Lion Head Mesa good enough, never good enough

Today, she sought out Pharoah’s incumbent physician. Nephele would do her duty, as expected of her, and speak to this boy to learn him, learn of him, and report back.

As well as to check on Maggie. Perhaps the shadow did have a small bit of a soft spot. Nephele shook her head, tail bobbing lightly as she wandered into the main sleeping place of the rest of Akashingo, her own far outside it’s boundaries. She had quietly come to refer to it as the barracks, but for herself alone.

Again, she shook it off.

“@Crowfeather ?” She called into the dim, squinting until her eyes adjusted as she scouted for the boy.

A stranger's voice pulled Crowfeather from his thoughts. The dark wolf started, his hackles lifting instinctually along his back before he soothed his own frazzled nerves and steadied his demeanor. 

Poking his narrow muzzle around the corner, the shadow caught sight of a woman with dark colors and bright eyes. Crowfeather nodded his head to the stranger with a nervous glance behind her, as though he expected someone to be watching. 

Hello, I am Crowfeather. How might I help?

Nephele inclined her head in greeting, tail coming up behind her to lazily sweep from side to side. She was no threat, this day.

I am Sabah, to be captain of Akashingo’s guard. I had heard from Pharoah that you are taking care of our injured, so I decided to check on you as well. A beat went by, before her ears wilted back a bit.

How is Maggie? Is she doing well?

The unfamiliar woman was kind enough. Still, the seer remained nervous around her, afraid that she had been spent to spy on him by the lapis-eyed ruler, that Pharaoh did not trust his ability to heal. Crowfeather quaked softly at the thought of Maggie and the words Pharaoh had offered regarding healers. 

Maggie is not well.

The dark wolf looked sullenly at the dirt. The images of the pale wolf and her injuries had not left his mind. Crowfeather hated it there even more. Only t- time will tell if she will make it. I will see to her once a day and through the night until she r- returns to normal.

Nephele bowed her head, eyebrows furrowed in sympathy for a friend-who-wasnt, because Nephele didn’t have friends.

Sabah did. Nephele didn’t. She pushed away the identity crisis for another day.

I thank you for your efforts. I’m sure Maggie will as well, either with her mouth, or from the afterlife. Either way, you will be thanked. He seemed nervous, and she winced at that. Nervous wolves weren’t the easiest to talk to, and if Pharaoh wanted to know more about this Crowfeather, she wouldn’t have much to say.

The woman thanked him, but Crowfeather did not know who she was or what role she played in Akashingo’s formation. After fretting over it for several minutes, he had convinced himself that it didn’t matter much. The dark wolf was there only out of kindness, he helped because he had been shown how, but he didn’t answer to these wolves or their Pharaoh. Even thinking this, Crowfeather could feel his heartbeat quicken, his throat growing dry with the taste of saltlick.

Who are you? To- to Akashingo? the seer inquired quietly. His lantern eyes lifted to the woman’s features as he waited to see what answer she might offer. Each wolf who had gathered at the mesa seemed to be vastly different from the others. Perhaps it was a place for those who did not fit anywhere else.

Who are you, he asked. A loaded question, one who’s response she could not parse without falling into a hole she could not leave. So, she channeled Sabah, and answered as best she could.

As I said, I am Sabah. Head of the Guard, trainer to the future Queen’s Guard, and.. She sighed softly.

Maggie’s friend. She brought me here, gave me a new name and a new sense of duty I didn’t have while alone. I am friends with Satsu as well, and Jawahir is an..acquaintance I believe. She wouldn’t call them friends, but the coyote was friendly enough.

Sabah, head of the guard – Crowfeather did not understand the meaning behind these words, not without having been taught. She stated then that she was friends with the injured wolf Maggie and when Satsu’s name arose from the woman’s mouth, the dark wolf eased visibly. He did not like being surrounded by unfamiliar wolves. If this Sabah knew Satsu, was a friend to the queen of Akashingo, Crowfeather could not treat her as a threat earnestly.

You are a warrior? You fight for the leaders here? he hoped to clarify, imagining that the head of the guard was similar to the deputy of his home, Starsea. The deputy was directly beneath the clan’s leader and was a capable fighter, hunter, and trainer to the young. This guard captain pricked with similarities in his mind.