Lia had rested a moment with Eltrys after their series of unfortunate events. Once she could walk without a limp, she was off. Heading to the slavers camp to ensure they could never hurt another soul. Once she had sabotaged their trade, and beaten up the ones that remained she found herself wondering once more. Missing Vanta, and attempting to decide where life might lead her next.

Almost by accident, she found herself back by Eltrys pack. She lingered near the border, considering her future. What kept her from The Hallows, from home? The wolves she loved wouldn't recognise the wolf she'd become. Perhaps a part of her was afraid they wouldn't like the new Lia. Rejection here would sting less, who knew the former slave was still a coward?

After some time thinking she made her way to the border proper and raised her head, calling for the alpha here.

Eltrys now spent several hours a day stoking the small fire for Haydee's infection. Leaving the den for food and patrols. He was loathe to leave her side for long. Alexa was still very young and shy, Lucette was still missing, he didn't know Fenix very well, or his capability. He needed to right that as soon as he could. His coat was now permeated in the thick smell of sage and ritual oregano smoke.

As he walked out of the den for another patrol, his face strained and somber, his ears suddenly heard a familiar call from the borders! Lia!

His dark paws practically flew to the borders, overeager to see a familiar face and battle friend. She had rested for a while and then left to defeat the slavers that had dogged their heels, against his judgment but she was not his packmate. He was surprised to hear her call for the alpha, was she thinking about joining?

His easy external stoic demeanor fell into place as he approached her.
"Lia!" He called out warmly before he was within a comfortable distance, "It is good to see you!" She seemed whole and well on a brief cursory glance.

Well now... This was his first introduction as Chief, wasn't it?
"I am Eltrys, now Chief of these lands." He should say something....welcoming... less impersonal like stating your business, or what's your purpose but his mind was wracked with thoughts of smoke and coughing and Haydee.

He started to say something but thought better of it, then started again, "Ah...How much do you know of healing, specifically about what I only know as wet-lung especially?" He had seen her skill at field medicine just fine. Her appearance was certainly surprising and well-timed!

"Speech!"

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Lisa blinked in surprise at the familiar face that greeted her at the border. She hadn’t expected to see Eltrys, but she could only assume that he had come to lend his support while she waited for the Alpha. She had gained a good impression of Eltry while they had battled together, perhaps he felt the same way - that she would be a benefit to this pack. She could only hope so. This was her first time trying something as daring as joining another pack of her own free will.

She set her gaze behind Eltrys, waiting for another wolf to appear when he spoke again. His words were unexpected, to say the least. She blinked, focusing her gaze back on the tawny wolf. Before she could fully adjust to that change - he had not been chief when they had parted - he was speaking again. The seriousness of his words immediately sunk in. wet-lung, also known as ARDS, was often life threatening. “Take me to the wolf, and I’ll need to see everything you have in the way of healing supplies. I’ll need hot water for tea, and to boil for the steam. I need Eucalyptus oil if you have it, and something for a tea. Mullein, elderberry, pine needles… to name a few that could work.” She was already moving, walking across the border. Politeness forgotten. Life mattered a great deal to Lia, and one was in danger. “What's the age of the patient? If they’re a child or elderly my treatment will be different.”

"Speech"

Speech // thought

She seemed like she was waiting for someone else to greet her. He couldn't help but squint his eyes in understanding amusement. The last time she had seen him he was not Chief of the pack. But as the conversation turned to his wondering request she was all action, he had her full attention then!

With the speed at which she was suddenly moving he started to believe just how dire Haydee's situation truly was. He easily kept pace with her, disregarding border protocol as easily as she did. When Haydee's life was on the line...

"Haydee, she's a young woman. We're in short supply of pine needles, that's typically found further north. We have a stock of eucalyptus leaves, no elderberry, and not a lot of Mullein." He replied, leading her toward the rumbling brilliantly blue falls, "I have a small fire going in her den," As evidenced by the smoke creeping out of the den behind the falls, "I'm burning some sage, rosemary, and thyme. I've got a pot of peppermint tea I've been giving her. I found her yesterday..." He brought Lia within the den, his hesitance at the doorway hardly noticeable in himself now.

"Hay," He called, his voice dropping into a softer tone, "I have someone here to take a look at you. I trust her. Her name is Lia." He approached the nest he had made her closer to the fire than her bed, keeping her head up. Could she hear him? It had only been yesterday when he found her like this. His stoic exterior had dropped to a worried glance. Haydee meant a lot to the man.

