ooc: yay, a thread where he can practice medicine! (528 words)

Liam was suddenly doing a lot of work, given his new promotion to Duke status, but he wasn't complaining – at least not out loud. He loved helping the pack, especially considering his father was the King. He didn't want other wolves thinking that he had been promoted to Duke just because he was the King's son. He did his fair share of work, and then some. If only he could get used to the sudden augmentation of responsibility! He was doing a lot more than he had been doing before the war and it was exhausting sometimes! Lately when he wasn't at Chien Hotel he was hunting or sometimes helping out his family in any way possible. There were also those occasions where he left the pack-lands for some fresh air – a little bit of time to clear his mind. It was always better to work with a clear head than a cloudy one. Today wasn't the case though. He felt very focused and ready for anything.

Rubbing at his temple with his furry hand, the young wolf turned the page of the medical book he was reading. In front of him was a compilation of notes he'd been writing for himself. Ever since deciding that he was going to be the Apothecary, he had been focusing a lot on acquiring as much knowledge as possible. “If only I could get these darn stitches to look decent and not all... crooked.” he mumbled to himself as he moved over to another table that was a few feet away from the one with his book and notes. On it was a small hare he had caught and skinned just yesterday. The fur would come in handy, but unfortunately the meat wasn't serving as food – it was going to be Liam's practice dummy for his stitches. So far he had purposefully inflicted a couple wounds on the lifeless flesh and had tried to suture them to the best of his capability. His capabilities weren't that great.

If only he could experiment on another wolf – a live one with actual blood and stuff. Liam wasn't about to go and inflict wounds on his pack-mates so that he could practice though. That would just be silly. Sighing, he went outside the Haskel-Catori residence and looked around. He wasn't too far from the hotel and although that was usually where he was when he worked or studied, today he needed a change of scenery. And his mother had asked him to watch the pups anyway. As he stood on the front porch he could smell his pack-mates from all over the land and could even see one or two wolves here and there in the distance. His sister and brothers were playing out near a tree – all morning he'd been able to see them from the window inside the house.

He was about to turn around and head inside again when he caught a glimpse of a familiar face. She was limping towards him and Liam was instantly worried. “What happened? Are you okay?” he asked, already sprinting towards Cour des Miracles' newest member – Terra.

ooc: short post, ack! on another note I'll be here for a couple hours because I have no school tomorrow. If you're up for it we can speed post and get a good portion of this thread done. =D (260 words)

Liam looked Terra up and down before his eyes fell on her wound. He nodded to himself, that was going to need attention and fast. It looked bad. His eyes went up to her face when she spoke and he noticed the smile on her face. “Humor, huh?” Liam muttered with a smirk. “What exactly do you consider humor?” he asked in all seriousness, crouching down so that he could inspect the wound further. Terra was in really rough shape, lying there on the ground. He wondered if she was up to walking the couple feet necessary to reach his house. Out of habit, the young wolf glanced at his three siblings before glancing back at the injured female. She probably wasn't heavy at all – he could undoubtedly carry her.

“Alright, don't worry I'll take care of the wound – it probably looks worse than it actually is.” Liam said firmly, probably trying to convince himself more than Terra. He realized his wish for more practice on live wolves was coming true. He had someone to tend to and he wasn't in the presence of his mother – she wasn't going to be able to give him some help if he needed it. He was going to do this all on his own. He felt a little proud. “Can you walk? I have all of my supplies at my place – it's just a dozen feet away... I can always carry you though.” he said, his face growing serious as he went into 'work mode'.

ooc: (363 words)

Liam looked at her suspiciously. While the young coy-wolf was beginning to grow on him, the Catori boy still had his doubts about her. He did not fully trust her and wasn't sure if what she needed him to keep secret was threatening to the pack. Had she gotten Cour des Miracles in trouble with a neighboring pack? Following the war, Liam hoped that she hadn't. They were still struggling to get a grip on normalcy – and with the up and coming winter months no one could afford another war. “I can't promise anything, Terra. If you did something that could get us all in trouble...” he drifted off. “You need to tell my father or... Strel or... Haven or something. If it's really bad I don't want to be responsible.” he said bluntly. He wasn't going to tell her to tell him, that he wouldn't tell anyone, if he knew that may not be true. He was an honest, loyal person and he was always careful about secrets that were told to him in strict confidence.

