Wolf RPG

An odd thing had appeared on the shore. 

She'd seen them out on the ocean, but had never seen one up close. In the water, they floated, and their smoothe, round tops made the ocean look very still. They looked like water themselves, as they drifted along, but what she could barely see was the tangle and mess of tentacles below the surface that hung and trailed behind it. The tide had come in, and with it had come a number of jellyfish. Unable to direct themselves once brought ashore, they were simply left there with the tide went out. 

The beach was dappled with them- and they looked very odd. A big patch of congealed wet, with a trail of long, gnarly tentacles lying very still on the land. They didn't move, breathe, or anything. A curiosity. 

The budding ecologist wanted to investigate them. She wandered from one to the next, looking for signs of life, and giving them a wide berth. Once she decided that they did not move, she got a bit bolder, and sat next to one. Tentatively, she gave the pool of jelly a poke, to see if her paw would sink into it...But it did not. The creature had a skin, or sorts, and was not, in fact, a pile of mush attached to long threads. The jelly was kind of neat. It jiggled when she poked it. Given the fact the creature gave no response, she assumed she wasn't hurting it. 

From far down the beach, a seagull watched her from where it perched atop the rocks, one foot held aloft. 

When she moved to investigate the tentacles, the gull called out. She flicked an ear toward it; gull calls were practically white noise to her, as common as the sound of the waves. The urgency of its calls caused her to lift her head and notice that it was, indeed, her friend with the crooked leg. She smiled at it, and waved her tail, but she was more interested in the thing she'd found on the beach. 

She gently reached out to touch the tentacles, to see what they felt like. At first, she felt nothing. She touched them again, and pulled the tentacles to the side a bit with her claws. Then, she felt a burning. It came on slowly enough that she didn't notice it, until the fierce burning set in a few moments later. Her paw felt warm. Then hot. And then it burned. Even deceased- or apparently deceased- the jellyfish still had its sting. 

She whined as the burn intensified, and immediately headed down the beach to the surf, but by then she was limping, and not putting pressure on her pawpad. She waded in up to her knees and put her paw in the water, hoping it would quell the sting. She whimpered softly, picking her foot up so she could try and see if she had a cut or a wound. Her pawpad was beginning to blister a bit. She whined, miserable, and held her foot under the water, hoping it would make the intrusive burning go away.

Etienne had been trying to give his sister her own space. Though he was young yet, he knew that his behavior and how he wanted his family always be right there wasn't normal. He wasn't normal in any way, shape or form. He felt vibrations in the ground, and from wolves. Could read emotions well, loud noises hurt his ears. He couldn't even howl himself, without hurting his ears, but he hadn't seen Suzu for a bit, and it rankled. So with swift movements, he loped towards the shore. That is where she usually was.

Prickly feelings lit up his back as he walked along the beach and saw the strange blobs of something. There was no answer that came quickly, at first glance, but as he studied and stared, a creature that Granme had told him of, kept coming to the surface of his mind.

Jellyfish. He shuddered.

Then he saw Suzu. She was limping and his brotherly protectiveness went into overdrive. He spurred himself forward, and met her at the water's edge.

Suzu! You okay? W'y you limpin like dis? Let me see, did you touch de jelly fish.

He didn't move her paw from the surf, because he knew that the saltwater probably eased it some, but he would have liked a better look at it, to see what he could do.

Bites, stings, scrapes and scuffs- they all hurt for a bit, and then the pain went away. This sensation, though, it was something different. The wound on the bottom of her foot made her pawpad angry and red, and she felt the rough skin of her paw stretch as blisters formed. She kept her foot in the water, but did not put pressure on it. It felt much better in the cold, salty water than it did when she took it out, but she couldn't very well just stand in the water until it was healed. 

She'd begun to wonder if she should call out for Grandmaman or Sobo when Etienne came running along the beach. Wisely, he avoided the jellyfish as he approached her. Just in case, she called out. "Don' step on de jellyfish hairs, dey sting!" She said. When he came to her side, she nuzzled him gratefully. He was always there to help make her feel better. She lifted her paw to show him. "It burns. I feel OK, but it really hurts. Less so when I put it in de water, so I t'ink at least de cold water be 'elpin' wid de pain." She said. "Maybe we can wrap it in kelp, eh?" She asked. "I want to soak it for a while, but after...Do you t'ink kelp will 'elp keep it from getting infected?"

Etienne knew well about stings and scrapes, not so much bites. But he imagined someday he would. No he knew he would, especially if someone hurt one of his siblings.

Eti gave her a nod as he already avoided the jellyfish, but he made sure to do so even more for her benefit. She was kind enough to call out a warning as it were. Etienne licked her head and ran his nose along her ruff to soothe her, while he tried to get a closer look at her footpaw.

