From Balm to Bane

[Crue Sarish]

From Bane to Balm

A careless hare was ordered into her infirmary, left paw wrapped in a rag and a braggart?s bravery telling Crue he?d be a bit of a pawful. Indeed, it took twice as long to stitch the cut as it should have, and it wasn?t until she suggested that she remove the paw instead that he sat still and quiet.

After she finished her task, Crue handed the hare a tiny paper-wrapped packet of comfrey, staring him straight in the eye as he lifted his good paw to take it. The cream-colored fur around her dark eyes made them appear larger as she lowered her voice and leaned in close. ?I do not intend to spend the trip tending to the cuts and scrapes of careless beasts. I will tend to each of you, but woe betide the beast who comes to the sick bed when all my stores are bare...?

The young soldier moved to return the herb to the healer. ?Thinkun wot that poor beast ought?n t? ?ave it. Ha! Me ol? fight?n paw be feelin? dandy come mornin?, wot wot!?

Crue refused the offer, crossing her arms across her chest. ?You will take it, you will use it, and you won?t let this happen again, savvy??

?Aye, ma?am.?

Crue smiled sincerely as the young beast headed for the door. ?Oh, and be sure to take an extra ladle of hotroot soup... to help with the healing.?

The hare?s eyes lit up as he paused at the door, a wry grin blossoming on his face. ?If?n ye say, miss, I ain?t be one t?gnore ye sage edvice!? With a tip of his imaginary hat, he left the room.

Shortly after her patient departed, the handle clicked and as the door swung open Colonel Frederick Swiftpaw entered the room, the tips of his ears nearly brushing the low ceiling. ?Good day, Miss Sarish!?

Crue turned and looked upon her visitor, her face lighting up when she saw who it was. ?Good day to you, Colonel! To what do I owe the honor? Footpaw isn?t bothering you, is it??

With the door closed he replied, one corner of his lip turned up in a small embarrassed smile. ?Should have known you?d notice the limp. Can?t hide it from everyone, wot. But no, I?m quite well. It?s been a number of days since we set sail and I wanted to make sure your accommodations are satisfactory.?

?More than satisfactory! It?s truly a joy to be on a ship so grand.? She put her cloth down and stepped closer. ?I?d like to thank you again for the ample supplies you?ve furnished and this room is quite a step up from my last contract.?

?Lord Atlas knows our best chance of success is if every beast aboard is healthy and in fighting spirits.? He took a step further into the room, his eyes taking in the gleaming wooden furniture and the crisply made beds. He nodded his head in approval. ?Much less cozy than most infirmaries I?ve seen. I see you?re not one for cozy blankets and a tapestry of Martin to inspire hope and healing.?

Crue shook her head, a slight twinge of disapproval accompanying the gesture. ?While blankets have their use, patients need healing more than coddling. A dozen healers tried to save my sister when we were quite young. After all they did, I found little use for smoke and crystals and the invoking of spirits. I decided to learn what actually heals beasts, and that?s what I?ve stuck with.?

?Fair enough. And I trust the crew is showing you the proper respect??

Paws clasped in front of her, Crue looked down and felt a bit of a blush form. ?Indeed they are, sir? At least, when I see them, that is.?

?Oh?? One of his eyebrows raised as he focused his attention back on her.

?I?m quite satisfied to spend my time here, sir. The crew knows where to find me when I?m needed, and I can focus on my? scholarly pursuits when I?m not.? She chortled. ?I?ve never been a brilliant party guest, so I generally spend my time here.?

Frederick nodded. ?Few aboard the Zephyr would share your conviction, but as you are satisfied, then so am I.?

?Thank you, Colonel,? Crue replied with a courteous nod. ?I appreciate you stopping by.?

?You?re welcome?. Just alert me if anything comes up.?

As he turned to leave, Crue asked, ?Are you expecting trouble??

The corner of his mouth turned up again, unable to completely hide what the hare was thinking, though she could only guess exactly what that meant. ?Not necessarily. Just something not sitting right in my stomach? but chances are it?s just last night?s leeks. Good day, Crue.?

?Good day.?

The Colonel closed the door behind him. His words made her wonder what he was thinking, but with nothing concrete to worry about, she returned to her cleaning.

