Lake Rodney Hello, Wherever You Are

Hoping to use this towards the medic trade! Any hurt wolves out there? Or ones with more information about herbs to trade? Be gentle with my poor distracted little nerd, please.

She was heading towards the lake in hope of tracking down some herbs that were harder to find within the borders. So far she'd not managed to find any raspberries within the borders, but there were still plenty places to check. She had wanted to kill two birds with one stone, to explore outside the borders more and collect herbs. If she could find anything growing out here, she'd at least know where some things were. Marigold seemed plentiful in the pack borders, so she wasn't so much worried about that. She'd like to have some tetterwort, though, and she'd yet to figure out if it grew here at all or simply went by another name.

She knew that tetterwort liked moist soil and valleys, which is why she made her way to Lake Rodney, not only could she look for that, but any other moist dwelling plants. (Raspberries were another.) She had been mentally rolling through the lessons she'd been taught during her time with her birth pack. The more she worked the more came back to her. She'd never truly realized how easy it was to learn something you enjoyed. Fighting had not come as easy to her, thankfully she had her speed if fighting failed. In her mouth she carried a large leaf with her, having found a mulberry tree within the borders of the pack. She would use this if she found enough herbs to bring back with her, wrapping them in the leaf and carrying them that way. She had seen it done before, and knew that this way she'd not need multiple trips to bring back decent amounts of herbs.

She was near to the lake now, eyes scanning in front of her while her mind whirled on a list of herbs she could find near moist areas. A jolt went through her as her eyes flew over a purple flower and she instantly panned back to it. A grin split her face and she rushed over. Comfrey! There were a few plants scattered around here, she turned and counted them. Her tail waved. She began to examine the plants for health, wanting to pick the best specimens to harvest. Although her ears were perked she was, unfortunately, relatively distracted by the plant.

hi :)

Chase was not in a good mood. Not in a good mood - at all. She stormed down the route leading to the lake she'd come across a few hours ago, before this unfortunate incident had befell her. Sometime ago, less than a three hours it would seem, while she was hunting a rabbit, she came across a feral, extremely aggressive loner who was guarding his kill. She'd appeared in his sight and had barely taken a step forward when he leapt forward, apparently deciding that since she'd taken that one step, she was now threatening his precious pile of murdered bloody bunnies. 

Now obviously, Chase wasn't an idiot, but she didn't like running away like a coward, so she stayed, for a millisecond, ears back and jaws drawn back in a snarl. She'd dodged his clumsy blow and almost snapped his forelimb in half when somehow he'd turned his head around and bit down on her flank - hard. Thankfully, Chase managed to kick him - somwhere, she didn't know exactly where - and he dropped her with a yelp, which gave her enough time to run away but now, with a profusely bleeding side. Okay, maybe she was exaggerating a little - it wasn't that bad, but the circumstances that'd come from it pissed her off beyond measure.

A string of profanities left her mouth in rapid succession as she neared the lake, her voice growing louder and louder by the second. Some part of her had detected the other presence nearby, a pack wolf, but Chase decided to ignore it for now. When she was in this mood, most animals tended to avoid her as much as possible. Her lips set in a grim line, she stopped abruptly at the girl blocking her path, suddenly realising she was here for the first time and with her patience teetering at the edge of a cliff, she snarled "Bloody hell, woman," muzzle crinkling in annoyance. "Move the f-" she caught herself, eyes widening and instinctively, took a step backwards.

Turquoise eyes scanned her warily for a second before she opened her mouth and uttered an apology, "I'm sorry," she said in her somewhat 'posh' English accent. "I'm so, so sorry. It's just, I'm a bit annoyed right now, as you can tell, because of this bloody motherfuc-sorry- wound in my side so you'll forgive me for being a slight bit cranky." Chase needed a wash, and right now, because her silver fur was beginning to look maroon from the dried blood and it hurt like shit. "That's an understatement, but whatever," she muttered under her breath but she was sure the pack wolf heard it. "Sorry," she apologised once more, lowering her head.

