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 Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 4:28 pm
 Kizuka sighed. She had never been more thankful for a friendship than she was tonight. Taking care of her babies was her one true love, but she was just not used to so much... interaction. With anyone. Let alone three energetic, apparently constantly hungry and bored puppies. She loved them dearly, but to be granted one night to rest was... needed.
So Risktaker had come to her and asked if she needed a break. He offered to take the kids for the night, to show them the ropes and to introduce them to his family, but she knew he was really just giving her a night to herself. She would have to thank him somehow, though she couldn't quite think how. Even just saying the words was hard enough. He looked out for her like a father might, and she had never had one before.
Sighing, she was sitting under the stars, not too near the Father Tree. She knew that was where most of the pack went to hang out, and she would rather be isolated. Quiet. She felt out of sorts, not stressed but strained. Her body was just running down on her. Sniffling, wondering if she was getting a cold or something, she laid her head down in the grasses and closed her eyes.
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 4:30 pm
Dawnflower snuffled around anxiously, as this was a nightly ritual; bounding around fretfully, in search of anyone that may be in pain or sick in the slightest. Kucha would never forgive herself if she let someone go to bed with a splinter in their paw or just had a little case of the sniffles. She honestly couldn't care less that they were supposed to come to her den if they had a problem, this was her job! Dawn was alone for so long, not having a purpose, she would be the last one to calm down and help herself. She now needed to be needed by others.
After proceeding to give, every pup, every elder, and any wild dog in between, a full examination to see that they didn't have the slightest scratch, it seemed that all was well. Wait. What was that smell? It smelled like... GERMS! Immediately out of habit, her well-trained nose plastered itself to the ground seeking the bacteria-infested source. She winced when she realized that the source was much to large to just be a rabbit that may have eaten a bad plant. No. This was worse. Someone had a cold. Dawn continued to let her nose guide her until she would be able to single out the ill dog.
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:27 pm
Kizuka sighed, trapped in an uncomfortable place between waking and sleep. She felt like she could sleep, like she wanted to, but her eyes would not stay closed. When they were open they were heavy, and yet somehow it was impossible to keep them from opening minutes, mostly seconds after closing them. Her head was muddy, like she was dozing, but she couldn't slip off completely.
Swatting the floor irritably with her tail, she closed her eyes again and tried to will herself asleep. She even moved her paw over her face to keep her eyelids down. Huffing from under her paw, she relaxed and imagined she was maybe almost there.
And then she sneezed.
Sitting up abruptly, giving up, she shook her head and tried to rub the stuffiness from her nose.
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:06 pm
Continuing to follow her nose, Dawnflower zigged and zagged until she finally reached the outskirts of the Father Tree. Her nose remained glued to the ground even after she had found Phantomsoul, as her nostrils were still flaring wildly to confirm that this was indeed the contaminated member.
As she reached Kizuka, her nose went wild, leading her in a circle around her, sniffing as much fur as possible. Through this process the also occasionally prodded her with her forepaws and made mental notes about her condition. Meh, she had seen worse, much worse, but still, she seemed to be uncomfortable, and Kucha would not stand for that, not on her watch.
With a sigh, she accepted that, indeed, it was one of her own that was sick. She straighted herself up and briskly stated, "Phantomsoul, could you come with me to my den? You appear to be ill and it is my duty to make sure you get better." She was being quite serious but she had a kind, gentle look in her eyes. Although on the outside, she appeared to be remotely calm, on the inside, she was a wreck. She knew this wasn't that bad, it was just that all the same, it made her pity Phantomsoul just as much as if she had been brutally maimed and lost a leg in battle.
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Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 11:28 pm
Kizuka lowered her paw a bit as she saw a pack member sniffing her way closer. The black wild dog watched carefully, confused, as the other worked her way over, apparently following a trail. She tilted her head as the other, who she had seen around the pack before but never mustered the courage to speak to, started to circle her. Bristling, Kizuka could do little but sit there as the other worked.
She had no idea what else to do.
"What..." she said slowly, in her usual emotionless tone, "...are you doing?"
She spoke quietly, as if she didn't really want to be answered. She sniffled as her nose itched, her attention drawn from her run down body now that this strange distraction had arrived. Her ears moved back a bit when the other finally addressed her.
"Your den?" She echoed thoughtfully, expression remaining stoic, despite her confusion, "I... suppose... if that... is what you want?" She stood, tail motionless behind her, light yellow eyes watching the other carefully.
