Private. Mid-afternoon, heading to Eden. Word Count » +3
Talitha’s expedition had cleared the majority of the traps that plagued the clan, but Enkiel had been cautious since. Whoever had gone through the effort of placing such destructive things was certainly carrying a grudge, and the desperate were often pushed to madness. This he knew from experience. His mother, after all, had dragged her children from their home and across two oceans to find their father. The jackal frowned. What foolishness, to think they might have found a god. Only he and his kin could claim such titles, but they were gods in respite. Until they passed on, they would remain mortal in body.
Red eyes scanned the territory, its familiar rolling hills and rocky terrain welcome. Enkiel had not left the clan since he had joined it. He had no purpose outside of its borders, and he would not fare well against an angry wolf. Certainly, he carried a dagger, but what would that do? He was thin and not made for war. This is why he had taken his path, one that most certainly suited him now.
It had been about half an hour since he had left the Mansion, leaving Sa’adat to tend to Talitha’s children (again) with the promise of bringing her fresh herbs for tea. She had all but commandeered the right to do so from him, insisting fervently he was awful at such a thing. For as submissive as she could be around men, when it came to matters of the home, she was like a cobra. Still, he found a begrudging admiration for her growing. How peculiar.
The soft scuttling behind him had continued since his departure, a thing he had tried to ignore. Finally, irritated, the scout turned and spotted his tracker not far behind. “Symera,” his deep voice came, always smooth, always controlled. “Did you wish to join me?”
Symera was curios. She had no idea what the male was up to but she was destined to find out. She had stalked after him since he had left the Mansion grounds. She had to wonder if he was going out to find more traps. And if he was then she would be there to tail along. She wanted to know more about these traps that were made mention of. The idea of sabotage hadn't even crossed her mind. She didn't think that a coyote would do such dastardly things. Why would they choose to harm their own? It didn't make sense to her. Coyotes weren't the enemy, wolves were.
Clearly spying wasn't her forte because she was easily caught. But then again she was still young and could pick up the guise of stealth throughout life. She was still much of a blank slate as far as skills went and could be nudged in any direction really. Sadly, she hadn't even started to consider ranks yet. She wasn't about to move out of her tier any time soon but that didn't mean that she lacked the ability to try and hone some sort of skill set for when she did move up. The only thing she had planned for the future was genocide and nothing beyond that.
The small girl stilled as her name was called out but rather than being sent away she was invited to join the other. A quick nod of her head was given followed with a fastening of her pace so that she could come up in order to walk next to the other instead of just trailing along behind the other. "I found a stinky before. It was near the mansion." Her conversation starter was an odd one. Those that hadn't heard her speak about wolves before weren't likely to understand it. She refused to name wolves whenever she spoke or thought about them because to her they were simply beasts that needed to be eradicated.
Assuming she mentions "stinky" in our other thread. <<;Word Count »
For her inexperience, the girl was well on her way to learning and improving. She had gotten better since the incident with the trap, partially (he assumed) because she watched her footing now. Once her body grew out of the lanky puppy stage, she would know how to carry herself and move with quiet steps. Enkiel was pleased that new blood had been brought into the clan—after what Talitha had confided in him, he feared for the new generation. None of the children had shown any signs of illness, but they were young. If there were problems, they would begin to show soon.
Enkiel had learned quickly that the dark girl’s way of speaking was peculiar. She identified with scents rather than words, recognizing “not-coyote” as “stinky”, and this irritated him. Inferni was not meant to play stupid children’s games and she would need to change her communication skills in order to function fully within the clan. “Wolf,” he corrected. “You should call them wolf and not ‘stinky’,” his thick accent warped the word, making it sound peculiar. “Did you talk to it?” It, not him, even though Enkiel was fully aware of who the wolf in question was. He viewed living things with an unwavering—and unromantic—eye as was his duty. Cypress was a wolf, and a non-member of the clan. To Enkiel, this made him less valuable than Ezekiel’s wounded horse.
Yes, she was learning and slowly growing. She had gained some size but was still stunted in regards to others of her age. But even being slight in frame did nothing to hinder her. At least not in her mind. She had quite the sassy little mouth on her for being at a disadvantage. One could never say that she lacked spunk. While she might not have found her niche within the clan just yet she did at least have spirit to spare. She her the determination to prove herself in one fashion or another.