Hello!

As she twist and turn to look over the plant, examing the stalks for any signs of sickness, she failed to hear the other approaching. She had just decided the second one she was looking at was the best, but she would probably end up taking both to be safe when a voice startled her. She flinched and jumped away from the sound, her hackles rising instinctively at the anger in the voice.

Her wary eyes met that of the stranger and they seemed to look each other over for a moment. The smell of blood was fresh on the other female, and Pyx's eyes were drawn to her flank. The other female spoke with an accent Pyx was unfamiliar with and her eyes dropped down to the other's mouth to watch the way she formed words. Before she could become too engrossed she pulled her eyes away and actually listened. Pyx nodded to her, her mouth tight. "It's alright, you just surprised me. I was far too interested in my...well, in the plants over there." She glanced to the other's flank again, the red staining her coat.

"I know a bit about herbs and healing, I could take a look at that, if you want?" It looked painful, and could likely get infected. It'd be good training for her, anyway, to heal up the loner. "My name is Pyx." The comfrey wouldn't help with this at all sadly, she didn't think that the female had any broken bones. But perhaps if she could find some tetterwort for the pain or even those elusive raspberry leaves, and some Chervile root.  All three as far as she could remember, grew near moist soil. She waited for the other to answer, but already she was thinking of the best way to treat the wound. 

First it'd need to be washed, she could dip in the lake for a moment and the lick the wound clean. Then the herbs. Hopefully whatever she did find around here there was enough to pack home too.

Chase cocked an eyebrow, canting her head slightly as she observed the other wolf with a curious glint in her turquoise eyes. "You're...a healer?" she asked almost hesitantly, not wanting to get her hopes. The stranger's next words confirmed her suspicions, however, and a small smile snaked its way up her angular features and she silently thanked the gods for her luck. After all, who would've thought that of all wolves she'd managed to bump into, it was one who actually had knowledge on how to patch her up. 

"Um..yes!" she blurted out enthusiastically before shutting up abruptly, looking somewhat embarassed at her outburst. "Yes, please," Chase said a moment later, smiling gently. "Only if you don't mind, of course," she added as an afterthought, not wanting to pressurise the other wolf into helping her.

"Chase," she nodded, introducing herself as well. "Pleasure to meet you, Pyx."

The other wolf seemed hesitant as Pyx offered her care. She wasn't exactly a healer, was she? Yes and no. Before she could correct Chase, however, the other blurted out a very excited affirmative to the offer of care. She smiled at the female, shaking her head. "It's the least I can do, honestly. I don't want to leave another wolf bleeding and in pain. I'll say that I'm not exactly a healer though. I'm...more aspiring to be one. That's not to say I'm clueless though, I was taught when I was younger about herbs and healing. I just don't have a title yet." She hoped that wouldn't dampen Chase's hopes. Of course a new healer was better than no healer, far as she could see it.

"First things first, I'll need you to go rinse in the lake, to loosen the dried blood some. It'll rinse it from your fur too. Once you're done, come back here. I'm going to look around a bit." She didn't wait for the other to leave before she began to glance around. She was looking for likely places for what she wanted. Heading off, it wasn't long before the scent of raspberries reached her nose. She followed the scent a small distance and grinned at the bushel. Sadly, they were thorned. She frowned, but knew she could chew a leaf herself if needed. Delicately as she could she began to pluck leaves from the bush. She let them lay by her feet as she did, wanting enough to treat Chase and to take home. Her gums and lips were pricked more than a few times, and she thought she'd look quite the sight returning with swollen bumps on her lip.

Once she had a nice amount of leaves she gathered them carefully in her mouth and dashed back to where she and Chase had first met. She deposited her bounty on the mulberry leaf and set off again without a word. It was harder to sniff now that blood dripped from her lip, so she licked the wound a few times to clear it. It wasn't a bad prick, but bothersome given what she needed to do. Distantly she thought she saw some tetterwort, but didn't have time to investigate. The raspberry leaves would serve for the pain. She needed the root now, or some other agent to fight infection. It took her a little longer, long enough that she worried the other might think she abandoned her, but finally she found some Chervile root and dug it up. She could come back for more later for the pack she reasoned and headed back to the meeting place for the final time.

