Noble faded in and out, a copper taste on his lips, tinged with bitterness. Herbs of some sort- had his body not been screaming at him, he might have hazarded a guess on the mixture and what it could be doing. The best he could manage was that they were doing something. His heart hadn’t beat this steady and smoothly in a long time.

Hazy brain or not, rigid training told him to take stock, so he did.

He knew he was in a doctor’s office. A portable one based on the size- an old Kaigan style one as evidenced by the cupboards full of jars that reeked of medicinal and floral scents. Rare a sight these days, but traditional medicine never truly went away.

He knew the wrappings Saila gave him were gone, replaced with proper bandages and the like, to keep him from moving and breaking any more of himself. He’d also been propped up on some pillows in a sitting position. Comfortable, if not for the fact he was dismembered.

He knew that he likely couldn’t move any time soon anyway, but that it was a living pain. He wouldn’t die again, not today.

He also knew the little lady was shouting about chickens in the other room, but was too groggy- and the sound too muffled- to make out any details.

But, this meant she was okay.

It sunk in that nothing else mattered but that.

Further conversation- ending with a put-upon sigh from Saila, followed shortly by a door closing just a touch rougher than needed.

Went well, from the sounds of it, Noble thought. I’ll have to ask what all the commotion was about later.

Then later arrived, much sooner than expected.

A man in traveling clothes slipped into the doctor’s office, a gentle grin on his face and a distinct fox-shaped mask on his belt that left a familiar, yet dissimilar sting.

“My doctor, I presume. What was all that ruckus about?”

“Oh, nothing much- some of our chickens were spooked by the scent of new guests and ran off. I’ve tasked your young ward with their retrieval,” the man laughed, and extended a hand. “And yes, I am your doctor today. Aoki Kenji.”

“A pleasure, Mister Aoki,” Noble did his best to nod. “I’d shake your hand, but, well. You know.”

“Hehe, I know,” he swished his outstretched hand into a polite, if cheeky, wave. “Just a bit of humour, to lighten the mood. Miss Saila told me a great deal about you.”

“I imagine she did,” Noble said- he’d work out what, exactly, later. “She doing okay?”

“Ah, yes. Splendidly, given the circumstances. Her external wounds won’t scar, and the bruising will recover with rest. She should take it easy, but otherwise she’s good.”

“Good,” Noble said, an understated double-beat of his heart the only sign of relief he could perform. “I’ll be honest, we’re… lucky, you all came along.”

“Indeed you are- though as the Painter tells us, we should make our own luck.”

“The Painter…?”

“Ah, our god- or an aspect of her anyway. You familiar?”

Noble nodded- he was. The Kaigan religion was a looser thing then the Felisian Creator- more centered around philosophy by his understanding. “In passing. He who painted the world, right?”

“Ah, another aspect. Like the setting sun, she takes on many hues. You can thank her we found you.”

Thank her… deeper thought, wedging into his groggy mind. “I suppose I should. How did you find us, anyhow?”

“Truthfully, it was by mistake- we thought it would be someone else.”

Something clicked.

“Someone else?”

“Oh, nothing too concerning- my partner caught a trail in the sand, so we followed.”

Kenji brushed it off with a sweeping gesture- or had his hand been swirling the entire time, since he entered? Noble could not recall.

He changed the subject, letting the thoughts percolate behind his mask.

“So… how about me, doc? Think you can put me back together?”

Kenji put a hand to his chin, the other still swishing. “Hm… well, I’m familiar with prosthetics, but I’ve never quite seen anything like yours before. They’re from Felisia, yes?”

“That they are. Saila tell you that?”

“Ah, that she did. Didn’t know if you had any replacements, though. Do you?”

Noble did his best imitation of a shrug.

“Can’t say I do; save for the bits and pieces she picked up herself.”

“So you do, then, have spare parts?”

A leading question. What is he getting at?

“I suppose so- though hell if I know what you can use them for.”

“A couple things come to mind. They’d serve a good example to see if I can repair them. Could be good material for said repairs, as well. What do you think, Mister Noble?”

The swishing of his hand continued.

The familiar stinging finally grew just a bit sharper

Little lights sparked in the air.

A complex series of circles and squares weaved itself into the air, and the pain still racking Noble’s body started to subside.

“You’re no ordinary doctor, are you?”

Kenji’s smile, polite and ordered, grew just a bit sharper too.

“And you’re no ordinary gunslinger. Though I must admit, when we followed the trail to you two, we didn’t expect you, if you’re who I suspect. But as the Painter tells us- turn mistakes into intention.”