Actually only wolves earned the title of stinky from her. She knew nothing about hybridization or other canine species. Her world was still black and white, it was either a coyote or a wolf and nothing else. It was either good or evil, no shades of grey in the mix at all. The girl gave a firm shake of her head as she was corrected, not feeling that she even needed to be corrected. "No, stinky. It does not deserve a name." She knew what they were but she refused to give them that recognition because of her strong feelings of disgust. In her mind it was stripping away everything from them. She didn't give them a gender, names, a species, or any level of personalization. To her all wolves were the same and the only good wolf was a dead wolf.
"I did. I tried to get rid of it but it got away." Actually it wasn't Cypress that she had referred to, his mixed breeding having thrown her off since she didn't know what to make of the scent. To her Cypress had smelled like other members of Inferni, just a mix of species. If he hadn't told her that he didn't belong then she wouldn't have known the difference. No, she was talking about a pup that smelled distinctly like a wolf to her. A pup that had been adopted as a member of the clan.
Assuming she mentions "stinky" in our other thread. <<;Word Count »
While disrespect was one thing, Symera was not rude to him in the way he considered his sister a brat. The girl was strong-willed and sharp, yes, but not spoiled. Halo was training her well, and she would be valuable in the future. This was something that even Enkiel recognized. A faint and barely visible frown crossed his face, red eyes turning forward to keep an eye on the trail ahead.
It seemed odd that she would have let something get away without calling for aid, but he dismissed such a thing. “If you find any bigger than you,” he spoke in the same tone, warning her as he had warned Talitha’s brood and the children so often trailing around Sa’adat’s heels. “Call for aid. We do not need to lose anyone else.” Enkiel lifted his nose to scent the wind, found they were downwind from the coast, and turned his trail north. “Are you old enough to shift yet?” The jackal asked, turning his face back to the girl.
There was no way that Symera could be spoiled when she had already experienced the harshness of life. She already had to figure out just what it took to survive. Even at such a young age she hadn't had an easy life and she had never been afforded the luxuries to become spoiled. Instead she already had that kill or be killed mindset. Survival was all about doing whatever it took to remain alive and that was what Symera was all to willing to end up doing.
She hadn't called for help because she was stubborn and hard headed. She wasn't the sort to back down from a fight despite any odds against her. And if she were to heed Enkiel's advice then she would always be calling for help since all wolves were destined to be bigger than her. She was a pureblood while most of Inferni was made up of hybrids. Wolves always dwarfed coyotes, and her even more because she retained her runtish qualities still. "Everyone is bigger than me." She remarked simply, reminding the other that her genetic make up would always leave her at a physical disadvantage. There was nothing that she could do about it but to just fight harder and continue to prove herself. She wouldn't let that single set back get her down. And because of that she refused to call for help because she was determined to prove that she wasn't weak or helpless. She hadn't asked to be freed from the trap she had run into but had managed on her own. She hadn't begged Halo to come save her when she had played bait on their hunting excursion but had been willing to stand up to the wolf even should it cost her life.
"Almost." She was only a few days away from when she would become six months old and therefore old enough to shift. It was a time that she couldn't wait for but she was also wary of it since she was uncertain of just what to expect as well. But overall it would prove to be an exciting time since she would finally be able to actually train with Halo. "What are you looking for?" The girl finally posed the question that had been plaguing her mind. He was clearly looking for something in particular if he was sniffing out the way that they should be going. Normally she would hold her tongue and wait it out for the answer to reveal itself but the way he had paused to check the way had brought the question bubbling forth. At first she had thought it was another trap hunt but now that didn't seem to be so. When they had done so the other had kept his attention on the ground rather than lifting his nose to the air as he was doing on this trip. No, he was acting in a manner different than the one of caution and vigilance that had been displayed as they were exposing traps so she had no idea what he was up to now.
He did not know if it was pride or simple ignorance that fueled her answer, and Enkiel offered her a sideways glance. For now, she was a child—and for now, she would be small. Yet the healer too, was small. Small enough that there was no doubting he was both a jackal and the runt of his litter. He had realized that as a child when the games had proven him weaker than all of his siblings. “You may be larger than me, when you are done growing,” he offered, though it was not meant to reassure her of such a thing.
