Paladin 'Knight' Ancora

With the herbs beginning to flourish once more, the Cleric of Celestial was out upon the land again, several hides draped over his back, questing out to gather what plants he could find that were either scarce in Celestial’s territories, or just didn’t grow there. He had, for the most part, moved on when it came to his mother’s death. The children helped a great deal Both of bright mind, they kept him busy when Aurielle wasn’t in training with her father, and Aramis always had good questions to ask about healing. He wondered, vaguely, if he would get to take Aramis as his apprentice when the boy turned a year old. Of course, Regulus might possibly give Aramis’s tutoring to Solveiga. It would only be the most natural solution, of course, and Paladin wouldn’t begrudge him for it, not in the slightest. But he couldn’t help the frown of worry that puckered his brows as he thought over how…. Quiet the pack had fallen again. Other than Gwenevere’s fight training, he had not seen a major rise in activity, and that included the healers. Justice patrolled, naturally, but he’d barely seen her. Domari was around, too, but it was Kalliope that worried him most, and her daughter, Etain. So far as he could tell, nothing was happening. The first large drop of rain smacked into his muzzle, and then, all at once, it was pouring as though some god had broken a beaver dam in the murky grey-black sky above. "Oh, álainn. Díreach a theastaíonn uait go maith. Cóta fionnaidh sáithithe." Sapphire and amethyst eyes rolled as he blinked away the rain, peering through the now thoroughly disreputable visibility of the deluge, before he spotted the opening to the spot he’d been looking for. He broke into a trot, ducking onto the path down into the ravine. As soon as he found himself in the grassy, wooded ravine, he navigated his way to an overhanging edge at one side, out of the rain. He was content to wait out the worst of the deluge, and gather what herbs he could find later.

It had been a long time since Sterling had been anywhere familiar, and today was not much different. Although she'd spent enough time in the west to find her way around, she'd never come this particular way. She'd always stuck to the water's edge instead of making her way through the trees, figuring it would be the easiest way to keep her bearings. But now that she knew what lay on the other side of the woods, she figured she might as well explore within. She knew she'd come across a familiar landmark eventually, and could find her way from there. Wherever that 'way' was anyways, considering she wasn't sure where she was headed. She felt sort of lost, her mind urging her to return to Talis for the comfort and safety she had felt there since her birth, but her heart not in it. She wasn't sure if the things that Talis stood for really lined up with her own values, even though she had worked so hard for everything leading up to the raid. After experiencing the violence, and the strife that was left between the two packs, Sterling just couldn't... it was why she'd left and stayed on her own for so many seasons. Only loneliness, and the desire to see familiar faces, drove her to seek her old pack and her family members. But she didn't think she'd ever truly go back to them, and that thought alone frightened her.

So for now, she wandered in a state of limbo, delaying that difficult reunion as much as she possibly could. As the rain began to patter down, growing heavier by the second, she felt that the weather rather suited her dreary state of mind, leaving her with a fuzzy uncertainty that was mimicked by the haze brought on by the rain.

Her head hung low, silvery ears flattened against the back of her neck, her eyes squinted against the downpour. Lost in thought, and her vision somewhat impaired by the rain, it was fast and startling when the ground suddenly gave way under her paws. As the front of her body slipped forward, her paws quickly losing grip on the wet grass and dirt, her knees bent, hind legs attempting to pull her body back; but her balance was already weighing too far forward. With a screech, Sterling plunged downward, her body twisting as she attempted desperately to scrabble against the edge of the ravine with her forepaws, frantically trying to grab a hold of anything she could reach. It was futile, and within a heartbeat she struck the ground. A pained yelp escaped her, one that echoed off the steep walls of the ravine, before silence followed. The only sound to be heard was the steady hiss of heavy rain striking the ground.

In the blink of an eye her consciousness was snuffed out. Her bruised frame lay outside the ravine's overhang, and the rain began to seep through her gray pelt, plastering the fur against her side. Not a hair on her body moved, the only sign of life was the faint but telltale rise and fall of her ribs with each breath.

