still sleeping deeply, likely from exhaustion, and hopefully she would wake soon so she could tell Adeline and Gerald who she was, why was she laying among the horses, and how she came to be in the state they found her in. Also why the strange pony that appeared the same time as her was staring Addy down like one wrong move and she'd be on the ground, head bashed in. Deciding not to deal with the glare of the watchdog pony, Addy tucked the girl in, under the bedroll, and walked over to the fire where her father was waiting.