Coming from the shores, Ashmedai stumbled upon some pack borders. So a pack even lived out here? Ash wondered if he'd considered them lucky or not. They didn't have a lot of competition for resources- sure- but that also meant there was no one to compete with, and that was boring too.

Such an isolated pack, the alpha had to be a genius or an idiot. In a place like this, Ashmedai wondered what kind of natural disasters loomed. How did a pack so far from others react to outsiders? He guessed he'd see.

Ashmedai let out a call to whoever might want to answer it. The alpha would be the most useful, of course, but often the pack members were more honest about the truths in the pack. It was their duty to protect the alpha too, right?

Ashmedai sat and waited to see who would respond first.

Faine could hear a call through the air and her eyes narrowed, well that wasn’t necessarily a call from Dragon now was it? She took in a deep breath and decided that maybe she would go investigate, considering the call seemed rather close. She was inside the castle and the call was from the outside, so she would make her way with her posture neutral. Perhaps this was a call for Dragon specifically or something, no matter, she may as well make a presence just to reassure that this pack was lively and still relevant. And she would slowly approach the individual who sat at the border, “Hello,” she said calmly, she decided to act neutral in case this was somebody of important. “You’ve called for Talis’ attention, is there something you need of us?” she asked, that was all she could think up for now and she was sure Dragon would be here any moment. Walk, "Talk" Think

Someone did come, almost to Ash's surprise. A lot of the other packs had taken a while to respond.

The one who approached was a girl. Not a bad looking girl either. Ashmedai shook his head- now was not the time for that. As she approached, Ashmedai dipped his head, "Mornin.'"

A lopsided smile rose oh the brute's face, "I don't need a ton. I didn't think there'd be a pack all the way down here, y'know? I'm curious. What kinda pack is this? Have you lived here long? I'd love to hear about it. I haven't been in a pack- a real pack- in a while, so it's a little bit of a mystery to me."

Ashemdai smiled again, this time a fuller smile. It was genuine. He really was just wondering about the pack here. There was no malice in his voice or intentions. He was simply, as he said, curious.

Well, it seemed like the male would be nice for now, which was good. Then again, some wolves were good at putting up facade’s so she would be careful still. He even offered a smile too, and then he began to speak. He reassured that he didn’t need a lot from the pack and in fact, he didn’t expect there to be one here anyways. Mainly stating that he was curious and then throwing a few questions into the air. His excuse was that he hasn’t been in a pack for awhile now, so it was a mystery to him. She could relate, she was a nomad most of her life so when she joined Talis it was a mystery to her too, but thankfully she got a hang of it. Part of her wondered why he wanted to know these things, but he wasn’t lying, he didn’t smell like a pack wolf or anything. “Talis is the only pack in Auster from my understandings, and we’re pretty neutral and keep to ourselves because of it.” she said, “I’ve only been around for about a season,” she told him, and she began to wonder when Dragon was going to appear. “Is there anything, in particular, you wish to know? Like… Are you considering joining or something?” That was the part of her that was apprehensive about his presence, but maybe he’d be less vague this time. Walk, "Talk" Think

The female seemed wary still. Darn, that was a shame. She explained nonetheless.

"Auster?" Ashmedai questioned. "Is that here? Well, not the pack, you already said that was Talis, right?" His tail flumped on the ground a few times, "I didn't know here was well... here. Like, it's so far away, I was really surprised. And to think a whole pack is here too."

The female asked if there was something else he wanted to know. She wanted to know if he was interested in joining, "Honestly? Not really. Not right now, but maybe one day. I want to observe the packs I know for a season or two. I want to know what I'm getting myself into."

Ashmedai tilted his head from one side to another, his smile dropping slightly as he focused.
"Okay, yeah, so like, what makes you stay in the pack? What kind of person is the Alpha? Like, what makes you want to be loyal to them and follow them?" Ashmedai let himself ask questions honestly.

"Usually learning those things tells one more about a pack than just asking what the pack is like or what it's ideals are, you know?"

Well the brute seemed pretty clueless about this place but that was okay, she’d just have to work with it anyways. “Yes, this is the region of Auster,” she said. “I suppose, I haven’t traveled to Boreas yet,” she shrugged, and then he said that he actually wasn’t interested in joining and she held back a sigh. Why was he here if he didn’t want to join? Whatever Faine, maybe Dragon will come soon, just be nice and answer all of his questions and maybe he’ll leave in a bit. He seems nice anyways. "I’ve stayed in Talis because the wolf who invited me is rather nice to me, and we’re friends now so I may as well stick around and help out.” she said, “The Alpha is also pretty kind to me too, it’s apparent that he cares for the pack and he’s ambitious too.” she said, “I don’t think there’s a lot of fear in the Alpha,” at least it didn’t seem that way. If Dragon wanted to throw Talis into a raid then so be it, she was all in for it. Walk, "Talk" Think

"Boreas is the other region? Where I live, then?" Ashmedai's voice was questioning, but he was more musing to himself.