Returning, her eyes were apologetic and she only hoped the other would still be there. It hadn't taken an hour, but even half that was a long wait when waiting on a stranger you'd only just met. It wouldn't be long enough for the blood to dry again, hopefully, so long as it wasn't still rapidly bleeding. "'M Suhree." She slurred around the root in her mouth, before setting it near the leaves. "This was harder to find."

"Thank you," Chase said sincerely, a grin tugging at the corner of her lips. It wasn't often where she met someone with the same attitude towards injured strangers she had. Granted, she wasn't a healer, but still, wolves having this kind of sympathetic attitude towards loners they did not know were very rare. Not that she blamed them. Chase understood why they weren't as friendly, and she knew she should probably act the same way but whenever she tried, she always reverted back to her old sympathetic ways. It was just the way she was.

"Nah, that's fine, mate," she assured the girl with a smile. New healer, healer, it was the same thing in her mind, as long as they had medical knowledge, Chase didn't really care. As Pyx gave instructions, she nodded and made her way to the lake, wincing slightly as she eased herself into the cool waters before breathing a sigh of relief. She stayed in the lake for some time before finally getting up and ashore where she trotted back to the meeting spot.

There, Chase sat and waited, her eyes scanning her surroundings with vague interest as she disappeared into her thoughts. It was only when Pyx emerged did she stop daydreaming and stood up, shaking away the muttered apology with a gentle smile. "Don't worry about it," she reassured the healer-to-be. "I'm just glad you came back." 

Pyx nodded, frowning. "I was worried you'd think I left you and leave yourself. I'm glad you waited though." She wondered about the Chervile root. She knew it could be chewed, but would it be best to dribble the juices on the wound? She couldn't recall, so she decided both ways would be her best bet. She could chew the root first, as it had a bitter and unpleasant taste, then the leaves. They weren't exactly a fresh meal...but they had a better taste than the root. She'd need Chase to lay down for the dribbling though. They'd both just need to bite the root in half, she could chew her half and Pyx would squeeze the other. "You'll have to chew the plants, too." She said after a moment. "They won't taste great, but it'll be better than any infection or pain. Hopefully all we do here will make you feel better now, and keep your from getting sick. It's not a bad wound though, you were lucky." She regarded the wound more, moving closer to it. "How did you get it, by the way?"

Now that she stood before the wound, she examined it closely. The dried blood was gone now, only a little oozed around the wound. It certainly wasn't a bad one, and perhaps she'd not have any scarring from it with all that they were doing here today. It wasn't a guarantee, but it wouldn't hurt anything to be hopeful. "I'm going to clean it now, if that's alright?" She said, glancing towards Chase's face. "It might hurt some. I'll be gentle as I can." She waited for permission before beginning, knowing that have a stranger licking on you might be uncomfortable. They could treat without the cleaning, of course, but it would be better to try and beat off infection in all ways possible.

Hope you don't mind me barging in! :)

The search for Lazarus took him south, nose to the ground. He couldn't imagine that the feral wolf had gotten away without detection, but somehow there was no sign of him anywhere. He was lucky, that was for certain; although Floki was injured, he liked to think that he would hold his own against Lazarus if it came down to it. There was no way that the former Moonspear wolf was in good shape after his fall from the mountain.

He had already searched Nocturne Summit earlier that day with Charon, and now he ventured towards Redhawk Caldera. He knew to keep his distance from the pack's boundaries for multiple reasons -- now not only because of Wildfire, but because of her father's reckless actions during the storm. Charon held a grudge against the dark-coated Alpha, so it was only natural that Floki did, as well.

