Moonglow had a young visitor.
Bronte traveled from the south, through slices of wilderness that she had seen a handful of times before. When the ring of mountains came into view, she knew the terrain was different. She had not been this far north before.
She had learned of the village from her stricken mother, Teya. That here, she would find friends. Allies. And even perhaps, comfort. Everyone in Brecheliant was dealing with more or less, their own personal little struggle these days. Hers was no easier. She saw that her mother tried to be strong, but was so, so fragile. She did not want to burden her by coming off as too clingy. She had to find her own way to work through her own grief.
But, a little guidance never hurt. A wise woman led the Moon village. Bronte was to seek her. Had Brecheliant's friends not known of the tragedy? Of the cursed spell that had ahold over them? If not, the young Blackthorn would deliver the news.
Breaking out of her moment of awe at the distant village, she raised her voice to the clouds.
moondoe rose.
moonmother felt rest in her bones. she slept deeply. she rose with the sun.
much had lifted from her.
today she put aside the deer-leather she was working into things for baby teeth, gathering them for another year.
ariadne would join sialuk in motherhood and, she hoped, vaire once more. chickadee as well.
a call rose from a voice unfamiliar. moonwoman trotted down the well-worn path from the ulax.
a girl stood beside the borders of moonglow, and her maternal heart was roused. "this is my village. i am kukutux. what do you seek?"
A woman with beautiful white fur and captivating green eyes came to greet her. Bronte always appreciated the beauty in others. She stared openly, before blinking while she looked away.
This was Kukutux. She was as warm as Bronte had been told. Did all wolves feel such a...natural pull towards her? Or was this just her emotions acting up, with her own mother so distant?
She remembered that back home, they could use some more herbs. Bridget was there now. With her there to help, getting stocked up shouldn't be a problem.
"I'm Bronte..." She began in a soft voice. "From Brecheliant. Our packs are close....right?" She shook her head to get herself back on track. "I um, I think I want to learn about medicine. Healing. My family...suggested I come here..."
Something left unsaid hung in the air. That not all was well at the caldera. And not once had there been a happy light in her eyes. Not once a smile.
an air of wounding clung to the girl bronte.
kukutux had seen similar in wilwarin, in her sons after galana had been lost.
worry became a soft affection in her voice. "this i can teach you. come to my ulaq."
her eyes were pensive on the girl as she asked. "has something happened in brecheliant?"
Her once limp tail stirred to life in a gentle flick. The Moonwoman would teach her the ways of healing and medicine. She wanted to smile, but couldn't bring herself to. She uttered a soft, appreciative "Thank you."
Obediently, she padded softly after the gentle Kukutux towards the ulaq. It was not a term she was at all familiar with and wonder crept into her eyes.
But in Moonwoman's, was found concern. Bronte tore her gaze away, letting it fall to the ground.
"Much has happened." She began in a quiet voice. "Many of us have been falling sick...catching colds. Something was going around. It still might be." She swallowed a hard lump. "My mother is Teya Blackthorn. We...we have lost our father, Bronco, my brothers and I. His passing...it turned the pack on it's head..."
the wolves of brecheliant were sick.
a ghost had taken much from them.
she clucked her tongue in concern, offering bronte boar-flesh and dried strawberries.
"i am sorry to hear this. i see you carry much pain. how is your mother?" but somehow, kukutux understood there was only a small range of reasons why a young girl would have come here alone.
She felt welcomed by the warmth of the Moonwoman and her village. She took a quick look around, before blinking pleasantly at the offered boar meat and strawberries dried by the sun. The food was nothing she had come across back home, and she was eager to try it, being new.
Taking a delicate, experimental bite of the meat, her eyes found the pale fur of Kukutux again. "It has been hard, for everyone." A weighted, heavy pause. "My mother is...not well. She seems to be...lost in her own grief. I don't know if she will pull out of it."
Bronte slid down with a soft thud to her belly. As if prepared to stay a while, confiding in the wise woman before her. "I just don't understand it." She shook her head, brows knitting. "It all started after the attack of the striped orange cat. From there...well, he just got worse. Never recovered." Her toes, fixed with short black nails flexed. "We thought we would get over it, put it behind us. But then..." He voice cracked, pained at the memory of Ponyboy nearly being taken, only to be saved by their father from beyond.
a mother lost, a sorrow to choke.
kukutux had felt this many times, and experienced a kinship with the somber young girl from brecheliant.
this cat; "i remember when this happened."
to think that moonglow might have brought more succor to the caldera pack pained the woman, despite her history with the place.