Several early bouts of seasickness and a number of joint strains had been all there was to keep her busy aboard the ship, with a couple knocks to the head of crewmen not watching their step down a hatch. Despite the lack of grander ailments to treat, Crue had mostly managed to keep herself busy aboard the ship. About twice the size of the Sunlit, there was much more ship for her to explore and more ship for the rest of the crew to mind, usually leaving her up to her own devices. She even had enough time to delve into some of the books she?d picked up for her own research. Given free reign to stock the ship with her tools of the trade, she figured her proprietor wouldn?t mind the purchase of a half dozen useful books. She found ?From Bane to Balm? a most fascinating read, and had even managed to procure a small vial of hemlock in the event the opportunity to experiment with it arose. In the meantime, it was carefully stowed within a small locked box at the bottom of her trunk along with a few rare herbs she'd managed to procure before the ship set sail.

---

After pulling open the door to her cabin, she took a single step inside before her nose caused her to stop. Cutting through the scent of herbs and cleanliness was the faint stench of somebeast that had neglected to wash for some time. She knew that that could have meant any number of sailors aboard this ship, but the scent differed from the soldiers and the riggers and the galley crew.

Before she went in, she looked to see if anyone was nearby. Holding out a paw toward a nearby hedgehog she asked, "Have you seen anyone go inside here recently?"

"Naw, ma'am," the sailor replied. "Jis you, tho I ain' been 'ere long."

None else nearby had seen anyone enter or leave recently. As faint as the scent was, Crue felt reasonably secure entering the room alone. She closed and locked the door behind her.

Surveying her cabin, nothing immediately appeared out of place.  After carefully examining the cabinets, her trunk, and the small pack containing her personal effects, she discovered that someone had taken a bag of dried ginger, two of her surgical knives, the scissors she'd been using earlier that day, and a silver button off of one of her coats. With each item that was taken, her brow furrowed in anger all the more until she finished writing out her list of stolen property. At that point her eyes spent more time closed so that for a few moments she didn't directly have to face it.

Once her inventory was finished, she unlocked the door and stepped out. She pulled aside a hare that happened by be walking past, a mild air of disappointment on his face.  "You, soldier!"

He snapped to attention. "Fildering Dillwithers, at y'service, wot!"

"You will watch this door until I return. No one is to enter it until I return. Clear?"

"This room's as safe as a bally old fortress with me guardin' it, if I do say so m'self! Nobeast passes, yes sah! Er, I mean, marm. Yes, marm! Three bags full, marm!" the hare added with a wink.

"Good." Crue shook her head. Hares! Never a simple 'Aye,' is it? she mused. With the guard posted, she went in search of the first mate to inform him of the situation. A Cabin Boy - Scully, if she remembered correctly - crossed her path and when she asked for Colonel Swiftpaws?s current whereabouts, he pointed to a large set of double doors at the top of a staircase not too far away.

Before she could knock on the door one of the sentries held out a paw. ?Yer busy-ness?ll haf t? wait, ma?am!?

?It will not!? She pulled the list of purloined goods from her pocket and waved it in the air. ?I joined up with what I believed was an honorable crew! I saw order, discipline, and comradery, but now I see it?s all a lie. No one respects the work I do and I just can?t stand it! I spend hours each night making sure everything we need for this journey is where it?s supposed to be, just so it can all go missing the next morning.? She swiftly stepped past the guard and shouted at the door as she turned the knob.

?...And I need YOU to handle it Swift??

The Colonel was not the only one in the room. To her shock and horror, the Badgerlord stood much closer to her than the hare. Her voice faded as she finished her sentence. ?...Paw.?

?Can it wait, Miss Sarish?? Frederick asked. ?We?re in the middle of a discussion.?

Crue nodded, her mouth glued shut, and she started to back out of the room. Before she could take a full step, Robert clapped a paw jovially on her shoulder, his sudden presence startling her. He spoke to her first. ?Ain't no need to be leavin' alone there, friend,? she told her jovially before turning to Swiftpaw. "I'll go see what Miss Crue here needs help with, Colonel, so's you don't need to be worryin' about it." Glancing at Atlas, Robert added. "An' I cain't do nothin' until tonight to finish up me charts anyway."

"I expect a report tomorrow," Atlas said simply. "Do not forget."

Robert smiled. "I never do, Cap'n."

The two sentries closed the doors, and Crue caught Atlas staring at her with his one good eye. She couldn?t begin to know what was going through his mind, but his barely restrained rage was evident in that momentary glance. Equal parts of fire and ice ran from the tops of her ear tufts to the the tip of her now rather bristly tail. As she thought about what Robert had said to the Badgerlord, she was surprised he wasn?t in her infirmary already.

?How do you manage to talk to the Captain like that?? she asked.

Robert shrugged, an abnormally normal grin still on his face. ?He?s just like any otherbeast, only with a nasty temper, heh heh heh.?