He studied it and touched underneath gently. Suzu looks like some of de little 'airs are still stuck. So 'old on a min. I try not to make it 'urt. with gentle claws and teeth, he tugged at the few strands then licked along a nearby rock. Tears sprang to his eyes as the initial sting of moving them from her to the stick, her, but he tried ot avoid her eyes with his own misty ones.

I would ask Tonton Sobo. But we will wrap it first. You go a'ead put it in de water. I t'ink dat aloe mite 'elp dat green goop dat smells so good, but lives in prickly case.

She leaned in closer and lifted up her paw a bit more, craning her neck around so that she could see what Etienne was talking about. It surprised her to see that there were a few very fine hairs, dagger-sharp despite being so thin, sticking into her pawpad where they caused the blisters to boil. With great care her brother plucked them out, and got them off his own tongue by licking it against a coarse piece of wood. She felt a bit of relief when they were out, as a wolf would feel once porcupine quills were removed. "Gee, Etienne, t'ank you!" She said, licking his cheek when she noticed the strained look on his face. 

Their uncle would surely know a remedy for the stinging, but until they got her foot wrapped up, she'd put it back in the water while her brother searched for kelp. He mentioned something called aloe, which she assumed must be some kind of plant. Her brother had been learning what he could about seaside remedies while she had been spending her time studying the seaside itself. "We can try dat, sure," She said. Honestly, she'd try anything. "Ughhh, it burns hotter dan hot summer sand," She complained quietly. She was more put out, than anything by this point. No longer startled or frightened, as she had her brother to help her out, she simply had to deal with the pain until they could find their uncle and whatever aloe was, to make the throbbing stop.

Etienne didn't know what those hairs were, but he didn't like them. He frowned and looked over the jelly fish in the sand. He would need to get a stick here later, and poke at the creature to see what it was really. The gelatinous goop of ocean meanness. But Granme told him she gave and took. They couldn't blame her, her wild nature. Ocean, chaos herself chained beneath the waves.

Eti smiled softly. You're welcome, Suzu. Anyt'ing to 'elp you out. I don't like it w'en you is 'urt.

Eti only knew a few things. The aloe he had found quite by accident. He had smelled it from afar, and had touched it with a paw pad, with scratches from coarse ground. And it had immediately soothed it.

It took Eti a few minutes to find the small hole he had put the aloe in to ask his Tonton Sobo. He dabbed a bit on a leaf and then grasped the kelp from the sandy shore.

Returning to Suzu he motioned at her paw to lift.

Eti shook his head. Dat doesn't sound good. I'm sorry Suzu. I 'ave some crabs in food cache, you will eat dem after all cleaned up?

She waited, pouting faintly while he sniffed and snuffled around, looking for something he's stowed away near the beach. Every now and again she'd lift her paw out of the water and feel it sting as the water dripped from it, frowning at the swelling and blistering. Even if they did wrap it in kelp, she wasn't sure she could put weight on it. She didn't want to burst the blisters, that would be both painful and disgusting, and she imaged it would take longer to heal. Tonton Sobo would know, she thought. He'd likely treated burns and stings before. 

Suzu waded from the water, limping as she held her injured foot above the ground. It was awkward trying to shake the water from her fur on three feet without totally bailing, so she simply did so with a bit less vigour. Water dripped from her undersides, and caused her to shiver lightly. 

Etienne returned with a leaf that smelled strongly medicinal, and some kelp. She paused to smell it first, flicking her tongue over her nose. "It smell so strong," She said, but she seemed somewhat impressed too. She trusted her brother blindly, assuming he knew what he was doing and that the aloe would be in fact safe. She held her paw up, unsure what he'd want for her to do next. It throbbed, now that it was not in the salt water anymore.

Eti knew his sister would be pouting. It was sort of his fault he knew for always catering to her, but one look at her face and he just couldn't say no to her. Not her, never his sister. She was the smallest of them, and he just wanted to protect her. The only girl to boot.

Golden eyes watched his sister with gentle gaze, hurrying as he could to get her squared away and the pain gone. She was limping and he frowned at that, unsure how to fix that. Hopefully, whatever he was doing would help. As he moved back towards her he saw her shiver, and though it was difficult he moved as close as he could while still giving himself room to fix. So she could still the warmth from his pelt.

He nodded. dat is 'ow i found it. It smelled like Sapp'ique it was in a different cache, but it wasn't Tonton Sobo that it smelled like. Lift your paw up, Suzu.

He would place the aloe on it as gently as he could. Don't lick it now Suzu, it making your stomach 'urt. You need clean it off use water. If found dat out de 'ard way.

He then wrapped the kelp around her paw as best he could with paws and teeth and nose.

