Big Salmon Lake la vie en rose

Hearing Kitsch’s voice is enough for her to know there’s trust, no matter how small. All she has to do is nurture it from here and build it up and chained from the girl to her word; she’ll have the girl up in no time. West gives her a soft, encouraging smile and shake of her tail. She doesn’t say anything right away, instead helping her to her feet and guiding her away to a thick patch of grass. The wind offers a slight chill to the day but overall it is warm and she doesn’t have to combat the weather to keep the pearl safe.

“Lay down here,” she says. Try to relax, she thinks when the words do not come to fruition. She doubts it’ll do much to get her to do so and she works in gentle touches and encouragements instead.

West comes around to the side so she can better see the lacerations on the back of her neck. They are mostly angry punctures she’ll have to keep clean to keep the infection from building beneath the skin. She sighs, glancing off in the distance. She wishes they were closer to the caldera than they are now but she can’t take her to the borders and ask for help when she has barely contributed herself. Instead, she’ll have to make do with what she has and what Kitsch will allow.

“Let me look,” she tells her before she carefully ruffles her nose through fur, finding each puncture and further wounds. From the outskirts, she sees the main one on the back of her neck and abrasions around her hips, in the delicate skin on the inside of her thighs. It only confirms the suspicion of what happened and she fights back a number of questions. By the time West gets to her rear, her tail covered protectively, she sighs softly before putting her nose gently to her hip and silently asking for access to inspect.