Paladin 'Knight' Ancora

Paladin sat in the fire-chamber, humming under his breath a Nomad folk song as he dropped a bundle of peppermint into the smooth bowl Kayode had made for mixing and grinding herbs into pastes and salves. Kayode was there at his side, and as Paladin smiled at his friend, the monkey dropped a glop of tallow on the peppermint leaves. A smooth, rounded rock followed the tallow, and Paladin took over, pressing a paw onto the stone and twisting, falling into an easy rhythm of grinding until the movement felt smooth rather than gravely under his toes, telling him the leaves were beginning to turn into a paste in the tallow. Kayode lifted the stone away, scraping one long finger along the underside to dislodge the paste from the stone as Paladin turned to pluck a few flowerheads of lavender from the piles of herbs and dropped it into the mess in the bow. Kayode replaced the rock and Paladin returned to the steady grinding rhythm, humming in time. This concoction was mostly an experimental one. He planned to add calendula to it after a while. It would be good for burns, certainly. Occasionally, he pushed the bowl close to the low coals, letting the heat melt the tallow a little before he pulled the mortar and pestle back and returned to the grinding motion. One ear tilted back and he smiled amiably as he heard claws clicking on the stone. He knew the stolid footsteps, and greeted her even before she was down the hallway out of the main chamber. “In here, Sis.”

Her quest to test all the pack's fighters continued and she made her way to Aurielle's family den where she knew she could find Regulus, Paladin, and probably Cairo as well. She stomped her way down the main branch, ears pinned back in a peculiarly pissed off expression. She wasn't really mad at any of them, except that Regulus and Paladin were both a bit difficult to track down anywhere else. No, she was just pissed because up until now she'd been pretty successful at avoiding this place. It was packed to the gills with memories and insecurities she didn't want to confront.

Of sitting in here watching her mother die because she had cared more about losing Surreal and Falk than she had about her own children. Gwen's children had watched her die too, and Aurielle's own mother had given up on life and died the same way Justice's mother had. So was it any wonder that the idea of having children that she would - based on all evidence in her life - end up abandoning in some way? Two of the three mothers she'd known well had chosen to die knowing fully well what they were leaving behind. What did that say for the "maternal instinct" bullshit?

Paladin's voice dragged her roughly from an increasingly furious stewing, and she had to backtrack a few steps to duck into the alcove he'd called from. Her purple eyes swept over him and the things surrounding him, and in her grumpy mood the only thing she could feel was more annoyed because of course he was doing something useful that he couldn't be pulled away from. "Paladin," she greeted crossly. "I was going to test your fight readiness but it looks like you're busy. I can come back and test you later when you're done."

But she made no effort to leave, instead hunching up against the wall with her gaze fixed on the mortar he was using. The greasy scent of tallow mixed with that of the herbs he had ground into it, that she couldn't quite identify over the woodsmoke smell of the fire.

Paladin 'Knight' Ancora

To say his only sister sounded and looked grouchy would be spot on. Perhaps an understatement. He knew why—this place held the same memories she abhorred. But he also had good memories that overshadowed the losses. Seeing Aurielle and Aramis born and growing up in the first sweet seasons of their pup-hood. Helping Sterling heal from her fall in the ravine. Lessons with Aurielle and her intense interest in his craft, even if her life-path lay in fighting and leadership. And the simple pleasures of making something that would help others. Justice had refused to remain here after their mother’s death, and so, she had missed these memories. Although, he knew she had a deep aversion to motherhood, so they might not have resonated as strongly with her. He gave a rueful smile as he stated, quite dryly, “My fighting skills are lacking. So I’ll leave it to you to whip me into shape with as many bites and bruises as you like.” She didn’t take her leave, and he commended her tenacity to stay in this place she so disliked. As he pulled the bowl back from the fireside and glanced into the contents, he hummed thoughtfully, then asked, “Could you bring me some Calendula petals, please? They’ll be shriveled, orangey-gold strips and smell pleasant. I’m thinking of making this into a burn salve. The packet they’re in is also tied with pattern-dyed sinew—purple, black, Blue, black, white.” He nodded at the pile of herb packets across the room. He’d been having Kayode get them, but if Justice was going to stick around, then she’d be getting to help, and would be getting a healing lesson from it in the process.

"I intend to," she grumbled darkly. The fact that he had apparently not been keeping up with his fight training was just a very excellent excuse to work out some personal frustration in a spar with him to work him into shape. Maybe it didn't say much for her skill at being in charge, either, if she couldn't keep the pack fighting fit.

He asked her to fetch him something - what, was she a dog? didn't he have a pet for that? - but she didn't argue or say anything snide because she was genuinely interested in whatever the fuck it was he was making, so she just slouched over to where he'd indicated and scanned until she found the packet he was asking for. She snuffed at it, taking a moment to fix the scent and sight of the dried herb to the name. Calendula. She plucked it up to carry it over to him and drop it beside his bowl. "Burn salve eh? What else you have in there?" Now that she was close enough to smell it over the woodsmoke, the tallow had a few tantalizingly familiar scents mixed into it. At first blush she thought the idea a little dumb - if someone was stupid enough to get burned maybe they should deal with the consequences of their actions for a while until it healed - but after a moment she admitted to herself despite her foul mood that a burn salve could definitely come in handy for sunburns in the lighter skinned wolves, or for pups who didn't know better. Or hell, for needing to go into a wildfire area for rescues, when burns were nearly inevitable.