Paladin 'Knight' Ancora

Paladin was deep in thought, dual toned eyes gazing out into the veil of rain without seeing it. He was considering what lessons there were that the healers would need. He’d promised a lesson on birthing, and its complications, so there was that—a screech shattered through his contemplation, and he was on his paws almost as soon as the grey form struck the ground with a gut dropping thud. He was bounding into the rain before he was truly aware, that firm click of professionalism settling into place echoing in his mind as he slid to a stop on the slick grass beside… “Sterling?” Incredulity lay beneath a note of surprise and concern. What was the Talisian female doing all the way up here, so close to Celestial’s walls? She was breathing, at least… A flash of suspicion warred with his natural concern as he bent to begin his examinations. Her scent caught his attention, or rather, the noticeable difference. She wasn’t Talisian anymore. There wasn’t a single whiff of the pack’s scent in her fur. He snorted, puzzling it over on one side of his mind while the healer’s side noted her injuries. She must have struck her head against the ground, hard enough to render her unconscious. His eyes flicked up to the ravine wall. She’d fallen a decent height, certainly; that had to be about fifteen feet. One thing was certain, beyond an external examination and treatment of cuts and pain, there was little he could do here with her unconscious and him far from his healing supplies. She had to wake up if he was going to find out whether she was injured worse on the inside. He lifted a paw, prodding her shoulder gently – though incessantly – as he bent to call into her ear, “Sterling? Sterling!” Harder prodding, then, sharply, "Múscail, diabhal tú."” Shortly after, he followed it with a sharp chomp on her ear. Not hard enough to break skin, but enough to pinch like hell and send a jolt of pain to her brain that might jar her awake. If this didn’t work, he’d have to improvise a travois.

With a sharp, ragged intake of breath, Sterling awoke, grunting as she turned her head just slightly to look up at the wolf who'd nipped her ear. She squinted as her head pounded, her vision blurry and unfocused - she was seeing double as she looked up at the face of the black-marked, ivory-coated male. "Huh?" she groaned in confusion, blinking as she tried to take in her surroundings, but her brain was too fuzzy to make sense of anything. Her abdominal muscles tense as she attempted to roll herself over slightly and prop herself up on one elbow, wanting to sit up a little straighter to see if she could find her bearings any better. "Ack!" she exclaimed, a sharp inhalation of breath hissing through her clenched teeth as she felt a stabbing, searing pain shoot through her left ribcage. She closed her eyes and lowered her head as she shifted her body, trying to find an angle that didn't hurt, but as she moved her hind legs, pain shot up her right leg from the ankle. What the hell happened? her garbled mind tried to reason, Is there anything that doesn't hurt? She shifted her tail, and a hoarse chuckle escaped her as she felt no pain from the movement.

Opening her eyes again, she slowly tilted her head to look up at the wolf standing over her. "What's going on?" she asked, squinting some more as she tried to focus. Though her head was spinning and throbbing, she was starting to see a little straighter, and it was only moments before she recognized Paladin. Her stomach flipped, her emerald orbs flashing wider, and she couldn't help the way her right forepaw moved to push herself back slightly. She regretted the instinctive reaction immediately as pain flared in her rib, and her the torn pads of her paw stung. She grit her teeth once more, forcing herself to settle and focus on not hurting herself further until she figured out in which ways she could move.

Her eyes cast downward, ears tilting back nervously. The last time she'd met Paladin, things had not exactly gone well, and with so many seasons gone by, she wasn't sure what to expect. Of all the wolves that could have come across her, why did it have to be him? Despite her racing heart and the burning anxiety she felt, a part of her knew that it was probably better for her sake that he had found her, instead of a stranger. Even though she'd done things to make herself his enemy, something inside of her told her she wouldn't be in any further danger. "Um... Paladin? H-how did I get here?" she asked quietly, her ragged voice hardly cooperating, "Where is this, anyways?" She didn't remember taking a fall, and she couldn't remember where she'd been before she ended up here. She could vaguely remember she'd been travelling, but to and from where, she wasn't sure. She hoped that with a little time, she wouldn't feel so confused, and she wondered if Paladin could, or would, tell her anything that would cause her to remember how she'd gotten here.

