Red Fern Forest why you gotta be so talkative?

Set February 27th, directly after this thread
@Maugrim ^^

He felt kind of bad dragging the dark-furred wolf off like this, but Riven would not allow a packmate to have an untreated wound, however small it might be. Besides, Maugrim/Hrun (he still didn't know which one this was) hadn't seemed to enjoy their pack bonding as much as he should have - perhaps he'd been made uncomfortable by Rhaegara's and Saga's teasing. Whatever the reason, Riv hadn't been able, in good conscience, to let him stew in those bad feelings. Their pack had a place to stay, now, and it was time to settle down and build real relationships with these wolves.

Perhaps learning their names would be helpful, too.

"I know I saw one around here somewhere..." the boy murmured as they walked, blue eyes narrowed and maw set into a deep frown. White fir trees would stand out starkly here - the bark was good for small injuries like Mauhrun had, and they were lucky to be in a place that grew them.

Riv turned his attention back to his companion, scanning him over to check and see if he was favoring that foot. "Does it hurt?" he questioned, brows drawn up in concern.

The squirt—Riven? He'd said Riven, right?—had very gently, but persistently convinced Maugrim to come with him so they could find something to do about his paws. Maugrim was not really sure anything could be done, but he was also not used to having spend prolonged time digging into ice to cause such an injury to himself. It was kind of painful. Was he supposed to lick it? He felt compelled to lick it. Was that bad? Maugrim was not very in tuned with medicine, which was a kind of science or mysticism that went well over his head. Besides, the squit was like, how old? As they walked at their easy pace, Maugrim gave him another look up and down. He was—probably?—sexually mature, but he was so small that it was hard to tell. He was small in his ego, too. He wasn't the sort of soul, like Maugrim, that tried to take up as much space as possible.

No, to Maugrim it seemed that Riven was content to fill the cracks.

"One....what?" Maugrim replied, a little nervously. He wasn't sure if the boy was listening or if he was more keyed into whatever he was looking for, when the blonde boy suddenly turned back and asked him if he was hurt. The worst paw, the dominant right one, was held in the air. They were both bleeding but he had to take turns giving them time on the ground. "I mean it's ... annoying. But I'll live, right?"

"One white fir tree," Riven explained absently, scanning over the tree trunks until he could find the one he was looking for. He was almost unaware of the other wolf eyeing him, though there was that incessant niggling feeling at the back of his skull that told him that he was being watched. But he was far too consumed with the task at hand to care much about that. He took a second before he responded to the next bit, "You won't die, but it's better to clean the wounds and make sure they're treated so we can avoid infections. Especially in winter - it's hard enough already without being sick on top of it." He cast the other boy a smile over his shoulder and offered him a wag of his tail. He hoped he sounded as reassuring as he was trying to be.

His ears perked up when he finally spotted the crackled bark of the white fir he was searching for. "Here!" he announced, trotting forward and eyeing the tree up and down until he found a piece of bark that was peeling more than the rest. "White fir bark can be chewed up; it helps fight off infection," he explained, before fastening his teeth down into the bark and pulling it away from the tree. It came free, but he tumbled backward as well, rolling to a stop in the snow.

Unperturbed, he hopped right back up and nudged Mauhrun a bit to urge him to sit down. "Let me see your paws?" he requested, waiting for his patient to do just that.

Riven said the name of some kind of tree. Had he not specified by adding "tree" onto the end, Maugrim would not have been sure. He easily could have meant white fur and then they'd be walking around looking for a white wolf or rabbit or something like that. Maugrim, since he was not very advanced in his medicinal knowledge, did not have a large vocabulary for breeds of tree. That sort of information was pretty useless to him, he felt. There were trees and then there were big trees, there were leafy ones and pointy ones. Was birch a kind of tree? Or was that a plant? Were trees plants?

When Riven mentioned infection Maugrim felt his heart suddenly startle him out of his herbalogical reverie. Maugrim knew what infection was and that it was gravely bad. Sometimes a wolf survived, but it could be very dangerous. If a pack didn't have a healer it was almost definitely a death sentence for the poor bloke. Now, Maurgrim didn't know how infection worked really but that seemed to matter less to him, generally.

Until Riven mentioned chewing the wood chip that he was unceremoniously plucked from the tree. Blinking, very unsure of what was happening, Maugrim inched forward. He was holding up his paw but not quite offering it yet. "Chew? You... are you going to chew the bark or am I?" This seemed like the most important question to ask immediately.