He remembered the day he had come across the aloe, it had immediately helped his scratched footpaw, but when he licked it, his stomach had hurt so bad, and he had been sick.

Does it 'elp?

He looked at her with worry in his gaze.

She wondered who it was that had put the aloe where he'd found it- but for now, that wasn't important. She was getting the care she needed. She lifted her paw a bit higher, and he applied the strong-smelling paste, which felt cool to the touch. She kept herself from whimpering, not wanting Etienne to get the idea that he was hurting her. Any pressure on her foot whatsoever made it sear again, but at least with the cool aloe and the soft, wet kelp, the pain was managed a bit. 

She tentatively placed her paw back down, but still was very hesitant to put any weight on it. The least bit of pressure shot pain through her paw. "I t'ink so," She said, with a nod. "But I don't t'ink I can walk on it. Mebber it just...Take a day or two to heal?" She asked. "Can we go up to de den?" She asked. 

It had been a learning experience. She'd found out what jellyfish looked like when they were washed up on the beach, and that even though they looked dead, their tentacles still could deliver quite a sting. The sting was tiny, hair-like needles that stung. She realized that part of her job studying ecology was getting pretty close to things, but she wouldn't ever risk that one again.

Etienne knew he was hurting her. He could feel the tension rolling off of her. And he could only surmise that it was because he was hurting her. He whimpered softly to share in her pain. It wasn't fair that their suzu had gotten hurt. Regardless of how curious she was.

He pressed against her side. You lean on me, Suzu. MMkay. I 'elp you walkin. Yes let's go. I sorry I didn't get 'ere in time Suzu to stop you.

He lay his ears against his skull and licked her along her cheek. Nuzzled her chin.

Etienne would use his body to help her, and he would offer his strength to get her home. Then he would find her some crab or some clams. Because he wanted to bring her strength and smile back.

Tentatively, she braced her shoulder against his, so that in place of her own paw, she could trust the sturdiness of his. Concentrating on the task of matching their strides so that their outside legs and inside legs worked together distracted her a bit from the pain, and brought faint smile to her pained face. She wasn't exactly graceful or well-coordinated, so it took a lot of her focus in order to figure out when to hop to her other front foot, and when to brace her shoulder against his so she could skip a step. 

She shook off his apology; still thinking too hard to dismiss it verbally. Suzu had made the choice to experiment on her own- and she couldn't expect Etienne to shield her from everything; but being there in the aftermath meant a lot to her. 

"Mebbe now," She said, pausing while she skipped a step, leaning against him. "I grow anot'er foot. Like starfish." A weak attempt at humour.

Etienne used the vibrations from his sister's body, the close contact and the ground to figure out what her next step would be. It took more concentration that he usually held with the vibrations, but it wasn't a hard ship. He enjoyed it this closeness, as he did with all his family.

Eti chuckled. Mebbe. You grow back anot'er foot we be telling the w'ole world 'ow awesome you is.

He shook his head and continued to walk, thoughts on the path of least resistance. He didn't wish to cause her more pain or make it worse.

I be getting you some clams or crabs after we get 'ome. Yes? Would you like that, Suzu?

She snorted. She doubted that she'd be lauded for having stepped on a jellyfish. "Mebbe if I 'ad saved someone from it, or conquered de creature in a fight, but no. Real story is I poke it, an even though it is dead, it sting me." She admitted with a pained cackle. At least she was an amusing patient. "I would only be awesome if I grew back a crab's claw, or a whale flipper. I been eatin' so much blubber I would not be surprised if I grow back a flipper." She said. 

Etienne was much more coordinated than she, which was a relief. While she wasn't feeling terribly hungry at the moment, she knew it would be out of character for her to refuse a meal, and might worry Etienne more, so she nodded. "Mmm, I would like dat." She said.

Eti giggled at her words. Is okay Suzu, 'ow we learn. Remember w'en de crab got me? I 'ad to learn dat way, same wit' you wit' de jelly.

The whale, the blubber was strange tasting, it wasn't unpleasant, it was just strange, and he could only eat so much. It was rich and sometimes it gave him a belly ache, but he sort of liked it all the same. He wouldn't tell Suzu cause she loved seafood so much, but he preferred rabbits and deer, to fish and shellfish. And depending on what fish he ate, sometimes it really hurt his stomach.

Okay I will bring you some, den.

She grimaced. Of course she remembered the incident with the crab. She was glad, though, that at least this time there hadn't been blood. She knew there might be, once the blisters on her feet began to burst, but at least for now her foot was covered in kelp and she wouldn't have to look at it. 

"T'ank you Etiiiiii," She crooned in his ear.

They moved through the pack lands and made it to their den. He would help his sister inside and then head in the direction of the tide pools. Even if she didn't eat teh seafood right now. It would be there for later.

You are welcome, Suzu.