Cades eyes slowly blinked open. The dim light in the carriage revealed nothing as Cade struggled to get up from the Carriage floor. His back muscles screamed from his stitches as he sat himself upright.
Feeling to his left he found Emily's hand which he clasped lightly. He could feel her pulse in her fingers and could hear her calm breaths telling him she was alive still.
"You surprise me yet again child." A feminine voice seemed to whisper from across the carriage. Cade's head whipped around trying to discern where the voice was coming from but his senses were still a little muddled from whatever it was that knocked him out.
"You woke up a bit before my expectations considering the dose I had to give you would normally knock out a young horse." The voice said.
"Dose?... You drugged us... You're the one who knocked us out." Cades voice was slow and his lips chapped despite the humidity in the carriage. His voice was a little reedy and cracking.
"Ah... You'll be having a couple side effects for a few minutes. Drink this. It'll help you feel better."
Cade felt the chill of glass touch his right hand and he slowly grasped what seemed to be a bottle. "How do I know it's not poison or drugs again?" He said as his senses finally cleared enough to figure out where the voice was coming from and he looked a little up and to his right.
The darker shadow of a woman smoking came into view. Her pale blue eyes seemed to glow against her dark face.
"You really are remarkable. Your senses are coming back faster and you are more resistant than your little friend there. But that's besides the point. If I wanted to drug you I would have done so while you were still asleep. Saves time and childish questions. But you both should be okay after taking a sip of that bottle." She said as another puff seemed to come from her pipe. The smell of burnt filled the air as she turned it over and small sparks flicked out into a glass ash holder.
Cade slowly lifted the glass to his face and sniffed. He smelled the cork stopper and took a moment to pry it open before a sweet scent met his nose.
He took a little sip. The sweetness of honey, ginger, and other herbs filled his mouth. A type of herbal remedy of some kind. He slowly pushed the cork back in place before sliding it back toward the lady's direction.
He had no experience with feeding a sleeping person food or drink and he didn't want to chance Emily choking. Especially with this woman present.
"Thank you." He said before checking on Emily again.
(The young man is a good egg it seems. His eyes are good and concentrated. His poison tolerance is incredible especially for one so young. He didn't ask a stupid question even if the answer was obvious. And he focuses on those he cares about. Though only time will tell if that's going to be a boon or not for him.) The woman thought as a snake slithered down to grasp the bottle in its mouth before placing it in a little handbag at the lady's side.
Cade stayed by Emily's side on the floor not daring to find a seat. Emily had rarely left his side when he was down. So he would return the favor a hundred fold. He sat with his back slightly arched and propped himself up against the wall of the carriage. It's rough texture catching his robes in a grating sensation which made him subconsciously grit his teeth. His back was sore but leaning against something was better than nothing.
As he glanced around Cade began to notice small things. The windows of the carriage had been tinted and darkened to let minimal amount of light through. The mist inside the carriage that had knocked Emily and himself out was eminating from the wood like it breathed it out naturally.
And the coach which they sat in (which had initially been an incredibly bouncy painful ride) had since smoothed to the clack of cobblestone and occasionally the sound of... grating sand?
"We are here." The woman announced as she stood up. Her tall frame was forced to a crouch as she approached the door, opening its creaking hinges before stepping into the afternoon air. Cade had to hold up a hand against the now blinding light from outside. After blinking a few pain-filled blurs from his sight he finally saw the woman who he had been talking to.
She had since removed her doctors mask as she took a deep breath. White scales raced up the side of her face to just below her left eye. Her skin itself was pale as white paint. As though she hadn't seen the sun in ages. Yet her face wasn't gaunt or sunken. It was taught and youthful. Her crows feet were minimal and the small wrinkles showed she maybe was in her late thirties early forties.
"You should wake your friend. Most wake up at this point. Or perhaps she's just been feigning sleep for the past 17 minutes in case I wanted to try something." The lady smirked a little as Emily's body suddenly seemed to go a little taut before pulling herself from the floor.
"I was that obvious huh?" Emily groaned as she rubbed her back and Cade just stared in shock at his childhood friend. "You were awake for that long and just didn't what? Want to let me know you were alright?" Cade glared at her as he suddenly grabbed her ear.
"Owowowowow!" She waved to brush his hand off. "It wasn't that eventful. And I figured if we were going somewhere they had to knock us out that I should get plenty of rest." She said as she rubbed her sore ear.
The woman's left eyebrow rose a little at the scene before her. ( Even the girl is abnormal. Her thought process is too calculating for this sort of thing. And what's most noticeable is that she's still calm. Her heart rate hasn't increased and her hands are steady.)