Paladin 'Knight' Ancora

He gave a grunt of satisfaction as his nip did the trick. He was watching her carefully, noting the trouble she had with focusing her sight on him, and the lack of recognition. Concussion, definitely. He made another mental note as her shift of position drew a pained noise from her jaws, and he began his more physical examination, prodding ceased now that she’d roused. He spotted the spark of recognition even as he answered calmly, voice settled into that gentle crooning tone meant precisely for what he was after—soothing her anxiety. “You fell about fifteen feet, and hit hard.” He answered each of her questions readily, without hesitation, “I’d suppose you walked here, then you weren’t paying attention in the rain and managed to slip over the side into this ravine…” Here he paused to bend and lick the torn pads of her paws, before turning and sending a quick scan of his eyes over the flora around him until he spotted a likely plant. “I was just inside that overhang when you fell. Your paws are torn up, so I’d say you tried to scrabble back to safety and failed—hm. Some of this Comfrey will do wonderfully.” He’d been speaking as he’d padded quickly to the stand of medicinal plant he’d spotted, and broke off to rip several leaves free of the stalks until his jaws were too full to continue speech. He returned, likely ridiculously resembling a chipmunk with his stuffed mouth before he spat the bundle out beside her and retrieved one of his hides from the stack and spread it. “You are just southeast of Druid’s Moor. This is called Cryer’s Ravine, I believe…” He set to chewing the leaves to a pulp, until he’d amassed a nice portion of masticated plant, then turned to her and began to work at putting the first paw into a poultice. “Your pads are torn, and you seem to hurt when you move your torso… cracked ribs? Where does it hurt, in all. Pick the worst ones.” No doubt she’s have bruises galore all along the side that had taken the hit from the ground, but he figured if he could soak the juices of the Comfrey through her coat, they might be helped.

When he began to speak, his gentle voice reaching her ears, she almost felt like she could breathe again, as though she'd been suffocating from the uncertainty she felt. Her ears slowly lifted, perking toward Paladin as he explained as best he could about what had happened, from his perspective. Sterling's brow furrowed before she finally lifted her gaze to meet his face. She'd slipped and fallen? How had she managed that? What had she been doing? She craned her neck back to look upward, seeing the edge of the ravine where she supposed she must have fallen. She squinted against the heavy drizzle, wondering what she'd been doing before she'd ended up here. Before she could mull it over any longer, she felt a gentle touch against her roughed up pads, and her eyes fell to meet Paladin's gaze for a split second before his focus carried over to the plants nearby. She watched him as he padded away to collect some leaves, but she was hardly observing his current actions; instead, her mind went over the soft lick to her injured pads. She hadn't expected him to care much about her injuries, at least not more than his healer's tendencies would cause him.

But his mannerism was not just professional; it was soothing and somewhat warm, the least of which she'd expected. Yet, because of their last encounter, she wondered if it was just the way he was trained to behave. Was it part of being a healer to be gentle with every patient, regardless of who they were? What other reason could there be? Just as she'd not had time to mull over how she'd gotten here, she quickly ran out of time to wonder about the nature of his touch. He'd returned with a mouthful of leaves which he left nearby as he retrieved a hide, similar to ones she'd seen him with in the past. "Th-thanks," she spoke softly, unable to compose herself properly. She felt like nothing made sense at the moment, and maybe that was just her concussion, but everything seemed to be happening too fast for her mind to rationalize. Her ears perked as he then told her she was close to Druid's Moor, and this place was called Cryer's Ravine. Suddenly it occurred to her that the moor was where Paladin's family resided. Had she really come so close to their home? She wondered why she'd been travelling in the west at all.

She nodded her head to Paladin as he confirmed that her pads were ripped up. She focused her attention onto her body, and very slowly, she shifted her limbs so that she could identify where it hurt. The bruising along the side she'd landed on seemed to make her feel like her entire body ached, and she chuckled somewhat as she tried to pick out the worst areas, while also trying to keep her spirits up, despite the pain. "It's like everything hurts," she said, while trying to push herself up into a seated position. That searing pain shot through her side again, and she lowered herself back to her elbows. "Yea, I think my rib's broken," she stated, her voice tight with pain, "And my ankle. It's pretty sore, but not as bad as my side." She wondered what he would do next, still not sure of the full extent of the healer's abilities. Would he be able to fix her injuries, and what would he do once his work was done?