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Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 5:20 pm
"If you could, that would be wonderful. It smells as if you need treatment, and soon. Whatever this is, it smells strong and would be most unfortunate should your pups catch it. It would be best if I could disinfect you before the pack catches this."
As they walked back to her medicine den, they did so in silence. Although she was deeply worried about her patient, as usual, over-reacting, she couldn't quite think of what to say exactly to this wild dog that seemed to be a bit apathetic, for lack of a better word. She did not mind the quiet even though it was mildly awkward. It gave her time to think of how to diagnose and treat this... odd patient. She seemed to rather not talk which could prove problematic seeing as she liked, thorough, wordy descriptions of the illness. She would probably have to poke, prod,and wrench every answer from her.
Stiffly, Dawnflower sat down in her usual sleeping spot, the central bed of woven, dry grass, with other empty ones surrounding it. Kindly, Dawn gestured towards a bed and asked her to sit. "So, what are your symptoms?"
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 11:42 pm
Kizuka frowned, looking worried. For the stoic, usually expressionless wild dog this was quite a feat. She certainly didn't want her pups catching her cold, or whatever it was, and if this healer had it in her mind that it needed some treatment, Kizuka wasn't about to argue. Though, at lot of that had to do with her aversion to talking at all, protest or not.
Kizuka felt her anxiety mounting as they walked. She was thankful for the silence, but she didn't like the air that was radiating from the other wild dog. Hopefully she was just being too careful. After all, if Kizuka had managed to raise herself from a puppy without dying from a disease she didn't think she would keel over after finally getting to a home.
Or maybe that was just how cruel fate was. She hoped not.
Kizuka stood near the bed, not venturing to sit just yet. She thought for a moment before answering, "I sneezed."
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 8:32 am
Dawn furrowed her brows to hide her frustration. Just as she thought, this would be a fight all the way. She had seen Phantomsoul around long enough to know that talking was an absolute last resort. But Kucha needed a long, well explained diagnosis. Time to try her first method for stuborn patients, mostly pups that don't want to talk. Coaxing.
Kucha made her voice softer, more innocent, but less patronizing than when she talked to pups. "Really? Are you sure that's all? I could have sworn the smell of you was much to strong to just be a sneeze. I can't help you get better, and protect your pups and the pack from this unless you tell me all about your sickness." Near the end, panic had once again entered her voice at the thought of this spreading and this being all her fault. Her overactive imagination made an unlikely but scary chain of events. Everyone would be sick and suffering. It would be all her fault. Then Wisdomschaser and Risktaker would banish her, saying "We don't need you." Kucha was now choking back tears.
"Please, you have to tell me everything about this!"
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 10:12 pm
Kizuka looked at Dawn blandly. She didn't mean to be unhelpful, she simply did not know how to described what she was feeling. She didn't know the words for a lot of it. After all, she only learned how to speak by listening to others, over the long days of her wandering alone. The only words she had learned, then, were the ones she heard others saying. Add to that the issue that she could only walk at night and it was only natural that her vocabulary was a bit limited.
No one had ever been discussing their physical conditions in depth, as far as she could remember.
She blinked thoughtfully, wanting to make it easier on this friendly wild dog.
"I... my head is... fuzzy," she offered, not knowing why the other looked so intense now, "I... still feel like sneezing... but my nose... it doesn't... uh... work. Right."
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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 8:52 am
Dawn perked up immediately at Phantom's sudden helpfulness. Her eyes were still watery and her voice raspy from the verge of crying. "Oh, thank you!", Dawn cried with glee. This wasn't the long description she had hoped for, but she had seen Phantom around and saw how little she talked. For her to give the symptoms in one try was a miracle. Her wording was a little strange, but she knew what she meant. She had worked with pups that when they had a headache would describe it as, 'my brain has a boo-boo'
Now that she had heard it from her, it was just a simple variation of the common cold, even if a nasty one. There was no real cure, but there were plenty of herbs and medicine she could use to ease her ailments.
