Noctisardor Bypass anemoia
Rivenwood
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#1
All Welcome 
She woke herself up screaming.

Druid fell silent the instant her eyes opened, wincing at the throbbing in her throat. With a grunt, the young she-wolf pushed herself into a sitting position, blinking rapidly against the harsh winter light and even momentarily raising an elbow to block it until her two-toned eyes adjusted.

She took a couple of breaths, recalling her nightmares briefly before shaking her head and climbing to her feet. Druid walked west across Dawnleaf, breaking from the trees and heading toward the lagoon for a cold drink to soothe her raw throat.

After she drank, Druid sat and took a moment to inspect her wounds. They were surprisingly superficial, considering the ordeal. Not for the first or last time, she wondered why the two strangers had stopped chasing her so abruptly. She brooded over this as she licked gently at the wound on her heel.

But her mind soon turned to Mireille and the girl’s whereabouts. She frowned as she turned her attention to the gash in her side and, finally, cleaned the scab on the tip of her tail.

Hoping for @Ålesund and/or @Hope? :)
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#2
zooms on in here

he grew nervous often when not in the shade of mahler. women crawled the walls of rivenwood and none had met him with harshness, but each time he worried they might turn. lash upon him with angry teeth or scorned words comparing him to a father he didn't even know.

nothing ever.

he had jostled when he heard the sound though. a scream, brief, but still the sort of sound to inspire panic. especially in such a skittish wolf.

still he felt...obligated to go inspect. enough poking around led him to somebody injured. a girl, wounded by the water. how awkward he suddenly felt tied between leaving her alone for the sake of something she couldn't change and how he felt compelled to help her as mahler's apprentice.

of course it fell to the latter, the need to do good outweighed the desire to feel good.

can i take a look? he offered softly, but without much thought to his words. briefly realized he likely sounded like a creep so he less than tactfully added — i've learned basic care from mahler, if the injuries aren't too awful.
Rivenwood
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#3
:D

If anyone asked, she would tell them she had tripped and fell. Druid had shed her childish clumsiness some time ago, yet it was still plausible. Of course it was tempting to tell someone what had happened to her and seek comfort, but she didn’t want to worry her mother, sister or Mahler. She wondered if Heda had come by to tell them her news yet and realized it had been some days since she’d spoken to anyone at all.

She stood, prepared to go in search of Sequoia and Witch in particular, when she heard footsteps. She perked, wondering if one of them had found her instead. But it turned out to be a stranger. Druid frowned, her demeanor closing off as the unfamiliar man approached. He smelled of the Graf—and spoke of him by name—so Druid understood he must be a new member.

He offered to take a look at her wounds. Druid stiffened. Were they that obvious? Perhaps she should continue avoiding her loved ones. Not only didn’t she want them to fret about her, she wasn’t in any way ready to relive the nightmare she’d been through.

But that didn’t mean she wanted to socialize with some stranger, nor let him touch her. She shook her head at him and opened her mouth to say, “I took care of them myself,” only no sound came out. Her sore throat produced nothing but a rasp, her voice entirely gone.
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#4
and in that moment, he was very briefly grateful he had asked.

if only because he selfishly saw a shred of himself in this. the rasp of her voice, unable to answer the extended hand offered to her. and it made it so much easier to approach this situation because he...knew how he wanted to be approached in these moments.

okay. he started softly as he kept space from her, not brazen enough to encroach.

slowly sat down, hunched in on himself a bit as if he could get any smaller than his already runty figure.

i don't have to look. he assured her. a no pressure situation — and as if to make a bigger point of it, his gaze traveled away from her. stared into the expanse of rivenwood's claim. i don't even really have to be here if you'd rather be alone.
Rivenwood
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#5
His swift acquiescence earned an approving glance, even as Druid raised a foreleg to touch at her throat. Was her voice gone forever? Or would it return, once her throat no longer felt like she’d swallowed a mouthful of burning sand?

The stranger offered to leave, just after taking a seat. The young woman gave him a speculative look and wondered: if he knew about first aid, might he know some treatment for her sore throat?

Unsure how to ask without a voice, Druid tried speaking again. Do you, she managed to croak, the words quieter than even a whisper, know how to…? She tapped at the underside of her neck again.
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#6
"do you,"

he had meant to keep his eyes away from her, not stare too long or too hard, but he found his gaze drifting to her paws. one of them motioned to her throat. he was not certain he had learned a plant for throats just yet but he had a...loose idea.

i can make a tea, he offered softly. i need to go to the pharmacy for it but...it should help.

chamomile, he thought, might be well for her in these moments.
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#7
She watched his face, saw his expression change when an idea clearly occurred to him. He voiced it, mentioning a tea. Druid tried to remember if Mahler had ever mentioned such a thing to her, though she couldn’t recall. She hesitated. She wanted relief, but she didn’t know this man.

I’ll go with you, she rasped, readying herself. Although every word hurt, she added, What’s your name? I’m Druid.
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#8
druid.

he committed it to memory. not that he imagined it would be hard. she looked very unique, never had he seen somebody like her.

i'm Ålesund. newer here, but mahler took me on as an apprentice. as if that had not been likely abundantly clear by his earlier words. regardless of his social fumbling, he would lead them to the pharmacy. eyed around to make sure nobody else was present. although he felt certain it would be empty at this hour.

the smell of herbs and flowers illuminated his senses as he made his way to his shelves.

would you like me to...tell you exactly what i'm doing? i don't know if that'll make it...better for you.

not that he thought she was weak! arguably he was the weaker one here, but perhaps any unrest between them could be soothed by full transparency on what he would make for her.
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#9
She nodded to acknowledge his introduction, though Druid said nothing more as the two of them padded north along Tealwater Creek. The further they went, the more aware she became of the twinge in her heel. When they finally reached their destination, she sat quickly and waited for it to stop throbbing.

Her eyes flicked to Ålesund’s face when he offered to walk through what he was doing. Please, she croaked, tipping her smudged snout. It was more curiosity than distrust driving her interest now. She didn’t fancy herself any kind of medic, though she had a passive interest in natural remedies.
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#10
tea is made with water and your plant of choosing. he started with as he veered towards his shelves, separate from mahler's. quick to trace to the bottom shelf where he could find his bundle of chamomile.

i'm going to use chamomile. this little flower. he explained softly as he presented the honey-scented yellow flowers to druid. happy to let her sniff it or feel it if she wished as he searched for a moss ball.

it's used to help reduce swelling and relax, i believe if used in the tea, it could help ease your throat.
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#11
Ålesund explained the basic principles of tea and Druid wondered if any old plant would do. Today’s concoction would involve chamomile, a type of flower. He presented some of them to her and she bent to sniff at them, wrinkling her nose a little at the sweet smell.

I drink the tea? Druid assumed. How—where do you make it? was the natural next question, her throat rippling painfully as she spoke.