Sword and Snow

Avuri

I was hesitant to take too many direct actions before I had a solid idea of what was actually affecting Demi and Rylie. While it wasn't something I had done myself, I had seen other spiritual doctors try to remove toxins and only succeed in making things worse. It was unfortunately common, mostly when the one performing the treatment moved too quickly without truly analyzing the poison they were working on.

Some poisons, especially ones with a basis of Qi like the one in Demi's system, could basically be treated as though they were alive. If they had been derived from a Cultivator's technique, they could be programmed to act a certain way, usually to the detriment of the one that had been poisoned - but not always.

The most common sight was a spiritual poison going out of control when it was hastily moved or touched with other Qi. It was a common 'defense' for poison-users against their targets simply forcing the poison out of their systems on their own with their own Qi. The capability to do that was one of the reasons mundane poisons were practically useless against Cultivators - overwhelming internal body control.

Others were designed to be particularly vindictive, digging in harder and causing more permanent damage on the way to be extracted if they were handled carelessly. And others still could actively attack through the Qi moving to treat the poison, attacking the would-be doctor. While I had never seen one like that in action, I had read a number of accounts featuring such toxins inside the Frozen Mountain Sect's library.

And given the sheer amount of damage that the poisons had already caused in Demi's arm, I was hesitant to do anything without proper observation first. Proper observation that could, unfortunately, give the poison more time to spread while the bandages were open.

"Ri?" Emery prompted, likely sensing my hesitation and uneasiness.

"Yeah, sorry." I said, blankly staring at Demi's arm. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly before I decided on my course of action. "Demi - Rylie, too, probably - I'm going to be honest with you both. The good news is that I think your father is probably right. Removing this poison - eventually - feels to me like it is within my power. The bad news, though, is that I've never seen, or even read about, any similar poisons. I honestly have no idea how it will react to my attempt to purge or neutralize it."

"Okay…so what you're saying is…?" Rylie motioned to continue with her hand.

"I can't promise anything beyond removing the poison. There could be lasting effects - crippling ones. I'd say the chance is small, but I honestly have no idea. And I know you just said pain doesn't bother you as much as other people, but this could get worse before it gets better."

Demi shrugged with her good shoulder. "I suppose I'll be just as honest as you, then, Avuri. I trust you more than I'd trust some other random spiritual doctor. Whether or not you know how to handle this, I trust your judgement in reacting to whatever might go awry. Besides, Dad has faith in you too. If he sent us here, and you have no idea what this poison is, then I somehow doubt a more…'regular' doctor would, either."

"I'm in agreement." Rylie said, raising her hand in solidarity. "I figure we're taking chances basically no matter where we go, and I'd rather take them here, with family."

Demi snorted and pointed at her sister. "Exactly. That was much better put than what I said." She took hold of one of my wrists solemnly with her free hand. "Do what you have to, Avuri. Let's see what we're dealing with."

I felt a gentle, reassuring caress from Emery through our bond. She had drifted forward enough to lay a hand on my shoulder for reassurance as well, but it was the raw emotion and trust from her that felt like a solid push behind me.

I nodded. "Alright. If the pain gets noticeably worse, or something feels unexpected, please say something. Don't just grin and bear it."

"Right."

"Here we go."

I concentrated again, putting a much larger portion of my concentration into my Qi. I pushed on it until I had amassed a solid amount of medicinal Qi, more than I had used before to explore Demi's arm, and pushed forward with it. This time, I started my entry through the open wound, careful to avoid the necrotized flesh as much as possible. Touching it with medicinal Qi would likely disinfect it without any input from me, and would probably hurt Demi.

This time, rather than the cautious, probing exploration, I sought out the toxin. I positioned my Qi around the various pockets of it in Demi's muscles and meridians in the areas just inside the wound. Once I had chosen my targets and surrounded them, my Qi rushed forward to latch onto the toxins.

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Typically, when it came to treating poisons with medicinal Qi, there were two main options. One option was to use the properties of medicinal Qi to sanitize the poison with the Qi itself, whether that was through neutralization, purifying, or literal destruction of the poison. It was the brute force option, and usually only worked in rare cases, or when the power dynamic was lopsided in the doctor's favor.

Second was the much more commonly used option - drawing the poison out in some way. My Qi surrounded the toxin, isolated it, and tried to dislodge it from whatever parts of Demi it had settled in. Thankfully, the toxin's rebellion was within my power to deal with. It was like trying to hold onto a small creature that was biting at your hands and thrashing to get free, all while trying to make sure that the thrashing didn't cause damage to its surroundings. But with enough Qi, I could ensure that there was nothing within its 'reach' to damage, acting like a cushion.

Of course, the amount of Qi I had to use to create that safety cushion was quickly becoming too much for me to handle while remaining overly deft. I could feel the edges of the masses of Qi that brushed against the inflamed and infected parts of the wound, burning away some of the infection - likely painfully.

