Phoenix Maplewood got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home

@Skraeling

Reeling from the news he'd received at Easthollow's border, Shale dragged himself, wounded and despondent, back home. He no longer could muster even the energy to glare at Swiftcurrent Creek, for where there had once been rage now pooled sorrow.

Everything had gone so wrong, these past few days. He'd roped Pema into his emotional fuck pie, he'd potentially made enemies out of their new neighbors, and now this. He'd no idea how to even approach Grayday about any of it. Potentially Pema already had, and to think of her joyous face--perhaps a little irate, considering he'd left her in the lurch--bearing the news. . .

"Shit," Shale said, with feeling, entering the maplewood. The place where he'd reconnected with Murdock, all those moons ago. The emotions came up again, like bitter vomit, and he sat hunched beside a tree, head hanging solemnly. He would weep for his brother, under any other circumstances, but the last few days had left him depleted; he was too tired to weep.

So here he slouched, alone and abandoned, and somewhere his puppet master is screaming internally because goddamn it, Shale, why are you so sad all the time?

Rae was coming to the rescue. She'd headed into the Maplewood to hunt for more supplies to bring to @Pema (She had been bringing Everything that looked useful, from mouse bones and dead grasshoppers to more useful things like blackberry leaves and slippery elm bark. Useful or not, it was being left just inside the entrance of Pema's den.), but when the scent of blood and emotional distress reached her nares, the budding healer apprentice took it on herself to go an investigate.

The male looked like Sunny or perhaps his father from behind, but Skrae knew by his scent that it was the other one, the brother she'd yet to meet. Well, no time but the present! With a low swinging tail and a hopeful little boof, she crawled up beside him and attempted to insinuate herself into his personal space to initiate a cuddle.

He was pretty out of it, but not so much that he didn't notice the approaching stranger. She looked like a friendly storm cloud, with fluffy fur of grays and blacks and sparkling eyes set in a dark face. Shale was absolutely sure he'd never seen this wolf before in his life, and his confusion grew as she started to cuddle up to him without a word.

"Uh, hello," he said awkwardly, not pulling away but not exactly reciprocating her cuddles, either. He looked down at her, eyes perplexed. She smelled of Morningside, but not as strongly--so a newcomer. She also smelled of Pema, which displeased him.

Maybe she was a spy. Or a test of his loyalty? Shale shook the thought out of his head. He was going crazy.

"Don't think we've met," Shale remarked, giving a small shrug of his shoulders in bemused acceptance. Might as well get formalities out of the way. "I'm Shale, Grayday's brother. And you are. . .?"

He smelled very nice - the whole family did, she thought, and she was partial to the look of their men as well. Even their youngest - the earthy one, whose name she hadn't learned was @Dauntless - was rather handsome, though his looks did not follow his father's convention. Would he smell nice as well?

"I'm Rae," she replied, tail wagging so hard it hit both their hindquarters. But she was not inclined to elaborate when there was a perfectly good jaw right in front of her that desperately needed her head shoved under it. And there she saw one of his wounds - a nasty ankle that clearly ached for her tender love and care.

Skrae began trying to clean it, flat on the ground as she reached under his head, across his other leg.

"Rae," he repeated absently, with a nod in her direction, though his mind was a thousand miles away. He kept thinking of the words the Easthollow had given him, every syllable repeating over and over and over in his head, like the chime of an incessant songbird. A grim songbird. And if--

Shale drew in his breath with a hiss as, without warning, the girl began to lave at his ankle wound. Fuck, that stung! For a little while, at least. Then it started to feel good, and before he knew it, he was softening to her ministrations, taking deep, throaty breaths almost akin to a cat's purr. He had needed that ankle cleaned and properly treated, and. . .

"You're new," he murmured, more a statement than a question. "Are you a healer? Learning from Pema? Your pelt smells of her den." The healer's name felt sharp on his tongue, like a barb, and he spit it out hastily, not wanting to talk about her more than necessary. After all, hadn't he ran to get away from her?

He knew she was a healer already! She must be doing a great job! Skrae lifted her head to respond and bumped her crown against his chin. "Oh, sorry!" she said sheepishly, covering the affected area with apologetic kisses. She found herself moving on to try and get her tongue against his teeth, but she was not here for kisses! She was here to work!

"Where else are you hurt?" she asked seriously, inadvertently forgetting to answer his questions about her trade. Her expression was super professional, though. Her green eyes burned with the intent to heal the ever-loving shit out of him.

