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 Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 2:19 pm
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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 3:25 pm
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"Excuse me," a voice called, at last, breaking up the monotony of the male's lives as they waited here day in and out, one looking after the other while the pride was busy recovering from a devastating blow. The younger male was only one of many - in her time training under Azisa she had seen many wounds as a result of this war. Some were worse, some were not, but they all had to be taken care of in due time. Though he was suffering a loss of sight, Kaoru had been deemed 'stable' and it ultimately meant he was required to wait his turn. Solsti was only here because, at last, they had the healers to spare for him.
"I have been sent to take over the care of.. Kaoru?" There was a question in her voice as she repeated the name she had only heard through orders. As she drew her pale figure farther into the cave it was obvious, at once, that the young male curled up on himself must have been her ward. She could barely see it from his flopping bangs but there were hints of bandages; eye injury. She remembered.
With a soft smile directed at the red male, she slipped past him and toward her charge. With a soft bend to her neck, she let the handle of a bag slide over her tuftless head and settled it with a gentle thud against the cave floor. It was filled with a variety of things that Azisa had taught her to use in the short amount of time she had been here and she was glad - she did not know if her heart could take the challenge of battle, especially not when she still had hope she might one day return home. For now, this was the price.
Shelter for help.
"I am Solsti," she offered gently, if somewhat coolly, "could you sit up for me?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2018 3:16 pm
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While normally Kaoru would be quick to respond when a newcomer had entered the den, he was lackluster in response. He had seen one healer previously (whom he didn't even remember), but since then it was the care of Akamu that helped him.
The white winged male only grunted as he heard his name, an ear flicking towards her while the rest of his gaze remained hidden. This injury caused a feeling of depression to run through his veins, his once thought out future now unsure.
Once the female placed her things down did the blurry sight turn towards the healer. Kaoru held a frown, but otherwise obeyed. Not only did he have the eye injury, but several wounds scattered his body. They were on the mend, but would leave scars for the future. If one good thing came out of this fight, was Kaoru had scars the pride highly valued.
"You already know my name, so there is no need for introduction." Kaoru muttered. "Just do what you need to do and go." |
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:21 pm
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A thin, grey brow rose at his words. For a moment, she waffled. Luckily for her, he could not truly see the expression on her face or he would have noticed just how much she was struggling with controlling the tongue behind her teeth. Twice her mouth opened only to close again, twice that she reminded herself he was feeling sorry for himself and that his anger was truly only defeat and self-pity. It would have been an easier task had her twin been at her side to douse her flaring temper but they could not always be wound together like snakes; at some point they had to stand alone and let themselves be whole even with their flaws.
"Oh?" she kept her tone cool as she drew closer to him, inspecting the bandage that wrapped his face. A paw raised so that she could tug the edge of it with a claw, freeing it to fall loose. "Did they hit you so hard that you lost your sense of respect too?"
Tch, well. She tried, or she would at least claim that she had.
She lowered onto her haunches and raised herself up, using both paws with extended claws to unwind the now-grimy bit of fabric with more infinitely more care than she had given to her words. It fell away at last and she leaned forward, staring at his eyes - well, eye. The one that had been ripped free had left behind an angry, bloody hollow that was so swollen she could barely tell the eye that should have been within it was missing at all.
"Hmm," she mused aloud to herself, daring to touch a paw gingerly against his cheekbone. It didn't seem infected, at least.
"How badly does it hurt?" She shifted into nurse mode as if she hadn't just chided him for his manner and let her gaze drop to the bag she had deposited between them. First, she pulled free a turtle's shell that had been stained with every manner of tinctures and tonics in progress before she set to rummaging through the bag.
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Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2019 11:36 am
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"I'm sure it doesn't," she sighed, impatient with this tough guy demeanor he was trying to keep cloaked about himself like a barrier. As the contents of her bag spilled out on the floor she selected a variety of leaves and roots, weighing out her options with a glance up at his swelling eye now and again. After a moment she picked up a slimy, green shoot with her teeth and placed it gingerly into the tortoise shell. She pushed her paws against it, mushing it until a liquid began to leak through the gelatinous outer layer.
He could not have seen it, but her brows drew into a deep 'v' as she picked the useless, crushed skin from the liquid she had drawn out and let it drop, thoughtless, to her side. Then she chose her leaves carefully; none of them look altogether much different from one another but she had learned from the best what she needed for this. After a few more moments of concentration, she had mushed the leaves to a thick pulp that she scooped out with her paw. Had she the bending toes she had seen on the baboons that lingered at times near the Pridelands this process would have been much more exact. As it was, this was the best he was going to get.
"Stay still," she ordered, choosing not to warn him that this was going to hurt. After all, he didn't feel it, right? Despite her lack of warning, she 'tsked' at him behind her teeth. Softly, she touched the swell of his cheek as gently as she could, just enough that she could begin to spread the poultice across his scarred and healing flesh. It was likely to be agonizing as she moved upward but there was nothing she could do for it except be as careful and gentle as a flat-footed creature could manage. She did it as quickly as she was able without making him pass out, then set her sticky paw back to the earthen floor of the cave. Her eyes dropped from him and focused on her paw, taking the time to wipe it clean against the ground beneath her; she did not want to soak up any more of the pain killer she had used than was absolutely necessary.
"If you give it a moment, that will begin to help. I'll wrap it once it has had the time to set, I don't want the dressing to soak up too much of it once I place it back on."
Her paws stopped shifting and her eyes rose to inspect her work as he sat before her. As her tail flickered to and fro, making a soft whisking noise against the floor, she let her gaze shift to his less damaged eye.
