.Ever since Kite had stolen Halos honey, she had been somewhat avoiding the healer. She was embarrassed, and a little grumpy about the punishment that had followed. Princesses shouldn't be punished! She hadn't thought of the further reaching consequences that left her sitting in the Col, rubbing the fabric over her eyes as she tried not to cry. She had a pretty high tolerance for pain thanks to the string of broken or badly bruised limbs she had accumulated through her warfare with Azure, but the plant she had landed in stung in a brand new and fiery kind of pain.

It was all down her back leg, and washing it had done nothing to alleviate the pain. But her stubborn nature wouldn't let her go to Halo. She wasn't ready to face the healer. Her kitten mowed sadly at the girl's feet for a moment, and then trotted off. She couldn't see where Lioness was going, because it was early afternoon yet. The Col was bathed in sunlight and she was forced to wear her eye mask to protect her crystal eyes from the pain of the sun.

-Lioness her cat has gone to fetch Silent-


"Speech"

Silent had been working on her own stash of herbs, planning to place them among Halo’s in the future. She wanted to make her teacher proud, tending to each pile with a gentle paw. As she got them organized and put out of the sun, a meow reached her ears. A rustle of grass and leaves moved beneath tiny paws as the feline appeared, looking for Silent. After a tilt of her head and another ‘mrow’ from the unexpected visitor, Silent carried what she possibly needed and followed the tinier mammal without hesitation.

Her patient this day was one of the princesses of Armada, previously caught in a situation she would have preferred to avoid. The black and silver female softly cleared her throat to announce her presence as she came upon the yearling, taking note of the girl’s moving ears and flaring nose. Lowering her herbs beside her, she spoke. “I am Silent, here to help.” Silent figured her scent would reach the girl before her throat clearing and stumbled introduction. What happened?” She asked gently, intending to carry on further once the princess blew off frustrated steam regarding the situation.

A throat cleared, announcing a new arrival. A second later, Lioness leaned against her right foreleg. Kyanite stifled her sniffling with effort. Not knowing who was in front of her. Surely if it was Azure, Lioness would have warned her. Before she could worry too much, the girl introduced herself and Kite recognized the name as Halo's apprentice. Lioness had fetched her a healer that didn't hold a grudge. (The lead healer would never hold a grudge, but that was unfathomable to Kyanite - the Mighty Grudge Holder).


"Istumbledintoabush" She muttered, her words huffed and inaudible. Lioness gave her an warning swipe with a claw. Not enough to break skin, but enough to admonish the youngling. The healer needed to know what had happened if she was to help. Kyanite set her chin stubbornly.  "I stumbled into a bush" She said more clearly now. "With my back leg, everything's stinging and burning." She explained. Then despite her resolve, two more words slipped out. "it hurts" the last was said with a sniffle. Her chin jutted even further, daring the healer to judge her.

‘Istumbledintoabush’ was the first attempt of the yearling to explain her situation. Silent’s head tilted slightly to the side, then chose to hide a smile when the feline swiped at the princess and made her enunciate her words. ‘I stumbled into a bush. With my back leg, everything is stinging and burning.’ Silent waited a moment, then: ‘It hurts.’ Her chin jutted as she waited for Silent with a silent challenge of judgment. Would she dare?

The answer was no. Silent did not let it affect how she tried to help her patient. She moved closer towards both the princess and her feline companion, still keeping space between her and the source of the girl’s pain. “That bush had no right trying to bother you, especially when you were minding your own business.”

Before she would attempt to do any further assessing, Silent gentle asked, “May I look at your leg? I will do my best to not apply too much pressure on it.” Her next steps would determine how the pattern of the inflammation looked.

She felt the healer move around and wondered what Silent was doing, or thinking. It wasn't the first time she regretted how little information she could get from listening to what was going on around her. When Silent spoke, her words were so surprising they startled a laugh from the Princess. She raised a paw to her muzzle, lips twitching. She hadn't been minding her business, she'd been skulking. But she wasn't about to tell Silent that!


When Silent asked if she could touch it, Kyanite nodded. Scrunched up her nose in anticipation for something she couldn't see. As she listened for Silent, she moved her head in the wolf's direction, little nose twitching. Her voice was very, very small when she asked "do you have to tell anyone?"

The girl’s laugh made Silent smile, but she didn’t press on the topic as she was given permission to look at her leg. Once her leg was slowly stretched out, silent gingerly lowered her herbs and began to check it out. Her eyes moved slowly up, from the girl’s back paw to her hip. Overall, the rash look bright red and painful. Whatever had gotten ahold of her had bitten with a vengeance.

Not too far from where they were located, was a small spring of water and various leaves. She chose a large one as her mixing bowl and she washed her paws and rinsed out her mouth before carrying the leaf with her towards her patient.

“Hmmm,” she murmured, turning her gaze to the feline before going back to her herbs. She chose a few and began to crush them, mixing them into a paste that she was able to pile on the leaf. Bringing herself and the new medicine closer, she looked at Kyanite before she spoke. “I see you did a fine job of trying to clean it…that leaves me more to cover.”

The paste was smooth and refreshing (at least to Silent’s taste buds), so when she placed some on her paw, it tingled in a way that made her feel like it could do magic. She started to apply the paste to the angry parts of the princess’s skin, working from her foot and slowly moving up. When she was in the middle of her leg, the soft question met her ears. ‘Do you have to tell anyone?’ Green eyes looked at the blindfold and she returned the voice’s level with her own. “If you don’t want me to; you’re my patient and how I help you heal from whatever happened will be just between us.”