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 Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 7:36 pm
 There was a thick, strong scent of bitter herbs.
The strength of the smell shocked Clotho into consciousness. Eyes watering because of the overpowering scent, Clotho rolled over onto her side, shielding her face with her paws in a half-awake attempt to drown it out.
As more time passed, the leopardess realized what was happening. She removed her paws from her face and awoke fully from her sleep. Head shooting up off the ground, Clotho glanced around quickly to assess the situation.
Sunlight was streaming in from the cave and was warming the leopardess where she lay. She had overslept. And that horrid smell...Being somewhat of a healer herself, Clotho knew what type of herb it was. Despite her knowledge of some herbs, she had never before smelled this kind in such a pure state. It was so intoxicatingly-disguting. Clotho sneered, snorting the smell out of her nose. She pulled herself up onto her feet carefully, as she had been told, body still weak from still-healing injuries.
"Kurai?" Clotho called hoarsely. It was still hard to use her voice at times. She hoped that her throat would heal enough in time that she would be able to speak normally again soon.
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 3:24 pm
 At the unexpected sound of a voice, Kurai's paws slipped from their careful work of pouring one bowl of liquid into another bowl of liquid. I strange wave of deja vu hit him and his nose twitched.
Bowl slipping out of his paws and clattering to the ground, Kurai cursed under his breath and closed his eyes, inhaling steadily as if to gather patience. Eyes opening again, Kurai glanced over his shoulder at the familiar pink leopardess behind him, body outlined in the afternoon sunlight. Kurai closed his eyes again, eyebrows knitting upwards in a look of hopelessness.
"How many times do I have to say it, Clotho...?" Kurai sighed, shaking his head; though he knew his question would never have an answer; ever. "Do not raise your voice in here. It freaks me out!" he chided. Shoulders shrugging irritably, Kurai turned his head back to his potion mixing, begrudgingly nudging a flask of yellow liquid towards his now-empty bowl to begin his procedure anew.
"Do you know how hard it is to find this yellow juice?" he asked, trying to keep his anger in check.
Honestly, didn't she know he was taking such pains on her behalf? It's not like he was making all those crazy medicines for himself. Even though it was his choice to help her out, couldn't she have the courtesy to be quiet and keep to herself when he was making his remedies? Just when he was making his remedies. That was it. The only time she had to be quiet. It wasn't that hard. Right?
"Damn females..." he grumbled.
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 3:37 pm
Clotho's face relaxed, even through the irritated words and hard tone of the maned wolf. A slight smile tugged at her lips and her ears perked up, the tip of her tail twitching. Though she never said it outright, she was very interested in learning the ways of a healer. The mixing of medicines and identification and uses of herbs appealed to her a great deal. Even the maned wolf himself had a strange sort of appeal in the eyes of the leopardess, and she had found herself growing quite fond of his company, despite being raised by two older sister who quite strongly disagreed with any and all males.
Clotho stood and walked a bit closer to Kurai's work place, eyes moving over his many bottles, bowls, dried hanging herbs and so on. The walls were very much decorated with all manners of things. Clotho never grew tired of staring at it all. And each day she would see something that she had never noticed the previous day.
Seemingly paying no attention to the questions and murmurs of the wolf, Clotho simply asked, "What is that horrible smell?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 3:53 pm
Being used to mixing such complicated potions, Kurai was already at the same point he had been before Clotho surprised him and caused him to ruin the whole thing.
He stamped his paw in the mixture and swirled it once, yellow mixing with a clear liquid until it was all a dull yellow color.
"Weaver Bird spit and nectar of--" but Kurai stopped himself short, busy paws holding still for a moment. Kurai glanced over his shoulder at the leopardess, a brow raising. He had noticed the gradual interest the leopardess had taken in his work. She would ask a question every now and then.
'What's the name of that orange plant,' or, 'how long does it take to make that,' and, 'how long does it take to learn how to make that?'
Had Kurai questioned any of that? No, not really. He was used to answering questions. His best friend asked them often enough; when he was around, anyway. Slowly, Kurai had begun to wonder if the leopardess had started to want to become a healer. Well, that was fine and dandy. But..Would she want to stick around and learn from him? Like a teacher-student kind of thing?
