Topic: A Paws for Hope (Open)

Jacob Arche

Date: 2009-02-16 00:49 EST
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/6078/pawsforhopewq3.jpg

The business card in hand is tastefully done. It's not made of expensive paper but recycled material and the print is legible to those able to read it.

Front: http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/4174/cardfrontdonevc6.jpg

Back: http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/7273/cardbackdoneul3.jpg

The young man who held it between thumb and forefinger raised it up triumphantly a moment! And then a pitiful little squawk had him stumble nearly over his feet and star printed robes to scramble toward the dragonet curled in tiny pink basket.

"I found it Spark! I found it! Don't worry, we'll fix you right up"oh gracious I am so sorry about your leg, Spark. Why didn't I listen to you about the piles of books! They were"Oh Spark." The little purple dragonet chirruped forgivness, small bandaged claw and leg drawn near her. He would never forgive himself, really. He should have paid more attention to his Master's warnings about the mess. He"Spark's curious warble had him tripping over his robes a second time to pick her up as gently as he could.

"Alright. Don't worry! The card's attuned to the address, see?" Showing the dragonet the card, who crossed her eyes to inspect it. "All I have to do is read it right, and the??

They were gone. Leaving the study of ancient books, some woefully dust covered and some not, behind in a flurry of resettling motes.





Card reads, Front: Paws for Hope Animal Hospital & Rhydin Humane Society Jacob Arche, DVM Emergency 24 hour number: (800) 555-HELP(4356) During Business hours: (749) 555-PAWS (7297) Mythical and Domestic assistance since 2007

Card reads, Back: 42 Dragonspine Way Old Town, Rhydin 402938 Paws for Hope is now Portal Accessible! Glyph Enchanted for Portal Friendly Mages! Horse Hitch and Carriage, air car and vehicle parking out front Griffon Roost in Rear for patients and mail delivery House calls mandatory for animals larger than building. No more exeptions after last remodel!

Jacob Arche

Date: 2009-02-19 11:30 EST
The wizard with injured dragonet, like many, arrived without effect or further ado upon the wide paved rise spread before a quaint, rolling clinic.

He blinked, suddenly exposed to the cold as the dragonet bugled lightly and curious in his arms.

"No, No Spark! I'm not going to let them, er..."Fix" you. But we do have to get your leg looked after! Come on, let's go inside."

Turning to his left toward the large doors from the slightly humming, active portal he left behind him, the wizard noted several horses tied to hitching post out front, several strange vehicles out front in a large, paved lot with funny lines. These odd metallic things were settled between the lines. People seemed to be coming in and out of the doors and these strange metallic beasts as they roared to life to rumble off, or rumble to stop between those white lines.

He shook his head. He didn't have time to investigate further!

In through the front doors, which magically opened for him and...he stopped, to gawk.

The walls were the usual plain washed white, allowed the light from overhead and pouring through window to give a brighter cast to the front reception area. To the right was a massive counter topped in polished granite to match the spotless floor—there were several males and females behind the counter, manning phones, strange screens with little windows that flickered. A machine spit out paper while beside it, a parchment wrote itself with inked quill. Several of the people behind the counter appeared human, several not-so much, and he was sure he caught a woman in scrubs rushing by with eyes slit-pupils like a cats!

There were humans and humanoids in green, purple, bright printed scrubs that scurried from several doors that went down the left hand side of the place, turning into a long hallway past the reception area.

Some of the people coming out of them wore stethoscopes, checked papers and called names. Names like, "Fluffy?" and "Mister Snookums?" and all along the wide open reception area, people seated and fussing with animals would arise. One woman soothed her sputtering-out phoenix on the way to one of those little rooms.