Paladin 'Knight' Ancora

His response to her thanks was a mute nod, his attention on her next paw as he examined the ragged cuts and cleaned them with gentle licks before applying the poultice. He was glad he’d thought to bring some smaller rabbit hides along, because they would rip easily into strips and would encase her paws nicely to hold that poultice in place. As she confirmed his suspicions, he pulled four rabbit hides over, then paused and straightened, settling a paw over her injured side and gently pressing, probing to find which rib had broken. Depending on location, she could be in worse trouble. She wasn’t coughing blood like she might have pierced a lung, though, so that was a boon. “I’m looking for the broken rib, alright? Tell me when I find it.” He began just behind her foreleg, running his paw from spine to belly with gentle pressure, and – barring her reaction telling him he’d already found it – continued on to the next, repeating the process and noting the location whenever she might tell him. “The ankle is less of an issue, but if you can’t move with your ribs, you’ll need to be pulled out on a travois. Luckily I have the hides, and saplings aren’t hard to come by.” He spoke as he went down her rib case, thoughtful tone easy and lilting. His eyes swept the surroundings again, looking for such saplings. "I'm surprised you were able to fall in here, though. You struck me as an observant girl." The tone was almost teasing, but there was a faint hint of edge that made it clear enough that he hadn't forgotten the past, even if he was verging on tenderness with his examination and ministrations. The fact that she no longer ran with Talis eased some of the anger, of course. Whether it was because she couldn't stomach the morals of his cousin, or had perhaps spoken out against their actions after she'd returned and been forced out, he didn't know. But it made him hope that he had indeed had the right instincts about her character.

The cynical young she-wolf had to force herself to lay still as Paladin continued working on her roughed up paws. It was so gentle in a way she wasn't used to, and felt especially out of place coming from him; the way it made her feel provoked a powerful desire to run far and fast. Not because she hated this - simply because she didn't know what to do with her own thoughts. She tensed as he placed a paw on her side and informed her that he would be searching for the broken rib. She nodded to him in understanding, feeling his paw run from her spine, down her ribcage toward her belly. She couldn't help the small but sharp breath she drew in, before she again forced herself to be still and breathe more calmly. It hadn't hurt, she just wasn't used to such a sensation. She wondered if she should just tell him which rib it was, for she was fairly certain where it was, but for some reason she couldn't make the words come out. Maybe... maybe she didn't want him to pull away just yet.

She focused on the movement of his paw as he explained about the lesser importance of the ankle injury in comparison with her cracked rib. When he said she'd have to be pulled out on a travois if she couldn't move due to her ribs, her eyes widened slightly. "P-pulled out?" she stammered, "To where?" Where was she supposed to go if she was expected to leave the ravine? She didn't have anywhere in particular that she stayed, no home to return to. Did he have somewhere in mind that he was going to bring her? Certainly he didn't intend to return her to Talis... he must have noticed the difference in her scent. Before she could ask anything more, he teased her slightly about falling down here, but she could sense the edge in his tone as well. At that moment, she knew he was still angry about what she'd done.

Her ears pulled back again and she glanced at him nervously. "I-I guess I must've been distracted," she said uneasily, still unsure about exactly what had occurred. As the minutes went by, things were becoming gradually more clear, but she didn't know how she'd allowed herself to be so careless. Just then, she felt a sharp pain as his paw pressed down gently, and she yelped in response. "That's it," she grunted, jaw tensing, "W-what should I do? Should I try to get up?" She wondered if she should try to walk, or if he needed to treat her first.

Paladin 'Knight' Ancora

He was, for the most part, oblivious to the turmoil he was inflicting on his new patient’s mind with the touches he gave. To her stammered question, he answered quite simply, “Home. I haven’t all the supplies I need to fully treat your injuries, and you’d be quite vulnerable out here alone in your state. We’ve plenty of alcoves, meant precisely for patients to reside in while they’re healing from wounds or illness.” His words were so matter of fact that it was clear trying to change his mind would be pointless. He nodded as she announced the rib, making a mental note of its location. His find of Comfrey had been a good thing. Not only was it good for cuts, but it was also known for wonderfully healing broken bones and fractures when applied correctly. He retracted his paw and rose, shaking his head at her queries. “No, not until I’ve got the travois set up. The path’s not too narrow, and most of your weight will rest on the ends of the saplings, so I should be able to pull it without too much trouble.” He padded past her as he spotted two saplings that were both straight and old enough to be solid instead of flexible. He was certain now that she wasn’t bleeding inside. She was getting more alert as the minutes went by, and that certainly wouldn’t be the case in a severe internal hemorrhage. “I haven’t anything on paw right this moment for the pain, but I saw a few willow trees a ways back. That should help take some of the edge off.” He settled and twisted his head to the side, fitting his teeth around the sapling and gnawing. It took several minutes of his beaver impressions before he felt he’d thinned the sapling’s trunk enough to break it off. He slid his jaws up to a point above the gnawed point and braced himself before giving a hard, backward jerk and twist of the head, pleased to hear a squeaky crackling of severing wood. A few harder tugs and he had the first shaft of his travois. The process was repeated once more with a second young tree, and a few more minutes were devoted to breaking branches off and chewing down the tops before he set to fastening them together with strips of hide he’d torn from the rabbit hides, making a square frame at one end with the long shafts pointing like the top of an A. He glanced toward Sterling occasionally, checking in while he worked, and once he’d fastened a larger deer hide to the framework and lashed it down, he stepped into the shafts and picked the strip of hide connecting the ends up in his jaws, pulling the travois over to her. He made a few last adjustments, forming a small harness for himself by merely fastening a long strip of hide further down the shafts to drape over his back. The first strip would go across his chest for better pulling leverage. Finally, he gave her a lopsided smile and nodded to the hide frame, “If you get in, I’ll cover you with a deer hide. Should keep the rain from soaking your coat any further.”

