some were born to sing the blues

@Draven, from what Cas had seen of him, was a nice enough wolf. He was big - like Niles and Al - but very kind. Just... very quiet, too. Didn't seem like he'd be the type to ridicule her, or to tell everybody about her plight. She wouldn't even be considering going to him, apart from the fact that the pain was really getting to her. She'd eaten a few bites of a rabbit earlier that night and had vomited the entirety of her stomach contents out not long after - to the point of spitting up stomach bile. It was rather disgusting, and she was sure Niles was worried about her... not that she'd seen overmuch of him recently. Mostly, it was her fault, for distancing herself a bit. She was just so sick, and she didn't want him to worry.

But Cas was aware she looked like hell. She'd lost quite a bit of weight, her ribs sticking out against her skin and her fur disheveled. A limp seemed to be a permanent accessory to her gait nowadays, and her entire body shook with the effort of doing more than walk for an hour to try and find a den.

She was pretty much useless to her new pack, currently. Though she was aware that all she really, truly needed was a few day's rest, she couldn't even get comfortable enough to do so. She hurt, all the time, and she was so cold. Even Niles' warmth couldn't shake the chill from her pelt... which wasn't actually all that surprising, considering the snow was up to her chest and she had no body fat to make up for the cold.

But Draven was a healer, right? Or, at least, close to one. Cas had never been to a healer before. It was more than a little intimidating, and humbling, and something she absolutely would not do unless she had no other option. But she'd never felt this sick before, and if he could just give her something for the pain and a place to sleep out of the snow... she'd probably feel a little better.

The tiny girl winced as she waded through the snow and nosed her way into Draven's makeshift medicine den. "Um..." she called uncertainly, formerly-bright blue eyes scanning the den for the dark boy. She hoped she wasn't disturbing him too badly at such a late hour. "Hey, um, Draven? I c-could use a little healing," she continued, going for a joke that fell flat. She was trembling too hard to even think about sounding funny, her posture low and her tail curled around her hock. And, though she tried to hide it, tears stood in her blue eyes. "Please. It hurts..." The last words were exhaled in a breath, shaking and miserable. Anything, if he could just make it go away... even for a minute.

So sorry this took so long! 1/3 healing, 2/12 overall

Draven had always been something of a light sleeper in the past, but since coming to the Vale this had worsened. Perhaps it was the change form mountain air to the forest, or earth beneath his paws instead of stone, or just maybe it was the girl that he had left behind. After so long in the wide open of the stone giant it felt wrong to confine himself into the infirmary at night, and chose to instead sleep within a few yards of its entrance. Close enough to keep an eye out for any movement in the night, but far enough that his dark form blended into the shadows.

When Castel came through the snows to approach the den it took a moment for the subordinate to truly shake his grogginess. At first he was sure that he was dreaming, her form was so thin that Draven couldn't believe that she had made it all this way with the group. Until her words, a flat attempt at a joke broke the spell and he was at his paws. Coming up behind her with a soft chuff so as to not scare her too badly he gestured that she should enter the den. The inside was plenty wide enough for the pair of them, he had purposely made it large enough to fit three wolves comfortably should they ever need it. The earth walls were still frozen from the winter but come the summer he would smooth them down to make it softer within the confines.

Making no attempt at small talk the green eyes swept over her frail frame, "Can you tell me where it hurts Castel? Or what the pain feels like?" It was obvious that she had some kind of serious ailment, but his medical supplies were incredibly limited given the time of year. It wouldn't be until late spring or early summer that he would begin to feel fully stocked.

His appearance behind her would normally have had little to no effect on the young girl, but in her hazed state, she startled and nearly toppled over. Only the wall of the den stopped her, and she settled down with a couple of deep breaths. Blue eyes met Draven's green, her dry tongue lolling as she panted. He asked her where it hurt, and what the pain felt like, but she wasn't exactly sure how to respond. Because the pain was everywhere, and she felt hot and cold and sharp and dull and throbbing and cramping, all at the same time.

"Um..." she began, squeezing her eyes shut tightly as she tried to think. "It hurts... all over. I don't know how to describe..." she trailed off and gritted her teeth, swaying on her paws. She lay on her stomach, placing her head on her paws and trying to will it all away. "It's... my mom had-had it," she tried to explain, her eyes opening and attempting to meet his. "Nothing fixes it... but... I-I was hoping m-maybe you had s-something to take the pain aw-away?"

It was a stretch, but maybe Draven had something that could make it easier for her to sleep. If she could rest, maybe her body would recover more naturally, and she could get back to her feet again. Tears burned her eyes and slid down her cheeks as she squeezed them shut. She didn't know what she would do if there wasn't anything that could be done. It felt like she was dying.

2/3 healing 4/12 overall

Unfortunately despite his best efforts his approach still startled her enough that she stumbled into the wall of the entrance. Watching the way that she lay made it obvious that she was in pain but without any other symptoms it would be impossible to treat her. Even with symptoms it was currently a losing battle given the land was still covered in snow, their options on healing were limited. Draven did his best to look on encouragingly as she squeezed her eyes shut and try to find the right words to describe what was happening with her.

Unfortunately, this wasn't a problem he knew how to fix. Nodding towards her Draven turned away so that he could rummage through what he had. In the end he grabbed some white cedar and some chaga mushrooms, not sure what else he could do with what he had. Nudging them towards Castel he smiled a little forlornly, "The white cedar will help with the pain in your joints and the chaga mushroom boosts your immune system so you can help fight off the illness." He could only hope this would be enough for at least the next couple weeks until he got some real herbs.