He was about to make a step closer to the granite topped counter, when a sign tacked to it caught his eye:

Welcome! Please refrain from attempting magic of any kind while in the receptionist area. This is a dampened zone for you and your furry friends protection! And beside that:

ABSOLUTELY NO: Neko, cat-girls or boys, animal/human sentient, shape changers. We DO NOT, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, treat nekos or humanoids which resemble animals. These are PEOPLE and must be taken to a PEOPLE DOCTOR. It was only funny the first 10, 000 times when people brought in their friends to be 'spayed' or 'neutered.' We are ANIMAL doctors.

"Hello!" He blinked in surprise away from the signs and up, into the cheerful face of an elf, or what he assumed to be one, which sharp features and pointed ears exposed due to the smart pony tail she sported.

"Welcome to Paws for Hope! Are you Darrow and—" A glance down to a board with papers, "Spark?"

The dragonet chirruped and the elf woman smiled wide. "I guess you are! Come right this way, won't you? We'll get you to fill out a little paperwork since this is your first time, and we'll get you set up for Dr. Arche."

Darrow felt the tension fly out of his shoulders as he gave a wobbly smile to the woman behind the counter.

Phaelirra

Date: 2009-02-24 08:56 EST
The office was quite the bustle of activity. The drowess sat like a stone in the darkest corner of it—in truth, not very dark or shadowed at all, with skylight-lights and track lighting to brighten white walls. She kept her hood up, and one slender gloved hand sat quite firmly upon her towel-wrapped bundle. A bundle that tried to keep moving.

Finally, a black-feathered head poked from the end of the bundle, rrrronked unhappily, and squirmed again as best it could. With her unencumbered hand, Phaelirra Arabani reached forward to stroke the raven's head, and he quieted, though made a distinct grumbling noise in the back of his throat.

"Zav. It is not my fault that you insist on reminding the birds around the temple who is king, and it is not my fault that you decided to antagonize the High Priestess' cat! You know better." Though she spoke softly, there were still more than one pair of eyes upon her. She could feel it, and it made her uncomfortable.

The raven sent chagrin and reassurance along the familiar link, and Phaelirra sighed, running her fingers gingerly over the bird's head again. A contented noise escaped his throat, and he settled down again, closing his eyes. The drowess could not help but smile at that.

"Miss Arabani and Zav?" Phaelirra looked up at that, startling a gasp from the elf. She refrained from baring teeth at the female, and simply nodded. Terrorizing the doctors' helpers was no way to endear her to the veterinarians themselves. And her first intent here was helping her companion.

"Yes. I am Phaelirra, and this is Zav. He was in a fight with some animals. A cat for certain, but perhaps birds, as well. He was not entirely clear." She rose to her feet, nearly of a height with the other elf, arms wrapped around her bundle.

"Okay, well, since you are a bit tied up, I'll be asking you a few questions to help the doctors, and we'll get you settled in a room. Will you follow me?"

Old lessons died hard. It certainly chafed a bit to let the elf lead her off, but Phaelirra kept the idea of helping Zav firmly in her mind, and followed obediently.

The examination room was much smaller than the waiting room itself. Distantly she could hear an occasional echoing bark, or the mewling of kittens. Sometimes there was a loud whinny, and all these made her wonder what sort of other creatures these doctors treated. Blessedly, the questions were over quickly enough, and made much sense. The elf disappeared behind the door, on the way back to reception.

"The doctor will be with you shortly."

It could not be swift enough for the drowess.

Jacob Arche

Date: 2009-02-24 10:18 EST
For some reason, the clinic seemed far more peaceful in the early mornings of opening. Rhydin didn't seem a town that rewarded the early riser so much, and there was much a do for those living lives far simpler.

The room itself was a bright sterile white, by choice, two doors across from one another rested in the middle of each wall. One was for pet and pet owner to enter, the other, the elven tech arrived and disappeared through and such sounds she'd heard earlier became louder for a moment than muffled again as the door shut.

Cabinets to the left of the room from pet owner's view point, a sink with two more cabinets above it. There were sparkling clean jars holding swabs (elongated looking q-tips) and tongue depressors. The drawers around the bottom half for the exceptionally snoopy held latex gloves, differing needles in differing sizes and various implements best left in Veterinarian's care.

