Home kind of sucked at the moment. Most of his littermates had scattered to the wind and their father was… gone. Taken, by the Long Night. He just didn’t really feel like facing it much. So he wandered around the territories of Boreas, exploring, gathering herbs, and brushing up on his fighting skills. Feeling more than a little lost, groundless.

He'd gotten into a pretty good tumble with a jaguar a few days before, but he was still too prideful to go home. He limped slowly through the willow trees, sniffing about for any familiar herbs. The rough binding of his front knee occasionally leaked with the jostling of his stride, as the late afternoon sun faded across the horizon.


"Senryū Cavaliere-Klein"

Halo had been busy, incredibly so. With the task Sirius had given her, there was a renewed purpose to everything she did. The tenderhearted girl did so well when there was an objective at hand, and she had something to focus on. Something to do. The do part was something that the girl was extremely well suited for. Busy. Busy suited her well. The pale healer thrived with work. As the days went on and she bustled through her check up list, she couldn't help but feel a small sense of pride in accomplishment.

However, with so many wounds to clean out, Halo had gone through most of her stores of witch hazel. No matter, she'd simply slip away and collect more. It was easy enough for her to go into the woods, checking the filtered shade as she walked. Her raccoon friend moved along with her, not too far away, a basket clutched in his paws. It still held some of her supplies from the day's rounds, but she hadn't wanted to stop back at home and empty it. A few odds and ends, nothing special. The raccoon had come to trust her, and for that, Halo was glad. Still, sometimes he was flighty around strangers... she didn't blame him.

As she moved through the woods, a long shadow cast her eye. Halo paused and squinted... that shadow wasn't moving quite right. The pale girl weighed her options, but it was no use. There was no way she'd simply ignore the shape, especially if the caster of said shadow needed help. She moved carefully, peering around one tree and then the next, finally seeing the man as she looked around the third. He was tall, dark, with white markings, and she was right-- he was limping. At her distance, Halo assessed him, catching a glimpse of a tattered binding around one of his forelegs.

"Excuse me... sorry, um," damn, she was never going to get better at the whole approaching strangers thing. "Your leg, are you okay?" That was a dumb question. Still, Halo is sheepish as she speaks, trying to keep from tripping over her words. Her pulse rose. Why was this so hard? The meek healer couldn't keep the concern from her gaze or her voice as she spoke to the stranger. Halo stopped outside a comfortable distance, ready to run if need be-- it's hard to know how anyone will react when they're injured, after all.

"Halo"

Sen blinked, head jerking up at the sound of a voice. Instantly on guard, he spread his legs and stared down the threat. Pushing weight onto his injury in an attempt to hide his weakness. He began to peel his gums past his teeth, the go-lucky wolf on edge these last few weeks. And… the ball of snow was half his size. Eyes as soft as a field of lavenders disarmed him.

He blinked a few times, relaxing his stance. Lifting his weight off his forepaw with a barely concealed grimace. “Oh, uh… sorry.” He said, a little embarrassed. He looked down at his leg, which was bleeding even more heavily now. “Shucks.” he grunted, yanking on the tattered bandage with his teeth in an attempt to tighten it over the wound. “Had a run in with a nasty jaguar” he explained. ‘Cause he wasn’t no whimp or anything.

"Senryū Cavaliere-Klein"

The flash of teeth, the guarded posture, the way he stood-- Halo took a large step back, and then another. She stumbled as she stepped, her heart racing in her chest. All she could think of was the Warlord's training, disarm and then run. Was she fast enough? His legs were so long and--

And he softened. Halo's pulse returned to something that resembled the normal anxiety around meeting someone new. Though still worried about pretty much everything, the girl was able to relax just a little as the man did. He wasn't going to eat her. Still, the man was tall (tall like Mortis, like Sirius) and could pose a threat if he needed to. The tenderhearted girl only hoped that he wouldn't need to. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," her voice was soft.

A jaguar, Halo thought back to her first day in Boreas, and the cat that she and Sirius had encountered. She still had nightmares about it sometimes. It was bleeding, soaking through the unravelling bandage. Her forehead creased, and Halo took a single step forward with her head still low. "I'm a healer," the words came gently. "Do you mind if I take a look?" With the state of the man's bandage, it was an infection waiting to happen.

