As we approached the temple district, which now had a gate made of interwoven vines, Kala turned to me. "Alana, a bit of privacy please."

That was a bit concerning, but easy enough. I furrowed my brow as I sang the spell into place, making a bubble around us.

"What's wrong?"

"We need to talk. Alana, there are rules for priests, and rules for those who seek shelter with us. If you enter the temple district I need you to promise to follow them."

"Um?"

"We do not heal soldiers while battles are still going, nor support any side over the other. The man last night, I know he was your friend, but you can't do something like that again."

"I... he wasn't even fighting though."

"I know, and I know that you didn't make to fight either side, you were just helping a friend. That's why it's technically okay, but it skirts the rules we priests must live under, and once we go in you can't do that again." She had a very serious look on her face, and we stared at each other for a few minutes.

"Why didn't you tell me this before we left?"

She looked away, "I... didn't know if you would come if I told you. I'm sorry, I thought it was best."

I couldn't hear them, but the people with us looked aghast as my hand made contact with her face. "You tricked me? Did you really think I wouldn't have come if you just asked!? But no, you had to bring me here, where you knew I wouldn't turn around, where I wouldn't have a choice before you told me what needed to happen! All because you 'thought it was best' seriously!?"

Kala held her face where I'd slapped her, looking like she was about to cry. "I just wanted you safe."

"I know. That's not the problem, the problem is that you took away my choice Kala. That's not how you treat people. It's why The Shield ticks me off so much, because that's the kind of thing they do."

That seemed to resonate with her, causing her to wince. "I didn't mean to hurt you, please..."

"I'm mad, but I'll get over it. Just don't do anything like that ever again." I huffed a bit, but knew that I wouldn't stay angry with her for too long. A quick look at her and I felt my own pang of regret. "Sorry for hitting you."

"I kind of deserved it." She looked away a bit.

"Maybe, but I still shouldn't have done that. It was wrong, and..." I was at a loss for words on that one. Striking her had been completely out of line, even if she had deceived me, and even if I was unbelievably pissed at her.

"That doesn't change things though. If you come in you still have to promise that you won't get involved in the fighting. If you won't, we'll figure something out, if we can."

"I won't get involved any more Kala. Come on, let's go."

Normally I'd have held her hand while we went, but I was still a bit cross. Perhaps it was that my interactions with The Shield had soured me a bit on people insisting that they knew best, and trying to force it on others. Regardless, that, mixed with how I felt about my own loss of control put me in an awkward place.

I'd never struck any of the people I'd gone out with before in my previous life, nor would I have let them hit me. The very idea of being in that kind of relationship seemed disgusting. Now I had to deal with the fact that I'd lost it and actually done something like that. The very thought made me feel slightly ill.

I dropped the privacy ward as we moved towards the gate, getting strange looks from both those with us and the few men stationed there who could clearly tell that Kala was a priestess. I decided to bottle up my storm of emotions for now as we made our way through and entered this section of the city. The refugees were quickly being interviewed to help them figure out where to go while Kala and I talked.

"I should probably check in with The Shield." I sighed. "If I don't they're likely to show up at some point and cause a whole scene."

"Oh, yeah, I suppose that's for the best." Kala mumbled a bit, looking slightly dejected.

"I'll ask them if I can help The Lovers though, or at least come by later. If that's okay with you?"

She immediately brightened back up. "Of course. See you later then."

I gave her a brief hug before heading off, something which seemed to surprise her a bit.

When I made it to The Shield's temple I found the place in a riotous state. It was packed with injured and confused people seeking a place to go. There were a few assistants at the gate helping those who needed healing get inside and those who didn't find other sections of the district where they could go. Seeing how busy everything was I got in line and watched while I waited.

There were very few men here, and those that were were mostly injured. The ones in line had rather small injuries while those who looked more serious that showed up were rushed inside for healing. It seemed that those men who were okay were being assigned locations depending on age and family status. Those with families were mostly being sent to a section between The Shield's headquarters and that of The Order of The Vine.

Women with their families, but without adult men were being sent to a similar, but distinctly separate section near the men. Those who were alone were sent to an area near The Lovers' temple. There were apparently some concerns about assaults, though with how dangerous I could see a priest being if they found such a thing it was probably a minor concern.

After waiting for a few minutes I well understood what the current state was, and had only to wait for my turn. Since I had little else to do I turned to one of the women near me. This lady was probably in her mid-thirties and had a few rather nasty looking burns on one of her arms. Those would hurt, but they were far from life threatening, and so she would have to wait to be seen.

"Excuse me," I asked, giving her a small wave.

"Hello dear, did you need something?" She looked outright exhausted, but was quite polite.

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"Um, would you like me to fix your arm?"

"Can you?"

