"Ah come on little buddy, you can do it!" he whisper-yelled the lamb encouragement as he tried to pull it to its feet. The spunky little beast had tried to escape again and in its haste to be run away it had thrown itself off a small outcropping. Being a stupid, spindle-legged creature this fall had of course proven disastrous. No matter how much Tyrian yanked on its rope the lamb wouldn't get up. Even when he pulled hard enough to drag it forward all it would do was stretch out its neck and bleat balefully.

For fear of hurting it further Tyrian was forced to quit pulling and prodding. He gazed up the wall at Tashi, who was soaking up the meager sun on the edge of the dried riverbed. "Now what?"

The monkey shrugged and said, "We'll have to carry it; I'll see if I can find some saplings we can use." Tashi stood up and was about to begin his hunt when he leaned back over the edge and added, "Just keep an eye on it for now. You know how she likes to pretend." And then he was gone, leaving Tyrian alone with the injured lamb.

Searching for an exotic quarry led Drífa much farther south than she would normally journey and into warmer terrain. She wasn't terribly upset about this. The weather was still chilly up north. She'd been told about a plant called Salvia that could help with anxiety. She wasn't sure this was true or not but she thought it was a good idea to take a look into it. With Belle in Winterfell now and plenty of others stretched thin after the stress of the volcano, herself included, she thought the plant would be worth a try. Drífa was working her way through the canyon with her companion at her side when she heard a voice echo along the canyon walls and caught the scent of blood. Her first thought was that someone had been injured but as the scent was prey she didn't think too much about it, until she turned the corner. There was a large boy nearly twice her size with a lamb at his feet. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to disturb your dinner. We're just moving through." The last thing she needed was to get in a fight with an obviously stronger wolf over food concerns. "I talk" | 'I think'

He wasn't sure what to do with the damn thing. She'd bloodied her nose in the fall but aside from that he could see no injuries. One thing he'd noticed when he tried to pull her to her feet was that she was favoring her front left one. Hopefully it was just a sprain. He knew nothing about broken legs but it seemed like a death sentence for a prey animal. It was said that a young animal bounced back better than an older one so maybe if it was broken there was still hope. Healing wasn't his forte, however. That was Alarr's game. Maybe he would take a look at the lamb when they got home.

Tyrian glanced back at the woman as she approached. The mistake she'd made was an easy one. Companions like the ones he had were common, but very few of their kind bothered with keeping prey animals for meat. "Oh she's not for eating." The lucky ewe was much too valuable to be a meal. At least for now. Once his herd was full of her babies and grandbabies it might be a different story. "I keep sheep," the woman didn't need to know he only had the one currently,"and this one ran off and get herself hurt."

Drífa cocked her head to the side with interest when the boy said that she wasn't for eating. He kept sheep. There was something about the tone that seemed to indicate this creature was not a companion but something else. Halla settled down next to her, also gazing at the lamb with curious eyes. "Oh, is it some sort of pet or are you saving it for later?" She hadn't thought much of trying to keep food but then she never really had the time. Her focus was in healing and in getting an herb garden started so that she had essentials nearby and wouldn't need to travel so far as she got older. The boy mentioned that the lamb had run off and gotten hurt. That would explain the blood on the creature's muzzle. "If you like I can take a look at her. I'm a healer. I don't make any promises in regards to sheep but I'm willing to give it a shot. How did she hurt herself?" "I talk" | 'I think'

As the woman's curiosity grew Tyrian motioned her over. There wasn't much he could do until Tashi came back with the goods so they may as well have a conversation. "There used to be a guy in my pack who bred animals for meat. He's gone now, but I thought it was a really cool idea so I thought I'd give it a try now that things are kind of rough," he explained, being a little more free with his plans than he usually was. "This is my first lamb so she's pretty special. So yes," he said with a chuckle. "In a way I guess I am saving her for later."

"Please do, I could use the help," he said as Drifa offered to look at his lamb. "I appreciate it. My name's Tyrian by the way. Oh and uh," he motioned to the gorge's edge above them. "She jumped off that." The lip of the gorge was a solid three yards over their heads. "I guess she thought she could jump to the other side. Or maybe she just didn't see the gap, I don't know, but she ran full force over the side."

The young man motioned her over and she obliged, padded closer, lightly sniffing in the direction of the lamb. Halla padded along behind her just slightly behind her. He spoke of a man in his pack who raised and bred prey animals. She had to agree, it was a good idea, especially now that prey was scarce. Drífa hoped that the prey would bounce back as the volcano subsided but it would take years for some areas to begin to grown plant life again. "A pleasure. My name is Drífa." She glanced up at the ledge the lamb had jumped from and frowned before moving closer to examine the lamb. It recoiled from her as she leaned in to sniff it. The lamb had scraped it's nose well from the fall and it was holding one of its legs closer to its body. She shrugged her pack off and gestured for Halla to join her. "Halla, I'm going to get something for the lamb's scrapes. Can you check that limb for a break?" The macaque nodded and took the leg in her hands as she massaged the leg, pushing gently here and there before resting a hand on the base of the hoof and pushing. The lamb was not fond of the attention and bleated at one point but the macaque seemed satisfied. "No signs of a full break. However, I can't rule out a potential crack. She's favoring it quite a bit and some of the muscles are definitely strained." Drífa nodded as she pulled out a number of herb bundles and little jars. "We can ease her pain and help the swelling but she'll need help getting out of here. Do you have a way to carry her?" Drífa had a travois in Winterfell that she was finishing up but it would be of no help here and she wasn't sure what was available in this gorge. They could try putting the lamb across his back but she doubted it would stay. "I talk" | 'I think'

He was relieved to hear the macaque didn't think the leg was broken. That would have made things all the more difficult and really pushed him to the limits of his animal-nurturing skills. Tyrian continued to watch with rapt attention as the pair took care of his lamb. He was on the verge of answering her question when loose grit from above rained down on his head. He looked up to see Tashi leaning over the edge. What had rained down on him was grit from the two small saplings that the langur had pushed to the edge of the gorge.

