EDIT (1/22/2015): Removing tables.
And so he found himself in the dark Blackfeather once again. Luckily, if there was a place he'd be if not in the Ouroboros it would be there, beside Meldresi. She offered a place to start off something new, to begin something different, and the silver boy always found that promise attractive. But although this was all true, it wasn't Keith who was present in the caves of the grim woods, Keith drowned in the river where the beast they knew as Kaname had killed him, giving space to Bane. The savage youth took over the silver boy's weaker mind, triggered by the despair that surged from the fracas with the dark brute and a natural instinct he had for survival, and had it not been for the abrupt slam, the savage would've done something to avoid the drowning.
Even if he found it interesting, Keith always felt that there was something off about Blackfeather, but for Bane it was like the woods had been modeled for himself. The low light was soothing for the Swine, who only came free during the full moon nights. There hadn't been much movement for him yet, but he was feeling much energetic now. The priestess took well care of him, and even if she performed some creepy rituals on him, he didn't put any resistance to it, he was sworn to her, and the fact that his oath was made under weird agreements didn't change the faithfulness of his words, there was no question about his loyalty to the dark priestess.
But today he was too bored to just sit and wait for Meldresi to do some voodoo shit on him, he wanted some action, so he forced his still ache body up and slowly crawled out to the entrance of the cave, where he stopped to scan the surrounding area.
Slipping into her store room, she collected ew herbs for the healing northerner. Wrapping them in a sliver of baher the priestess searched for him, trying to locate his scent in the winding tunnels. It was a while before she saw the white pelt half in, half out of one of the entrance. She chuffed to get his attention, slipping past him. "Greetings, Moon Bane." She took to greeting him by his alter-ego's ever since the transition occurred. Bane despised the other male, thought he was weak. It would not bode well for her to provoke him that way.
Not expecting yet to come across anyone, the silver youth 's hackles bristled at the hear of the Preistess, but when he recognized her he lowered down his tail to show a little more respect. "Morning" he said in a low tone. Bane wasn't the most talkative guy in the world, nor the most expressive either, but it wasn't hard to see how comfortable he felt around the dark woman, there was something about her so soothing to the savage, it was probably the way she treated him... well, that was, and he felt like she was the only one so far.
"Are we having another ritual session soon?" he said with a sly smile, even though it was some creepy stuff what she did, the young chow liked watching her do it, there was something really hot about it.
Suddenly, his lungs felt the urge of erupting fluids from inside, so he coughed heavily spitting out some mucous mixed with blood, it was disgusting. His breathing turned heavy and his weak muscles couldn't resist his weight so he collapsed to the ground panting.
Two sides of one stone. Similar yet different, Keith and Moon Bane. It was evident in their greeting; Bane's was blunt and straightforward, while Keith's would be a bit more drawn out. She had a strong feeling that Moon Bane was attracted to her, he did make it rather obvious. This did mean that Keith had some attraction to her as well, if they were a part of each other's sub-consciousness.
"No, not today." She said with a smirk. It had sapped her energy to perform so many rituals in such a short period of time, but it had worked, and her goddess was pleased. To what end she was creating the means for she had no idea, but she felt it was deliciously devious.
"That's what I came here for, to heal you." The priestess dropped her bundle by Kei- Moon Bane, unfurling it and sifting through the herbs. Lavender Hyssop and Butterflyweed, for his cough. She chewed the two herbs into a pulp and nudged it towards him. "This is for your cough, it will sooth your throat and clear the mucus." She then searched for Canada Milk Vetch and Stinging Nettle, for the blood he was coughing up.
jk xD I was expecting you'd go for that trade for Meldresi, it suits her as well as the naturalist trade!
Bane was still trying to catch his breath when the Priestess came to rescue him once more. She nudged some pre-chewed herbs to him, had it been someone else he would've rejected it, but instead he trusted the woman and not completely sure about what to do with it he swallowed the mash completely. It still felt like his throat was flooded with mucus, and it was really hard to breathe, so with a last painful cough he expelled as much as he could to be able to breathe again.
He felt defeated, laying on the ground with no other choice but to let the woman baby him. He wanted to go out and explore the gloomy place because so far he had only seen some of the cave. The dark woods looked amazing from inside, but the temptation to just get up and run through it was murdered by the state in which his body was.
"Let me out" he tried to whisper, but his voice was barely audible. He was sick of the cave even though he liked its vibe, he wanted to enjoy his freedom from the cage he had been trapped in for so long, but there was just no way for him to even move from the entrance, he was in the hands- or paws- of the priestess and he needed time to recover completely.
Meldresi found the herbs after a bit of scrounging. She chewed them up immediately, preparing him another poultice to sooth him for the moment. The priestess nudged the chewed up herbs over to him, her ear twitching as she heard him whisper.