"What can you see through the other one?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2019 2:12 pm
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Kaoru's ears perked hearing the small shuffling of the pouch, as the contents fell to the ground. He wanted to narrow his eyes, to see exactly what the female was doing, but found even trying to concentrate to do so hurtful. The male let out a small sigh, hearing the gushing and smushing sounds as the female went to work.
"What are you mixing?" Kaoru dared to ask. He was no versed in the art of healing or herbs, but was still curious to know what exactly would be going on or into his wound.
"Like I have a choice..." the winged marked male muttered, ears pinning back as a tsk released from her lips. He cringed slightly when her paws touched the swollen cheek, feeling a cool spread across the wound. As she neared the socket, Kaoru's heart raced and breathing quickened, feeling the utmost unpleasant of sensations there. It probably wasn't as bad as the actual act of his eye being removed, but he thought this was very well close. Her paw had kept his head in place, as he tried so desperately to shy backwards from it.
Just as soon as she had started, Solsti was done. His head was pounding even more, as he tried to comprehend the next words she mentioned.
He only nodded, a big bob at first, but then a much smaller, almost minuet gesture. He was feeling weary from the whole ordeal. Sleep was beckoning him. He had slept so much however, he continued to fight it.
His lone, dull gold eye flickered towards the healer at her question. "Right now?" He squinted his eye, to try and clear the picture. "Blurs. Like when you are too tired to focus on anything, and everything just kind of sways in front of you." Kaoru tried explaining. It wasn't as if he had the most restful of sleeps since the whole ordeal. The Stormborn hadn't done any damage that he knew of to that eye. |
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Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2019 6:54 pm
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"It is a mix of things," she said gently as she began to push dried leaves back into the gaping mouth of her pack. She would need to find the riverbank and clean the tortoise shell before she went to her next patient but for the most part, she had gotten much better about keeping her mess contained. It was an art like none other she had ever seen and the first few times she mixed poultices had been a royal pain in her rump. "The base is made with the milk from a plant that will begin dulling the pain in just a few minutes. Once it soaks in, it should help with the other aches, too. The other leaves are a mix meant to soothe the flesh and disinfect the wound. Azisa says this one is the best mixture to promote healing."
The recitation was mechanical, making it clear that she had studied what she needed to know and filed it away in memory. Her education had, by necessity, been very quick and outside of the few poultices she had been taught to aide the fallen warriors, her knowledge was spotty at best. She still could not identify the flowers and plants they needed in the wild, before they were dried and given to her. Luckily, there were others that the Princess sent to perform those tasks.
She leaned down and pulled the mouth of her bag shut with one paw pressed on the bulk, clamping her teeth around the tie to seal it tightly.
"That's good." But she could tell as she looked back up at him that he was tired; he was fighting it but it was written like a spell in the line of his bones. "Once you are stronger I think we should do a few tests to see if you have sustained any damage to your head; right now all I can really determine is that you're extremely stubborn. That's not really a side effect."
Her joke made her smile, even if it was at his expense. Apart from the bit of humor in her voice, she didn't think he would be able to see her well enough to know the difference. She simply leaned down and picked up the small roll of crude gauze gently in her paws, letting it unravel with its own weight.
"I need you to hold this end against your forehead so I can wrap it." She held the bulk of it gingerly against her chest but, softly, pressed the tapered edge against his forehead so that he would know where to bring his paw up.
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2019 4:34 pm
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Kaoru couldn't follow as Solsti spoke. Milk plant? Something about disinfecting? Why was Asiza mentioned? The wing-marking male nodded slightly, signaling he understood her words, without actually doing so.
Tests? "What kind of...tests?" If Kaoru could see well, he'd be giving her a side eye. "I am not stubborn." He scoffed, nose wrinkling at the insinuation. Maybe he was a little stubborn. He was also a boy, and would never admit that.
The feeling of the gauze against his head, Kaoru's paw lifted slowly to the small pressure from her paw. Even without his sight, he could place his paw in the exact spot, holding the bandage to his head while the healer finished the job. "Will you be coming to see the progress, or should I have the big red guy remove the bandage in a few days?" The light male asked, gesturing to Akamu near the back of the den. |
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2019 6:02 pm
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"Why does it matter?"
The words sounded sharper than she meant them but she couldn't contain them even if she'd tried. Her brows furrowed so deeply that it drew the scale markings down on her tuftless head. Yet, as he held the bandage in place, she began winding it slowly about his head with the use of her claws to anchor it against her pads. As she ran out of fabric, she tucked it neatly through the layers over the back of his head.
As she settled back on her haunches, she eyed him.
"If it will make you happier, we can just take the wait and see approach. What will be simply will be, after all. The Ancestor's will or something?" Honestly, their religion was a little intensive for her tastes. She wouldn't deny wanting to believe in something but it most certainly was not her dead family members flying in the sky above them. She wasn't even sure she believed the Kings did that.
Solsti shrugged at him and leaned down to hook the strap of her pouch with a claw. She pulled it up and with only a little difficulty, secured it back around her neck. She did manage to spare Akamu a glance before she turned her back on the both of them.
"No, don't let him touch it. I don't know where his paws have been."
Then, without even so much as a real goodbye, she began walking toward the entrance. Her job was done.
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2019 4:35 pm
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Kaoru winced at her tone (or perhaps it was from the small amount of pressure being applied to his empty socket) but his ears pinned back, opting to stay silent for the rest of the wrapping.
"Whatever you want." He said, finally defeated in his words and actions. Kaoru's fuzzy vision watched as she gathered her supplies, pulling the pouch back to her neck, speaking of Akamu next. He would have spoken, but already the female had turned to leave, not truly answering his question. He opted to think she would just be back, especially if he was instructed not to have Akamu touch it. With a final sigh, the male lowered himself back to the ground. He watched the pale female leave the den, his own vision darkening into a blissful sleep once she was fully out of sight. |
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