Dawnflower instantly turned to her zebra-skin bag with all her materials in it and noisily started rummaging through it. Her face buried in it, she let out a muffled "Ah ha!" As she withdrew her head, between her teeth was a piece of dark bark and some dry, yellow grass. She placed it at Kizuka's feet and said while pointing to each accordingly, "This is Willow bark. If you chew on it, it should get rid of your headache. You don't have to swallow it, it's a bit rough on the throat. And this is Lemongrass. I'm going to crush it, and when you smell it, it should clear your nose.", Dawn said cheerfully. She nudged the slab of bark towards Phantom as Dawn began folding and crushing the grass on a flat rock. This was no where near as dire as she thought this was.
"The only thing is, you will have to stay in the den for a day or two until you are better."
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Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 4:13 pm
Kizuka was not used to dealing with normal creatures, much less ones with particularly strong personalities. She watched Dawn with her head tilted, one ear perked forward while the other hung cautiously down. She shook her head, not knowing what to do. So she stayed quiet, watching.
She blinked at the bark and grass, staring down at it as the other put it at her feet. She listened quietly, making no indication that she understood anything the other was saying. Looking up, Kizuka, at great length, nodded slowly.
"Okay," she said. Sniffling, she bent to pick up the bark, though she didn't feel like she really wanted to chew on it. Staying in her den wouldn't be too bad, with her puppies to keep her company. Though, she almost imagined they were why she was sick.
But what did she know?
"Thank you..." she said her voice smiling ever so slightly, though her face remained stoic.
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Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 11:47 am
With a deep breath that turned into a sigh of relief, Dawn continued to crush the Lemongrass. After a couple more folds and crushes, she bent her head down to sniff it. With a very faint wince and wide eyes, she mumbled under her breath, "Yup that's Lemongrass alright." It wasn't even that it smelled bad as much as it was a strong, sharp, tangy smell. The kind of smell that would clear your nose. And that meant it was ready.
She dumped the powdery grass onto a large leaf and grabbed it in her teeth. Steadily, Dawn walked back over to Kizuka and placed the leaf with the small pile of yellowish powder on it at her feet. "Could you kneel down and take a few deep breaths of this. The powder will sting your nose if you inhale it, you just need the scent."
Dawn then looked over to see that the bark wasn't chewed up very much. She then picked it up and once again put it in front of Kizuka, but she wasn't getting impatient, she had dealed with much more stubborn, especially elders that believed they knew better than she about medicine or insisted they were fine. "Phantomsoul, after you smell the grass, could you please chew on the bark some more? It would make you feel much better.", she said sweetly.
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Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 11:22 pm
Kizuka watched her impassively, then looked down at the crushed grass. She imagined she would have to listen, or else she might never be allowed to leave. Lowering her head slowly, she sniffed at it cautiously, catching a small whiff and not liking it too much.
She blinked, her eyes watering a bit.
"I... okay..." she said, not feeling like she could find the right words to protest the orders. If it pleased the other dog, then she supposed she could deal with the odd taste and texture. But first, the grass. She lowered her head a bit more and sniffed a bit bigger, wincing and sniffing again.
It seemed to work. Since she was near the bark now she moved over and picked it up in her teeth, chewing on it a little.
"Thank you..." she mumbled, a bit muffled.
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Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 5:50 pm
Dawn nodded approvingly at Phantomsouls deep breaths and instantly heard what she wanted. The clearing of her nose, and then a wince. As much as she hated the sound of displeasure, that's how she could truly know if they were doing what they were told, they would most always whine about the smell, but hey that meant they could smell again.
She turned around so she could figure out if there was anything else she could do, only to quickly hear a faint crunch of the bark. Yes! Now she was cooperating. But luckily, there was nothing else Soul would need to endure. Now she just needed her rest.
"You are quite welcome. Good night Phantomsoul, you should get your rest. Don't hesitate one bit to wake me if anything gets worse or if you can't sleep", Dawn said contentedly with her usual hint of paranoia sneaking into her voice. She had done her job, and eased another's suffering.
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Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 11:00 pm
Kizuka nodded, blinking.
She stood, bowing her head in an effort to say goodbye, though she had the bark in her mouth now and was simply holding it there, unsure how to be rid of it, and almost enjoying the texture of it anyway. She backed up off the bedding, then made her way slowly to the den, thinking about he pups and settling down with them again.
She had only been away from them for a short time, feeling as though she needed to, and now she missed them fiercely.
She didn't think she would be returning to Dawn's den any time soon, but she was almost happy to have the offer. Though, the paranoid edge to it put her a little ill at ease. Still, it was nice to know there was someone looking out for her.
End!
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