Zelda Verada's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Zelda Verada sat cross-legged on the floor of her small room at Fort Orynth, sketching a tourniquet diagram in her worn notebook. Her tail flicked with concentration as she added notes about pressure points and timing. Tomorrow she would visit the military records building downtown. The old facility held decades of battlefield reports, and somewhere in those dusty files were the medical techniques she needed. Her ears perked forward at the thought. She wanted to create a complete survival manual, something that could save lives when trained doctors weren't around. The next morning, Zelda stood before a drab green and brown building with black trim. The structure looked tired but sturdy, like an old soldier still standing at attention. She pushed through the heavy doors and followed the signs to the archives section. Row after row of metal shelves stretched before her, packed with boxes and folders. A worker directed her to the medical section with a wave of his paw. Zelda pulled file after file, scanning reports from field hospitals and combat zones. Her notebook filled with sketches of improvised splints, herbal treatments, and emergency procedures. Some techniques used plants that grew wild near battlefields. Others showed clever ways to clean wounds with limited supplies. She copied everything carefully, her paw cramping from the work. Hours passed before she looked up again. Back at the fort, Zelda spread her new notes across her desk. She needed a proper place to store all this research, somewhere organized and protected. A tent with wooden beams and canvas sides would work perfectly, with space for rolled scrolls along the walls. She also sketched plans for a special cabinet to hold medicinal plants, something sealed tight against the desert heat. Her manual was taking shape, one page at a time. Soldiers would have the knowledge they needed when it mattered most.