There had been too many nightmares since that night. Most of them were his father, morphing into a massive lion before swallowing him whole. Jehanum's thinned out mane was proof that it hadn't been a dream, but it was beginning to be difficult to differentiate between his dreams and reality. He desperately wanted to confirm with his siblings if they shared his dreams, but Chora's brood seemed to look down on the skittish, mother-less male. Jasi would always take the time to listen to him, but she hadn't seen anything strange about her father. Jehanum had been too intimidated by Ama to ask, and thus he was right back to zero.
He stumbled towards Jasi's small den, hoping to speak with her. His eyes felt heavy, but his fear of nightmares had kept him from sleeping much at all. He knew that he needed to begin to wean himself off of his dependence on her; she would never reciprocate his feelings. There were many layers as to why, but Jehanum wasn't a complete idiot. He just wasn't sure if he was capable of it, not without feeling like he was cutting a limb off. He could feel the dirt caked on his fur from all the stumbling he had been doing, but he had finally reached her den. It was quiet, but the right hand female to the Alpha was normally quiet when she wasn't working. He pulled himself to the mouth of her den, peeked his head inside...and did not see Jasi. Instead, the relatively quiet bone setter, Eir, was resting inside. The male hyena blinked a few times, trying to clear his mind, to see if this was just another dream.
"I am here," Eir replied calmly. She had a few misshaped bowls filled with goop, and Jehanum didn't want to know why they smelled so foul. "Jasi knew that you would come to her at some point, and so she asked me to take care of you." Jehanum had never spoken with the bone setter; he had been examined by Fupa the following day after being nearly scalped, but only a mud salve and rest were recommended to him. The red-maned hyena inched closer, his curiosity over Eir winning over the urge to run away from her stinky things. If he was younger, he would say that he didn't believe in magic. After too many coincidences and things that couldn't possibly hallucinations, he wasn't so sure anymore.
The sectoral heterochromia was always a bit dizzying for him to look at, and as he drew closer to her he let his eyes wander around the small den. It smelled like Jasi, though the edges of it were starting to smell like Eir and her strange potions. The dappled female watched him in silence, adding to the unsettled feeling that was creeping up in his limbs. Just what was she going to do to him? "I am a healer, not a torturer," the female said with a chuckle. "I do not bite, but let me soothe your worries. Jasi has told me a bit, but I want to hear more. I may be trained to heal bones and cuts, but I am also a healer of the mind. Relax."
As he had always been used to rather intent females, Jehanum obeyed. He settled down on his belly near the healer, his eyes still wandering between the bowls. "Close your eyes," Eir said quietly as she dipped a paw into a greenish brown salve. It smelled heavily of herbs, with just enough dirt in it to give it some grit. She wiped some on his forehead, chuckling when he flinched from the sudden contact. "Jasi has told me that you seem to have something haunting you. I am not capable of ridding you of that, but I am hoping to assist with any sense of unease. It is clear that you have not slept well in quite some time. Here you will release some of that tension, and sleep."
The male cracked open his eyes just to give Eir a look. "I am losing the definition between dreams, nightmares, and reality. Do you really think you can fix that? I've seen things I can't forget.... horrible, awful things." He had a kinder heart than many of his pack mates, so witnessing the freaking god thing murder that lioness, and then so many others die as he, Jasi, and Ama had fled. The screams that had filled the air. It had been too much for him. And he was beginning to really believe that he was the only one that knew about his father. He had no proof, and it was a death wish to confront his father about it. Jehanum didn't even speak to his father, unless he was spoken to first. Which had only happened once. He didn't wish to speak to his father again, if that was ever an option.
Eir hummed quietly to fill in the quiet spaces when Jehanum paused. "Yes," she replied. Confidence was key when healing. If the patient believe that she was capable, and believed in the healing she was offering, it always seemed to work that much better than if she didn't display those near-arrogant levels of confidence. "You just need to take a deep breath, close your eyes, and focus on yourself. Think about that time that is following after you like a vulture, and release it from you."
The grey hyena inhaled deeply, trying to listen to Eir's words. He knew that she was right, but his fear was like a snake coiled to strike. Any attempt to release it was to relive it, and he wanted to do anything but that. "I can see you tensing up," Eir said calmly. "Just work slowly to unwind it; I have no other patients today, so we can do this at a pace that is comfortable for you."
She continued to hum once she finished speaking, and Jehanum let himself
sink into that soft tone. Eir was more than likely one of the softer hyenas in the pack, and Jehanum was right there with her. He struggled with the toughness this pack required, and hoped that somehow her strange humming and herbs would cure him of his chronic nightmares. He wanted to contribute, and not draw any additional ire from his father.
(1,060 words)