Redsand Canyon when you wake up hungover, you wish you were sober

for @Crowfeather! set before drakon's thread at arrow lake and shortly before crowfeather's visit with aquene! making some assumptions & tagging @Germanicus + @Aquene for visibility (and so yall can correct me if im super wrong)

drakon had been keeping himself busy while things happened in the canyon. something big was going on, although he wasn't quite sure what. that was his own fault; he'd done his best to stay far away from it all, figuring he would be unwelcome and his presence would soil it. and drakon wasn't about to piss off the dude he'd just agreed to take orders from.

so he mostly kept to the outskirts of the canyon, finding few reasons to venture further into the territory. one of those few reasons was boredom, however, and just now drakon was very, very bored. he decided it was high time he explored more of his new home, so long as he kept far away from where all the action was going on. and that was how he ended up stumbling upon the tablinum, though he didn't know it, which was empty except for a single wolf. an unfamiliar, dark-furred man who smelled vaguely of germanicus. mostly he smelled of the wilds, and injury. drakon tilted his head when it registered, surprised; germanicus didn't seem like a charitable sort. perhaps his first impression had been wrong.

hey. uh. am i - am i interrupting something? he squinted around at the place, a little confused. what the hell was all this?

The shadow did not enjoy his time healing within Mereo. All the while he was treated, his mind hummed over the words that had been shared with Germanicus.

Crowfeather had thought that he would follow the silver eagle anywhere. He had thought that the stars had intertwined their fates and had given him a glimmering hope – a future that was different, but good. The taste of love that had filled him had only left him emotionally crippled. The leg that he had pulled from the mesa to the canyon had left him physically crippled. The shadow was trapped within the walls of a home he had nothing to do with – a home where he had no place.

An unfamiliar voice drew the dark wolf’s ears to a point. Crowfeather scowled at the figure of one of Germanicus’ underlings. What did they want? What could they have been interrupting? The moody young man had been left on his own since parting with the Imperator. Only the voice of the healer had been a constant softness in a world that felt so harsh.

What could you be interrupting? Crowfeather mumbled back.

woah, attitude much? drakon shot the stranger a sideways glance that said who pissed on your parade? but otherwise let the attitude slide. he could be pretty crabby himself sometimes.

i dunno, the auxillary continued to squint at the herbs, venturing closer in the manner of a suspicious cat. lightfoot, hackles fluffed, ready to bounce back at the first sign of trouble. seems like a weird place to hang out. what's all this? poison?

P- P- 

Crowfeather’s head jerked back, eyes fluttered in confusion. The remark had disarmed him. The shadow did not understand how a wolf would believe healing herbs could be poison. Furthermore, that he would just lay there for them to be administered to him. 

Confusion faded to something sadder. 

They’re herbs. For healing… His honey warm gaze lifted to the man’s face. Have you never needed healing herbs?

herbs. for healing. drakon's surprise was apparent, molten gold gaze finding the stranger with a mixture of intrigue and disbelief. wait, for real? he seemed pretty serious, but one could never be too cautious. people use plants for healing?

it made sense that he'd never heard of it, but drakon was a little miffed nonetheless. if only he'd known, maybe... no sense dwelling on it, he told himself, and tried to forget his bitterness.

Crowfeather remained confused as the figure confirmed he’d never experienced healing via herbal remedy. The shadow knew that other wolves had made different ways to treat injury, but it was all roughly the same as what he had learned in the Starsea. If the wolf who stood before Crowfeather was a warrior, it made little sense that he had not seen a healer for his wounds. All warriors got them, this was something the shadow knew well. What did Germanicus want with a wolf like this, he wondered to himself. 

Yes… there are many kinds. Some can be hurtful or even deadly. But there are many herbs that- that can treat all kinds of illness. The young man frowned thoughtfully to the figure, wondering why he ventured to the healing grounds if he did not know their purpose. 

Are you a warrior? Haven’t you needed treatment?

drakon absorbed the information with rapt focus, resolving then and there to learn more about plants. any tool to help him survive was one worth exploring. what he didn't expect was the stranger's questioning, his confusion. was it really so strange to him that drakon was a warrior?

i am a warrior. but i usually just... i dunno, let stuff heal. works fine for me. sometimes i get sick, but i haven't died yet, obviously. i mean, no one had a lotta time for plants where i came from. plants were poison or scenery. he almost explained more, but decided that would be more tragic backstory than this guy probably wanted.

but uh... that's pretty neat. plants that can heal. i'm drakon, by the way,

It seemed crude that the man would just allow his wounds to tend themselves. Crowfeather had seen infection in some. It smelled of death and consumed more than it had any right to. It was shocking to meet a wolf who simply let it be. 

Where I am from, there is a wolf who is skilled in herbs. They tend to any injuries. They- They do other things, too. But the- the healing is the most important. Crowfeather wasn’t certain he wanted to ask about this man’s homeland. He wasn’t sure it would bring him any sense of peace about the figure being there asking all those questions. 

Drakon… I’m Crowfeather. Even his name sounded rather crude, or wild in a way that only loners had shown, to Crowfeather. 

What do you do here?

that sounds nice, drakon said a little wistfully, battling with his emotions as he began to overthink the interaction. he felt certain that this man - crowfeather - was judging him. surely he thought less of him for his lack of education. it was obvious in the way he questioned him, coarse and suspicious -

stop it, drakon told himself, you're being paranoid.

i'm one of the soldiers. pretty new here though. germanicus found me, he thought it best to leave out the details of that particular encounter. what about you?