Ashmedai caught the sigh the female gave. A bit impatient, wasn't she? Ash's smile grew. He did wonder where the alpha was, but this pack didn't seem to be a darker one, or a tricky one, so as long as he didn't do anything- well- dark or tricky, he should be good.

The female explained that she joined because someone was nice to her. Aww, wasn't that sweet. If only it was always that easy. She said the alpha was pretty kind to her too. Aww, doubly sweet. Apparently there wasn't a lot of fear in the alpha, so the fae claimed. Ash smirked, "So he's either brave or really dumb. I wonder which one my dad truly was when he was an alpha. Maybe brave with a little bit of asshole thrown in. I wonder how the other alpha's saw him." Ashmedai's smile held. He had been so busy idolizing his dad, then being angry at him for Rhythm that he never really knew how his dad was as a normal person. Now his smile faltered, but he was able to bring it back up.

Speaking of pack wolves, that meant they'd have a healer, right? Ashmedai wasn't super good with herbs, and he didn't even know if the same type of herbs grew here. His back paw was still kind of throbbing from when he decided to go rock hopping, and he was pretty sure it was more swollen than before, but maybe that was just how it was supposed to heal? He thought his paws usually healed faster. He kept it clean, but still; he had been traveling.

"Are you a healer or a fighter? Most people in packs seem to fall into one category or another, right? If you're a healer, I might have a tiny injury that's not really healing. It's not a huge deal, but I know nothing about herbs. I mean, I know the whole 'packs stick to packs' and stuff, but I figured I'd ask."

Ashmedai shrugged, bringing his uninjured back paw up to scratch at his ear. Were there fleas down here too?

It seemed like the brute didn’t even know that the other place was called Boreas, where he seemed to live. She nodded to reassure him, she decided to just not judge anymore and such. Who knew his situation, maybe he was forgetful or something, or he simply wasn’t aware for whatever reason. If he wanted all this information she may as well give it to him, she just had to be mindful about it. He then went on to say that Dragon was either really brave or really dumb and her jaw clenched. “He’s brave,” she said, just barely offended to have this stranger walk up to borders and say if Dragon was dumb or not. No, he hadn’t even met Dragon so he had no right to choose either way. Faine knew though, at least from what she had seen so far, Dragon was pretty brave and thoughtful. The wolf then somewhat began to ramble about something with his father and alpha’s and such but she had gotten a bit distracted by his little comment. She decided to just shove it in the back of her mind and continue with whatever this conversation was. He then asked if she was a healer or a fighter and that caught her attention. “Yes, I am a healer actually,” she said and flicked her tail, obviously the injury wasn’t urgent or anything if he seemed to be fine and healthy to her but if it was help that he wanted she may as well offer. She took a step closer to see if he’d allow her to examine whatever that was bothering him, “What’s the injury? I mean… I don’t have a lot of herbs but I can maybe at least prescribe you something,” she said, as she knew any of the herbs that she should have should be going to Talis. Walk, "Talk" Think

Oooh, the woman corrected him immediately, saying the alpha was brave. That was very good to hear. It was nice to know the member, even if she had only been there for a season, had a lot of faith in the alpha.

Huh, so this lady was a healer. It explained her patience with him. She stepped closer, saying she may be able to help. Ashmedai turned and held out his back left paw.

"It's not bad, I don't think. I just scraped it a little and I usually heal by now from what I remember, so I wonder if something was wrong."

On his inner toe and paw pad, a cut ran clear across. The edges weren't fresh, but the inner wound was. It had been cleaned in the morning, but now it filled with grit from walking. It was pretty swollen, causing the separated, healed edges to pucker out slightly. Ashmedai could barely see any of that, much less read it. He just knew it hurt and wanted for it to be better. At the same time, he wasn't about to let a sore paw ruin his spring adventures.

The brute would turn around and showed her his back left paw, and he insisted that it wasn’t too bad. He even said that by now it probably should have healed but it hadn’t so he was wondering if something was wrong. “Okay, let me just take a look at it real quick,” she said and she took a few steps closer, lowering her skull to really examine what he was talking about. Sure enough there was something there across his foot. A nice cut, it had been there for awhile and it was filled with dirt and such because he had been walking on it. “Have you been traveling often? That’s probably why it hasn’t healed yet if so,” she said, “I think I have something that can help though,” she said, she would have to go herb hunting after this to keep her stock up. “Excuse me while I go get it,” she said, and she would turn away for a moment to go to her den to find the medicine for the brute. Walk, "Talk" Think

The woman stepped closer to look at Ashmedai's paw. Ashmedai chanted in his head, "Please don't bite me. Please don't bite me."

