Herbalists' Cache Sore Paws, weary body

Rowyn marched further into the lands that he had no idea where he was. A puppy lost and unsure. He had found some carrion the other day and had made it a meal. Promptly losing some of it as he ate too much for his empty belly to handle. 

Burrs and sticks wound throughout his fur. His paws bloody and wounded. Something had cut his ear and it kept snagging and bleeding and causing such a mess.

He was bedraggled and scared. And all he wanted was his moms, but they weren't here. He had attempted to go home, but had lost his way. Then that loud howl that had filled the sky. And all he could see was blood and death and smell the scent of other wolves and urine.

He shuddered.

Goldfinch did not often leave the safety of her valley. Yet at times she wandered in search of food, or perhaps companionship. Thus far she had found none.

Until now.

The boy smelled of blood and wild things. Goldfinch watched in silence from her hiding place as he shuddered. For now she did nothing more than watch, follow; she'd never seen another child who was not her own family, and wasn't sure what to do. How to act.

Suppose he didn't like her?

Rowyn froze as he heard a noise nearby. IT wasn't a big noise. It sounded small and nearby. But it didn't matter if it was small. 

What if it was the man that had killed Ash. What if. He cried out and crushed his body to the ground, curling up into the fetal position. Wild eyed and scared. Hopefully he wouldn't wet himself this time. He shook. 

Please don't hurt me. He whimpered.

The boy was frightened; a soft little weakling, Goldfinch saw now, and felt less frightened herself for the realization. Here she had been worried he might not like her! Now the boy trembled and begged that she spare him, and she wondered what horrors he had seen.

She wouldn't ask him now. Instead she crept from the shadows. The gilded bird she called her familiar flew down from the trees to join her, settling not far from the boy with a chirp; it remained just beyond easy reach of the stranger wolf's teeth, however, having long since learned that lesson.

Goldfinch, meanwhile, crept ever closer. She moved slowly so as not to startle the boy, ears folded softly against her head to show that she meant no threat. Her tail swished across the ground, tossing up debris from the forest floor as it moved. Then she stopped, still low against the ground, and watched to see if he would welcome her.

Rowyn at any other time would have been appalled at being called a weakling or soft. But after what he had just seen and dealt with. He no longer cared what anyone thought of him. His only goal now was to exist and survive. That was it. Even if he wasn't entirely certain how too. 

A soft fluttered of wings and a flash of gold lit up the gloom. He ducked his head further unsure what it was. But it was a small bird that settled nearby, but not near enough to catch. And its bizarre behavior made him realize it was important somehow.

He tilted his head and when no blow came, only silence and a soft breathing. He peered from his legs. Slowly unfurling himself from the fetal position. He licked his lips and stared. Unsure.

Did the bad man that killed her send you?

Did the bad man that killed her send you?

At once a hundred questions swirled through her thoughts. Goldfinch tilted her head, ears standing tall now in confusion. The motion of her tail slowed and stuttered, uncertain, but never fully stopped. The bad man that killed her.

Who? Voice wavering, high and thin as it always was when Goldfinch spoke. Who is the bad man? she meant to ask; who did he kill? But words were not easily called upon by the wildling girl, and so she made do with just the one.

Rowyn sniffled again. And studied the girl in front of him. Her eyes were pretty. It reminded him of flowers and the river. And then he thought of his mama's and he whimpered again. But he slowly steeled his shoulders. He had seen Ash Star do it when she wanted to be bigger than she was.

Ash Star he killed here. Bad man with strange name. He came when my mama's were both gone. Said it was his place now. Then the woman Senka said no it was hers and Ash she started fighting and he started fighting and there was blood everywhere!

He bent real close and whispered quietly. I was so scared i peed myself. Then I ran. Just ran fast, fast as i could.

Goldfinch understood very little of the story he told, in truth; it was beyond comprehension to the girl. Why should a man take what was his? Or if it was not his, why should he want it at all? She didn't know, nor did she know Ash Star or Senka or the absent mothers lurking behind his tale.

She knew, though, what it was like to be left behind.

You come? Goldfinch stepped back as she spoke, rising from her crouch with a meaningful glance over her shoulder toward the bypass. When she looked back to him, her eyes were soft, tail hanging limp and relaxed at her hocks. Safe.

Rowyn wasn't certain what she wanted him to do. And she was not as concerned as him about the current going inside where was his mama's.

He sighed and nodded. I come.

What else could he do?

@Rowyn so sorry for the delay <3

Feed you, Goldfinch reassured him brusquely to mask her relief. She hated how lonely the bypass had become, sometimes. Too skinny. She reached out to prod his ribs with a paw, though her own frame was even thinner.

Then she beckoned for the boy to follow, leading him toward the bypass with steady steps. It would be his home now, as much as it was hers.