Looking down at the plants for a moment he asked the question he was afraid to hear the answer to, "What did your mother have?" If it was bacterial or fungal he might be able to give her something else, but if it wasn't....

Draven was doing what he could to help her, and Castel appreciated it more than he could realize. He nudged her some herbs, claiming they were for pain and immune-strengthening, both of which she definitely needed at the moment. She doubted that she could handle a cold or the flu alongside the pain from her ingrained disease. She took the herbs gratefully, chewing them up and swallowing and praying that she could keep them down. She hadn't had the best track record with edibles lately, as she'd thrown up most of what she'd eaten for the past week.

"Thank you," she gulped, resting her head on her forepaws and squeezing her eyes shut tightly, willing herself not to throw up and willing the herbs to work. The pain was overwhelming, but it wasn't quite as bad now that she was off of her feet. She'd just about nodded off when he asked about her mother's disease, and Cas pried her eyes back open to look up at him. Her vision was still obscured with the dark and half-shed tears, and she shifted to try and get more comfortable.

She waited for the herbs to help ebb away at the pain a bit before she spoke, her head clearing a bit with the easing of the aching, stabbing pain in her joints. "My mom had, uh, this disease she was born with. I don't know much about this kind of stuff, but dad said it made her so sick that she sometimes couldn't even move. She'd bleed easier, get sick easier, and couldn't hold down food sometimes." She took a deep breath before continuing. "She died giving birth to me and my siblings - lost too much blood. It seems like it passed down to me. I've always been really weak and small, and I, uh... I get sick a lot." She trailed off, her eyes drifting back shut.

"Can I stay in here tonight?" she asked, opening her bleary eyes and trying to seek out his green.

3/3 healing, 6/12 overall

Draven watched intensely as Castel ate the herbs as instructed, and even closer as she squeezed closed those signature blue eyes. He wished he had something else on paw to give to her but it would be weeks if not a month before anything began to bloom. Silently he vowed that he would keep the infirmary better stocked by the fall so that next winter they would not run into the same problem. He would have to find the proper place to lay out and dry the herbs beforehand of course but that was a task for another time.

Listening to her mother's symptoms Draven was at a loss. He knew how to treat many of the symptoms yes, but for the actual illness itself... how long would it have been if it had not been childbirth that had killed her? The young healer wondered if Castel would be willing, or able to take a trip up the mountain this spring to see if Namid could help her. Nodding at her question the raven pelted wolf moved closer, pressing his side against hers so as to lend her some warmth. Her frame was bone thin and couldn't possibly be providing her much heat of it's own. Quietly so as to not disturb her too much he murmured, "In the spring I'm going to put you on a strict herb regiment okay? Something to try and make you feel a little more comfortable. We can start now with what I've given you every couple of days but there will be more once I can stock this place." he would run her through them once he had the plants, there was no point now.

Chaga mushroom for her immune system, ergot for her bleeding, ginger for her stomach, hellebore on days the pain was really bad. Possibly some yarrow if he could get some to keep away further infections. 

Laying his head down on his dark paws, Draven's eyes watched Castel closely for any further twinges of pain. "Maybe in the spring you can come with me to visit my old pack, Namid will know better what to do to make things better." Somewhere in the back of his mind a small voice whispered if she makes it to the spring. He tried to ignore it.

Feel free to skip to the next morning with your next post <3 7/12 for your dem

The young medic was very kind to her, which made Castel understand why he, even with his size, he had decided to pursue healing instead of guardianship. The herbs had removed the edge off of the pain, and in its wake it left more of a sleepy feeling. Which was probably due to the fact that she hadn't had a decent night's sleep in days upon days now. Especially not in a place out of the cold, with a very warm body pressed against her. Yes, she had had Niles most nights, but he'd avoided her during March (which had been pointless because she hadn't even had a heat cycle to speak of), and she had a feeling that he was reluctant to join them at all.

"Mmmpf," she agreed to whatever it was that he was talking about. Something about herbs in the Spring or something like that. Whatever would make her feel better. The herbs she'd taken already were already doing some good for her, and although it wasn't melting the pain away like magic, it was certainly making it more tolerable.

She missed the part about going to visit Namid - whom she wouldn't have known anyway, because they had never met. The slight soothing of the pain and the fact that he'd lain down beside her to share his warmth was slowly lulling the girl into a dreamless sleep. She drifted off with her chin on her folded paws and her nose buried into the fur around his shoulder. Occasionally, her brows would draw up in her sleep, if a wave of pain were to disturb her rest, but mostly she was still.

Draven settled into the place next to Castel. Her frame was skinnier than he would have liked but he could only hope that in time that would change as she started to feel better. The woman drifted off into what seemed a peaceful sleep but the healer in training's mind was still filled with what this illness might be. He wished that Namid was here, she might know what to do or at least know where to start in narrowing it down. This spring him and Castel would have to make the trip up the mountain, but how could they if she could barely walk now on flat ground? It was all a mess, maybe he could just go and meet Namid and get her to come back with him. But, then she would be leaving her pack. It was all a mess.

Eventually he must have drifted off to sleep because he awoke with the warm stream of light coming through the entrance. Glancing sideways he saw the she wolf still pressed against him, instinctively he had curled around her throughout the night and part of him wanted to pull away. But, another stronger part of him liked the way it felt, the platonic familiarity of his packmate and the warmth that they shared. It was different than Neha which had always been a romantic connection, he felt nothing like this for Castel, but he felt protective of her.

He wouldn't let her get sicker, he would do everything he could until she was better or at least had her symptoms managed. Draven would do anything it took to make sure of it. Settling his head down on his paws next to her cranium he watched as the sun began to rise and bathe the already orange trees an even more vibrant hue.