She took a little while, but not too long. Ashmedai felt like she was assessing the situation, but she didn't take long enough that she seemed clueless or that maybe his paw was about to fall off.

She asked him if he had been traveling a lot and Ash nodded, "I came here from Boreas, and that was pretty much after I scraped it against a rock. I clean it every night, though."

She said she might have something that could help and then just left. Ashmedai tilted his head. Did she just leave a stranger at the border? Oh well, he wasn't a threat anyway. Ashmedai sat and waited for her return, taking a moment to clean the injured paw.

these stars defy

love

so i close my eyes

The ruby sylph heard him say something about cleaning it every night as she was leaving, she quickly padded across the castle and near the plains where she had set her den. Slipping into it and looking through her low herb stash, there it was, lamb’s ear. She had recently found a place, apparently a garden, where she had found a lot of this stuff so this wasn’t going to be hurting Talis. She could just go harvest some more after this, she grabbed a small amount too because the injury was minor like the wolf had said. She then left her den and travelled back to the brute, walking over and moving closer to him. She put down the herb and looked at him as he was sitting down and cleaning his paw. “I’m going to need to see your paw again,” she said.

words, notes, etc

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As he waited, Ashmedai hummed to himself between licks. It wasn't a particular song, just something he made up as he went along. Eventually the woman came back and said she'd need to see his paw again. She really wasn't all that phased by anything, was she? She seemed almost bothered by everything he did. Well, in that case, time to push his boundaries. Hopefully he wouldn't get bitten.

He turned around onto his stomach and stuck out his back paw. This would be more stable than him lifting it in the air, right? She'd probably tell him if not.

"All yours, cutie," he called over his shoulder with a wink and a lopsided smile. Gods please don't let her bite him.

these stars defy

love

so i close my eyes

Faine flicked her tail as the brute laid down on his back, well that was one way for him to show her his paw. Then she heard his comment and her ears flattened against her skull, well this was the second time a brute had pretty much flirted with her. Alarik was the first, but he was actually pretty nice and such. She decided to just try and ignore it, “You’ll have to keep still, and this might sting a bit because I’m basically shoving some leaves into your cut.” she told him, “But I’ll chew them up, it’ll just make things easier. It’s going to feel weird too,” she said and she grabbed the leaves, chewing them in her maw but not swallowing because she didn’t need them. She then moved closer to his paw, carefully she put let the poultice fall from her mouth and onto his paw. Allowing the poultice to fall into his injury and using her nose to smear it about. She pulled away, her paw swiping the goop off her nose and grabbing another leaf. This time she stuck it on top the poultice as a bandage, a double whammy so not only was the wound going to be treated but also covered so it wouldn’t get dirty anymore and so it was protected from infection.

210 words, ashmedai

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Still not phased. Not fair!

"C'mon, give me some reaction. You act like boys come to your border every day flirting with you and asking to be healed!"

The woman explained the treating process to him. He listened. It was all the same as before with all his minor injuries.

"I may not know herbs, but I'm pretty sure every healer ever applies the same 'I'm gonna spit herbs into your wound then cover it with something sticky,' right? Maybe I'm wrong. What do you do for big injuries? Say I came to you- pretending I was actually in your pack- with my face so chewed up that my eye popped out of it's socket. How do you treat that? Just asking for a... friend. I've seen it happen before, you know?"

Ashmedai made what he considered small talk while the woman treated his wound. He wondered what happened to that male he blinded. Maybe he died from his injuries. Ashmedai doubted he flourished in life after that.

"Or like what if someone gnawed off my tail? Can you bandage that too?"

Ashmedai thought about other battle wounds he had heard of, but he wasn't quite sure. He had seen a lot growing up.

these stars defy

love

so i close my eyes

Her eyes narrowed and she clenched her jaw, “That’s not true!” she retorted, “In fact, it doesn’t happen very often, so I don’t really know how to react.” she explained, that was her true excuse and she honestly didn’t want to talk about it anymore. She didn’t really understand why these brutes whom she just met were suddenly flirting with her. If she was in heat then it’d make sense, but if she was ever going to have a mate it’d have to be somebody who she’s known, like somebody within Talis.

