Lost Creek Hollow every step i take

it'd been two days now, and he was on a mission to find @Vuk and reapply the poultice. in his jaws he carried the essential items, but he saw no sign of her so far. he'd already checked her den. must be in the camp somewhere. placing the herbs down, he'd carefully spit the cobwebs from his teeth, and lift his head up to call her. 

he felt it was his personal hindrance from Lolth that he kept running after people who needed treatment. that or people wanting to learn. oh well. he liked it. it made him feel useful. Baelfire was just a grumpy grump trying to leave his people's temper behind. if he had it his way he'd tie them all to the ground so they won't move - ok that sounded bad but - while they healed.

see? it wasn't that bad. he wasn't a sadist or something. at least to his knowledge.

as he searched for her, so vuk searched for him. in her jaws were clutched the finner of the plants she'd gathered the day before, which was to say, not much at all. clutched in her jaws was a fair amount of yarrow, a sprig of parsley, and utterly useless undergrowth that she'd imagined looked rather interesting. his howl allowed her to pinpoint him more readily, and the girl increased the speed of her hobble as she approached, moving at breakneck speed (read: a powerwalk) to meet him. she closed the distance between them in a few moments, and upon sighting him called out through the plants clutched loosely in her jaws. they'd no escaped some damage by her careless fangs, but at least the stems held together.

at least she wasn't letting her injuries get in the way of her... enthusiasm. sometimes he felt like an old man. what was the saying? he had an old soul? that was it. he felt wise beyond his years but also very grumpy for his youth. "Vuk" Baelfire greeted her with a grunt, rolling his eyes to her bundle in criticism. yet he found nothing to actually criticize. "mm. parsley and yarrow" and some odd foreign foliage he didn't know. stupid northern plants. "good job. though you should rest your leg sometimes" his green eyes flickered first with some concern then a rare spark of amusement. and oh, was that a compliment at the start? why, yes it was. she wasn't a useless lump. he could appreciate her efforts. if only everyone had the same work ethic. 

his grumpiness wasn't a one-time thing, then. it wasn't off-putting, however, rather, it seemed a part of him and a challenge to be unraveled. she placed down the bundle, separating it into its three original bundles as best she could, before easing onto her haunches and regarding the man.  "parsley?" she echoed, glad that it had a name and therefore some sort of use, but unsure if the latter. at his compliment, grin flashed across her muzzle, and her tuft of a tail gave an involuntary wag that wasn't quite as painful as when she'd last seen him. she nodded at his last instruction, though sighed. "I know — but I don't want them to think I'm some useless charity case." not that she could imagine Treason bringing in someone useless, nor had she really met much of the pack in those two days and none that had called her such.

he gave a nod, a look of sadness crossing his features. "parsley is used to stop the flow of milk" he would tell his apprentice "if a mother has lost their litter..." Vuk didn't need all the details, for it was self explanatory. if a litter was damaged or even aborted, and the pups were stillborn or if the mother chose to abandon them. well, it was a rather sad way of looking at things. he'd give a shake of his head. "but it is also good for coughs."

he gave a disgruntled nose in return of her 'charity case' file. "if they think that they are waele. stupid" Baelfire clarified as his eyes narrowed. judging someone by their appearance or disability was never a right thing to do. "let them, though. just focus on healing. when you walk on four legs properly again, they will see their error." there was no rush to prove themselves. himself included in that.

oh. it was a rather useless herb, then, or so she hoped - she'd no idea how often a litter died or wandered off. (though she had an inkling he was referring to the former) still, she was glad to know it had some use beside, and thus was content with her contribution to his stores, however minor. 

his noise was somewhat heartening, and her muzzle dipped and small smile formed unbidden. he was right, she supposed, however much she hated the possibility of it short term, she thought it would be rather stupid if her activity made her a drag even longer by stalling her healing. "you're right." she admitted, even though he likely didn't need to hear it. changing track, she motioned to her tail. "the dressing stayed on!" she caught a glimpse of it and reconsidered. "mostly." 