"Halo"

He wasn’t the most observant wolf around, but even he could see the way he had frightened her. His eyes softened even more, ashamed that he had let himself get all worked up, and scared the poor woman. “I think I startled you more.” He pointed out, going for a light grin. The cheeky youth he had been peeking through, just a little. “Sorry about that by the way. It's been… it's been a rough few weeks.” Understatement of the year.

“Uhhh…. Sure, go ahead. Maybe I could learn something from it. I got some training as a pup, but I’m not where I should be on it.” He explained, having always found running head first into fights far more interesting then hanging around after and patching people up. He was beginning to realise that there might have been some benefit in paying more attention to those lessons.

He settled down on the grass beneath the swooping shade of a willow tree. Inviting her to come closer without the towering Abaven wolf giving her any more reason to worry.


"Senryū Cavaliere-Klein"

He wasn't wrong, but all Halo could do was offer a meek smile. She was sheepish, but there was just a bit of a glimmer in her soft lavender eyes. "It's okay," she assured him. "Do you want to talk about it?" A quiet invitation-- sometimes those things helped. Even if she was a stranger, at this point Halo was a mostly-qualified emotional support animal.

Some healer training, but not much-- Halo could work with that. Her tail twitched, a bit of a wag, as she moved carefully towards him. Wait where was-- hm. The pale healer paused for a moment, turning to whistle over her shoulder and peer into the woods. The pale raccoon reappeared from around a corner, and she had to giggle. "Where did you get off to, silly thing," she greeted her friend with fondness, gently taking the basket as they approached where the man lay.

"This might be a bit uncomfortable," she apologized. With gentle, practiced movements she removed the wrapping from the wound, examining it carefully. "How long ago did you get this injury?" Now that it was exposed to the air, Halo was even more careful. She pulled a long-vacant turtle shell from her basket, handing it to her raccoon friend. "Fill this please," she sent him off for water and returned to her examination. "Do you feel any warmth or numbness around the wound?" She was careful, not wanting to disturb any of the dried blood without water to wash the area.

"Halo"

He blinked at the offer, the still fresh pain of it tightening his lips. “Can you bring back the dead?” he asked dryly. He didn’t think talking about it would do anything more than upset him all over again. The last thing he was going to do was get all weepy-eyed on some stranger.

He raised an eyebrow when she whistled over her shoulder. He didn’t get up, but he did look warily until her companion came into view. Wouldn’t it have been ironic if she had been tramping around the wounds with a jaguar at her heels?

“It’s fine” He said as she explained how it might be uncomfortable. He gave her access to his leg and didn’t interfere as she removed the crappy binding he had put into place. “Two days ago” He explained, peering forward to see what she saw. The wound did look rather ugly. Four ragged tears just above his right knee where that shit-faced cat had clawed him. They were somewhat deep, and a little crusted over. He really hadn’t done a great job of caring for the wound. The days had blurred together a little… he was a mess, wasn’t he? Too afraid to go back to Abaven and face his fathers grave. Too vacant-eyed to care for his body. He sighed.

"Senryū Cavaliere-Klein"

The pain of loss, that would make sense. It was a shared pain across all that had been touched by the disease, and Halo sighed lightly. Alas, she couldn't bring back the dead, but after a moment of thought she rummaged within her basket. "I can't, but I have something that can help ease the pain in your heart and in your knee, if you'd like." A little cannabis wouldn't hurt, and it had done a reasonable amount to help quell her anxieties when things got really bad. If the man wanted, she'd be happy to provide.

Two days... she hummed to herself, concern coloring her soft features. As the raccoon returned to her side, Halo spoke to him quietly. "Pour a bit here, please, and here," she directed him, gently touching the wound as she cleared away the dried blood that had crusted in the man's fur. Four ragged claw marks, certainly not shallow, beginning to knit at the edges but still bleeding slowly in the middle. "I'm going to apply pressure to this to stop the bleeding, it's probably going to hurt, I'm sorry," her words were quiet.

Using the cleanest part of the old wrappings she could find, Halo applied gentle pressure to the now somewhat damp wound. Depending on how long it took the bleeding to stop, she'd be able to decide on the next best course of action. At least it wasn't warm to the touch, and didn't seem to be infected yet. Still, he wasn't out of the woods yet. It occurred to the pale creature that she'd been rude-- "I'm Halo, by the way." Right, it had been all hey let me see your leg and oh gosh please don't eat me, and there hadn't been much time for introductions.