It was nice. Simple… things just made sense. I’m finally getting to where I miss home. Never thought I’d say that. Never thought he would want to be as far from Germanicus as he could be. Life was strange. Crowfeather wondered if there would be a place where he would feel the same sense of home. How many times could he lose everything he had? 

Drakon went on talking. He said that Germanicus had found him. An odd thing to say, unless he had been lost. It seemed the older man had a way of finding lost boys, then. Crowfeather soured. 

Yeah I know him. I came from the mesa… Akashingo. He thought of the game he had played with Belen and frowned.

his doubts began to nag at him, pulling away at the loose stones of what little self-confidence drakon possessed. crowfeather seemed to dislike everything he said. or was he imagining it? the uncertainty was almost too much to bear. if he knew, regardless of the answer, he could simply move on. but he didn't know, so the thought stuck with him, stinging and distracting like a sore at the corner of his mouth.

akashingo? never heard of it, he tried to go on, but found himself deflating. i uh... i take it akashingo isn't the home you're talking about. ok, captain obvious.

drakon only avoided embarrassment through sheer stubbornness.

Confusion fluttered again to the surface of Crowfeather’s gaze. He tilted his head and swallowed softly. 

Mereo is an- an out post of Akashingo. Germanicus didn’t tell you that? The shadow wondered more about the silver-muzzled Imperator. His frustrations with Germanicus created images in his head. Images that depicted the Imperator as a man who said whatever he must to get what he wanted. The Imperator, who was so different from Germanicus - so different from the man Crowfeather had traveled with, slept beside. He hated those feelings. He hated Mereo. 

Maybe he planned to tell you… Crowfeather tried to excuse it away.

wait. wait.

what?

the sound of the record scratching in drakon's head must have been audible, he was certain. an outpost? that didn't match up with the image drakon had created in his head of mereo. he'd thought them an independent entity; soldiers against war. like peta but minus the low budget horror movie vibe.

but there was no peta without the low budget horror movie vibe.

wait. hold on - what's akashingo? and what is the purpose of mereo? he hoped crowfeather would say what germanicus had said. to prevent war. that was why drakon was here. but suddenly he was certain that he'd been lied to - that mereo didn't stand for peace at all. if it was an outpost of akashingo, that meant that it stood for akashingo. whatever that meant.

The shadow felt the spotlight on him. He did not like it much. It was never good to be the one to offer news of that kind. Crowfeather didn’t even know how to answer his questions well enough to be useful. He could tell the information was news to Drakon. Surely Germanicus let all of his soldiers know that Mereo was believed to be a branch of Akashingo’s royalty. It wouldn’t make sense not to. 

I don’t fully know… I just know that there were wolves here who were causing trouble for everyone. Their leader mangled my leg. The Pharaoh of Akashingo sent Germanicus to create Mereo - an outpost to prevent them from settling here. That was better. Crowfeather felt that he had at least offered something valuable. Truthfully, he did not know much about soldiers or outposts. The politics of what Germanicus and Ramesses had created had always been confusing for the dark young man.

as confusing as it was for crowfeather, it was doubly so to drakon as he listened to the explanation. it wasn't quite enough for him to feel lied to, necessarily. but he had asked what mereo fought for. akashingo should have been included somewhere in germanicus's explanation, surely. this wasn't a peace mission; this was defense of someone else's interests.

drakon frowned. that's... not exactly what i thought was goin' on here. i asked germanicus what mereo fights for, and there wasn't a single aka or shingo in his answer. he didn't lie, but...

i dunno. guess i thought mereo was here to keep the peace for everyone, stupid, stupid boy. he started to shift anxiously, suddenly uncertain of his place here. he knew nothing of akashingo, cared nothing for politics. what was he doing here?

He only told you the parts you wanted to hear. He’s good at that. Crowfeather’s expression was unreadable. All the while he had traveled with Germanicus, the older man had told him things that they would do. Even when he had been injured the man had said that they would journey east. All the things Crowfeather wanted to hear him say… well, almost. 

Perhaps he thought the politics of it was too much to get- get into. For someone who was new. Why was he even trying to defend Germanicus? Frustration welled inside him. I’m sure you would have found out, Drakon. One way or another. When it was needed.

crowfeather's rejoinder was unexpectedly bitter. drakon's eyes sharpened on him, suddenly watchful as he went from criticizing to defending germanicus in the same breath. he did not know about things like healing herbs or pack life, it was true, but drakon knew people. this went deeper than their conversation, or even mereo itself, he was sure of it.

did he hurt you? he blurted, before he could stop himself or even think about what he was saying. realizing his error immediately, he hastily added, sorry - you don't have to answer. that was too personal. anyway, it doesn't matter - about mereo or akashingo or whatever. it's not like i have anywhere else to go. and it wasn't like he hadn't been used before, either. he would survive.

The shadow bristled at the question that slipped through Drakon’s mouth. What right did this stranger have to ask something so personal? The guarded figure lifted his head slightly, turning his snout away from the curious expression on his company’s face.

Not this way, he answered, gesturing to his leg. But in other ways… That much did not need to be said. It dwelled in the hurtful expression on the shadow’s face.

I don’t think I should steer you away from this place, or what Germanicus might have promised you. But if you did not wish to stay, there are a dozen or more places that would accept you. I know of a few. A thoughtful shift in his eye. You could make your own…