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"Go, go, go!" Skur was shouting at the Zephyrites who had been trapped in a narrow crevice created during the crash, between a large rock and a mast, but fires were spreading and the mast was catching fire. Skur had surrounded the crevice until she saw a loose--but huge--boulder that could be shifted to allow the people trapped inside to leave. The position of the boulder and the mast meant Skur would have to wedge herself between the ground and the boulder and lift it straight up, leaving just enough room for the humans to crawl out between her legs. It took some hefting but eventually Skur got the boulder in the right position over her shoulders and started pushing, yelling as her muscles strained against the considerable weight of the boulder.

Then she yelled for the trapped people to escape, most of them running out just in time. A few were injured, however, and had to be carried carefully, and Skur did her best to keep her urging at a normal volume, but this rock was damn heavy. Just as the last injured Zephyrite was dragged out one of them yelled, pointing back into the crevice, something about a child. Skur swore colorfully, craning her neck aroudn to see a small child curled up in the far corner, either paralyzed with fear or passed out, it was impossible to tell through the smoke. After a quick moment of thought she instructed one of the Zephyrites to take out her tallest turret, deploying it next to her, and then she slowly lowered the rock onto it. It immediately started to groan and crack under the weight, and Skur rushed into the crevice, knowing she didn't have long. She scurried along the low crevice, grabbing the child and then turning, only moving a few steps before she saw the turret about to break into pieces. She swore loudly, lunging forward and tossing the child through the opening, curling herself back so she wouldn't be crushed by the falling rock.

For a moment after the rock crashes down she thinks she might be able to get out, but then she realizes the impact of the huge boulder has sent a shockwave through the mast, which was weakened by the fire, and Skur only has time to shift back a little under the lip of the rock and shout out a swear before the fiery wood comes crashing down on top of her.

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"Zephyrites spotted below, Captain Andromeda!" Fhaori calls out, lowering her binoculars, "Looks like they've barely escaped some flaming wreckage."

"Kaddas, take us down there so we can pick them up! And for Glint's sa -- for the sake of all nine gods, all of you, stop calling me Andromeda! Or Captain, for that matter!" Andi snaps, her already fragile nerves frayed to their breaking point. She rushes to the side of the airship as the asura pilot lowers them closer, looking for anyone she knew among the small crowd, hoping against hope that the ship she had called home hadn't gone down. She doesn't know whether to be relieved or afraid when she doesn't see any familiar faces.

"Lower the bridge!" Andi shouts to the charr, Vorgga, standing at the edge of the ship, and the charr nods in return before complying. Andi rushes down the ramp, drawing her sword from her back and beckoning to the group.

"Everybody on!" she barks, in a particularly uncharacteristic and unladylike voice, even as they begin rushing past her onto the ship, "There's a Seraph camp not far from here, we're taking you there!"

"Wait, the norn --" pants one frantic survivor, who stops in front of her and clutches at a bleeding gash on his side. Andi reaches out a hand to grip at the sleeve of his jacket, steadying him just in time.

"What norn?!" she asks urgently, "Was there a norn with you? I don't see --"

"There --" the young man coughs, pointing to a flaming pile of wreckage, "Under..."

Sure enough, to Andi's horror, she could see a bloody arm protruding from the firey rubble.

"Ohhh...shoot!" she exclaims, stomping her feet in a panic as she tries to come up with a plan of action. She runs down the ramp and approaches the pile, and, finding the fire far to hot to venture further, she creates several illusions to do the job for her. The flames burn through them quickly, but not before they're able to lift most of the burning rubble that had piled on top of the norn's body. When the path is clear, Andi motions for Vorgga, who was watching her from the edge of the ship. Vorgga nods, rushing to the norn's side and slinging her body over her shoulders with a great deal of effort, singing her fur a great deal in the process. The pair heads back to the boat, coughing and wheezing, and Vorgga dumps the badly injured norn as carefully as she can manage onto the deck of the ship.

"Big gal," she says, rolling her shoulders and coughing again, "She's hurt real bad."

"Set a course for camp," Andi orders, her growing exhaustion clear in her voice, "As fast as this ship will go."

