Moonspear inca mummy girl

There were things she needed to cross off her to-do list. She was still limping, but she was putting a little bit more weight on her paw each day. Her mother seemed less worried now than she had the night she had fallen, and she'd given Sialuk a longer leash today. Good. That meant that the raindrop could visit Revui and make good on her promise to bring him some scraps from the caches.

However, when she arrived with the half-squirrel in her jaws, she found that he was no longer there. Nor was his scent very fresh there any longer. He was gone. The girl frowned, flopping down on the spot where he had been laying the last (and only) time she'd spoken with him. Idly, she gnawed on the squirrel, but it would be clear to anybody passing by that she wasn't very into the act itself.

I took some liberties with the location and time of day.  Hope you don't mind Te!

True to her word, Tehama had worked for a fortnight to show her worth to the pack, trying to earn her room and board.  She spent her days roaming the great keep that was Moonspear, integrating her scent with that of the rest of the pack on the borders, learning the many trails worn into the land from wolvish paws.  She worked to add to their caches, the most important task of any orderly packland in the autumn, as winter drew ever nearer.  Some days, she was successful; her efforts had yielded rodents, fowl, and hares, and she'd been able to chase a fox away from the remnants of an ungulate's hind leg that was still in relatively good condition.  Most days, however, had left her empty-handed yet suffused with the pleasure that came from exploring her new alpine residence.

She'd yet to settle herself down in a particular den, choosing instead to sleep in the open where she could survey the stars and moonlit landscape from Moonspear's middle heights.  This particular campsite, however, had been too close to home for a family of porcupines.  Even a run in with the irate mama porcupine had done little to diminish her enthusiasm for the mountain she now called home, though it had left her with a shallow wound to her right shoulder.  Giving the prickly oversized rodents a wide berth, Te decided to move along as the morning light shifted to midday.  The burnished bronze of the trees gave the woods a lovely glow as the woman headed in the direction of a creek she was fairly sure she recalled in these parts, and she couldn't bring herself to be miserable even though her shoulder stung in the cold air.

So it was in an entirely brighter mood than was really accountable that the lady slowed to take a look at a child, half-heartedly picking at some small morsel of fur and flesh.  Te thought of the pups she'd fondly looked after at this age, and a pang that wasn't from her wound crossed her.  Her younger half-siblings would be maybe this age now, caught between childhood and adolescence.  A bittersweet smile flickered across her lips as she gazed at the pale figure with bright eyes from her vantage point on the trail, some meters away.  Impulsively, for she wasn't sure yet what she'd say to a stranger-child, Te chuffed a low greeting.  It would be easy enough to rebuff, if the youth wasn't interested in engaging, and the lady would continue on her way.

Works for me! Also, happy to see you writing again. I played Arkadious, Syntax, and Aventine back at WWS. ^__^

Sialuk's train of thought was derailed when somebody approached her, and she dropped the half-eaten squirrel between her paws, standing up on all fours, but clearly favoring her left front foot. This was not a wolf she knew, which was out of the ordinary, but she the smell of Moonspear was thick upon her coat, so there was no reason for alarm. Sia's tail wagged gently back and forth, but when the smell of blood from the wound hit her nose, it went limp between her hocks.

Are you hurt? she asked, taking a step forward. For now, Revui was forgotten along with the snack she had brought him, which now lay on the ground where he'd once slept for long stretches at a time. The smell was not overwhelming, like it would be with a very fresh wound, but that did not mean there was nothing to be done. Sialuk had watched her mother inspect wounds dozens of times, and she'd learned much from doing so.

<3<3!  I think it's fabulous how many people from back in the day are still writing.

As it turned out, Te didn't have to think of anything to say.  A girl's voice issued soon enough from the friendly-appearing features.  "Are you hurt?"  The two-year-old smiled wryly, for this was just what she had almost said to the girl, who seemed to have a limp herself.  Te took a few strides closer to the youth, demonstrating she wasn't hindered by her minor injury, and shrugged her shoulder to show the young lady.  Light tawny and grey fur there was damp from Tehama licking at it, and a small gouge with dried blood proved that the older she-wolf had gotten closer than was wise to that most cranky of spiny animals.  It was fortunate enough that the quills had neither remained lodged nor broken off in her skin.  Te wasn't going to complain overmuch.

