the sun dawns bright and warm, casting golden rays over Jamie's mountainous home. the sky is a clear, vast blue, void almost entirely of clouds. on any other day, it'd be enough to coax Jamie from the mouth of her den the second Mama allowed it. but today, the itch weighing perpetually on her lungs has increased two-fold, and the girl is too ashamed of her frequent coughing to approach her littermates. they won't want her participating in their games, not when she can scarcely go more than two minutes without making a racquet. Jamie sniffs at the thought, eyes trained on the book in front of her. whatever. she'd rather read, anyway - the characters in her books are way more interesting than her immature siblings. but as she turns the page, a cough tears itself from her throat, stomach muscles aching with force. Jamie scowls and shoves the book away, eyes prickling. frustration grips her, works beneath her skin and prickles along her spine. damn it.

"Jamie"

It seemed the terrible blight had finally relinquished its hold on the wolves of the Col. With his tea, the patients could fully rest and regain their strength since they didn't have to fight the tremors and hallucinations as much anymore.

He stepped outside the clinic for a moment to take a deep breath. As he let it out he heard the telltale sign of little Jamie having a coughing fit. He had kicked himself for missing Ignita's birth. But since he had checked on them he had made a mental note to keep an eye on the two girls of the litter. Selene was simply the smallest, but she didn't seem to be in much dire straights as Jamie. Jamie had a familiar symptom to him.

Oleander starts to wander up to where he can hear her frustrated cough. When he sees her it's just when she pushes her book away with a force he knew all too well.

Without saying much he lightly pads over, grabs the book she had been reading, and peruses where she left off.

"Oh, I liked this one when I was sick too." He said as he sat down on his elbows by her. putting the book between them.
"I always felt like I was missing out on everything when I was little." He mentioned as he placed his paw in the book and looked at the paragraph.

"Speech"

as the fit subsides, Jamie becomes aware of a familiar presence settling beside her. glancing up, she meets uncle Ollie’s green gaze, little face twisting into a scowl of displeasure. “it’s not fair,” she sighs, slumping against him. his fur is soft, and she rests her head against his flank, needing the physical comfort. “everyone else can do anything they want, all the time! but sometimes…” their voice lowers, eyes averting with a rush of shame. “sometimes i can’t even…get up. Mama has to stay with me all day.” she’s not quite old enough to be cognisant of that feeling, that choking fear that she’s a burden, but - it isn’t fair on Mama either, is it? what is she really wants to go out and play while Jamie’s sick?

Jamie sits up suddenly, a thought occurring. her expression brightens, tail thumping excitedly along the ground. “hey, uncle Ollie, you’re a tama spesh-specshalisht. can you make me better? then i can finally beat Bal and Iska in a race!” she doesn’t realise that if Ollie had had the power to, he’d have cured himself; in her eager mind, the solution makes perfect sense.

"Jamie"

As she slumps into him he listens to a litany of all too familiar laments. He nods, pulling in his lips and expressing the appropriate amount of oofs and sympathetic sounds, and exclamations.

He was just about to open up on something when she bolted upright and excitedly asked him to make the magical potion he had begged his mother to make on many occasions.

"Oh, kiddo" He sighed with a sympathetic smile, "Believe me, I have tried. I was just like you as a kid. Sitting beside my mama for ages while my siblings played on without me. It sucked. At least we know enough about it now to keep you from getting as sick as I did a few times. I nearly died!" He said with an emphasis, his eyes widening. Hopefully, it conveys how much worse it could be. She still had time though for it to turn further against her.

"If I can come up with a proper cure for this, you'll be first in line, I promise. But one day, I'm sure you'll be fighting polar bears just like I do." He said, ruffling the fur on her head.

"Speech"

Jamie deflates the moment Ollie looks at her like that, all sympathy and gentle reproach. she knows that look, already has extensive experience with it despite her young age. her shoulders droop, a scowl forming between her lowered brows. “oh.” a frustrated cry works it’s way up her throat, but she swallows it back down. it’s not Ollie’s fault, after all. it’s not anyone’s fault, though she’d have rather liked someone to blame in this moment. for a moment, she sits in sullen silence, stewing in her own misery. she feels as though she’s drowning, submerged in a sea of helplessness. how can she ever serve her family, her pack, when she’s so weak? but Ollie’s mention of fighting polar bears brings a spark of hope back into that dual-coloured gaze.

“then…could you teach me?” asks the girl, fixing her uncle with big pleading eyes. “i wanna be a fighter just like you! i wanna know all the moves you do and take down big scary predators all by myself!”

"Jamie"

It was like looking back at himself. Her quiet oh and wanting to give up anything in the world to not feel like this. The desperate clawing at a life slipping out of your paws, slated only to watch it run on without you. A spectator for what life could be if she had the energy to run with it.

Thankfully, her bright gaze turned back to him with pleading in her liquid amber and sapphire eyes.

"Of course, I'll teach you!" He exclaimed, his white tail bouncing behind him. There were quite a few things he could teach her without overwhelming her physical body. She certainly seemed to have a better presence of mind than he did when he was her age.

"There's this spot, on every big scary predator. It can be quite difficult to get to depending on the opponent, but I've found it's easiest on bears. Especially when they rear up all big on two legs!" He rose up on his four paws and pretended to be a big polar bear, swaying his head back and forth, then lifted his thin frame up on two legs to balance playfully and menacingly over her.

He couldn't hold the pose long and in another breath, he was on four paws again. He reached up on himself and pointed to the join of his arm and torso. "This spot is very sensitive. Now don't go for this spot when you're sparring or aiming to just dominate your opponent. This spot and this spot," He pointed to where his leg joins his body, the skin thin and stretchy. "Are very important to helping us and them move. But when sliced or bitten they can really hurt and debilitate your enemy. Might even bleed a TON." He added for oomf. "I don't want to hear you going for this spot on your siblings though okay? It's only for when you're really gonna hurt something, like kill 'em. It makes it harder for them to move and react to the fight."

"How'd you like that?" He asked sitting back on his haunches.

"Speech!"

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