Wolf RPG

Stiff, sore and covered in cuts, Regipre slipped from the hollow tree to relieve herself, then get a drink of water. She was hungry too but there was nothing to be done for that just now. Maybe @Reek would bring by some food later or she would drum up the gumption to go out tracking again. She was rather fearless and brave, though that wasn't to say she was stupid. She wasn't keen on repeating yesterday's episode, ever. Never again would she stray so near the borders; she would make a point to lay low in the territory's heart.

After her drink, Reggie sat by the puddle of water and tried to take a good look at herself. @Sart had helped her clean her wounds so they weren't bleeding. They still stung. She caught a glance of her reflection and bent forward, realizing that it was useful as a mirror. She didn't look as bad as she thought she might, though it would take a few days before her injuries, seen and unseen, mended.

Tiring of her reflection, she looked up and peered off into the forest, blue eyes watching the way the morning mists hovered over the dew-covered forest floor, wreathing everything in what looked like silvery smoke.

She'd not been present for the altercation, but @Nochtli had filled her in on the incident. The idea of coyotes as surrogate pack members disgruntled her. She was already bending her desires by being around so many males. Allowing a couple of scoundrel children into their lands seemed like a mistake, but the will of the Alpha pair surpassed her own. Needless to say, she was not in the best of moods over it, but as she had yet to encounter one of the tawny coy-pups she could pretend they didn't exist.

Citali rose early in the morning. With the autumn still in its early stages the heat of the waning summer filled the afternoons. She preferred tending her garden in the morning before the day grew too hot to tend the portions of her garden that preferred full sun. Having just risen, she drifted through the silver mists and sought the nearby river so she might wake herself more completely.

With her terrible sense of direction and the addition of fog clouding her senses, she missed the river all together. She found herself somewhere else entirely. How she confused a puddle for a larger water source was beyond her comprehension, but it didn't matter. She'd found one of the things she'd hoped to avoid all together. From the looks of it, it was the coy-pup who'd been involved with the stranger on their borders.

She said nothing and instead lingered in the mists, staring at it as if the child would somehow disappear.

She heard footsteps and tensed. She thought of running back to the hollow tree. Instead, she forced herself to stay. Anyone who approached her this deep into the forest was most likely a member of the pack. Although they might not like her, they wouldn't harm her. At least that's what Reek had said. Of course, Reggie knew to take anything Reek said with a giant grain of salt. But she refused to succumb to a fearful state of mind. That was no way to live.

Reggie held still as a bulky wolf with thick, brownish fur and piercing silver eyes glided into view. It wasn't difficult to appear submissive, considering the differences in size and pose. The pup kept her eyes averted from the wolf's face even as she quietly studied her. Most important of all was her body language. She didn't appear to be friendly, though nor did she come across as a threat.

She wasn't the type to speak first when in the audience of a wolf. Despite Reek's blunder, she still knew she was at the bottom of the heap in contrast to Phoenix Maplewood's wolfish residents. Therefore, she remained silent, her lips pressed together as she did her best to remain zen beneath the stranger's penetrating stare.

She tried her best to remain neutral and passive, though there was a stiffness to her form that spoiled the illusion. She was a large wolf made all the more bulky due to her thick pelt. Big-boned, she swore, as she was trained in the ways of a warrior but had let all of that muscle fade as she'd taken on a lighter trade. She was a burly thing with no patience for children and a gruffness to her demeanor that was only emphasized by the sturdy weight of her gaze upon the whelp.

Citali snorted. The heavy exhale fled through her nose as she examined the submissive child closely. She was covered in scratches. Nicks and little things that would all heal in due time. The girl had been lucky, all things considered, but Citali couldn't help but wonder if things might have been better if she'd perished in the jaws of a stranger. Still... somehow the pup was alive which meant some ethereal something was smiling upon her. For now, perhaps. For now.

She took a heavy step forward and slipped past the girl. Her gaze turned downward as she ambled by before she turned her eyes towards the coiling clouds of mist. "Come," she said. A single word with all the meaning that needed to pass between them. Surly she was old enough to understand what that single word meant? If not? Oh well. The brown wolf disappeared into the veil of fog leaving the choice of whether or not to follow to the coy-pup.

The she-wolf moved toward her and Reggie stiffened. She didn't touch the young pup, though. She walked right on past her, causing Regipre to twist her head like some sort of owl. It was as she was rearranging the rest of her body that the stranger spoke a single word, a command: "Come." The pup's blue eyes blinked. She hesitated, then rose.

If the wolf wanted her to follow, then that's what she would do. At the first sign of danger and betrayal, however, she would make a run for it. The gift knew she was beneath these creatures by merit not only of species but age as well. But she wasn't going to risk her life in the name of obedience. She would comply, to a point.

