The snare had been a wicked thing, meant to maim rather than kill, and it had served its purpose well. The small dik dik caterwauled as the monochrome healer dragged it home, one leg hanging uselessly, shattered bone protruding from the skin, the others equally broken, but by her own jaws (it wouldn’t do to have their patient running off on them, this was a healing lesson, not hunting). In the end, the stress of the whole endeavour would be it’s death but she hoped, at least, to give it’s sacrifice some purpose in training the next generation of healers for the Armada.

In preparation, she and Otis had laid out a sampling of herbs. Some were anaesthetics, some were poisons, and of course there was a good selection of splints and bandages, needles and threads. It wasn’t like they had a lot to spare with winter deeply upon them, but what she had offered had been rationed from her private stores. A hide was spread out in the open air next to her garden, the screaming patient deposited unceremoniously in the middle, and the woman moved back to howl and summon any budding healer that wanted a lesson to come, and with haste. Their patient was losing blood and soon the adrenalin would fade from its system. Of course, if they didn’t make it in time, there was always the opportunity to turn it into an anatomy lesson.

 

"speech".

I've got no doubt that the only way out of this thriller
is if I am a killer too

Kitsune needed all the knowledge she could get in the areas she had chosen. Field medicine and fighting was where it was at with this little trouble maker. So, the chance to learn from one of the Armada healers had been an exciting option indeed. Grabbing a small pouch with a few bits and bobs from the Ashen stores, she made her way over to Armada.

Falling the call, she found the teacher and classroom in the Plains, with the screaming dik dik laid out on a hide. “Hello, Lady Healer” Kistune said politely, bowing to the other wolf. She settled in near the petl, eyeing the prey creature wearily.


"Speech"

Aris flicked an ear lazily towards the call for healer training. It was, surprisingly, not Gossamer calling, and not really a voice she could definitively say she knew. Someone new, who had more ambition and care? She stretched and padded out to the training, following the cries of an injured prey animal as much as the original call.

On approaching the group, Ari glanced over the wounded little deer thing and the gathered herbs with eager interest, but hers eyes narrowed in pique. It wasn't a new healer at all, but one who'd been in the pack for ages. As long as Ari could remember, anyway. "Oh so Goss holding her own lessons made you remember there were trainees, did it?" she drawled in sardonic spite, but then her eyes shifted to the girl she didn't know, who's scent she did know, as the Ashen pack scent, and she snorted as a sour feeling shot through her. "Oh, I see, nevermind. Some other pack's kids needed training. I should have guessed that would be more important."

Of course it wouldn't have been about training her or her siblings, it would have been stupid to assume otherwise. The only thing that ever seemed to galvanize the adults in this pack to train the kids these days was entirely incidental when they needed to train someone else's kids, like Artorias spending months there taking up all of her father's time so hardly anyone could even get the time of day. Always everyone else's kids, that's all the Armada seemed to care about. She was tired of the hirt that knowledge brought with it every time it was hammered home to her, and she drowned it in anger and seeming apathy, as always.

With the air of every rebellious, angry young teen everywhere Aris slouched down, her forepaws crossed and a challenge in her blue gaze as she met Sedna's eyes.

Ophie was always late on the scene to lessons and meetings. It wasn't as though she went out of her way to be tardy, she simply wasn't as fast as everyone else, nor was she very good at keeping track of time. Tumbling in, better late than never, Ophie offered everyone a friendly tail wag. Her gaze was quick to land on the Ashen Princess, wow it wasn't every day royalty visited! Except it seemed as though Aris didn't share the same point of view and was quick to offer Sedna a snide comment that seemed rather unnecessary to Ophie. "Aris..." Ophie mumbled as she settled down beside her sister, pudgy shoulder smushing against her smaller form. "Thank you for teaching us today I uh-" It was then she saw it, the tiny little dik-dik with a broken leg, bone protruding out of the skin as is struggled weakly. The scent of blood reeked through the air and though Ophie happily ate meat she didn't really like to see stuff like this...It was so gnarly, you know? "What is uh- that for?"

Gossamer spent the week following the pirate's attack curled up in her den. Her ears still burned with embarrassment. She saw herself as a fierce and mighty warrior but it was hard to feel fierce or mighty after a series of defeats. First that annoying Habari boy knocking her out in the first round of yet another tournament and then losing at the paws of an old, drunk pirate. She was starting to wonder if she was the defective child. Wolves might look at Ophelia and scoff but at least Ophelia could win a fight.

