"Shep!" Silver shouted, running as fast as his legs could carry him towards the encampment of rangers. "Shep I've got it!"
Groans and cries of pain were the only response that the ivory hoglet heard as he entered the boundaries of the campsite. Trails of blood and smears of black decorated the stone ground in an eerie painting of battle and strife. Even though Silver's balance was quite honed, he still found himself slipping on goops of coagulations and entrails of stalkers. No matter. He had to deliver the supplies.
"I got it!"
Miserable faces turned towards him as he stumbled to a halt in front of the firepit. Its orange glow provided a comforting warmth against the cold night air. Despite his anxieties still striking him, the heat was a welcome sense in all the aftermath. And he wasn't the only one to think so. What rangers that could still move about despite their injuries (or lack thereof) had spent time dragging their packmates to the gentle light. Even though it was good to bring them where observing the damage was easier, the uncomfortably long trails of blood put a pit in the hedgehog's twitching stomach.
"Quick - bring it over!"
Silver quickly hopped at Rake's stressed voice. Boots picking up bits of stalker blood, he approached a group of rangers huddled over one of their own.
"I need alcohol." An unfamiliar voice commanded. Gloved hands reached out and gestured at the hoglet's swinging satchel.
Grunting, Silver fumbled with the clasp. His trembling fingers refused to maintain grip but after a few painful seconds, he flipped the bag open. Ether…thread…needles…rags…
"Here." Silver passed the bottle of spirits over to the ranger.
Gripping the cork in her teeth, the ranger yanked out the plug and spat it onto the stone below. With studied hands and careful aim, she poured the liquid onto her patient's chest. Shouts and unknown expressions filled the air as Shepard reacted to the strong substance.
"Shep!" Silver gasped, not having realized that he was the one being tended to. "You look worse!"
"He's lost blood." Rake responded, turning to another one of the wounded rangers and tightening a bandage on their leg. "I don't know how to fix it…"
A whooshing noise emerged from the woods. Reacting to the sound, the attending rangers rapidly stood to their feet. Bristled fur and pointed ears honed in on the sound's origin with learned accuracy. Slowly, the gloved hands began to reach for their weapons. Footsteps approached the damaged encampment as a hooded silhouette emerged from the woods. Metal gleamed in the firelight and glowing eyes darted left and right in a calculated assessment of the situation.
"Who goes there?" Rake shouted, shakily grabbing his bow and nocking an arrow against its drawstring.
"The perimeter is clear." Shadow spoke, ignoring the teen and speaking directly to his prodigy. "I saw their tracks, but they fled without turning back."
"It's worse than I thought." Silver blurted, fetching the pincushion and thread from his satchel. "We don't have a lot of time.
Pulling down his hood, the ebony hedgehog swept his eyes across the group of wounded rangers.
"I can not catch a break." The elder grumbled, rubbing his eyes and folding back his ears. "First the baby and now this…"
"Baby?" Silver puffed, eyes widening.
"I'll explain later." Shadow dismissed with a wave of his hand. "Hand me the blood pressure cuff."
"Hold it right there." Ria shouted, turning from one of the injured and drawing a knife from her side. "What business do you have?"
"Breathe gently." Shadow answered, placing one hand on his chest and holding the other out in front of him. "On Gaia below, I mean you no harm."
"You know of our ways?" Ria asked, lowering her blade.
"I know many things." Came the response. "If you want my assistance you must let me continue."
Taking the cuff from his student, Shadow knelt down next to the wounded ranger and slipped it over his uninjured arm.
"Is he ok?" Silver asked.
Shadow only mumbled. Numbers only barely reached the hoglet's ears as the elder slowly released the air from the device. Anxiety filled the air as the beats counted lower and lower…
"He's lost a lot of blood." Shadow finally answered. "I see you placed a tourniquet, but it's not tight enough."
Shepard shouted as the hedgehog grasped the rope on his arm and yanked. Thwip. The sound of fiber on fiber grated in Silver's ears as the cordage tightened to pressures the hoglet hadn't even considered or seen in his life.
"Fetch water."
Rake bolted at the command.
"Silver, hand me a needle and thread."
"Wait-" Silver gasped, reaching in and pulling out the bottle of ether. "Wouldn't this hel-"
"I need him conscious." Shadow spoke, delivering his answer coldly and without looking up. "Use it on those more fortunate than him."
Handing the supplies to his mentor, Silver found himself awkwardly tapping his feet.
"You are the medic here, yes?" Shadow asked, sliding his gloves off from under his rings and flashing his bare hands with a violent burst of Chaos energy.
The woman who had been working on the pack leader could only nod.
"Tend to the others - direct my prodigy as needed."
"What do I-" Silver started.
"You do as you're told." Shadow growled. "You were involved with this mess, so you help clean it up. Do as she says, and tell me if things go wrong."
If asked to describe the tasks that followed next, Silver would say he only recalled a blur of blood and ether. He would never know if frequently administering the chemical was what caused such a memory haze or if it was the mere scope of damage the rangers had faced. Stitches and bandages all combined in the repetition of rag, hold, and wash. Pour the ether, hold the rag down, and rinse the wound.
Shep could be heard shouting and whining from behind as the hoglet helped the ranger medic. Those assisting Shadow were glimpsed pinning the flailing limbs down and pouring the bottle of alcohol into the snapping mouth. As the minutes ticked by, the growls and shouts grew more and more slurred from the pain and substance delivered to him. Silver tried not to concentrate on the havoc and only kept his eyes pinned to the sedated patient in front of him. He hoped they got him drunk enough to forget the torture of whatever procedure was being performed…
Ria, who was also attempting to assist with the others, didn't seem so well off either. Her balance was skewed and her fingers seemed to slip. It was hard to see her injuries through her scarlet red fur, but even as the medic noted her paled face and unusual movements - she insisted on helping as best as she could.