She continued, gliding through the mists as though she were a creature born of them. Behind her, the tiny pitter patter of puppy paws echoed against the cool earth. The child had made the right decision in following. Good. Citali slid her eyes backwards and over her shoulder, retaining the illusion of still looking ahead only to visually confirm the coyote child at her heels. Hmmm. Now what to do with it.

"Are your wounds all healing?" She asked as she traversed through the fog. This way. No... maybe this way. She took smaller steps to accommodate the girl's smaller stride as she tried to remember the way and pressed forward through the white veil. Ah! A sign. They were getting closer.

While the mist furled around the wolf's legs, it very nearly swallowed the much smaller Regipre. She didn't mind this. In fact, the young coyote felt safer partially concealed this way. She could disappear into the mist without a sound and no one would ever find her... or so she liked to think. Of course, she didn't make good on this idea. She trailed in the she-wolf's wake, studying their surroundings as they went and saying nothing.

Then the stranger asked her a question. Reggie considered it a moment, then said, "Just got them last night." In other words, there hadn't been enough time to begin the healing process. "We cleaned them," the pup added. It had been very hard not to wince throughout Sart's ministrations the night prior but she had stiffened her upper lip.

It didn't take too much longer before the woods became familiar to her. The tell-tale signs of her garden arose in the distance as Citali continued. She wove through the open clearing where her garden would later be basking in full sunlight and disappeared through the rows into the covering of trees for those plants of hers that preferred the shade. Not too far from here was a steady stream. Just a small offshoot from the larger river that allowed easy access to water. She cleaned her dirty paws in that water often. It would serve her purposes now.

"You think you cleaned them," she muttered, pausing near the water as she sat alongside its edge. She tapped her paw into the shallow surface as if to beckon the coy-pup towards her. How on earth two pups thought they could possibly tend to wounds themselves was beyond her utmost comprehension. Then again, she did not pretend to understand the minds of mere babes. With a sigh, she waited. Reek had some strange attachment to these kids. She was not about to let one of them go unmended while she still boasted about her healing prowess.

Reggie didn't know what to say to that, so she said nothing. The she-wolf guided her toward a small stream, then motioned for the whelp to join her. Although typically fearless, she held back. An instinctive trepidation passed through her. Just moments ago, she had been sitting beside a puddle. Many times had she drunk from similar small pools. But the small runnel appeared quite foreboding to her. Beyond the wolf's paw, she could see movement: the current. A small shudder passed down her spine.

Fearing rebuke for her failure to do as she was told, Regipre nonetheless took a step backward, shaking her head no. "Can't," she said simply, unable to articulate why she feared the water and how come she didn't dare come any closer. Would the she-wolf force her? Or try to punish her for her disobedience? She prepared herself for these possibilities, her muscles tensing in preparation to spring away, out of reach.

They'd gotten so far. All that was left was to get the child into the water and bathed and cleaned up properly. It seemed here, however, they would reach a bit of an impasse as the coy-child refused to enter the shallows of the small stream. Citali blinked back at the whelp, unamused. Her face fell flat as her ears lowered. Her disapproval in the protests were evident and clear.

"Why not?" she asked firmly. There was a stiffness in her jaw and words that suggested she was not so keen on this act of defiance. Reason or otherwise, she was reminded as to why she loathed children. They were irrational, fickle things. She could only hope this was not one of those things.

Her cool blue gaze lifted for a split second, then dropped again, lingering on the moving water. "Danger," she answered simply and truthfully. She wasn't being petulant for the sake of it, though Regipre could tell it didn't make much of a difference to the she-wolf. She already seemed fed up with the young coyote's behavior.

"Sorry," she said, unaware that she had slipped into the Dothoran tongue. It was one of the first words Tomahawk had taught her pups, a testament to their intended upbringing. Reggie flattened her ears and lowered her head, frowning slightly but expression mostly blank. She still anticipated punishment of some sort and was braced for it.

Danger. Her expression went blank. This was a case of childish irrationality, clearly. Dealing with it was a pain. She pursed her lips, thinking long and hard as the coypup said a word she didn't understand with a dialect that felt strangely familiar. Oh right. They'd come from the plains. She'd dabbled with their alpha, his coyote translator, and one of their comatose wolves. It seemed that world had come full circle to haunt her.

Citali rose, lifting to her feet before she waded into the deepest part of the stream. The water came only mere inches above her ankles, not even halfway up her legs. The child would easily be able wade in and walk for her entire adventure in the water despite her size. "Don't be silly," she chided. "Now get in so we can clean those wounds properly."

When the wolf waded into the water to show her it was safe, Regipre stretched out her neck a little bit to observe. However, it did little to settle her fear. The escort was definitely losing her patience and so was the pup now. She was supposed to be bold and fearless. Nothing ever got to her. So why couldn't she overcome her anxiety about getting in the water? Even with the wolf's body blocking her view of the current, she couldn't even bring herself an inch closer.

