Ravensblood Forest aperitif

Cold water was perfect for cleaning all kinds of things from her fur. She knew this from experience. The crones who had tutored her had lived by the coast and they utilized the tide pools whenever possible; salt water was the best, but next to that was the crisp glacier-fed rivers that bordered their northerly claim. If it had been fresher blood it would have come out easily enough - bits still bloomed around her now - but this was a day old at least, maybe two days at this point. It would take some work to get it all out.

Stryx pondered as she worked. Her mind was most often blank when she was helping a patient, reacting to the circumstances as they presented themselves, and it wasn't until after that she could process each event. The birth of Raleska's children had been bloody and she was still processing that; now, the mangled face of Praimfaya rose to the forefront of her mind. The brutality that she had been subjected to. The woman would survive - but at what cost? Stryx had done very little to correct her facial wounds or anything superficial, focused entirely on the dire tear in her neck, and she knew the scars would be written across her flesh for the rest of her life.

Now, who are you? A foreign voice boomed from far too close. Stryx was surprised - mostly because she hadn't heard his approach - and felt her silver fur spike along her scruff and shoulders.

He was a hefty creature, and ugly. His proportions reminded her vaguely of a black bear. His coat was patterned with earth tones, each hair tipped in black or brown intermittently. He had broad shoulders and a thick-set neck and head, further pushing the comparison to the pig-faced bears of this area. Stryx was wise enough to know that bears could not hybridize with wolves but she was still unnerved by the way he stood there so bold, so close, and could not take her eyes off of him.

Nobody to be concerned about. She responded. Perhaps it would be wise for her to exit the river and find somewhere else to bathe. A moment later she pulled her attention away from him and to the water, working at the fur of her elbows some more, vaguely deferential to his presence but also, to a point, dismissive.