“Well if you were pretending to be in my pack I’d be apprehensive because you don’t smell like Talis, so I don’t see any reason to lie or pretend when that’s obvious.” she said, “And major wounds need immediate attention, especially if it’s from the head area because there is a lot of blood in that area. So the bleeding needs to be stopped, in fact, I would probably try to sedate the wolf so they would be asleep and not deal with the pain.” she explained, “The eye would have to be removed, there would be no use trying to push it back in because it would be useless, and then the rest of the wound would need heavy herbs so it can heal and it needs to be covered up extremely well.” she explained to him, “It’s a lot more than just spitting into a cut,” she added.

“If somebody ripped your tail off, then there would be no point trying to get it back. Which is unfortunate because tails are used for balance and such,” she said, “But the bleeding would need to be stopped once again because it’s connected to the spine, probably give heavy sedatives to the wolf because that’s a lot of nerves so a lot of pain. Treat the wound with herbs and bandage it up too.” she explained. “You can sit up now, I already treated your cut.”

328 words, ashmedai

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ooc//you guys moved quick XD

He'd been incredibly busy the last couple of weeks, and today was no exception. He was preparing for what was to come, and it seemed the pack was more or less ready. He had heard a howl some time ago, but he was unable to answer it right away. He hoped that someone had gone to investigate, because if whoever it was decided to cause trouble due to the lack of his immediate presence (which was rare), then he'd have no choice but to resort to...not so nice things. Luckily for him, however, it seemed that Faine had greeted the stranger. Her scent came from the borders, and with it, the scent of a loner. He hurried on, Kimahri bounding behind him. Upon arrival, he noticed the scent of fresh herbs and a brow rose, did she assist the male with his injuries? "What have we here?" He questioned, his tone not harsh nor unkind. He was curious as to why the male was here. Maybe just looking for someone to help him out with an injury of sorts? Walk, "Talk" Think

The woman retorted quickly. Ah, there was the reaction. Okay, so she WAS real. This wasn't a dream. Good.

Somehow the woman didn't understand his theoretical situation. He wasn't saying he was going to pretend to be in her pack, he was asking her to pretend he was a pack member for the made-up situation.  Ashmedai rolled his eyes. She was explaining things anyway, so he guessed it didn't really matter if she understood him or not.

She gave him kind of a run down of how to heal the wounds he proposed, then she told him he could sit up. He obeyed, and looked over at his foot, wiggling his toes. He gave Faine a goofy smile, "Thanks!"

Another approached- the alpha, judging by the scent. "We have an Ashmedai here. You must be the brave-" he eyed Faine, "- alpha I've heard so much about. Your Faine here was helping me out after I bothered her with several questions. If she can handle me, then she can handle about anything!" Ashmedai laughed wholeheartedly, then stood slowly, testing his injured paw. When he looked back up to the alpha, his face was more serious.

"So you're the alpha here, yes? What can I call you? The pack's in a unique spot so it caught my interest. This is my first time in Auster, and I was surprised to see a pack here." Ashmedai looked around for a moment, recalling the places he had traveled to get here. "There must be little competition for resources, or maybe Auster doesn't have a lot to offer in the first place? Tell me, how did you come to put a pack here?"

“You’re welcome,” she said as he moved away and sat back up. Finally Dragon approached and asked what was going on, but before she could answer the brute spoke first. “He had a cut so I treated it,” she told Dragon, “Only a bit of lamb’s ear, I can get some more later,” she told the caramel brute and sat down. She would let the brute blast his own questions at her Alpha and if she was addressed then she would speak, but for now she was pretty much done with the other brute. She kept quiet for now and simply listened. Walk, "Talk" Think

Brows quirked at the odd response given by the other male. "Ashmedai huh?" He almost couldn't stifle the laugh that wanted to come out at the male's words, "That's right, I am the brave alpha you've apparently heard so much about!" He grinned, green gaze finding Faine for a moment as he lightheartedly laughed. "And Faine here can handle a lot, she's certainly a huge help around here, if I might add." He winked at her before he returned his attention back to Ash. He studied the larger male for a moment, feeling like he had met the other male somewhere before. Before he could ask, however, Ashmedai shot him some questions. "Name's Dragon, and it's a simple story really. Just like you, Auster caught my interest. Originally the pack was up North, but after some time I decided to search for new places, new lands, a new opportunity. Somewhere...less crowded. We're more secluded here, and we don't have to really compete with any other packs." Of course, Talis was a pack made for...secrecy, of sorts. They were alone here, yes, but they were further from others to also try and discourage anyone wanting to really go after them. Not that it wouldn't ever happen, but with so many other packs bunched up like sheep in a pen, they were easier targets. Oh he couldn't wait for the raid! Eyes narrowed then, the whole time he'd been looking at Ash and trying to remember where he'd seen him, and then it struck. "Hey, you're Valentine's son, aren't you?" Walk, "Talk" Think