Acacius didn't know much about the ridiculousness of which the world had been plagued with during his birth. The adults were moody and weird, the world was always dark, and every time he went to explore a plant some adult from his pack would quickly swat him away from it, citing danger. Whatever had been dangerous about mushrooms must have been misunderstood somehow, because no sooner did the bright giant star rise once more in the sky was Acacius back to enjoying playfulness and troublemaking without the supervision of frantic, paranoid, shroomy adults.

There were new puppies born within the pack and that was a perfect cover for shenanigans. Acacius slipped beneath the fenced in Range and out into the orchard, chocolate tail wagging as hard as it was able as he attempted puppy's first escape. He had very few plans for what to do once he made it out, but surely there'd be mice or something to track down and nibble on amongst the apples, right?

Acacius did not have to wonder long, for no sooner did he reach the apple trees did he see his nibbleable prey. It was a coyote, seemingly asleep beneath the shade of a nearby tree. The tiny hunter crouched, stalked forward and .. the coyote remained where he was, unconscious. As he crossed the distance he could see the reason for the coyote's trouble - large mushrooms grew from the creatures face and chest, and each breath it took was audibly painful and coarse. This would not do, killing a coyote who was already on it's way out would earn him no respect in Fireside.

Stumped, the pup grabbed a nearby rotting apple and pierced it's skin with his tooth. Then he shuffled over to the 'patient', holding the apple infront of it's panting maw. "You uh, hungry, buddy?" He asked, with a tilt of his oversized head.

Wordcount :316/1500

Théa was still amazed at how much there was to explore in the new lands she’d found herself in. Everywhere she went there seemed to be new sights to see and new wolves to meet, and that was just fine with her. Wolves were interesting creatures who could provide her with all kinds of entertainment, and the more entertainment she could receive, in her book, the better. After all, it was when the woman was bored that she got into the most trouble. Okay, maybe that wasn’t entirely true.

The woman meandered her way through the Orchard, keeping her distance as best she could from the pack border nearby. She was chaotic for sure, but she wasn’t suicidal. Théa knew enough to know that venturing onto packland would earn her some scars, and though she found them inexplicably appealing on others, she rather liked her unblemished fur, thank you very much. If the wolves within those borders wanted to come out to meet her, she would have no qualms, but until then she would steer clear.

Luckily, however, it seemed such a wolf would come out to greet her. Well, not exactly her, but it would do. A young pup, coated in a most interesting looking pelt and with adorable little teeth poking out from their upper lip, was crouched in front of an obviously unconscious coyote. Her brows rose in surprise at the state of the lesser canine, who seemed to have mushrooms sprouting from its very body. She’d never seen anything like it before, but the smell coming from it couldn’t be mistaken: death. The animal was dying, and she knew intrinsically that there was nothing she could do to stop it.

“Hello, mon petit chou, is zis your friend?” she asked, a bright smile on her face as her head tilted curiously.

WC: 633/1500

Italics mean she's speaking French

No matter how insistently Acacius nudged the apple against the coyote's teeth, the creature would not take a bite. He sighed, swatting the rotten fruit away and craning his head around to try and see what else he might be able to use. The approaching stranger barely crossed his mind - after all, he'd yet to meet a 'mean' wolf -, his attention focused solely upon his patient.

The boy's head turned sharply to his side suddenly, staring blankly into the grass there as if he was listening to someone speak. Then after a moment he gave his reply to the empty air. "Nobody ever told me I had to be polite, though." There was another bout of silence as the nonexistent speaking partner took it's turn in conversation once more, bringing Acacius to sigh and reluctantly acknowledge the stranger.

"Hi. This is a coyote, I don't know him, but he's sick and I want to help him." Was that an odd thing to admit? Acacius assumed some adults might find it silly to try and heal a predator who most wolves would surely kill-on-sight, but this could be good practice for his budding healing skill and perhaps even a way for him to stand out against his seven hundred bajillion siblings.

His head turned once more, ear flicking as he listened to the silence at his side. With a nod he turned back to the stranger, giving her a hesitant smile. "You're an adult, do you know how to fix it? Can you help me try?"

