Northstar Vale i hate my passport

@Eros or @Star mayhaps?
note to self: 2w 1 day

Cupid had not been himself lately. Well, that had been true for the past week, but things have gotten worse since then. It wasn't just his thoughts that bothered him now, it was sickness as well. It came about suddenly the morning he started to make the trip back to Courtfall. The world began to spin around him, making the journey a lot longer than it should have been. But he eventually made his way back; herbs dangling from his jaws and ready to return to the top of the mountain.

His attempt at climbing was a pitiful sight. The man could barely make it a few feet upwards without getting dizzy, losing his balance, and falling flat on his side. Cupid looked like a complete madman doing this. He probably made a dozen, no, two dozen attempts before giving up. He lay at the base of the mountain, legs splayed and unmoving. Watermint leaves were strewn about.

She's heading down the slope when she sees her. That wretched girl, making her way upwards. Star's gut twists at the sight of the inkling wolf, almost ready to turn around and head right back into the Vale. But instead, her eye is caught- the girl tries, falls, tries again, falls again, and so on. And as much as she disliked her, she could not leave a packmate struggling. It just felt wrong. It was her duty to her community to continue down the slope. 

She arrives near the bottom, finding the creature pathetically collapsed, herbs strewn about her body. Part of her begs to bark a mocking comment of, You pathetic bitch... what an eyesore. But she knew iI t was wrong. Instead she muses quietly, "Are you good? Need help?", dark eyes settling on the wolf's face.

Cupid rolled onto his back and stared up at the towering mountain. His mountain, his haven, his sanctuary. It was right there, so close it could fall upon him. He could picture the view from here, smell the fresh air. Tantalizing things that were just out of reach, all thanks to his sickness, his thoughts, his decisions. Cupid clenched his jaw and cursed beneath his breath.

There's a voice, one that he hadn't expected nor wanted to hear at the moment. Hag, he grumbled to himself before rolling around to stare up at her. By 'help' do you mean talk me ear off?

The wolf mutters something to herself, which Star chooses to ignore. Then comes a comment about talking her ear off. Star chuckles at that. She tries her best not to let her temper flare up. "Nah. But if you're so bothered, I could leave you lying here. And you could keep struggling to climb up." She smirks, a mean part of her enjoying the power she had in this moment. She takes a few more tentative steps towards the girl, careful not to trip and make a fool of herself. 

"Why are you struggling so much anyway? Haven't you ever climbed before? Seems like you couldn't stop losing your balance." She laughs, circling the girl slowly. Takes a look at the herbs that are messily scattered on the ground. "At least you were being helpful..." Star mutters, considering the shocking possibility that perhaps the woman was not as disloyal as she seemed.

She saw all that? Cupid's cheeks heated up, either from nausea or embarrassment or both. Why couldn't anyone else but her see his failure, or better yet no one at all.

'Course I have, he snaps, eyeing her as she circles around him, I'm just not feelin' well today.

Her remark is just barely heard. He's able to put together what she said based on how she was eyeing the herbs. Those would be a pain to carry up the mountain all by himself, let alone gather them up again.

You wanna help? He rolls onto his feet and pushes himself up, staggering a bit before regaining his footing. Then pick these up and take them up the mountain. Cupid began plucking them from the ground one by one, whether she decided to aid him or not.

When she says she isn't feeling well, Star's mean expression falls momentarily. Not that Cupid wasn't a total pain in the butt- she was, but Star didn't feel right about piling on top of the wolf's burden. No matter how much of an asshole she was. 

When Cupid says You wanna help?, that catches her attention, for it was one of the things she did enjoy. Helping the pack- or in this case, helping the pack's annoying medic. As the darker wolf struggles upward, stumbling before finding her balance, Star leans down. Between pearly fangs she gathers a couple of unfamiliar herbs. She was sure this wolf's inflated ego would make her think Star was eager to serve her. That wasn't it at all, but the snowball tried not to think about whatever nasty thoughts swam in Cupid's head.

He was expecting her to leave him to his own devices. He'd be fine with that, despite how nauseous he felt. This wouldn't be his first time he'd have to tough it out alone, and it certainly wouldn't be his last.

But when he looked over, he was not alone. The old woman was helping clean up the mess he'd made. It's surprising and it shows on his face; his eyes widened for a split second before he turned around again. Definitely wasn't expecting that.

Once he had picked up everything he could, he took a few cautious steps up the slope. He was gonna fall, he could feel it. Can you.. uh.. Help me up, was what he wanted to say, but he already felt foolish for even thinking about it.