Kurai's ears turned backwards slowly, eyes narrowing as he peered at the leopardess.
Without another word, he turned back around and hurriedly finished his final remedy. After this was completed, the leopardess would have to leave.
And that was that.
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 3:59 pm
Clotho walked closer, eyes dancing along the decorated walls. She shifted her gaze to the strange potion the wolf was mixing. She watched the colors mix and swirl to form an entirely different color. Clotho smiled, filled with an odd happiness at the sight. How she wanted to try it...
Alas, she did not know much about the making of remedies.
...But perhaps that could change? Yes, in time it would change. It wasn't as though she couldn't tell fortunes and be a potion-maker at the same time.
"Weaver Bird..." Clotho murmured, testing the name on her tongue. "I have never heard of such a thing. What sort of bird is it?" she asked bemusedly. She wondered only briefly why Kurai had stopped short of his explanation. However, there were too many things to wonder about for the leopardess to stay focused on that.
"And what is this remedy for, Kurai?" Clotho asked lightly, smiling at the red powder Kurai was brushing into the potion.
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 4:43 pm
Kurai almost answered her question in regards to the bird out of habit, but stopped himself short yet again. He was becoming more and more aware of how he'd just reply to the randomest of things without a second thought. He was irritated with that realization. What was he, a yes-man? Aanswering anything without even thinking about it?
Maybe that's why he was such good friends with Koga...
Shaking his head to will his thoughts away, the maned wolf continued preparing his last potion. The dull yellow liquid was now a vibrant rust color and the texture was thick, like a smooth paste.
Kurai sighed from the strain of concentration that came with potion-mixing, flipping a stray strand of hair out of his face. He shook the length of his body, ears and tail flapping around in the movement. It had become a habit for him to do so after he had successfully completed any medicine.
"This, lady," Kurai began, eying his own mixture with a slight smirk. "is the queen ant in the termite mound."
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 4:57 pm
Clotho tilted her head, gazing at the mixture with lazy eyes. The deep rusty color reminded her of blood and she was somehow able to draw up the taste in her mouth. Her nose wrinkled unpleasantly. But she tried, as always, to think of more positive things to take her mind off of her darker thoughts.
"Queen ant?" Clotho echoed, fascinated with the wolf's strange terms and phrases. He really was quite an interesting fellow. In the short weeks she had spent in his dwelling place, she had learned a great deal from him. She knew more than she ever had before. She had also learned that it wasn't her fault she had gotten attacked. After sharing her story with the wolf and hearing his insightful advice, she knew that the attack was a result of something gone wrong in the lion she had encountered. It hadn't been her fault.
She had done nothing wrong...
"What is it for, Kurai?" Clotho asked interestedly. The horrible smell had died down considerably and she wanted very much to know everything that was in the potion. But those were questions that could be asked in time.
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 5:24 pm
The maned wolf waved his paw, swiping it to the ground, signaling to the leopardess to lie down. Once she had done so, he prodded her onto he back. Then he nudged the bowl of red paste near her head. Once the bowl was in the right place, Kurai dipped his pawn in, getting a nice even amount.
"For your neck." he answered. "That's the last place you've got wounds. That weird patch of dark-pink skin..." he mumbled, more to himself than to her, probably. Kurai began smearing the paste onto the leopardess's neck. It was the place that had taken the longs to heal. Her neck had been torn open both by claws and teeth. Whoever was attacking her had most likely meant to kill. Fortunately, they had failed. This girl was a kind soul. She was nice, albeit a bit naive of the world. She sometimes seemed to slip off into a strange state of meditation, as if she were having visions or something...But most of the time, it looked to Kurai like she was just spacing out.
You had to be one sick freak to attack someone like her. She was way too...Well...Way too Clotho for that.
"I'll rub this in once ever two hours." Kurai explained quietly as he rubbed the paste deep into the leopardess's skin. "By the end of the day, the wound should be healed. There probably won't be any scar, either, just like the rest of your body." he said, smiling slightly. He finished the rubbing and walked over to the vat full of water, pouring some out into a bowl so that he could wash his paw off. "It'll take a little bit for the hair to grow back, though." he added, splashing his paw in the water, clouding the clear liquid with red.