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Noble was silent, save the steady thrumming of his heart.

Kenji’s expression faltered.

“Sorry, that saying sounds clearer in Kaigan. Rest assured Mister Noble, we’re not after you, in any sense, and neither you nor the girl are in danger- from us, at least.”

“And the actual danger?”

“Hm, straight to the point, are you? I do detest talking about work… fine, I’ll stop beating around the bush, then,” Kenji said with a sigh. He stepped a little closer, stooping down to look Noble square through the lenses of his mask.

“We’re looking for a man with a smile in his eyes.”

Noble didn’t blink. His heart skipped a beat.

… so that’s what this feels like.

###

First lizards, now chickens.

Oh the things we do to survive…

It’s not that she didn’t want to help of course. Kenji had lucked upon them and helped save them from the brink. A common courtesy of course, especially in Trestaria, where the code-of-conduct was that those you haven’t met should be ‘offered the palm before the knuckle’ as her mother had always put it- but Saila had never felt it fully true, at least from others as directed towards her.

Noble had been an exception, and now the delightfully devious wandering doctor and his sour, incompetent bodyguard was too.

Okay, not wholly incompetent… she was forced to admit, as the strain of the rope dug into her shoulder. Koryu had fetched a sizeable sled-wagon from the chicken hutch for her to load the runaways in, and had made pulling it seem easy.

Flatly, it was not.

At least the chickens were docile. Domesticated in Dulace- Kenji called them Nord Provencale- the plump, snow-white birds had escaped their home and fluttered off into the barren, open sands… and promptly realizing there was no freedom to be had, plopped down to relax. The bits of red plumage on their faces (or was it skin, Saila had no idea what part of a chicken was what) stuck out easy in the desert, and so she set about retrieving them, sled-wagon tied to one shoulder, a bag of chicken feed in hand.

Most waddled over with a delightful avian warble at the sight of food, and after a bit of feeding gratefully let Saila place them in the miniature yard she was lugging around. A grateful task, given their size- each was about the size of her head, and required her to drop the feed bag to pick up.

A few got an animal worry in their eyes and tried to get away, talons slicing into the smooth sand- Saila was slower on the draw, but her own bare feet gripped the sand just as well or better, and soon she’d have caught the panicked bird around the wings in a great bear hug- “Make sure to restrain the wings, so they don’t hurt themselves flailing about!” Kenji had advised her. Their struggles were epic, but eventually the hen would be soothed into defeat, and placed languidly in their transport.

The sun had barely reached noon when Saila realized she’d gotten all but one of the felonious feathered fiends safely stored.

If the dancer thing doesn’t end up paying off in the long run, Saila thought, wiping sweet from her brow, maybe I could work as a farm hand…

Of course, that’d all rely on the last one- not a hen, but a rooster, and judging from the lack of grumpy-bastard blood on the birds she’d found, he was the one who’d managed to spear Koryu in the shoulder.

Saila laughed to herself- then turned to the chickens.

“Hey, think if I catch him without getting hurt, Kenji’ll hire me and Noble?”

The ladies simply clucked among themselves, reminding her of Samudr-tat.

“… I’ve gotta get out of the sun.” She shook her head, and continued her search.

###

Noble spoke of many things with Kenji- mostly about his brother. Only the choicest, most relevant bits to the doctor’s desires, mind. Partly from the pain, that even with Kenji’s potent mix of painkilling magic and herbal remedies couldn’t fully dull. Partly from a deeper sort of pain, that medicine couldn’t quite seep into.

Partly because he only intended to tell that story once, and the good doctor was not the recipient of this particular tale.

When that topic of interrogation grew dry, Kenji excused himself and retrieved the bags of broken bits Saila had so dutifully collected and set about studying them as they discussed his second interest- the little lady herself.

How they met, why she stuck with him, what they’d been through, all quick and easy answers that Kenji responded to with faux incuriosity, as though it was just white noise to his studying the machinery scattered before him.

Noble was sure he was pouring over every syllable with a fine-toothed comb.

“So, what are you thinking?” Noble asked.

“Hm, well…” Kenji poked at the exposed wiring in the severed hand he was looking over. “Truthfully, I’m impressed. The Felisians do great work.

The fingers twitched, and Noble felt a jolt of phantom pain pierce him like a nail.

“Great work?”