Ásta was busying about in the corner of the den, shaping clay for later firing. The fox had assisted swiftly with her wounds, aiding her mother in tending to her. For the first several days she'd been left blind, with bandages wrapped around her face where the pirate's fangs had torn two neat lines across her face. One above her eyes, the other below. At least now the wounds had scarred over and only weeped on occasion when her emotions triggered her facial expressions to pull harshly at the injury.

Gossamer had been about to drift asleep when she heard a call ring out. A lesson for healers? Her head shot up. It was true she was focusing on fighting, ranked as a warrior but lately she wasn't feeling much like a warrior. She felt like a failure. Maybe it would be best to start exploring other options more seriously. Just in case.

Gossamer caught the scent of blood before she even arrived at the gathering. She slowed a bit as she saw the figures of Sedna, Lia, Aris and Ophelia up ahead. With the sting of embarrassment still burning hot in her chest she crept into the meeting, eyeing the prey animal with its broken limbs, her ears perking up. She'd battled many coyotes as a budding warrior and Ásta had used them after the battles to instruct in anatomy and the treatment of various wounds, often the result of Gossamer's attacks. It had been a long while since she'd tried to do anything with broken bones.

She resisted the urge to wince at Aris' comments which she'd just caught as she walked up. She didn't want to be pitted against any of the senior healers and with the recent blow to her confidence was wondering if she really should be teaching anyone. She offered a slight grin to Aris. "Hey easy there, better late than never right? Besides, I clearly need to spend more of my time on fighting as soon as this heals up more." She crossed her eyes for a moment making a dopey face then wincing as the motion pulled at the cuts.

Surprisingly the first student on the scene was an Ashen wolf, who called her Lady of all things. A smirk crossed her lips and she quickly corrected, "Sedna."The next on arrive was Aris, and the Archer met her challenging gaze with a flat one of her own, having been quite similar as a child herself, it would take deeper barbs than that to wound her. Ophelia and Gossamer weren’t far behind, so she decided to address the younger wolves in order. "I’ve always been ‘ere. Everywhere else in th’ world yer expected ter show someone why yer worth th’ time fer teachin’. First lesson is, the world doesn’t owe you shit based on whose vagina yer crawled out of. I’m not here ter nurse yer. Off yer fuck, unless yer here ter learn." She made a dismissive gesture with her paw, hardly expecting the kid to take it. She would be happy if Aris chose jump in and give it a go, after all, this was more about assessing where each of them were so if they chose to seek her out again she could focus in better on their areas of weakness.

To the group as a whole, she raised a brow and gestured to the dik dik, "Well if yer don’t move soon, yer patient is gonna be dead. Yer think a raidin’ pack is gonna stop so I can spoon feed yer the answers? Go!" She wanted to see how they worked as a team, and individually.

"speech".

I've got no doubt that the only way out of this thriller
is if I am a killer too

Sedna was a little snippy in her response but honestly, it was kind of deserved. She was here to share what she knew, not get ribbed at for having a tough time. Swallowing thickly, Ophie was eager to get into the meat of the lesson, to push all the nerve-racking stuff aside and learn, to better herself for the benefit of the Armada. She shot Aris a look, wondering if she was gonna take Sedna up on her offer or settle down for good. Man she really hoped she'd behave.... Please please please Aris. Oh goodness, Senda was right. Their patient was fading and fast! Its movements were slow and sluggish, eyes drooping as its breathing became soft and fluttery. Ophie didn't know much about healing and injuries yet but she knew enough about prey to know it would have run away if it had the strength and ability to. That a broken limb like this could and would kill if they didn't get to work and act as a team. But were they capable of that? Ophie could only try. "Oh um...we need to uh.. Stem the bleeding?" She paced closer, hesitant to touch it, let alone treat the little dik-dik. Oh man this was scary, what if she accidentally hurt it? She didn't want to cause the creature any more pain than needed but...oh um, it was already suffering plenty. "Should I tie this above the wound?" She asked, eager for guidance as she plucked a bandage from Sedna's prepared supplies.