"Can't," she repeated, flattening herself to the ground. She would roll over onto her back if that's what it took. "Sorry," she said again, oblivious that she was slipping in and out of Dothoran. "Just can't." Reggie's tail wriggled submissively and she remained apprehensive, sure the she-wolf was only seconds away from accosting her now.

It seemed her personal display that the water was fine was not good enough for this one. Citali breathed in deeply, counting mentally in her head as she tried to retain her cool. This was a child. This was a child who likely didn't understand what she was asking. The back and forth in the language changing and such made her wonder how much of this tongue the child knew. Why couldn't every creature just speak the common tongue and be done with it? That would have made all of life so much easier.

She made the decision for the girl who tried to become one with the earth. Citali pulled herself from the stream and made quick strides towards her before she gathered the pup up by the scruff and planted her back in the water. Middle of the stream. She was going to prove to her that "can't" was very much a "can" whether she liked it or not.

Citali had never intended to get fully wet, but now that the child was proving difficult that was no longer an option. She moved to lay within the middle of the stream, hoping to pin the child beneath her bulk so she might clean those wounds more properly all the while taking care to keep that pup's head above the surface of the shallow waters.

Just as she'd feared, the she-wolf made a lunge for her. Regipre tried to scramble out of the way, yet she wasn't fast enough this time. Teeth clipped her scruff. The pup made a strange noise as she was hoisted into the air, somewhere between a grunt and a hiss. Being lifted this way hurt, though she didn't even have time to register that before she was plunged into the icy cold water. Despite herself, the child's mouth opened in an earsplitting scream.

But even as she began to struggle, the wolf pinned her down and began to scrub at her cuts and scrapes. Reggie fell silent, only to suck in a deep breath and scream again. "@Reek!" she cried this time. Although the wolf was only trying to help, she was out of her mind with fear, convinced that she was going to drown her (accidentally or on purpose).

"Quit your screaming. You are fine," Citali snapped as she proceeded to wrestle the child down long enough to clean her. The scratches were mostly superficial, but there were still a few deeper ones here and there that she wished to pay closer attention to. She ran her tongue over these, no doubt aggravating the area further, but it was a necessary evil to clean them from the brambles and dirt that had gathered between the initial wound and now.

It took some time. The child squirmed, eventually calling for Reek which made Citali frown all the harder. "And what is he to save you from, hmm? Yourself?" She continued with her grooming and eventually released the child altogether. The wounds were as clean as they could be despite the girl's squirming. Citali'd dress them properly if the opportunity presented itself, but she had a feeling the girl was a bit of a flight risk by this point. Citali had no desire to chase her should she decide to run now that she was free.

She didn't know why she screamed for him. She still didn't trust him. Reggie wasn't really thinking at the moment. Later, she would recall this moment and her resentment toward her would-be savior would deepen. Sure, he fed her and said pretty words but he wasn't there for her when she really needed him... like when one of his subordinates was attempting to drown her like a rat.

Of course, that wasn't the case. The normally quiet and reasonable pup continued squirming and crying throughout the she-wolf's ministrations, unable to help herself. And as soon as Regipre was released, she made a leap for the shore. She was so relieved to be out of the water that she didn't even think to make a run for it. The soggy pup collapsed, hugging the ground with her shuddering wet body, and tried to collect herself.

As soon as she was free, the pup sprang from her arms and bounded towards the shore where she collapsed. Citali sighed heavily as she pulled herself from the water and gave herself a quick shake. It was still far too early to be wet, but she supposed there was nothing to be done about it. If the fog would lift, the morning sun would start to dry her and all would be well and good once more.

"Keep clinging to that dirt and we will have to wash you all over again," she warned, before she approached the child. Her shadow hovered over the girl as she nipped at her haunches to coax her into standing. "Up with you." She stepped around, moving to get a better look at the coy-pup straight on. Her eyes were only for those scratches. In particular, those deeper cuts she'd identified earlier.

She frowned. They were starting to heal, but Citali was certain she had something in her garden to speed the process along or protect them in the mean time. "Come. Come," she beckoned as she turned towards the tidy rows of miscellaneous herbs. "No dawdling." They were sorted in such a way that likely she would only ever be able to understand, but sorted all the same. "Let's get you patched up nice and proper."

She felt foolish and ashamed of herself. When the wolf leaped out of the water and coaxed her onto her feet, Reggie slowly rose onto all fours. She shook out her wet pelt, her ears drifting back as she fell into step behind her makeshift guardian. Now that she was no longer overcome with fear and anxiety, Regipre could more easily acknowledge the fact that the she-wolf was trying to help her. Although her face remained blank, the whelp's body language as she followed along behind her was particularly abashed... and more than a little relieved as they left the stream behind.