“Don’t tell me you can’t see it.” Kenji started weaving his hand through the air, magic trailing in the air. “A mix of iron and silver for the casing, jade filament and copper wires for nerves, some sort of polymer tubing for veins. All hooked up to an iron ribcage, pumping a revolting cocktail of medicinal herbs and gasoline for blood- and it’s all powered by little enchanted systems etched into the panels.”

He took a breath, whispered a word, and pale-brown light lifted from the place where Knave’s sword has sliced through it.

“It’s a brilliant combination of magic and medicine,” he finished.

“I’m aware of my own body, doc,” Noble said, though in truth he was thankful for the change in topic.

Kenji’s expression faltered. “Ah, I apologize- I’m just thinking of the medical possibilities. The war has taken a lot of things from a lot of people, and prosthetics are… lagging, behind the tools that make them so needed in the first place. You understand, yes?”

Noble nodded.

“To be clear- er, just lift your arm up, please- to be clear, I am disgusted beyond all words, truly. Just looking at you, I can tell their scientists were not gentle. But… the potential of it is staggering.”

Noble lifted up his right arm, freed from the bandages during earlier conversation.

“I’m aware. And I don-” Kenji placed the severed arm into place, and the light flashed like a glimpse at the sun- and hurt as much. “- don’t, begrudge anyone, for wanting this. What’d you do?”

“Try wiggling your fingers,” Kenji asked, panting slightly- Noble knew enough about magic to know it could take a lot out of you, and he wondered just what Kenji’s limit was.

Only a few fingers moved, and only just- an echo of pain pulsed through his arm and into his shoulder, but he could feel his arm again. That was enough.

“Ah, it worked! Perfect!”

“What’d you do, doc?”

“Yes, that. Well, medical magic is itself rather difficult- just the nature of it, sadly. Your body is alive, in a way prosthetics aren’t, but it is still an,” Kenji faltered, as if treading on uncertain ground. “An object. So, I used a spell my mother taught me, to fix things. Mend table legs, put together forks, and the like.”

“I see…”

“Ah, the spell doesn’t work on living things, mind. It seals two pieces together, repairing and replacing the breaks- but the human body has too much… texture, for it to work on it.” Kenji continued, rummaging around for broken pieces, “But I thought that the magical components of your body would counteract that living complexity. Thankfully, it seems to.”

He cast the spell again, his handful of pieces glowing faintly, then went to work slotting them into place- cracked off pieces from traveling, gaps that didn’t quite fill due to damage.

Slowly, the magic did its trick. Cracks sealed, mechanical flesh reconnected, nerves and veins wove back together.

It was an excruciating process, and had it not been for the potent mix of herbal remedy and magic safeguard, Noble would have screamed.

Such a familiar feeling… was the only thought he could manage.

When Kenji had finished his ministrations, Noble’s right arm had been repaired… to a point. Cracks still spread along the black-silver casing, but it looked more like cracked skin than the shattered remains of a broken machine.

“And… there we are. For now, anyway. I imagine we’re both exhausted.”

Kenji pulled the hood from his head and wiped away sweat, brown hair slick with it. He looked like he had run a marathon, when at most it had been scarcely an hour.

“I… appreciate it,” Noble managed. He flexed his fingers, a fuzzy tingling shrouding his nerves. He felt his heart beating, a steady gentle thing. Artificial blood, now finding their path undamaged, began pumping again.

“Ah, of course it isn’t done yet,” Kenji sighed. “I hate to say it, but this’ll take a bit- both the reconstruction and the recovery.”

“My apologies, doc.”

“Nothing to apologize for- like I told your Saila, I’m here because I help, that’s all. And rest assured, if you’re worried about pay…”

He gave Noble a gentle smile, tinged with a vulpine guile.

“We’ll give her a few odd jobs. Maybe help her come into her own?”

Noble grumbled. “Suppose that’s… for the best. Been trying to keep her free from some of this, to be honest.”

Kenji nodded, finally sitting back down.

“Ah, I understand you- and don’t worry, we’ll keep the lights off as much as we can… though given what you’ve told me, I don’t imagine she’ll stay in the dark for very long.”

“Suppose so.”

“On that note…” Kenji put a hand to his chin in thought. “What are you hiding from her, Mister Noble? Just to ensure we don’t tread on any feet.”

The conversation shifting back to Saila the instant Kenji finished his work was not lost on Noble. But with his injuries still plaguing him in recovery, he had little else to do but talk.

And so, he did.

“I’ll tell you. On one condition… you know any doctors in Zarrhdad?”

Kenji smiled behind his hand, and the two of them talked for some time.

######