"I didn't know Madame Porcupine and family lived so close to my sleeping spot," she said, goodnaturedly.  It did sting, particularly when the chill autumn breeze snatched at her fur and prodded at the wound. But it wasn't worth ruining her day over, and gave her an excuse to go looking for the little trickling creek among the rocks.  The woman mirrored the girl's polite tail wag. "I'm Tehama, by the way.  Or Te will do.  Honestly, it's not much of an injury..."  At this closer distance, the woman's silver eyes flickered over the young wolf's pale features, bright hawk eyes.  She wondered whose brood this was, as her experience thus far had introduced her to mostly dark-colored creatures, Bronco, Dirge, and Altair, and the silvery Keres.

The other Moonspear wolf did not appear slowed down by her wound, but Sialuk refused to believe it was nothing. Some wounds didn't show at all, and some small wounds ignored could grow even if they didn't hurt at first. She was skeptical that everything was okay, although it did appear that Tehama had done a good job cleaning it herself. Sialuk looked close, examining it for any quills, but none seemed stuck to her still, and she was satisfied for now. Anaa—I mean, my mother—she can check it in a few days to make sure it does not rot. My name is Sialuk, and I think I will be a healer one day, too.

Suddenly, the raindrop wondered if Tehama was a healer. If that was the case, had Sialuk just insulted her by trying to tell her how to tend to her wound. That would be a serious faux pax, and she swallowed, hoping that wasn't the case. As she grew older, it was less and less acceptable to make social mistakes like that. She had to be proper and pleasant. She would not be one of those rambunctious children who defied her parents. She loved them too much for any of that nonsense.

Tehama was not entirely bereft of first aid knowledge.  She knew of willow bark for pain and the importance of stopping a bleeding wound.  Beyond that and a few other rudiments, though, she wished fiercely that she'd paid attention to her father's skill in that gentle art.  It was his prowess that had led her teenaged hunting injury to heal so cleanly across her cheek, now a mostly-hidden scar, rather than leaving her disfigured.  He'd had a whole cavern with herbs and plants she didn't know by name, but could imagine their scents like it was yesterday.  So when the girl, who identified herself as Sialuk, declared her own intention to become a healer... Te's smile was both wistful and encouraging.

"You sound like you're very interested in learning her skills, Sialuk," Tehama said.  "The healing arts are a great gift.  My father knew so many things, I wish I'd been able to learn even a bit of it from him."  She filed away that this girl's mother was the pack's medic, wondering if Anaa was a proper name or a child's calling.  Quite intently, without a trace of patronizing tone, she asked, "What do you think of it?  I couldn't see for myself, really.  Just tried to clean the best I could.  I was on my way back to a creek I thought I'd passed, further east, to flush it out."  Te neared and leaned down slightly, to give the aspiring healer a better look.  It was true that no quills lingered in the wound, but Tehama's twisting away from the porcupine had created a shallow gash in the flesh that would fester if she wasn't careful, and was already oozing some pink-yellow fluid alongside the bit of dried blood.  "I thought the cold water might help keep the heat out of it."

Tehama complimented her, and Sialuk felt the warmth beneath her fur on her cheeks. Te's father had been a healer as well, so that explained why she knew the basics. Sialuk was, of course, relieved to hear that she wasn't a full-blown healer, so her anxiety about embarrassing her new pack mate was put to rest. Instead, the older wolf asked Sialuk to take a closer look at the wound, and she did so with even more intention now. When Tehama shifted, Sialuk spotted the gooey yellow liquid, a sure sign that it was either already infected or had the potential to be.

After you wash it, we could put some mugwort on it, she said, That will help it heal quicker and make it hurt less. I know where there's a patch of it growing, so we could always get some from there.