Eltrys moved with her, and then took the lead. Showing her where she needed to go. “Just a moment, I'll send my companion to scavenge what she can,” She said, stepping to the side to give a hurried instruction to her bird. She returned to Eltrys after a few seconds, and he continued his explanation. Listing herbs, age, and timeline. All essential information and she appreciated his prompt, succinct words.


She would use the eucalyptus oil for the steam, and what she could of their mullein for the tea. “Clearing her lungs is our first priority, but we also need to keep her warm and dry.” She said as they entered the den. “Hello Haydee. I'm here to help” She said after Eltry had introduced her. She turned to the Chief. “Can you start to blend the mullein, peppermint and thyme and steep them together please? About ten minutes should do. I want her to drink that as soon as it's ready” she was commendaring the chief to assist her, but she had a feeling he wouldn't mind. She went over it in her mind, ensuring she had the right herbs. Peppermint to clear and soothe, thyme as an antimicrobial to reduce mucus, and mullein to assist both.


Her bird returned then with a large, smooth shell and she took it from her beak as the bird flew off again. “Haydee I'm going to listen to your breathing and ask you to perform a few small exercises, okay?” She said, kneeling beside the other woman. “First, I want you to breathe deeply and normally,” her voice was soothing as she moved, using the shell to amplify the sound as she rested it on her chest.

The fever rages, warping reality and confusing the ill woman. A voice soft but familiar pulls her from the strange dreams that had settled over her, dragging her fever bright eyes to where the blurry form of Eltrys enters. A smile wiggles her lips as she uncurls slightly, legs beginning to reach out toward him when he mentions another. Confusion tugs at her features as an autumnal cloaked woman steps inside behind him and pulls Haydée’s attention over to the healer.

Limply she lays in the little makeshift nest, trying to track Lia while also attempting to fight of the exhaustion that continuously tugs at her mind. Her breathing can be heard from the doorway, raspy inhales rattling through her lungs to be exhaled in a long wheeze. It is ragged, shallow, and painful. At Lia explanation she drags her eyes open, because she hasn’t realized they had closed again, and gazes up at the antlered fae.

Sluggishly, her mind processes the information and she offers a small, almost imperceptible nod. Then, the shell is on her chest and she relaxes into the furs, readying herself for the pain that is going to follow. Taking a deep, wet breath, the small, frail woman immediately falls into a coughing fit, that rumbles deeply through her chest rattling her lungs and rolling out. As it begins to subside, she weakly lays on the furs, too tired and weak to do much but still trying to start coherent enough to do what Lia asks of her.


"Haydée Kedieo"

Art by Moonfin

Eltrys wanted to embrace the little woman with every fiber of his being as she reached out to him. Instead, he let Lia take point and set to his task with a curt nod. He kept an eye on Haydee and Lia as he set to work. He placed the herbs in the fresh pot of hot water and set it aside to steep. He leaned closer as Lia bent over Haydee.

Gods, please... Just deliver her from whatever this is... Heal her, I haven't had a chance to show her that I truly love her yet... He pleaded and prayed with the silent deities of his past. His stark glacial eyes bore into Lia with a desperate fierce stare. Was there hope? Did he make everything worse?

He placed the tea in a place where Lia could grab it for Haydee. He had to keep himself from looming over them both. As Haydeen began to cough and fit his throat let a low growl escape his throat, unbidden. His paw clenched the earth with his claws, holding himself back from snarling at Lia and accusing her of hurting Haydee. He had done much the same when he started the smoking treatment that had been little help for her. It wasn't Lia's fault. He just wanted Haydee to be okay.

"Speech!"

Code © Skelle/Witchdogtor DO NOT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

Lia listened very carefully, assessing Haydee as the other wolf coughed. The wet, ragged sounds told her how dire the situation was, and how weak Haydee herself was. She needed something for strength. “Do you have Ginseng? Or perhaps Nettle?” she asked, turning to look at Eltrys to impress the importance of her request without alarming Haydee.

Instead, she caught a glimpse of his expression. Saw the intensity of his emotion. Some sixth sense told her what emotion was aimed her way. Call it intuition, hard-won throughout her years as a slave. She paused what she was doing, putting down the scale and taking a step away from Haydee. She waited, watching Eltrys, seeing what he would do. Though she desperately wished to help the coughing young woman, she didn’t trust the brown wolf at her back. Now with what she was reading from him.


