"Ari… I can't." Áskell panted as he collapsed onto his chest and belly, gasping for air. Emerald green ooze dripped from his nose and open mouth. It tasted terrible but nothing seemed to quell its flow. The macaque named Ari bounded over to him, running a small hand over the top of his head. "C'mon Áskell, we must get you to a healer, back at your pack. You remember the pack don't you? Tojo-kai?"

Áskell shook his head. He didn't really remember much of anything as it pertained to himself. He assumed his name was Áskell because that was what the macaque kept tellling him. He remember how to fight, how to make fire, how to craft clay bowls. He remember a myriad of seemingly useless information compared to who he was and where he came from. He had vague recollections of a father… and a brother, but no mother. No other siblings. Not that it probably mattered since he was pretty sure he was dying. Pneumonia brought on by the resurrgence of the ooze infection made him weak.

Ari moved behind him and started pushing at his butt. He laid his head down. No. He was too tired. Let the chattering creature carry on as it would. Frustrated, Ari slapped Áskell's rear. "You stubborn ass!" Ari looked to Kári. "Go, see if you can find a healer, ideally one of our own. Be swift!" With a swift not the raven took off in search of the healers.

Thank the gods. She had been nearby. Sayuri met with Askell's familiar and followed instructions back, eyeing the collapsed man. From his body was ooze of some sort. "Askell!" she called, hovering near his side. Uncertain if she should even touch him. What if it was contagious? What if she brought this plague back to Tojo-Kai? "it is Sayuri... Can you hear me?" Perhaps the ooze limited him in some ways.

Movement caught her eye, and she looked up to see Tenshi. "Tenshi! I do not know what to do for him!" Panic was clear in her tone, but she remained otherwise calm. She waited for the more experienced healer to tend to the patient, using what skill she had to assist her pack mate. Askell was Tojo-kai. He was like kin to them all. She would do her best to assist him.

"Speech"

It was unusual for Tenshi to wander far from the maze or the bay. She had taken a liking to stay among the shade of the bamboo or taking a dip in the salty shallows. Except, there had been a niggling feeling at the back of her mind that she should check the grove that lay north of the maze. Recently, she and Sayuri had fought off a tiger and she wanted to ensure the large feline was keeping its distance. On her leisurely stroll toward the grove, she heard a commotion up ahead. Loud squawking and rustling of tall, nearly dead grass. Curious and slightly concerned, the mountain of a woman followed the familiar scent of Sayuri once the breeze had brought it to her nostrils. If the young healer was in a hurry somewhere, something must be wrong. Taking long strides, she heard her name called as she approached. Lifting her head to get a better overhead view of the situation, she hesitated a few feet back. The scene in front of her was nowhere near pleasant. Askell lay on the ground with a thick green liquid leaking from his lips and nose. Beside him, the koi patterned Sayuri hovered, concern riddling her features. Tenshi could hear Sayuri begging her to help. But what was she supposed to do? The mess that lay on the ground around Askell appeared toxic and from the way his breath was labored, he wasn't appearing too well. Her brow furrowed as she took a step around Sayuri to stand on the other side of the boy. Hesitant, but worried that he would die soon, she lowered her muzzle to sniff at the ooze. "Askell, if you can, can you tell us how long this has been going on?" Her voice is quiet, soft, the sort of tone a mother would use on her sick pup. Unfortunately, she had to do something that she wasn't sure was safe. Reaching out a toe, Tenshi touched it to the ooze. It was thick and goopy, but otherwise odorless as she brought it to her nostrils. Not daring to taste it, she quickly wiped it away on the ground. "We need to clear his airways and see if he'll ingest anything," Tenshi raised her eyes toward Sayuri. Quickly, her mind ran through the various herbs and plants that would or might help him. "Can you fetch Elderberry, Gingseng root, fuck, just go to my den and grab whatever you see laying around. We can figure out what to use when you get back," her teeth grit together as she takes a seat beside Askell. Picking up a paw to gently begin brushing it down his side, Tenshi let out a sigh. It was obvious she wasn't sure what would help... diagnosed ailment 1/3

Áskell's head ached more than he could ever remember. It was like a vicegrip squeezing tighter and tighter. He heard a voice and flinched, wincing as he opened his eyes to see a calico femme and a horned woman. He recognized neither of them and struggled to understand the words they were saying. "It hurts…" was all he could muster to say. He couldn't think beyond the fact that he felt terrible. He didn't know how long anything had been going on or who these women were.

