OOC: skill point starter; first solo hunt; 800+ words

When land had come into view Sunder had cried with joy. He had been without water for so long no tears actually came, but his eyes had burned all the same and he'd been wracked with relieved sobs. The dog had collapsed on the tangle of trees that had been his lifeboat and prison for what felt like ages. He lay there, too weak to do much else, while the tangle drifted. It took several agonizing hours for the tangle to get close enough for Sunder to make out details on the island. Had circumstances been different he likely would have been disappointed with its apparent barrenness, but it was land and it was dry, and he couldn't afford to be picky.

Few trees grew on the island. From a distance all he could see was a few sad, crooked individuals. They were bent as though a great weight pressed upon them; their malnutrition deforming them and causing their tops to bow towards the earth. Sunder counted five total with several low blobs hinting at what could be up and coming saplings or several particularly gnarled trees. He could see no life, but wouldn't allow himself to be dismayed. Perhaps the other side of the island was better - he would hold onto this hope until it was proven false.

At last the seemingly barren island was within leaping distance. A wiser man would have waited for the logs to make land themselves, but he wasn't thinking clearly and in his desperation to be free Sunder couldn't help but make a leap for it. He didn't make it, of course. The dog had been adrift too long; his legs were weak from lack of use and food. Thankfully the water was shallow and he was able to flounder his way to shore. For the longest time he lay there gasping, unsure of what to do next. Finally the dryness of his mouth pointed in the right direction. Sunder rose and quickly found a puddle of rainwater in one of the craggy rocks. From there he found another and another, and may very well have gone hunting for a fourth had not movement out of the corner of his eye stopped him.

A green lizard perhaps three feet in length had crawled from a crack in a stone outcropping and now lay stretched out in the sun some distance away from him. Sunder licked his lips hungrily, his gaze darting between the lizard and the hole it had come from. He could make it.

Sunder lunged for the iguana, but it was difficult to gain traction on the wet sand and his atrophied legs were about as useful as green beans for running on. He fell flat on his chest and buried his nose in the sand. When he lifted his head the lizard was gone. In despair he dropped his head to the sand and closed his eyes. He couldn't give up now, but he wanted to. He was cold, hungry, and alone. Everyone he knew was probably dead. 

Numbly he got to his paws again and looked around. Moping would get him nowhere. He wanted to survive and to do that he first needed to eat. He could cry some more when he was fed.

He sniffed dejectedly and then noticed that another (much smaller) lizard was inching out onto the black rocks. It would make a meager meal but it was something. The yearling dog had never hunted alone before, but he was going to have to start now, wasn't he? He needed that meat. With his thirst satiated for the time being this was now his highest priority. It had been weeks since he'd had a good meal. His last real one had been back on the island. Sunder hadn't been overweight by any stretch of the imagination, but he'd been a healthy weight and those fat reserves had seen him through the trip to this new island.

Sunder crept along the ground, his belly barely leaving the sand. He tried not to look at the iguana but it was hard to feint disinterest when you were so desperate for success. His desperation was obvious enough that the iguana, unaccustomed to dealing with wolf depredation, had reason to be wary. It watched him out of the corner of its eye; its attention rarely straying.

Somehow he managed to get within lunging distance. Once there he forced himself to lay down his head and be disinterested. He lay like that for an excruciating amount of time. Eventually the young iguana decided he wasn't enough of a threat to require of its full attention always. He slowly faded into the background as birds and other lizards began to catch the iguana's attention. What it didn't notice was that every time it looked elsewhere Sunder got one step closer to lunging. One by one he drew his legs under him. A gull calling overhead gave him the chance to square up with the lizard. 3, 2, 1...

He lunged, his thin bird legs somehow managing to not only support his weight but move him quickly. The lizard was fast too, but Sunder managed to seize it by the base of its tail. He wrest it off the ground and shook it to death. Once it was limp he collapsed to the ground and lay there panting and trembling; unable - at least for now - to eat his hard-earned meal.

INJURY/ILLNESS TALLY
Emaciated
Raw and bleeding patterned cuts up and down his forelegs

The good news was that Gavroche wasn’t a slave after all. Speaking with Valkyrie, presenting his offers, revising alongside Runa as they went had been far more nerve wracking that the young man expected. The calico male was grateful, however, so very grateful that the woman had even considered listening to him. He was fun-sized at best and the truth of the matter was that she didn’t have to accept his offer or even allow him any chance of leaving the basin freely. She could have just as easily chosen to force him into slavery instead… but that, in itself, made Gav respect her.