"Lia"

His battle buddy caught his expression and she stepped back away from Haydee. Her expression was strange, something he was actually having difficulty reading from her. Usually, he could read someone well but he blinked and furrowed his brows at her. Oh... he growled... Oh, he's the chief now... His eyes darted back to Haydee's fragile form with worry. He forgot how intimidating he could be.

"I apologize." He dipped his head and stepped back, he was getting in the middle of her treatment. There was fear in her eyes, was she really that scared of him? He had never seen anyone actually scared of him before. Startled, yes. Scared? No...

"I think there's ginseng in here. I took from the healer's stores what I could find." He mentions and offers her the basket he had commandeered. How much did he know about her truly? Nothing, well, she was a good fighter who had a thing against slavers for sure. He didn't know her well at all otherwise. What had caused her to be so scared of him?

"I care about her, please." He said, urging her to continue, taking another step back and even placing the fireplace between them. He meant no harm at all

"Speech!"

Code © Skelle/Witchdogtor DO NOT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

Body slumps back onto the pile of furs, eyes closed as she wheezes out one breath after another, oblivious to the tension that surges between Lia and Eltrys. Words, spoken with urgency tug at her mind and the tired woman blinks her eyes open to look over to where the autumnal woman had moved to. Raspy voice breaks the silence that has fallen as she says, “Wha? Did you want me to do something?” The words are breathy and filled with holes but she attempts to ask Lia is she had told her to do something. A wet cough rattles her chest and Haydée lays limply against the furs, fighting to stay away so that she can follow any directions aimed her way.


"Haydée Kedieo"

Art by Moonfin

Lia was getting better. She had been putting a great deal of work into learning to fight, to stand up for herself. Battling slavers was a large part of conquering her old fears. But they were still there inside of her, evident as she watched Eltrys. It took all of her strength to stop herself from bearing her throat to him. Submitting to the stronger wolf, and any of his desires. Compliance had been beaten into her, and wasn’t a lesson easily forgotten.

Battling her own demons, she didn’t react immediately, and not at all until the basket was offered to her. She took it once he had placed it on the ground, and nodded her head briskly to him. “I suppose we all have our scars.” She said softly, an explanation and an apology of sorts to the way she had reacted.

She took the ginseng, and mixed it into the tea that Eltrys had made, and left cooling. The extra boost from this potent herb would help her body find some strength. She moved back to Haydee, and knelt once more beside the woman. She placed her shoulder beneath the other women, and gently propped her up. “I need you to drink this tea, and I need you to drink all of it. No matter how you feel, okay?” She said softly, continuing her inspection of the other wolf. She checked the colour of Haydee's cheek and gums as the other wolf opened her mouth to drink. Then, she moved to press a paw gently against the woman's chest. Feeling for areas of tenderness, or abnormal vibrations. Things that might indicate fluid in the lungs.


"Lia"

Haydee's pitiful cries wrenche at his ribs as if his heart was going to be pulled from his chest. Lia had not moved until he placed the basket before her and she softly refers to scars. That he easily understood. Yes, it makes sense now, his response had triggered something from her past. He felt uneasy at the feeling of someone being scared of him. If he was going to be chief he would need to feel more comfortable with the idea of people potentially seeing him with some fear. He would rather support the pack and lead with a kind paw, but they needed stability and steadfastness as well. Would he be able to hold these two ideals?

Giving her space seemed to have helped her. If he was going to be the leader he needed to know every one of his packmates and they needed to know him. So they could rely and trust on each other. Know each other well enough to nourish deep bonds of kinship that he hoped to instill.

He watched Lia offer her treatment, eager to lend a paw but knowing he would only get in the way. Let her do the job he brought her in for.

"Speech!"

Code © Skelle/Witchdogtor DO NOT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

A wet cough rumbles through her chest as the two wolves talk and Haydée simply lays there, drifting between the sleep and waking worlds with the ease that only fevers can bring. Lia’s voice pulls her eyes open and she blinks blurry eyes up at the autumn-clad woman, mind sluggishly rolling over the instructions as her body is gently propped up. The tea is pressed toward her and she weakly laps at the warm liquid, pulling it into her mouth to swallow down her scratchy throat.

