Namir had heard about the hot springs from a few during his wanderings. He heard that the hot water was great for relaxing strained and tired muscles and that there were caves that would provide comfortable sleeping spots for as long as he chose to stay. The one thing the young lion worried about is the warning he received from each that told him about the springs, 'do not inhabit the central cave with the fresh water spring right at its door.' When he asked why most just said because, one said that the cave did not like to be inhabited, as if the cave was a living thing.
He still got the shivers just thinking about the serious tone of that warning; its just a cave right? Namir shook off the spooky feeling as he walked following his nose and the sulfur smelling breeze. He crested a rise and there were the springs; pockets of individual ones and cascades of them, puddles of bubbling mud all situated in and around gray rock and green grass.
Val had just come back from herb hunting and gathering the basics for her healing practice. She walked into her den and spread out the herbs that had to dry as well as extracting the two new gourd bowels that the monkey crafters made for her. "What would I have done without them" she muttered to herself as she added them to the small stack of like objects. The monkeys really are quite ingenious Val thought as she studied the bowels and drying racks they had constructed out of gourds, grass, and sticks. Each was made with the purpose of a lion handling them and to take great wear and tear, well for the most part. She thought longingly of the day nest month when she would go visit her friends and come home with honest to goodness baskets, how they were going to make baskets out of grass she couldn't even fathom.
With a sigh Val pulled off the leather guards she word around her front legs, she left her herb bag on mainly because she liked having it close by. Val was happy in a sad sort of a way. Her cubs were spending the week with their father. This gave her plenty of time alone and yet she is still missing her cubs. The first two days were nice sine she didn't have to keep a watch on her curious cubs, especially Mat. The following two days were a bit harder since she was starting to miss them. When today arrived Val was more than ready for her cubs to be home but they were not expected back for another two days. That was why she was surprised that when she stepped out of her den she heard a yelp of shock echo off the rocks.
Namir expected the water to be hot but he didn't really expect to find out this way. The young lion had always been a bit clumsy so it didn't really come as a surprise when he tripped over a well grounded stone. While the stone didn't move poor Namir did, in a forward motion face first into a hot spring pool. It was his yelp that Val heard right before he was sumirged into the warm water. Namir surfaced moments later sputtering and coughing but no real harm done.
Val feared that someone had gotten hurt so she rushed to where the yell seemed to originate, harder then it seemed as sound tended to bounce around on the rocks and water. At first she had guessed wrong but the sound of sputtering and coughing led her to the right pool and the sopping blue lion who seemed to have been in a real hurry for a bath. After a quick glace showed that the lion appeared fine and didn't need help right away Val sat and as the seconds slowly ticked by, watched her new companion, waiting to see how long it would take him to notice her.
Namir reached the edge of the pool and was about to pull himself out when he glanced up and noticed the green lioness just sitting there and watching him. Not sure if she had been there the whole time Namir did his best to skillfully climb from the pool, that is to say not very. It took him longer then expected to extract his sorry hide from the pool, to him it seemed that years passed before he stood dripping in front of the beautiful lioness. "Well that was refreshing," he said with false bravo and a embarrass smile.
"Your lucky you know." Val looked over the dripping lion, seeing no scratches or gashes and his movements didn't seem restricted in any way meaning he was likely fine physically. "You could have found one of the really hot springs or one that is too shallow to do a face plant into it." She paused looking all stern before breaking out into a smile. "But yeah that looked refreshing. You are OK right? Nothing hurting?" She thought he was but it never hurt to ask anyway.
Namir was rightfully chastised so it was with a sheepish face that he told the lioness he was just fine, "only my ego is bruised. And a bit cold." he added. With his wet fur and the stiff breeze Namir really was cold.
Val laughed softly, "Well that we can easily fix. Shake out most of the water then follow the path when your ready." She smiled as she stepped out of sight behind some rocks before pausing to call back over her shoulder. "Don't take too long or you will get a cold."
It didn't take Namir to shake the majority of the water from his fur and to follow the path that Val took. When he reached the end of the path he stopped. It was the den those he talked to warned him about. Surely the lioness wasn't staying in the 'haunted' den?
Val poked her head out of her den and saw Namir standing there with a strange look on his face. "Well are you coming in or not?" She was a bit sharper then she meant but she did have other things she should get done and him standing there like some stone statue would not make her work pile shrink. Him getting sick would even add to the pile. Who ever heard of the goddess of herblore having a guest get sick on her?
Namir jumped slightly, startled from his thoughts by the lioness calling him. He hesitantly joined her in the surprisingly large cave. The walls near the front were covered in various holes and niches where he could see gourdes, bags, baskets, and other items being stored. He looked around him in curiosity and soon asked, "So what is all this stuff." He didn't even notice that he was no longer cold, just damp.
"Just odds and ends. Most of it is healing stuff thought there are a few that are not. But then again there is such a fine line between healing and poisoning." Val shrugged as she moved a bit deeper where the residual warmth of all the underground thermals kept the den comfortably warm. "So I don't believe we introduced ourselves. I am Val. Valetudo'Sero, goddess of herb lore at your service."
Again Namir was surprised. A goddess! Well that makes sense. He thought to himself when he remembered the warning about the cave, after all why would a goddess worry about a strange feeling coming from a den? "I am Naim'Namir although most just call me Namir. And if you don't mind me asking, would you teach me?" It really was lucky for him to meet Val and if she was willing he hoped that soon he could return home, as soon as he found a banu of course.
"Why Namir?" In general Val was not against teaching what she knew. In fact that tended to be what she did more of rather then healing but she had never had someone come right out and ask her to teach them and she was curious.
Namir wasn't entirely sure how to reply but he did his best anyway. "Well you see at home there really arn't any 'healers' per say. Yeah most know how to fix a bruise or even a scratch but I know there are ways that will help heal the bruise faster or keep the cut clean." He smiled sheepishly, "If anything I really should learn so I can at least patch myself up when I hurt myself." That was actually what started him into looking to be a healer, the fact that he was clumsy and had a tendency to hurt himself.
"Both points are a valid reason for learning. Just so you are aware what you will be learning is about plants and other herbs that can help with healing but they are by no means a way of working miracles. There will be those that despite everything you do, you are unable to save." Val understood this and if Namir truly wanted to learn from her he had to understand this as well. But even she knew that if he understood it in his head he wouldn't truly understand with his heart until one of his patents did not survive on him.
"I understand that everything has its risks including healing but that still does not mean that I shouldn't learn what I can to help others." Namir said this with feeling and determination. "Please Lady Val teach me what you can."
Pleased by his determination Val smiled and nodded, "Very well then. We shall begin tomorrow because first I need to know more about where your from and the plants that likely grow around your home. While it is useful to know about many plants and there uses for you it would be best to learn native plants first."
"Thank you," Namir said before launching into a description of his home. Soon he would be able to return and with more then just a banu. He would return with the knowledge of at least how to help others to the best of his ability.
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