It was hard to hear what he said exactly, but she did catch the word 'out'. Did he want to go out of the cave? Or was it just Keith begging from the inside? She decided to go with the former thought. "You wish to go outside?"
The priestess repeated the process with some new herbs, and once again Bane swallowed the whole thing without question. Everything she had done so far was working well and there was no reason to mistrust the priestess, at least not yet. His time in the dark woods hadn't been long, but he already liked it a lot and so far he hadn't find a reason to leave.
But there was one thing that lingered on the silver savage and no matter how hard he tried, he didn't seem to remember completely. Not knowing how everything happened and how exactly he got to Blackfeather was unbearable and he wanted o know the truth, but he hadn't come around to ask Meldresi yet, and the possibility of her having been the one to put him in that state hadn't even crossed his mind.
The reason he wanted to get out of the cave the most was that he needed to investigate his case, and if he ever found the one guilty of his pain he would pay it in return.
"I need to get out..." he whispered, this time a bit louder. "You know who did this to me, don't you?" he asked and coughed once again creating a raspy and painful sound, like his lungs were about to come out of his mouth. "I have to do something about it...." he said panting, and looked at his Priestess in the eye, demanding an answer.
His voice sounded pitiful as he tried to speak. The rasping wheeze that ached from his chest hurt her ears and she shushed him, laying her muzzle across his. "Do not talk for now." She murmured soothingly before packing up the remnants of her herbs in the bark slivers she had.
"I think it would be best if you got some exercise. A couple of short walks a day would do you some good." She gestured towards the entrance, to where some light filtered down through the canopy. Whether it was moon- or sunlight she could not tell. She would have to study it to make sure; it could help with the pack if she did.
She backed down the tunnel, towards her herb store. "I believe I have some honey for you, Moon Bane. Let me return to my store and check. Then we can go for a walk together." With a flick of her tail she disappeared into the darkness, weaving her way to her little crevice. She dropped the bark off in a corner and sniffed around for honeycomb, hoping she had a least a few drops.
Meldresi walked away then, to get honey for the harsh coughing that made the pale yearling suffer, and he stayed in the entrance, laying on the ground trying to breathe normally. Her statements were true, he needed to start moving his ache body to regain the strength he had before the unfortunate events, and it was about time. The caves were impressively calming, but sitting idle in pain had to come to an end, he was ready to go out again.
Finding one of the last remaining honeycombs the priestess turned tail and returned to the tunnel, mentally making a note to harvest more honey before winter froze the bees. Meldresi approached the silver male, tilting the honeycomb towards him so the honey trickled slowly out of the hexagonal holes, making it easier for him to eat the soothing liquid.
Bane waited silently for the priestess to come back with more medicine, frowning a brow in frustration for not being able to move. And when she came to pour the sweet nectar directly from the honeycombs he didn't put resistance, he opened his maw and slurped all its content.
"So... Are you gonna tell me who did it?" He said with a raspy voice after wiping his muzzle with the back of his paw. If she knew who did it he wasn't sure, but she had been the one to drag him back to the dark woods, and any information she could give him could be a starting point for the reprisal.
When he finished consuming the sticky amber fluid, Meldresi placed the comb down. She would find some other use for it later. Maybe for holding some other liquid or herbs? When he spoke again, it was about who had pushed him into the river. To be honest, she did not know who exactly. It could be anyone who had a grudge with the white male. "I am not sure." She responded truthfully. "But it must be someone from Ouroboros Spine."
The black furred priestess slipped past the male and headed outside, gesturing for him to follow. "Do not worry about that any more, Moon Bane. Save your voice and focus on revenge when you are stronger. Let us walk together." She waited for him to follow, indigo eyes glowing in the darkness of the forest.
Ouroboros Spine. The name rang a bell, but he wasn't entirely sure he knew the place, so the only explanation would be that the damage wasn't meant for him, it was Keith he had to thank for it. Stupid cunt. Thought the silver savage within himself. It would be a first time though, usually it was the erratic MoonBane who got the silver prince in trouble...
He didn't say a word after the Priestess got up for "a walk," instead, he forced himself up and slowly followed the Alpha's steps. Would've it been someone else the answer would've been something like "Fuck off" or the Growl and snap of jaws that characterized the young savage, but this was his Alpha, he didn't dare call her a friend, and she was far from being his lover (even though they get nasty sometimes) but she was the only one so far that seemed to care.
The male followed her instructions and rose silently, joining her in the dark woods. She flicked her tail and began walking, heading towards the border. It would be a causal walk, but it wouldn't help to patrol the borders while they did so. She looked back at the male, eyes glowing curiously. Did he remember his old pack? Cara? Kaname? Or was it a faint, repressed memory from Keith's consciousness? She did not have the answers to that question as of yet, but it could prove very interesting if that theory proved to be correct.