The girl was either incredibly clumsy or just stupid; well, perhaps a combination of both. Shale winced as she cracked her head against his chin, immediately trying to make up for it with kisses. He cringed slightly away at the open show of affection--half-irritated, half-still slightly aroused from his romp with Pema--and mumbled an acceptance of her apology, looking sheepish.

"My shoulder," he said, nodding over to his left, where the gash had festered. He knew he should have just let Sunny take him to Pema to check it out, he knew that. . .but stubborn as ever, he had refused. And now look where it had gotten him.

Skrae lifted herself and moved to look at said shoulder, making a grossed-out sound in the back of her throat. "It's all... gooey," she told him, her voice not at all clinical. But she was supposed to be healing, damn it, and by Scott she was going to heal. "... do I use my tongue?" she asked him, not quite sure that was the proper procedure here simply because it was yucky.

Urgh. Maybe healing wasn't for her. Maybe she could just go back to being Pema's gatherer and assistant. Even though she really liked playing doctor with Shale. "Maybe we should leave that one for Miss Pema," she said worriedly, coming back to huddle closer against Shale's side. "I haven't talked to her much about actual healing - I've just been bringing herbs and other stuff to her den. But Mister Grayday told me I should learn from her, so that I can fill in one day if I have to."

"Uh, don't," he answered her question, shaking his head emphatically. It smelled pretty terrible, now that he brought his nose closer, and he was sure that there was some medicinal remedy that did not involve licking it. Unfortunately, said remedy would have to go through Pema, as this girl was clearly an apprentice of some kind, a thought Rae echoed in a breathless, wordy response.

She drew a smile from him for the first time in a few days, his lips lifting as he gave her a nod of approval. "It's good to learn," Shale said warmly. "Especially about healing. We need those skills in our pack." Her warmth against him was a comfort, and he allowed himself to relax, his mind finally off the throbbing pain in his shoulder.

"When did you come to us, Rae?" he asked curiously, casting his eyes over at her. "Where did you live before?"

She nodded in relief when he agreed she should leave it be; it would be bad to let the wound fester (she knew that much) but still - yuck! It was much more fun to lie by Shale's side and lick absently at his uninjured paw, her tail wagging idly as he spoke. He had a nice voice - it was especially nice when she could feel the vibrations of his words against her own ribcage. Skraeling settled closer and bumped his chin with the flat topside of her muzzle.

"Oh, just with my family," she replied, sighing a little when she thought of those pesky little siblings she'd left behind. Her elder brothers had departed earlier that autumn, and Antonia had gone away with that boy from the river. She and Skadi had never gotten on very well, and there came a point when Leto had stopped being company enough for her. So she'd left.

"I haven't been here long. I was with my parents and my brothers and sisters just last month. But I wanted to go somewhere with more wolves to play with. It was just my little family at Ivarstead," she explained, laying her head down on her paws. It was still sad to think about her parents and Antonia, and even about Husk and Jar. But she liked Sunny and Aliac, and she liked Shale a bunch, too.

He listened politely to her story, so similar to ones young wolves had told for generations. Get bored and leave. He'd done the same, though it had taken him a little longer than Day to leave the nest. And Rae seemed a bit put out, resting her head on her paws, and he gently nudged her shoulder with his muzzle.

"Hey," Shale said quietly, still smiling. He blinked down at her. "It was brave of you to strike out on your own. We're happy to have you here, Rae."

He felt a sudden surge of protectiveness toward the girl, his stomach clenching--but it was different from what he'd felt with Pema. Something--oh. The realization smacked him across the face, and he stared at Skraeling, eyes widening a little.

The girl was just about as old as his daughters would have been, had they lived.

For better or for worse, Skraeling was not looking for a father figure. Although she missed her family, she'd gotten what she needed from them, and the time for fathers and mothers had passed away from her father more easily than it passed from most. She was easy like that - fluid. And it was easy to flow from one topic - gladness and togetherness - to another tangentially related topic.

"Wanna play kissing now?" she asked with a beat of her tail, turning to eye Shale with hopeful appreciation, as well as a bit of the hero-worship she was accustomed to affording the older members of this pack. Everyone was so nice and cool - she wanted to be good friends with all of them.