"Is it terrible if I say I prefer this work to the party?" Traenan asks Bjorn during a rare lull, only to shake his head at himself, "Don't answer that."

Just then there's a commotion outside the tent, and Traenan swallows down the rest of his water and gets up to see what's going on. One of the ships doing rescue is parked outside, a small group of zephyrites pouring out of the cargo hold. A couple members of the crew are following them, carrying what looks to be a norn body between them.

"If you are injured please see yourself to the medical tent behind me, if you are helping an injured person to the tent please do not linger inside the tent longer than necessary, and any minor injuries can be treated by the seraph in camp," Traenan calls out in an authoritative voice, waving people along and casting a calming, lightly healing spell over the nearby ground where the Zephyrites were passing. Then Bjorn, who was just behind him, gasps and shoves his way through the crowd.

"Skur!" Bjorn yells, his voice shaking with grief, and Traenan's full of dread at the sound of it. He follows Bjorn to the norn the crew is carrying, gasping softly. It's barely recognizable as her, as she's covered in bad burns and cuts, but the long gray dreadlocks are unmistakable.

"Let's get her to the tent," Traenan says, reaching out immediately to cast a strong healing spell on her body. Bjorn takes her gingerly, and Traenan glances over the remaining crew, remembering one of them as the captain.

"You," He says, pointing to the human woman, "Come with me, tell me what happened."

"Me?" Andi says, gaping for a minute at the rudeness of being pointed at and spoken to so rudely, but quickly shakes herself back to attention.

"I mean, yes, um...sir?" she adds hesitantly, falling in step beside him and behind the large norn who was carrying the wounded one. She wasn't sure of the sylvari's rank, but the tone in his voice certainly demanded a "sir," anyway.

"I...really didn't see much," she says, a flustered blush spreading across her cheeks under the pressure, "When I landed to pick these people up, one of them told me there was a norn under the wreckage, so I...looked, and there was one, so we got her out."

She bites her lip, looking at the man apprehensively, uncertain if he wanted something more.

"That's...not to say it was as simple as that," she adds, "There was a pile of bits from the ship on top of her, they were very heavy, and they were on fire, not to mention she's quite heavy and totally unconscious and -- is she...going to be all right, d'you think?"

Edited 2015-05-07 18:59 (UTC)

Traenan nods along to the captain's words, working busily and not looking up until she asks if Skur will be okay. He attempts a reassuring smile, but it comes out grim.

"She's... My partner's sister. A personal friend. I'll... do everything in my power to help her," He says, his smile wavering for a moment before he's pulled back to his work, "Thank you for your help. You've helped me determine her injuries are not magical or cursed in nature. You can go." He doesn't give her anything else by way of farewell, just turning towards Skur's body, his hands glowing brightly as he focuses on his healing.

Andi blinks at the quick and unceremonious dismissal, and her mouth hangs open to say something more, but nothing comes to her, and it appears that the man had no intention of listening to anything else she had to say, either. She nods, to no one, and turns on her heel, making her way back to where her crew was waiting.

"Another sylvari out here?" Fhaori asks curiously, standing on her toes and peering over Andi's shoulder to look at him, "Is he the doctor? Wow, it's so brave of him to come here, what with people's attitudes towards us and everything. What did he want? He looks...tall...did you get his name? Did he tell you how long he's staying? Where do you think he lives?"

"He just wanted to know how the norn was injured," Andi replies distantly, ignoring Fhaori's other questions, "To make sure it wasn't any kind of dragon corruption." She has a faraway look in her eyes; if this norn died, it would be the first rescue her group had failed.

"You all...go on ahead," she says, after a few quiet moments, "Kaddas, I'm putting you in charge for now. Keep bringing people back. I'm going to stay here and...see how she progresses."

"Kaddas is in charge?" Niakka protests glumly, less than eager to be taking orders from her twin, "But --"

"You heard her," Kaddas says, grinning toothily and slapping her sister on the back before running up the ramp to the ship, "All aboard!"

The others board the ship, except Vorgga, who lingers a moment at Andi's side.

"You did what you could, kid," she says gruffly, placing a paw on Andi's shoulder, "Don't beat yourself up too hard. You've got enough going on already."

