Sleeping Dragon half gods are worshipped in wine and flowers, real gods require blood

@Cirrus

With the coalition not panning out, Storm’s purpose had gone back to ground zero. She wonders often if filling the cache back with kills and replenishing or finding herbs he had used would be enough. Lucani had been minimal, as instructed, and that wouldn’t be too much effort on his part, but with the healer gone—something that causes a growl deep in her chest still—she isn’t sure what had been used and she wonders if she’d told the weird looking creature.

She strides easily to the cave he’s often kept in, though he’d had range to wander—he’d even had a few unsupervised trips around if needed and she is glad he’d not run off. If he had, there would be little loss to her, a burden they no longer needed, but he remained to fulfill his debt to Drageda. “Get up,” she commands as she stops in front of the small cave, eyes narrowing to better see through the darkness shadowing the inside.

Dragging him from slumber, her short words sent a thrill of nervous excitement through him. Storm lost no time in collecting his body together, thin stick-like legs elevating his slender body with a new ease. Although his leg twinged when he ran, he was almost back to fine fettle. He had also began to groom himself, and had visited a stream. Although his cave was still dank and murky, his coat had taken on a semblance of its previous lustre.
 
Storm walked swiftly out of the cave, almost colliding with Heda when he realised she stood on the threshold – he hadn’t initially discerned her dark coat from the cloak of shadows dribbling down from the cave’s overhang.
 
Skittering to avoid any such collision, Storm hovered near to his mistress, tail and ears tucked. For once his brown eyes glanced around him to determine whether anyone else was joining them – it appeared not – before falling back to rest solely on her throat. He licked his lips and waited.

So, we can do the herb search in this thread if you'd like, since the locusts come around in the corner in the next few days, lmao, and then if you want to do one or two threads of hunting small game (there's plenty of rats on the mountain/have been eating the dead locusts) since we're limited to what we can hunt. I do think there's a roll that's suggested for hunting if you want that, ha, but hopefully we can get Cirrus released soon!

Storm seems unsteady on his feed as he moves forward, but he manages to come short of colliding with her. She turns, slowly, to look him over as he finally settles to accept his fate. Finding what his repayment had been up to her, having been chosen to keep him, but winter is over and prey would be bountiful in the spring. Finding use for him, even at a basic level, would be enough to at least get rid of him before his stay turns unwelcome.

While the purpose has changed over the last few weeks, he’s finally healed enough that he could begin.

“You will fill the caches and replace what has been disturbed since you’ve been here, what you’ve been given, and then some,” she tells him. He’d hunt until she’s satisfied, until every last one is filled with something. “And you’ll scout for useful herbs that you remember being used on you,” she adds. Perhaps he’d remember what they looked like, their names if any of the others tending to him had used, but she steps back to release him from the cave and begin his work.

Thanks, yes he had resolved to finding herbs as part of his penance so I’m going to assume he garnered some knowledge of what Lucani used before she left. I’ll try to keep them going quick so you can turf him out :3 I’ll start a hunt thread later today
 
Storm listened attentively. Her voice clamoured at his ears, tugging the soft fur there, newly- combed. He had resolved, since Lorne, to do what he had to do to escape with his life. He had half a thought wondering whether she would come with him. But he could not ask her to do that. For a handful of days he had determined to ask whether he could stay at Sleeping Dragon after his capture was over. But he couldn’t. He had gradually been allowed to move further afield, with less restrictions – lucky that this was gradual, or it may have been too much for his stunted terrified mind to grasp. But as the fog of pain and prison lifted from his mind, he found himself wanting to leave this barren gaol far behind him. He would never be more than Omega here.

“Yes Heda.” He barked sharply in response to her commands, though his posture kept the deferential spread across his muscles, just as it should. “I’ll find the herbs first. I’ll gather more than I used.” Storm promised with certain tones, a new sense of purpose filling him. Pride was trickling slowly back into his heart like it was on a drip-feed, but he didn’t let it show yet.
After all, it wouldn’t take much to quash him again.

He looked to her for a moment longer, then set off without further ado, expecting that she may shadow him to ensure he was doing his task. He headed in a beeline for a shallow stream, where Lucani had promised his first herb would be found on the banks.

Even though he looks like a crumpled piece of paper, he seemed to listen. Thuringwethil can’t tell if there’s a fondness for him growing in her chest, or if she’s just glad it’s coming to an end. He’ll pay for his crime and she will release him, as promised—she knew, after all this, that she is coming out on the losing side. Even if she’d had his leg broken by a former wolf of her own (sometimes the thought of Goliath turns her sour, as most of those that have abandoned her), she’d chosen to keep him around long enough for it to heal.

Savage, the Phoenix wolves would consider them, and this is another reason why.

He moves onward, as if she hadn’t dismissed him, but she disregards it. Excited, maybe, to finally be able to pay off his debt. Mentally tired and waning, the next few days would be filled with him completely tasks to her satisfaction (unfortunately, neither of them excepts the world to be wiped clean in a matter of days, either), and so Thuringwethil slowly follows along the dainty wolf while he moves to the nearest stream to his quarters.

Obviously we can keep going a few rounds but the next thread we will have, Thuringwethil will be releasing him, and it'll probably be backdated a bit. :3