what if

Atreus had come to her with a story of odd behavior from predators on his patrol the evening before, and it had been on her mind all day, giving her an uncharacteristic sense of anxiety and impending doom. Maybe it was in the back of her mind, remembering back a year before when strange things had begun happening that eventually led to her mother's death. Whatever it was, this feeling of some unknown something hanging over them ate at her until she was driven into her workshop to poke obsessively through her supplies. Just in case.

She didn't know what sort of doom she was worried about - an increased risk of injury by predators? a plague, like the one that had struck during the Long Night? or some natural disaster? - but she knew she wouldn't feel right until she was ready for it. She wasn't the only healer in the pack - she wasn't even the best healer, or the most experienced, just a healer among many better ones - but if she had a kit prepared for any emergency, regardless of whether or not she was the best one to use it at least it would be available.

Muttering to herself as she tossed a pack onto the workbench, she tried to decide what she needed. She was far from an expert in disease care, frankly, so anything she put together for a plague would likely be inefficient at best, but she had a great deal of experience in wound care at this point just from tending to herself and Tansy after fights, so a trauma kit would be as good a place as any to start, and could be used for most emergencies. So where to start there?

"Bleeding," she mumbled decisively under her breath. The first step in trauma care would be to stabilize life threatening injuries, so something to stop bleeding would be the first thing. Rummaging around her workshop, she surfaced with wool that had already been washed free of lanolin so it would be extra absorbent. She wanted to get some of it woven into a gauze for efficiency, but this was what she had for now, and she made a mental note to find someone to trade with to get some gauze to add later. This would do for now. She stuffed it into its own small pouch and set it aside - she'd put it in the kit last so it would be on top.

Next big thing was to stabilize broken bones. On the workbench went a variety of hardwood slats, shaped and sanded smooth, as well as some of bone. Leather straps followed. Selecting some of the hardwood slats she shaped a traction device, laboriously wrapping the joins with wet rawhide strips that would tighten and hold it together as it dried. Sheepskin was wrapped around the leather straps for padding and secured around the traction device where they would best hold a broken femur. This device - it looked much like a torture device and was, in fact, based on one she'd tormented squirrels with as a pup - went on the bottom of the trauma kit since it was bulky and less likely to be used. More hardwood slats of various sizes were selected and matched to like sizes as simpler splints and wrapped in the leather straps that would secure them to a leg before being set on top of the traction device. Splints of bone were also pieced together but set aside with the wool packet to go on top for easy access.

She pulled out a big clay jar and set it on the workbench, adding a mortar and pestle beside it, then dug around in her herb stores. Hm, for a bleed-stop powder, what did she have? Yarrow, comfrey, hmm. Stinging nettle. Calendula. Oh, volcanic ash, that was a good one. The powdery, clay-like volcanic ash went directly into the jar, while the four herbs were dropped into the pestle together. Slipping her paw under the leather strap of the pestle, she quickly ground the herbs as finely as she could before dumping them into the jar with the ash and mixing it thoroughly. Sprinkled on the wool before pressing it to a wound, it would help slow bleeding faster than just pressure alone, and had properties that would help discourage infections. That pot was sealed, then shoved into the pouch with the wool where it would be padded. A second jar with the same herbs already mixed into an ointment went right into the pack for smaller wounds. A jar of eye wash went in as well, and a bundle of debridement tools like a small sharp knife, and forceps built for a paw to hold, and a bladder with a nozzle on it that could be filled with clean water and squeezed to irrigate wounds.

"Shock," she said out loud. That was another major thing to deal with in trauma. She set aside a warm woven blanket to put overtop everything later, both to pad the breakables and to wrap a traumatized patient in. Wrinkling her nose at her herb stores as though she could make them decide to just jump into the bag by themselves, she tried to decide what best to add. A sedative for patients who were hysterical went in, then milder valarian, chamomile, and lavender packets. Linden too. But for shock, bloodflow needed to be considered, so... She added a packet of cayenne powder, another of hawthorn, and one of tumeric. A tincture of arnica went in too. She wished she had some cinnamon to add, but that was hard to come by, especially since it was usually bought up by wolves who liked cooking, but it would have been a good one for improving circulation. Maybe she'd see if anyone in the market could help her find some to add later. A small pot and a brazier to heat it over went in as well, tucked along the side. It wouldn't do to have the makings of tea if you couldn't even heat it.

She packed the bone splints and the pouch of wool on top, then covered it all with the blanket and closed it up. A water pouch she attached along the outside, where it would be connected but wouldn't damage anything if it leaked. There was so much else that could be added, but this would do for now. Everything for long-term care was available in the pack's stores, but this could cover most trauma injuries. She made a note to herself, though, to make up a premade litter to add so that they didn't need to sacrifice the blanket to carry a badly injured wolf back to the pack. Preferably one that could be used as a litter or a travois if there was only one wolf available to pull it, or to attach to harnesses to be slung between two wolves if there were no poles available where the injury occurred. She'd have to sit down and plan something out later. But for now, what she had would work.

Scooping the pack's carry handle up in her jaws, she carried it out of the workshop into her den proper to set it next to the door, ready to grab up and carry out instantly without searching for it. Satisfied, she returned to her workshop to tidy up what hadn't gone into the pack.