"Halo"

He half wondered if she was going to try and pry further. His sarcastic response had been made in an attempt to shut down her attempt, but there was a kindness about her that made him wonder if she would be able to. So it was a pleasant surprise when she not only didn’t pry, but offered him something as well. “Sure, why not” he said. Perhaps he shouldn’t take random drugs from strangers, but she had nice eyes. And his heart really, really hurt.

She rummaged in her bag again and handed it to him. He didn’t hesitate to pop it down the hatch, and hoped it numbed as advertised. “So. What kind of side effects should I expect, anyway?” probably a question he should have asked first. But, oh well.

He watched as she poured water onto sections of his wound. Cleaning away the crusted blood, and fully exposing the claw marks. Darn cat. If he could kill it twice, he would. He grunted as she pushed on his wound. Damn, but that did hurt. “Nice to meet you, Halo. you often get handsy on a first date?” His dry humour was mostly his shield to hide all sorts of pain at the moment. “I’m Senryū, but people call me Ru. Or Sen. Whatever your feeling.” Now he was babbling. He shut up, and watched her work.

"Senryū Cavaliere-Klein"

He took the herbs willingly, and the girl considered doing the same. No, she'd wait for now. Patients to treat, and she'd be of sound mind while she did. Still, it would be helpful to take the edge off of her anxiety for the rest of the day, depending on where it took her. "It should bring on some relaxation, as well as dulling any of the pain from the wound. I find it helps with lowering any lingering anxieties. It ah, it may make you hungry, but we'll handle that if it comes." Though by no means a skilled hunter, Halo could take down a couple hares without much effort. That, or she could see about asking the Warlord if she could bring him home for the night... a bridge she'd cross, if they came to it.

"Sorry," she apologized once more as the boy grunted. His humor made her giggle, eyes glimmering lightly in the low light of the setting sun. "It's nice to meet you, Sen." The words were soft, and her gaze moved back to the wounded leg in an effort to hide the blush that was otherwise shining on her face. Carefully, she lifted the bandage away, nodding to herself as she did. The bleeding had stopped, clotting at the heart of the damage. "I don't see any outward signs of infection, which is good. No draining, no pus, it's not hot to the touch," she explained. If he wanted to learn, she'd be happy to teach.

"With the skin starting to knit back together around the edges on its own, I don't want to risk stitches. It'll disrupt the natural healing process and cause more trauma to the site of the injury." If it had been two days ago, though, she would have been dragging him back home to Sedna and asking her help to put him back together. Still, the body could handle a lot of things on its own. "I'm going to put some honey on it, which will help with the healing, and I'm going to wrap it." It was a soft explanation, moving to rummage in her basket for the small jar of honey from her bees.

With the help of her raccoon friend she removed the lid. "Sorry, this won't feel nice either." It was a gentle apology, applying the thick, golden liquid gently to the wound. Gently enough to not disrupt the tenuous clotting, and to not cause further pain to Sen where he lay. "I want to let this dry for a bit before I cover it back up." she nodded at her handiwork, offering the man the rest of the clean water from the makeshift bowl. "I'm surprised you were walking on that leg as well as you were," Halo commented softly, fretting over the extent of the wound itself.

"Halo"

Relaxation, and dulling pain and anxiety? Sign him up! Why hadn't he found this stuff earlier. He would have to get her source or something later. Maybe he could patch up his internal holes with the stuff. She apologized as he grunted, and giggled at his wry humor.

He forced himself to pay attention as she focused on his wound and explained what she was looking for. "Alright then," he said. More to show he was listening then anything else. "Mm. Yum" He mused as the smell of honey filled the air. She slathered it on and he hissed at the feel of it. He leaned back against the willow tree with a sigh. Life really hadn't gone the way he had expected as a pup, had it? "So where are you from, Halo?" He asked, realizing they would need to kill some time together if she didn't want to cover his wound right away. "I guess." He responded, furrowed his brows at her. What else could he have done? If he hadn't walked on it, he wouldn't have gotten anywhere.

While Halo wouldn't promote addiction, she certainly understood the draw that the cannabis had. It was hard for her to not use it as a crutch to prop up her shortcomings, especially interpersonally.