Not all wolves understood that just because you lived a different kind of life that you could be reasoned with. Valkyrie was doing as she been raised, following her beliefs, as any other wolf would. Truth be told, though Runa had been a slave, she didn’t look as though she had been treated too badly either. She did not have any untreated wounds or anything of the sort… whereas slaves in Lyenne, his homeland, risked injury, starvation, and even death. Not that Gavroche would call her a saint by any means… but he didn’t see her as a monster either. Her band was another group of wolves trying to survive. He may not have chosen to follow such beliefs or actions but that didn’t mean he didn’t understand; he could respect them.

He had a flicker of hope in his heart again. He and Runa would work together so they could both be free… he respected the wild woman for that too. She had the chance to be free then and there, to allow him to take her place… but instead she chose to show her own heart, to make sure they both had lives to live when all was said and done. He didn’t know how he was going to do it yet but he wanted to show his gratitude to her… a gift maybe? He had two seasons or so to figure it out at least.

The young man had set off, speaking to Valkyrie of the direction he planned to go and the estimated time he would be gone. It almost felt silly, like he was a child telling his parents of his plans, but Gav didn’t want to risk ruining the chance of freedom he and Runa could have. He needed to find herbs and whatnot if he was going to have things to work with, which he felt was a perfectly reasonable explanation for his heading away from the basin, and so long as he came back in the timeframe mentioned all would be fine… at least he hoped.

He had gone south at first, going as far as to reach the Avain Estuary before he started towards the shore. Around his neck, hanging awkwardly in front of his left wing, was a makeshift “bag” of strong grasses from the basin mixed with other various vegetation. It wasn’t likely that he would be able to use it for more than a couple trips at best but it was something at least. Within it there were already a few various plants;

Agrimony picked just outside of Valhalla territory where the plants bleed into the area on the outskirts of the Estuary. As well as a couple dandelions.

Alfalfa and white willow bark from the Estuary itself.

Burnet from the sycari strip to help aid with strength.

Yarrow picked from the basin itself on his way out, less he run into something while collecting and noting the locations to get a larger cache of supplies. He didn’t want to leave himself unable to treat any injuries he may sustain.

He also brought some horsetail from the estuary as well, preferring to be on the safe side, and a half eaten adolescent mallard he had managed to catch. Gavroche wasn’t much of a hunter, and truthfully had its wing not been damaged he wouldn’t have gotten ahold of the meal at all… but at least he had eaten and had the strength to keep going.

Gavroche wasn’t sure what drew him to try and investigate one of the islands. It was a pretty lengthy swim for a creature his size and by the time he made it he was winded. He had needed to empty the contents of his pack out to dry too… maybe that wasn’t such a good plan. The herbs were waterlogged but they could still, hopefully, be used. The mallard would probably taste salty as sin but at least it was food.

Once the herbs had at least dried out enough Gavroche repacked everything and set to exploring. The island was… bleak and barren… and the lizards that sometimes scurried about startled the winged male. It didn’t look like there was any other creatures saved for the scaley kind here… and Gavroche wasn’t too keen on figuring out just how large they could get.

He was planning on giving up and heading back to the mainland when he noticed something… odd.

What he was looking at was some hairless yet canine creature. He had never seen any hairless canine in his life and, for a moment, Gavroche started with a mix of uncertainty and fear. In Foi and Majofionism those who lost their fur were marked by Seethe herself when the divinity chose to mark them as the fallen, darker creatures that followed her. The believe that he looked upon such a creature now had Gavroche wondering if he should run… but something else told him to stay… to press on and get closer.

Gavroche moved slowly, quietly, taking note of the scent of blood in the air. He noticed too how the male trembled in place and appeared to breathe heavy. As he shifted, to seek to come around the side of the other male in a wide loop, he could see the main cause of his difficulties. He was starved and Gavroche wondered for a moment how he had even survived this long. His ears remained pinned, worry gnawing at his gut as his duties as a healer screamed at him to try and help. He could always find more of the same herbs and whatnot on the way back to the basin… He wouldn’t be able to explore further lands this trip out but that was fine. It was worth trying to help someone survive.

“Excuse me,” Gavroche’s voice was a gentle bark; he didn’t want to startle the other man. “I’m a healer. I have some stuff in my bag if you’d be willing to let me look at you. Stuff to help with your digestion and help with appetite… something to help keep your strength up too.” He had truthfully grabbed the herbs originally not just for his lessons but his own use. Even though the eruption had been a season ago his own appetite wasn’t quite where he wanted it to be… though he suspected that could very well have been more his loneliness and the deep sadness he had felt losing Melanthios and Houdini. Now though… he had a purpose… he had to fulfill his offer, his promise to the band and to Runa. For her… and for himself.