"Right," Andi says, snapping herself out of her daze, and Vorgga nods at her before following behind the others.

It takes hours to get Skur stable, as her burns were serious and she had a number of broken bones and internal injuries, made all the more difficult to treat because the burns made other injuries difficult to find. Traenan had to do most of it by feel of magic alone, and when he finally gets the last of the more deadly injuries on their way to healing he's exhausted and shaking. He lets one of the other healers take over on healing the minor wounds, as he's well on the way to burning himself out. He stumbles tiredly out of the emergency medical tent, looking around for Bjorn but not seeing him anywhere.

Instead he sees the airship captain from earlier, assisting some of the other volunteers with passing out food. He approaches her, wondering if she's been waiting on news about Skur.

"Excuse me, um," he falters, realizing embarrassingly that he never learned the young lady's name, "I just wanted to thank you again for saving Skur. The, um, norn woman you pulled out of the fire. I'm Traenan. I never caught your name, Miss...?" He speaks politely, remembering the human rules of etiquette just in time, knowing he spent far too much time around norns.

Andi flusters a little in surprise when the sylvari approaches her suddenly, not entirely sure how she should speak to him due to the bluntness of their interaction earlier.

"Andi," she says, regaining her composure just in time to offer him her hand to shake, "Andi Roesler. I'm glad I could help, this has all been disasterous. I don't believe I caught your name eith --"

She only just realizes what the man had said, and she falters.

"Wait, saved?" she asks, her eyebrows raising intently, "You mean, saved saved, you mean she's going to be all right after all?"

She realizes too late that she's still shaking his hand vigorously, and she stops, folding them politely in front of her.

Traenan laughs a little, deliriously, tickled by this girl's enthusiasm.

"Yeah, she's... Out of the woods. She sustained a lot of damage, so she's going to be bedridden for quite a while, but... The danger has passed." He sighs as he says this, rubbing his tired eyes and smiling.

"Oh... I'm Traenan by the way. Sorry if I was... rude, before, I can get a bit... focused when I'm working. Have you seen Bjorn around? My partner? Big, norn, loud laughter? I need a nap," He adds, laughing.

"Oh, him!" she says, nodding too vigorously, "Yes, he was just over there with the others passing out care packages with me. He hasn't exactly been laughing, though, I suspect he's too worried about his sister for jokes. I'll let him know you need your replacement."

She turns on her heel, then pauses before looking back over her shoulder again.

"And thank you. For your help, I know she's a friend of yours but I was so worried that I'd been too late to help, and...just...thank you."

She turns around again and walks off briskly, returning a few minutes later with Bjorn at her side.

"Traenan," Bjorn breathes when he sees him, his relief plain in his voice, "How is she? This child says she's doing all right?"

"I'm...not a child," Andi says quietly, her brow furrowing. He turns his head and looks at her in surprise.

"You aren't?" he asks, somewhat disbelievingly, "You are very small."

"I'm not...that small," she says, feeling her cheeks start to burn, "My family is just --"

"Don't worry about it," Bjorn says dismissively, patting her on the back as he brushes past her to join Traenan, leaving her gaping incredulously.

Traenan can't help but laugh at Bjorn's exchange with Andi, giggling when he would normally stay quiet due to how exhausted he is. He gravitates towards Bjorn, resisting the urge to throw himself into his arms. That would probably be a bit much, even considering the amount of public affection they already displayed.

"Skur's all right. Or... she's on her way to being all right, I should say," he says, standing at Bjorn's side and reaching up to touch his arm, "I've been using magic nonstop for about six hours, and I'm sure you need rest as well. Let's go back to our tent." He smiles warmly at Bjorn, and then remembers something at turns back to Andi.

"Oh, you can go in and see her after the other healers are finished, shouldn't be too long. I think appreciate having someone to talk to when she wakes up," he says, giving Andi a smile before turning back towards Bjorn.

Bjorn smiles at Andi and waves before turning away, putting his arm around Traenan's shoulders as they walk. They seemed very close, and Andi thinks briefly about the value of such close friendships before turning towards the medical tent anf heading inside. The norn woman still looks badly wounded, but much better than she had when Andi had left her, and she takes a seat on a chair behind where one of the healers was working and waits for her to wake up.