"so it did" he'd remark, though that didn't mean he didn't have to reapply it. suddenly getting an idea, he'd move closer to edge the herbs he had brought to her. "you apply it" Baelfire requested quietly. if she could twist her neck to get at her tail, it was a good practice and exercise. it certainly would make her feel useful - something she seemed so desperately for. "just chew them all together. make a pulp. not too watery. then spread it."

of course, his eyes strayed to her poultice there. someone would have to wash it off. he'd look away to the water before reminding himself he had brought moss for this purpose. taking it gently, he'd walk to the water's edge and dip it in. quickly soaking, he'd walk back. "first. clean the old." he'd grunt, bending his head down though hesitating. though he was offering to clean it for her - she didn't need instruction on washing her tail - he was loathed to get in her personal bubble without permission.

someone had attacked her previously, and maybe it would be traumatic.

she thought it was a pretty remarkable achievement, based on her size and the number of small spaces she sought constantly to try and squeeze into. his suggestion had her hears prick, excited that he'd trust her to do it herself but ever so worried that she'd mess it up. there couldn't be much to mess up, though - her job was to crush them, which she seemed naturally good at. she dipped her head, drawing the leaves toward her with a single paw and preparing to do as she asked. 

he moved to the water, asking permission then the clean the old wad of herbs off her tail. "ok," she offered, watching him a moment, herbs forgotten. "he was huge. bigger than me. he pushed me off a cliff, but he landed on the bottom. I think he should have been dead but he wasn't, and I couldn't tell what he was thinking, or why."  immediately after finishing this brief synopsis, where she tried her best to describe the void turned to flesh, she turned to her leaves and began mouthing them into a poultice.

she'd give permission, causing his head to dip more. rolling the moss expertly between his teeth, he'd bend down to brush off the old poultice with the wet foliage. it was a bit caked, yet the moisture soon took care of any stragglers. Baelfire didn't expect Vuk to give any details about her assault, quietly humming as she told him. 

when he was satisfied the old poultice was clean, his head would lift and he spat out the moss. "bunjiro" he'd utter, his people's word for 'asshole'. perhaps phindar - monster - was a more accurate term. the attack seemed to be unprovoked. he always thought senseless violence was, well, senseless. " then he left you alive" Baelfire muttered. for if someone had pushed him off a cliff, they'd better make sure he was dead. "a blessing."

or maybe a curse, for if the man had intention he could come back to finish the job... of course, Baelfire would not say this to Vuk. "how is the poultice coming?"

he said some word she didn't know and assumed it a curse - her parents hadn't been fond of teaching her those, and with no one else in their familiar pack to do it, her repertoire remained small. silently, she added this to the list. he continued, and she dipped her head as she chewed. she didn't like to think of it as luck that she'd gotten away - that would mean that there was just as great a chance that she wouldn't have. she liked to imagine that it was her quick action that had the other man land on the bottom and she flee, but in truth, it had been mostly luck on the untested girl's side. 

he asked next a question she could easily answer, and stuck out her tongue so that he may see the consistency of the poultice. surprisingly, it was close to perfect - a bit too watery, and one chunk of leaf had consistently evaded her jaws. her head tilted a fraction to the right, asking for the go-ahead to place it on her tail.

she said nothing to him about the assault further. probably a good idea, for he didn't want to talk about it anyway. it was in the past now. she should focus on moving forward. "hm" Baelfire inched a bit closer after finishing cleaning her tail, eyes solely on the wad of pulp. not everyone was going to get it the first time, and Vuk had done an acceptable enough job. of course, he wasn't going to fill her head with an ego and said nothing. no good jobs for this job wasn't even done yet. "apply it then" he'd say, retreating to give her plenty of room. he'd see how she applied it before giving her ample congratulations. "spread it evenly."

he seemed to accept it, nothing more, and so she slid her tongue back into her mind and sat up. she craned around before realizing there was no way she'd be able to reach. she lowered herself, then raised herself up all the way and craned around. there—even though her ribs ached, and she could imagine them creaking in her chest, she'd reached. she was bulky, tall, and not limber in the slightest. carefully then, she began to apply the poultice - most of it did, in fact, end up where it was supposed to, but the fur all around also became loosely caked with the stuff. deciding the job finished, she straightened and loosed the breath she'd been holding, looking to Baelfire for affirmation.

"acceptable" he'd reply to her nonvocal look. it was good enough for a beginner. he wasn't going to rage and bitch about her getting it everywhere when it was an awkward position in the first place. scooting around Vuk, he'd kick up dirt and bury the remnants of the poultice. if someone came across it and had the stupid idiot to lick it up... well, he wasn't going to be treating bellyache. they should know not to lick strange things. he was silent for a bit before asking the woman; "you settling in well?" she had been the first Lost Creek patient he had - potentially his only real 'friend' in the pack - and if she felt misgivings... well, he would want to know.

she'd take acceptable, especially as she knew she hadn't exactly hit the mark dead on. there was some pride in the accomplishment all the same, and she grinned. she answered his next question honestly. "yeah. I haven't actually met any of the leaders besides Treason, yet, but I've met a few packmates - they were all nice." she spoke a while longer with him over the pack, and they parted ways later that morning.