The Doctor's Apprentice

Gabriel worked diligently alongside his master. The call went out for aid to come to the front gates of the city. Reports were being kept of which refugees went where, the injuries and severity, and the various needs. 

Mrs. Sherman, along with many of the other women of the city, were cooking great pots of stew and many loaves of bread to feed the Cetoans. Spare clothes were being gathered. 

Not all had escaped the chaos at the beach, and records were being made and cross-referenced so that families could be reunited. It wasn't quite chaos, but the noise level was intensive as everyone tried to meet one need or another. 

The medical personnel, including Gabe, were mostly working with cut, bleeding feet that were used to the sands of the seashore and not the rocky terrains and foliage of Klain. 

Some had been injured in the disaster itself and been carried here by loved ones or bystanders, but it seemed that few caught in the flood had made it out alive at all. There was an expedition planned to scout the area for further survivors, and Gabe intended to volunteer once this initial chaos was dealt with. 

Most of the ailments were related to exhaustion, hunger, or minor injuries acquired on the journey from Ceto. The faces were mournful, shell-shocked, and confused. It made Gabe miss Victoria's bright presence. 

As the days had passed without her, he had come to realize just how much he had come to rely on her daily presence in his life. Mrs. Sherman doted on him, of course, but it wasn't the same as Victoria's cheerful smiles. 

He felt badly that he couldn't make things better between them before she'd left. It was his fault, really. He had wanted to make her life better, but obviously it wasn't what she had wanted to hear. 

She had taken it as a rejection of her friendship. A friendship he now had begun to deeply miss… and she wouldn't be back for weeks, or months. It was a miserable prospect, made moreso by the fact that he was surrounded by suffering. 

Taking his inspiration from her, he tried his best to smile and be encouraging to each person he treated. It was easier with children, who could be cheered by a little trick or a funny voice. Adults, on the other hand… they were deep in loss. 

He felt the nudgings of his childhood trauma at the back of his mind. It had been fire, not water, which had destroyed his home. Wielded by men, and wolves controlled by magic. He had been helpless to do anything to stop it. 

All of these people had been helpless against the ocean's great fury. 

They spoke to him about a rock, or star, falling from the sky out of a portal. The size of a thing large enough to cause this kind of chaos was not something he wanted to dwell on. 

"Gwen? If you can hear me, it looks like our world might be in need of help," He whispered to himself. He wondered whether the Fae would be able to hear. They'd been gone for so long, perhaps they'd stopped watching. 

Perhaps they couldn't watch? Gwen's voice reaching him through the portal by the lake continued to puzzle him. If Gwen had made it, why would she tell him not to touch it? Why give no other message after going to the trouble of creating it? 

No, it made more sense that the Fae were not behind these strange occurrences. And yet, they didn't seem to be stopping them either.

"Aren't you supposed to help us?" Gabe muttered as he moved on to another patient. 

The rest of the day was arduous, and he caught glimpses of Roland through the crowd on occasion. He ran out of supplies twice and had to run back to the clinic for more. 

They were almost out. Mrs. Sherman left the pot near the fire and ran to purchase what more she could from obliging merchants. The entire city's resources were stretched thin as they struggled to handle the influx of weary, hungry, injured people. 

Before long, it became clear that the emergency supplies below the city kept for times of war would be brought out and used. They could be replenished at some future time, but feeding everyone now took precedence. 

Some patients spoke to each other quietly of what they would do now. So many fisherman would quickly strip the lake of all its fish and resources. There had to be a way to sustainably feed them all. 

The tales of the giants and how they ruined their world fluttered at the back of Gabe's mind. Roland had worked with the Treasurer to have his experiences in Pink Sky World written down and put into a book for reference material. Though the public had a hard time waiting their turn to read the tales, those who had seen it spread the stories by word of mouth readily. 

Too many people, and not enough food could mean the extinction of their race if they did not handle things carefully. Gabriel asked the Fae to help Roland. Leadership in such times was even worse than normal circumstances. 

"At least Victoria will have enough to eat and drink as she travels," Gabe whispered, earning a distraught look from the woman whose feet he was bandaging. "I mean to say, the travelers will bring back more food. There will be plenty for all of us to eat as we work together." 

He gave her a smile, but the woman seemed unconvinced. This was why he liked animals better. They didn't seem to mind when he said the wrong thing. 

The Cetoans brought almost no animals with them. He asked one or two people early in his work if there was any need for an animal doctor. Apparently a few people thought to throw open their gates and let the animals run free as they fled. 

The horses were the most likely to have been able to outrun the disaster, but were now loose on the plains. Perhaps the scouts would recapture them and put them to work. Smaller animals like pigs, chickens, and others probably all perished in the flooding. 

"The waters may be low enough now to go back and see what is left," An old man was saying near him. "In the great storm surge of my childhood, it was about three days before the water fully receded." 

"Is there any hope of anything at all being left?" The younger man nearest to him replied. "I don't see how. I looked back as we reached safety and it seemed that the whole world was underwater." 

"There is nothing of ours left, I'm sad to say, but that doesn't mean there is nothing at all. We don't know what may have washed ashore. Old, long-sunken boats, precious corals, perhaps even entire whales might be left behind. The sea is harsh and unfeeling, but it does not always take without giving something in return." The elder replied. 

That sounded interesting. Gabe glanced at the man out of the corner of his eye. He hadn't been to the sea, but his niece and nephews had told him of its beauty. Lily in particular longed for more visits there. 

Gabriel finished his work and wound his way through the crowd. It had dissipated significantly as people were escorted to shelter. Those homes designated for times of war as having extra rooms were now full to the brim, and it seemed they were waiting for word from the surrounding townships on how many refugees each could take in. 

The organization it took to do all of this was nothing short of staggering, but Klain seemed to be bearing up under the pressure. There was no panic, no looting. Occasional outbursts of mourning happened in the crowd as people began to feel safe enough to process their intense emotions. 

Surviving the last few days' walk must have numbed them from feeling much at all. Gabriel could understand that. Until he got to Faeland, he had pushed aside almost all his feelings about the Darkness and his home's destruction. 

With a sigh, he decided not to bother Roland and searched instead for Riley. His childhood neighbor-turned-stepbrother was at the guard outpost by the gate coordinating the soldiers. When he saw Gabe's approach, he offered him a lopsided smile. 

"Hey, Gabe! Not enough work for you yet? Coming to ask for more, I bet. Nothing but the hardest work for my youngest step brother!"

"I'm your only stepbrother," Gabriel's mouth twisted at the lame joke. "And actually, I've come to volunteer for the expedition to look for survivors. I haven't talked with Dr. Sherman yet, but I'm sure he can spare me." 

"Longing to get away now that she's gone, are you?" Riley asked as he quirked an eyebrow, and Gabe tilted his head in confusion. "I understand. Completely. Don't worry about a thing, I'll arrange for you to go."