Sedna's remarks stung and they seemed to be directed at all three of the 'misfits'. That's what Gossamer often thought of herself, Aris and Ophelia. The three defects of the second litter. Overweight Ophelia, Aris and her attitude and barbed tongue, and Gossamer who ran away from home and demanded fights from her superiors and ignored rules to attack trespassers. They were a wreck. She swallowed sharply and moved toward their patient but her anger burned hot enough that she leveled a glare at Sedna and a comment dripping in sarcasm. "Well, how gracious of you to randomly change your mind on our worthiness."

In truth though she couldn't lay much blame on Sedna. Last she checked the woman was a warrior. Nothing in her rank indicated that she was responsible for teaching healing and if anything she should be grateful for the lesson. Gossamer tried to cool her temper by focusing on the task at hand. Following after Ophelia. She winced and she spied the compound fracture on the left back leg. She knew what it was but had never attempted to heal such a grievous injury.

She looked to Ophelia and nodded. "Yea, give that a shot. I'll get the moss and pack the wound." After that they could figure out the best way to splint the fractures. The dik dik was getting so weak she wasn't overly concerned with sedating the creature and was wary of anything that could lessen its breathing at this point. She took some peat moss and soaked a few pieces in yarrow to help encourage the vessels to constrict and also ward off infection. Gossamer took the moss and started packing it into the wound. The dik dik thrashed a bit and she settled her weight carefully to pin its side. "Ok, well. The bone can't stay outside, it's got to go back in and we'll need to try and splint it." She was far more familiar with coyote anatomy than a dik dik. Gossamer stretched out her paws trying to feel for the other piece. At least it seemed to be a single break versus a bunch of pieces. Ugh, was she just supposed to punch it through?

Aris' lip curled in a disgusted sneer. "Sounds like an excuse to be lazy, or are you so caught up in your own self importance that you couldn't be fucked to bother strengthening the pack that took you in? No, no, feel free to continue and teach us something since you are so wise." She waved a paw languorously towards the squealing deer thing and the pile of equipment.

But Sedna's next words made her hack out a harsh laugh. Way to make Aris' point for her. This wasn't even a lesson after all. "Wow ok so you aren't actually planning to teach us. Fucking figures!" Rising to her paws and stalking stiffly over to Ophelia and Gossamer, she stood there and cast an eye over the dik dik, making a face as though at the state of the dik dik and not because she was furious beyond words at being fucked over again. "Guess you're teaching us again after all, Goss. What should I be doing?" She had literally a handful of lessons and they'd been learning to identify plants, she wasn't even really taught much in how to actually use them much. She could smell the yarrow in the bandage material Goss was working with, but she didn't have a clue how to do the bandaging that Goss was already doing. She was not up to wound care and she only knew how to cause damage, not fix it. She wondered if the Ashen kid knew anything about healing either, or if they were all just going to hope Gossamer was up to teaching them alone.

Kitsune didn't understand why there was so much drama She was just here to learn, and she felt like she was missing some important context on what was going on here. She eyed them curiously, if also subtle. A Princess did not stare, after all. Curious at the dramas going on in her neighbors lives. Kitsune had yet to train with the Warlord, and nor had other members of the Armada trained her. She was pretty sure it wasn’t her specifically the small wolf was objecting to.

“Lady Fatalis,” Kitsune said quietly. “If you have something to say against myself, or my family, please be forthcoming” she said with quiet patience. She would protect her family name if required, but she also would not start anything unnecessarily. “Otherwise, I would be happy to swap knowledge with you one day” she suggested. A chance for them both to learn of each other. With that warning and white flag delivered, she stepped forward when another Fatalis wolf did. Sedna urged them forward to survey the Dik Dik. This platform of a lesson was very unfamiliar to her, but she did not let her distaste show. She had however had a wolf bleeding out in front of her. One of which had died (by her paws, but best not to dwell on that) and another had a habit of finding himself injured around her. So she wasn’t wholly unprepared for what she was seeing here.

Her knowledge was not much needed however as the larger of the Fatalis children stepped forward and began to take command. The Princess felt a tick start in her jaw at that. She should have taken the first initiative. She should have ignored the drama and turned her attention to the patient, where she was needed. Alas, she could not fix what was done, only make the most of what she had. She stepped forward “Too many paws will leave me underfoot, Lady Fatalis, I shall prepare some pain meds and a means to clean the wound while you pack and bind. Do you agree with this?” the question was more out of politeness than anything else, she had already begun. “If you wish, I could have your hand mixing herbs” she suggested to Aris who needed something to do.


