Broken Antler Fen no dark sarcasm in the classroom

@Liri
so used was she to the thick crust of the snow holding her weight, she did not forsee the fall in the slightest. thirst had drawn her attention to a nearby creek, and as she approched, quite suddenly did her front paw plung deep into the snow, and piercing pain shoot up her leg. fast as a viper she pulled her limb from the fridgid white, backing up to were the snow was more stable. 

unknown to the woman, the snow had built of on the edge of a sharp drop, and such her thin limb punctured through the white with ease, and as she inspected her paw pad, she found there to be three thorns stuck deep into the pad, the origin of which was likely a bramble, buried and forgotten under the concealing layer of white. she hissed at the tiny printpicks of pain, settling back on her haunches and trying (rather unsuccessfully) to pull from her paw the first of the thorns.

The frozen wasteland she was raised in led her to be cautious of such strong winters. While beautiful they could be dangerous and at times deadly.

Liri picked her way towards the creek, hoping to slake her thirst with its chilled water, testing each step on the ice for thinness. She had just reached the edge of the waters and dipped her head to take a satisfying drink when the sound of a dull crashing was heard not far to her left. The sound was reminiscent of heavy clumps of snow falling from trees.

Liri padded across the snow, leaving a trail of tiny prints with the soft squish sound of it crunching underfoot. She moved cautiously, slinking with fear towards the noise with flashes of orange-red fur and apple green eyes in her thoughts. She peeked only the smallest portion of her head over the snow bank to find not her rapist but instead Aeronwyn at the bottom.

Head cocking curiously, Liri maneuvered her way around the slippery slope to avoid the exposed bramble. She stopped a foot or so to the side of Aeronwyn, chuffing softly. 

"You're hurt," Liri gestured with a small jerk of her muzzle to the thorn embedded paw that her pack mate seemed to be having trouble fixing. "I can help, I am a healer," Liri continued softly, moving closer with a watchful eye on her in case aggression followed pain. 

her head snapped up to find that another had approached, and recognized the woman as Liri. The day that they had met before, in the blistering snow adn wind, she had hardly had time to really examine the woman. But now, face to face her with, she realized, oddly, that the woman was just as scarred as she was. Her fur hid them fairly well, but she knew enough to know that it hid many scars, just as did her own plush pelt, as useful as it was for hidding those scars and wounds she did not wish to be seen. 

she was silent a moment too long, she realized, and uttered a moment later, "Thank you." she would accept her help without complaint, so different from that incedent months ago were she had refused to show weakness or even acknowledge it. But she had come to realize, after all this time, what true weakness really was. And, it was hardly physical.

"I did not test the snow. Brambles lay beneath it." she offered by ways of explaination, offering the lacerated paw with a glance down at it, though her interest in the other woman, Liri, had just been aroused, and though at her lips lingered a question, more specifically regarding scars, and their origin, she did not utter it, thinking this not the time.

So surprised was the arctic femme by the gratitude that it nearly stopped her on her slow path towards Aeronwyn. Liri blinked once in surprise before her face was schooled into a calm expression once more.

"You're welcome," Liri mumbled beneath her breath, almost in an abashed manner. At one time she might have insisted that no thanks need be given but that Liri was weak; she had been a shy fool and no longer lived. 

"Yes, sometimes the ice is thin. It's hard to tell at times what lays beneath," she explained softly, more for the sake of talking. It helped to soothe some patients she had known though Aeronwyn didn't seem to be agitated by the small wounds.

Once Aeronwyn had extended her paw, Liri dipped her head; wary at being unable to see the movements around her from the bowed position. Ignoring the sensation, the healer went to work methodically plucking each thorn from Aeronwyn's paw with gentle nips of her teeth. Once all had been removed she gave the paw pad a swipe with her tongue to clean it; the metallic tang of blood on her tongue. 

"It should not get infected, with the snow on the ground. That should keep it clean though I would prescibe herbs in warmer seasons when dirt would get into it," it was perhaps the most Liri had ever said to any of the Fen wolves. She offered the woman a small smile of reassurance, taking the chance to finally study her.She avoided looking at people too closely these days but in such close proximity it was near impossible.