Mugwort.  The name was familiar, but Tehama would have been hard-pressed to identify which of the pungent odors permeating her father's cache might have been mugwort, and was quite clueless as to what its medicinal properties might be.  Sialuk clearly took her aspiring trade seriously, and was already knowledgeable enough to impress the older female.  Had she taken her mother's instruction so close to heart at that age?  She supposed she had, but that didn't make it any less admirable in this child.

Te flicked her charcoal ears back and nodded.  "That sounds like a fine suggestion."  The tawny she-wolf nudged her nose in Sialuk's general direction and asked, "What about you?  Did you cross Madame Porcupine yourself?"  The Mu didn't see any outward wound on the youth's front paw to show a source of injury, but it was a casual enough way to ask what had happened.  A friendly smile tugged at the lady's lips.  She had forgotten how pleasant it was to watch a pack's younglings grow up and into personalities of their own, which Sialuk seemed to have in spades.

Tehama not only seemed open to the suggestion, she implied that they should go right now! Sialuk's tail wagged behind her, making her butt wiggle side-to-side a bit with all the enthusiasm she was putting off as they moved toward the stream. After that, she could grab the mugwort, chew it up, and press it on the wound.

It took her a moment to realize what Tehama was asking, but Sialuk realized after a few paces forward. Oh! No porcupine, she replied, I slipped and fell down the mountain. I hurt my ankle, but anaa said it wasn't serious. It will be better in a little while. With a little bit of shame, she recalled how she had treated Hydra. She had since apologized, but the sting of her aunt's gaze had yet to wear off.

Speaking of it reminded her that she shouldn't get too worked up, too. Breathing heavily (or too deeply) made her side hurt, and she really dreaded it when that happened. Once they arrived at the stream (which really hadn't been far), Sialuk gestured for Tehama to take a dip. Don't let your shoulder touch the ground in there. Maybe lay down so it can wash over your shoulder. Fresh water would be fine, but the mud would not.

Te hadn't expected that she'd find herself in the company of one of the Moonspear's pups before meeting any more of its adult members, but she enjoyed the girl's presence perhaps more than that of an older wolf.  Adults always had expectations and purpose behind what they said, whereas youths were often more straightforward and undemanding of anything beyond respect and attention.  Young Te had always hated being ignored, or worse, talked down to, and so she endeavored not to do that to any child now herself.  So to Sialuk's explanation, as they took a gentle walk along in the autumn-wreathed wood, Tehama nodded sympathetically.  "Mountains can be friend and foe both, can't they?"

Her silver eyes grew momentarily unfocused as she recalled the days of adolescence where a young lady's body was quite literally put off balance from one day to the next.  "You're a growing girl.  Your paws and legs just don't always cooperate.  Happened to me more than once.  You'll get your gracefulness back again, when you've reached your adult height."  Te grinned self-deprecatingly.  "Just hope that your adult height is a taller than mine."  It was challenging to tell, without having seen the girl's parents, what stature she might hope to aspire to, but it wasn't a bad guess that it would be taller than Tehama.  Te was, well... compact might be a nice word for it.

They came soon enough to a narrow, spindly stream that trickled over rocks slick with moss and embedded in mud.  Te took Sialuk's instructions to heart, and trepidatiously chose her path where the rocks seemed least hazardous.  Cold water seeped between her toes, then as the silvered lady lowered herself slowly, rose up to her mid-legs.  "G-great M-mother, it's cold!" she sputtered an oath, teeth beginning to chatter.  Tehama wasn't much for water, be it swimming for fun or bathing, and hadn't thought of just how chilly it would feel in late autumn.  Still, she held her tail stiffly out behind her to avoid getting its plume wet, and leaned to let the fresh water cleanse her shoulder.

Healers, she decided, were usually right but their advice wasn't usually pleasant, even advice from the apprentice variety.

Tehama seemed concerned about making sure Sialuk did not feel bad about her spill, but that was the least of the girl's concerns. She felt like she could always recover from a physical injury. It was the social and emotional aspects of the fall that had been far harder on her. She felt bad about the way she had treated her aunt, but of course Tehama could not have known any of this. Perhaps she had seen the shame in her eyes and chalked it up to being ashamed about falling. Sialuk did not correct her, of course. Doing so would have been disrespectful, and besides, Tehama was only trying to help.

