Redhawk Caldera champagne supernova

The clouds had parted after a morning rainshower, bathing the caldera in sticky, humid sunlight. Despite the sun, a rumble of thunder in the distance threatened more rain for the afternoon. Now was probably the best chance Alivia would get to stretch her legs before the next storm rolled through. 

She trotted to the rendezvous point, and her citrine eyes landed on the only other wolf present. She smiled at her golden-dipped packmate. "@Cinar, hey. Staying dry?" She hadn't run into him much since they both joined. He must have been keeping busy. 

Oh! While she had him here... 

"I've been meaning to ask, will you help me with something?" 

He was resting beneath the first shelter he came across when Alivia found him. Had he spoken to her recently? He didn't think so. Silently he scolded himself, their introduction had been so pleasant after all.

As dry as I can be. He chuckled, tail thumping against the ground. It was quiet in the caldera today, what were the others up to?

His pondering ceased when Alivia followed up with a request. I don't see why not. Something she had been waiting to ask him to help with; it was hard not to be curious.

His cheerful reply elicited a curious head-tilt from Alivia. Was he finding it difficult to stay dry? Maybe he was like her, and he wasn't a big fan of dens. It was always a tossup to Alivia, whether she should wait a storm out under a tree, where she could still see the sky, or give in and go underground despite the darkness and the stale air.

She smiled and waved her tail as he agreed. "This way." 

She began to lead him off toward a small creek that ran behind the Hobbit Hole. Alivia cast a glance toward the system of dens as they passed. No doubt the Redhawk clan was riding out the storms in their underground bunker. Soon those walls would echo with the little yips of puppies. 

They followed the creek a little ways and turned to corner, so the Hobbit Hole was just out of view. 

"Here we are." There was a small den carved out beside the creek, and it's entrance was choked with overgrowth. A stone's throw from the den, a willow tree hung out over the creek. With a little work, it had the potential to be a pretty spot. "I think this is the old medicine den," Alivia told Cinar, "But it needs some love. I want to clear the area all around the den and that tree." 

He followed after her with a comfortable gait, long strides and a graceful bounce to his step. A walk along the creek and they were at an overgrown den, a handsome willow tree nearby. With it looking like this Cinar must have completely looked it over had he ever been nearby.

A medicine den? He smiled, tilting his head. You want to be a medic, then? A useful skill of course, but not one he would have guessed she had an interest in. There was still much more to her he was yet to know. But I'll help, just tell me where to start.

Manual labour was far from his area of expertise, but a little bit of clean up should be easy enough between the two of them. He could picture it well enough, a restored den filled with herbs.

Alivia suppressed a small smile at his quick agreement to help, instead puffing up like she was insulted. "I am a medic. World-renowned, in fact. I can't believe you haven't heard of me!" After a beat, she let the air out of her lungs with a laugh. "I'm just messing with you."  She bumped his shoulder amicably.

"Yeah, I guess I'm interested in the job.." Her gaze drifted over to the abandoned den. "..Sort of. I'll probably be the strangest medic in Caldera history," she snorted, "..considering I think herbs are stupid." She glanced quickly to Cinar to see how he would react to that. She knew it was a hot take. Had there been a medic in the history of.. ever ..that didn't use herbs? 

"In here," she directed Cinar, in answer to his original request for a starting point. She shoved her nose into the musty den. She started winding the cobwebs from the entryway around one of her paws. "This stuff is actually medically useful." 

He snickered at her initial teasing, tail waving behind him. There's nothing wrong with being unique, as long as it works. He responded, but what do you use if you don't like herbs?

At her instruction, Cinar glanced into the den. No way he was touching those webs with his paws, he hated the feeling of that stuff. Instead he grabbed a stick, using it to collect and clean them away. He couldn't place a paw on why or how they would be useful, but Alivia was the expert here and he was more inclined to believe her.

Cinar took her little joke in stride and offered some kind reassurance. Then came the question that her earlier statement had begged. 