Ari, the macaque, was swift to fill in. "We were exploring some caves off in the west. He just started making no sense. Didn't even recognize me! There was some sort of foul air in that cave and then the ooze symptoms started again. I got him out hoping it would help but he's only gotten worse. He's been like this the past few days." Ari could only guess as to what was going on. Was there something in the cave that had dulled Áskell's immune system enough for the ooze illness to resurge?

"I know how." Tenshi suggested they make him expel, and Sayuri had experience with such a practice. Instead of fleeing to find the herbs, she moved closer. If there was a risk, she was compelled to help regardless of Askell's words and state. She reached out to try and tip Askell onto his side, using another paw to rub his belly.

"We do not have salt water" she said to Tenshi lowly "yet I have ginger root and a flash of water." If they ground the ginger and put it in water, they could flush Askell's system by giving him the water. He would vomit up his stomach and clear his airwaves naturally. Saltwater was easier but the Grove did not have any sources. Thankfully, Sayuri had brought water with her.

She tried to soothe his belly for the procedure, gingerly rubbing it in circular motions and rising upward slowly. If he could vomit on his own without the help of a herbal wash, Sayuri felt it was a good start. "It would take too long to run back" she said this clearly to Tenshi. He could be dead by the time she returned. She hoped Tenshi would understand her urgency, as a healer as well.

"Speech"
1/3 - treat patient

Tenshi did not question why at first Sayuri didn't run to fetch what she requested. Instead, her eyes move toward Ari as the monkey explained the events leading up to his condition. The ooze? Started again? This must have happened before her arrival on the island. But if his malady was unknown and specific to these lands, there surely wasn't a way they could heal him... It was then that she noticed Sayuri attempting to manipulate Askell to get him to vomit. Furrowing her brow, she doesn't believe his vomiting will work anymore. Not after what Ari informed them of. "I am not certain doing this will help," she says quietly before looking back to Ari. Standing up and taking a step back in case Askell was able to vomit for the girl, she keeps her attention on the macaque. "When the ooze first arrived, tell me more. What happened? Tell me everything you can," there is a serious note to her accented words before she switches back to Sayuri. "We need to get him back to the bamboo where he can rest in the shade and stay hydrated," she understands why Sayuri doesn't want to risk fetching the herbs. But if they didn't move him there was a chance he would die either way. diagnosed ailment 2/3

Ari watched as the healers maneuvered Áskell onto his side. He flailed a bit but soon laid still, another wave of coughing wrenching through his system. The macaque rested a hand on his friends head and looked over to the horned woman. "The ooze came during the long night. A winter where the sun never rose. All manner of creatures came down with strange illnesses where crystals or fungi would grow from their bodies. Some like, Áskell, had the kind that just… oozes. I think it's trying to take root in his lungs and sinuses. Filling them with goo. Is there anything we can do for that?" Last time they'd been on their own. Everyone had come down sick and there was no one to really tend to the ailing. Áskell had managed to defeat it on his own. But what about now?

"Let me know if I can do anything to help. I know how to make a travois. If you need anything from the trees I can procure them."

"Sinus and stomach different but same..." Sayuri tittered uneasily, shifting to look at Tenshi "we boost immune system?" she conceded mostly to herself, glancing at Tenshi and abandoning her treatment to grind ginseng root. Thankfully she had some in her satchel. Thankfully, Askell had emptied a bit of his stomach and she could clearly see some of the ooze having taken root there "would Kaicho allow him back?" she asked quietly to the more experienced healer, worried that Hanzo Hattori would make them abandon Askell out of concern for it spreading.

