Fox's Glade to help a family that's been replacing me

AW

the rattling infection that had taken hold of caiaphas' bones had been slow to abate; the inflammation it left behind even slower. her neck was a swollen mess, a weeping sore which had at first snarled open in red and yellow tissue, and then slowly knitted together in raw proud-flesh. the skin was tenuous and angry, and a large hematoma brewed miserably under her skin. the discomfort was otherworldly -- caiaphas had always been thin, but she was a bone-thin hag as she rose from the glade and slowly picked her way towards water.

her thirst in the simmering heat was unbearable; with a heavy plop caiaphas slid down the bank and collapsed in the cool water, lapping gingerly and simultaneously inhaling in pain as the cold water seeped into her open and disfiguring wounds.

*eyes* I apologize in advance if I am slow. This was too good an opportunity to turn down ;)

Kaito was accustomed to the scent of infection, and gosh did this particular neck of the woods reek of it! He crinkled his nose, yet rather than spirit away from the source, the yearling turned his course toward it, and he didn't have to search long. The sound of disturbed water corrected his steps, and soon enough he came upon the thing from the blue lagoon.

Her? him? them? it? He squinted, and honestly couldn't tell. With skin drawn tight, and their body half-submerged, he could only determine that what he was looking at was some sort of canid, probably - though his mind already rifled through the list of cryptids he'd collected from travellers along his way to the Wilds. You know. Just in case. He'd heard stories about creatures who snatched wayward youth into their waters, and although he did not think himself wayward, he was certainly still a youth.

Kaito drew back a step, subconscious to his behaviour, and called out, "Um... sir?" a wild guess, 50/50 chance he'd get things right didn't seem like such a bad shot, "Are you - do you need help?" The answer to him was obvious enough. You didn't need a degree in caregiving to see that much.

oh, the water was cold — but much needed. it crept like a bracing poultice along caiaphas’ sore bones, bringing to light the devastation of her condition.  

she was not alone for long before a lean wolf appeared, vexed by both her thrifty appearance and her gender. lifting her muzzle above the water with a wearied glance, the crone remained where she was — albeit defensively ready, lest this male have similar ambitions as Sarah to end her life early. not going to kill me, are you? came the wry press of the siren’s words, tinged with a scattering of challenge in her dark tone.

He backed away another step and shook his head with eyes wide, "No! No, no, of course not! I said I wanted to help you," his voice cracked, and a nervous laugh spilled from his throat. And all the while, with ears slicked back, and all he could think was, shoot, shoot, shoot. First of all, the he was a she, and second of all - kill her? "Why would you - why do you even think I'd want to kill you?"

I mean, what the heck, man? She was injured, yeah, but she was still very well alive - and who was he, to even think of playing God?

she listened to the gentle ripple of the water as it padded past her cheeks; to die here, she thought, might be a serene ending. it was a tranquil place, with cool water and a quietness to it -- but caiaphas was not ready to die.

luckily, it seemed this man was not made to be her executioner.

he seemed taken aback by the statement, and who could blame him -- did all wolves kill for fun? she thought bitterly of sarah, who would have been doing her no favors by ending her life. giving kaito a sidelong glance, caiaphas resigned herself to somewhat believing him: he certainly did not seem dishonest, from what little she could tell.. but she was not as sharp, her mind not as quick -- there was a possibility she could be mistaken.

"a question i wished to ask my last assailant," caiaphas replied smoothly, still languishing in the cool ripple of the stream. perhaps kaito would see the raw wounds through the gentle water, and assume caiaphas an innocent passerby that had been cruelly attacked: it certainly was her intent, as she spread in the water in a manner that seemed disarming.

The more time he spent in these lands outside of Chandor, the more Kaito realized how very little he knew about the world. His upbringing had not been sheltered, by any means; even if Tieru had not divulged the gory details of what had transpired between their neighbouring packs, he had still overheard of their sufferings and the violence enacted against them. The wicked fought the just, and the just fought the wicked, and sometimes wolves died, on either side.

But Kaito had never been much of a fighter, not like Nikola, or even Chise, who had both aspired to be guardians and warriors of their home. It wasn't that he didn't wish to protect the innocent, or defend of the weak. He longed to be someone who would be remembered for his bravery and nerve - but he simply never found the steel to lay his tooth against another's, and he couldn't help but feel a measure of shame for that. Maybe that was why had picked up healing.

"Well, I sure don't want to kill you," he assured, and Kaito moved forward until his toes touched the water's edge, and sent a ripple the woman's way. "Here, let me help you. I can heal you - our Maika'i Tieru taught me everything before I left." Well, maybe not everything, but everything he knew. Which more than what many wolves could claim, and Kaito would help her, even if she refused. "So if you don't want to die," - which it seemed she didn't - "then trust me enough to let me try."

caiaphas watched him warily; she was weakened, yet not harmless. the manner in which she studied kaito belied the gentle stereotype of demure grandmother -- caiaphas looked more hellish hag than anything as she spread in the water in the manner of a soggy rat.

sodden and unwilling to rise, she stiffened as kaito approached. he might be a healer, or he might be pretending -- she need only remember wolves like sarah existed. wolves like her, too.

wolves that could not be trusted, no matter how much they said otherwise.

"come no closer." caiaphas growled, her matted fur rising in wet clumps. as far as she was concerned he had little reason to approach that weren't nefarious. her lips peeled back in a silent snarl both forbidding and gruesome. "you can help me without touching me. if you are a healer, what will you do? what is a maika'i teiru?"