“Oh goodness,” Angela looked down at a severed arm and a screaming elf. “Did I not tell you to be careful when you went out? They are nothing to sneeze at and people who don’t know how to fight should stay home.” The elf screamed louder as Angela began treatment. Reattaching an arm was nothing to her but honestly, the goddess was a bit confused by the way he was acting. “You try to take on  a wyvern and get your arm hacked off and now you want to be a baby about it? Honestly,” She scolded him just like a mother would.

Her warm cloak was around her shoulders as she poured a concoction onto the wounds of the man. Skin burst like petals blooming at the seams of where the stump and arm met. It formed the perfect stitching and sure it might have stung but really the elf was over reacting. “Maybe next time you will listen to me before you go running off to fight a fight that you are not ready for.” The elf looked very young and maybe they hadn’t had time to teach him.

A make shift work area was made for the goddess. There was lots of herbs and cauldrons around for the goddess to use. She swore she saw many mortar and pedestals so she didn’t have to clean each one to use it. “I prefer the old ways of healing people over magic but if you lot insist on getting body parts blown off I guess I’ll have to use my divine gifts.” The red head looked behind her. “Is there someone who can be my assistant today to help with the wounded? I would be grateful. Those who can’t fight should heal or help heal even if you are terrible at it.”

Ernest had never intended to get stuck in the middle of a battle. She had come here searching for an island. Well, she thought, I have most  certainly found one. Of course, it was not the one she was looking for. It never was.
Nonetheless, she had found herself dropped off by the man in the skiff, and had barely walked two minutes when she slipped on the ice and tumbled into the middle of the skirmish. The wyvern nearby had noticed, obviously, that she wouldn't be able to hold her own, and had gone for her. Had it not been for the elvish archer, she would've been dead. As it was, she had a long scratch down her leg, but was not badly wounded in any way.
Somehow, she had found her way here, to this… building of some sort. She wasn't sure exactly what it was for, but it was a lot warmer and dryer in here than outside. There were a lot of elvish soldiers milling around everywhere, but Ernest wasn't sure for what purpose.
Sliding through the crowd, she found herself near a somewhat cleared space where a red-haired lady appeared to be healing a wounded elf, although how, Ernest wasn't sure. She was decently far away and unable to see, but it seemed a lot faster than any healing Ernest had ever seen. 
The lady seemed to be looking for an assistant. Ernest looked around, wondering if anyone would volunteer, but no one seemed to be paying much attention to the healer. 
Shyly, she stepped closer to the lady and raised her voice a little, trying to be heard. "I don't know much about healing, but if you need someone to run odd jobs, I can help." Here, at least, was something she could do. She wanted to help, somehow, even if what she could do was very small.

Angela looked at the young human and gave a smile. “Anyone can learn at any time how to heal child.” She began to clean up her mess as she looked at the table. “See the mortars there? Do you think you can grind me up the herbs that are in each of them. Make sure not to cross containment. The last thing we want are limbs to start falling out more than they are.” She gave the arm she had worked on a good slap and while the elf screamed he was soon rejoicing over the fact he could not only feel his arm but move it. “All good!”

Washing the blood off of her hands Angela’s green eyes moved over Ernest. “My name is Angela, I suppose I would be a bit of a legend if not for the fact that I get in everyone’s business.” It was no secret that Angela tended to like a good bit of gossip but she also tended to be the healer that would show up when others couldn’t be bothered. “The people of Revaliir call me the Master Artisan of Life and Keeper of the Cornucopia. Long and terrible name I assure you but that’s what they call me.” She offered a graceful smile as more people were being carried in.

“Alright my dear girl we are going to move fast. I’ll instruct you on which herbs to get, what they look like, and how many I will need. I may be a woman of magic but traditional healing is where I specialize the most in. If it comes down to it we will use magic and I can teach you how to use bursts of healing artes if you want. Being my assistant does have perks after all!”

Ernest got to work as quickly as she could. There was a long row of herbs to be ground, and as she started, she listened to Angela talk. She sounded fascinating. The Master Artisan of Life and Keeper of the Cornucopia, though… how did one get that title. Ernest was curious, but not enough to ask - and anyway, it seemed it would be rather rude to interrupt Angela. 
She was distracted from that the next moment. Angela addressed her as "dear girl," and Ernest did a double take. No one had ever called her that. It wasn't so much that she minded, so much as she'd never considered that someone would think of her that way. 
She continued down the row of dishes, being careful not to mix herbs, as Angela had told her, when she caught a mention of magic. She jerked her mind back to the conversation in time to hear Angela telling her that if it came down to it, they would use magic. Magic? Ernest was almost certain she didn't have any magic in her. Didn't magicians always seem to come from highborn families or something? Wherever they came from, she was pretty sure she didn't fit the qualifications. On the other hand, she had never tried. She pushed that thought out of her head, though. Dreaming and hoping never worked out well for her.
Noticing Angela had finished talking, she put in, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but I don't know if I actually can use magic. I've never tried, you see. Not meaning to be unhelpful or anything." She felt a bit awkward, and then realized she'd never introduced herself. "My name's Ernest, by the way." She hoped Angela wouldn't take her reluctance to use magic the wrong way. It wasn't that she didn't want to help, she just wasn't sure she had it in her.
((OOC: I've never actually determined whether Ernest can use magic  - if it works best for the thread, go ahead and ask her to try it, and I can make her able to.))