Paladin sounded so sure of himself, with a plan in mind and already in motion, and Sterling was so lost as to what she should do, that she could find no way to argue against his suggestions. His certainty soothed her further, although it couldn't fully take away her insecurities. "That sounds good," she murmured, emerald orbs scanning his face, "But, um.. won't your pack be mad?" She couldn't see why the wolves of Celestial would want a Talis wolf amongst them - even if she hadn't been with the pack for several seasons now - to be kept and healed, wasting their resources on a wolf that should be their enemy. Was it really a good idea for her to go there? Maybe she'd be able to walk, and she could just find somewhere to stay on her own.

Then his voice came to answer her other questions, urging her not to move until he had the travois set up, clarifying that he intended to pull her on it. As he padded past her to work on the saplings he needed, her anxiety swelled inside once more. She hated knowing she was going to burden him in such a way, even if he seemed to deem it necessary. He didn't seem to have any complaints. But certainly he had not had this in his plans for today, and she felt awful for throwing him off. After all, his duties were important to his pack, and now she would be returning with him as an extra wolf to be cared for, dead-weight for the pack.

As she watched him work, the gnawing feeling of her uselessness grew into a whirling hurricane within her mind until she was on the verge of panic. She needed to run, to get away. She couldn't burden Paladin and his pack like this, and it made her unable to reason with herself. Carefully, she moved herself, trying to get her paws under her body without agitating her injuries. She should have known she wouldn't be able to stand with ease, and as a sharp pain shot through her side, she stopped. What was she doing? Her eyes darted back and forth, like a feral creature looking to escape. She looked to Paladin again. He was working hard to put this all together, to help her stupid, careless self. Gritting her teeth, she tried to calm down, to give up on her impulse to get away. It's not like she would have gotten far anyways.

Her gaze focused on the ground in front of her as her ears occasionally twitched at the sounds the healer made as he strapped together the device he intended to carry her with. She didn't look up again until he approached her, urging her to get in to the travois where he would lay a hide over her to prevent her getting further drenched by the rain. She nodded meekly. "Thank you," she said softly with the smallest of smiles, then asked, "Why are you doing this for me? Shouldn't you have just left me here?" She appreciated everything he'd done so far, and was grateful to his willingness to help, but she couldn't stop herself from feeling so undeserving of any kindness from him. She knew healers were well-known for treating patients of all kinds, but enemies? Her mind could only reason that he should have left her to deal with her own struggles, yet Paladin had offered her more than she could have expected.

