Blacktail Deer Plateau Be my mirror, my sword and shield

another AW! (I tagged you two but you don't have to join unless you want!) assuming they would have let him know about their trip, let me know if that's wrong

He is near the borders

He had resolved to let others come to him, not wanting to abuse his rank and intrude on the lives of his packmates without reason (though they would need a gathering soon).  But there were two he had not seen in a very long time - @Harlyn and @Mordecai. They had checked in after their outrider trip, but now he hadn't even seen them. He counted Mordecai a good friend, and was fond of Harlyn despite not knowing her well. it seemed paranoid to think that they were avoiding him, but he did want to know how things were.

If it continued, he would approach them, but for now he would quietly fret. A frequent pastime of his when it came to those he cared about. Currently he sat near the mountain's base, glancing up at the sheer cliffs that rose above. Wondering if anyone had attempted to scale them, and thoughtful on the subject.

why hello there!

It would have been a lie to say that Harlyn had not been avoiding the alpha since returning to the Plateau.  She knew herself well enough to know that she would not hide her intentions from him if prompted, even though she didn't wish to divulge her troubles to him just yet.  Mordecai had still not come around completely to her idea and she did not want to push him by making things awkward for them in the meantime.


But, fate had its own ideas, as usual.  Harlyn had awoken with a migraine and thus she wasn't completely aware of what she was walking into when she stumbled into Dante's path.  Her nose was to the ground as she walked, her ears slicked back and tail slung low.  The pain was intense, but she had a bit of a stubborn streak about her that simply wouldn't allow her to bother Blue Willow from her children, and so she sought the herbs she needed herself.  And, of course, she found the alpha instead.

"Oh, Dante!" Harlyn said in surprise as she realized she'd almost walked right into him.  She took a few steps back to give him some space, shutting her eyes as another stab of pain shot through her head.

It was pure coincidence (though in reality, not at all) that he would run into Harlyn at that very moment, for he hadn't called either of the two despite his wishes. Doubts aside, he felt some affection for Harlyn after her help that night, a surprising amount for how little he'd seen of her. Completely ignorant to her inner feelings, he greeted her happily, though he did note she looked a little under the weather.

"Harlyn! You alright?"

Harlyn did her best to put on a strong face when Dante turned his attention to her.  He was quick to see straight through it though, which wasn't actually all too surprising.  She gave him when was meant to be a smile, but was twisted into more of a grimace.  "Oh, I have headaches sometimes..." she informed him as she cringed from another wave of pain, "They're quite... They're very painful.  Sometimes they even make me sick.  There are herbs I can take, but I don't have any in stock.  I was searching for them."  She lowered her head then to leave it hang between her forelegs, sucking in a deep breath.

dont worry about getting to this anytime soon love <3 we can continue it whenever or I can fade it rather easily also

The alpha winced in sympathy, knowing that feeling. He did not often experience them, happily, but in times of stress he too had been known to get a headache or two. Usually they accompanied the nightmares. "I can help you search, if you like?"

He had helped Blue a time or two to find herbs and had some eye for it, though he needed them described. He would never remember the names and uses, but he could perhaps recognize what she needed and where he knew some to lie. "What does the plant you seek look like?"

<3 I'm happy to keep going now that I'm back :D

Harlyn left her head hanging for a moment, focusing on her breathing as her mind seared with pain as though it were a white hot iron burning right between her temples.  Her ears slipped forward to listen as he offered to help her search for the herb.  Propriety asked that she allow him to continue on his way - he was alpha after all, he certainly had better tings to do than go flower-picking with his subordinates.  The terrible ache in her forehead, however, just wouldn't allow her to decline.

"It is small and white with a bright yellow center," she told him as she lifted her head and steeled herself to start moving again, "Like a daisy, only the petals aren't as long.  They call it 'feverfew'."  She knew the name wasn't likely to help him, but she decided to hope for the chance that it might jog some memory that would be helpful to them. 

Small white flowers with a yellow center... He knew of a possible site. He patrolled so often, and wandered the forests through, that many of the flowers were familiar to him. They sold out - leaves would have presented a greater challenge. "Hold on, I may know. I'll go check." They didn't need to both go and he knew headaches could be made worse through motion. It was nearby he had seen them, near the edge of the trees where sunlight could catch them; when he came upon the place he was gratified to find them still there.

