Phantom Hollow A Healer's Hands and an Alpha's Heart

Veritas had seen dens begin to take shape and the lives of the pack return to normal. After the intruder's intrusion (heh) and her long trip out (10 days to go and return, what a mission), the healer finally had what she needed to truly breathe life into her project. Choosing a suitable place hidden away from the elements, she began her work. First, the rocky area was isolated and whatever leaves remaining from autumn's fiery embrace were swept away, cleaned from the den entrance. Snow that had blown in was melted by her convenient body heat, and the earth beneath nourished by the melt. A trickle of water came in from invisible leaks and were patched up with cobwebs and burrs, clinging to the natural indentations of the rock. Veritas dug from the river running through their territory to the den (a rather short distance - a healer needed water near them), before placing rocks on the bottom of the tiny canal so as to make sure the water wasn't muddy and dirtied. 

The inside was stocked with herbs and plants, chunks of rock sticking out from the stone used as shelves so they weren't all over the floor. A bed of ferns, tucked in a corner, a drape of vines to conceal the entrance from enemies who might barge in to steal supplies. All this, took the woman more than several hours and from morning till the sun was high in the sky, Veritas had been at work. 

Panting from the near exhaustion, yet delighted at what she'd accomplished, Veritas let out a breathy howl to call for anyone who might want to come. This was, after all, what she would leave behind for any prospective healers in Moonlit Hills. And then, she was going to plant stuff so that newer healers wouldn't have to go looking for the most needed supplies.

She'd done her best to keep clear of the haughty healer, hoping to wait her out and keep a distance until she was gone--how long did she really need to stay anyway?--but when her howl cut through the midday forest, beckoning anyone who was interested to come to her, Mitanni felt her typical stirring of curiosity. Why did she call them? What did she have to share?

Visibly reluctant, and even more hesitant, the lithe brown wolf was drawn to where Veritas was. It took considerably conscious effort not to let her body sink into its customary cautious crouch, and she knew she failed at hiding her nervousness. Of everyone in the pack, Veritas had seemed the most open to hostility, confident enough to swagger in and control their meeting that wasn't hers to control (regardless that she oh-so-generously handed that control back over). Mostly Mitanni worried about being singled out. She wasn't one for conflict, and definitely couldn't hold her own in a fight.

And yet she was the one to approach her, eyeing the woman with discontent. Veritas didn't appear as haughty as Mitanni had grown used to seeing her, but instead looked...accomplished. She tread softly, lightly, her tail twitching and visibly displaying her nerves, but she clung to the knowledge that she had every right to be here--maybe even more so than this temporary wolf. "Veritas," Mitanni greeted neutrally, stopping with another twitch of her tail. Why had she called?

One might think that Mitanni had seen a ghost the way she moved and how she behaved. She trembled, shook, and did everything possible to convince Veritas that she was, in no way, suitable for a pack like this. Make one mistake, and you're dead. No matter how much you bond with you pack it's ultimately every wolf for himself (and she had no doubt that the stupid, foolish Cogitemus would wilfully sacrifice to save himself). "Mitanni," Veritas greeted, surprisingly less brisk and colder than usual. For the most part, she'd kept to herself, choosing to focus on efforts worth her time.

Obviously, the other female thought lowly of her, especially with her higher rank. Totally fine with the healer, for as soon as she could, she was going to hike the way out of Phantom Hollow without tossing a single look back. Wolves of Moonlit Hills be damned - the only ones she actually showed a hint of care for were the dark Alphess and the small Renn.

A twitch of tail. Uncertainty. Perhaps she could play that to her advantage, make the girl feel more at home, more calm with the older woman. And then, there would be a delightful toy - and all worth the acting. Besides, it had been a while since she'd kicked her talent into motion and anyways, she really wanted to show of her masterpiece. "Well you're here, now, so I suppose I better give you the update." Waving a raven-furred paw around the place, Veritas placed a gleam into her amber eyes and a smile upon black lips. "I made a den. A healer's den, for Moonlit Hills and it's wolves. Stocked with the most recent additions of herbs from a hunting trip, poisons from a forage... necessities like a water source diverted to here, mostly pure... Leaves, cobwebs et cetera." 

She took a breath in, then made a move as if to usher the child in.

@Mitanni don't know if you just missed it out, so tagging here!

She was greeted with less animosity than she'd been expecting, but it didn't yet allow Mitanni to relax. Amber eyes continued to watch the dark-hued healer while her ears flickered atop her head, half wondering if anyone else would heed the call, but when Veritas addressed her in a brisk, business tone, she realized they wouldn't be waiting.

Veritas quickly began to describe the setting she'd created with apparent pride and accomplishment, and as she did the little black and brown wolf looked at what she gestured to. She could see the den, could just make out the sound of the water, noted its location and carefully constructed privacy...but its significance was utterly lost. She wasn't a healer by trade, knew nothing about what they needed to do their work, and her lack of understanding was visible as she failed to become as excited as Veritas did.

But, as always, she was curious, and now was no exception. Mitanni didn't understand, but she searched everything that Veritas mentioned and motioned towards as if trying to see it the way she did, even though she failed to overall. As the woman motioned her inside, Mitanni wasted no time and did as she was bid, ducking inside the structure to see. "How does it all work?" she asked, intrigued and a bit more relaxed now that Veritas seemed open to conversing about her construct.

She refused to let her face fall.

Absolutely not. Not even if the blank look Mitanni gave was strongly putting the healer off her fame.

Nope. 

Maybe just an unnoticeable eye twitch and her face was back to the excitable, happy female currently standing behind the girl. Perhaps her figure cut an imposing stance if the girl were to turn around, seeing an all-black figure looking down on her from the outside of the den. Pity there were smatterings of white around her muzzle area. It broke the continuity.

