The nymph basked in the sunlight by the glade, rolled onto her side and her ugly wound clearly visible. It seemed to have gotten infected after she had reopened it accidently a night before. She contemplated trying out various herbs of the thing, but did not know of any that would help and did not want to use one of a toxic nature. Her delicate head was lifted, watching a golden songbird trilling a short distance away. Her pack had kept her well fed, for which she was grateful, and
@Shalon's catch had gone a long way.
She sighed, content in the afternoon light, though she had to admit, bored in the slightest. She loved to simply watch the world go by, but this felt too long. Her eyes caught a flicker of movement, brilliant blue gaze quickly latched onto the object. It was a bird, huge against the sky, perhaps a significantly larger eagle then normal. The bird was soon gone, however, the clouds on the horizon were not.
She noticed them now, the clouds, as well of the dipping leaves and the low winds. How could she not have noted before? The weather would turn nasty, it seemed, and with further studying of the sky she deduced that it would be a storm, most likely. Most likely a bad one, seeing as the heat had been high the past few days, but not one to last for very long.
Gonna jump in now and try and help you to 50 posts <3
Charley was out for a walk, staying within the borders without a bother to leave again. Ayla's scent was on the wind, and since he hadn't seen her since she'd claimed her own tunnel, the King strode forward to greet her. The pale woman wasn't far, and soon he was pushing from the undergrowth with a smile.
"Ayla."
He greeted his Inner Circle member warmly, with one of his wide blue eyes sparkling happily. The other was closed still, but were it open it would only be clouded blue.... What was left of it. The three long gashes on his face and the ripped ear was much prettier than the ball within its socket, but his looks didn't change, in his eye. He was still just as handsome, and just as confident, as before. The patched male came to a halt across from her, tail wagging, but the smell of infection drew his one eye to her wound. It was infected, no doubt, but who in the pack had the knowledge of herbs to help her? Heartha was trying to learn, but with no real healer in the pack yet Ayla's recovery might be hard.
"That dosen't look good."
Her alpha approached, and yet she did not move from her position, instead greeting him with a dip of the head and quiet chuff. He remarked about her wound, and she looked down at her side absently. He was simply stating the obvious, and she agreed with a simple, "Yes." It would do no good to worry over it, not yet, should it get worst she may have to search out of their borders for a healer.
However, it was not something she wished to fixate on at the moment, and thus turned the conversation to other things. She ought to warn him about the storm, she realized, so with a quick motion at the clouds on the horizon, she began. "I thought you ought to know, Charley, that a storm approaches. I think it will be bad, and it will break today's heat. But it will be brief, I think, as the wind has been picking up most of the day, and should blow it over fairly quickly."
She gave him but a yes, and any other time he'd have sent her to the nearest known healer....But there wasn't one. Brow furrowing, he gave a flick of his tail. His words came out firm, but warm, and he gave her an order he thought would help the Court overall.
"Have @Heartha look at it, see if she knows anything. If you have to leave the borders for healing, take her with you. She want's to learn to heal, so it'll be beneficial to you both."
Next she spoke of a storm, and Charley cast his blue eye upwards. There was little room in the canopy to see much of the sky, and while he didn't know the signs anyway he fully trusted her judgement. Turning his face back to her, the King nodded.
"It'll be good for the forest, but we've gotta keep an eye on the tunnels. Im confident were safe, but it will be interesting to see how or if it affects them."
At having Heartha look at her wound, she nodded. Hopefully, she would find someone within the pack that knew of healing, otherwise, she would adhere to her King's words. She nodded, saying only "Very well, sir." She would take Heartha with her, though she didn't know what to think of the woman yet, she seemed okay.
As to Charley's speculation over the state of the tunnels post-rainstorm, she replied "When I was healing, I explored some of the tunnels. some are low-laying, and sometimes the wall has crumbled in places. This might mean that the tunnels get the falling rain, as well as the run-off from the mountain. I think some might flood, Charley, if I am right." She knew that they weren't in danger, as it was only her and the royal couple that lived in the tunnels. As long as they were careful, nothing should happen.