Silver himself seemed to accumulate whatever he touched. Having brilliant white fur already meant he groomed himself far more than the average mobian ever did. But kneeling in black goo and helping stitch shut various wounds and injuries did his pelt no favors as the night dragged on. Stains of red and smears of black accumulated on his arms and legs despite the many times he rinsed his hands clean with lye soap and increasingly bloody water. Bits of bark and wood even clung to his chest as the trips for firewood demanded his swift movements.
"Silver, fetch me bandages."
Shadow also was not spared the messines of the aftermath. Having performed nothing short of impromptu surgery on the barely conscious Shepard had left his arms caked with dried blood and bile. Even though filth had clung to his clumped fur, his hands remained unnaturally clean. Silver found out why when another brilliant flash of energy seared across the black and red fur as the elder reached for the rolls of fabric.
"Have you been taught how to stitch a wound shut?"
"Yes." Silver breathed, watching as the ebony hedgehog began to wind the bandages around the braced and threaded arm.
"Have you learned a proper heart rate?"
"Yes."
"A proper breath rate?"
"Yes."
"Blood pressure?"
A nod.
"Those are called vital signs." Shadow explained, undoing the tourniquet and feeling at the hand below the loosed rope. "Abnormal numbers will tell you that something is wrong. Hand me the thermometer."
Passing the tube, Silver found himself staring at the mumbling ranger below.
"Will he live?" One of the others asked, wringing his hands together nervously.
"Yes." Shadow replied. "Though his arm will never be the same."
"Where did you learn such advanced procedures?" Rake asked.
Shadow only let out a heavy sigh.
"I-I mean if it's alright to ask…"
The teen blundered over his words in tumbling stammers. Even though he tried to keep himself composed, his clenched hand and twitching tail gave him away. What was most telling, at least to Silver's eyes. Was his bushy tail defensively kept hovered over his sedated mother's head.
"I was trained in all manners of medical care." Shadow responded.
The elder rose from his knelt position and wandered his way over to the bloodied water bowl. Without knowing why, Silver found himself stumbling after him. A small splash sounded in his ivory ears as the elder hedgehog dipped his hands into the stained liquid.
"Advanced first aid, standards for basic procedures, proper use of medical devices…"
The sound of claws raking through clumped fur accompanied by small splashes forced a gulp through the hoglet's throat.
"The nurses aboard the ARK taught me much about keeping someone alive." Shadow spoke. "Especially since I found myself in the medical wing of the facility for a large portion of my time. Having nothing to do during long waiting periods, they assisted me through simulations. Partly to ensure the safety of another… and partly to cure their own boredom."
Another violent flash flickered across everyone's vision as the hedgehog sterilized his hands a final time.
"The rest I discovered through necessity."
"A-are you truly the Hero the Prodigy speaks of?" Ria stammered, stumbling slightly on her feet before sitting herself down.
"Hero is such a polarising term." Came the response. "Everyone sits in various shades of grey."
"Yes." Silver responded, rolling his eyes. "This is Shadow."
With a slight grumble, the hoglet kicked at the elder's steel-toed boots.
"He likes to speak in riddles and it's very annoying."
"Please, we need your help." Rake blurted. With a twitch of his tail he stepped towards the two hedgehogs.
"I have already provided you assistance." Shadow grumbled, crossing his arms with a slight toss of his head. "Unless it is the sick ones that you are referring to."
"Yes they-"
Vomit splattered against the ground as Ria interrupted herself with her own bile. Coughing on the contents of her stomach, she fell forwards onto her paws.
"Ria…" Shep mumbled, drunkenly reaching towards the trembling rabbit.
"They…they have fog in the lungs…" Ria mumbled, swaying despite her splayed hands. "They…We've lost several…"
Silver wordlessly ran towards her. Sliding to a halt, he quickly began to assess her situation. Heart rate…fine…breathing…a little fast… She choked again, this time holding in her contents with a painful swallow and a gurgling cough. What could possibly be wrong? She was a little bruised here and there, but other than a few scratches there seemed to be nothing outrageously bad. Even still, she swayed like branches in the breeze with wobbly eyes and a paled face.
"Can you figure it out?" Shadow asked, walking up to the hoglet's side and standing over the two.
"I-I don't know.." Silver breathed, placing his ear against her chest in another attempt to hear the rate of her heart.
"You've dealt with visible wounds, but now here lies an invisible one."
Kneeling down next to the hoglet, Shadow grasped the rabbit's jaw in his hand and braced it steady with a less than gentle grip. A glowing finger raised skywards as he opened his mouth again.
"Keep your eyes on this."
Back and forth the finger traced, occasionally drawing close to the shivering eyes and forcing the pupils to near slits. With a hum, the hedgehog let go of the pale face.
"Did you see that?"
"See what?" Silver nervously asked, pulling at a long hair on his chest.
"The contraction of the pupil."
"Y-yes."
"That is a normal contraction." Shadow explained, standing back up. "Remember what that looks like."
"What's wrong?" Rake asked, taking his tail and wringing it between his paws.
"Head injury." Came the response. "There is little to no brain damage, and with rest and low stimulus she should make a full recovery."
Silver winced as the memory of her head slamming against the stone ground reverberated in his mind. With an extended hand, Shadow reached down to pull the prodigy from his knees.
"Now that everyone has been accounted for, show me the reason you have come looking for me."