[Gift] Help me, Help you

Varos Maple and Katholes were still early in their journey down into Vitalus‘ Depths, bioluminescent crystals as well as the light of the lantern of their haedian guide Cailu illuminating their slow but sure descent into the Below. They all kept each other company, everyone participating in this excoursion for their own personal reasons, for Maple it was mere curiosity, for Varos a chance to meet another culture or reoseans to share and be taught culinary masterpieces from and for Katholes, it was to let go of the shadows of their past, finally hoping to move on to being a better, free, and happy Reosean, without being weighed down by the constant worrying and scared glances cast over their shoulder expecting a thug from their past around every corner to have come for them for revenge.

The redcoated puller shook their head, trying to simultaneously shake this old, paranoia off of them, something that had almost become a friend to them, always at their side but to no avail. They weren‘t even able to fully pay attention to what their tour guide was regailing the group with, only being really able to catch the tail end of what Cailu had started to talk about. „…cherish nurturing above all else. They are well known for the medicine they concoct and their peaceful way of life!“ 

„OOOOOH-“ exclaimed Maple who had been glued to the lips of the haedian, taking in all the words like a hungry sponge does water. She had intently listened to Cailus description of the Tranquil clan, whose territory they were about to step foot into and her excitement was clearly written on her face. Varos who had been happily prancing next to the friends, was delighted to see Maple so upbeat, a big smile on his face telling as much, Katholes however just groaned internally, choosing not to rain on Maples parade, even if they hadn‘t caught all that Cailu shared about the clan- they knew this clan would bore them to death. A bunch of herbalists, doctors and pacifists didnt sound like the most exciting thing out there to a past assassin.

„Well you are in luck Maple.“ said Cailu with a chuckle- gesturing to the surrounding houses and huts hewn from stone that were starting to come into view. „You‘ll have to show the Tranquil that you understand what they are about first, so show compassion, be kind, treat those that are ill or injured and I‘m sure it wont go unnoticed, Pyrri will be quick to want to talk with you lot, I’m certain of it.“

The group entered the beautiful scene in front of them, small springs ending into tiny streams snaked their way deliberately through carved riverbeds that were hewn from stone, twisting and twirling as it retraced the intricate patterns on the floor, yet the groups attention fell on a Puller who had been following after the group quietly and unnoticed until just now until they tripped on some wet stones that had slipped out from under their paw, Katholes bared their fangs at the unexpected guest first before judging their demeanor a bit more closely, noticing no immediate threat coming from them they relaxed, for the moment at least.

The strangers frame was shaking lightly their visage contorted into a grimace of pain, their coat a shade of yellow with grey swirling makings adorning their sides and shoulders that peeked through spots in their dark black jagged marking which allowed for large vaguely circle-esque cutouts in the dark marking of their yellow coat to shine through.

All that Katholes had caught of the ordeal was them slipping and subsequently injuring their right elbow on the stone floor. Maple gritted her teeth, sucking in air through them, clearly experiencing a bit of that same pain by sympathising with this reosean, Katholes raised an eyebrow at Maple, choosing only to visibly instead of also audibly disapprove of their tyrian friend.

The yellow and black Puller glanced to the group as they approached and whilst there wasnt weariness in their gaze, there was a certain hesitation that gleamed in their greenish-yellow eye that stemmed from crossing paths with strangers whilst they were hurt.

„Aww hello there.“ spoke Maple trying to appear nonthreatening despite her large frame with which she easily towered above all else if she wanted to. Varos also sprinted up to the front to introduce themself to the Puller who was still recovering from the fall, mirroring Maples gentle and upbeat nature.

„You know if you wanted to travel with us you could have just said so.“ spoke the small chaser with a beaming smile, „Ah yes I just- nevermind- sorry. The name is Marigold-“ spoke the female in a soft voice stirring to try and get back up, yet as they did they winced as pain shot from their elbown down their right paw, their body warning them that moving and getting up would be a bad idea. They relented with a sigh, slumping back down onto the ground again with a defeated sigh.

Katholes moved in behind their friends, not expecting this stranger to lash out necessarily, but wanting to be close to those they cared about in case that they tried anything funny.

Katholes glared at the stranger with such intensity that it would have appeared that we was trying to burn their stare into them, their features softened however as they decided to speak up to.

„Perfect, say- why dont you help we help you help us out?“ they asked, the sentence probably sounding cooler and less confusing in their mind.

Marigolds confusion was palpable as their brows furrowed, giving the crimson coated puller a quizzical look, „Pardon?“ Katholes groaned knowing that if Marigold had followed them for a while that they surely must have also overheard Cailus monologue about the clan yet that would have taken a while to explain so Katholes just gestured for Maple and Varos to continue doing their thing.