The woman shook her head slowly before bringing the duo back to reality. "Ahem!" Her voice echoed through the courtyard.
"Welcome to the Branch of Divining. Your new home and training grounds. Here you will learn the ways of medicine, how to face plague, and train your bodies to survive. If you make it then you will have earned the right to enter one of the six schools of Plague. If not. Then we will give you a proper burial." The woman said as she put her pipe in her mouth for a smoke.
Cade's eyes had adjusted to the light enough to notice they stood in a sand filled courtyard. The "U" shape walls of stone led around to a metal fence. It's dark metal had long since lost its luster from time and wear. As a Cade turned further he noticed to his right that a large mansion stood within the compound.
From where he stood the mansion seemed enormous. He could see large wings branching from the main entrance building. But he also noticed that the building had at least three floors. Bright Green brick made up it's outside with bright white trim around each mist colored window.
Cade didn't know how large exactly the mansion was, neither did he know about houses or building things. But it was amazing to look at all the same. "This place..." He whispered.
Emily looked at the mansion but didn't seem nearly as awed. "You said if we survived. Does that mean you brought us to this place to try and kill us?" She asked the tall woman.
"I am not called "you". You will call me Doctor Tara. And if you make it out of here then you will see me again." She said tapping Emily's forehead lightly. "Until then you need to gather your things and follow me into the branch. From there someone else will show you your rooms and your classes. Other things you will have to figure out on your own." She said before striding over to the iron gate.
Cade and Emily looked at each other briefly before grabbing their things from the carriage. Their meager belongings seemed small and trivial in the regal air of the building before them. As Abbey dwellers they were never allowed near the houses of nobility or any form of "regal housing".
The iron gate swung open seemingly on its own as the doctor ushered them through and into the courtyard beyond. The stones echoing their footsteps amidst the humid air and gardensaape that surrounded them.
The front double doors to the mansion opened with an eerily loud creak before an older man in a suit could be seen holding its handle. "Ah. Doctor Tara. It is always a pleasure to see you grace our halls with your presence. And I see you have brought initiates. The headmaster will be pleased." His aged voice seemed wilting and wobbled like a man about to die. But his eyes seemed to gleam with fire and life.
The doctor nodded in his direction before guiding Cade and Emily to a corridor and motioning to a hallway. "Your rooms should be prepared down this way. You will know when you find them. Anything else will be handled by Wilhelm. Now. I bid you good luck. May the Plague Gods guide your path." She said before exiting the large doors which shut as quiet as a ghost behind her.
Cade and Emily looked at each other once more before glancing down the seemingly ordinary hallway. "This has got to be another test." Cade grumbled while Emily slowly nodded.
Wilhelm couldn't help but grin slightly at the duo. ( Tara truly brought interesting ones again. But only time will tell how long it will take to find their rooms. After all. If they never find them then they have no place here.) He thought before hearing the girl say something.
"Found mine!" To which he turned his aged neck almost breaking it with his speed.
(How?) He looked down the hallway to see the girl standing before her room. One which he had filled with medical texts and herbs for studying. Not that it was obvious as all the books looked the same and the herbs were inside dirty containers to make the space seem like just a storage area.
"And I found mine." Cade growled a little as he approached a blood red door.
( I didn't prepare that room. He's about to get a rude awakening. Not my fault though.) Wilhelm thought as he watched.
Cade grasped the door handle which opened with what seemed like dozens of whispers. (Welcome... This place is yours... Home...) The room seemed dark as he opened it but soon it revealed itself fully.
A broad stained glass window shined dim light through its grime covered surface. The room bore an assortment of weights and manuals about the body's make up. Organs and muscles. Skin toughening manuals and blood purifying texts. But what caught Cade off guard was that everything was covered in dust.
It was obvious that this room had been left alone for quite some time.
Cade shook his head as he looked at Wilhelm. "Sir. May I have a mop, cloth and bucket with soapy water brought here? I wish to clean this place before settling in." Cade said.
Wilhelm meanwhile was left dumbstruck.
The red door was impossible to open for over 30 years. Noone was able to clean it let alone have the door budge. Yet this young man had easily opened it without so much as a struggle.
He shook himself after a moment to get his bearings and responded. "O-of course. I'll have the staff fetch them right away for you." His aged voice echoed down the hall before he sauntered off to do other chores.
Cade started his long day of cleaning as soon as the bucket got there. Dust flew as he cleaned and organized the room to his liking.
The books had been properly lined up on the desk with the weights against the wall out of the way and easily accessible. The glass now lit the room beautifully as the grime was gone. It's image that of a sleeping woman breathing out clouds.
"Well... This is a start."
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