"Speech"

Ophelia was the first to move, and she was just grateful that someone was. Sedna had never really been one to teach others, and her own mother had never really been the nurturing type (more the sort to throw her kids in deep water and just expect them to figure out how to swim) so her lessons had been even more hellfire than this. At least it was a prey animal they were practising on and not an actual patient. A snort left her lips at the venom the kids gave back and she smiled, they would keep after all. "Aww c'mon now, I'm not actually a healer, yer got Mojito ter bother fer that. I don't expect yers ter be psychic or anythin', just thought it might be fun ter have some company for a change." The Ashen kid had pluck too, and a lot more diplomacy than Sedna had shown in her whole life. Maybe it was a koi thing? She would have to ask Hana about it later. She didn't miss the look of disappointment, but it was all part of the learning curve. Act first, ask for forgiveness later in this sort of situation.

There was a smirk on her face when Gossamer hesitated about putting the bone back in so she moved to stand alongside the girl, grabbing the small hoof with her mouth and giving it a violent yank and twist to pull it back within the skin and somewhat into place, the dik-dik screamed weakly with the sudden jerk. Of course, amputation was always a possibility too, but she didn't want to assume that was the way the girl was leaning based on her actions.

"Get yer splint on before it thrashes an' dislodges it again." She offered before moving around, taking note that the others looked to their darker sister for leadership. As far as getting a measure on the kids, they all had potential, if they were willing to put up with her shit-stirring ways that was.

"O' course," she decided to speak up, watching the dik-dik's breaths come shallower, and shallower, its cries growing weaker with each passing moment. She glanced at the antlered girl meaningfully as she mixed her herbs, wondering if she might add a little something extra as she spoke. "Sometimes, yer'll have ter realise that there isn't anythin' yer can do ter save a patient. Sometimes, they might not want yer help, or they might even beg yer ter end 'em. It's just as important ter learn that yer can't save 'em all, as it is ter learn how ter save 'em." She would leave it up to the kids to decide what was the best course of action here. The critter had four broken legs and was deep in shock by now, it was going to die one way or the other. She was happy to move onto bone setting if they wanted to stick around once this part was done.

"speech".

I've got no doubt that the only way out of this thriller
is if I am a killer too

Ophie didn't know what to do. Both in terms of their patient and the mounting tension. She wished people would stop fighting, that everyone would make more of an effort to get along. But Gos was right in thinking they were the three misfits. Briar could do no wrong and Kotori wasn't around enough to get in the way, and being the only male in the litter made him an exception. Like he blended in a little better with the crowd. Maybe that's why Aris lashed out so much, stuck in an them vs us mentality? She tied the tourniquet as tight as she could, yanking the knot with her teeth as she took a step back and saw- her ears flicked back at the awful sound. She really hoped healing wouldn't always be this...visceral, Ophie wasn't sure if she had the stomach for it. Rushing to help Gos with the splint, she picked up a stick offered it to her taller sister, knowing full well it was a good idea to keep a close eye on her. As for Sedna's statement, she understood where the Archer was coming from. Not everyone could be saved, not everyone wanted to be. She supposed it was an important line of thought to understand, to accept not all stories had a happy ending. "Even if they don't want it...I think it's important to try." Ophie murmured, looking down at the dik dik, her hear aching."If they're our pack mates...we need to look out for them."

Gossamer eyed the wound, poking at the dik dik a bit to make it move. Probably not the best idea but she really needed to get an idea of where the two ends of the bone were so that she could place them back together. Her ears burned slightly in embarrassment as Aris asked what she should be doing. Gossamer couldn't help but feel that all eyes were on her. She swallowed sharply. If she was going to be a lieutenant she'd have to get used to the feeling and be prepared to give orders and make decisions even if she wasn't sure of the best course.

"Aris, can you get that valerian tincture, the one with the root in it and give some to the dik dik? We can start with half a drachm." Oh boy, what the hell would she dose something like this? She was about to speak when the horned girl, who looked eerily like Lia, spoke with her strange politeness. Gossamer nodded. "Yea that sounds good. Can you help Aris with measuring out the tincture?" She couldn't be sure if anyone had taught her sister what a drachm was or other units of measurement. She'd touched briefly on her yarrow tea ratio but that was about it.

