Moonspear fresh static snow

@Hydra! Come get yo healing

The cold was fast setting in now, it seemed the covering of snow that blanketed their mountain grew thicker each day. She didn't mind it, for the coats of the Ostrega family were made for this type of weather; they had been born and raised in such conditions after all. However, Lyra much preferred the warmer seasons, where plant-life flourished and bloomed and her medicinal cache wasn't so empty and sad looking.

She headed there now, a clump of alder bark torn from a tree clenched in her jaws. After Osiris' little loose tooth episode, she realised she should find more of the herbs that would aide in lessening pain for the pups should they also experience such symptoms. At the very least, she would have a nice stockpile built up before winter came and froze everything.

While Lyra searched, Hydra had paused in her search of prey for but a moment. Hard-working though she was, she was ever well-maintained. Though she (and her sisters) had inherited their mothers wild appearance, one would not know it by the look of them. Hydra's teeth were meticulous as they combed against her shoulder blade, now, flattening the furs neatly. Her tongue and snowmelt alike brought about a sparkling sheen, and she moved to now nibble the lower furs of her foreleg so not a single one was out of order. 

Near her knee, just above it, Hydra caught sight of something strange; she paused for a moment, sniffing at the small, inky thing that protruded. She was quick to inspect the left side, where she saw nothing of the sort. Blinking, Hydra again moved to groom the right... there, the spot remained. Growling, Hydra sniffed at it; it was not of her body. Her tongue laved against it, but it did not move—what was this?! Hydra rose, unsettled, and sought out Lyra... thinking she would know.

Upon reaching her cache, Lyra placed the alder bark at her paws and stared with discontent at the little hollow in the tree. It had rotted slightly near the bottom edge, while frost had killed the surrounding greenery and turned everything a dull shade of grey-brown. Even the herbs she had gathered and placed inside were beginning to shrivel and curl. It wouldn't do. She would need to find a place more suitable to store her wares for the winter.

Nosing the bark into the hollow, Lyra then made to disappear into the woods, only to pause as she spotted Hydra making her way up the trail. Ever in tune with her mirror images, the triplet could instantly tell something bothered her, and so quickly loped towards her Queen to close the distance between them. Once near enough, she gave a wordless but questioning whine as she pressed her nose into her sister's cheek, eagerly checking for any signs of illness or injury upon her face.

Hydra saw Lyra and her pace quickened; all was not well, and Hydra did not know what it was exactly that was amiss. Lyra surely would, she believed wholeheartedly; she greeted her with a low whine, pawing at her and nosing her twin in turn. Two perfect mirror images, mirroring one another then; her heartbeat slowed as she felt comfort and safety here. It was here, it was with Alya, that she felt this way always; even when they roughhoused, tested one another, they were one. 

Look here, Hydra requested, withdrawing to nose at the place the thing had been seen. It protruded, was jutting; it caused her no pain but did not look normal. Small and easy to be missed by an eye not so sharp as their own, but the cerberus were an observant trio who missed very little. What is it? She murmured, unable to keep her voice flat; worry was present there, and her gaze turned back to Lyra to look for signs of distress.

Thankfully, she could scent no blood and there were no signs of Hydra having been in a recent scuffle, yet something was still amiss. With concern in her eyes, Lyra pulled back in tandem as her sister did so, and followed her gaze down to where she gestured to her leg. There, nestled in amongst the darkness of her fur was a tiny, round object of sorts, its smooth surface catching the light and betraying its position. Where it not for that - and for Hydra pointing it out - it would have easily been missed.

Ears pricked forward with interest, Lyra leaned in as her sister asked what it was in earnest. The uncharacteristic worry in Hydra's voice sent her own heart racing, but the medic tried to remain stoic as she studied the thing embedded in her foreleg. Gently, she prodded it with her nose, only then breathing in the faint smell of blood. "Some sort of bug..." she said softly, as if to herself, before she looked up to her twin with a quirk of her head. "Does it hurt?"

Hydra shook her head. I do not feel a thing, she admitted, calming some, but still... it is not normal, she expressed. She wanted the foreign object off of her, forever. A bug? Normally such things did not bother her, nature was nature... but one being on her in such a way... Tentatively, Hydra nosed it. It did not budge, and she grimaced as she looked to Lyra. It made her skin crawl, and Hydra inched nearer to Lyra with a pleading look. 