Wordcount: 878 / 1500

OOC NOTE: Acacius has an imaginary friend, so yes, he's a little weird and talks to himself (:

Théa thought nothing of the pup seemingly talking to nothing as she approached. Being alone quite often, even with her companions, she talked to herself frequently. Though she’d grown out of having imaginary friends several seasons before, she also knew it wasn’t uncommon for pups to have them. As a healer, she probably should have been more curious as to the child’s mental state, but the green tinged woman was really anything but ordinary, and at best could be described as unconventional.

The boy let her know that it was a coyote and that it was not, in fact, his friend. Even so, he wanted to help it, which the woman found very sweet. Most wolves would, in fact, think it useless to help such a lesser canine, they might even make fun of him for it. But to Théa, a life was a life, no matter the species, and all deserved to die with a modicum of dignity. He turned to her after seeming to consult his friend again, asking her if she could help as an ‘adult’, something she didn’t quite consider herself as, and she struggled to not let her smile falter. Théa was fun and exciting, and she loved being a healer and being able to help others, but this was one of the least fun parts of her profession. But, if the boy was interested in healing, he would have to learn this some day anyhow.

”Sometimes, mon ami, you cannot ‘eal someone. I am sorry to say, but zis is one of zose times. Monsieur Coyote eez very sick, but zat does not mean we cannot ‘elp him. It eez up to you, but I ‘ave somezing in my bag that will ‘elp him sleep for a long, long time. Sometimes, zat eez zee kindest option,” she replied, her smile gentling to an uncharacteristic softness for the normally bubbly woman.

WC: 1204/1500

Italics mean she's speaking French

Acacius' maw dropped open slightly, his head tilting hard to the side as he struggled to comprehend the wolf's thick accent. Was she saying she couldn't heal the coyote? He gave a confused glance toward his imaginary friend to double check he'd heard her right (which apparently he did) and then back to the stranger, blinking rapidly. "Well we have to try." He insisted, his tone half matter-of-fact and half a question. Were all adults so useless?

The pup shook his head and wandered back to the coyote, leaning his head down to it's chest to listen to the ragged breaths. "Do you have something to make him breathe better? That's definitely important to fix first, right?" Exactly as any other pup his age might do when told he is wrong, Acacius very smoothly ignored the wolf's offered euthanasia and directed his attention towards fixing.

After checking it's breathing he began to poke and prod at the mushroom growths, humming curiously as the coyote recoiled in pain. "And something to help make it not hurt as much?" Acacius turned his head back to the healer, staring down at her bag and waiting for her to step up and show him some damn helping-and-not-killing herbs.

1397/1500

It wasn’t surprising when the boy refused her truth, instead opting to try something, anything else. Death was a difficult concept to grasp at such a young age, before one was exposed to the horrible truth of the world: not everything could be fixed. Still, she nodded in acceptance. His suggestions were smart, asking for something for the coyote’s breathing and something for the pain. The woman turned to her back, poking and prodding until she fished out what she was looking for. She turned to the boy, presenting him with a 5 leafed herb, and a flower. “Zis one eez called ‘cannabis’. Eet will ‘elp him with zee pain and make him feel good. Zis one eez called ‘marshmallow’ and should ‘elp him breathe better. You are very smart to know zose are zee tingz to treat,” she complimented.

Getting to her paws, she poked around their surroundings for some rocks before returning and placing them in front of the boy. ”Because he eez not awake, we need to ‘elp him take zee ‘erbs. Put zee ‘erb on zee rock and smash eet, like zis,” she showed, placing the cannabis leaves on the rock and taking another, before using the other rock to grind and press the cannabis leaves into a dryer paste. “Add some water to make eet easier to drink, then pour eet into zee mouth. He will naturally swallow eet,” The woman instructed, taking a leather water pouch from her pack and pouring a bit onto the mushed up cannabis. She gave it a quick mix with her paw before shuffling closer to the coyote. “Open his mouth for me, s’il te plait,” she asked, waiting for the boy to do as instructed before she picked up the rock and dribbled the contents into the animal’s mouth. It’s throat automatically worked to swallow even in its unconscious state, forcing it to ingest the substance.

“Now, you try with zee marshmallow.”

WC: 1739/1500

Italics mean she's speaking French