Moonspear fear

When Seal and her father had first returned to Moonspear, Orca was kept away initially—but not for long. She was persistent in her demands to see her da, and her sister. When she did, the tiger sunk its claws into her, too, the wounds not manifesting in a physical wound but in her psyche.

Too proud, perhaps, to feel like she failed her family in any way, Orca now resolved to truly become a protector. If the world outside had done this, then she wanted absolutely no part of that place. With her da as wounded as he was, she was quick to learn about mortality—and that her parents were not invincible, like she had always believed. 

So she knew fear, too, though not by its name. Just the feeling of it. Da could be hurt, and she did not like the idea of that… or her mam being hurt, either. Seal… she has always been fragile. Orca hated that she had not been there to save her, but understood deep down that she would’ve been in the same spot as her sister in. 

All she could do now was be sure that nothing else bad happened. So when not sparring with sticks outside of their ulaq, Orca was standing guard for @Seal and @Njord so that they would be safe, and her mother would not have to worry more than she already felt.

Sialuk brought with her a soft skin that had lain in her ulaq for some time now. She worried for Njord and Seal, though their wounds would heal in time. What she did not know was whether or not their spirits would come out of this event unscathed. Unlike the scratches and punctures that laced their tough skin, the spirit was concealed, invisible to the naked eye. Sialuk had honed in her ability to spot this spirit in others, but even she was not all-seeing.

When she arrived at the den of healing, Sialuk slowed, spying Orca standing guard for her sister. It was a touching sight, and the starwoman paused to appreciate it, the skin still hanging idly in her mouth. When the moment had passed, Sialuk ventured forward, dropping the skin a few paces away. Orca, she greeted, a sadness in her voice. You are strong to stay here with them.

Orca stood straight to see the pack leader approach, tail wagging behind her. The compliment caused her tail to wag a little faster, but it slowed as she remembered the state of her sister and father. 

Seal and da were strong, to fight, she responded. This felt the least she could do for them. Looking at what Sialuk had carried, she asked, what’s that?

Sialuk twisted her lips, but she did not correct Orca in her statement. It was true that both Njord and Seal had fought against the hellcat, but without those here safe and sound, there would be none to nurse them back to health. Guarding and healing were just as important as any other task, and it took a different kind of strength.

Medicines to heal their wounds, Sialuk replied. She used a front paw to open the skin flat on the ground, showing the various dried flowers and leaves within.

The girl looked to the things that had been brought, sniffing at them. While they didn’t smell good, Sialuk translated what their purpose was… and from that Orca discovered another way in which to be helpful. 

She looked up, and asked, could you teach me? with a soft look. Being a fighter might someday do something for her, but for now she was at a loss as to how she could be useful to her sister. Or father. Perhaps this was the way!

Sialuk smiled, glad that both Orca and Seal were interested in learning the craft of healing. Even if they both did not become as steeped in the ways of a healer as Sialuk was, it was good for all children to know the basics. They would grow into adults one day, travel far from Moonspear, and they would not always have Sialuk, Alaric, and Elentari to help them along the way. Just as she had with Seal, Sialuk spread the dandelion on the large, flat rock just inside the fallen tree. She was quiet in her work, not wishing to bother the patients sleeping within.

This one is dandelion, she whispered in the quiet of the healing ulaq. Carefully, the healer woman rolled and crushed the plant matter under her paws, forming it into not-quite-a-powder.

Okay, she said, stepping toward it to sniff at it once Sialuk was done doing her own operation on it. Whats the dandy-lion do? she asked in the very next breath, peering back to her leader. 

It doesnae even look like itself anymore, she said, somehow a bit surprised that they wouldn’t just… wave the flower over the wolf and their injury. Or maybe just have them eat it as it was. It seemed complicated, and Orca typically didn’t have the patience for complicated—but Seal and da were on the line, here. 

Life was what happened when you had other plans, and interests apparently. 

So, even though the lesson might have put past Orca to sleep… present Orca knew this was not boring, but important for future Orca perhaps. And even more than that, da and Seal right now. She cursed the hellcat once more, and another thought came to her, because she had absolutely heard about Sialuk and her bones. 

Can we do somethin’ to that hellcat? Not physical? Check the bones and, oh, I dinnae ken… maybe… ah… there were no words that Orca had for curse or for hex. Somethin’ unpleasant. I wish it were dead, she angrily muttered with all the spite of an angry girl.

The flower keeps the fever from our patient, Sialuk said in a hushed tone, turning briefly to look at their sleeping subject. Orca's next question was a surprising one, though perhaps it should not have been. The starwoman had been known to place blessings upon the mountain and her loved ones, praying at the shrine in her ulaq. It was not a far step from there to bring harm to those who might cause harm to those she loved. Meerkat's kin were firmly in that category, and Sialuk did think that the hellcat did not belong in their world.

Sialuk swept the crushed dandelion into one of the skins for later use, then bundled it for later use.

Come, let us find a stone that has the same color as this hellcat, she said to Orca, beginning the short path to the river. We will put our own blood upon it and bury it to bind the creature who did this to your father and sister.