Ayla didn't fight his order, and pride swelled him. He really had found loyal beings to fill his ranks, beings that would one day become close friends and family. They followed his words, but more importantly they trusted him to lead them down the correct path. The past few months had been really hectic lately: finding a pack, losing his twin sister, courting Aspen, Reek and his new faith, leaving the Grotto.... And now, here he stood, in a place to call his own. There was no room left in his life to con, to worry about others. His pack, his HOME, came first now.
With a self-proud smile, Charley nodded.
"Thank you, Ayla."
The pale woman thought that the tunnels would flood, but Charley had doubts. Yes, the runoff would leak into the skylights, and perhaps a storm would send a stream down the tunnels, but Charley didn't think that anything would be worth worrying about.
"It's worth keeping an eye on, for sure. Since you noticed it, mind doing just that if it gets bad?"
Her King tasked her with caring for the tunnels, and Ayla readily agreed. There was something about storms that lent a magic to the air, and she wouldn't want to sleep through one, anyway. Definitely not a summer storm, as those were rare and spectacular spectacles. So she nodded, accepting the task. Gaze travelling to the cloud once more, feeling the hot, humid air brush up against her fur, she asked. "Charley, do you know much of the Naturalist trade? I would like to earn it, but my knowledge extends to only stars and weather, and a little bit about plants. Do you know, perhaps, someone who could help me, or could you?" she asked. She was sure of the trade she wanted to earn, wanted to prove and enhance her skills. She loved nature, why not perfect her knowledge of it?
Again, she agreed, but this time it seemed like she was excited to carry out his orders. Her next words clarified, and it was with sadness in his eye that Charley shook his head.
"I'm afraid I don't, but maybe someone else in the pack does. If not, perhaps you could seek out the knowledge you need. One of the neighboring packs are bound to have someone who's a Naturalist."
Like Heartha, he didn't want her to go alone. He wasn't hesitant to tell her so either, but he did put it in a nicer way than he would've months ago.
"Heartha might be going on a similar journey, if she hasn't already. Since I'd prefer if nobody went alone from the borders, maybe you two could go together?"
He had no knowledge of the trade she sought, and recommend that she visit another pack for instruction. That she would, it seemed a good idea, and she would find someone with which to go. If not Heartha, perhaps Shalon, or Aspen. She had no idea which trades the Queen was interested in, though perhaps she had knowledge with which to share with Ayla. Beside the naturalist trade, she thought that she may also wish to go for healer, as Heartha wanted to go for.
She nodded, accepting the King's advice and storing the info in her mind. Already her mind was on other things, away from the talk of trades and talk of the weather. She would perform her duty, but now she wished to explore some more of the glade. "That I'll do. I'll take someone with me, King, I'll try and learn what I can. I think I'll go find Heartha now, see if she could maybe teach me something." she said in her lilting voice.
Ayla seemed to be a little distant, and he chuckled a little bit: no doubt thinking about traveling and her trade. He wondered who she planned to take, and decided to leave the decisions to her. She was an Inner Circle member, after all. Which reminded him...
"Try not to go too far, we aren't firmly set here and I want to be able to know you're close if help is needed. As soon as your wound is healed, when the Court is officially settled, we'll hold your ceremony and give you your rank."
Charley smiled, giving her a nod and wagging his tail. It didn't seem to bother him, having lost half of his eyesight, but sometimes when he walked he veered just a little bit to the side.
His words prompted a smile, her tail wagged in the slightest behind her. She was proud, so proud, to have earned her King and Queens trust. "Thank you, Charley. I'm excited" she admitted without shame. She waited a moment longer, smiling still, until she took her leave. "I'll go find Heartha, ask her where she'd like to go with me. I want to earn my trade as soon as possible, King, sir." she said, excitement tainting her words.