Aeronwyn was slender, made of a more willowy build than her own stocky northern frame. She was beautiful in a graceful, refined sort of way that made Liri vaguely jealous. She was nearly as scarred, if not as scarred, as Liri though she wore hers more like tokens of valor. They shared the same pale pelt but that seemed to be where the similarities stopped. Aeronwyn was something beyond Liri; that at one point the femme would have longed desperately to be despite never being able to.

Realizing suddenly that she was still rather close and openly staring; Liri scuttled back a bit to give Aeronwyn some space. "My apologies," Liri muttered, shaking her head at herself just a bit.

Her eyes flitted to the edge of the woods like restless birds. Should the conversation end there, Liri would dissapear into the woods and snow like the ghost she was nicknamed to be.  

odd, was her surprise and her abashed words, leading the woman to think that she was not thanked often. there was something about the woman, she realized, something comparable to a ghost. a lightness of step and manner, of being there, and yet, not. perhpas, she thought, her scars did not, as hers had, come from battles fought and fights picked, but instead, from something...darker. for the longer she listened to the woman speak, the ghostly healer, the less she might imagine the woman seeking battle, and from battle scars. which meant, ultimatly, that her scars were gained in another manner, one which she may not even guess at. 

it was quickly and efficiently that she removed the barbs from her paw, each sting of pain ignored as she watched the healer, and when she finished, carefully lowering her paw once more onto the numbing snow, listening raptly as she spoke, stance drained of the usual haughty coldness it had once contained. 

and then, she realized, the woman was staring. her optics were that of earth, rich and dark against her pelt, as apposed to her own of bleached moonlight. she said nothing, wondering what about her, exactly, the woman found quite so interesting. it was as the close distance that she was the the woman's thoughts returned to those pryor, of the ghost that this woman seemed to imbue. 

the moment of stillness was broken when the woman scuttled backward, an apology falling from her lips, her stance mirroring that of a startled doe, eyes darting to the wood. she could have simply bade the woman goodbye, and yet, she did not. Perhaps it was her interest in the woman, perhaps it was the realization that Liri could be of use to her, or something else entirely. 

"will you teach me?" the question fell from her lips softer than she expected it to be, perhaps humbled in the prescence of the phantom. "of healing." she clarified a moment later. for she had hurt before, the wraith, and perhaps she could bring right by ways of healing.

Liri was not given reprieve to dissapear. Her eyes darted from the trees to Aeronwyn as she spoke. Her brows rose only the slightest bit, a tiny tick before the ever blank mask was back. 

She had naturally assumed that Aeronwyn was a warrior, based solely on the way she carried herself. The two had never interacted enough for Liri to know if Aeronwyn had a trade of any kind; it was more of an air about her that leant the idea that she was skilled in physical activity where Liri was not. 

"Yes," she answered simply. "When would you like to begin?" Herbs would not likely be found in such weather but perhaps she could get her hands on a cache to explain the uses to Aeronwyn. At the least she could try to explain how to heal injuries if not apply medicines. 

---

it was to her relief and to her gratitude that the woman agreed, a smile drifitng to her maw, her response to the other's question hardly delayed. "Whenever we may." she suggested, eager to learn of the craft she had a pitiful amount of knowledge in. instead of creating wounds, she now wanted to heal them; as cheesy as that sounded, she was quite frankly finished with the hurt she had caused time after time. and though she would never stop being a warrior, she could be other things. a healer. perhaps, one day, a beta. and though the thought was crushed quickly ever time it entered her mind, perhaps, one day, a mother.

---

I wasn't sure if you would want to continue in this thread or start a new one, so I left it open. I can start a new one if you want?

Liri nodded, a smile flitting over her features briefly. It had been quite a span of time since she had a pupil. The last wolf she had talked to about healing was Minna, nearly a year ago. 

"Then we start now if you have nothing else to do," Liri suggested, turning to leave the stream behind. She did not want to chance either of them getting any more thorn injuries.