"Rest, clean water and food, fresh air and sunlight, and a positive mental outlook," she listed off. "If you have all that, the body heals itself. No witches' potions or hoodoo needed. Healing really isn't as woo-woo as people think it's supposed to be." She scraped a deerskull-sized hunk of wound web off of her paw and began the process again, moving further into the den to collect her next web ball. Cinar was gathering his webs on the end of a branch like cotton candy, which was a pretty smart and much less sticky way to go about it. 

"What about you? Do you know how you want to contribute to the pack?" He had probably discussed it with Killdeer after they were both initially recruited, but Alivia hadn't been present for that conversation.

Letting the body heal itself. He could get behind that. I'll come to you if I don't feel well then, as long as you promise to keep me cleaned up. He smiled, hoping his willingness would act as encouragement.

Following her deeper into the den, Cinar considered Alivia's question. What did he intend to do here? I've always been better for advising and planning, so I suppose that would be it. I have a poor sense of smell, so it's difficult for me to do much where I need to rely on it. But you didn't need a good sense of smell to talk. That was why he had always liked it.

"It's a deal," she said, turning away to hide a coy smile. He was an attractive man after all, and it would be her pleasure to keep him clean as a whistle. 

"Those are good things to be good at," she remarked. She filed away the tidbit about his sense of smell without comment. "Take it from someone who doesn't plan anything," she laughed. 

"You know, my mom was an advisor in the old Redhawk Caldera," she mused aloud. "She was Towhee's deputy." History sometimes had a funny way of repeating itself, and Alivia wondered if she might make deputy someday too. It sounded like she might have some competition for the position in Cinar though, if he was serious about being an advisor. 

Lightening lit up the little cavern, followed almost immediately by an ear-ringing crack of thunder. Alivia gasped in surprise, then chuckled at herself for being so startled. She was so lost in their conversation, she had forgotten a storm was on its way in. The wind began to whip across the mouth of the little cavern, and Alivia shrank further away from the opening.

He smiled at her words, the thunder and lightning that rang out pulling his attention before he could respond. ..Maybe we should stay in here until the storm settles. He suggested, a light chuckle passing his lips as he followed Alivia further inside. The rain was pounding down pretty good now, and he wasn't trying to have a bath today.

You know I do have an older injury, maybe you could take a look for me? He asked, hoping to distract both of them from the storm. The shoulder which the buck went after wasn't hurting too bad anymore, but there was the occasional creak.

Alivia nodded at Cinar's assessment of the weather, her mouth setting wryly. She was not a fan of cramped quarters. 

His next statement cheered her up considerably. "Really?" she asked, showing far too much delight in being told that Cinar struggled with lingering pain. "That's my specialty. The medic I trained with called himself a physical therapist. Will you show me?"

She looked him up and down, wondering where the offending injury might be located. Admittedly, it was not the first time her eyes had roved over Cinar's form, and she had not previously detected any hitch in his movement. If he did have pain issues, he was hiding them well.

Cinar nodded, looking to his right shoulder. This one. He said, a frown settling on his muzzle. It was hit by a buck a couple months ago, the limp is gone but I still ache on cold days like this. Something he couldn't quite understand, but it was true nonetheless. If Alivia thought she could help, he would give it a chance.

How does this physical therapy work? He asked, looking to the pale woman. He had never heard of such a thing before; his previous solution had been the poppy seeds the women he met after the accident recommended to him.

She listened to his description with rapt attention. 

"Mmhmm, yeah. You may still have some swelling from the injury that's messing with the blood flow. Cold temperatures decrease blood flow too." It made sense that he would have a tougher time with it on cooler days. 

"Your physical therapy plan would involve exercises to increase the blood flow to the shoulder and strengthen the muscles supporting the injury. If you stick to the plan, it could speed up your natural recovery and provide some pain relief." It was not a fast process, but when applied with discipline, it was a far better option than simply popping a med to mask the pain. 