Paladin 'Knight' Ancora

Her cautious question about the reaction of Celestial’s members received only a raised brow before he answered, “Are you the wolf who decided to bring members of his pack up to be injured and come away empty pawed of the plants that could heal those injuries? I don’t think so. Our issue is with Dragon. You no longer run with Talis. Regulus is not a cold hearted wolf.” He helped her with care to move onto the travois, spreading several of the hair-on hides on the supporting hide as a little pallet before she settled in, the hair side up in a comfortable nest, before draping another hide overtop of her, also hair up to shed water, nodding at her thanks. Her next questions were met again with a silent stare, brows lifting sharply. “Let me tell you a story. It’ll pass the time.” He stepped into the shafts of the travois, sitting so that the back piece was behind his haunches as he lifted the breast strap in his teeth, lifting the travois of the ground in front. Once the back strap was high enough, he lifted his hind end, standing once more and let it settle into place over his back. He’d practiced this many a time while with the Nomads, and he’d gotten quite good at it. He bent to grab the rest of the hides in his jaws, throwing them over his back like a cloak, hair side up on the topmost hide. He was soggy furred beneath them, but at least they’d stop him from getting any more soaked. He pondered as he threw his weight into the breast strap, knowing the jolt would hurt her a little, but knowing that he also needed that first momentum to get things moving. Once he was steadily pulling, he cleared his throat, starting his tale. It was on Regulus had told him about Erani, a true one about when Valhalla had been at war with Glaciem while Isardis Armada had been its ruler. “Many years ago in this land, Regulus’s grandmother, Erani, was the Lead Healer of a pack called Valhalla. Celestial’s grand-predecessor. There came a time when their overall peaceful existence was disrupted by war. You may have heard about Dragon’s Ancora ancestors, or you might not have… My grandmother, Crusade Ancora, founded a pack called Glaciem. Eventually, she passed it to her brother, Gargoyle Ancora. He was challenged for his pack by Eos Adravendi. And she later passed it to a wolf called Isardis Armada. This male challenged for one of Valhalla’s young females, Liberty, after he was told no when he demanded to have her at the border. This sparked off a war. There was a siege – Glaciem against Valhalla – and great disruption. In that siege, Erani’s brother Cormalin was taken prisoner, and was gone for a while. However, Erani was one of the best-known healers in the land. A fact even the healer of Glaciem couldn’t ignore. Especially when she herself was in need of wisdom and help.” He cast a look over his shoulder at Sterling, brow lifting. “This healer in particular was pregnant, and had snuck to Valhalla’s border in search of wisdom, as she herself was a new mother. She ended up going into labor, a harrowing one that bore a stillborn child among the litter. Erani helped her, regardless of her origin and affiliation. Had she not, the healer would have died in labor. Later, Erani founded a new Valhalla when a wolf from Glaciem challenged for the original and won. And it was she who ended the war, by bartering the healing of the Queen of Glaciem’s wounds in return for the return of two children that Isardis had sown in one of our members while she was a prisoner there, and a peace agreement. Do you understand what I’m telling you in this story?” He was silent for several strides, staring ahead as the path began the incline that would lead out of the ravine, waiting to see if she'd caught the moral.

Sterling tried to settle in, finding a comfortable position on the travois as Paladin spoke. She looked up at him, supposing she was indeed not the wolf who'd brought a pack onto Celestial lands to fight, but if she were honest, she certainly hadn't opposed it at the time. And what about the fact that she'd thought about returning to Talis? Would that make him think differently? She hadn't done it yet... hadn't had the nerve to go back. She really hadn't decided whether it was for her anymore, but she'd definitely considered it. Should she tell him? No, maybe if she kept any desire to go back to Talis hidden, it would stay hidden and eventually disappear. Surely if she didn't acknowledge it, the desire would fizzle out. "I guess you're right," she said with a small nod. With every paw step that brought her closer to Celestial, she felt a little more sure that this experience would make it easier for her to forget her birth home.

She tilted her head curiously as he offered to tell a tale; it would help pass the time, and she hoped that it would distract her from her pain as well. "Sure," she agreed, wondering what he would tell her. To her, it was a strange yet welcome response to the question she'd posed to him. Why was he helping her? As the male jolted forward suddenly to force enough momentum to move the travois, Sterling gasped - it startled her, and jerked her sore body in a very unpleasant manner. The pain that seared through her almost made her angry, but she kept quiet, knowing he was doing everything he could to help her. She tried to focus on him instead, anything to keep her mind off her injuries. As Paladin began speaking, Sterling realized this would be a much different tale than any she'd heard before.

Sterling quickly found herself enthralled - though the names were mostly ones she hadn't heard,
except of course the Dragon's family name, she found it fascinating to learn about some of the history of Ardent. Her parents had never had stories to tell. It made her wonder where either of them had come from, with such quiet pasts that weren't really worth mentioning. Her mother and father had certainly been a wealth of knowledge when it came to survival, but they'd never mentioned much beyond simple personal experiences.

