Phoenix Maplewood The Next Step

For @Lunar Eclipse and @Esaro.  Sorry for the delay!

Spring cracked open an eye as some light from Dawn flew into her den.  She yawned, hesitating a moment before she got up, she quickly became well aware of her surrounding.  She scratched her mind searching for any plans that she had planned today.  Nothing came to mind.  Mind as well start the next lesson for Esaro and Luna on herbs then, she decided.  As she stood up, and padded out of her den with a stretch.

Spring started to make her way through the Maplewood, her heart raced as she decided that after so many months of waiting, it finally seemed like Spring was here as it felt warmer for a few minutes.  That wonderful time of the year.  The sun continued to rise, yet some clouds quickly covered the blue sky, hiding the sun which disappointed her as the Maplewood slipped into a colder temperature, although it wasn’t something that she couldn’t handle.

Spring thought for a moment coming up with ideas on what herbs she would teach her two students today.  Quickly she decided on a few.  Then the multicolored female tilted her head back and let out a howl calling for Lunar Eclipse and Esaro to come join her for another lesson on herbs if they wanted.

Lunar hurried towards the call, a big grin on her face. She was eager for more lessons as she loved to learn eveything and anything. She had found recently after her heart to heart with Spring that the two were more alike than she had previously thought. They were closer than before but she didn't think she would have the same bond with Spring that Laika did.

Upon arriving she stumbled over a jutting root and crashed face first on front of the brownish female. She sprung up with an excited grin,"Hi!" She was always naturally perky even though she was still nervous beneath it. Now they just had to wait for Esaro to show up.

Esaro's ears twitched as he heard Spring's call for another lesson. This was the perfect chance to ask from some answers on this plant he found. Quickly he got hold of a light branch and tugged on it. Breaking it from the plant. It had five pedals on it and they lightly purple. He was getting a strange feeling that he shouldn't have done that but he completely ignored it. Quickly he moved to the location where Spring called from.

Upon reaching the area he noticed that he wasn't first to show up. Luna got there before him BUT she didn't have any herbs in mouth. Esaro looked at Spring and then approached her. "Is this plant a useful one?" He asked while lightly holding the small branch with flowers at the end. He was still feeling something strange, as if something was trying to warn him. If only he known that he was holding on to something poisonous, a plant called Nightshade. At least the branch he had was pretty much undamaged so he did shallow anything from it yet.

Spring watched as Luna came into view and gave her a greeting.  “Hey Luna.”  Spring replied with a polite greeting-like dip of her head.  She found herself glad to see Lunar Eclipse.  She felt they were much more bonded in a friendship than before after having that discussion about their pasts.

Esaro... well... he was a whole other story...

She was still slightly upset with Esaro but was glad to see that he had come to learn.  She quickly noticed a plant in his mouth.  At first her expressions brightened, but soon after once she noticed what it was... that poisonous dangerous Nightshade.  She maw literally dropped open in surprise and her eyes light up in alarm, she did;t pay any attention whatsoever as he asked her what the plant was.  She forced herself back together in a matter of seconds after Esaro’s question.

“Esaro!  Drop that plant right now.  It’s poisonous, it’s called Nightshade.  It’ll kill you if you hold it much longer!  Drop it!”  She sputtered, shocked that Esaro had of course grabbed Nightshade out of all the other plants he could have chosen.  She really hoped that he hadn’t bitten too hard into it.  If he had, it could very well be the end of his life.

Lunar smiled at Esaro as he appeared, but turned to panic at the plant in his maw. She couldn't remember exactly what it was or what it did to the body but she specifically remembered being told how dangerous it was. She wasn't very skilled in toxicology but she knew this was bad.

Her ears flattened and her body stiffened in fear for Esaro. She was too afraid to speak and didn't bother seeing as Spring had already warned him. She whined softly at her friend, the wordless warning conveying clearly the danger he was in.

Esaro stood confused by Spring's reaction until she said the plant he had would kill him. He panicked and tossed the Nightshade he had away from everyone. What has he done? Was it because of the poisonous Nightshade that he had a strange feeling in his gut. Although it was his instincts trying to warn him he misunderstood it as a sign that he was going to die. But he didn't want to die, he still have much to do!

Even though he threw the Nightshade away he continued to step back from it. "I-I didn't Know!" His heart rate was increasing rapidly. He wasn't losing control this time but he was so afraid of dying right now that he had no idea what was going on anymore. Focus on wanting to live, what he needed now was to make sure he would survive. Spring would know right?

"W-What do I do!?" He asked desperately. He started looking around at all the plants near him and felt a pull to a regular spring flower. He approached it and asked "Do I have to eat this flower?" Without waiting for an answer he slowly aimed to take a bite of it, actually believing it would help him. He wasn't thinking clearly but he was still listening.

