his approach is loud, every step heralded by a brittle, rattling cough that rips from his throat like a splintered bark. Ume scowls, though the motion is stilted and twitchy on his face, and clambers over to the edge of a lower pool, over-bright eyes darting across the iridescent surface with brisk assessment. his throat itches, a maddening sensation that refuses to fade, and his nose is so congested he’s taken to breathing almost exclusively through his mouth. it’s near-tortuous, and it prevents the boy from retreating to his usual absent daydreaming. instead, he’s remained firmly rooted to reality, stuck in the present moment by the discomfort plaguing him even worse than those fleas had.

lowering his chin, Ume laps up as much water as he can fit in his mouth, swallowing each cool sip with increasing desperation. alas, no matter how much he drinks, that damnable itch remains, and the boy feels about ready to remove it just for the sake of some peace. Ume cocks his head at the thought. could one do that? remove a throat? the idea is ludicrous; a throat was a crucial part of the neck, after all, and how would one swallow without it? but it’s diverting enough that he doesn’t think about the snot running down his face for a full minute. unfortunately, he’s wrenched cruelly back into the present when a particularly wretched sneeze wracks his body, shuddering through him from ear to tail tip. Ume glances down at his reflection and finds a rather forlorn teen gazing back, eyes and nose red, a sad little scrunch to his brow. he looks small, and more than a bit pathetic. is this what dying looks like? it rather feels like it.

wc: 289/1500

Hidden behind the tumbling water, tucked neatly into his den, Bancha sleeps quietly. As of late, since the turn of winter into spring, sleep had not been coming easily. Sneezes rip from his muzzle, forcing his head to shake away the snot that dribbles from his nostrils. His eyes are itchy and red, his lungs wheezing quietly. With the surge of spring and warmer weather, the trees and grass surroundings them had bloomed with massive outbursts of pollen. Pollen that apparently was bothering not just him, but others as well.

Over the crackle of his small fire that warms a clay kettle he’s crafted recently, he can hear someone slurping and sneezing just outside of his den. A floppy ear lifts first before his head as he tries to peer out through the falling water to see who it is. The figure is murky, but it looks to be his brother, Umeshu. Was Umeshu feeling the same affliction as he was?

With a sneeze that forces a ripple through his body, Bancha stands from his furs and wanders out to the hidden den’s opening. Peering out, his teal eyes confirm that it is indeed Umeshu. Bancha’s tail wags a few times as he lets out a calling bark to his brother. “Come, come,” he says over the rumble of the falls. “ I might have something for that in here,” Bancha smiles but it is soon interrupted by another sneeze that irritates him enough to duck his head and rub his face with his paw.

“Ugh,” Bancha groans, turning back into the den, hoping his brother will follow. Coming to sit beside the fire where the water has just begun to boil, he waits for Umeshu to come sit as well before starting to brew anything.

BANCHA

Wc: 296
Total: 585 / 1500

Ume perks his head up, temporarily drawn from his misery by a familiar shape. ah, Bancha. rising on heavy legs, Ume sniffles his way to Bancha’s side, almost knocking into the boy with the force of his sneeze. “can noses come off?” he wonders, red-rimmed eyes blinking owlishly at his littermate. snot sluices down his muzzle, gathering along his upper lip. “like, can, can a sneeze just knock it right off your face? cause i’d like that.” another sneeze, this one sending a spray of mucus flying. Ume emits a displeased little grumble and rubs at his nose, one white ear flopping comically through the air. slumping back on his haunches, he stares, unseeing, into the fire and waits to be tended to.

healing seems to come more naturally to Bancha, and Ume is certainly in no mood to play doctor when his own senses are so…blunted. it’s a terrible discomfit, like being blind or death. Ume decides, rather firmly, that he does not care for it. “this ish worse than those - achoo! - fleas,” he complains, gazing morosely at his feet. he still recalls that strange encounter sometimes, the purple girl with the foreign scent, their shared misery over those hateful bugs. he thinks about her sometimes, if she ever managed to rid herself of her itches. hell, had he? or had he simply learned to live alongside them, an unknowing host? grimacing, Ume stretches to examine his pelt, ignoring the strangeness of such a gesture. Bancha would understand, if he could bothered explaining it, because everything he was doing made perfect sense. but he couldn’t be bothered explaining it right now. so he wouldn’t.

wc: 862/1500

Though healing came easy to Bancha, he would never judge someone for being less than himself. In Bancha's mind, everyone was pretty much equal and if they wished to learn, he would help to the best of his ability. On the surface, he saw how his brother wanted to learn, but perhaps there was something stopping him. Confidence maybe? Or something else? Bancha hadn't really taken the time to get to know his litter mates which was poor sport on his part, but he had also spent much of his puphood too sick to ever leave the den. Those precious bonding moments had been spent with their fathers instead, losing that time period when bonding had been so important.

The thought of that, as he looks at Ume, causes a sigh to escape his lips. Well, there was no better time than now, right? If he wanted to make a connection with his brother and look forward to a happy future where he could count on his family, helping out Ume would be a good first step. With the allergies afflicting him as well, Bancha had already been looking into causes and remedies. From what he had gathered by asking the older wolves in Obscura was that these allergies were quite seasonal. Apparently, they were the worst during the spring, but could happy any time nature decided to bloom and let loose its pollen into the air. So really, it was pollen that was the culprit. Inwardly, Bancha wondered why it bothered wolves so much more than other animals, but no one really had an answer for that. But now that he knew a cause, he would search out a remedy for it.

Looking to Ume as he sneezes and comments about his nose falling off, Bancha smiles lightly and lets out a quiet laugh. "Unfortunately, I do not believe that our noses can just fall out," he teases back, turning then to the fire that warmed the clay pot and allowed the water inside to bubble and steam. With the sound of the water coming to a boil, he knew it was time to add the herbs and plants he needed that should help alleviate their symptoms. Covering another sneeze with his paw, he makes sure to turn away from his brother so he doesn't get any snot all over him. Once he's recovered, he gets up and wanders over to his little stores and gathers a few different herbs. In a little basket, Bancha places nettles, goldenrod, garlic, rosemary, and turmeric. Not only would these plants be natural antihistamines, but they were also anti-inflammatories and could help relieve the excess snot and difficult breathing.

Bringing the plants over to the pot, Bancha works quietly as Ume mentions allergies being worse than fleas. "Fleas are easier to treat," he comments as he quickly grinds up the roots and leaves, mixing them thoroughly together. Once the herb mixture is complete, he wraps it in a thin cloth that will allow the hot water to penetrate it, allowing the herbs to steep without contaminating the water with too many chunky bits. Dropping it into the pot, Bancha sits back, covering another sneeze before sighing once more. Allergies definitely were exhausting and even moving around his den took a lot of energy out of him.

"We just need to wait a few more minutes then we can have some tea. It should help take away some of the symptoms and make us a little less miserable," Bancha gives Ume a hopeful smile and even a few thumps of his tail against the dirt and stone floor. "I put a blend of nettles, goldenrod, garlic, and turmeric into the water. I'm hoping the combination of plants won't taste too terrible together," there is a quiet laugh at the end of the sentence as he looks his brother over. Would his aspiring healer sibling agree on his chosen herbs or perhaps was there a better choice he hadn't thought of?

BANCHA

total: 1528 / 1500