When he came across Pyx's scent, he was curious; she certainly wasn't who he was looking for, but he wondered what had led her away from Moonspear. Expertly, he tracked her down, finding her and another wolf near Lake Rodney. With pricked ears and his tail swinging between his hind legs in a friendly manner, he approached, watching as Pyx dressed a wound on the she-wolf's flank. "Anything I can do to help?" he asked as he coasted to a stop, glancing past the two females to make sure Lazarus wasn't lurking in the distance somewhere.

no worries :)

"Uh...sure," Chase nodded. "Anything you need." She didn't really like the idea of chewing plants, given the fact that the last time a healer fed her herbs, she'd basically choked and threw up all over the place. It was not a pleasant experience, at all. But it wasn't like she had a choice anyways, and she didn't want her wound to fester, so she agreed without arguing much. "This crazyass loner was guarding his pile of dead bunny rabbits when I stepped out from the trees, at least 30 metres away, mind you, and he just decided to attack me, for no bloody reason."

"Sure, don't worry about it," Chase reassured Pyx with a gentle smile. While she wasn't exactly a fan of strangers licking her wounds, Pyx seemed nice enough, plus she was dedicating her free time and energy to help her, and she was kind of cute, which didn't hurt at all. So she lay there, somewhat relaxed, before a strange, unfamiliar scent wafted towards her. Chase's muscles tensed immediately and she looked around, a wary glint in her turquoise eyes. "Um..Pyx," she whispered, almost warningly.

The wolf emerged into view, and while he appeared to be friendly, and good-looking, she didn't really trust another guy around when she was lying on the ground, injured. So she stayed silent, unsure of what to do, as the sandy legged male seemed to speak to them as if he knew them. Chase obviously had never seen him before, but maybe Pyx had, so she decided to let her handle it.

No problem at all!

It was obvious Chase was not too fond of the idea of eating the herbs, but healing wasn't always a pleasant endeavour. Pyx listened to her story with interest, shaking her head. "There was a famine here recently, perhaps he was still traumatized by that. Or...maybe he was just mad." Chase's gentle smile and permission put her at ease and she carefully began to clean her wound. The lake had done a good job and it didn't need much. She pulled back periodically to look over her work, regaurding the edges of skin and the raw flesh underneath. It didn't look too bad, thankfully. She had just pulled back for the last time and was gently pressing the skin with her nose to force some fresh bleeding to push out anything else.

Chase's whisper drew her attention and she misunderstood. "I'm sorry, did that hurt?" It was then that Floki stepped out and she realized Chase's concern. "Floki, nice to see you up and about. How's your leg?" She greet, her tail waving softly in answer to his own. "I think we're mostly set here, but thank you. We're from the same pack." She said by way of explanation to Chase. "Chase, this is Floki. Floki, Chase. " She moved back to Chase's front end and nosed at the Cherville. "I was just giving Chase a hand. What brought you out here?" She glanced to Floki with concern, wondering if she was in trouble for wandering out of the territory, it had been for the pack after all.

"Chase, I'm going to bite this in half. I'll use mine to rub on the wound, you need to chew your half. It...won't taste good." She grimaced as she bite into the root, and then dropped half of it by Chase's mouth. She moved back to the wound, and stood over it. She cast her eyes apologetically to Floki, but didn't want to stall treatment and let the wound crust over with blood again. She slowly increased the pressure of her jaws until juice began to dribble from the broken end of the Cherville. She moved her head until it coated all of the wound. She glanced to Chase, unsure if it would sting her or be uncomfortable in anyway.

She quickly spat out her root, shaking her head. "I really am sorry, Chase. That taste horrible."

The injured female stiffened slightly at Floki's sudden approach, but Pyx was quick to reassure her. He smiled faintly to further show that he meant no harm as Pyx explained how they knew each other. "We're both from Moonspear," he added, then quickly said, "It's nice to meet you, Chase." A quick inhale of Chase's scent revealed that she didn't seem to belong to a pack, and he found himself wondering if they would be able to recruit her.