Riven was unaware of the plight his newfound companion was going through regarding trees. Just like he was sure that the other man was unaware of his own plight of trying to figure out his name. It was not a particularly fun time for either of them. But of course, herbs were the only thing that Riven could do properly - the only thing he'd been trained in. His brain was so chocked full of leaves and berries and trees that it apparently couldn't be bothered to discern between his packmates' names. Which was a huge oversight on his brain's part.

Adelard and Aubine were easier. They looked alike, but one was bigger and one was smaller. That, and one was obviously female. But Hrun and Maugrim? They looked almost just alike, and Riven hadn't had enough one-on-one time with either of them to tell them apart easily just yet.

"I am - it's part of my job," he assured, glancing between Maugrunim and his lifted paw. Not exactly where Riven could see it, which caused the young healer's brows to knit together. What was the holdup? "Is something wrong?" he asked, settling down into a seated position in front of the other boy. "I'm not going to hurt you, you know. It might sting, a little, but it's just to clean the wound." Maybe that was the problem. Riven wasn't sure he'd want a stranger treating his wounds either.

Part of his job? So he was a medic after all. That was at least one comfort in all this, perhaps: that even if Riven was small and probably young he had been trained enough to be granted a professional title. Did he grant it to himself? Maugrim realized he didn't really know how these things worked outside of his home culture.

Far more interesting and alarming, though, was that this meant, yes, Riven was going to chew the bark. Maugrim was spared the indecency and probably terrible flavor profile of a piece of tree. At first, this was the thing he was chiefly worried about. He didn't really know if it was alright to eat tree barked. Seemed very strange to eat tree bark—even if it was just chewing. But now this meant the task fell to Riven? He really wanted to eat the bark? This seemed pretty crazy to Maugrim. Riven didn't seem the least but bothered, though he seemed more anxious that Maugrim was still holding back.

"It's just... it's uhm. You want to put your... spit bark on my paw?" This was about as appealing as the thought of eating bark himself. Riven and Maugrim hardly knew each other. What would the other wolves think about this? Wouldn't that be slimy and gross? (Clearly, Maugrim had never incurred and injury worse that a stubbed toe in his brief life) This process was very undignified, and not just for Maugrim—for, Riven, too. The both of them.

But Maugrim didn't want to offend the little guy. He was, after all, offering to eat something gross in order to ease his pain and chance of dying. It was kind of a noble act. He had to bow to the better man, here. Gruffly, he raised his right paw near the eye level of the boy and looked away as if to spare him something. "Sorry, just seems... strange," he admitted softly.

Dignity was not part of being a medic. Riven had seen so many wolves at such low points. Illness - food poisoning, infection, fever, delirium. Pregnancy and birth - he'd never done it alone, but he'd witnessed women give birth before, and assisted the elder medics with it. Injury - cuts, bites, scratches, splinters. He'd been vomited on, bled on, spit on - the whole nine yards. Chewing up some bark to put on his packmate's paw was honestly nothing, for him.

Still, a laugh pealed from his maw at the way Hrungrim put it. That was exactly what he was going to do, and it was vocalized in such a simple, concise way. None of the whole runaround, long-winded explanations - Listen, River - you masticate the bark between your teeth, releasing the oils trapped within. You take the poultice and rub it deeply into the cut, and repeat the process daily as needed. It could be simplified down into putting his spit bark on someone's paw.

"I guess so," he chirped in return, eyes crinkled as he smiled. "It sounds really funny when you put it that way." He shook his head at the apology. "No, don't be sorry. It is pretty strange - but I promise it's going to help."

Well, now he had to know this guy's name. He was really funny, and Riven found that the smile did not fully drop from his face as he turned to take the bark and chew it up, checking to be sure that the injury was clean enough first. White fir had a weird flavor - not bad, but the texture was worse. His nose wrinkled slightly as he worked it down into a weird mush in his mouth.

Then, the boy dipped down and passed his tongue across the underside of his companion's paw, pressing the mixture firmly in to be sure that the oils would have a chance to fully enter the injury. The rest of the mush was chipmunked in his right cheek as he pulled back to look at his patient, gauging for signs of discomfort. "The other one is hurt, too, right?" he questioned, voice muffled by the salve.

The kid laughed at him, but it was so far over his head that Maugrim hardly registered what could be funny. "Uhhh..huh," He said, nodding, almost without realizing he was saying it. Obviously, he was a little flabbergasted, a little disgusted at the prospect, but equally galled by this boy who was going to do it. At least Riven seemed to acknowledge the strangeness of this moment they were having, if a little sorry about it. Briefly, Maugrim met his surprisingly blue eyes and then looked the other way. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that Riven, though concentrating—at least Maugrim hoped he was concentrating, this was a medical procedure, now—still had a smile on his maw.