They had made it about halfway to his destination, and Enkiel was glad of it. While he did not mind company, he did not wish to be out longer than he needed to be. “I am going to gather plants. You know I am the Resarcio, correct? My duty is to heal those who need it.” Along with other things, though he hardly put as much weight on those. They would rely on him to heal the wounded, to cure disease, and this was what his obligation to Inferni was. The others could fight.
"Perhaps." She wasn't certain just how true that would end up being but she would give him the benefit of the doubt. He was an adult so it was quite likely that he knew exactly what it was that he was talking about. "My brothers are larger than me. They have always been larger than me." And there, a reason was provided as to why she still retained doubts. Even though her siblings were from the same litter as herself they all were quite larger than her. She was lucky if her head had reached their shoulders.
Symera gave a shake of her head. She had no idea about the rank that anyone held in the clan really, let alone co-ranks. It wasn't something that she had actively given much though to yet. She had no idea what rank, or even co-rank, that she would be cut out for. Perhaps it was something that she should actually give some sort of thought to. She was nearing the time that she would be entering the adult ranks so she really should consider just how she wished to represent herself within the clan.
"What do plants have to do with healing?" And in such a simple question she showed her lack of understanding in the field. After all when he has healed that other female while they were looking for traps she hadn't seen him use any plants then. Little did she know that such was what the applied salve had been compromised of. She hadn't seen it being created but had only got glance of it being applied and nothing more than that. But then again there were still quite a number of things that she didn't know or understand just yet. So the purpose of plants for healing was just another thing that she would have to find out more about.
Her demure size gave him some empathy towards her. It was hard to tell, given his usually demeanor, but the fiery personality in the small girl was enough to make her somewhat endearing. Of course, he knew little about her training, or her reasons for such a thing. Halo’s claws had sunk deep in the girl, and even though they were half-siblings, Enkiel dared not cross the red-eyed woman. Sister or not, he doubted she would think twice about striking him if she felt insulted. Even his assistance, brief as it was, during her pregnancy and aftercare was short and unwelcomed.
Most of the members here did not know about plants, and this did not surprise him. It was unnatural for canines to consider anything outside of the simple lifestyle they lived. Kaena’s scars, healed by salt-water, attested to such. The fact he was able to prevent many from being as deep or even forming was a testament to the advancement of his field. “Plants have power in them,” he began, thinking how best to phrase it. “The body will heal itself over time, but it takes great strength to do so. If sickness gets into a wound, it will fester; disease is not uncommon, you see.” Egypt had proven this, as had his journey across the sea.
“Sometimes, the sickness takes all of the strength from the body. If this happens, the body dies. Plants can give further strength to the body to prevent this.” He paused, lifted his nose to determine his bearing, and then turned slightly north. “Plants can also help the body not feel pain; they block it from the mind by joining with the body’s blood. Some plants can even kill…” Again, he slowed and looked about the area. While it was still early in the autumn season, the tell-tale colors and berries of the plant he looked for were already gone. Luckily, his eyes were trained to find such things. “Here,” he said, and diverged their path towards a small patch of trees and large brush. “This plant is called Belladonna; nightshade. If a person eats too many of these berries, they will kill them. Poison lives in this plant.” Enkiel did not warn her about eating them herself; Symera was a smart girl and hardly needed told about consuming something that might kill her.
Was it Halo that had taken a hold on her or perhaps Symera that had taken a hold on Halo? Their first hunt together had proven the cruelty that resided in such a small pup. It had been hard to tell who had wanted that kill more, who had reveled the most in the death of the wolf. Symera had claimed her first skull before she had ever been able to shift. Granted she had delivered the killing blow but she had claimed the skull as her own and had worn it proudly on the trip back to Inferni. The small girl had already been vicious on her own, unforgiving of the wolven species. Halo was taking her out to hunt down the enemy and would teach her to hone her skills.
But with her age she still could be swayed to learn other things. She probably would never lose her aggression but it didn't mean that she couldn't learn things that didn't deal with maiming and killing. Like the plants that Enkiel was talking to her about. Or scratch that... Plants could kill too? That was something that had quickly snagged her attention. Here she had only thought that they were around to feed the prey animals. Symera had no idea that they could actually prove to be useful. That was certainly news to her.
