Arrow Lake sturm und drang

set September 3

today, she sought out @Mahler. she'd heard that the General had some healing experience, which intrigued her greatly. it was usually women that were drawn to the finer art of medicine and nurturing, so for a man so fierce to have that gift. . . well, she must meet him, and soon—

before it was too late.

Tahani trotted along (more of an amble, really) a recent scent trail of his, trying to track him down. she let out a chuff in case he was close; it would aid her for him to stop and turn, for she wasn't sure whether she could catch up. in her prime, sure, but certainly not now.

he meandered along trails best left to memory, for soon they would be leaving the lake. and yet his heart had found a bit of wistfulness, and so mahler traipsed the last place he had been with stigmata. the leaves of the place had begun to shift into their brilliant twilit hues; he stood between two oaken giants and closed his eyes as a breeze played across his scarred visage.
a sound announced tahani's presence, and mahler steeled himself a moment before he turned, offering the new geist a quick twitch of his lips. "how are you settling?" he rumbled, unsure if she understood the common tongue. as takiyok had said it, the language of the two was first in tahani's mouth.

understanding the common tongue was one thing. speaking it was another altogether. still, Tahani gave the man a smile, nervously running her tongue along her jowls. i am good, she said briefly, wagging her tail. with Taki, Sadiq, children. happy.

but she made sure not to get too bogged down in talk of family, lest she forget her purpose of seeking Mahler out. Tahani lifted her chin, cocking her head slightly as she more or less sized him up. a burly brute, with myriad scars and lavender eyes. he was compelling in ways she couldn't quite grasp.

you healer? she asked, curiosity a welcome gleam in eyes dulled by illness. plants, herbs. . .wolves hurt, children. . .? she wanted him to tell her everything.

tahani was ill, mahler realized with a pang of worry for the others. but takiyok would not have admitted the woman into diaspora had the malady been contagious, and so he set aside his feeling upon the matter. "i am glad," he rejoined with a quick smile.
"i am a healer. and a midvife," he added, sheepish despite his allowable bit of pride in his accomplishment. the glow of interest in tahani's eyes was encouraging; he paused only a moment before going on. "there vas a child here, trench, who i treated also. ve thought he might not ... stay vith us." but the child had, and throve on as much as his fellows.

he had an accent, too, which suggested the common tongue was not his first. still, he spoke it much better than she did; besides that, Tahani hung onto every word, eyes widening as he told the story of the sick child. a talented midwife, if he was able to keep the boy alive!

very good, she praised, words failing her in this moment. she hoped the appreciation in her face would better convey her meaning. good that Trench is alive. midwife. . .how? where you learn? men not usually healers, not midwives Tahani explained, a corner of her mouth tugging upward in wry apology. at least not in her experience, they weren't.

he smiled; tahani's affable nature brought off a great deal of the general's tension. "i vas alvays a curious boy," he murmured by way of explanation. "life interested me. i vas underfoot in the birthing dens, asking as many questions as i could until the midvives shooed me away." a glinting, wry expression. "'this is no place for a boy!' they told me, but never vhy not."
mahler rolled his shoulders. "vhy not, indeed. now i am a healer in all things." an ear flicked at the distant rumblings; he did so hope they would soon find their end. "and vhat of you, tahani? who taught you the knowledge you carry now?"

a tale of a curious boy, listened to by a curious woman. Tahani grinned with delight at his recollection, knowing all too well the attitudes of some seasoned healers. boys too rough for healing, she responded, lifting her shoulders. so many think. not you. different. but they think you are like others. . .so they chase.

she let herself laugh and then fall into nostalgia when he questioned her. my mother, she admitted, missing the Ateneq matriarch for the first time in a very long time. the emotion was potent, fierce. it took her unawares and she felt tears shimmer in her vision, hastily blinking them away before continuing. her mother. mothers heal. . .i want nothing else.

care and plants and love were all she really knew. Tahani could hunt, sure, and fight, and scout, and run, but healing was her passion. it was a cruel irony that perhaps the only one fit to heal the woman (if she could even be treated at all, which was unlikely) was herself.

and she had already accepted her fate, so it was a moot point.

"then you shall have it," mahler determined, touched by the firmness in tahani's hesitant tongue. "and i, in turn, vould like very much to learn vhatever you might see fit to teach me." the art of healing was never finished, was never over — there were always new plants to know, to catalogue, to test.
with a brief bit of chagrin, mahler realized he did not remember his own mother well. shameful in a way, the shadowpriest supposed, but there was nothing to be done about it now. "it is good that you have come here. i know takiyok suffered greatly not knowing vether you lived or not."

she nodded smartly, feeling more professional, more useful, than she had in a while. the sickness and solitude had really lent themselves to the depression in her bones; now, though, things were different. things were almost back to normal. at his sentiment regarding Takiyok, a bittersweet smile stretched her muzzle.

i am happy to be with her, she murmured. i wish. . .rest of our family was, too. of course, they had the children, and Sadiq. but that was only a few stars in a galaxy's worth of Ateneqs, or so it felt to her. Siarut, Shivali, Tomkin, Shila, Curri. . .

but Diaspora, she supposed, was just as much family to Takiyok as the northerners were, now. maybe they could be her family, too.

it is. . .good to meet you, Mahler, Tahani said warmly. a man-healer. so. . .different. special.

a nod; a somber look. "takiyok told me vhat had happened," mahler ventured gently. it was a sad thing, he supposed, that he could not offer platitudes. too devoted to pragmatism he had made himself, until he found he could not be a comfort to tahani now. 
"it is good to meet you, also," he murmured. "ve have much to learn." a glance skyward before his gaze resettled upon the woman. "have you eaten?" in her condition, mahler suspected tahani did little than subsist upon the caches, and wished to provide her with more if she accepted.

of course. there was no getting around the catastrophe at the glacier. it had irreparably severed their family, scattered them to the winds. what was before could never be; they were marked forever by that blizzard. still. . .at least there was some healing to be found in the aftermath.

Tahani gave Mahler a smile and a gentle nod, lifting her shoulders in somewhat of a shrug. yes, i ate, she said. it was sort of a lie—she'd eaten, but only morsels, and really— i feel too ill to eat a lot, the healer admitted. that was no lie.

she pointed her nose down the path in invitation, looking at Diaspora's leader with gratitude. walk with me more? she asked, though she was beginning to feel a little fatigued. Mahler's company was interesting enough to cast weariness aside for now. tell me about southern plants and how you use.

fade out here? <3

yes <3

walk with her he did, and for some time, mahler let the rumble of his voice extend as he lapsed into one of his life's great passions. good company he found in tahani, judging her not for her broken speech but for the wisdom in her delicate body she offered so readily.