sit in the sand and turn the tide
Lukina!
Leading the way around the edge of the mangrove swamp, the young healer tried to avoid the muddier regions. Poor girl didn't need to be covered in dirt and muck after what she'd already been through. Bug had turned to sit backwards on his companions hips and stare wordlessly at the strange girl, for whatever reason. He never trusted strangers, but he also didn't trust big strangers with mysterious histories who his idiot wolf friend decided to cart home on a whim. Blank, wide set eyes stayed fixed on the pale fae while the healer skirted the worst of the mud pockets until the ancient maple came into view. "Home sweet home," he sighed, gaze traversing the brightly hued leaves that were slowly beginning to drop from the canopy of his beloved maple, littering the clearing and creating a soft bed over the loose, sandy substrate. With the sun beginning to set over the thick canopy of the mangrove, it threw even more firey hues over the brilliant leaves of his tree. Bug flung himself awkwardly from Bog's hips when the small wolf stepped onto the soft bedding of the clearing, and hopped towards the little mud puddle that was lovingly tended and upkept nearby for his comfort. "You're welcome to make yourself comfortable, I'll get the fire goin' and then I've gotta go grab the fixin's for dinner." he drawled, glancing over his shoulder with a grin. With a cheery swing in his step, the healer vanished into the mouth of his den in search of his flint and striking platform, as well as some of the tinder he kept in one of his precious glass jars that still had a lid. Even when the air got humid, the tinder stayed nice and dry. It was a mixture of dried witch hair lichen, shredded birch bark, and some of the cottony fibres he'd traded for a season or two back. He kept it stocked with whatever he happened to have on hand, he didn't have the luxury of being picky about tinder. With those things clutched awkwardly in his jaws, he reemerged in the clearing where he hoped the young girl had decided to settle down. He dropped the glass jar carefully, and then placed his firestarter next to it in the sand and trotted to the area behind his tree in search of some kindling. Firewood was hard to collect in a swamp, everything was so damp all the time. He tended to bury his firewood in loose sand and hoped that the worst of the drizzle would be warded off. With a mouth full of small and mid-sized sticks, the young healer trotted back towards the fire pit in the middle of the clearing and dropped the bundle into the middle of the circle of stones. "So pinkie, what are you thinkin' for dinner?" he asked lightly as he settled a small pile of tinder atop the kindling and arranged the small sticks into a sort of ring around the fluff. In case a sudden breeze came through, it would hopefully keep the embers from dying. It always took him several strikes to get the fire going, his paws weren't especially nimble and his skills hadn't been given the time required to develop into the easy grace of his mothers' firestarting abilities. He fed small scraps of leaves and twigs to the ember until it took to the kindling, and settled back on his haunches with a heavy sigh. Verdant eyes lifted to the pale features of his guest with a warm smile, trying to seem like a happy host and a friendly face to offset the sorrow that seemed to still be hiding in those cherry red eyes, maybe offer her some reprieve from her trauma for a few moments. |