Sleepy Fox Hollow peitsche

maybe @Mou/@Elfie/@Stag? <3

where a snake had come from this time of the year, mahler did not know. he had found the serpent curled in a pile of rocks while searching for pika.
it had struck weakly at him, fatigued as much by hunger as by the absence of warmth. mahler circled it now, its large body thick with inviting flesh, but the tremulous rattle at the end of its scaled tail kept even the general at bay.

The last migraine-spell had left Elfie exhausted for the next two days and he had slept for the third, fearing that the excruciating pain was going to torment him again. He regretted now that he had lied to Maegi about, how bad the pain was for him, when it came, but the wish not to have her worry about him was stronger. 

Today instead of shadowing the white she-wolf or her mute companion, he set in a different direction, looking for that big, tall, scary-looking wolf, who had accepted them in Diaspora. Mahler. The other person, who would be able to help him. The boy found him in unusual circumstances and he could not figure out, what the old general was doing. Instead of intruding, the boy sat down and watched the man quietly.

the snake moved sluggishly; mahler taunted it into a weak strike, the trembling of its tail keeping the tall man at bay.
movement; he saw the rust-earth hues of the silent boy who has accompanied maegi, and watched them as they slid into a pattern nearby.
elfie — the gargoyle darted a glance at the young wolf. "come here," mahler muttered lowly, eyes trained upon the serpent.

Elfie flinched, when Mahler called out to him and demanded to come closer. The boy had still not figured out, what the old man was doing and therefore was not too sure, if it was wise to obey. On the other hand he had tremendous respect towards this individual, even so much that it bordered with fear. 

Reluctantly he approached the scene and his eyes grew wide, when he spotted the weird, noodle-like animal. He had never seen a snake before and he could not say that he liked it very much either.

over elfie crept, and mahler spared another glance to see the expression that climbed the young one's features.
the snake rattled another warning, but it was growing more fatigued by the moment. and so the general struck, thrusting the animal down between two rocks and planting his full weight upon one of them.
the serpent trembled in agony to be so crushed, but soon succumbed, and mahler dragged it out of the charnel stones. "a snake," he told the boy. "if you are bitten, the flesh vill svell and bloat. more than likely, you vill die."

Elfie observed Mahler at work and in the end he was not sure, of whom he was afraid more. The snake, whose bite could kill him, or the general, who could kill him just as effectively, by crushing his head between two rocks. "Okay," he said quietly and regarded the elongated, legless body with equal mix of disgust and awe in his eyes. 

"Can you eat it?" was the next logical question, because food was not easy to come by and most things that had once been alive and moving around, were edible to some degree. Some of them - just once.

"yes. it vill be bitter, but it is better than nothing." to demonstrate, mahler chewed through the serpent's neck, dismantled its head from the body, and then began to flay off the skin in long strips to reveal the sinewy meat filled with small bones. "it is not vhat i vould ever consider a meal, but ve cannot afford to be choosy vhen there is no large game."
he leant forward then to take a bite, gesturing that elfie should follow suit.

Elfie sneaked up to have a closer look, but his lack of confidence in, how dead the animal was, showed in the way how he remained standing a safe distance away, but had leaned forward and craned his neck to sniff tenatively at the flesh. 

He scrunched his nose and snorted, the smell was not very appealing. The pupil looked up at the general in question, whether he really, really was sure that this was something that should be eaten or better - left alone. 

"Umm... yeah," he did not know, what to say, fidgeted a little and then plopped down, observing Mahler have his lunch. That disgust/awe-stricken expression was still plastered all over his face. The same way a person would look at someone, who recklessly eats a week old cream (salmonella-ridden) cake. 

"Maybe later, but I can take some to Maegi," he volunteered, intent to hide the fact that he was a coward behind an unselfish act.

the boy opted not to partake, openly disgusted by mahler's kill. bemusedly, the gargoyle consumed more of the hard-tasting flesh, pretending to savor it in a gentle jest. 
"as long as you vould not allow your sensibilities to starve you," mahler remarked briskly, head lifting at the mention of maegi. "do you think she vill like it any better?" mahler intoned, eyes hinting at a smile.

Mahler's comment put Elfie in an awkward situation. Would he truly bring something he considered revolting and inedible to his favourite person in the pack? But then the General did seem to enjoy his meal, so it could be a matter of preference. "I will let her decide," he came up with an answer that was both honest and clever.

"Maegi said you are a medic?" he took the opportunity to talk, while his companion's mouth was full and he could not interrupt him. "Do you have anything for headaches?"

"i do," mahler answered, turning his attention from the poor meal to elfie. healer's eyes appraised the boy, but without further questioning, the doktor would offer nothing. "maegi herself vould make a fine herbalist," mahler commented, motioning that the young wolf should accompany him to where he had made an apothecary cache.
"how long have you had the headaches?" he inquired, mentally tallying what plants remained.