?I don?t know, Mr. Robert,? Crue replied. ?I think he deserves some more respect than that.?

?He deserves as much respect as I?m willin? to give him,? Robert said simply. "An' after that lil talk, it ain't as much as it used to be. Now, what can I help you with?"

----

The gray squirrel being questioned laughed at Robert?s self-deprecating tale, but he shook his head. ?Ha!... Aw, sorry, sir, but I didn? see the door open. Think I saw Hapley Horrish ?round that time. He might?a seen sumin?.?

?Ah well, thank you, son. Jus? let me know if you catch wind of somethin?.?

?Aye, sir!?

Crue had sat through the questioning of six crewmates already, none of whom she was well acquainted with. Each time someone came in, she watched for a twitch in the eyes or a break in the voice that might reveal the guilty party, but she couldn?t detect a lie among any of the witnesses. Even though it was still early into the investigation, she was frustrated that no one seemed to know anything.

Her constant vigilance was draining and she needed some air. Turning to Robert she asked in a weary voice, ?Would you mind if I sit the next one out??

Either the strain showed on her face or Robert was being more generous with his time than she would have been. He nodded and stood up. As he took a moment to stretch, he stated, ?Aye, miss. You jus? leave it to ol? Robert to find the brig?in ?n show ?im what ?appens when you steal from a maid o? your caliber.?

Not entirely immune to flattery, Crue couldn?t help but smirk. ?Thank you, Mister Rosequill.?

Robert exited and Crue exhaled deeply. Finally alone with her thoughts once again, she sighed at the injustice of her plight. She put her head in her paws and whispered, ?I really thought things would be different.?

With no one around to see her, she began to sob.

---

The next day, she conducted a quick visual inventory of everything in her room before she left to visit the galley. She locked everything that could be locked, exited the room, and then frowned at the the fact that her door had no lock. It was one thing to keep the room?s contents safe, but quite another to keep an injured beast from entering.

Quickly marching through the ship, she couldn?t help but believe that any beast could have been the culprit. A rigger could have needed some new knives, a cook could have been lacking in ginger, and a silver button?. Her eyes scanned every coat and vest and uniform for something out of place. She watched for shifty eyes and nervous glances in her direction, and was rewarded with neither. Not even a nail seemed out of place.

---

That evening Crue spent her time weeping again after a few more of her belongings went missing, while much of the crew gathered on the main deck. Colonel Swiftpaw?s angry voice cut through the air as he informed the crew that he was aware of the recent acts of thievery and that it would not be tolerated. Any beast caught with any contraband would be dealt with swiftly and severely, and any beast who found the culprit would be summarily rewarded for his or her efforts.

Even hearing his voice did little to assuage her fears. After the crew dispersed to return to their duties, a few came by to visit and assure her that the guilty party would be found. She thanked each in turn, but then informed them that she had work to get back to before they could engage her in further conversation. The only words she felt would help the situation were ones that stated that the mystery had been solved. No beast offered that.

Once she was alone, she made sure all the cabinets were locked before she opened her trunk and pulled out the small box at the bottom. She hadn't yet tested the quality of the sea buckthorn oil she'd managed to procure before leaving port and now seemed like a good time to do so. Once that was finished, she pulled out one of her books and began reading. A couple of hours later, she closed her eyes? just for a minute?

However much time had passed, Crue lifted her head from the workbench and set her book down, careful not to set it in the small puddle of spit that had formed. Not typically one to fall asleep while reading, she shook her head in disbelief, then cringed as her neck protested the sudden movement. ?Mustn?t do that again,? she whispered to herself.

As soon as she was upright, her stomach growled; it had been some time since she?d last eaten. She shuffled out of the room and put a cloth in the door once more so she could tell if someone other than her entered.

Ten minutes later, hot soup sloshed over her fingers as reached for the doorknob and saw that the cloth was missing. She hardly noticed it in her anger at someone having again entered without her permission.

?Your mother will weep over your grave if you?re still in here!? she shouted as she entered.

She heard no sound in reply. After she set her soup down on the floor she lit a candle and took a look around. Nothing hid in the shadows, but she was able to smell the blood that was somewhere in the room. After searching for a short time, she noticed a number of drops next to her workbench. Her eyes widened in alarm as she realized that in her exhaustion she had forgotten to return the box to her trunk and it was now sitting there, lid open.

Her stomach churned and her head spun as she realized the hemlock was gone. A thief with a deadly poison was now running loose aboard the Zephyr.

?Colonel...? she whispered in shock. ?I must warn Lord Atlas??

Pushing nausea aside, she fled the infirmary and began to wake the ship with her shouting.