Chi thought that his idea was pretty ingenious. He'd seen a floating barrel and had gone out of his way to find more. They weren't the easiest item for a wolf to transport but the dire boy had managed. Aside from the barrels he collected wood and rope. It was his intent to craft a bridge between his island and the nearest one. That way Siren wouldn't have to swim every time she wished to leave.

Chimera tied the nearest barrel on either side with ropes. He staked the ends of the ropes to the beach with long spikes worked down into the sand. Paws and teeth worked as Chimera tied sapling after sapling into place creating long wooden slats that would be flexible enough to move with the undulating waves. With several barrels to connect, there were a lot of slats to craft. In time, Chi thought it was time for a break.

Leaving his supplies where they were, the giant boy moved further up the beach before curling up in the sand. The bright moon above reflected off of his black, white and slate pelt. Yes, slate. Over the winter, slate colored stripes and flecks had grown down either side. It was strange but it wasn't unwelcome. The hard working young wolf licked his paws, the pads sore from working with the rough rope. He then placed his head on the sand between his paws. Both eyes were open as he stared out to sea. He wasn't thinking of much of anything, yet his mind and attention did wander.

Dalila swam through the chilly waters toward the island where she lived with Chimera and Siren, careful to keep her head above water so the leaves she carried in her mouth wouldn't get lost to the waves. She was slowly learning what plants were worth collecting and which ones were either worthless or already fully stocked. The harsh winter had made it harder and harder to find anything that wasn't completely dead, though there were a few evergreen plants that seemed worth her time. It made her search go farther and farther out, but she tried her best to bring a little something back for Siren each day - even if it wasn't a plant and instead she found a small prey animal to hunt or perhaps something that could be used as a bandage or crafted with. As she neared the shore she spotted Chimera laying on the sand and she kept him in her peripheral vision till she finished her swim. It was hard to judge sometimes when he would want her, but first things first she needed to put away the holly branches she had collected. She walked onto the shore, shaking the cold water out of her pelt before passing by him to go to the den. After putting away the mostly frozen plant life she lingered near the entrance of the den for a moment, wondering if she should do something for Chimera as well. She glanced around the den and spotted the small store of dried meats they kept and walked over to it, picking a piece and carrying it out into the cool night air. She padded over to him quietly, placing near his paws. She glanced up at him before looking back toward the sand, taking a step back and waiting to see if he wanted her to stay or go. "Speech"

The young wolf's muscles ached from the hard work he'd put in. It wasn't easy handling floating barrels and tying them into place. Once he was done though, they wouldn't have to get wet anymore. Nothing more than their paws, anyway. It was the only way he could think of to bridge the gap between their island and the next closest. All the rest had bridges in place as they were closer together. He had a long way to go but he was off to a good start. Movement from the side brought a blackened lip curling back. His expression settled when he noted that it was just the slave woman coming back to the island with items in her mouth. No doubt herbs for Siren. At least she was making herself useful. A few moments later she was back at his side and laid a piece of meat beside him. He wanted to snap at her since he didn't ask for the meat, but his stomach growled loud enough for her to hear. Without a word he took the meat between his paws and began to eat. The action made him realize again how sore his paws were. The rope that he'd use had rubbed them damn near raw. Once the meat was finished, Chimera rolled his shoulders, grimacing slightly at his sore muscles. They were a good sore, but perhaps he would ask Siren for something to ease the pain just enough so that he could finish his task. Although Siren wasn't here... Turning his attention to the brown and white woman, Chimera addressed her. "You. Bring me something for muscle pain." "Speech"

There wasn't a verbal reply to her offering, but the growl his stomach gave in response told her she had made a good guess at what he might need. She didn't always guess correctly, but she always reasoned that it was better to try than to have him think she wasn't willing to serve him. He didn't give her any indication of if he wanted anything else form her right away so she hung near by while he ate, hovering uncertainly a few feet away. Eventually, once he had finished, he addressed her again, making her pale gaze flick up from the sand toward him. Something for sore muscles? But Siren wasn't here to tell her what to give him... It wasn't a question though and a command wasn't something she could turn away. She gave a small nod and turned to hurry toward the den while she silently started searching her memories for all the lessons she had been taught so far. She slipped inside and stood in front of the array of herbs that made up the herb store that she helped Siren keep stocked. "Sore muscles... Sore muscles..." she silently repeated to herself as her gaze scanned the various dried and preserved herbs, ointments, treatments, and bandages. Finally she spotted the small pot of dandelion root paste that they had worked on not that long ago. Siren hadn't said to use it for muscle pain specifically, but wouldn't inflammation be kind of the same thing? She hoped so. Just as she went to pick up the pot, she also saw the bundle of boneset and her ears perked. Right! It wasn't it's main use, but still, that had been a part of the lesson. She debated between the two for a moment but quickly decided she was taking too long trying to decide so ended up picking up a pice of the boneset as well as the dandelion root paste. If one thing was good, then surely both would be even better. Dalila walked back out to where Chimera was laying with her treatments. First she gave him the boneset, laying it in front of him so he could eat it. When she did that, she happened to notice how red and irritated his paws were from his work. At least she had a purpose for the dandelion root she brought! She smiled faintly as she settled down on her stomach in front of him, simply just happy that she was starting to remember all the things that Siren was teaching her. She wasn't a natural at it like her lady was - she had been raised to hunt and fight. Healing was a new task for her, but it made Siren happy so she was willing to learn. She pulled the cork lid off of the small pot she brought out with her and dipped in her small paw into the fairly thick paste, scooping up a fair amount of it on the front part of her paw pads. Turning her attention to Chimera's front paws, she used her opposite paw to gently turn the much larger paw over, exposing the raw, pink paw pads. She quietly went to work carefully working the paste into the worn skin, being careful to not rub too harshly - though it was kind of hard for her to judge what was too hard and was wasn't hard enough. She hoped that was knowledge she'd figure out as she got more practice. "Speech"