On the walls however, pieces of hand made art brought life to the starkness of white. A cat in bright oranges framed in blue done in oil, another sewn, a puppy framed in dark wood with water color and a cork board filled with notes, letters, pictures and thank-you's. In fact, the entire hospital had these little cork boards. In time, Jacob would like to see a wall dedicated to these thank-yous and reminders. They were getting there soon. And speaking of Jacob....

The door across the way eased open to admit middle aged man, short cropped dark hair seen as his head was bowed over one of the many folders within his hand. He scanned it quickly before dark eyes looked over it and settled on the figure, over to raven and back. "Good evening, Miss Arabani and Zav. I'm Jacob, this says," indicating the folder in his hand,"this is your first time with us?"

Jacob was a decently tall man, but here, became woefully average. It wasn't so much his occupation however, that apparently garnered the most attention.

He wasn't rude, but he did gesture to the center point of every room. A metallic topped, spotless examining area. "If you would please, could you set Zav on the table for me?"

Placing the bird on the table for a few moments would give Jacob plenty of time to access its behavior, searching for open mouth breathing, tail bobbing, closed eyes and ruffled feathers indicating a bird that would not tolerate anymore stress.

If such where not the case, he could examine in physically without further duress to the bird, its owner and himself.

Phaelirra

Date: 2009-02-25 14:53 EST
As gently as she could, Phaelirra settled the raven down on to the exam table. She stroked over Zav's head once again, and let the towel loosen. Instead of simply sitting there, however, Zav wriggled out of it, and straightened himself to the best of his juvenile height. He was not yet full grown and it showed in the rusty brown of his primaries, and the dull black of head and back feathers. He had an open mouth, breathing through it, but his eyes were open, and his movements were hardly jerky, and his eyes were open, if perhaps a bit bright.

The drowess did not particularly hover, offering the veterinarian some personal space, and space to examine her familiar as well. However, as he was likely aware, and she was poignantly aware, that beak that Zav possessed was quite the formidable weapon. She had no particular plans to allow him to use it on the human! Besides, he was somewhat fascinating. She'd never seen a human with such dark skin. In that respect, he intrigued her. But Phaelirra was well aware of her predilection for being rude. Besides, Zav was the reason she was here.

The raven crouched on the examining table, eyeing Jacob warily, and made a tock noise, before tapping at his own blurred reflection in the metal table top. He held one wing further from his body than the other, and the gleam on some of his own skewed feathers was clearly dried or drying blood and not oiled gloss.

"He is, I believe, healthy enough except for his predisposal for fighting. I do naut know for certain what to do about this." Nervousness made her Underdark drawl, usually well-covered, come out. Phaelirra licked her lips, scowled briefly, and schooled her expression once again. "I do naut think he is badly wounded—the cat who was his opponent when I found him, was tended by his mistress, but I have no healing magics, and so I have come to you."

It took an act of will to step further away from the table, and sit down. Zav eyed her movements the entire way, and burbled slightly, as if he were reassuring his owner.

Jacob Arche

Date: 2009-02-26 11:03 EST
Jacob listened carefully to Miss Arabani though the focus of his study settled on the birds behavior, obvious posture, slight distress with beak-breathing and the way the bird held wind out from body. The folder in his hands was shut and set side on the cabinet with swabs and tongue depressors for him to straight from his lean.

"How did the cat fare?" If the raven with the meat-shredding beak made it out alright, curious minds wanted to know. "It says in the questionnaire you filled out for us that he is your familiar?"

If she couldn't speak to the bird directly, he'd settle the raven in one of the intensive care units to lower stress level and give him something a little extra to calm him down and begin examination, treatment, blood tests, with as little added on stress to the bird as possible.