The heat cools the tickle that lingers at the back of her throat, threatening to send her into a coughing fit at any moment. As she drinks, her body heaves each breath, the rattling sound alerting trained ears to the fluid that had built up in her lungs. Haydée has to pause a few times in her effort to down the tea so that she can catch her breath but she manages to take in all of the tea as the healer ordered.

A rough, rumbling cough rolls through her body as she finishes and exhaustedly lays back against her furs, nothing coming up and out but the cough sounds wet. Lia’s gentle paws do not elicit any sounds of pain and, in fact, Haydée was so engrossed in her task that she hardly even noticed the soft presses into her sides. Eyelids start to flutter shut as she waits to hear what else she must do.


"Haydée Kedieo"

Art by Moonfin

Lia finished her examination by the time Haydee had downed the last of the tea. The poor, exhausted woman slumped back down again, worn out. Lia stepped back, and came around to Eltrys to talk to the tawny wolf. “We need to keep her fluids up, she’ll need to drink the tea daily, which means you're going to need a lot more supply. I'm prescribing daily, the tea as well as a broth of meat to ensure she’s eating enough, and smoke from the eucalyptus oil. This, and time, are all we can do for her right now.” She said, keeping her voice gentle. She knew Eltrys was worried. She needed to see how Haydee responded to her treatment before she made any announcements on which way Haydee’s health would go.

She let out a soft breath, and steeled herself for what she would say next. “If you need herbs, I have - or had - friends in two places I could try. But it’s been a long time since I’ve been to either.” And she wasn’t sure she was ready to go back.

"Lia"

He aims his gaze at the flames while Lia works. He was wrestling with an earthquake within him. Eltrys measures his own breaths into the fire with effort, bringing his focus back to his center. He can hear the coughs and her desperate drinking, but he recognizes he cannot get lost in this agony when he has literally done all he can for now.

He is measured and back to himself when Lia comes around the fire to speak to him. He brings his attention to the autumnal fae. Keep her fluids up, drink the tea daily, meat broth, and eucalyptus smoke. He can at least get Alexa to keep up the regimen and stay with Haydee when he needs to attend to his new duties. He nods, understanding the regimen. He moves to Haydee then, and noses her cheek.

"You can rest now, Dee. You need to get better so I can tell you good news." He murmurs lowly next to her ear. He offers a chaste kiss on her cheek. His heart threatened to turmoil but he reigned it in as he came back to focus on Lia. She was offering her connections in other places to get more herbs. He had a feeling one of those places would be the high castle on the ridge. He had been developing his own relations with them for a while, but the way the Lord had spoken to him previously during the last crisis when they asked for aid, left a sour taste in his mouth.

"We have two neighbors I've been slowly developing connections with already. Come, let's let her rest as well as she can and we can talk."

He goes to lead Lia out but again bends down to Haydee and murmurs to her that he will return very soon and to just sleep and rest for now. Then nods to the battle healer out of the den and onto the frigid green.

"I had not predicted that my first few days of leading would be so..." He didn't have the words, he didn't know if it would be right to have the words as he gave her crucial information about the status of his rank. Tighter lips, Eltrys, don't sink your own ship before you got the sales unfurled.

"You're arrival could not have come at a better time, Lia. So tell me, you didn't come to the...my... borders because you knew I needed you. Before we speak more on herbal supplies and the next steps... You've saved my life, nigh twice now, and your efforts to save Haydee are considerable on a monumentous scale. What can I do for you?" He asked earnestly, leading her to the common area between the falls and the creek.


((Thank you Hermes!))


"Speech!"

Code © Skelle/Witchdogtor DO NOT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

Lia watched as Eltrys kissed Haydee’s cheek. Did he know his heart was in his eyes when he looked at her? It left Lia’s own heart aching for her lost connections, for the chance to build something like what they had. Briar, Artorias, Vanta. She would not let Eltrys lose his Haydee, not if she had something to say about it.

She let him lead her away, so Haydee could rest in peace. A move she rather approved of. A healing sleep was terribly important. The first thing he spoke of was his leadership, and how new it was to him. So she had not misread him, he had not kept this a secret while they had fought together. “No, I imagine not. but sometimes… you just have to take the hand you've been dealt and run with it the best you can.” She wanted to ask why he had become the Chief. A change of leadership could be drastic. What had happened here? She thought of the slavers that had been hunting him. Could they have had something to do with it? But no, she had run them out.