"Patched up?" she echoed quietly, speaking mostly to herself. Abruptly, it occurred to her that she didn't even know the she-wolf's name, nor did the wolf know hers. "I'm Reggie," the pup said a bit louder, even though it sounded out of place. She gave the nickname she preferred, rather than her given name. She wasn't really a gift anymore anyway.

Her gaze slipped over her shoulder towards the small coyote as she piped up. Citali didn't answer. She'd find out what "patching up" meant soon enough, but nevertheless she was pleased to see the girl still following. She loathed the idea of trying to lift the child again, but she'd do whatever was necessary to get a wolf, or in this case a coyote, healed. Reek and his pets. She still had no idea what he was thinking in bringing them halfway across the wilds.

The pup piped up and introduced herself. "That's nice, Regina. You can call me auntie." She was only half listening and therefore had made up whatever name she'd thought she'd heard. Truthfully, she didn't care. Thing One and Thing Two were on the lands, but "Regina" made Thing One easier to identify.

Back to the herbs. Citali rustled through her garden and came up with a dozen options. She narrowed them down a bit as she became torn between a couple herbs. She glanced from remedy to child and back again as she contemplated her options. "What are you feeling, dearie. Marigold or lavender?"

Regina? She didn't know what to say when the she-wolf bungled her name. Her lips parted to correct her, then she thought better of it. She requested to be called Auntie in turn. Regipre wasn't familiar with the term aunt, so she took it as her helper's actual moniker. She wondered if it meant anything, like her own name meant gift, but she remained mum on that too.

Auntie rummaged around in a pile of greens and Reggie watched, wary but fascinated. When offered a choice between the two, she blinked slowly, then looked up at the she-wolf's face. What? Really? her expression seemed to say. Out loud, she asked, "What are they?" She had never heard of dearie, marigold or lavender. They just looked like plants to her and she couldn't imagine what Auntie intended to do with them.

Heavily involved her assessment of her garden, she didn't have eyes for the child of her expressions. Her mind was occupied with the contemplation of this herb over that flower and trying to decide the proper dosage for a pup verses an adult wolf and then reducing that further to compensate for a smaller coyote child. Though she'd not admit it out loud, the mental challenge and puzzle in this particular scenario made all of her efforts worth it.

It was the verbal question that finally roused her. "Hmm?" she murmured before the question sank in. Oh. Well, then. She supposed the child might not have the slightest idea as to what these flowers that were so common to her actually was. "They're flowers, child. The yellow ones here are marigold and the violet ones are lavender." She pointed each of them out in turn. "They both have different smells. Which do you prefer?" A pause before she added. "Go on. Take a good sniff, child."

Auntie explained and Regipre listened. She still didn't quite understand what they were doing with flowers, though when she was prompted to choose one based on scent, she obediently sniffed at each. She actually liked the look of the marigolds more, though the lavenders smelled particularly lovely. Since that seemed to be the most significant criteria, she indicated her preference with a point of her snout.

She still couldn't guess the relevance of all this, yet instead of asking more questions, Reggie lapsed into her usual silence, letting Auntie show and tell her what this was all about.

The child sniffed and eventually settled on lavender. Not a bad choice. The more pungent of the two, and not what Citali would have chosen, but she'd not be wearing the scent later. She would, however, be tasting it. "Very well," she murmured and harvested a few late blooming flowers from the stalk. She made up a pile of them and placed them in her mouth to chew. This was always the worst part of salves, but after a while one could acquire a tolerance for the peculiar tastes.

With the petals crushed and their essence exposed, Citali transferred the salve from her mouth to the top of her paw where she stored it for the time being. "Come come. Sit next to me with your back towards me. I'll apply the petals to your cuts. It might sting a bit, but it will help them heal." She wondered briefly how much a child could comprehend about the healing process, but she seemed sharp thus far and also appeared to appreciate a little explanation. Hopefully the preface would satisfy the child enough to earn her compliance.

Reggie watched, fascinated, as Auntie gathered together the petals, then put them in her mouth. She blinked several times, watching the she-wolf chew, then blinked again when she spat the grayish mush onto her own paw. When she instructed Regipre to sit in front of her and made it clear she would be applying the warm, wet paste to the whelp's back, the youngster hesitated but only for a second. This whole situation was very odd, yet she didn't fear it, not like she had the water.

She did as she was told, positioning herself perhaps six inches from Auntie, her back exposed. Reggie turned her head to look over her shoulder, curious about the application process. In fact, she found the entire process quite intriguing. Maybe she could ask Auntie to show her (or at least tell her about) some more ways plants could be used.