The small girl quickly trotted along behind Enkiel as she was shown a killing plant. She stepped close to inspect the plants then looked towards the older male as he instructed upon what would happen should they be eaten. "Can you sniff them or touch them?" The question was posed with genuine curiosity. While she was still unable to accurately wield a weapon she might be able to use these berries in their place in order to lessen the population of wolves that surrounded the lands of Inferni.
It would not have surprised him to learn of the girl’s sadistic nature. Savage blood lived in most living things, something Enkiel had never forgotten. His world had been a peculiar one that had seen a vast and broad landscape. Egyptians who still recalled the old laws, who cut off arms and tongues. Even the port towns had men who behaved like madmen. Enkiel saw a feral savagery here, but he accepted this because it was the norm. A crocodile could find his place amongst such people, as he had done.
“Yes,” he told her, and proceeded to pick a small bunch of the berries. “They are only dangerous when eaten. Or,” the jackal went on, red eyes glimmering cruelly. “If concentrated, a poison can be made.” Many plants were deadly, especially to canines. Enkiel had spent most of last winter going about this process, learning through trial and error. He had made several concoctions that went untested. There was not a steady enough supply of animals for him to test on, and he recognized that there would be flaws in using anything too small. Still, they waited. One day he would make use of them, of this he was certain. “It is only dangerous, as it is with most plants, if you eat them. Especially when you are small,” he added; this was a subtle warning, something he suspected she would pick up on.
It was a kill or be killed world that she had grown up in so of course that stuck with her. And even if she didn't know the entire history of the clan she had heard that there had been a great amount of fighting throughout it. But whose life didn't have some sort of struggle or fight in it? It was overcoming those things that ended up defining the type of being you ended up becoming. And well, Symera was a survivor. She would do whatever it took to ensure her own existence continued.
"Poison?" She wasn't certain of the exact meaning of the word but could guess it was something meant to kill. And it was that which made it an interesting prospect. She had never realized before that there was much more to plants than to just feed prey animals. "How did you learn all of this? I thought plants could only feed prey." But then again Enkiel was the first one that she had met which talked about plants. How could she know any different if she had never been taught?
She recognized the warning easily enough. She knew she was small and that was a fact that wasn't about to change anytime soon. She wasn't really destined to grow anymore than she already had. But then again it wasn't as if the male she was with was too large either. "So most plants can kill then?" At least that is what she was taking out of what he was saying. Slowly Symera was starting to appreciate the value of plants. She was starting to learn that there was more to them then she had originally imagined there to be. She was also finding herself to be interested in the subject as well. Perhaps she could get Enkiel to teach her more about the poisons that he had mentioned.
He regarded her with his dark eyes, a truer shade of blood than that of his father before him. The bright color that Halo carried was similar to that, a taint that the medic knew was one of false blood. Even hot, fresh, blood was dark. Enkiel had seen enough of it to know. Yet his own eyes darkened to an impossible shade, nearly black, as he considered where his knowledge had come from. Another life; another time when he had been a god and the Nile his home. A peculiar smile graced his face, a strange thing that turned it toothy and crocodilian.
“I learned through books, and through trying. It is like learning to hunt. You try, you fail, and then you know.” He shrugged slightly, as if this might explain everything. Perhaps not to an adult, but she was a child, and children grasped things without needing to fully know why, to break it down and make it science this or reason that. Sometimes, he missed such thinking. Growing up was a terrible thing.
“No, plants can heal,” he continued, looking about. He motioned for her to follow and trailed over to a smaller bush. Crouching, he turned one of the leaves over. “This plan is called Valerian. I use the roots to help people sleep when they are ill.”
She shook her head at his words. "No." She simply couldn't agree to a portion of it. "Failure is not an option. If you fail then you die." But then again she say failure as giving up and not really losing something you were trying to catch. So to give up meant that you failed in her opinion. So as long you keep right on trying then you never really fail. So with the way that she thought of failure it really wasn't an option unless you simply wanted to die. And well, she was determined to keep right on trying until the very end of her life.
She followed after the male as she was gestured to do so. She moved over to the plant that he had paused at and nosed the leaves, sniffing at them. "Is it hard to sleep when you are sick?" She didn't know that anyone would ever need any help with sleeping. The girl simply figured that was something that came naturally. You got tired and then you went to sleep, what was so hard about that? Why would someone need help to do something that you should automatically do?