When I finally began to pull the poison back toward the open wound to remove it, the gash started bleeding. With all of the poison in her arm, it didn't surprise any of us when it appeared as a tainted dark brown, almost black. The blood oozed from the cut much thicker than blood should be.

"That's not great." Demi said helpfully as I tried to pull the poison toward the exit with my Qi. "Also, Avuri, that does hurt. I'm alright, but it does hurt." she said calmly. Unable to trust Demi's judgement of pain fully, I hesitated. My pulling got slower and she noticed, frustration quickly appearing on her face. "I said I'm fine. Keep going."

I tried to put the whole larger situation out of mind and focused, returning to the arduous task of drawing the poison out. Even moving it only a few centimeters toward the exit was a difficult task. I had to carefully watch Demi's internal flows - both blood and Qi - and avoid clogging anything, while also avoiding accidentally reversing any flow directions. Doing so could be disastrous, particularly when it came to Qi in the meridians.

Still, those weren't exactly likely outcomes so long as I focused. It took more time, but eventually, several globs of Qi appeared and oozed out of the wound on Demi's forearm. As each appeared, I let my control on them drop, allowing the blobs to splatter onto the ground. The Qi dispersed on impact, leaving the thick multicolored ichor of the poison staining the floor.

Emery quickly shuffled off toward the storage Array in the pavilion to retrieve some cleaning-related items to wipe up and clean the poison that was now dripping from Demi's arm semi-regularly.

I kept focused until I felt the last bit of Qi I had been pulling on appear and fall from Demi's arm. With that done, I took a deep breath and settled back in my seat for a quick breather. "Em. Rylie. I need you two to help me wrap up her arm again. The poison could spread more if we leave it."

"Right." Rylie said, stepping up to snatch the cloth bandages that had been left in a heap on the ground.

"Start from the shoulder this time." I said, pointing as she gently cradled Demi's arm to work on it. "I want to leave her upper arm wrapped next time while I work on her forearm."

"Got it."

Rylie got the wrapping started, and I moved to assist once I caught my breath. Emery joined us as well, once she was satisfied that there was no poison left on the ground. And she had put in extra effort to make sure there was no residue left, either - but she did manage to get some of the poison into a small vial for me to look at later, which was smart. I hadn't thought to ask.

It didn't take too long to get Demi's arm rebandaged. The seals on it were powerful ones, and didn't seem bothered that we had removed and reapplied the bandage at all, to my relief.

Once the ends of the cloth were tied and secured, everyone collectively sat there, half huddled together, in some form of relief. While I wasn't confident that what little I had done in that single attempt would amount to much, it did prove to all of us that I could, at least, safely remove the poison. The question that remained, however, was whether I could get all of it quickly enough because while I was working without the bandage on, the poison could spread as well.

I probably needed to find a way to refashion pieces of the bandages into tourniquets or something.

While I was trying to figure out exactly how to proceed from there, Rylie and Demi were staring at me. When I finally looked up and met their eyes, Rylie asked, "So?"

"So?"

"So what's the situation look like?"

"Oh. Right." I said, turning to more properly face the two of them. "Rylie, I'll still need to actually get a look at your state before I can say for sure, but if you're in a similar state to your sister, I think this should be doable. It's going to take time though."

They both nodded while Rylie asked, "Did you want to examine me now?"

"Sure. Swap spots with Demi." I said, helping the two of them do so - not that they actually needed the assistance. "There are a couple things we, as a group, will need to keep an eye on." I continued, nudging Emery with my foot to be sure she was paying attention, too.

"First, any time I'm not actively treating you, make sure the bandages are in place and secure. They've done a fantastic job of keeping the poison from progressing, and they don't seem to be affected by taking them off and putting them back on." I pointed to the re-secured bandages on Demi, and both women nodded. "Second, we'll need to be careful during treatments, too. I don't know how quickly the poison will try to spread while the seals are taken off for treatments, so we'll need to keep an eye on them. I'm hoping that we can find something less cumbersome to use during treatments, or maybe I can stop it with Qi. We'll have to experiment a little bit, but I don't want to risk your health."

"But otherwise things look good?" Demi asked, eyeing where the wound was on her forearm.

"I wouldn't say 'good', but they look…favorable, I suppose." I said. "Although, to be perfectly honest, I'm far more worried about Rylie's state than yours, Demi. A stomach wound is usually much worse than an arm."

"I'm ready to remove the bandages so you can check me out if you are." Rylie said, adding a flirty wink.

I rolled my eyes but still nodded. "I don't know how the two of you keep your moods up in a situation like this." I muttered.

Rylie and Demi shrugged, almost dismissively, while we all sort of participated in slowly removing the bandages from Rylie's torso.

"It's been a while since -"

"Shut your mouth, Rylie." Emery said, cutting off whatever off-color joke she was about to make.