"I dunno," Elfie shrugged. He did not remember a time, when headaches had not been a frequent occurrence in his life. Yet he had a distinct feeling that there had been a time before Maegi and this place, which he was unable to reach. How else explain that he had no idea, who his parents were or how he had come to this world, when everyone else did?

"It hurts so much as if my head is about to crack open," he tried to characterize, how it felt, but even these words were not good enough. "Ghosts come for a visit too. Though less now than they did in the beginning."

concern bloomed in the sudden furrow that appeared across the healer's face. "you are in pain daily and have had hallucinations?" mahler asked with a gruff incredulity.
how had such symptoms gone unnoticed? mahler busied himself producing a chewed bit of willowbark, which he lay upon the ground before the boy.
"eat that," he commanded. no poppy for what sounded to be pain from a head injury. such treatments could lead patients to fall into slumber, and never awaken.
"did you strike your head?"

"No, not every day," Elfie shook his head. It did not hurt now, but he had this premonition of the excruciating pain just waiting in a dark corner to strike, when he expected the least. 

He leaned down to sniff at the saliva covered willow bark, which smelt bad even without the aroma of Mahler's last meal coating it. But this was no foreign cuisine, this was medicine. Supposed to help him. Elfie peeked up at the old man, wondering, if he could trust him. But then - if Maegi did, why should not he?

So he gobbled it down in one take and swallowed multiple times to rid his mouth of the awful taste and he tried not to retch, when he thought that this had been in Mahler's mouth first. "Uhh... maybe, I don't remember. Maegi found me and I could not tell her much besides my name," he explained, furrowing his brow.

"But I had an awful spell few days ago, and one ghost was too real. I told it to shut up, but it just bashed me in the rocks," he turned the cheek, revealing a healing wound with uneven edges. "I passed out, I guess, and - uh... it was no longer there, when I woke up. So I dunno. Maybe I slipped and fell."

hallucinations that harmed. amnesia. mahler was growing more concerned by the moment. 
he had once known a very old man who still had all faculties, until one day the elderly wolf fell and struck his head.
he was plagued by headaches and rambled thereafter — everyone had assumed it was his age.
but after death
a thought.
"come here, and lie down your head. i vant to examine it."

Elfie was not at all too eager to follow Mahler's request. Out of self-preservation - he did not want to expose his bare head and scruff to the older man for an easy grasp (bad experiences associated with this). Out of still-prevalent rebelness of a teenager, who questions everything first, before deciding, what to do.

But yet again - Maegi's self-assured trust in the old general convinced the boy to obey. He came closer and leaned down so that Mahler could have a good view of his furry back of the head and waited for his judgement.

would elfie have scars under the fur, cracks, anything? <3

he sensed elfie's hesitation; pleased that the boy overcame it to follow an order, mahler sniffed gently round the boy's ears, seeking the bittersweet scent of blood that often drifted from such canals in the event of severe injury to the skull. 
its absence did not mean that the child was uninjured, however. and so he began to drift along the backside of elfie's head, searching for any hidden contusions or ridges that might indicate split and re-healed bone.

Not likely. It has been almost two months at this point. But he would have some fresh cuts from his interaction with Wylla. This takes place three days after the two met.

Just because Mahler did not intend to do any harm to him did not mean that it was any less pleasant for Elfie to just lie here almost motionless and wait for the healer to be finished with, whatever he was doing and looking for. He pressed his ears against his skull, tucked his feet and tail under his body and a shiver ran down his spine, while he wished the inspection to be done sooner.

thank u <3

mahler found nothing that might indicate the presence of a fracture, but fresh tearings littered the side of his face. "elfie, vhat happened here?" he mused, stepping back to indicate that the exam was over. 
after a pause, mahler turned to rummage a bit beneath the nearby bushes, pulling back with a bit of dried feverfew leaf. "this vill help vith the headaches. drink vater or snow after you eat this. give it five days to begin vorking. i vill give u vone dose a day. if you begin to feel sore about your mouth, or your stomach becomes upset, come to see me again. vhat do you think?"

"Oh, that one. That appeared... yesterday? I don't recall. Really," Elfie shrugged, then crawled away from Mahler, got to his feet and shook his coat thoroughly. 

But Mahler did not seem interested anymore in further explanations, therefore Elfie watched him go through his apothecary box, smell of dried herbs wafting around him, and looked distrustfully at the proposed cure. It did not smell any nicer than the previous vile stuff, but all things considered Elfie was willing to try anything, if it meant that the headaches would stop. 

"Okay, thanks," he picked it up, ate it quickly and swallowed, scrunching his nose, because the taste was not great at all. "I will go find Maegi now, thank you, Mahler, and see you tomorrow?" he was ready to go, if the leader let him to do so.

he did not favor the boy's explanation, but elfie had been put through enough paces by mahler today. "that is good. i vill see you then," the general answered, pleased that his newest patient had taken the medicine well enough.
in time, he hoped that the boy would see him as someone to be feared only during wrongdoing, not at every moment.