To Drifa, Tyrian said, "I don't yet, but my friend up there just brought back everything we need to make a travois for her." He walked over to the wall and motioned for Tashi to lower one of the saplings to him. After one was on the ground at his paws and Tashi was trying to move the second one into position, Tyrian glanced over at Drifa and ofered her a cheeky smile. "I can have something made in oh, 20 minutes." That's about how long it would take for him and Tashi to make it together assuming the langur had already cut all the pieces down to size.

Drífa unwrapped a bundle of what was mostly lamb's ear. It was soft and gently and would help minor cuts heal as well as reduce swelling. In addition she pulled out agrimony which would help with the swelling and boneset to help with the pain. Drífa measured out the herbs and put them in the small bowl then gestured to Halla. The monkey took up a stone and began to grind the plants, adding a bit of water at one point til they were mashed into a paste. Meanwhile, Drífa pulled out some tanned hide strips that were soft and pliable. Leaning down she laid them out then sat back while Halla spread the herbal mixture on the bandages.

Drífa looked up as small bits of rock skittered down the ledge. She smiled and nodded at the mention of the travois. What a cleaver young man to know how to build one already. She was suitably impressed. "That sounds good. We should have your lamb taken care of by then."

Tashi continued to hand down pieces until all that remained was a bag full of the small stuff. He then shouldered the bag and climbed down into the gorge. Once on the ground floor the pair set about laying the frame pieces. They needed to get the shape of it just right so that it would be easy enough to pull, wide enough for the sheep and angled right at the top so his back wouldn't wear out too quickly. There was a lot of ground between here and home, and they'd have to follow the gorge until it ended naturally since there was no way they could carry the lamb up one of the wall paths.

As he worked Tyrian paused to look up at Drifa. "I can't thank you enough for helping with her. Took a lot for me to get that baby and I'd hate to lose her now. I mean she's just a sheep and all," he said as he crossed the ends of the poles. "But she's my sheep."

DELETE

Halla used her skilled hands to wrap the bandages tightly around the lamb's injured leg. It was tight enough to give support to the limb but not so tight it would cut off the circulation. While she did this, Drífa was working on mixing a paste of lamb's ear and marigold. The mixture would help bind the wounds on the lamb's face and again ease the swelling and inflammation. She mixed in a little bentonite clay to help it adhere and hopefully not taste terribly appetizing. She didn't have to worry about her wolfen patients eating the ointments and poultices but the lamb might consider this a treat. The last touch was a little boneset to help with the pain. The scrape no doubt stung.

Once she was done she gently used her paw to apply it to the lamb's face and as she expected the little creature lapped at it but thankfully she was able to get a good coat on. "There we go, that ought to do it." The young man thanked her and she smiled gently at him. "My pleasure. Though… if you feel like paying me back and it wasn't of terrible cost to you, that rope you have around your lamb's neck is of great interest to me. Would you have a spare you'd be willing to trade for my services?" She probably should've asked before hand but Drífa really did have a healer's mentality in that she saw wounds her instinct was to fix first, ask later.

Tyrian paused as the woman mentioned payment. They probably should have hashed that out in the beginning but honestly he was more than happy to pay. She was taking good care of his lamb. They were complete strangers and she was taking care of a lesser creature on his behalf. Of course he would pay her what he could for the work. "I do have one and you're welcome to it; it sounds like a fair trade to me. You ever want more, come and find me in Legion. I've got a bunch of it." He'd give her a fair price too.

He went back to working on the travois. His part was simple; hold the pieces together while Tashi did the lashing. Tyrian slid a paw under one of the poles so that Tashi could work the cord around it. He then put a paw on top of the piece they were going to lash to the pole and pressed down firmly. The pressure caused the pole to dig into the top of his other paw but Tashi was fast and Tyrian knew he would be done in a flash.

Drífa smiled as he agreed to give her one of the ropes and invited her to find him if she ever needed more. "I might have to take you up on that. Perhaps a lesson some time? Though you'll need to let me know what I can bring to trade for lessons. I'm hoping everyone will be in good health if we meet again and you won't be in need of my healing abilities." He was a very kind and intelligent young man. She really wouldn't mind seeing him again. "What pack do you reside in?" Drífa would not be able to visit if she did not know where to go. Of course, she was ignorant of the pack relations between Winterfell and the other packs and she hoped there was no animosity between Winterfell and this boy's pack. However, she did not overly concern herself with politics. If she had a good relationship with someone in another pack she didn't much care of the pack's leaders didn't like each other.

It seemed they were going to get the travois made in record time. Perhaps the practice the boys had had in building them had made them quick.It certainly didn't hurt that with his pack they didn't have to fashion a harness from scratch. At any rate, the whole project was going to be done a lot sooner than 20 minutes. That was for the best. He wanted to get the lamb back to the safety of its pen and shelter, and out of the elements, as quickly as he could.

As for what he might want for his services... Tyrian shrugged. "I'm pretty easy. Bring me a meal or a salve or something and I'll teach ya whatever." She asked him which pack he lived in so he said the name again and this time added a general location. "Legion. Right now we're in Sweetgrass Basin but if the weather stops being garbage we'll hopefully go back to the South soon."

And with one final lashing the travois was done. Tashi patted on Tyrian's leg to let him know he could move his paws and the yearling was quick to wiggle out of the uncomfortable position.