The first thing Skur figures out when she drifts towards consciousness is that she feels like she's been trampled by a herd of minotaur, and her first instinct is to try and remember how much she'd had to drink the previous night. She feels curiously sore, though, deep in his bones, and her skin feels itchy and tight and uncomfortable, and neither of these sensations are typical of a hangover.

"Remind me to stop drinking," she mumbles to nobody, shifting a little on the bed and then hissing at the sharp jolt of pain that seems to ripple over her whole body. She cracks an eye open, grimacing, peering around the tent and groaning softly. Her gaze falls on a small human girl sitting next to the bed, and tries to remember if they'd spent the night together.

"What... happened?" she asks through her teeth, pain still rippling over her.

Andi starts when the norn speaks to her, and sits up straighter in her chair.

"You're awake! Good," she says, clearing her throat, "You were out rescuing Zephyrites who had crashed in the wastes, do you remember? You were crushed by falling debris from one of the ships, and you were unconscious by the time my crew arrived on the scene. It's a miracle you survived. Your friend, Traenan, and his friend, Bjorn, really worked miracles to save you. They thought you might want some company when you woke up, and I stayed behind to monitor your condition, so...he asked me if I would sit in with you, and...here I am."

Skur frowns at the human, trying to puzzle out the story she's telling. She doesn't remember, actually, but it sounds like something she'd do. She can imagine the fuss Bjorn must have raised when they'd dragged her back. She sighs, closing her eyes and still frowning through the dull pain.

"That makes sense. I almost thought I'd had too much to drink and was waking up in bed with a stranger," she says, peering over to smirk at the human, then closing her eyes again, "I don't remember what happened, it's all... fuzzy. But that could be the pain." She shifted slightly, and then groaned again, "Thank you for sitting with me."

Andi lets out a high pitched, started laugh, and flushes furiously as she looks around the room for the stranger she could be referring to with her joke. She spots a male norn healer standing just outside the tent, and decides she myst have been talking about him.

"It's no trouble at all," she says, resisting the urge to scold the woman for making such crass comments nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, only for it to immediately fall out of place again, "I'm just glad you're all right, you had me quite worried there. I'm Andi, by the way, Andi Roesler."

She extends her hand for her to shake, then, realizing it might still be difficult for her to move, pats her on her (very firm, muscular) arm.

Skur nods in response to the touch, feeling like her arm would fall apart if she tried to lift it. She glances over Andi, looking her up and down as best she can from her position on the bed, realizing she's pretty cute, for a human.

"Skur," she says after a moment, "Solberg. I suppose you saved my life as well? Lucky me." She does her best to give Andi a wink and a lascivious smirk, but she feels the effect is a little weakened by the wince and all the healing wounds, probably.

"When I can stand I'll take you for an ale," she says, trying the smirk again.

"Oh, that's...very kind of you," Andi replied haltingly, "I'm afraid I'm not much one for ale, though, and you should focus on resting."

She pauses a moment, before realizing that might have come off as rude.

"That's not to say I wouldn't be interested spending time with you!" she adds quickly, "I would, when you're better. I could certainly use something to take my mind off this mess. In fact, I'm sure my whole crew could. I'm sure we could all go for a drink."

She sighs, staring wearily down at her steel plated boots.

"This really is a dreadful mess, isn't it?" she mutters quietly, as much to herself as to Skur.

Skur is baffled by Andi's response to her asking her out for a drink, because she seems enthusiastic but she also invited her friends along. Skur can't help but wonder if the full meaning of Skur's invitation was lost on Andi, or if she's just too polite to refuse her outright. In any case, backing off is probably the way to go, at least until Skur can get a better sense of her intentions.

After a moment of consideration she decides to go along with Andi's change of subject, because the situation is dire.

"It is indeed. A terrible end to a great party," Skur says, shaking her head sadly, "People are doing all they can, though, and lives have been spared. Do not fret overmuch, little one," she says, tilting her head to give Andi a most honest smile.

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