So lost in thought as he was, she took him aback with her words, and he laughed, the sound deep and throaty. "Sure. . .?" he ventured, not really taking her meaning. He hoped it wasn't as suggestive as it sounded, though he knew kisses ranged from platonic to sensual.

Shale wagged his tail, too, giving her a look with his head canted to the side. "You'll have to show me how it's done," he prompted, still confused. "I'm out of practice." Ha. As if. But if this really was kissing of a different nature, then, yes. . .he was quite out of practice.

He did want to play! She wasn't too surprised. Most everyone she'd approached so far had liked the game. It always left Skraeling feeling very happy and secure, and it seemed as though Shale needed a bit of that in his life. "It's real easy," she said blithely, nudging Shale in an attempt to get him on his side. "I'll show you - "

Whether he complied with her positioning or not, Skrae would go back to covering his muzzle in lingering licks and tiny nips, tail swaying happily behind her. It was not an overtly sexual advance - not that Skraeling would know either way - but neither was it purely platonic. Still, it came from a place of depth and compassion in the young shewolf, who had yet to find another way to share her simple but ardent affection for the wolves around her.

Perplexed, he rolled down to the ground with her, and as she started to nip at his muzzle, he let out a series of giggles, back paws twitching. "That tickles," he gasped between licks and chuckles, feeling rather childlike. His tail beat against the ground, thump thump thump, and he did his best to reciprocate, though struggling for breath due to laughter.

Shale rolled onto his belly and regarded her with sparkling eyes, half-hiccuping. "So that's how it goes," he snorted, raising his eyebrows. He regarded the girl for a long moment before looking away, thinking of his brother. He'd played, once upon a time, with Murdock, when the brown male was a lanky yearling and he just a spit of a pup. Just like this. Carefree. . .happy.

"How many brothers and sisters do you have?" he asked suddenly, turning his gaze back to Skraeling.

Regardless of what it did or did not do to Shale, the interaction sent tiny thrills zipping through Skraeling's body. She wiggled closer, wanting to be touching more of him,  and made a tiny sound if discontent when he pulled away. She leaned hard into his side, wiggling until all her legs were in the air, and tried to pull Shale's head back down toward hers.

"Um - " It was hard to think about her old family with new family in her arms. "I have five brothers, and um... three sisters. Two brothers are older, one's the same age, and then two are younger. And then two sisters are my littermates, and one is younger."

She didn't want to keep talking, but it seemed polite to reciprocate. Besides, she loved Shale dearly and wanted to know more about him - just not when she wanted so badly for him to be touching her!

"How many do you have?" she asked him, clearly distracted but trying her best to be attentive. To his words, and not to the very soft fur under his jaw, which tasted not too great but felt so nice on her tongue. She gave another insistent wiggle and licked the spot again, already forgetting what they were talking about.

Goodness, the girl was cuddly. He snickered as she licked his chin, trying his best to answer without thinking of Murdock, and breaking down once more. "Lots more than even you," Shale chuckled, looking down at her. "Many older brothers and sisters. Grayday is my littermate, and I had a sister, too--Sunspot."

Sunspot. How would she have reacted to the news of Murdock's demise? Based on conversations he'd had with Grayday about their relationship, she might leap for joy, dance on his grave. For that matter--Grayday might, too.

But family was family, and in this confusing moment, Shale wanted nothing more than to be by his brother's side. Even if he was a crass windbag.

"You're learning about healing," he said, ripping his mind away from the subject of death. "What else do you like to do?"

Wow! More than she had, even? That was a lot of siblings, but Shale was older than her, so he probably had lots more years of baby brothers and sisters under his pelt. That made good sense to Skraeling, who did not consider that Shale might have older siblings - how could he, since he was already old?

"I like to love and cuddle," she declared, nibbling at the juncture of Shale's jaw and neck to punctuate this fact. "And I like to run around. I think I can be a good hunter, but Mister Grayday wants me to work at healing too, for just in case."

I love to love and cuddle. That's apparent, Shale thought wryly, but he kept a kind smile as she went on. The last part of her small bubbly tirade threw him for a loop, and he peered down at her, brows raised. "Just in case of what, did he say?" he inquired.

It was probably only a saying. Good to have options. But perhaps Grayday had found out about his romp in the glade with Pema, and was making preparations. Just in case. He frowned suddenly, that whole dilemma coming to his mind once more. It was a little easier than thinking about his cold, dead brother. . .but not by much.