But he put that thought on the back burner for the time being as he answered Pyx's question. "My leg's getting better. I've been trying to do some walking to work on my endurance," he said, flexing his left foreleg as he spoke. He glanced at Chase. "Pyx helped me out with some medicine after I had a bad fall, so you're in good hands."

His expression darkened as he addressed his reason for being so far from home. "I'm looking for Lazarus -- you haven't seen him, have you?" He doubted it, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. He exchanged a sympathetic look with the she-wolves as they chewed dutifully on an apparently nasty-tasting plant.

Chase managed a small smile for the stranger, name given a name, but was still nervous around him despite the fact that he'd reassured her that he didn't mean any harm with a cute smile and said they were from the same pack. "It's nice to meet you too," she said, almost automatically, before politely looking back at Pyx tending her wound. She felt uncomfortable in his presence; it wasn't him, exactly, because she was quite sure he was a nice wolf, but he...she didn't know, it wasn't personal given the fact she tended to be this way with almost every stranger she came across.

She listened as the aspiring healer instructed her to bite a plant in half. She took it, bit into it and nearly spat it back out, her features contorting into one of disgust but obediently continued chewing. Thank god she wasn't going for a healer trade, because Chase knew, for a fact, that she would never be able to chew half and probably more of the plants required to heal wolves. In fact, she'll probably spit it out before it entered her mouth, and then she might accidentally kill her patient. Thank the gods. 

"Tas..es dish.gusting," she muttered through a mouthful of the plant, screwing up her eyes as she forced herself to continue chewing, silver ears pricked as she listened to Floki's words. Lazarus? She stayed silent, and let the two pack wolves do the talking.

Pyx nodded to Floki as he talked, and she glanced to his limb. She was pleased to hear that she had helped, however minorly, in his recovery. Once the root had been spat from her mouth she was able to address Floki again. "I'm glad to hear that it's doing better." She didn't miss his darkened expression though, and her ears flicked backwards in confusion as he mentioned a wolf by the name of Lazarus.

It was at this point that Chase began her own chewing and Pyx turned to cast her a sorrowful glance. "I'm sorry, Chase. It'll be worth it to avoid sickness though, and the other leaves taste better. Chew those next, they'll get the taste from your mouth. Then you can run to the lake and rinse it better." She frowned as she watched the she-wolf struggle with the taste, knowing that she had gotten the better end only have to bite down on her root. She returned her gaze to Floki after a moment though, leaving Chase to finish.

"I actually never met Lazarus, unfortunately. Chase has been the only wolf that I've seen since leaving the borders though. Everything alright?" She couldn't exactly probe for details, not now anyway. It was unlikely he'd want to give any information with a loner with them. Whatever he was looking for Lazarus for, though, didn't seem to be a good reason. She glanced back to Chase to check on her progress.

My last post; thanks for letting me join in. :)

He was quiet for a moment as Chase commented on the flavor of the plant and Pyx addressed her, though he was disappointed when it appeared that Lazarus hadn't recently passed by. He wasn't sure what he had expected, though -- it wasn't like the white wolf was just waltzing around the wilds, free as a bird. He was likely injured -- hopefully extensively -- and would surely know that the wolves of Moonspear were breathing down his neck.

Casting a quick glance at Chase, Floki debated how much information to share. She already seemed a little unnerved by his presence, so talking about a dangerous male who was on the loose probably wasn't the best idea. But Pyx had asked if everything was okay, and he couldn't just lie to her. "Not exactly," he replied, though his further explanation was vague. "Something happened with him and Amekaze and Charon -- he's probably hurt, but if you do see him, howl for me, okay?"

He took a step back. He would continue his search, though he intended to retrace his steps and head back towards Moonspear. Being so close to Redhawk Caldera made his skin crawl. "I'm gonna keep looking, so I'll see you later," he said, directing that particular comment at Pyx before adding, "It was nice to meet you, Chase." Then, with the squat mountain at his back, he retreated.