He caught up some by the short stems and made his way back. They sure seemed to match the description, but there was only one way to be sure. He didn't have the healer's eye. As he delivered them, he was reminded of Harlyn's rush to get supplies when he had been in need of them, but shook the bittersweet thought away. It had inspired his trust in her though, and expounded her worth. This favor was little in comparison. "I hope these are right," he said after he laid them down, peering at them a moment before raising his eyes to her face once more.

Much to her surprise, Dante's eyes quickly alighted with recognition.  She lifted her gaze to his face as he told her he might know of something and then shortly took off to search.  Harlyn sank to her haunches as he disappeared, tucking her head again between her forelegs so as to shut out whatever light she could from her tightly closed eyes.


It felt like centuries before Dante returned, though the moment she heard his pawsteps, the waiting was completely forgotten.  She whimpered softly as she opened her eyes to thin slivers, setting her gaze upon the flowers he dropped before her.  Harlyn lowered herself to sniff at them and immediately recognized the scent.  Without a word, she swept them up in her jaws and ate.  "Oh  thank you, Dante..." she murmured as she plucked a few more leaves from the stems he'd brought to her, chewed and swallowed again, a grimace spreading across her lips, "Gods, why can't all plants taste like berries or venison..." she added, licking her lips repeatedly, trying to wash the taste off of her tongue.

His guess had been good, and he watched gratefully as she ate, hoping that they would take the edge off. He was sympathetic on the taste.... meds weren't his thing, but it helped when they at least tasted decent. "Maybe I can find you something to wash it down with. If you want." He was more than willing to fetch food, but he'd enough knowledge to know that headaches were sometimes accompanied by nausea.

"Or, y'know, I can beat it." He smiled. He wasn't about to keep her here talking if she needed to rest, and there would be time to catch up later.

Dante was quick to offer something to help her with the taste, which Harlyn declined with a shake of her aching head.  "It's fine, thank you," she said, still holding her head low with her eyes shut tight, "You've done more than enough for me, I can't thank you enough..."  Swallowing hard, she steeled herself for the pain she knew would come in another sharp wave once she opened her eyes, which she did so that she could set her gaze upon her alpha.  The smile she shared for him was just a brief flicker before the wave came, followed quickly by the cold clutch of nausea to her stomach.


With a whimper, Harlyn shut her eyes again.  She forced herself then to climb to her feet, to close the distance between them.  "I'm sorry.. I just.. Can I just..." she murmured pathetically before she reached him.  Without a word of explanation, her muzzle found his fur and she tilted her head so that she could press it against his throat - seeking shelter from the light that somehow still infiltrated past her eyelids even with them tightly shut.  The pain would fade soon enough, she knew, but until then she needed somewhere to hide until she was well enough to find a more permanent shelter.

He watched carefully as she thanked him, nodding in response before realizing she obviously wouldn't see. "Okay." He hovered a moment, wondering if he should stay or go. It was initially hard to tell which she would prefer.

The she moved towards him, muttering an apology before shoving her face against him. He couldn't help a small chuckle. "It's fine." Sitting down, he shifted against her into a more comfortable position, content to wait it out. He didn't talk, simply providing support. He had nowhere he needed to be.

Dante didn't protest as Harlyn came near, for which she was quite grateful.  She burrowed her face into the lush fur upon his throat, tilting her muzzle up so that she was nicely wedged just under his jaw.  Her ears twitched as he laughed quietly at her, and in spite of her misery at that moment, her lips too twitched into a near smile.  She didn't usually get this close to others unless they were family or as good as, and though Harlyn certainly liked her alpha, she was not yet comfortable enough with him to be quite so intimately close.  Circumstance had forced her hand however, and Harlyn certainly wasn't in the position to argue.


"I'm sorry," Harlyn murmured after a moment, "It's the light - it makes my head ache even more and I don't know where around here I can find shelter, nor do I think I could make it there at this point.  I just need a few minutes before the medicine kicks in and... This is the only dark place I can find.  I hope you don't mind."  A light laugh shook her shoulders briefly as she settled in beside him, pressing her shoulder against his more for comfort than for actual medical necessity.  It was nice to be held by someone at any rate, even if it was a result of her migraine and it wasn't the wolf she'd have preferred.  He did smell nice at least, a fact that occurred to her only vaguely as she breathed in his scent, his fur tickling her nose as she exhaled.

