Gavial: Path of Medicine

She takes one step forward and kicks something.
She looks down.
It is a shoe, without a doubt that of a child.
There is a pool of dried blood next to it.
She feels the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

Gavial has no time to be surprised at the blood bags hanging everywhere, for there is a Sarkaz with white hair and red eyes standing in front of her.
A Vampire. She remembers reading about them in a book.
A tribe of the Sarkaz, as powerful as they are infamous.
They walk in shadows, feeding upon the blood of others. There is no murder they will not commit, no evil they will not stoop to...

The tribe shaman says that when the heroes of Acahualla die, their souls go back to Acahualla's lakes.
'My soul shall be cleansed by the lake and become the wind in the trees, the rain in the sky.'
It's you who should be afraid, Vampire scum.
You'll remember me when the wind brushes against your face and the rain falls upon your shoulders!

The tribes of Sargon have such delightful traditions.
But you don't understand the Vampires.
The wind is averted by the smell of blood, and the rain turns to blood that nourishes me.
Your soul won't harm me in the slightest.

Before she left the jungle, Gavial thought the most glaring thing that existed was the sun.
Once, she mustered the courage to stare directly at the sun, and it burned her eyes, leaving her seeing double for days.
She thought there could be nothing more glaring that the sun.
She realized she was wrong when she left the jungle.
The most glaring thing is the eyes of other people, staring at the Originium crystals on her body.
She was not afraid of the malice in those eyes, but they are always averted when she tries to look into them.
It took some time for her to learn that her illness was known as 'Oripathy', rather than 'Stone Disease'. And people like her were known as 'Infected'.
She learned that Oripathy was considered incurable.
She learned that most Infected lead hard lives.
In the jungle, there was no such distinction, no discrimination against those afflicted by Oripathy.
She did not understand why. All she knew was that she might be able to make the lives of Oripathy patients better, even if it could never be cured.
So she searched for doctors who claimed to be able to treat Oripathy, trying to learn from them.
But she found only disappointment.
Some were mere frauds. Others were worse, using the treatment of Oripathy patients as a cover for criminal activity.
When she pointed it out, they framed her and made her a fugitive.
Why?
...
She feels the pain of a needle going into her arm, then the feeling of loss as her blood is drawn.
Her friends in Acahualla do not even know what happened to her.
She should have gone back to see them, just once.
The sense of loss is soon gone.
Then, silence.
Is this death?
Do Vampires kill painlessly?
......
...
...
No. She is still alive!

A lack of samples.
At the end of the day, only a number of simpletons would believe this blood-for-candy thing.
There are still many Infected who don't trust me.
Besides, you said that rumors about me have started to spread, making it even less likely that people will come.
Before you came, I was planning to make my identity known, and go door-to-door to scare the inhabitants into giving blood.

Gavial hasn't been back for a few days.
Did she run into some sort of trouble?
I would have taught her medicine, even if she didn't solve my problem.
Maybe I should go and find her.

Well, I do some volunteer medical work in the slums, which means the people there are willing to hear me out.
They were willing to give their blood when I told them you needed it for their research.
Oh, and I cleared up the rumors about you while I was at it.
Is this enough for your research?

I've made up my mind, Gavial.
Let's travel together and study the blood of Oripathy patients in different places.
You'll collect the blood, and I'll study it.
I'll teach you everything about medicine that I know.