Just imagine if you possibly can for an instant, that all you have ever heard about all things being one are true. Just imagine, for a few seconds, that every individual life pattern is a series of notes overlaid upon the all pervasive hum of the source energy pattern. Just imagine, if it so pleases you to try, that healing could be accomplished by singing those notes so that the tone and pitch of every single one formed a proper counterpoint for that background hum. Now try to imagine, taking a few steps further, that you are not the singer but the voice, not the player but the instrument. Imagine that your existence has no purpose until that moment of ecstatic vibration when a sound issues forth. Imagine that, in that instant, you are not only the instrument but you are also the sound.
This is the world of shapeshifter.
The Nascakiyetl Core heals in a way unlike any other. Core is both the player and the instrument, the singer and the song. For Core, the person being healed is part of the great pattern, and any pattern can be attained by shifting. Simplistically, Core heals by becoming an entity which includes the injured pattern, and then shapeshifting to transform the pattern of that entity so that the injury is made whole. This form of healing causes no discomfort to the injured party, as the work is done outside of his awareness. The feeling of being merged with Core can cause certain unusual sensations as the patterns are moved and reshaped. Although the work is done outside the awareness of the injured party, some of his awareness becomes part of Core's awareness. Indeed, Core must be very careful to monitor feedback effects. While the injured party may not feel any discomfort, it is not unusual for the shifting energy patterns to cause some pain to Core, and Core uses this in part to determine further requirements.
This form of healing is made possible by an innate tendency for Nascakiyetl Cores towards base pattern instability. This trait is the underlying source of both their versatility and their occasional fragility, and is also the reason that the Core-Key link is so important. Although this method of healing is extremely effective and precise, Core will only heal certain people in this manner. It requires a certain linking that may be forbidden by Protocol in some circumstances, and undesirable in others. Other Group members are automatically granted sufficient access for this to occur, but non-Group members must be first vetted by Family or Key. This is the only method that Core will use on Key.
Healing in this way can cause difficulties if Core is suffering instability, as the base pattern can then shift in unpredictable ways and cause even greater problems. If someone urgently requires healing under these circumstances, then Core will use more standard external manipulation techniques.
The merging with another person, almost invariably Family, almost always another Tool, is very much a pleasurable experience, no matter how uncomfortable the actual work is. Raven's Core has been designed to need and want to act as a catalyst, allowing other Families to use their Groups to their fullest potential with the minimum of interference. There is never any question of Core avoiding Work, whether that be a gruelling and extremely uncomfortable healing session, or a front-line support role involving heavy combat. Core needs Work as much as he needs to breathe.
Raven's Core and Snake's Core are the only Cores who can effect healing on severe injuries to all Group members. Snake's Core is by far more accomplished at this task than Raven's, as befits the Group remit. Other Cores can effect some healing on their own Group members, and patch things up sufficiently to make it to their designated healer, whether this is another Core in their own Group, a Key, or one of Snake's Group.