Gossamer turned her attention back to the compound fracture. At that moment Sedna came over toward her and a swift and violent movement snapped the bones back together. Gossamer winced a bit as the jagged ends of bones moved through the wound. She couldn't tell if it was getting better or worse. She nodded sharply at Sedna's command. "Yep, on it!" She reached for the splints and as if reading her mind Ophelia was right there with the materials they needed. She grinned. "Thanks Ophie!" She carefully aligned the splints on either side then looked to her sister. "Hold these in place while I wrap, please." Gossamer moved to get the hide bandages and then wrapped the splint at the top, bottom and toward the middle to limit the motion enough that they could finish tending to the wound without the bones completely shifting. "Bah… the healing time is going to be terrible for something like this if it survives that long."

She glanced down at the needles and thread and pointed to them before looking to Sedna. "Hey Sedna, how do you use these? Is there a way for wolves to use them?" She'd seen companions use them of course, mostly birds and monkeys but she wasn't sure if a wolf could.

Aris rolled her eyes at the Ashen girl's attempt at diplomacy. It wasn't about Ashen, or the girl herself, who Aris didn't know and probably wouldn't have been any fun to hang out with anyway, so Ari didn't bother answering her. Nor did she bother with any more of Sedna's excuses, having already tuned her out completely. Not having a rank in something didn't excuse someone from offering their skill in it if their pack needed them. Hiding behind rank structure was either sheer laziness or complete obliviousness to the pack's needs, neither of which was acceptable as far as Ari was concerned, considering that it was her who'd suffered for it.

"Yeah, sure," she said to both Gossamer and the Ashen girl's requests from her, grouchily turning to follow the Ashen girl to their provided supplies. She picked through them before finding the tincture with the root, as Goss had asked for. She took a moment to sniff at it and poke at the root to make it swirl around so she could see it better and fix the scent and sight of the root in her mind. Wasn't the same as seeing the whole plant, but at least she'd be able to recognize it in stores now. She used a paw to tilt the container to measure a dose - she was pretty sure the Ashen girl would stop her before she measured out too much - but she jerked her head up when the dik dik screeched at Sedna's mishandling and slopped a bit of the tincture on the ground and her paw. Muttering curses under her breath she shook off the worst of it and wiped the rest on her hip. The noise and subsequent soaking of her paw had unfortunately drawn her attention back to their "instructor", and Aris made a face at the supposed lesson. Ick. That was the point of the exercise? Not like... teaching them how to heal, just teaching them that sometimes they should just give up?

"When you're a pack wolf you don't get to decide you want to die just because it hurts," she said, rolling her eyes. "If the pack needs you, you suck it up and deal with it and do what has to be done." It was a snide, backhanded jab at Sedna's reasoning for not teaching them to be healers, but it was what Aris believed too. Pack wolves don't get to make selfish decisions - they needed to be decisions for the good of the whole pack, not yourself. "Anyway," she added, bringing the valerian tincture over to Goss, swirling it to show the amount in it that she was pretty sure was properly measured, "You don't really know who you can save if you aren't willing to see the battle through to the end. You always lose if you quit. Hey Goss, you think you can show me how to make this tincture later?" she added conversationally, as she tilted the semi-conscious dik dik's head to a reasonable angle and began administering the watery meds. This much at least she knew how to do without drowning the patient, after so much time spent as a kid force feeding random potions to small animals. The potions might have inevitably killed the animal, but at least she'd learned not to drown them. She also let the last little bit of the concoction rest under the wounded prey animal's tongue where it could be absorbed that much faster than through the stomach to give them a little bit of a head start in the pain killing department.

Gossamer agreed to her suggestion, and Kitsune got to work. Pain meds would be very much needed for the poor wounded creature. Even if they couldn’t save it, the less it suffered the better. She thought of another time and another wolf, whose suffering had been avoidable only one way. She swallowed, pushing away the memories. If they caught her in times of stress, they would only make her useless. She needed to work past them.

As she and Aris completed the meds, the smaller wolf took over administering them. Kitsune let her without a fight. She seemed grouchy, and the fire-marked girl wasn’t going to push her luck. If she had been family, or this was home… maybe. But diplomacy was important for the young Ashen girl. Instead, she found herself watching as the other healers finished up the last bit of healing.


"Speech"