"Can you speak to him?" He started slow, with general questions. She'd already answered the general reason for being here and he'd already quickly observed that. "Also, how long have you had him or known him' Is he prone to getting into a lot of fights?" Jacob's manner, despite the hawk-sharpness of observation on the bird, was patient and kind when dealing with Phaelirra. Jacob approached the table slow and casual, but made no move to handle the bird as of yet. In between her answers, he continued with other questions. "What's he generally eat' Do you have a cage for him or let him free roam?"

The more he could handle the bird 'normally' without restraint, the better an examination he could have. Otherwise, he'd have to restrain the bird and sedate it. He didn't think either of them needed an explanation of where the thermometer went right at the moment, but it would, at some point, have to be done.

"I'm thinking I'd like to handle him without causing anymore stress, if you could tell him I'm not going to harm him that would really make me and my fingers happy." Not that his hands didn't hold their share of beak nips, claw marks or teeth—"Without touching him further right now, I can say that I'm going to want to get him in back, see what damage's going on under the feathers and get him cleaned up. After that, I'm going to want to x-ray that wing and see how it's doing internally. Might have to sedate him for that if he shows any signs of stress. Is all of that all right with you, Miss Arabani?" And here, Jacob did look right at the raven. "Zav?"

Phaelirra

Date: 2009-02-26 12:14 EST
Phaelirra's lips twitched. She did want to laugh, but if the High Priestess ever found out about it, Ansa would never forgive her. Neither would the cat in question. A rather handsome black and white, with the mask that gave him his name over his eyes and ears, and a black saddle patch on his back that extended over his tail.

"Orbdrin is well enough. The High Priestess has healing magic, after all. Though his ears may never be the same, she was able to save his eye." Though likely the cat had gotten as stern a talking-to as she had given the raven himself. "And yes, Zav is my familiar. He is smart enough to figure us both out, but if you need me to explain anything to him further, I certainly can."

The next question drew a sigh from the drowess. "He has been in my company for a little over a month. There are times where he chooses to stay by me, and others where he roams as he will. When he is with me, and I feed him, I give him fruit and eggs, and meat, and when he is out' Goddess herself knows what he eats, but I imagine he is fond of, how they say, dumpster diving?"

The duo were clearly listening when Dr. Arche explained what he would like to do, and where. Phae's gaze trailed to her raven, where wordless communication went on. For all that the time together had been short, the empathic bond was a strong one—likely because of the similarity in temperament. She arched a white brow, but nodded. The raven made a single, bell-like noise, and shut his beak, bobbing his head as if he were agreeing.

"He says he is all right with it, as you can see, though if it is possible at all, he would like me within eyesight. If that is possible, I can stay to one side and keep my hands to myself. Whatever is necessary." Certainly she had been in a laboratory environment before, though it had belonged to the consort of the High Priestess. Though that was truly neither here nor there.

"I believe he will suffer whatever else is necessary; he is chagrined enough for bringing this upon himself. I do hope he has learned a lesson." Though the drowess sounded as rueful as she described the raven to be!

Jacob Arche

Date: 2009-02-26 12:55 EST
Jacob considered the woman's words just as carefully as he picked up the towel Zav had been wrapped within, shaking it out and then, should the bird allow it, rewrap him within it. Snug and comfortable with hands that had done this countless times before, to parakeets, cockatiels, and even some of the odder breeds out there there found within Rhydin.

He'd tuck Zav close to him as well should be be permitted too. This is a man that cared. "Normally, we wouldn't," he began. " we'd rather not have pet owners or familiar bonded in back for obvious reasons, a lot of what we may have to do to treat an animal looks odder than what it really is. But if you can keep true to all that you say, I can't see why I won't bend the rules this once." He wasn't unsympathetic either. Some times, half of treating animals was treating the owners too.

"Let's get you fixed up, mm?" Absent like to the bird, opening the door that lead not to Narnia, but another stark white world of cleanliness and all sorts of odd sounds, interspersed with quiet murmurs and soft nurses shoes.