Well... this was chaotic, a very unusual morning so to speak...

Spring felt more fear course through her body as Esaro just freaked out, but she quickly commanded herself to calm down, knowing her fear would get her absolutely nowhere with Esaro.  What really did surprise Spring was when Esaro asked if he could eat some random flower and then just leapt at the Spring flower without even waiting for an answer.

Spring sprang from her spot and rammed into Esaro thrusting him away, at the last second, from the flower.  She hoped she didn’t hurt any of his injuries any further, if she did she would just have to help him figure it out.  Until then she would have to deal with the current situation.

“Esaro!”  She snapped, in attempts to snag his attention.  “Calm down.”  She then said in a much softer tone.  “I am very sure you will be alright.  You will not die today.”  Of course Spring didn’t know whether or not Esaro would die that day from poison from the Nightshade or something else, but she said it anyways to comfort him.  Plus Esaro had lived through so many things anyways, that most might end up dead from... for example: getting attacked by a much more experienced wolf from Sleeping Dragon and surviving.  So she just decided to roll with it.  “Esaro?  Can you please lay down, so I can search for any physical notices of any harm."

She lurched forward, planning to stop him but Spring had beat her to it. "Stop, Esaro!" He couldn't just go around biting things, for Pete's sake! What if that plant was poisonous too? 

She padded over to him hesitantly, unsure if he would panic again like in his dream. He might snap at her and actually bite her this time. She still hadn't told him about that, knowing how bad it would make him feel. If he actually did it he would feel much worse.

She nudged him gently, trying to get him to lay down. "Just let Spring examine you." She could have examined him but she fully admitted that Spring was a better healer and probably knew more than the arctic wolf.

Right as he was about to eat some random flower Spring rammed into him. Esaro didn't see it coming that he basically resisted very little to the shock and was knocked down. But he was still panicking, If he didn't find something to help him quick he was done for. He can't die yet! He was struggling to get back up but managed to do so. Luckily Spring's and Luna's words stopped him in for a moment and then he heard that he wasn't going to die today. But did that mean he would die soon?

A few of his senses returned but he was still under the influence of panic. Spring told him to lay down and that he did quickly. If there was any hope Spring would know. He trusted her. "Is there a way to save me from the poison?" He asked. In reality he was safe, he had managed to be careful enough to not have been poisoned. A little mistake could have changed all that.

As for the damage sustained. The scab on his right shoulder cracked and bled a little but that was pretty much it. There could be a bruise from the impact though.

Spring examined him carefully.  He looked fine... but she wasn’t sure.  She would want to keep an eye on Esaro for a while, to see if any of the effect of Nightshade did peak or burst out.  Although she was starting to reconsider the herb training session now.  Maybe she should just push it to another day...

“Are you in any sort of pain right now, Esaro?”  Spring asked her friend in a calm gentle tone.  Her glowing golden/brown orbs flicked to Luna.  “Tell me Luna.  Do you see anything out of the ordinary?”  Although Spring was sure Esaro was fine, she just wanted another set of eyes to double check her evaluation.

Lunar moved closer and sniffed at him. She looked him over carefully, searching for any signs of pain or discomfort. Moving closer she pressed her ear against his side to listen to his heart and breathing. Seeing nothing amiss she moved back. 

"He seems fine for now. It could come into effect later though," she warned anxiously. She didn't want to panic him but it was an entirely possible outcome.

Spring, your message box is full! I can't send me message xP Just wanted to say I'm sorry for kinda taking over what was suppose to be a lesson.

"Well my shoulder hurts a little but everything else feels normal." He answered. Both Spring and Luna carefully analyzed him, giving him a small impression that he was a test subject. But unlike Spring, Luna started pressing her head at his side. He turned his head to look at her at the corner of his eye. He was trying to figure out what she was doing, later he managed to figure out what it was. Luna pulled back and told him he was fine, for now.

That didn't mean he was safe, there has to be something wrong with him right? What did Nightshade really do? He looked at Luna as he put together pieces to get a strange question. "So my fur doesn't feel different compared to last time Luna?" He asked innocently. He wondered that maybe the Nightshade changed the way his fur felt since he couldn't guess any other effect.

Spring bristled.  What did Esaro mean by last time?  All she knew was last time did not sound even one bit encouraging.  Slight annoyance and a commanding tone slunk into the Gamma’s voice as she began to speak.  “What do you mean by last time Esaro?  And what was wrong with you fur?”  The female cast a suspicious glance from the white wolf to the brown wolf, waiting to see who would be brave enough to speak up first and explain to her what this last time meant.  All she knew was that no one was leaving her sight until she found out what last time had been.  Also what in the world had been wrong with Esaro’s fur for crying out loud?

