*OK, done, I think. Does Kay know she's got Threshold sickness? She's in pretty bad shape*, Katie sent privately to Melissa

Melissa frowned mentally. *No, and it's new since the other day. She's had laran for a while, but you're right - she's exhibiting all the symptoms.*

Louis watched curiously, avoiding the blue stone, as he had been told to. He focused on the bird, and, for a moment, he could almost see it from the inside ... Then he shook his head and the image was gone. He avoided looking back, looking at Kay instead, prepared to help if needed.

Dani was watching what was going on when she suddenly recalled all the hostility that Ann'dra had showed when he'd gone through threshold sickness. Kay hadn't been quite as hostile. But she'd still been rather rude in reply to the healer's rather ordinary questions about her rapport with the hawk. And there'd been a few other outbursts as well. From the looks that Katie and Melissa were exchanging, it seemed to Dani that they had arrived at the same conclusions. So she decided to ask Melissa about that.

Moments later Katie and Melissa both came out of the close rapport. Katie looked up, blinking in surprise. She put her matrix back in its silk, and heaved a big sigh.

"Thank you, Melissa. Now let's see if it worked..." She gently took the wing from Gwenn's hand, and every so slowly folded it back into its normal resting position.

She looked at Kay for confirmation. "Any pain with that? Is it better at all?"

Gwenn looked anxiously at Kay, then at Katie. He wondered if he needed to tie down the wing so that Amadaine couldn't move it, but didn't want to disturb the leronis just yet. He looked back at Kay, waiting for her answer.

Katie sighed with relief as Kay's face relaxed a bit - it had worked! She turned to Gwenn with a big smile.

"Yes, please, go ahead and wrap it as best you can. You've a fine way with animals - thank you for your help." Had he spoken out loud? She couldn't tell, but she could tell he wanted to just the same. She was too fuzzy now to care about barriers or anything else.

She was so tired suddenly, that she wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep for days! A soft whine behind her made her turn her head, to see Gabriel holding a little mouse as dantily as he could in his front teeth. He must have caught it somewhere while I was working! How did he know...? She shook her head in amazement and patted his head. He dropped the feshly-killed mouse in her hand, and thumped his tail on the floor.

"Bless your furry behind, Gabriel. How did you know?" She turned to the others. "Look - he caught a mouse for our patient."

Gwenn looked at her with mixed gratitude, puzzlement, and suspicion. Had she been reading her mind? Jake had said no one did that without permission, but...."I thank ye, vai leronis," he said respectfully. He began working on binding Amadaine's wing as she snuggled into him, softly singing a little nonsense song to her as he worked. He paused to watch Katie feed Amadaine the mouse that Gabriel had found.

Katie held the little body out to the sleepy bird carefully. After a few seconds, her beak opened to receive it. In several swift gulps, the rodent disappeared.

Katie grinned at Gwenn. "Well that's one of us with a full belly now."

Gwenn grinned back, his earlier suspicions forgotten. She certainly didn't act like the stories of witches that he had heard. She seemed more down-to-earth, like the healer he had trained with. Of course, they both had been semi-outcasts on the mountain.

Amadaine cooed softly in thanks, and cuddled in closer to the warmth of Gwenn's chest, digging in her claws for security. She still didn't understand how the healer had fixed what was wrong with the wing that didn't work, or why her perceptions had gotten so fuzzy. But perhaps it didn't matter. She was tired and mommy-human was encouraging her to go to sleep. So sleep she would.

With a huge sigh of relief, Kay flopped forward across the table, sliding her arms so as to provide more of a cushion between her forehead and the table. At first there only the sound of her trying to catch her breath. Then that quieted and she groaned "Merciful Avarra ... I _NEVER_ want to go through _THAT_ again .. like being stampeded over by flocks of full-grown woolies ... what I get for being most experienced component ... had to protect the others ... at least it's mostly quiet in my head now ... thank you ...".

Giving an inquiring meow, Mairead abandoned having Anwyn scritch her tummy and behind her eyes. Delicately, she hopped up to the table and rubbed her whiskers along the side of Kay's neck. *Mama ?*, she inquired, tapping Kay's cheek with one small paw.

Kay turned her head to shake off the insistent little paw. She slowly opened her eyes, and blinked a few times. Then she regarded the kitten and giggled. "Good lass", she praised Mairead, "You were a big help". Slowly she pushed her self mostly upright again, then leaned back in the chair. Purring happily, the kitten landed in her lap and quickly got comfortable.

"Thank you all", she began to the worried faces looking back at her, "I would have been much worse off without your help". Then she added specifically to Katie, "For the service you have done for my bird-sister, vai leronis, I owe you a debt of honour. You are a good woman, and I would also thank you for showing me that those creepy blue-fire jewels can bring healing rather than only harm".

Katie smiled, slightly puzzled. What was this chick's deal? "Oh poo, you owe me nothing. I'm no leronis, just a trainee who likes animals." She said in Standard. Sometimes it felt good to lapse back into it, so she didn't forget it over time! "And these aren't creepy at all - they're just tools, like a hammer or a drill or anything else. Hell, a lightbulb can kill someone if it's used incorrectly, right? Same thing applies. Anyway, I'm happy to be able to help."

Melissa held her breath, not sure what Kay's reaction would be to Katie's offhand comments... She waited in case she would be needed to go in and put out any fires... But then again, maybe Katie's attitude was _exactly_ what was needed. Maybe it would show Kay just how silly she was being... Melissa couldn't really do it, because she was a native, but Katie... well maybe that's really why Melissa chose her to come. She hid a smile, and waited to see what Kay would say.

Gwenn listened to the unintelligible babble of Terranan-speak that followed, slightly bemused and working on binding Amadaine's wing without disturbing her. It was obvious from the tones they used that they were alternately scolding Kay and trying to convince her of something. "There, wee one," he said softly to Amadaine, "Now it's fixed to heal properly, but it'll be odd for a tenday while ye get used to not having that wing." Once he'd finished, he could give Kay a bit more attention while they all talked in a language that he didn't understand. He began to worry about her--perspiration was drying on her forehead, and she looked pale and wan...

Kay stared at Katie for a moment, puzzlement written large upon her face. Not a fully-trained and experienced leronis ? But if one of their trainees (and a foreigner, no less) could wield _THIS_ much power, then Katie's teachers must therefore have even _MORE_ power than Kay had originally estimated.

Since Katie had spoken in Standard, Kay replied in the same tongue. "I don't understand ...", she protested, "If you're no more than a Terran student, how can you wield so much power ?". She paused, frowned, then added "You called up the blue-fire ... the data banks officially-claim it's JUST A MYTH and that the stones are just props ... but you _USED_ its flames ... and it didn't burn anyone ... not like ...". Her voice trailed off as she sudenly realized that she'd perhaps said more than was polite.

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