Wolf RPG

Bazi and the girl jogged on, making good time - it was morning by the time they reached the mountains that bordered Lower Arrow Lake, but only just. The light had a reluctant, grey quality to it, but it was nevertheless easy to spot the black crevice on the foot of mountain that blocked the view to the north, cut into the rock some twenty meters from the ground. The falls were visible for here, but barely audible despite the hush.

"There," Bazi told her cohort, gesturing up at the barely visible entrance. The base of the mountain was anything but smooth; boulders, debris, and outcroppings of rock mixed with moss, shrubbery, and the occasional tree to create an obstacle course between where they stood, on the flat ground, and where they wanted to be. "That's Blue Healer's Garden, in there, named for Blue Willow - the Blacktail Deer Plateau healer. We'll go in there, and pick up some good quality moss for wounds." If Ferdie wanted to take it to the Vale afterwards, that was his business. Bazi shot a glance over her shoulder - the fatherly male had caught up by this point, no doubt eager to fret and fuss over his girls.

"Come on - carefully," Bazi told the pup, scaling the rocky stairway with zigzagging leaps and careful steps.

Nightingale nodded mutely, looking a bit worried. It was things like this that upset her. Her right eye creating a dark and hazy field of vision, confusing her left eye, making everything appear slightly to the left. She muttered calculations before she jumped. The first few were off by a bit, causing her to stumble and falter, but she quickly got the hang of it, the only problems being landing a little heavier on her left side.

Thinking, she called up to Bazi. "How do you collect the moss without ruining it?" She looked back a Ferdie before jumping another rock, hoping the answer wasn't too obvious...

Ferdie's maw dropped open, Bazi was doing this to him on purpose, He was worried enough to see her travel there but to watch the pup barely 5 months old do so aswell he could have just about fainted on the spot. Um.... I really don't think we need the moss he stood at the bottom of the trail How high are you going I could stay down here? not that he'd be much use for catching one of them if they fell.

Bazi made quick work of the ascent, leaping from one rocky surface to another with the practiced agility of a cat. Nightingale's progress was slower, but the fact that she managed to follow at all was a great triumph for someone with one working eye and a dodgy leg. The older female woofed encouragement from the top, watching the pup measure each leap. Ferdie waited below, fretting as she knew he would.

"She's doing fine - really well, actually, " she told him from the top, playing devil's advocate to his cautious parenting. What a dad, she thought, and wondered in that instant if Ferdie did have children. She couldn't recall him mentioning any. "And I don't really know about the moss.. maybe you can come up with something; you've got little paws, and a smaller mouth." Bazi was destined to be one of those pushy 'tiger mums', clearly.

A a lot slower pace, Nightingale eventually reached the top. She panted and looked down at Ferdie, grinning.

"You know, it wasn't as hard as it looked!"she called down to him. She shook herself free of dust and dirt and looked around.

"So, where is it?" she asked excitedly, hoping the grace of a little adventure would come so soon.

Ferdie Paced the bottom and called out. hurry up girls then his yes went wide Never mind take your time, just get down here in one piece

Nightingale met the older female's challenge head-on, and it wasn't long before they stood on the same flat bit of rock. The mountain towered above them, stretching high into the cloudy sky. "This way," Bazi instructed, leading the way to a partially concealed crack in the rock. She forced herself into the gap, and disappeared.

Two or three meters in, that narrow corridor opened up into a vast, domed cave, but anyone bigger than their pearly expedition leader stood no change of getting through. The mountain had squeezed the air out of her by the time she emerged on the other side (a cartoon version of events would have included a loud Pop!). "It's safe, come on in!" she shouted back at the whelp, and turned to survey the garden.

It wasn't a garden per say, but moss and lichen did survive there - sticking to every rock that nestled on the floor of the vast, domed cavern like glistening black eggs in a dragon's nest. Above them, a scattering of inaccessible holes and crevices allowed sunshine to filter in, cutting grey beams across a space that presumably ended in a ceiling, but it was impossible to see anything but blackness up there. Bazi squinted, adjusting her eyes to the grey half-light. There were large rocks piled against the high wall, and a distant purling that betrayed the presence of some underwater stream. The yearling itched to explore further, but even she knew that Nightingale was unlikely to survive a dark and slippery trip into the earth's core.

"See here?" she told the girl when she emerged, and turned to nudge a nearby rock with her muzzle. Moss covered the grey stone completely. "We'll peel a few of these, and bring them back down to Ferdie. Make sure the pieces are big! Otherwise they won't cover wounds." She wasn't sure, but it seemed logical.

Nightingale slithered in with the ease of a cat, if she had to slither at all. She admired the new sensations the cave gave her. She longingly wanted to explore further, but knew that this wasn't the time.

She nodded when Bazi explained what to do and studied a piece of moss carefully. After muttering in her usual fashion, she slowly but surely began to peel back a rather thick sheet of moss, minimizing the tear to the moss. She used her teeth at first, but then began to slowly scratch away at the space between the moss and the rock. Within half a minute(she quickly gained pace) Nightingale had her first thick piece of moss in her jaws. Deciding she could carry at least a few more, she turned and began working on a second piece.

"Thanks, Bazi."the little wolf muffled.

Nightingale handled the moss delicately, and it wasn't long before she had gathered a large, unspoiled piece. Bazi watched her work, smiling when the child's careful harvesting resulted in success. "Good girl," she praised. This was enough. Nightingale was proving again and again that physical disability would not hold her back. Now all she needed was a mentor - someone to build her up into a loyal and accomplished pack medic, and teach her the ways of herbs and healing.

"Let's take that out to Ferdie - even if he doesn't want to visit the Vale, you can store this in our den. OK? That big stone slab on the one side was built to keep things like this off the ground." Our den. Bazi surprised herself by saying it, but supposed it was fair enough to assume that Nightingale would stay - if she passed her probation.

Nightingale nodded, her teeth now full of moss. She began to walk back outside and looked down. The fall took her breath away for a moment as she realized it would be muchore difficult with moss in her mouth.

Slowly she picked her way back down to Ferdie. It took her a much longer time, but at least she didn't slip.

The pup nodded and squeezed back through the crevice with her prize. Bazi followed at her heels, but swiftly overtook on the journey back down to the ground. She stood and watched with bated breath as Nightingale picked her way down, moving at a slow, steady pace - if it kept her from falling down and breaking a leg, fine. Even Bazi, who was not a patient wolf, could accept that.

She rewarded the child's efforts with a fierce nuzzle and several licks to the bridge of her nose, cocking her head towards the Creek. If Ferdie did not object, they would return home rather than continue on to Northstar Vale - Bazi wasn't particularly keen on sharing the wealth with another pack. The mood was light and joyous as the three of them loped back towards the rising sun, forgetting - for a moment - that Nightingale might be a doomed soul come morning.

Ferdie Von Pelt greeted them both with exuberant face cleanings as they got to the ground in turn. taking his cue from bazi since he truly didn't like leaving the pack lands he followed them back to the relative safety of the pack land, the stress of this adventure already hard upon him.