There was a spark in Angela’s eye as she listened to what Ernest had to say. The goddess’s hands were itching just a bit as she came over to the young human and gave a smile across her red lips. “There’s always times to start and if you don’t like it… you don’t ever have to do it again. Let’s see…” She gently took Ernest’s warm hand in hers, Angela’s hands ran a bit colder but not too much. It seemed that Angela was concentrating on something but she wasn’t about to reveal what it was just yet.

“Ah, that would work.” Taking a dagger from her pocket she lightly cut herself. Before she could heal it herself she took Ernest’s hand and an electric feeling ran through Ernest. It wasn’t like a shock but the glow she would produce, pure magic, came. It was obvious that Angela was making it come out with her own as Ernest began to heal her little cut. It wasn’t a bad heal if Angela had to say so. Looking at the mark that she had made the girl heal she nodded. “I gave you a bit of my magic so you could find your own. Granted, you would have to find a teacher to learn if you wanted to. I’m not exactly sure what you would be able to do past the spell I’ve granted you. You could fly… or breathe fire… or become something of a beacon for mortals. We could always use those. Important people come in little packages, like you.”

Angela gently booped the girl on her nose and took some of the grounded up herbs to begin to make salves. “If we start to combine some with different ingredients my dear, we can make an effective salve mixture. Salves are some of the best things you can make when out on your own. As long as you bring the necessary ground herbal ingredients.”

Pushing beeswax, oil, their herbs, a cheesecloth, and a container in front of Ernest, Angela smiled at her gently. “These few things are able to make some of the best medicine. It doesn’t matter if you think you are bad if you know the right combination. A healing salve is the basic medicinal practice for most healers on the field. When we can’t use magic we resort to salves.”

Ernest just stared at her hands for nearly a minute before realizing that she should get back to work. She mixed the herbs carefully while Angela watched, still half in a dream. She could use magic. Magic! She had never thought that would be possible. And everything Angela had said she might be able to do with it… 
She jerked her attention back to her work. Daydreaming could come later. Right now, she had a job to do. She continued to mix the salves while Angela tended to… well, she wasn't exactly sure what Angela was tending to, but it seemed important. 
Her thoughts slowly drifted back to magic. What exactly had just happened? How had Angela made her magic work? Ernest had never heard of someone doing that. In all the old stories, people just… seemed to have the talent.
"Are you a magician, Angela?" she asked. But she didn't get an answer. An alarm went off, horns blowing and people shouting. Somewhere in the ruckus she heard someone call, "Third regiment! Third regiment out! Orcs on the west flank!"

Angela wasn’t as preoccupied with the call as her young helper was. She looked up at and for a moment stared at the girl. “A healer’s job is most critical. Our job is being calm and be in charge. When everyone is in a panic we must not be. The same goes for our helpers.” She collected the powders and began to form them all into salves.

“Friend or foe, no one really deserves to die unless they commit something unspeakable. The story of good versus evil is not so black and white. It is actually gray. For what may look good to us might be evil to them. What may be evil to us might be heroic and just. Everything has two sides. Including our job.” She moved from her spot over and stood by Ernest now.

“I’m not a magician. I am a goddess and a healer. Above all else, I must remain calm. If I don’t the world will shake and I will have to answer for my sins.” She brushed the girl’s hair and sighed. “Come now, we should gather up our resources and head to where we can heal the most people. I can at least shield the healers from incoming attacks.”

A goddess! Ernest was working with a goddess. She stood in shock for a second before helping Angela gather their things. Calm, she chided herself. Barely five seconds, and she was already forgetting what the goddess had told her. 
Angela's talk of good and evil struck a chord in Ernest. Her good and evil had never really been quite the same as other people's. "I see what you mean," she said. "About good and evil, I mean. I've met a lot of people who think I'm evil. Or definitely not good, at any rate. You see, I'm a bit of a thief sometimes. But I can see what you're saying. Everyone has a different perspective." She turned to follow Angela. She seemed to know where they were needed.
She began to see why Angela said they must stay calm. Everywhere, people were shouting and running from place to place. No one seemed to be in control of the situation. But, as they walked into the area where most of the healers had set up, she was astonished at how confident Angela was. She knew what she was doing, and everybody else knew that.
Ernest watched how people seemed to be comforted by someone clearly in charge. It occurred to her that maybe, one day, she could be that person. 
It was a beautiful thought.