She did not stop trying to soothe the suffering. She did not bend down to breathe in Askell's scent, but she could see he was fearful and in pain. Sayuri rubbed his shoulders gently, letting him know they were here for him. She waited in direction from Tenshi and hoped all would be well. It was clear Sayuri was letting the older woman take the reins, carefully grinding the ginseng root instead of talking more. She did voice concern that the Kaicho would not let them back... That was enough.

"Speech"
2/3 - treat patient

She listened to Ari describe the ooze and its conditions. At first, it was hard to imagine, but as she stood there, she began to realize that what the macaque was saying might be true. As Askell hacked up a slightly glowing and thick mucus, her nose wrinkled involuntarily. Tenshi wracked her brain for what this could be in the real world. A mutated case of the flu? Pneumonia? Could this really be a disease isolated to Boreas and Auster? Her brow furrows as she lets Sayuri tend to the man with ginseng root. "From what Ari says, it sounds contagious, but he needs better care and we can't give it to him out here," Tenshi continues to think as she ignored Sayuri's first request about whether the Kaicho would allow Askell back. "He doesn't have crystals or mushrooms yet though, just the ooze," it wasn't a question, but more a statement as she continued to study Askell. What were they going to do about it? This... this disease could kill him, but it could also endanger others. She looks at Ari with a concerned expression. "And no one has found a cure for this yet? Over all of Boreas and Auster? No one?" There is a strain in her voice as she looks up to the heavens. "We could boost his immune system. The ginseng is a good start, but we should also try to keep flushing out his lungs to hopefully stop its spread," she pauses again as she glanced at Sayuri. "We will take him to the bay, we can build a fire, make him some strong tea and try to keep him coughing. Raijin was building a hut recently, we can keep him there in quarantine for now," her voice is stern. Damn what Hattori would say about the situation, she would fight the Kaicho if he even dared consider leaving their own pack mate out to die. "Just in case we can catch it, you as well Ari, we should make a travois to carry him back," her attention is on Ari now with a frown deepening at the corners of her mouth. Would they be able to save him? diagnose ailment 3/3

Ari wrapped his arms around himself as Sayuri mentioned that Áskell might not be allowed back in. "I don't know. We were exposed at the same time. I have not gotten it." He offered his hands palm up and sighed. "Perhaps it is that my immune system is stronger?" The ooze contaminated all creatures, even macaques. He was familiar with ginseng root and nodded as he watched the young wolf grind it up. Of course, his grandfather always said that a shot of ginseng liquor cured everything. Ari, nor his grandfather, had been healers.

Ari looked to Tenshi and shook his head. "Not that I have heard of. I think he'll just have to fight through it." The macaque nodded as the older wolf directed him to start on a travois. He bounded pulled a knife from his little satchel and swiftly climbed the nearest tree. His deft hands hacking and pulling branches down which he then swiftly bound together with strands of buffalo leather. He did not have any hides or a cloak but the branches threshed between the two main one's would do for now. Ari looked to the women. "One of you will have to pull it. I am not big enough."

"Please, take this."

Sayuri pushed the powdered ginseng root to Askell. She smiled kindly, having worked her paws to the near bone to grind it into a fine powder. He could lick it up, surely? Tenshi raised fair points, even if she had confusion. Crystals? Mushrooms? What in the afterlife did she walk into? She wrinkled her snout, finding the thought disgusting.

"Very well" she nodded "I shall leave you to report to the Kaicho once we move him" she added to Tenshi, before getting to work. The travois was done in swift time, leaving Sayuri to pull Askell back with Tenshi "I shall watch over him from outside the hut." That was the last thing she said as they exited.

/end

"Speech"
3/3 - treat patient