When Paladin finished his story, ending with a question for her, she furrowed her brow, her emerald eyes watching the ground pass by as she was dragged along. She skimmed over the words in her mind, and she thought that maybe she understood the message he was trying to send her. "I-I think I understand," she replied, gritting her teeth momentarily as she felt herself bump over a particularly large rock. Then she would try to put her understanding into words, although she wasn't quite sure if she was getting the point. "So, Erani helped others even if they were her enemies," her tone was contemplative as she tried to piece things together, "And eventually, she was able to establish peace between the warring packs. So... she didn't hold onto any grudges, and she was able to save many lives." That was her best understanding of it, although she certainly wasn't familiar with the concept. She'd grown up amongst wolves who were impulsive and driven by emotion, in fact, she was one of them. It was difficult for her to think outside of that reactive, moment by moment thinking. But she found the story and it's possible meaning intriguing nonetheless, and she thought that perhaps she could learn more from him. Of course, she'd always thought she could learn from him. The way he spoke was enough to keep her attention, and it was like he always had something more to tell, never running out of topics and knowledge.

Paladin 'Knight' Ancora

He’d had to repress a silent wince of sympathy at her pained noise as his forward jolt jostled her, but she was a good listener to stories. She never interrupted, but it was clear that she was listening intently, much as she had in his lesson about blue flag on their first meeting. At her guess, he half nodded, his progress in towing her reaching the halfway point, where he had to carefully navigate a winding trail. It was just wide enough for the end of the travois, but it took some fancy maneuvering to get it through, and a few scrapes of the travois against the ravine walls did occur. As he pulled free into a straight stretch, he answered, “She did. She was also known for adopting lost ones, giving them a mother when they had lost their parents. That is how she came by her Adravendi name. But, that’s another story. I’m sure there were times where she might have held a grudge, but in the case of the war, setting that grudge aside for clearer thinking was the right choice. “Isardis, however, had burned his bridges already, even with several of his own children. As has Dragon. He will have no welcome from Celestial, and his actions have shattered any interest I or my siblings have in considering him a member of the Ancora family. But. It was his choice, not his followers, to raid a pack he knew had members of his family in it. “His followers may have had input, yes, but in the end, it is on the alpha to make the final decision. It was his choice to take my brother prisoner. And because of that choice, Valor doesn’t even know our mother died last Autumn. Because of that choice, it is his fault that Valor never got to say goodbye to our mother.” He tipped his head over his shoulder to check on her, adding, “But you won’t be punished for the choices of your leader, former or otherwise. Nor will you be held against your will should you desire to leave and return home when you are well enough to travel such a distance. All we will ask of you is that you do not share information of our numbers, health, or any secrets you may learn during your time with us. I can promise you that this will be the one demand Regulus makes of you. He may ask that you help out with some duties once your ribs are healed enough.” A faint, somewhat crooked smile crossed his features. “If you can accept those terms, you’re just fine.”

Sterling listened intently as he continued, and she was able to learn a little more about Erani. And then he spoke of Isardis, how the man had burned too many bridges, and how Dragon was now doing the same. It made her feel badly to know that Paladin's family would have such a divide in it, because of Dragon's actions. She didn't know what it was like to have family in two different places like that, especially ones that were not friendly with one another. The only family she'd ever known were her mother and father, and her sister. Her brother had disappeared at a young age, and she'd never heard from him again. Esarosa had simply told them that she, too, had left home at a young age, and not to worry about the adventures that Cobalt had taken on. So, Sterling had never worried or wondered. If her mother had been an adventurer - and it was true, Esarosa had been a rogue for a long period of time, and had only settled down to raise Sterling and her siblings - then Sterling had nothing to worry about with her brother going off on his own. Other than that, her immediately family had always been right there.

Her ears folded back when Paladin said that Valor had been taken prisoner, and because of that, hadn't gotten to say goodbye when their mother passed; in fact, he didn't even know about it. How terrible that must be. Sterling felt another surge of guilt rising within her. Dragon's actions, and the actions of Talis as a whole, had caused the wolves of Celestial a lot of grief. She counted herself lucky not to be hated by the very forgiving young man that was pulling her home with him now. A small smile lit her features when he looked over his shoulder, adding that she would not be punished for the actions of her former leader. He would also mention the conditions that would apply to her in return for the healing she would receive, and she nodded to him. "Talis doesn't really feel like home anymore," she mentioned, "It's more just... the place where I was born. My family's not even there anymore..." She only knew this because she had certainly spent some time sniffing around the borders, flip-flopping on whether she should return or not. But it had become apparent that her family's scent was all but faded.

"You can count on me to keep everything to myself," she assured him, although she had no idea if he would believe her, considering her past, "I promise. There won't be any repeats of what happened before." Her tone was sincere, and she meant every word she said. Even if she still felt internally torn on whether she'd ever go back to Talis, she knew she would never again do anything to put herself in a position to hurt anyone.