Yum, the man commented, and Halo thought for a moment before dabbing just a bit of honey on the back of his opposite paw. "For being a good sport," the pale healer explained with a soft smile. She did the same to her own before handing the jar off to her companion to be closed tight, and put away. "I'm from the Armada," she spoke as she settled beside the boy, leaving more than a necessarily friendly space between them. Wouldn't want to be presumptuous, after all.

"How about you?" Halo licked at the honey on the back of her paw, tail wagging softly. She couldn't help but be proud-- her very own bees, and they'd done a good job. It was also nice to have something to fidget with so she didn't have to make eye contact. "And I just mean... um, you're tough, is all." Halo was sheepish, flustered, but that was okay. Still, she refused to look up at Ru in the moment.
"Halo"

He laughed in surprise as she dabbed a little honey on the back of his paw. He looked at the sticky mess for a moment, and then across to her twilight eyes. Grinning when she gave her own paw the same treatment. “Cheers” he said, holding out his paw to see if she would knock it against his. Whether or not she did, he would lift his paw to muzzle and lick at the mess. It was sweet and sticky, and did a lot to improve his mood. Or perhaps that was the drug she had given him kicking in. His aches were already feeling a little fuzzier.

“I’m from Abaven… I guess” he said, his brows furrowing. “If they still want me.” he’d been gone a long time, and he’d abandoned his older half-sister after their fathers death. It was entirely possible he wasn’t welcome home anymore. “But that's more than I plan to share” he said openly. Was his mouth still moving? That was weird. He really ought to shut up now. “The Armada is that tough-stuff pack, right? Do they have many tiny cute healers?” and wait, had she called him tough? He sat up a little straighter.

"Senryū Cavaliere-Klein"

Halo gently knocked her paw against Ru's, unable to hide the shine of a blush from her face. Oh heck... the contact with the man felt strange, but not a bad strange. Just... well, the pale creature didn't know how to process it, how to feel. Strange, but good strange. Halo was unsure about how exactly to handle herself, and all she could really do was sheepishly avert her gaze to the honey on the back of her paw.

If they still want me, the words resonated with her in a way that Halo wouldn't bring up. This wasn't about her. Her gaze flickered to his face ever so softly, her chin resting on her now-clean paw as he spoke. Was he a fugitive, or just a boy who was going through something with his parents? Halo didn't want to ask. She knew all about the troubles with parents, that was for sure. His next words though, Halo couldn't help her reaction. Her eyes went wide, and she was left speechless and blushing, not used to the compliment. "That's pretty accurate, yeah, um," Halo floundered.

"I, uh," oh heck what does she even say? "I think I'm the only one," she finally squeaked out, thoroughly flustered. Halo climbed to her feet to rummage in her basket for a few long pieces of rawhide. They weren't necessarily ideal, especially being a bit rough around the edges still, but they'd do for now. Her heart pounded in her chest as she finally turned back to Sen. "We should um, check and see if the honey has set," oh gosh could her heartrate calm down please? Heck, it was probably loud enough that he could hear it. The proximity she needed to be in to treat him, too... it was just a lot to process.
"Halo"

He hadn’t expected to render her speechless. For the most part, he was mostly just babbling. Whatever popped into his head seemed to be running straight out of his mouth. He grinned a little shyly however at her embarrassment. “One of a kind. Nice. I think us tough guys are a dime a dozen” he teased.

He sat up a little as she got to her paws. Had he scared her off. He opened his mouth, wondering if she would offer an apology, when he realised she was only going through her basket. He closed his mouth again, and simply watched her instead. He wondered if turning to healing-things helped to settle her nerves. He resolved to be a good boy, and not upset her any further. Assuming of course he could get his traitorous mouth under control. “Sure, go ahead” he said, raising his paw a little to give her more leverage to wrap it.

"Senryū Cavaliere-Klein"

Halo was able to get her bearings as she moved to wrap Sen's wound. "Generic tough guys are, maybe," she mused, finally able to breathe again. "The nice ones are hard to come by," her tone picked up a more playful lilt, an unusual bit of playfulness shining through. What had gotten into her? Softly, she touched the edge of the honey that she'd set on Ru's wound. It was set, dried to the point where it wouldn't stick to the wrapping and cause more damage when removed. Good.

With gentle, careful movements, Halo wrapped his leg. Her closeness to the boy was still enough to make her feel... maybe a bit strange. Not bad strange, though, with her somewhat-scattered thoughts. "Is this too tight?" Halo didn't realize just how close she was, upon looking up into his face to check in. Oh heck. Still, she couldn't necessarily move away, not as she hadn't secured the wrapping yet.

