Art & Code © Rex/Witchdogtor DO NOT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

The morning had been busy, and Lucette’s forelegs were covered in dirt as she tended to one of the herbal gardens that her father left behind for her. It had been a busy day, combing through the plants as she pulled out weeds and trimmed away the dead parts of the plants. Keeping the garden pristine and harvesting what she could was important, after all! But as Lucette worked she couldn’t help but keep pausing to scratch at her forelegs. She had passed it off as the leaves of the plants simply being itchy and scratching past the fur, irritating the skin. The last thing she expected was to find what she found when she settled to sort some of the plants she had pulled aside.

Fleas, of all the damned parasites to discover! Lucette mentally cursed as she glared down at one of the little bastards climbing on her. If it was on her now that meant they were in the plants, so not only was she going to need to treat herself and rid herself of the vermin but she was going to have to treat the garden so that they could continue to claim the herbs from there. Ironically, Lucette had kept some of the mint she gathered from one of the other gardens in her bag when she had gone out today. She loved the scent of mint, and enjoyed the taste even more.

Only now, instead of a refreshing snack the herb was going to need to be changed into a treatment for the fleas… ugh… she’d need to make soap and take a bath to get rid of the bastards. Lucette gathered some additional herbs and trailed to a part of Ethne where the falls bled into the creek that would flow through their other territory. It was then, and only then, that she settled down with the plants before her. She had part of a skull and a stone for grinding as well. A sigh left her lips as she began to set the mint leaves in the skull piece. Well, the soap wasn’t going to make itself…

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Word Counter: 355 Words

"Speech," 'Thought.'

Mismatched eyes squinted in a yawn from deep inside the den. She had slept next to her father Fenix, and brother Copper, she didn't know if she liked her father yet. She didn't know if she liked this whole pack yet. She didn't know what she wanted. She wanted her mom. Her mom had barely given her any attention either though.

She slunk out of the den, not quite sure what to do, she was kind of hungry actually. Alexandrite walked through the undergrowth in a random direction, she wondered how she could get something to eat. As she meandered she came upon a small woman working the dirt and she was fairly curious about what she was doing. Why was she getting her paws dirty like that? She watched as the reddish lady started to scratch at something and then got frustrated with something. Alexa ducked her head hoping she wasn't seen. Anytime Mama got frustrated she would take it out on the first kid she saw by yelling and maybe even giving them a smack.

Alexa watched through squinting eyes from under her bush the woman gather more herbs and start to walk up the creek. The little split pale pup crawled behind the woman until she got to the falls. The girl craned her neck to catch what the other was doing and tilted her head to the side as she crept closer and closer.

A tiny itch began to appear on her leg. Without thinking about it she rubbed her leg on the spot. She tilted her head to the woman with a curious look but then another itch happened on her back. Now in full view of the woman she turned her head to use her teeth to scratch at the spot on her back. A few tiny fleas had hopped onto the pup as she was trailing the Shaman.


Speech/Thoughts

Wc: 315
Total: 670

Art & Code © Rex/Witchdogtor DO NOT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

Lucette sighed softly as she worked. Though she was working with the herbs first, the woman knew she would need to work on a set of fires to get the lye needed for soap making. The herbs would be more beneficial to smelling nice in the end, but it was the ashes she needed from a hardwood fire that would be the most important. Only, as she worked, Lucette hadn’t expected company. She churned the herbs away, adding some lavender and catnip to the mint as well. She had managed to break up some of the largest pieces when she noticed purple in her vision and lifted her gaze to find a pup.

Lucette’s expression fell. Poor pup, now the girl was going to need a bath too. It would be better to get them both bathed before they returned to their respective dens… plus she needed to make sure that the pup understood the weight of the circumstances that she now found her in. Letting her mother mode set in, Lucette, took a step towards the girl and gave a small smile. “Hello my dear, it seems you’re joining me in a bit of a bad spot.” Lucette paused, itching at one of her own spots before she continued.