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 5:38 pm
"Ahh..." Clotho sighed, enjoying the cool feeling that covered her tender neck. "Thank you, Kurai." she said to the wolf, smiling.
Every two hours...That wasn't so bad. She could still move and wander as she pleased. She was not confined to bed rest as she had been in the past, which was good. Some of the thick medicines Kurai had placed on her wounds had required her to stay still for their duration, which was quite boring for Clotho, because she couldn't simply meditate because of all the pain her body was feeling. But now was a different story, fortunately.
"The rate of growth for my fur is no concern." Clotho said calmly, eyes closing as she relaxed. "Thank you, Kurai." she said again, still smiling. It was a rather new concept to the leopardess to be taken care of. Growing up with her sisters, sure they had cared for her, but she was very quickly taught how to take care of herself. Not that that was a bad thing; quite the contrary. Still, she was enjoying having someone look after her all the time. It was something she was getting very...Very used to.
A thought struck Clotho suddenly and she opened her eyes, smile fading.
This was "the queen ant in the termite mound", as Kurai had said. What was there to look for once one had found the queen ant?
This remedy was the last. The very last remedy...There was nothing left after this. But what did that mean for Clotho? Would she simply meander off into the jungle once more, back to the Undergrove? Well, she had said she wished to travel a bit...But how would she learn more about remedies and potion-mixing from Kurai if she was wandering off by herself?
"Kurai..." Clotho began slowly. "What will happen...After this?" She was hesitant, knowing that her question would have an answer.
And the answer might not be the one she wished to hear.
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 5:51 pm
Kurai stopped washing his paws and blinked at the now-red bowl of water. He shook his wet paws free of water one by one, mulling over Clotho's question as he did so. His mind was ticking fast and his ears swiveled around in thought.
"After this..." he began slowly, still thinking.
Well, it was obvious what would happen after that. After that, the leopardess would leave, Kurai would wait for Koga to come back, then the two of them would pack up and hit the road again. That's what the two of them did. They wandered. The two of them would never settle down. Kurai's cave was merely a temporary living space while Koga was out looking for his "girlfriend". He'd fail in his attempt to kill her, once again, and make his way back to Kurai. Then the two of them would set off again. That was what they did. And Kurai wasn't complaining. Koga was the only person he could ever tolerate. They were best friends, even though Kurai got bossed around most of the time. But still, they were pretty good friends. Kurai couldn't see himself having others wander around with him and Koga, especially not a random pink leopardess he had found and decided to take care of...TEMPORARILY. Until she was healed. And wow, wouldn't you know it? She was healed. So now...
"After this..." Kurai continued, turning his head to meet the pink eyes of the leopardess. "...We both get back to our normal lives." he said, cutting to the chase. He turned and made his way towards the exit of the cave, deciding that now was the ideal time to go hunting for some food.
Yep, that sounded like the perfect escape from that awkward moment...
He'd be back in two hours, though. He had to be. But after that...At the end of the day...
It was bye-bye to Clotho.
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 5:58 pm
There was a strange sense of loss Clotho felt as she listened to everything Kurai said.
That meant no more learning from him. Her odd visions of following him around, being a kind of student to him, slowly began to diminish. She was alone in the jungle again, waiting for her sisters to come back...
How disappointing...
On the bright side, she had learned a vast amount from the wolf. It wasn't as if she would be walking away with nothing. But she wanted more. However selfish she sounded to herself, she wished to learn much, much more. Had Kurai learned everything he knew from himself, by his own experiences, or had he had a teacher? Clotho wanted to ask, but then he might guess she wanted him to be her teacher. Somehow, it would've been embarrassing to Clotho if Kurai found that out. She wanted to seem wise and mature in his eyes. He was a role model to her.
But she'd never see him again at the end of the day.
Somehow, she was grateful that Durion had attacked her. If he hadn't, she would never have met Kurai. And if she'd never met Kurai, she never would've learned so much; never would have discovered her love for the art of healing. Yes, even after she left the cave to be on her own again, she'd still be a healer. She could still learn on her own, even without Kurai.
Her eyes wavered over the dripping ceiling of the cave down to the walls decorated in various herbs and bowls and bottles, over the rock vats full of rain water, across the cave floor, and finally onto the retreating white back of a maned wolf.
She would miss him.
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