„Well you see.“ said Maple clasping her two front arms together as she continued to speak. „We kind of need to garner favor of all of the different haedian clans that live down here and well uhm currently-“, „you are in tranquil Territory.“ said Marigold finishing the tyrians sentence for her.

„Ah great so you understand, we would like to meet Pyrri and we kinda, have to show that we understand this clans ways and respect their traditions.“ a nervous chuckle escaped Maple as she allowed the words to sit in.

„So you are asking for my permission to allow you to bandage me so that you can meet Pyrri?“ asked Marigold putting the pieces the tyrian had laid out together, which netted her an approving nod from the tyrian in response.

„Precisely, but only if thats okay with you of course.“ added Varos, glancing at Marigolds slightly bleeding Elbow.

The yellow coated puller considered the proposition for a bit, her long furred equine tail, flicking from side to side pensively.

„Okay- thats fine.“ spoke Marigold, brows still slightly furrowed in concern, „Just be gentle please, whatever i did to my right elbow, i hurt it good.“ Maple and Varos were both excited to have gotten the newcomers approval but then another question set in.

„Wait how do we actually uh- help her?“ asked Varos looking to Katholes who scoffed in response.

„Move aside.“ they ordered, approaching Marigold with a lingering sense of hostility, or… was that fear?

Katholes crouched down next to Marigold, glancing at the wound before retrieving a few things from their backpack, their friends stared in awe as Katholes pulled out what could have been mistaken as a portable pharmacy. Bandages, Vials with clear tinctures sloshing around, dried medicinal herbs even a small sewing kit was included in the things that could be spotted at a glance in their backpack.

Despite how Katholes had acted and how uncaring they had initially come off as, they moved slowly and carefully, meticulously cleaning, assessing and then thinking about how to treat the wound.

Maple watched with utter fascination as their puller friend showed a side to them that they hadnt never seen and sat down next to Katholes to aid them in and way they could. Varos quickly followed suit too wanting to inspect Katholes handiwork more closely.

„I didnt know you were so good at medicine.“ noted Varos glancing over their shoulder but Katholes remained silent.

Marigold had been intently watch the other puller work diligently and whilst it still hurt they soon felt a tingling sensation spread from the wound on their down their right arm, numbing it until the pain had dissipated.

Katholes gestured for Maple to hand him some gauze which she happily obliged, whereas another paw demanded for Varos to pass Katholes a bandage that had rested atop of the things Katholes had taken out of his backpack.

Soon Marigolds leg was bandaged, noticing them trying to get up Katholes sternly pushed them back onto the ground, wanting to make what they said next extremely clear. „You should not put a lot of weight on this limb, even better if you avoid using that leg for a while. At least until the bone bruise has had a chance to heal. You didnt require stitches, luckily, the wound was superficial and merely bled a lot as you had scraped it good on the stone floor.“ A vial of clear liquid was handed over to Marigold as Katholes averted their eyes, continuing to speak in a tone of voice like a doctor would with one of their patients. To help with the pain, apply it on the limb and it will numb it for you for the next few hours, the stuff is strong so try not to use more than a drop at a time.“ they concluded, pensively looking between their backpack and Marigold before sighing and walking over to it.

They quietly retrieved a few more rolls of bandages and handed them to Marigold. „Change the bandage daily, keep the wound dry and clean and you‘ll be fine again in a few days.“ Marigold as well as Varos and Maple were just quiet for a while.

„Thank you.“ said the yellow coated Puller, shooting Katholes a genuine smile back, they simply nodded with an annoyed sneer on their face, receiving thanks was one of their least favorite things after all.

„Just- take the things before I regret handing them out.“ spoke Katholes in an attempt to safe their lone wolf and uncaring facade from falling apart. „OH!“ said Maple, digging into her backpack now to pull out a few rations of dried food and handing it to Marigold.

„We have to continue, but you‘ll be fine right?“ asked the tyrian, looking Marigold over to assess her state.

„Yes dont worry about me, I‘ll be fine.“ her tone of voice was reassuring, she seemed optimistic and thankful allowing Maple to conclude that she felt better. Varos breathed a sigh of relief and with Maple handing the puller a small portion of the massive backpack of rations that she carried with her to snack on and regain her strength for when it was time to continue on with their journey too.

The Vayrons parted ways with Marigold slowly getting up and walking back the way the party had come from, vanishing within the winding tunnels, as the three friends lead by Cailu continued walking deeper into the Tranquils territory.