“The herb patch I was working in has fleas in it, so unless I make us a special soap to bathe in, the itching isn’t going to go away.” Lucette explained, her ears falling. “Sorry you’re wrapped up in this, but maybe you’d like to help me get things together so we can both get our baths faster? …and, what’s your name sweetheart?” The tiny fae hoped that she wasn’t being too much. She didn’t want to overwhelm the pup!

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Word Count: 290
Total: 960

"Speech," 'Thought.'

When the woman spoke up Alexa spun back to face her and then slunk under a bush to hide like a chased cat. But the woman's soft voice and explanation drew her out cautiously as she peered nervously over the edge of the bowl and watched the woman scratch one of her own spots.
"Fleas? Bath?" She asked brazenly, what were those? They were causing the itching? How? She twitched her ear, there was an itch behind it.

"Yeah! I help!" She jumped up excitedly, her shyness melting away quickly. This lady was so nice!

"I'm Alexa! Alexandrite, actually. Mama said it was a pretty rock. My brozzers name is Copper! Whatcha need? What I get? What yo name?" She asked, bouncing on her toes eager to grab whatever the other needed. It felt good to help! She pulled her foot up to her ear to scratch it.



Speech/Thoughts

wc 148
total 1108

Art & Code © Rex/Witchdogtor DO NOT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

The girl’s confusion was met with a gentle, reassuring look. “Fleas are what are known as parasites, they’re annoying little bugs that are really tiny and cause itching when they bite your skin beneath your fur. A bath, one with special soap, is how you kill them off and get rid of them. The soap is what I’d need help making.” She explained softly. Hopefully the girl would understand that. It was a little strange the child didn’t know what a bath was, but Lucette didn’t know what her background had been like prior to coming here to Ethne. At least the shyness she had prior was quickly melting away as she introduced herself.

“My name is Lucette. I’m Haydee’s older sister. It is nice to meet you, Alexandrite..” She was sure the girl had met the Leader by now. With her muzzle, she motioned toward some of the nearby trees. “We’re in need of bark. We’ll need to make a fire and let it die down so we can get the ashes from the wood. Then we boil the ashes and let that cool so we can collect the lye from it. We use the lye, some herbs, and water to make the soap we’ll need.

If you think you can gather the wood, I’ll run and gather something to boil the ashes in. If I’m still gone when you finish, you can feel free to finish grinding up the herbs that are in that skull,” She motioned toward that next. “So that they are in really small bits to be used in the soap. If you’re okay with that, I’ll go now.” The rustle of leaves nearby caught her attention as Ink, her kodkod companion, emerged from the undergrowth.

“I can stay with her while you run to get that, Lucy.” The feline mewed, the melanistic creature turning her gaze on the child.

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Word Count: 315
Total: 1,423

"Speech," 'Thought.'

Alexa listened eagerly as Lucette explained her process. She mouth mimicked a few words as she spoke, as if commiting them to memory or testing how they felt in her mouth.

She nodded to the instructions from Lucette, gagher bark, lots of bark, turn it into cinders, if still gone keep mashing herbs in the bowl. Got it.

"Yes! Get bark and woods and if not back grind up thingies in bowl. Yay!"

When the little kodkod appeared Alexa reflexively recoiled for a second with her ears back and ducking back under her protective bush. As the little feline spoke to Lucette and they trusted each other she decided maybe the cat was okay for now and peered out. She didn't talk to the feline right away but watched her with a wide eye wariness.

As Lucette walked away to carry out her plan Alexa hopped onto her important task. She would take several trips of finding sticks on the ground and gathering them into a pile and any fallen strips of bark as well. She found one tree with a ribbon of bark already scratched off and dangling on the side by some creature clamboring up the trunk some time ago. She tugged at it with a ferver until it came loose and proudly placed in on her growing pile. The pile was as tall as she was, so it was probably good enough.

Lucette wasn't back yet so she peered into the bowl with the crunched up strong smelling plants. Hey she remembered that smell from when her friend got the itchies just like this! Huh! She took the pestle and experimented with crushing, turning and rolling it into the plants to make it a paste. Fun!

Wc: 289
Total: 1712


Speech/Thoughts