He remained still as he allowed her to make herself comfortable, feeling no awkwardness about the position.  As he had grown used to the role he filled within the plateau, the touches and contact between packmates had become second nature to the alpha.  He had not been a physical wolf, and still was not, but with family the boundaries he laid for others had shrunk to scarcely anything.  This was a more familiar closeness than he was used to, but the utility wasn't lost on him, and it wasn't unwelcome. It was a simple way they he could offer her help and he would take it gladly with no reservations.

"Mine often stem from motion rather than light," he said softly, ears perked and eyes focused on the trees around.  It had been a long while since he had suffered so, but he did recall light had made little difference.  He wondered how frequently these came, that she knew them so well.  She did not seem to worry, yet he made silent note to keep an eye out.

He could not think of.a good spot nearby either.  But he assumed she would let him know if she wished him to take her back to her den.

Dante didn't seem at all perturbed by her proximity, and thus Harlyn felt free to settle onto her haunches while curling up even closer to him.  She kept her head firmly tucked against his throat to shield her eyes, but her hearing wasn't at all impeded and thus she picked up each word he spoke.  His comments were intriguing and though she herself was suffering at that moment, the healer in her was taken by the opportunity to use her skills.


"You have migraines as well?" she asked, her ears perked and tapping lightly against the side of his face before she shifted them backwards again.

He smiled as he felt the touch of her ears on his cheeks, amused by the picture they must make.  "I have, yes.  Not too often, but sometimes I don't sleep well.  And they generally follow."  He wouldn't go into detail about the nightmares, and silently hoped they were behind him for good, as it had been a while since one had shown up.  He didn't remember details of them anyway, for the most part.  Just faces, sometimes, and the feeling of waking after.

"Do you suffer often?" He returned, frowning slightly.  Her knowledge could either be intimately gained from frequent experience or something picked up in her life as a healer.  He was not comfortable assuming such things, but he liked to know what was going on with their plateau family.

Wanna fade in your next post? :D

Harlyn frowned thoughtfully when Dante explained his own dealings with the pain.  "The herb you got for me would be good for you then," she suggested, "It'll make you groggy as well as lessen the pain.  You should keep some at your den, just in case you need it."  Perhaps when she got better, she would bring him some.  Otherwise she suspected he might not do as she said - men were like that, after all.

"Only... sometimes," Harlyn answered hesitantly, "Usually it happens just before a storm or when the weather changes...  Different things like that.  It always precedes something, though I am not always fortunate enough to know beforehand what that might be..."  Slowly and tentatively, she pulled her head away from him then, daring to squint at the world around her to see how intense the pain was.  It had lessened somewhat, which she had suspected since her fatigue was already growing.

"I think I can walk now," the druid said, stepping back from her alpha, "Is there shelter near where I can lie down for a while?"

She was correct - it was almost certain he would not find the plants.  He wasn't much of one for taking remedies unless absolutely necessary, even despite his immense respect for the healing trade.  Part of it was a desire not to be a bother and part was an obstinate, hard-headed belief that he could do without.

"Hmm."  Weather changes did make sense, as in his experience, there was usually a cause behind anything.  He was fortunate his was an internal happening... Hers she hardly had any control over.  He wondered if he would still love storms as much as he did were they to bring splitting headaches along.  Probably not.

"There's a tree nearby that may serve."  He recalled the place.  At one point some animal or other had likely made the roots it's home, so there was a hollow at the base.  Enough to provide some darkness at least, if a bit lacking in space.  She was slighter than he though.  "If not, theres some other stands nearby." A stand of pines could provide just as much shelter also.

Fading! <3

Dante suggested a tree nearby that he knew of, and Harlyn was in no position to be picky.  She nudged him with a grateful smile as indication for him to lead the way, which he did so willingly.  Once safely in the shade, they settled down together and spent some time just chatting until Harlyn drifted off - finally succumbing to the effects of her medicine under her alpha's watchful eye.