What in the hell was taking her so long? Chi looked over his shoulder towards the den, glaring at the dark opening just barely visible between the trees. He almost stood up and went in to give her a thrashing when the girl exited the den and hurried towards him. She placed some strange root before him and he arched a brow. Was he supposed to chew it? Swallow it? Siren always gave him instructions. This woman seemed almost mute around him. Wrinkling his nose, he decided to eat the plant. If it made him sick, then he would take it out of her hide. The plant tasted disgusting, but he chewed it into a paste before swallowing it down. It left a nasty aftertaste in his maw and he smacked his jaws a few times as if it would rid him of the unpleasant flavor. As he was doing that, he noted that the woman was flipping his sore paws over. Ears flicked forward as he watched her, pelt bristling slightly. Chi did not like to be touched. It took everything within him to keep from biting her right then and there. It was only the soothing cream that she was gently rubbing into his sore pads that saved her from the pain. The throbbing began to subside and when the breeze touched the cream, it cooled the hot, damaged pads. Chimera almost breathed a sigh of relief, but held it in. That was too much of a show of emotion. Lowering his head, Chimera rested his chin in the sand, content for now to let the woman do her work on his pads. The action was calming and the dire boy gradually allowed his eyes to close. The sore muscles in his shoulders and back still ached and complained, but he was pushing it aside to focus on the pleasure that was coming from the earthen lady rubbing his paws. "Speech"

Dalila noticed him bristle and remembered a moment too late how he didn't like to be touched, but a beat later she watched from the corner of her eye as he began to relax more and more while she carefully massaged the medicated ointment into his paws. Seeing him lay his head down between his legs on the sand and seeing his two toned eyes close made a slight smile tug at the corners of her lips. Her treatments had been educated guesses, but seeing how much this calmed him made her happy. It often felt like she was maneuvering around landmines with Chimera and the few times that she got it right for him made her relieved. It wasn't even the pain from the punishments that made her apprehensive - it was more just the fact that she didn't want to disappoint him. She didn't want to use too much of the salve and waste it, but she still used enough that by the time she finished rubbing it in to both paws there was a slight sheen to both sets of paw pads. Once she was satisfied with her work she sat back a bit and placed the lid back on the little jar that contained the ointment. "That should dry down in a few moments," she commented softly. "So the sand won't stick to them too badly." She thought back to the times before she became a servant for her original lady, when she would have to spend all day working for the guards skinning animals or digging trenches for their various projects, and thought about how sore her muscles had been back then by the end of the day. She imagined he felt much the same and seeing how much he had enjoyed her massaging his paws gave her an idea. "I'll be right back," she mentioned before getting up and rushing into the den, scouring the supplies that were stored there until she found what she was looking for. She came back with another of these small jars that they had a few of - this one containing the oil from the lavender they had crushed. "Um... I was thinking you might like a massage," she mentioned as she opened up the jaw and started coating her paws in the fragrant oil. The lavender was a tick she had actually known about when she was a young pup from seeing some of the older slaves she grew up with do this sort of thing to each other - though she hadn't known the name of the herb back then. Even though he didn't like being touched, she thought maybe it would be worth the risk to try. She pressed her paws into his shoulders, rolling and rubbing them in circles over the muscles there, using a bit of her body weight to really work out the knots that had formed. "Speech"

The woman was rubbing his sore paws, then all of a sudden she wasn't. Dalila broke the moment by speaking and Chimera wrinkled his nose, lip lifting to flash a bit of serrated fang. Why did women always have to ruin the moment with talking? He would figured out that his pads would dry. He would know that she was leaving and he would know when she had returned. Did it need to be said? The tri-toned wolf didn't respond to her, but the tip of his tail twitched slightly in annoyance. She was ruining the moment with her yammering. Dalila opened yet another container and the contents were flowery and not at all pleasant. Chi had just opened his mouth to tell her to take it away when she pressed into the first of his sore muscles. The man's mismatched eyes went wide for a moment. The sensation was heavenly. There was pain, but it was a good pain. A deep, healing pain. With a soft grumble, he placed his chin back in the sand and let the slave do her work. He melted beneath her touch. It was an interesting experience, to say the least. Chi wasn't one that liked to be touched. It usually raised his hackles but this... this was disarming. Again his eyes drifted closed as he allowed Dalila to work whatever magic she was working. The sensation of the woman's paws upon him was raising something else as well. A sensation that he'd been noting of late. It seemed that the older he got, the more the urges within him surfaced. At the moment, he wanted to sink himself into Dalila, both teeth and other things. The two were starting to be hand in hand. Battle. Blood. Biting. All of it made him want to slate other urges on whatever female might be closest. It was a good thing for Dalila that he had self control, but gauging by how the urges were gradually becoming more and more intense, this might not always be the case. He would have to tell Siren to put her slave on something that would keep her from conceiving pups. At the rate things were going, she would probably need it. "Speech"