She slunk back from the angry brown she wolf. Submission was etched in every fiber of her being as she shied away in fear. It was a knew jerk reaction for her when someone was angry. Esaro had unknowingly gotten just the reaction she feared when she let him lick her wound clean. The disapproving scorn on Spring's face made her heart sink.

"We didn't do anything Spring. He tripped and fell on me. We didn't mate or anything like that," she managed to choke out, ready to flee if things became physical. Spring was very angry after all. She hoped Esaro would just be quiet now, she didn't look forward to adding another scar from an angry wolf to her body.

For some reason Spring was getting angry. He didn't have a clue why but he didn't want to see an angry Spring again. First Luna spoke, the idea of having mated came up. He had a little flashback of the position he was in. Was it actually possible that he did by accident? To him nothing happend but just licking the injury Luna couldn't get to. He spoke nervously "Um yes we did something. I just wanted to lick your cut near your eye to make it better. Then all that sort of happen, I'm sorry." He was honest and wouldn't lie, They did do something together and that was cleaning the cut. It didn't feel right to say they didn't do anything.

But this wasn't what he was referring to. "But you do remember that day where I had a strange nightmare right? You came to comfort me remember?" Then he remembered that he didn't answer Springs question. "Nothing was wrong with my fur that day I think, that's why I wanted to know if the Nightshade did something to it today." He continued to be nervous without knowing why Spring was getting mad. His head was low on the ground as he kept an eye on Spring.

hehe

Spring expressions softened, as they both explained themselves in their own ways.  Still curiosity pricked at her pelt.  “Is there anything else that I should know?”  Spring asked both of them, a little bit of suspicion in her voice, but she was at least no longer distraught.  Spring paused for a moment after her question as another was rolling through her mind that she was so curious about, to the point where she just could just not hold it back.

“And why in the world did you two fall on each other?”  Spring then asked them.  “Just curious.”  She added, in a softer tone to tell them that she was not unhappy, she just wanted to know as to why the fall had even happened.  Her gaze flickered between the two, to see which of them would answer her questions first.  Plus it was pretty hard to just fall on someone unless you were tripped or provoked.

Lunar shook her head. Nothing had really happened, they hadn't kissed or anything like that. They had kinda cuddled, that was the word for it she guessed. That made it seem more like something had happened though when they were just friends. 

In response to Spring's question she rolled her eyes at Esaro. "Because he," she pointed a paw at him," is clumsy." It was true he had literally tripped over nothing and smooshed her. She held no ill feelings towards him for it, her tone was teasing.

He couldn't answer Spring's question without knowing exactly what she wanted so he answered with a question. "Um, what am I suppose to tell you?" There really wasn't anything interesting he could think of besides the fact he cleaned Luna's cut to make it all better. It looked like Spring wasn't mad as before, maybe he didn't actually do anything wrong back then. He was able to feel a little more at ease but he was still worried about the Nightshade problem.

Spring asked why he fell, before answer Luna pointed at him and said he was clumsy. "It felt like I tripped on something though. But Spring, I cleaned the little cut near Luna's eye." He turned his head to look at Luna. "It looks like it's all healed up." He said happily. He felt like he had achieved something good. He was proud of it even if it was something very little. He returned to watching Spring. "Shreya said saliva was the most effective for cleaning." He said with a grin.

Esaro had a point, saliva was most efficient for cleaning wounds, but it was also most efficient for spreading germs, especially when you lick someone’s eye.  She frowned.  “I don’t mean to ruin your moment of pride or anything Esaro.  Yes, Shreya does have a point.  Saliva can be efficient in cleaning wounds, but it can also be very efficient in spreading germs.  Especially if you're licking a cut right above someone’s eye.”  Spring pointed out.  “But Luna seems fine, so I’m sure no germs or very little were transferred.  Thing is when you lick someone’s eye or near it, some of that saliva, maybe even a tiny tiny tiny amount that you can barely see, can slip into the beings eye.  Now in our eyes we have no sense of feeling, for example if I was stabbed in the eye with someone’s claw in my eye I would feel it enter and that would hurt, but one it was in my eye I would no longer feel it.  Then the saliva will slip through the being's eye through a pipelike thing, that will lead to the back of their throat.  Then they will swallow and done goes someone else’s saliva, into their system...”  Spring trailed off at that.  That did sound pretty disgusting, but it was life.  Life had it’s wonderful and disgusting parts.