“You're right. I’ve been a lone wolf for a while now, waiting for my friend to come back. But I don’t believe she will. This… doing it alone, it’s not what I want for my future. I thought of your distaste for slavers, and the value of life and thought perhaps the rest of this pack might hold these values which are important to me.” She went on, putting out there what mattered to her so Eltrys could help confirm or deny if she would fit here.

"Lia"

He perked his ears as she commented on his assumed misstep, and was grateful she wasn't the type to use such information against him. He had a feeling he was going to need to be more careful in the future though, not with her as much, but with others.
"Very true," he responded.

He listened to her reason for coming to the pack's borders and the pieces fit together well. He can see her fitting in, both as a fighter and a healer. Her wisdom and experience could even help aid him in his goal of establishing this sanctuary for ex-slaves and further the founding principles he was building on.

"Good! The pack was founded by an ex-slave and I am hoping to build on the idea of this being a pack where ex-slaves can find sanctuary and even find healing from their experiences, as well as equip them for a better future. I intend to lead with an open paw and make sure everyone who has an opinion has a chance to voice it and be considered. Hopefully, it'll be a pack formed by bonds beyond family ties. Where we can defend and depend on each other. We hold life as sacred here. We'll stand up to bullies, even among our own ranks. and I won't encourage killing anyone or going off by themselves for vendettas." He had been working on those thoughts long ago as he entered the pack himself, they were his ideals reframed from the morals and philosophies he had been raised in. Eternally trained to be a deep thinker.

"Does that agree with you? I'm still working on changing the ranks and have yet to call the pack and even inform them of the leadership change. How does Migrant sound for now? You could be our first Migrant, with the freedom to wander to other lands. I'd prefer for packmates to stick close for a while. I'd like to know where everyone is and check in with me before they head out on excursions that could take half a year or up to Boreas." His energy was picking up, the idea of working on the ranks was new to him and admittedly exciting. He had never had an opportunity like this. The idea of Lia joining them was already going to help grow their numbers.

"Speech!"

Code © Skelle/Witchdogtor DO NOT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

She nodded her head, listening as he spoke on the ideals the pack had been founded upon. “I suppose I should also share a few things about myself, so you know what you're getting into before accepting me.” She’d never voluntarily joined a pack before, so she wasn’t sure exactly on the correct prodecure to do so. So she went with the policy of ‘honesty was best.’ “I was sold into slavery when I was a few months old, and went from master to master until I was one. The Armada and the Hallows both had a hand in buying my freedom, and consequently I have connections with both of them.” She would have a home in the Hallows if only she asked. Artorias would let in the stranger she had become. But she couldn’t do it. She needed to prove… to prove that she had her own strength. That she could make her own choices.

“I don’t know what the rank Migrant stands for, but I’ll take it. I can prove my worth and work into what rank suits me once you’ve finalised and stabilised your choices.” She said, the idea of checking in before she went anywhere was a new one to her. From no freedom, to complete freedom. Now she would be accepting conditional freedom. Life was strange, sometimes.


"Lia"

Eltrys listened intently to her story, it was starting to help him fit the pieces together and her earlier reaction solidified it. Slavery... This land had an abundance of it it seemed. From roving bands of slavers to members getting snatched on their way home... They needed strong defenders who knew their woods and their lands better than the pursuers who intended to take them.

"Migrant is simply what we're calling the new folk or the folk that would like to find a new home someday. A rank that gives the member freedom to stay or leave the pack with a simple request." He sat on the green, a small meadow between the lush woodlands of the falls and the cloistered creek.

"I will admit, I have not had a lot of dealings with slaves or ex-slaves. Some yes, but not a lot. I was raised... " He hesitated for a moment, did he feel ashamed? He certainly wasn't proud... "a pampered son of a king, destined to rule beside my brother as the holy high priest. I was raised to serve in a way, they'd like to akin their servanthood as a type of slavery but theirs was a farce. I've known servants, I've had servants, but none of them were there against their wills, it was an honored position among them."

He glanced at her, ice eyes pondering and weighing a reaction to his upcoming request,
"Would you remind me if I happen to trigger... a similar situation as we had in her den?" Seeing the fear in her eyes reminded him that his luxurious upbringing hid many things from him. He was adamant about learning how to navigate the traumas of an ex-slaves past, he was taught how to navigate many traumas, to encourage healing and self-reflection, but this was new territory for him.

"Speech!"

Code © Skelle/Witchdogtor DO NOT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION