Heron Lake Plateau [m] your hands can heal, your hands can bruise

Wow, she shows up when they were all wanting help and stuff and he has the audacity to growl at her? Yeah, no wonder he never showed up before they met last time, dude was an idiot. Super unimpressed here.

Then there was this other chick. Did she talk like this to everyone? Better be because she was An Adult now and it was not cool to talk at her like she was a little baby any more, get with the program.  Pups huh? Well she couldn't really see them, and she tried to lean to look beyond the roadblock Poe, but that wasn't improving things much. Maybe they should quit acting like this was one of Owen's conspiracies. She otherwise didn't really have much of a response because it just kind of sounded stupid.  Why'd they panic so much then?

Then she continued, and lolwut exCUSE ME, was she even listening to herself? Hole digging? Didn't she know who Vasa was?! She frowned, and wasn't gonna budge. The world could orbit around her if it didn't like where she was standing. Especially when it sounded like them just trying to make her go away because they were jerks. And so she put on her most obviously An Adult attitude and said simply, Um, no. I'll wait for my mom and help her.  She was way beyond digging holes for some chump, Vasa was destined for better things.

Raven had practiced medicine for nearly as long as she'd been alive, having taken an interest in the craft at an age much younger than even that of her own kids. All those years of experience led up to this moment, when the life of a packmate and family member rested in her hands. She knew, of course, that if it was Camilla's time to kick the bucket, then there was nothing she could do to prevent it. But she intended to do everything in her power to prevent things from taking that turn, so it was with a passionate fervor that she ran as fast as her legs could carry her to where she kept her medicine stores stashed.

She arrived in a rush, her body burning with the effort of extended running at top speed. She did not pause to catch her breath, though, but rather charged headlong into the badger den, clawing and scattering dried stems and stalks asunder as she searched for the few specific plants she knew could help support Camilla's recovery. When she'd made a small pile of useful remedies, she snapped them up in her teeth and took off again, leaving a mess strewn across the grass behind her as she left.

The errand, in total, took perhaps only ten or fifteen minutes, but Raven was terrified that Camilla might be dead when she arrived back at the scene. She noticed that Vasa had joined them at some point, but had no time to devote to her. She acknowledged her daughter with a wag of her tail as she approached, unaware of the exchange that had occurred between her and Poe moments ago. The healer's sides heaved as she dropped the small medicinal bouquet by Camilla's feet. Looking to Poe, she asked between gasps of air, "Could you...chew these into a...wet paste for her? My mouth...is too dry...she'll need to eat it..."

Poe dealt with Vasa, and Phox returned his attention back to Camilla and their two living children. They were all that mattered to him, not some bratty kid who wanted to make snide remarks. Later, Phox might realize that Vasa didn't really understand the gravity of the situation, but he was much too concerned with his immediate family right now.

Raven returned, and Phox listened as she spoke. She hadn't asked him to do anything, so he remained in standby mode, crossing his fingers toes that everything would be okay.

Right. On second thought, how bout you go dig some holes?? was never going to entice a teenager. Maybe a toddler, but not a teen. Teens wanted to be involved and feel important, and that meant being where the action was. Poe was frazzled over this whole situation, but not enough to get angry at the attitude Raven's daughter was giving her. I wonder what actually would be enough to make her mad... Maybe we'll see someday.

"Fine, but stay back unless she tells you it's okay," she said hastily as she spotted Raven returning, "He's a new dad, he's anxious, and he'll be very territorial over his kids. Don't get yourself hurt." The last came out of her lips as she was turning to move back to Camilla with Raven. She lingered just behind the woman, giving her space to do her work until she was summoned to assist. Poe stepped in without hesitation and went to work. Unsurprisingly, the plants were bitter and gross on her tongue, but she hardly noticed as she chewed, chewed, chewed, and then let the mash slip off of her tongue onto the ground before Camilla's nose.

It was really gross. But back to Raven.

Good, she was starting to back off.  She mentally chucked the whole thing about Phox aside -- if he wanted help, he'd just have to get over it or he could just sit there and be a lump on his own, duh.  Either way, with Poe giving up on trying to send her off on a pointless errand, maybe Vasa could actually see what the heck was going on here and figure out what might be normal versus abnormal, blah blah blah.  But she wasn't going to be given much of a chance to take in the scene as Raven was just about back and the flow of things again shifted towards her.  Good.  This whole thing could be sorted out.  Vasa also moved closer to her mother, attentively waiting for her direction, but since she started out a stride or two behind Poe, that's about where she stayed, and still blocked from Camilla and company, but not as much on purpose.  Then Raven spoke.

There was a droop in Vasa's ears when Raven addressed that other chick instead of her.  Like, really Mom?  Why that lady and not her own daughter? She couldn't entirely keep the disappointment at this perceived slight out of her voice, I came to help too.  What should I do?  Okay, she came because she was way too curious for her own good, not because she wanted to help, but she was here and she was totally gonna pwn these nerds because they thought she was still a baby or something.  She wagged her tail a bit for emphasis -- to try and show a little bit of enthusiasm -- but at this point she was thinking even Raven would try to get rid of her and tell her to go dig a stupid hole.