"Oh, and—uh," off handedly, though he darted a dark eyed look from woman to bird. "We're gonna want to take his temperature too. You might want to explain how we're going to have to do that..." Jacob didn't exactly say the secret word of the day, 'cloaca', but there's...Well it's a bird, right'

He held the door open for her to make her way through first.

Phaelirra

Date: 2009-02-26 15:54 EST
"Thank you," murmured the drowess as she stepped through the door. Phaelirra mused on the doctor's words, and snow white brows furrowed, not angrily, but in thought. She was silent for a few moments, allowing Jacob to pass before her before tucking her hands into the folds of her robes, and settling them there. A picture of serenity. The part about the temperature taking, however, had her looking up at the male in wide-eyed shock! It was short-lived, thankfully, as she schooled herself to calm again, and presumably relayed the information to her familiar. Zav had settled himself into Jacob's arms, and while he clacked that dangerous beak and made an almost human-sounding grumble, he made no agitated moves. Clearly, he understood that allowing that indignity meant it would be over all the sooner. Not that Zav liked the idea!

"You mean it might look more like torture, perhaps, Doctor?" Her lips twitched again, amused, but only slightly. "Do not worry. I have been learning about trust in my time upon the surface, sir, and if you will be generous enough to trust me, I shall do the same. Being allowed into your sanctum is an honor." Not that the practice of veterinary medicine was magic, precisely, but to the uninitiated—like Phaelirra herself—it could seem a rather esoteric science.

For his part, the raven only eyed his surroundings, and then Jacob, very carefully. Cocking his head to one side and eyeing the veterinarian, as if sizing him up, and then assuring him with silent stare that whatever he did, he did only with Zav's permission. Despite all that bravado, with the way he had settled, it seemed as if for now, the vet had gained the familiar's confidence, if not strict trust. Hopefully that would serve to make him one of the easy patients.

Jacob Arche

Date: 2009-02-27 11:31 EST
Outback consisted first, of another long white hallway that spanned the entirety of the rooms used for pet owners and pets along this side of the building. There weren't as many doors on the opposite side, but these lead to examination rooms tailored for more in-depth examinations, several rooms for surgery and furthest down though probably the most obvious"was the intensive care units as well as overnight observation. Mews, barks, growls, and a flurry of squeaks, squawks and other sounds traveled the halls as Jacob led Zav and his owner through the hall to a secondary room.

They passed several techs filling out paper work leaning against cabinets, hurrying past to various other rooms and a few rushing along with carriers or other wrapped-lovingly in towels pets.

When Jacob entered with Zav, there were several techs at the ready whom Jacob introduced both to pet and to owner. Usually he'd only do so for owner but in the case of some sentient or bonded animals, Jacob had learned to adjust the usual routine.

The techs were thorough in finding Zav's wounds, cleaning them and making sure cats teeth hadn't hit any vital parts. Jacob was hands on during this, both speaking to students as well as owner and making sure at the same time Zav had clear line of site to owner. When it came time to take Zav's temperature, Jacob did himself with a quiet quip about getting to know the bird first, and that he was sorry he hadn't bought any flowers. The Raven managed to look horribly dignified despite the procedure and Jacob was finished soon enough as the temperature read nominal.

"Looks good, looks good," muttered aside to one of the young men that had finished cleaning out the last small puncture wound along wing and wiping away last bits of blood from the Ravens wings.

"You're both doing well, too," murmured with mirth that wasn't always there. Jacob let one of the techs wrap the bird and gingerly pick it up. "Doesn't look like anything more than a few scratches and a single tooth puncture. We've got that cleaned up and covered. If the x-ray comes through fine, we'll be sending you home with some anti-biotic to keep the wounds clean while they heal and a change of coverings should they need it.

