Lost Creek Hollow a shell of frozen time

It seemed things were a quieter sort now. Only seeming, as he was not the most social of creatures to inhabit the timber. Outside of a few faces, he had been keen to secret himself away, and the cold winter furthered this. His time had been full up until recently, tending to @Rannoch until he was able to fend for himself, and the rest had been for perusing what Hyacinth had stored away and where. The wolf crossed his mind a time or two in this venture, but her death had marked a certain silence to the background chorus in his life.

A thick fog marked morning as he made a trek to the waters that carved through the territory. Though relatively free in regards to plans, he felt a nagging essence tug at him. Keeping busy had been good for the remainder of his soul, but he had little time to home his craft and offer thanks—perhaps the reason for the silence and solitude now. He thought today he would seize the opportunity, and return to his personal business.

But upon nearing the rush and babble of the stream, a ghastly figure cut through his path along snowpacked terrain. Hesitant, he gave pause to witness them and thought in the curling haze it was very much the shape of the departed healer of the Hollow. This was brief as his steps started to follow—it was not some specter to lead him, but a sure sign that his healing patient had come back from his travels.

"Rannoch," he spoke, "you've returned."

oh look i finally did it chan

"Tarot," Rannoch replied with fondness, calling through the curtain of mist that separated them. "I have—just returned, actually." Aside from Terance and Treason, Tarot was one of the first wolves that he had wanted to seek. "I was just about to come looking for you, too, but it seems as though I no longer need to do that," he mused. 

Rannoch redirected his paws and hobbled along the sleek ground with care; he hoped that the hitch in his step would heal in time. "I think that my shoulder held up well but, I wanted to come and see what you thought about it," he explained once he had paused before the Hollow's healer, "Do you have some time to do that?" 

you did it!

He'd plan to come looking for him? That certainly tossed any notion that he would be spending his time to himself, though reasonably one could have deigned he'd thrown that out the moment he had set off after Rannoch to begin with. His ears turned forward to better receive queries and comments alike, and his gaze wandered over the mending flesh. Whether or not he didn't have time was regardless—he did not shy away from his duties, self-imposed or not, and delved into silence when the space between them no longer mattered.

"The travel has lent it some aggravation," he answered, "which was anticipated, but I sense no infection lingering." It was healing at its own pace, as many things in the world did. Nothing foul by sight or smell offended him.

He continued, his sharp gaze lifting to meet that of the mountainous wolf.

"How does it feel? Stiff, burning—or perhaps numb?" He had never quite been able to answer the matter of whether or not Rannoch would ever lose the hitch in his gait, but it too worried at the edges of his questioning. One thing could have easily meant another, and a moment too late could not be salvaged by all the mortar-and-pestle teeth in his mouth to make crude medicine.

Which thankfully, they were beyond the point of needing to pack ground up plant matter into grave wounds.

Rannoch nodded; Tarot had forewarned him of the agitation that would come with long-distance travel. "That's great news, Tarot," he replied after the full prognosis had been given, breathing a sigh of relief. When asked about how his shoulder felt, Rannoch considered the question for a moment. "Honestly, it feels stiff— like it needs to be stretched," he answered, glancing down to the injury. "Numb might be the best way of putting it, though." 

Rannoch's gaze then returned to Tarot, his expression disquieted. "Is there something we can do to help it?" he asked.

He chewed mentally, silence swept over him again as though he had never been able to speak in the first place. Rannoch's question was left there hanging as he mulled over answers to questions unasked; he almost wished for the glimmer of something in his peripheral to detract from the situation, a distraction that would better explain his silence. Instead the little coywolf merely contorted his face into a mockery of a frown, as though such a thing were quizzical in nature.

"Hard to say," as though it were not obvious. "If it persists then I admit I do not know. But for now it may be from travel." He wanted to protest this continued mockery of uncertainty, to shift blame and point out that Rannoch should have waited to make his trip. He should have, simple as that, but such talk seemed ill-suited for someone in his position. He did not have the authority, let alone the tenure to be boorish with his words.

"Though as long as the numbness is not a hindrance, then perhaps you are fortunate given the circumstances," he added on in the next breath. It wasn't like Hyacinth had left him with detailed instructions of what she had and hadn't done to aid Rannoch in her dying breath. It would have been helpful, his own conscious seemed to supply here, in lieu of spirits to provide commentary.

Traveling so soon hadn't been one of Rannoch's best ideas, and it showed. Although he had further irritated his hindrance, he couldn't necessarily say outright that he had regretted it—the trip to Heron Lake Plateau had been wonderful for his family. It was a (stupid) sacrifice that he had made. "I'll make sure to take it easy," he replied sincerely. 

Given the circumstances, Rannoch had been very fortunate—as though the RP Gods had been looking out for him, or something. "You're right," he replied, "I could have easily died if it weren't for you and Hyacinth." The former medic's efforts wouldn't go forgotten. "Thank you again for stepping up when you were needed—your efforts will always be realized here at the Hollow."

Rannoch got evaluated by Tarot, and was scolded advised not to travel far for some time. Did Rannoch listen? No lmfao.