Spring cast them both an apologetic glance at both of them.  “I’m not trying to scare you, but healing is my specialty, so I have to know about the body.  That means both of you do to, if you want to ever learn healing.  Some would argue with me and state still that saliva is the best way to go... but if you want to avoid some germs I would personally stick with nice water washed cobwebs, when working with cuts on the eye.  We swallow a lot more than we know.  Same goes for every living being.”  The female informed Lunar Eclipse and Esaro.  “As for the tripping part, that I understand.  We can all be very klutzy."

She nodded solemnly, understanding now the dangers of it. She was glad she hadn't gotten sick from Esaro's germs. She wasn't too worried though. She didn't undemine Spring's warning, she didn't plan on doing it again. But what was done was done and she was fine. 

Perhaps she should have fought Esaro harder on the matter, he would probably feel bad about it now. She found she didn't regret being so close to him though and were she able to she would have flushed as she remembered how close he was, how he had complimented her eyes. She hoped Spring wouldn't find out about her crush on Esaro.

Esaro's little achievement didn't feel so great anymore. It was a little hard to understand Spring but he tried to listen to all she said. She was likely right about all of it but it just opened doors to more questions. But first he didn't see saliva as dangerous as Spring may say it is. Everyone eats meat from the animals that's hunted, could saliva really be different? The way he sees it is that no one got sick because no one was sick. "But, If I'm not sick it's okay, right? I can't make Luna sick if I'm not sick, right?" He said seeking confirmation as he turned to look at Luna, wondering that her thoughts were.

Of course there was still the matter of nightshade to worry about. "What about the Nightshade plant? I don't feel any different so what exactly does Nightshade do?" He asked since he found in unusual that nothing has happend yet. All that happend was him just holding it lightly, he didn't even try to taste it. Every plant he had in his mouth never tasted good, he'll never forget that and definitely didn't want to have another bad taste in his mouth.

Spring hesitated on Esaro’s first question.  It was so much more complicated... yet she doubted Luna, and especially Esaro would even be able to understand a single word of explanation that came out of her maw.  If she tried to explain the complexities of anatomy.  As for the Nightshade question, she could answer that in a flash.

“Well... the body is much more complicated than that Esaro... but maybe we can get into that another day...”  Spring began, then paused for a moment, catching her breath before continuing.  “I can tell you the top symptoms though.  Dry mouth and dilated pupils.   In the nervous system symptoms include delirium, fever, hallucinations, headache, loss of sensation and paralyzation.  In the lungs breathing will slow.  The pulse will either be very fast or very slow and shock may occur.  In the gastrointestinal systems diarrhea, vomiting and stomach pain is common.  Then of course death.”  Spring informed.  Then flicked her gaze solely on Esaro.  “Luckily Esaro, you show no symptoms so you should be perfectly fine.”  Spring told him, then silently added in her mind...  I hope.

She smiled happily, glad her friend would be okay. Lunar wasn't aware of the sliver of doubt that Spring still held, trusting the she wolf's healing capability implicitly. 

"I wasn't feeling your fur either. I was listening to your heart and lungs," she informed him. That was silly, why would one feel the fur for sickness?

Springs explanation was complex. At the very least he understood it was a plant he doesn't want to mess with at all. As for what it does it still unknown to him. He could say is that it does a lot of unwanted things and that's all. He was glad to know he didn't get any of the effects it had. So that meant he wasn't going to die today, that was a relief. "I'm glad you are here Spring or I'd be dead by now." Of course if he was never encouraged to learn about herbs he would have never tried taking that plant.

Luna said she wasn't checking his fur. She was listening to his heart and lungs? "Oh." Guess that did make a little more sense. So he decided to ask if Luna could check again, just to make sure. "Um Luna, could you.." He rose to a sitting position. ".. Check again? Just to be safe." All he was really thinking was making sure he was completely safe from the Nightshade. She would be able to tell if there is a difference right? "Maybe something changed from a minute ago." There was likely going to be a difference since he had calmed down. His heart rate wasn't as fast as before and he was breathing normally. He sat up straight and waited for Luna to come check again.

Spring just gave Esaro a small friendly smile and a nod, her way of your welcome to the brown furred male.  Spring then gave Lunar Eclipse an encouraging nod, after Esaro asked her to go check out his frame once more.  She was now entirely sure Esaro was one-hundred percent fine though, because he had still not yet shown any signs of the side effects of Nightshade.  Where if he was sick with Nightshade he would probably be showing the side effects by now.  Yet anything was possible she supposed.  Miracles and grievances.

Spring lowered herself to the Maplewood’s foresty floor and sat back on her haunches.  Her golden/brown eyes observing Esaro and Luna.  Although it was entirely off topic.  What was gong through their heads right now?  Was their a connection between them that she did not know about?  They both did seem rather close today.