They came to the brook, and Sialuk observed her patient dip herself into the water, grinning at Te's exclamation that the water was cold. It was true that summer water was more pleasant, but cold water would work just as well. That should be good! she said, raising her voice slightly so it could be heard over the gurgling sounds of the water on rocks.

The mugwort is just up this way. She began to pluck her way up a narrow path, eyes searching for the one patch she knew to be there. The flowers were long gone, but the leaves were the part they wanted anyhow. Sialuk ripped off a stem, then shredded the leaves off and began to chew them into roughly the consistency of canned spinach. The taste was bitter, but she did not mind. Once she had enough, she squished it into her cheek and gave Tehama further instructions.

Might sting a little, she said before scooping a good dollop of the herbs from her cheek to her tongue and sticking them squarely on the wound.

Tehama's teeth chattered, but she could hear Sialuk's voice as the girl called for the end of her chilly ordeal.  Te clambered out of the stream eagerly, her nails clacking against the rocks as she slipped and slid over them before finding firmer footing on the solid ground beyond.  A trail of dripping water droplets left damp imprints beside their pawprints as the woman followed the youth up a narrow path.  By the time Sialuk pointed out the mugwort, the older lady was recovering her body temperature and, by extension, her voice.

"I'm glad you know what it looks like," she observed with a crooked grin.  "It looks quite a lot like about a hundred other plants.  I'd never have known to use it for anything special."  Te watched patiently as the younger girl worked the leaves in a way that seemed skillful.  If it was her first time doing any such real-life treatment on a patient, Te couldn't tell.  It was not Tehama's first time submitting to the often-uncomfortable ministrations of a medic, as a smattering of small scars here and there bore testament.  So when the mugwort did sting as advised, she only worried at her lip a bit, and shifted her weight uncomfortably between her paws until the discomfort subsided and became only a minor inconvenience.

Silver eyes peered approvingly at the girl-child, who really wasn't going to be a child all that much longer.  The new Moonspear was no medic herself, but she did consider herself a good judge of character, and in the pale youth's features she read aptitude, intelligence, and a charming personality.  "Thank you, Sialuk.  Your Anaa seems to be teaching you well."  Te thought back for a moment to her first day at Moonspear, considering Keres as a possible mother to Sialuk.  There wasn't really a resemblance, though, and surely Keres might have mentioned being the pack's healer, as that could come in handy living on a mountain.  Flicking her thankfully-dry tail thoughtfully, Tehama wondered who else might have parented this bright girl; she should bring a gift of gratitude to them... and, she supposed, introduce herself, so that they didn't think their daughter was talking to strangers all day. 

"Are you Hydra and Dirge's daughter?" she ventured a guess, though she didn't think this moon-hued child would be the dark Alpha male's child, unless Hydra, whom Tehama knew only by name and pack-association-scent and not by sight, was as light-hued as Sialuk.

Sialuk did not really understand how lucky she was to have such a skilled wolf as a mother. Kukutux was wise beyond her years, and Sialuk had always just been there, watching and occasionally helping when her mother requested. Sometimes when she did not. As she got older, it was easier for her to forget how she came to know things about plants. It seemed to come from within her some days, even though she knew it was anaa who had taught her so much.

Tehama was an excellent patient, and the first "real" patient Sialuk had. She had, of course, practiced on her brother a multitude of times, chewing up useless plants and sticking them on his fur. And there were times she would point out various plants on walks with her mother and father, always seeking their approval for her memory of them. But it was something else entirely to put all that knowledge to use. She could only hope that she had not gotten anything mixed up.

The raindrop flattened her ears humbly at the praise, her tail swaying gently between her hocks. Tehama's next question momentarily threw her for a loop, but she recovered quickly enough to answer without too much pause. They are my aunt and uncle, she replied. Hydra is sister to my taataa—my father—Jarilo. Kukutux is my anaa—my mother.

