Word count: 303

Ophie had been thinking a lot lately about what sort of healer she'd like to be. She'd received loads of really helpful lessons from a bunch of really smart people but...try as she might she just didn't feel like a herb and potion sort of healer. The names and uses never stuck in her mind and the thought of doing lasting damage was more than enough to make her hesitate and avoid trying anything practical. Just in case. But maybe...maybe there was another form of healing she could excel at. A strong and healthy body was important, but what of the mind? Ophie knew better than most how easy it was to fall into self destructive habits, that it was a deep and dark spiral with no end in sight. "Having someone to talk to is important." She announced to Robert Bobbin the Dread Robin as he hopped alongside her, red breast puffed up and proud as always. She liked it here, felt unseen amongst the shadowy willows. "But I don't think Fatalis' are very good at talking. It's not a warrior thing to do; talk about your feelings. Show weakness." Which was maybe why she didn't slot in very well with the rest. Was too soft and feely. Robert tweeted an angry little toot, no doubt agreeing with the general Fatalis sentiment. He didn't like lingering on feelings either, most likely because he was merely a little red ball of rage. Ophie shot him a look and was quick to insist:"I think it might help though. Everyone still seems so...tired. I just wanna help, even if only a little." She'd probably need some practice though, take a little time to learn a good bedside manner and an emphatic nod. Yes yes, I understand how you feel, please continue, sort of deal.

_________________________________________________________________ She hadn't been the only one with troubles during the Long Night. Unlike her own sickness where she had succumbed to the crystals, others had succumbed to their own mind. Some even had mushrooms sprouting from their body. What a time that had been. Being the caring and curious type, Audra wandered from the borders in search of someone to help. Maybe someone would cross her path that needed someone like her to talk to. Maybe they wouldn't and she would have to be okay with that. Ultimately, she still had her own gripes with that mysterious cloaked figure to deal with, but that would be for another time. Feeling the grass beneath her paws and the air rustling through her fur, she felt alive for the first time in ages. Breathing in deeply, her good eye looked up to the canopy of willow trees. Life was teeming all around her and that she was grateful for. The Long Night had made her feel as if the sun would never rise again. Darkness had surrounded them, attempting to suffocate and take them all to Somnium. Thankfully, most had made it out alive, some worse than others. Stopping occasionally to pick at a few leaves to stuff into her satchel, she hummed quietly under her breath as she usually did. Wandering deeper into the forest, she barely noticed when the sunlight stopped filtering through the treetop. Silence hung over the space as if someone were waiting with bated breath. Los in thought about how badly she wished to help others, Audra almost didn't notice she wasn't alone. It was when a quiet snap of a twig made her ears turn did she stop to look. Off in the distance, mingling with the shadows, a familiar girl with an awfully large Robin beside her stood. Or maybe sat, she wasn't sure from this distance. Thankful that it would be someone she knew, Audra approached with an unusual amount of confidence than she normally had. Keeping her paws quiet, she allowed herself to eavesdrop just a tad on what the girl was saying to the ball of feathers. From what she could make out, it sounded as if Ophie too was having issues from the Long Night. Something about being tired and wanting to help. Just like her. That tidbit made Audra smile gently as she approached Ophie with a light chuffing noise to alert the other girl was there. From their last encounter, Audra had made note that the girl did want to heal, but hadn't taken to the herbs and such as she had. That was all fine since there was more than one way to be a healer. "I didn't mean to overhear but sounds like you're having some troubles," her sweet tune reaches out through the shade as she eyes the robin curiously. Unsure how to feel about such a large bird that should be tiny, Audra redirected her attention toward Ophie. "Honestly, the Long Night, oozening, plague, whatever you want to call it, really did a number on me. As you can tell," Audra turns her chin toward the left to show off her ominously appearing dead eye that sat blackened in its socket. "I just, uh," her voice pauses as her paws scratch at the muddy dirt beneath them. "Haven't really said anything to anyone about it," Audra's tone drops to a whisper now. Why she was suddenly confessing everything to this girl but it was relieving. As if a weight lifted off her chest, she straightened her gaze to look more at Ophie with her good eye. "If you'll listen, I would love to talk. And if you, uh n-need to ta-talk too, I c-can listen," the stutter returned as she took a step back. Realizing that she may have been a bit forward with her words, her body trembles. WORD COUNT: 947/1500 _________________________________________________________________ A  U  D  R  A

Word count: 270
total: 1217

Ophie's mud tipped ears flicked at the sound of Audra's voice. She wasn't very good at talking in general, but the thought of airing it out with someone safe, someone who wouldn't judge made the prospect feel a little less intimidating. Her chest a little lighter. If they did it together she knew no one would be left out, that words would be said but...oh man where was she supposed to start? Plonking her thiccc rear on the ground, she furled her tail around her haunches, as far as it would go at least. She let out a sigh, long enough she felt a little out of breath once it was done. "Okay so. Everyone always worries about me and tries to...fix me, I guess. And I'm so glad that they care, but it's so much, too much sometimes. During the Night...they all left me alone, you know? I could have died, almost did I think, and I'm not sure they would have noticed. And...I preferred that." What a horrible sister and daughter she was. "It's not that I don't wanna get better, or thinner or whatever they want from me. It's just...it feels so imposed. Like I'm not doing it right, or their way or fast enough." Would she ever be good enough? Probably not. The Fatalis name would never fit and sometimes she was okay with that, even if she knew for certain her family would never ever be. Some voices were louder than other, but she imagined they all shared a similar line of thought, it was just how things were done around here. "But uh...you okay?"

_________________________________________________________________ Talking about her true feelings with anyone was new. So, so new that it slightly terrified her. But the relief she felt as the words rushed from her lungs was all that she needed to feel safe. Shifting her weight back and forth on her paws nervously, Audra watched as Ophie plunked herself down on the grass to sit. Is that what friends did? Sit and talk? Sitting was unusual for her, her legs always felt restless. Staying in a standing position, she let one ear turn toward Ophie as the strong sigh left the other girl. As Ophie le tout her own frustrations, Audra nodded. Yet, the words made her ears fall back and her nose wrinkle. Ophie lived with her family and they wanted her to change? Narrowing her one good eye to look at the rather plump and dirty girl, Audra didn't really see anything wrong. Ophie was still young and learning, but had all of these doubts about herself. Frustrated for the poor girl, Audra forgot about her own problems. Sure, she had her eye ripped out and she was forced to watch it. She even experienced her tongue begin to glow that now apparently was permanent. That was just from the Long Night itself, not to mention the other things she experienced earlier in life. To live with your own family that scrutinized you, that broke her heart. Heaving her own sigh, she turned her cheek toward Ophie and smiled gently. "No, I'm not okay, but it sounds like you might be worse off," her voice is quiet and possibly a bit harsh, but she was selfless. In a way, Audra thought it wrong now to detail her issues when Ophie had her own to deal with. "I truly hope that they don't feel as if you impose on them," Audra starts off with as one of her paws picks at the grass beneath her. "I'm sure during the Long Night that they did miss you, they probably were just sick themselves, right?" She asks the question but knows the answer. It wouldn't matter how they really felt, whatever they'd done made Ophie doubt them and it was wrong. WORD COUNT: 1581/1500 _________________________________________________________________ A  U  D  R  A