"It works by... working, I guess? Puzzled, the female glanced down at the other. "Have you never seen a den before?" Now the tone was disbelieving, nonexistent eyebrows floating off to wherever shocked eyebrows went before they decided to come down. "It's basically a den, but with herbs instead of food. Unless you count honey, which I plan to add later."

Long and rambly sentences, go! But Veritas followed Mitanni inside, the high ceiling more than enough to house both of them with headroom to spare, the length of the place good for holding two wolves, plus one healer. The inside had a strong pungency to it - not necessarily a bad pungency, but more so of one with multiple herbs letting their smells mix together. It was not too far off from what Veritas imagined a garden would smell like.

Mitanni felt her curiosity dim and her expression to shift  into a look of mild irritation. Of course she'd seen a den before. It was all the other healer junk inside of it that puzzled her, that had no purpose to her untrained eye and that she was most interested in. Had she really made it so unclear? 

Her tail flicked once in less-than-subtle agitation, but she managed to answer dryly, "I meant all the other stuff you'd mentioned. The herbs, the cobwebs?" Even as she spoke she continued to step in further and look around nosily, noting the size of the place as well as all the storage room. She hadn't a clue what all the plants were, but she had to assume someone who knew what they were doing would have been ecstatic. Kind of wish I knew, Mitanni thought, if only because she always craved answers and knowledge.

ha.
Ha ha ha ha ha.

Ahahahahahahahahahaha.

Veritas was the one lady who wouldn't catch a clue onto anything unless it was made known to her beforehand, especially when it came to her duties. All ambiguous and smartass she was, though she did a damn good job of her things too. The healer shrugged, easing in beside Mitanni. 

"The herbs I have here are mainly stuff I've collected. Plants are rare in Winter but these are the lot I have." The healer didn't explain much, figuring a vague given would be enough. Besides, she'd never seen Mitanni show interest before - while the woman would jump at the chance to instruct someone in the way of medicine, she only wished to instruct those who would be willing to listen and learn.

"They basically aid in numbing pain, or at least most of them do."

"Cobwebs simply stick things together, or at least keep a dressing on for longer periods of time. Tell me, if something were to drop off halfway, how effective would that be?"

She turned her head to watch Veritas as she spoke about the plants very minimally, wishing there had been just a little more detail in their description. Even if she wasn't going to start shadowing the woman to learn her craft in full, Mitanni was still interested, but it seemed that wasn't enough to provoke a deeper explanation.

Numbing pain. That at least was useful. Again the black and brown wolf's amber gaze shifted to the plants, trying to pick traits about them that might help her recognize them elsewhere. Without a name for them, it would be tricky, but she hoped just knowing what they did would help the image of them stick. If not...she hoped someone else was keen on learning this stuff to keep this place stocked after Veritas left.

It would have never occurred to her to use cobwebs to hold things together, but the idea was instantly fascinating. "Not effective at all," she answered, seeing the usefulness in the idea. "Never really given thought to plants being more than just green," Mitanni commented, turning fully around in the space to give it a complete once-over.

"How'd you get into this?" Deciding on boldness, Mitanni shifted her questioning look to Veritas and asked outright.

She watched, in careful, concealed curiosity as Mitanni poked and prodded about the place. It was relieving to see someone who agreed about the adhesiveness of cobwebs since most healers preferred to slap on their pastes/herbs and have the wolf lie down to let it take effect. Veritas hadn't been the one to invent the idea - instead, she had continued on the practice as taught to her - but she very much liked how it enabled wolves to go about their business as per normal without all the question-asking and pitiful looks. She, for one, hated the stares people got.

Nonetheless, Veritas proceeded to then explain in detail what the herbs in there could do, since Mitanni was beginning to show more interest that could warrant further introduction. She listened to the straightforward question with a surely straightforward answer, though she took a moment to consider, thinking back to the ways of her old life.

"Every pup has a duty to the Kingdom the moment they are conceived," the healer began, sitting down as if to tell a tale to a pup (and majority of the wolves in her pack were, in her opinion, pups, seeing as few of them were over two) "I was a healer, as were other children of other litters. The royal children were, of course, to be princes and princesses and eventual rulers. So I was trained as soon as I could walk like others of my age. We were all either going to take on the roles of the common folk, like healer, teacher, caretaker et cetera. The higher tiers were the council, and they were the royalty who did not become Alphas or Betas.

"So I built up a strong memory and an eye for herbs. I learnt how to heal fatalities and because of that, where to cause them as well. And that is the story."

Veritas gave a rather blunt gaze to the younger female. "Any more questions?"

She honestly expected to be kicked out of the den for being needlessly nosy, but Veritas surprised her instead. She sat, while Mitanni stood, and began to divulge a bit of the history that had brought her here, that had set her on her course to learn everything that she knew about herbs and healing. It sounded very different from the broken and lonely upbringing the little wolf knew, but the structure and rigidity of it felt less appealing than the freedoms she'd been given from the start.

Still, it would have been nice to have a path set out from the very beginning, and Mitanni did envy her that. Overall she felt lost as to what she should've been doing with herself, and having that ingrained purpose would have made it that much easier.

Her brow quirked into a vague frown for a second as the mottled female thought, but smoothed away quickly as she answered simply, "Not at the moment." Getting the story she had was probably as lucky as she was going to be for the day, and Mitanni wasn't interested in pushing her luck. From the look on Veritas' face it didn't seem like the healer was interested in her inquiries anyway. "I should...probably go before I mess something up," she remarked with another glance around her. If she got too nosy and started poking around, she wasn't sure she could put everything back exactly as Veritas had it, and she didn't want to make enemies over nothing more than carelessness.

Still looking about, she began to walk toward the healing den's entrance.