"Let me see something.. walk towards me." She began backing up to give him room to move, but then she quite promptly tripped over something laying on the ground behind her. "What the hell-"

She whirled on the offending obstacle, which happened to be one of the wrapped-up packs of Green that she'd tossed down into the den a couple weeks ago and promptly forgotten. When @Killdeer passed them on to her, he'd said they were a gift from a neighboring pack. 

Temporarily pushing aside all thoughts of physical therapy, she nosed one of the packages towards Cinar. "Hey, have you heard of this stuff before? It's called Green. It's supposed to give you energy or something." She wrinkled her nose, skeptical that a plant could really do such a thing.

He listened carefully, taking half a step towards Alivia before something pulled her attention. She pushed a small packet to her soon after, asking if he knew anything about it.

'Green' was a rather non-specific name. Cinar assumed that it meant whoever had handed it off to the pack either didn't really know much about herbs, or they had something to hide. No, but maybe I know it by a different name. He responded, frowning down at the bundle. How did it end up here?

He was admittedly curious of where it came from, or if it really worked.

Alivia shrugged. "Killdeer had it. He didn't seem to know what to do with it, so I took it and told him I'd study it." Whoops. Guess she had gotten a little side-tracked from that directive. 

"Some other pack-- Vera something-- brought it to the border as a denwarming gift. They grow it in the lowlands." And that pretty much summed up everything she knew about the stuff. "Wanna open one?" Without waiting for his answer, she began nibbling at the bindings on one of the packets.

A pack in the lowlands, and one that frankly nobody seemed to know very well. The intentions of the gift could certainly be kind, but for a first transaction why not bring something safe, recognisable? No. He stated rather plainly, suspicion leaking from every point on his expression. I don't trust it yet. How could he? Cinar had seen tricks like this before, herbs that appear harmless being offered to clueless packs. Wolves consumed them, and they were weakened.

If this is a sort of welcome gift, why don't we return the favour first? He suggested, face softening once more. I can look for this lowlands pack and attempt to learn more from them before we do anything with it ourselves. Of course not everyone would be willing to tell the truth should the herbs be harmful, but Cinar was quite the skilled weasel. Nonetheless, he thought that it could be a safer way to begin Alivia's research of the bundles.

His answer was abrupt enough that Alivia immediately ceased her nibbling. She pulled away from the packet, ears flattening. "You think it may be dangerous," she stated, frowning down at the now quite dubious-looking packet. She was skeptical about a plant's capacity to heal, sure, but she had never questioned a plant's ability to poison. 

"That's a good idea," she allowed, feeling a little embarrassed that she'd been about sample something potentially harmful without a second thought. "I guess you do make a good advisor!" She offered a smile, glad that his advice had kept her from a possible blunder. 

"How do you plan to get your information? If they really are poisoners, I doubt they'll be honest with you." Alivia had not experienced Cinar as anything other than pleasant and straightforward. She had a hard time imagining he was capable of subterfuge.

I have my ways. He responded, offering a slight squint of smiling eyes. What those ways would be, he couldn't know until he arrived. Trust me on this one, I know liars when I see them, and I know a weak link when it skips and stumbles to my paws. If there is something to be known, I'll find it.

He clicked his tongue, attempting to recall what way these lowlands were. I'll leave now, best not to waste time. Despite the storm outside, he wanted to make haste. Alivia had told Killdeer she would get results, and he would bring them to her.

Nodding a friendly 'goodbye' he slipped out of the den and disappeared into the thick coat of rain.

"If there is something to be known, I'll find it." 

She wasn't sure what she had been expecting him to say, but it definitely wasn't that. Alivia squinted at Cinar in the half-light, thinking that there may be more to him than meets the eye. She'd never heard him talk that way before. Usually he seemed so.. polished. She felt like she had glimpsed something beneath his gilded surface that maybe she wasn't supposed to see. That feeling was further cemented by his hasty exit. 

"But-!" Her protest was too small and too late. He had already disappeared into the rain. Alivia was left behind in the gathering darkness, all alone with her racing thoughts.