He took note of the bloodied forelegs and the recently slain lizard as well.

“I can treat the wounds and… well, it’s been in the salt water but I have part of a duck that you look like you could use more than I.” He was already taking the pack off, hoping that even if the stranger was hesitant to let him treat his hurts he’d at least take the food. In his current state Gav doubted the lizard would be enough to sustain him for long and while the duck wasn’t exactly large either both of them together might make a half decent sized meal.

Though it hadn't been Gavroche's intention he nonetheless gave Sunder a fright. The dog flailed to his paws in a flurry of sand and then stood with his legs splayed wide in the hopes of bettering his chances of remaining upright. He stared wide-eyed at the stranger, blind to their differences for several seconds as his attention starved brain tried to make sense of the sudden appearance of another sentient being. When it finally clicked that yes, he was seeing a living being and yes, that being was speaking to him, the speaker's many differences began to register. Though Gavroche was clearly canine Sunder had never seen someone with so much fur. There were dogs on the Xolo islands with full coats, but they were short haired and sleek. This...dog...had hair so thick it padded his features.

But it was the wings though that just about did his head in. He simply couldn't make sense of them.

Sunder's ears fell back and he took a frightened step away from Gavroche. One paw remained raised to his chest in uncertainty. He'd been so long without contact that any interaction would have been overwhelming, but to be faced with someone so different right off the bat froze him. The stranger was looking at him, clearly expecting an answer, and that expectation was what ultimately unstuck the dog. Manners were a key aspect in Xolo culture and the friendliness of the winged canine stirred up Sunder's near-instinctual need to reciprocate.Certain there had to have been a greeting in the stranger's lengthy dialogue, he croaked the Xolo standard greeting in response, "Howssit." In all honesty he couldn't make sense of what Gavroche was saying. The showing of the duck baffled him for a minute, but then he thought maybe that's how greetings were done here. Sometimes in formal settings gifts were exchanged during the introduction. Maybe the stranger wanted to trade gifts?

All Sunder had was the lizard so even though he was desperately hungry he used his nose to flick it towards Gavroche. Unsure of how to communicate beyond that he looked between the duck and the lizard and then to Gavroche. "Goo'd bitty lis'ahd."

Gav gasped, shrinking back at first as the poor creature flailed sand about. The startled reaction was not one that Gavroche had expected at all. Sure his wings were strange but he was far from a threat… but… this stranger might not know that yet. The other male was staring at him with wide eyes, quiet, and when his actions suggested fear, stepping back away from him with ears flicked back, Gavroche let out a soft whine and lowered his own body some. His green eyes didn’t leave the other, drawn to the wounds on his forelegs as worry gnawed at him. He didn’t know who the other canine was but he was hurt… he needed help. Even if it took some time Gav knew he couldn’t just walk away… if he did this man could very well die from infection or something… if starvation didn’t do him in first. How anyone could manage to get so thin and still be upright surprised him.

He didn’t move and, a moment later, was grateful he waited. The stranger spoke, his accent different, the word used sounded like it was strung together or a slur… it was odd but Gavroche felt like he could make out a greeting of sorts. He allowed himself to relax again, keeping his posture neutral, calm, and a small friendly smile on his face. He didn’t want this male to be afraid… he knew all too well how fear could handicap even the strongest of creatures. Sure the canine was small and furless but Gav was sure that, if he was fed right, the stranger would at least be great at running. Everyone had their strengths based on their frame… and more if they applied themselves.

The offering of the lizard surprised him. The thick accent the stranger had Gav staring at him, piecing the words he understood with the creature to figure out the last referred to the lizard. He shook his head, easing forward as he picked up the duck and set it beside the lizard and stepped back. He took a breath and sat, smiling a bit more.

“A very good lizard, thank you. But it’s okay. You keep both -- I want you to eat; you’re hungry and need it more” The little healer said, motioning to the prey. “You keep. Eat.” He wondered if using shorter sentences, highlighting the words, might help the other. With how he spoke compared to the rest of Boreas Gavroche didn’t know if he understood all the things the winged male had said or if talking so much overwhelmed him. The calico male felt his desire to help growing stronger because of how strange this other canine was… so different… just like he was. Gavroche sympathized. He canted his head to the side and whined.

“You live here? Have family?” He asked, hoping he wasn’t going to overwhelm the male by asking so much.