"Halo"

She found a little bravery and teased him back. He gave her a gentle, encouraging smile. Enjoying the spunky side of the shy little healer. He held still, having gotten a little bit of a read of her now. She was kind and gentle, but also shy and easily embarrassed. He didn’t want to startle her while she was wrapping his paw.

He was busy watching the wrapping proceed, and didn’t realise how close she had gotten. He looked across at her at the question, adn found her eyes startlingly close to his. He blinked at those huge, soulful eyes. Surprised she hadn’t withdrawn at the close proximity. “Uhhh….” he said, his own brain scattering into the wind. “Yes. Leg. I have one of those.” He twitched, embarrassment colouring his cheeks. “That's to say, the wrapping is fine. Thank you”


"Senryū Cavaliere-Klein"

Halo gently secured the bandage, tucking in the ends, making sure absolutely everything was tidy. Still, as she set Ru's leg down, she almost (almost) didn't want to step away. Being close to him was... it was nice. She'd admit that to herself, nice. Still, she wouldn't budge from her professionalism. The girl moved carefully to begin tidying up the area, though her steps were far from confident. Halo buried the bandages she'd removed, knowing they'd return to the earth without ceremony. Still, it was best that they were somewhere the scent of blood wouldn't carry and attract any unwanted attention. Then she washed her paws in the remaining water from the bowl, and sent her companion off to rinse it clean in the nearby stream.

It was only then that her gaze returned to Senryū. "Do you, um, do you have somewhere to go tonight?" She was shy again. Halo couldn't help it. "I don't want you out here alone, with your leg and all," she was sheepish. There were the guest dens within the Armada, Abaven was an allied pack. Then again, he said he wasn't sure if he was welcome within Abaven... heck. Halo swallowed hard. "Are you in trouble with Abaven... or just family stuff?" He didn't look dangerous. Halo knew all about the issues with family that came with their age, too.
"Halo"

He watched as she carefully tidied up after the healing. Trying to draw some semblance of sanity back to himself. But all he could do was watch her move about, and remember what her eyes had looked like, just a scant breath from his own. He let out a soft sigh, shaking his head and trying to clear it. He felt like he had gotten dramatically side tracked somewhere along the way here. Must have been that drug she had given him, because it definitely couldn't have been because of her eyes.

“I was actually going to find somewhere around here, the Willows looked like they could offer some shelter” he explained. He’d already made it clear he wasn’t heading back to Abaven any time soon. At her question, he realised she was a little worried she was going to get into trouble hanging out with him. He wouldn’t have normally told her, but something was loosening his tongue. “My dad died, and my sister - she rules the pack. I think she’d be upset to see me now, since I wasn’t there. You know, when…” he trailed off, looking at his paws. He could feel the heaviness in his eyes. Oh, god. He wasn’t going to cry was he? He didn’t cry. He sniffed, and then got suddenly to his paws. Just about tripping over as he put weight on his injury and remembered it was there. “Ow!” he yelped, but it did the trick. That feeling like he might cry went away.

"Senryū Cavaliere-Klein"

He'd planned on stashing himself among the willows, and that would have been okay if he'd been in good health. But no, Ru was injured, and she absolutely couldn't let him stay out here on his own. That, and Halo wanted to be able to check on the wound in the morning as well, and she was pretty concerned that he wouldn't be able to feed himself in his current state. Right, that was the whole reason, excluding absolutely nothing. It wasn't like Halo was also maybe looking forward to spending more time with him... ahem.

The loss that had swept across them all in the long night was something that Halo couldn't fathom. He speaks of losing his father, and of his sister... the alpha. Family business was complicated stuff, and Halo had made up her mind. "I want you to spend the night with me--" shit that wasn't what she meant. Still, the boy's pained yelp sent Halo rushing forward. "Careful, don't put too much weight on it, especially all at once." The words came quickly, and she knew that he knew but still. "Just because the pain is dulled, doesn't mean that it's not still a pretty serious wound." Halo explained quietly, moving to Sen's bad side.

"Will you come with me to the Armada borders, please? I don't want you out alone... I'll explain the situation to whoever comes, they should understand," again, she was rambling, but Halo was worried. That, and it was getting dark.

"Halo"