The girl gave a glance around the area before looking to Enkiel. "So plants kill and can make you sleep if you eat them? How do you know which ones are safe and which ones are not?" Was there a certain smell that they all shared or did you simply have to know what each and every single plant was? If it was the latter than that seemed to be quite a bit of learning to undertake. Why would someone want to spend all of that time trying to figure out what each and every plant did? Especially when they generally seemed to all look the same to Symera.
“Everyone fails,” he countered, firmly and unwavering. No hunter could claim to catch everything they chased, and he was certain this was true with her as well. “Your prey will escape most often. You learn of your mistakes from this.” Certainly, a child should know better than any what it was to fail. Enkiel dropped his hand and loosened the earth around the plant as he continued to speak, eyes focused on his task alone. “If you are in pain, yes. Some illness wracks the body; you may sleep naturally, but the sleep will not be what it needs to be.” Coughing, for one, was something that kept a man up. When Sa’adat had come with malaria, he had caught the disease and suffered through it with her. How lucky they had been that it had left; he would not have been able to treat the whole clan as he had the jackal woman and himself.
“I know because that is my duty. I studied them; I know their names, and their uses. There is no simple way to say if something can heal or harm. Plants are complicated. You could easier tell of danger from a snake then you could a plant.” For snakes, after all, showed universal signs for what they were—poison came with bright colors or Brahma’s markings on their hoods, pointed heads and rattling tails. Enkiel had watched snake charmers as a boy and once (and only once) seen a man struck by a cobra. He had been a thief, and mistaken the basket for one of worth, but the lesson had stayed with him.
"No. I refuse to fail. You fail when you give up. As long as you keep trying then you can never fail." Sure, you might not always manage what you set out to do but as long as you keep on trying it couldn't be considered a failure. You lived, learned, then moved on, always taking something from your mistakes. So while there might be stumbles and hang ups along the way she didn't believe that you could ever truly fail until you refused to try any longer.
The girl gave a small nod of her head as her question was answered. It seemed as if there wasn't a simple way to figure it out. It seemed that one would have to dedicate a good amount of time to figuring it out. "How long did it take you to learn all of this?" She asked, watching him play with the plant. Slowly she took a few steps closer, not looking to invade personal space but to try to figure out exactly what he was trying to do with the plant.
Suddenly another question struck here. "What do you do if you can't find plants?" After all it was getting close to a time where plant life chose to hibernate until spring came again. So what would he do when he was unable to find what he needed? "How do you know when someone is sick?" Perhaps that was an even better question. The answer might be an obvious one but she had never been around anyone that she knew to be sick either. At least she didn't believe that she had been. After all that wolf that she had hunted with Halo could have been suffering from some sort of illness that caused dementia. The world of illnesses was a broad one and one that Symera knew nothing about.
Ah, so that was what she meant. The grayish-tan jackal flicked an ear at her comment and listened on as Symera proceeded to question him further. She was very much a child even if she was already capable of killing. Still, this was not uncommon these days. Dedication to combat was something that Inferni needed…though genocidal thoughts were not the sort of thing that the clan would benefit from. Wolves were scum without a doubt; Enkiel had seen their deeds well enough and lived through Haku’s bloody war to understand this. Yet the Lykoi line did not exist without such blood; even their grandmother had once loved a wolf.
“I have studied for many moons,” he explained. The concept of time was a long one; he did not wish to further weigh her down with numerical boundaries. “And I study still. As you said, it is failure to stop.” He offered her a faint smile at this, a peculiar thing for such a stoic man. He pulled forth the root and shook clumps of dirt from it with one hand. “A wise healer will gather plants. They can be dried and used long after the snow comes. Inferni is lucky; we have a greenhouse that allows plants to grow even when it is cold.”
It was her other question he now pondered with some thought. He brushed the final bits of dirt from the plant and placed it into his bag, rising. “Not all sickness look alike. Some you can smell; fever smells hot, and rank. Some you must look for other signs; droppings, liquid from ones nose or mouth…commonly, though, sick people will cough or seem strange. Sickness can make men mad.” Sa’adat had been such a case; he had watched her descend into madness brought on by fever, and he himself had once slipped into that peculiar place, losing himself if only until waking.