Was he laughing at him? Was he... happy?

It was interesting to see someone very at peace with themselves and centered on their calling. Even if this was like, probably the easiest and silliest thing in the world, Riven seemed to take it very seriously. That he did was a relief for Maugrim, who otherwise would have felt rather silly, holding his paw out for another pack mate to lick.

No one had licked Maugrim's paws since his Mother. Maybe Hrun had licked them once or twice, but probably as a joke or to be really weird or something. Maugrim licked his own paws. Which seemed... normal? Maugrim hadn't exactly witnessed a lot of wolves licking each others paws in his life. Which, of course, brought him back to the weird sensation that slid up his foot. Riven's tough.

Uh, weird?

Maugrim almost took his paw away, but folded his ears back and pushed it back. The bark was not mushy has he had imagined, more gristly like it was the sand he had walked on once upon a time. Just wet sand, maybe a little rockier. Did he feel better? He wasn't sure. Awkwardly, he started to lower his right paw when he felt the bark mixture hit the snow lightly and then he bounced it back up, unsure of things. Except at the same time, Riven was asking for his other paw. Not knowing what to do, Maugrim rose into a sit on his back legs so he could keep his right paw elevated, hanging limply against his body, with the left one outstretched. "Uhm... when do I put the other one down?"

Mahrungrim seemed to be uncomfortable with the whole process, and Riven felt his own ears slide off to the sides in response. Had no one ever cared for this wolf before? It seemed so sad that this seemed to be his first experience. Sure, if you'd never had this done before, it might seem a little bit weird, but it certainly wasn't the grossest thing Riven had ever encountered, and he certainly would never mind doing it for a packmate. But he also wasn't sure how to make sure that the other wolf understood that it was totally fine and normal, and that it was absolutely no trouble at all.

Maybe he'd learn over time. All Riven could do was be patient and steady.

"Oh!" Riven began, realizing the other boy's dilemma. "You can lay down on your side and let it dry a little. It won't take long - just a few minutes." He gave the dark-furred wolf's shoulder a nudge in that direction. He was trying not to laugh at the funny pose his companion had taken, but his tail did swish in the snow at the sight. Only after the other man was down on his side would the medic repeat the process of putting the rest of the salve on his other foot.

He pulled back afterward, inspecting his work to make sure both feet were equally coated and elevated off of the ground. "Good," he remarked, offering his new packmate a warm smile. "The oils that are trapped in the bark help clean the wound and keep infection out so it can heal better," he explained, wanting to reassure his patient as much as he possibly could. Then, he turned and briskly padded over to grab another strip of the bark before returning to settle himself down next to Hrunaugrim. His own paws were stinging - they weren't bleeding like his patient's were, but they were raw and sore from the ice. It was better safe than sorry. "Sorry, I know this is probably not the most professional thing to do, but do you mind if I take care of mine, too?" he questioned, glancing back over to the other boy. He let out a sheepish laugh. "The whole digging thing was rough. I'm not used to that much physical labor."

You idiot, Maugrim realized as the boy reminded him he could just lay down instead of stand here like some sort of rabbit on high alert for the warren. If Riven thought he was stupid, though, he didn’t laugh (outwardly) or make any comment. Instead, the boy gently touched him on the shoulder to guide him to the ground. Maugrim felt absolutely stunned as he carefully reclined and stretched out on the ground. Truthfully, he felt a little silly on his side like this, his lighter, richly colored stomach fur exposed to a packmate.

While Maugrim knew it was rude to stare it felt a little weird to just have Riven tinkering around where he couldn’t see him. He lifted his head from the ground and twisted about, his sharp yellow eyes cautiously observing that there was no funny business going on. The process was exactly the same as it had been with the first paw, but Maugrim still felt a weird, internal prickle when Riven licked his paw.

The dark twin watched him shuffle back and survey his work happily. Maugrim didn’t know anything about oils or, honestly, being clean but he would accept this high falutin medical explanation. Should he ask any other questions? Was there something else important he needed to know? Maugrim wasn’t sure he would understand anything, anyway, so he reminded silent and bobbed his head slowly.

”Oh, go right ahead,” Maugrim practically stammered. He didn’t know what professional meant but he could care less if Riven took care of himself. It benefitted them all if their healer was taken care of. ”Yeah, I’m not really a digger, either.” He knew it was something a lot of wolves felt compelled to do, out of instinct or fun or something like that but Maugrim was really more of… a snacker.

After a moment of silence Maugrim added, ”Thanks for helping me, man. I appreciate it. Plus, I really needed to get away from the girls. I don’t think I can stand them.“