"Now, usually we sedate depending on the animal as we need them to hold perfectly still. I don't think we'll have to do this with Zav, but consider this just a heads up in case things happen. He's been through a lot today and while he's probably been one of the best avian cases yet, you never know. The x-ray machine I imagine is kinda freaky."

Jacob held a hand toward the door, indicating Zav carrying tech and drow to go ahead of him.

Phaelirra

Date: 2009-03-03 11:00 EST
Quietly, Phaelirra wondered to herself whether the "x-ray machine" was anything like some of the other laboratory machines she had seen. The High Priestess' consort was, unlike most of the Temple denizens, a human. Not drow. He owned an impressive lab complex down near the Market district, complete with a storefront. He'd even installed a portal so that he could visit Ansa whenever he so chose. Or when the drowess chose to visit him.

She silently relayed what information she could to Zav. The intern carrying him might note the bird squirming again, slightly, and making a disgruntled sort of croak, but beyond that, he was on his best behavior. No one could blame him for not being thrilled with a machine, though.

Phaelirra wasn't above bribing him, however. The raven, as many did, loved eggs, and she was promising him half a dozen of them, and perhaps even a beef or a swine head to go over at his leisure. Either were true prizes. Predictably, the young raven settled, thinking of his stomach.

The drow cast a glance over her shoulder, back at Jacob. "So, do you think that the x-ray is simply to cover things" Do you think anything is broken?" It was partly out of curiosity that she asked. The raven hadn't relayed any specific pain to her—but considering the beating he'd both taken and given, it was likely rather easy for something to be overlooked. At least by Phaelirra herself, untrained for such matters. Still, she owed Zav the best care she could possibly give him. Both for the raven himself, and for the familiar she had failed in the past.

Jacob Arche

Date: 2009-08-08 10:08 EST
Jacob juggled several questions and directed one of the assistants handling Zav in confident, calm manner. A raven for the vet technician was, probably, the least of strange the poor woman had handled. Not to mention the unusual nature of the tech herself, with strange feline eyes and nature.

After a quiet t"te " t"te with the assistant, Jacob let her and others in training take over the usual thorough routine in checking Zav over while he returned to Phaelirra's side.

He hadn't forgotten her question, just that Jacob's priorities were often animals first, people in a moment.

"The x-ray is pretty much to make sure we aren't overlooking anything," he reassured, best as he could. There was always that awkward sense when he wasn't dealing with creatures directly he hadn't a clue how to properly respond to humanoids. "I don't think anything's broken. Educated guess," Jacob darted brown eyes over the amazingly calm raven. "His prides probably a little dented, there may be scratches—a topical antibiotic on sight here, and then a take home antibiotic you can put in his water. If it's a cats bite," Jacob leaned a hip against a sterile counter while he spoke. "Then, well that's a different story. Cat's mouths are chalk full of bacteria specifically made for causing infections. We'll do the topical and antibiotics in water but have you bring him in again in two days to double check on the wound to ensure no infection has spread."

The veterinarian kept almost hawkish dark eyes on his assistant and animal during his speech. During the time he spoke, Stormie and several of the training vet techs had thoroughly checked through Zav's feathers for any bite wounds, cleaned any scratches and such found and possibly left the poor raven ruffled but completely taken care of.

It was perfect timing that after he'd finished Stormie returned with Zav wrapped up and with a soothing smile on her features.

"How'd he do?" Jacob asked the feline looking woman.

"All is well, Dr. Arche." Jacob nodded to himself then as Stormie handed Zav back to Phaelirra, he then bent over his clip board and scribbled in age-old doctor's unreadable hand a prescription for Stormie.

Stormie was indicating the exit back to the front room for Phaelirra.

"Miss? If you'll follow me, we'll get your account settled at the front desk and prescriptions ready for Zav." Stormie held her hand out toward Jacob without looking and Jacob dropped the RX sheet torn from his note pad into Stormie's hand. The two had been working together for quite a while it seemed, or were intuitive enough to one another that they worked well together.