The tawny female listened to Sialuk's voice as the girl formed the words that were foreign, and yet understandable, to the new Moonspear's ears.  She wondered if all tongues had similar sounds for mother and father names.  She spoke only the common tongue herself, and had only rarely encountered those who spoke another language.  Something in Sialuk's name and snowy appearance, and the terms of taataa and anaa, seemed to speak of tundra and ice; this was perhaps a holdover from stories heard in her youth and stored unconciously, for Tehama had no real recollection of why she had the association.

"I will have to tell Jarilo and Kukutux of your skill," Tehama smiled.  "And I'll bring by something to thank you."  It was indeed a minor wound, and surely would soon be healed and forgotten, but with luck Sialuk's intervention would keep fever and bad humors at bay.  

"I am new to Moonspear, and haven't met many of the pack yet," was the woman's explanation.  "I have made the acquaintance of Bronco, Keres, Dirge, and Altair."  She knew that Hydra, Jarilo, and Kukutux were names she could now attach to a part of the scent of Moonspear that clung to her own fur, and could tell something of their individual markers by the differences in the composition of that smell that Sialuk carried.  She resolved that she would meet them soon enough and know them by sight as well as scent.  

She mused then over the fact that Hydra and Dirge were not the only mating pair with pups in this pack; perhaps, like Thousand Rivers, they were lenient enough and prosperous enough to let other pairs bring forth new life.  That was how her own half-siblings were permitted to come into the world, but she knew not all pack leaders would allow such a thing.  For that reason, she had not really considered her own prospect of motherhood since her future as leader of Mount Mirror had been shattered, and she remained oblivious to considering it now.  At three years of age, she felt like something of an old maid, and had entertained little to no thoughts of romance or procreation in quite some time.  She was an older sister, a puppysitter, a spinster, even if only in her own mind.  Only meeting a promising youth like Sialuk reminded her gently, and a bit painfully, like an old bruise, of what might have been.

Last one from me, I think! I'd love another thread. <3

Anytime she could receive praise from adults, Sialuk was happy to have it. It always humbled her in some way, as though she was not quite deserving of such things, but she reminded herself that she was an Ostrega, and as an Ostrega, she deserved many things. It was a stark contrast to her mother's ways, but Sialuk felt she had struck a balance between being entitled and unqualified. She wondered what gift Tehama would bring her—which was an entirely unnecessary offer—but she knew that it was more polite not to ask.

The wolves she spoke of meeting were all ones that Sialuk knew by name, if not more. Dirge was the only one that stuck out as being more of a shadow than a real figure in her life. Bronco had moved to the glen, Keres was pleasant, and Altair always seemed to show up at the right time.

She remembered why she had come out here in the first place, and Sialuk wondered if Revui had returned from wherever it was he had gone. She also realized that she'd left the half-eaten squirrel there, and she would be lucky if it was still there when she got back. Most likely, some scavenger had come along to steal it, drat!

I am going to go look for my friend some more. Make sure you get lots of rest and drink plenty of water, Tehama! She didn't wish to leave her new acquaintance so quickly, but she really did want to find Revui. If she could not find him, she considered bringing it up to anaa, but even that seemed like it would get her in trouble. Why had he been hidden away from the rest of Moonspear?

Tehama was grateful for the girl's assistance, and had thoroughly enjoyed their meeting even if it had involved cold water and stinging herbs, which said something about the caliber of Sialuk's company.  Still, she'd not meant to draw the girl from her daily tasks nor to cause her to stray too far from home, and so she dipped her head in acknowledgement as the apprentice medic gave her parting instructions and turned to go.  "I'll visit soon," Te promised, already thinking on what would be a suitable object of gratitude to bring along with her.  The three-year-old's tail swayed contentedly as she watched the pale girl grow smaller in her departure, soon rounding a trail out of sight.  Tehama ignored her sore shoulder and turned towards the rust and gold bejewelled woodlands to continue her explorations of Moonspear's autumn-swept slopes, happier for having made Sialuk's dear acquaintance.