"bad spirits attach themselves to broken hearts. medicine can help with this also," she offered in gentle tones.
"Bad spirits..." She echoed thoughtfully. Bronte continued by Kukutux's side. "I think that is what one was. Then strangely, for an instant, I think we saw the spirit of our father."
Not one, but two spirits. "Do you believe in good spirits too?" She was curious about her deeper beliefs. No less so about the medicine, too. "How will the medicine help? I think will feel better the more I can understand."
"if he died in great emotion, then i believe he would show his face to you again."
and to the question, a dip of her scarred muzzle; "yes. spirits are good or they are bad. the medicine of which i speak is not always for eating. it is not for skin-wounds. it is for the inside of the heart."
"perhaps i will teach you to make a tea. this you drink alone, before the moon has come up into the night. it will open your eyes to the moon, to her goodness. to what sharing of words she might have for your ears that were not ready before."
At last, she managed a slight smile. "It as if I can feel him. In a good way. That he is still here." Her voice was soft, but not entirely sad. Moonwoman's words had brought her comfort. It showed in the slight ease of her spine.
Amber glass eyes lighted. The teaching of a tea. For her spirit, opening her to the moon goddess. Innately, Bronte knew by drinking this tea, that she would be brought a sense of peace. See the world through new lenses.
Her pack wasn't terribly spiritual. Not in the way that the Moon packs were. But the Blackthorn was young. She was of the open minded sort, receptive to different beliefs and cultures. She was still finding herself. In this phase of hardship for her, she gravitated towards what felt right.
"Please." She scooted close. A blonde paw brushed over her white one, toes lacing. "Show me. I want to learn. Then, one day, I can help others, too."
Before Moonwoman she knelt, like the humble pupil who sough tutelage from a seasoned master.
Her heart skipped a little faster.
kukutux smiled only in answer. she took from inside the ulaq a small wrapping of tender hareskin, small but not so small that its details were not visible. "our dead do not leave us."
slow unfolding revealed a crumble of dark grey-green powder, leaves kept so long they had disintegrated into a potent blend.
"caribou leaf," she told the young one. "two portions in four portions of water." gathering the packet together, she motioned for the girl to carry it and stood, leading them down the worn path to the wide glittering lake.
upon the bank she showed bronte how to mix the powder: two portions to four portions water. "now drink," kukutux urged.
Bronte took it all in. From the condition of the hare skin wrap, to the miniscule details of the long aged leaves, now reduced to powder. She recited their identifying name in her mind. Tried to commit their scent to memory. She nodded, keeping the instructions close like a scroll of high value.
Following Kukutux down to the lake, she carried prepared bundle gingerly. A slight spring in her step, at the heels of her great tutor.
Her mind was pliable, sponge like & deeply absorbent. Knelt at the waters edge, she followed the instructions, for the desired mixture. Then, after a slight inhale through her nostrils, she sipped with her lips.
"Where can I find Caribou leaf?" Her further interest showed she was serious about getting more familiar with this practice. And then of the tea itself. "Is there, um, a time of day more suited than the other, to take this tea?" A small detail. And perhaps one that did not even hold significance. Bronte was interested enough about the how the tea worked, to ask anyways.
"i find it on the sides of lakes and smaller waters, ah, streams. but it is a soft plant. riverbanks are too hard for these plants. gather them in the brightest light of the day. the tea is good to be taken in the evening and in the morning."
bronte was quick to ask necessary questions, and this pleased kukutux, strengthening her resolve to spread such teachings elsewhere.
Last from me here!
"On the sides of lakes and streams. To gather at the brightest light of day." She repeated, committing these instructions to memory.
"Got it."
"Evenings and mornings to take the tea. I'll remember that." Minutes had went by after her first sip of the tea. Already, she felt a soft tingling deep in her core.
"I think I feel something...maybe just the beginning of it." She pondered aloud. But it was already past morning and evening was a ways off. She reasoned this may be why she was not feeling the true effects of the tea, just now.
She would test it herself, in a quiet moment at home.
"If you have nothing else for me, then I am going to head home. I enjoyed visiting Moonglow today and learning by your side. I would like to return, one day soon." And, with Moonwoman's blessing, Bronte would part ways to return to Brecheliant.