I reached out and hummed 'twinkle twinkle little star' and watched as her arm began to regrow new skin. Her injury was not all that bad, so it quickly faded into a light red mark. Of course that got several of the people around looking at me, including the person who was directing everyone.

"Miss, are you a caster?" He asked, leaving his position for a moment to come and see me.

"Yes."

"I hate to ask, but are you willing to lend aid? If your parents are here I'd like to speak to them. We could use all the help we can get." Even the temples wouldn't order someone underage to work for them, but they could ask.

"They're not around. If Eleanor is around though, she's probably who I should go talk to. It's rather complicated."

It took him a few seconds to process that statement and he smiled just a bit. "Of course, go into the temple and to the wing just on the right. She should be in there directing some of the older children on helping carry water and the like." He pointed me towards the temple. While a few groaned that I wouldn't be seeing to them, most seemed to understand that I should probably be helping in the most efficient way possible.

It was surreal walking through today. There were a lot of injured, but there were some rather important facts about them. Mostly that none looked like soldiers. Similarly there were far less than I would expect for a city of this size embroiled in fighting. The other big thing was that most of the wounds looked like they'd been inflicted on the edge of the fighting. Some had arrows or burns, or other nasty things, but they all seemed like something that a bystander would get, not a soldier in the thick of it.

Finding my old guardian was easy enough. She stood in the midst of a swarm of teens, directing each here and there to clean things like sheets or bandages, or else to deliver water or other supplies to the various parts of the temple. There were a handful who seemed to be coming and going with notes and reports, which she hurriedly leafed through before sending the next adolescent off on a mission.

"Hi Eleanor." I said as I approached.

"This is hardly the time for..." She looked up from the paper before her, fixing a glare on me that shortly turned to a wide eyed gawk. "Alana!? What are you doing here? Why aren't you at the academy!?"

"It got attacked by a bunch of men trying to capture students. I didn't think it was safe so I fled. Long story, I'll tell you later. Kala and I got here just a bit ago, and I decided to come and check in with The Shield. If possible I'd like to go help her over with The Lovers." I rattled off at speed. The other teens were giving me a look now too.

Eleanor moved one hand to her face and began to massage the bridge of her nose. "I'd nearly forgotten what an incredible little headache you can be."

"That's not fair; I'm not really little anymore. Anyway, where should I go then?"

"I think I can answer that one best." A thick masculine voice came from behind.

I turned to see Rosk. It'd been years now since I'd laid eyes on him and he'd grown his hair out a bit. The look was quite fetching on him. He too looked like seeing me was dredging up a mix of memories.

"Oh?" I asked, putting a finger on my chin and tilting my head a bit. It was ludicrous, but the most obvious 'innocent act' I could put on.

He seemed mildly amused rather than bothered. "Yes, we're having some issues at the temple for The Vine that you are well suited to help. As for healing we've mostly got it covered here for now. Will you do so?"

"Of course," I chirped.

"Good, do you know where their temple is, or do you need someone to show you?"

I knew almost nothing about The Vine, but I'd seen a temple that fit that general aesthetic, and described its location to him. The temple district wasn't that big regardless, so it was nearly impossible to get lost. He nodded and I hurried off before someone tried to force me into cleaning bedpans or something else odious.

I was given a scribbled note and sent on my way. It would be easy enough to look at it, but it was sealed and my peaking might well be noticed, it would also ruin whatever surprise I was in for. I walked along the quite busy street to the walled off complex with the vines around it and found a man standing near the entrance. He wasn't a caster I thought, but a brief flash of aura told me he was either hiding it well, or a minor talent of some kind.

"I'm afraid we're closed for the moment miss. As you can tell there's quite a bit going on." He gave me a kind smile, but one that told me in no uncertain terms that he was really too busy today.

I proffered my note, which he quickly read through then gave a deep laugh. "Well, seems you're going in after all. See Jorus, he's the priest whose beard doesn't quite reach his chest."

He let me pass with what certainly had to be the strangest instruction on finding someone I'd ever heard. Then again I knew almost nothing about The Vine, there was only one guy in my class who was with them, and he seemed rather aloof to everything. I was pretty sure we'd never even talked.

Once I got in through I began to quickly understand. Finding the priests was easy enough, since they all had auras. There were a couple of women who were both rather young, and four men. Three of the men had ostentatious, belly length beards, where the third had one that was only around half a foot long. They were alternating between discussions with themselves and with a few attendants.

"Are you Jorus?" I asked, walking up to the short(er) bearded man.

"I am indeed; what brings you here?" He asked, raising one eyebrow. I knew he could see that I was a caster, so he didn't dismiss me outright.

"I have a note." I smiled brightly as I passed it over.

It took him a few moments to read the text before he began to chuckle. "Oh, that will be useful indeed."