Can you get this thing off of me? She asked, withholding her panic. Lyra would know the best manner in which to remove it from her person, being the medic here... even if her experience with this thing was minimal at best. Whatever the case, Hydra knew that Lyra would do everything in her power to help and Hydra trusted her more than any other in the medical realm... more on principle than anything else. Still, Lyra had yet to fail at anything medicinally and she refused to think today might be that day.

She breathed out softly in relief at Hydra's confirmation that she felt nothing, glad it wasn't causing her sister pain, yet still she insisted about getting the foreign object (creature?) off her. She would comply, of course, but she was interested in what exactly it was. Despite Hydra's urging and rising panic that she was trying to quell, the other Ostrega calmly and unhurriedly touched around the area with her nose, even venturing a brief lick.

"Hold still," Lyra said, the demand more out of habit than an order for her sister. With gentle, prodding movements, she felt around Hydra's leg a little more, deciding on how the best way to approach this was. But it seemed there would be no easy way to do it. "This will hurt a bit," she said, still in her detached sort of way, before her gaze took on a mischievous glint as she briefly glanced up at her twin. "But it will be nothing you're not already used to."

She then bared her front teeth and closed them around the skin on either side of the embedded creature, hoping to pinch it out of place. She bit down as hard as Hydra would let her, with a few light tugs for good measure, hoping her efforts would be enough to dislodge the thing.

No wolf enjoyed pain—Hydra was more of a sadist than a masochist when it came down to it—but there was something to be said in how she was used to such a thing. Lyra's grip was a pinch, harsher than that of her cubs when they could do nothing but this though gentle for her. Hydra knew full well of their capabilities, and so Hydra grit her teeth against the pain that did flare up from her sisters removal process. 

Whatever the creature was did eventually pop free when Lyra's teeth connected; the thick-end of it had been gripped and, blessedly, it had not been torn apart in the process. The whole of the tick came out and Hydra felt some relief for it, before squinting at the thing in Lyra's mouth. I do not like this bug, Hydra decided simply, grimacing at it, we should see if it can drown. Her tail waved at the thought; damn the thing, whatever it was, to death.

After a few moments, the thing was pulled free from Hydra's leg whole with a satisfying popping sensation. Lyra pulled back with it still pinched between her teeth, and she resisted the urge to bite down as hard as she could upon it, for it to feel her wrath for daring to harm her sister. However, it's punishment was still death, by decree of the Queen. Death via drowning.

With a silent nod of her head, teeth still bared in a strange smile as she held the bug, Lyra followed after Hydra to a nearby stream. It was shallow but fast flowing, leading down the mountain and out of their territory. Good. It would have no gravesite upon their home. She stood by the bank, the executioner side by side with the judge, before with a low growl she lowered her muzzle into the waters, holding it there until Hydra gave the command.

She would have rather tossed it unceremoniously into the stream, but the medic needed its body if she wanted to perform a proper autopsy to figure out just what the thing was.

Hydra moved with her sister, tail waving as they went; the wretched thing deserved to die, and water seemed the best way. Hydra presumed that if stepped on, it could simply bite its way into a free area and do as it had before. When Lyra dipped her muzzle into the waters with the tick pinched between her teeth, Hydra reclined onto her haunches before sliding to her belly to watch. 

Much time had passed before Hydra was satisfied... enough time that the tick was certainly dead, at least. Pleased with the outcome, Hydra gave her sister a look that translated to the satisfaction Lyra sought. When you find out more about it, let me know, Hydra requested, rising to a stand once again to nose her saviors cheek.

Wrapping up! <3

With a look between them both, the deed was done, and Lyra raised her dripping muzzle from the waters before spitting the wretched thing onto a clear area on the bank. She stared down at the minuscule black speck in the dirt with perhaps a little too much intensity and hatred. Yet that was her loyalty to her sister and queen; even mere bugs would not be spared a damning fate if they sought to cause Hydra any sort of pain or discomfort.

Her gaze did not leave the creature as her twin spoke and nosed her cheek, though her tail waved and she let out a rumble of affection. She would indeed let her know; and she would ask that any who find similar parasites upon their body be sent straight to her. Hydra moved off then, and Lyra set to work inspecting the now very much dead perpetrator.