But now they had to deal with her injury – that was the main priority on his mind as he closed the door of his home behind him once Terra had entered; his eyes rested on his siblings for a fraction of a moment before he turned back again. Terra was already lying on the floor. “Alright, I need to see the damage before I do anything.” he told her, remembering the time he had seen his mom working on 'Mara and her injuries. He remembered the pain in Mara's eyes as their mother tended to the wounds and he knew he would have to hurt Terra in order to make her better. “Try not to move.” he stated as he sat down on the floor next to the somewhat older wolf and carefully maneuvered his hands so that he could raise her leg and slip his own underneath her, placing the leg back on his. This way he was closer to the injury and would be able to inspect it better. “Sorry,” he whispered in case he'd hurt her.

ooc: (346 words)

Liam didn't even flinch as she growled at him, just waiting for her to calm down again before his fingers worked to push the fur around her wound away. Slowly, gingerly... He did not want to hurt her more than he absolutely had to. With a careful eye the young Apothecary in training observed the wound, making sure his hands were safely a couple inches away – he did not want to inflict more harm... especially since. Oh. Woah. “Alright – you have something stuck in there. It's wedged pretty deep. I'm going to take it out...” he told her. He was about to add that actually getting the item out would hurt like a bitch, but he decided not to. He didn't want her to freak out – and he had learned from experience that it was better to do it quick and not let it drag. If she didn't know it was going to hurt a lot, then she wouldn't hesitate.

Liam couldn't help but sigh when she explained the basics of her story, still observing the wound to see how he could best get the foreign object out without hurting her too much or doing too much harm. A part of him wished his mom would come into the house and be his savior – or Terra's. “What the hell were you doing all the way over there? That's like... a day away from here!” he said, his tone sounding a little annoyed – truth be told, he wasn't annoyed at the fact that she had traveled so far, it wasn't a crime to do so, he was annoyed that she had gone and done such a foolish thing. Liam didn't know too much about Inferni but he did know they had different values and beliefs than the Court did and there was something strange about their infatuation with skulls and their border. Liam had only heard a few whispers about it though – nothing concrete. He did know one thing though: it was stupid to mess with the Inferni coyotes.

ooc: (328 words)

She seemed in a lot of pain and just dying to get the item out of her, which was why the Catori wolf didn't snap back a bitter comment when she told him she already knew about the item. Instead he nodded, quickly getting to his feet and, in a couple of seconds, he managed to bring a bowl filled with warm water closer to his makeshift workplace on the floor. Along with the bowl he'd grabbed a towel made of animal skin. He set it next to the bowl. The last item he went to get was gauze, which he placed near the bowl and towel. “Alright, if you want to hold onto my shoulder or something...” he said, ready to take out whatever item was lodged in her leg. It was going to hurt like hell and he hoped she wouldn't rip his heart out because of the pain she was about to feel.

“I'll hold you to that.” he said, mostly as a distraction – she wasn't going to focus on what he was about to do if she was thinking about his words. Simultaneously he was counting to three. One... two... Liam took one quick breath and pulled with as much care and control as possible, yet still managing to use enough strength so that the arrow bit came straight out of the wound. Liam grinned triumphantly before glancing down at the blood that was now escaping the wound. It wasn't much but it was still enough to make the queasy sick. Fortunately Liam wasn't affected by any kind of injury and quickly went to work, dipping the leather skin towel into the bowl of water and dabbing at Terra's wound. It was already beginning to look better, although her fur was a pinkish hue now due to the blood that was smearing around her wound. “I'm sorry – I'm almost done, don't worry.” he told her with an apologetic smile.

ooc: I didn't actually write 400 words in 4 minutes. LOL I had most of the post already written up. xP (429 words)

He had expected her reaction to be similar to what it was and when she lashed at him, he managed to dodge just in time. “I'm sorry – I told you it was going to hurt.” he told her, his eyes moving to meet hers for a moment before he glanced down at her injury again. Without thinking, a reassuring hand went and touched her shoulder lightly before he went back to concentrate fully on her injury.

Liam sighed. “I'm sorry.” he repeated, his voice but a murmur as he continued dabbing at the wound, cleaning it as much as he could. It looked so much better than when he'd first seen it. It had first appeared to be developing some kind of icky green substance around it but now it was a pinkish red hole that, given the proper healing time, shouldn't give her too big of a scar – that was if it gave her one in the first place. When she licked his cheek, he would have turned bright red if it wasn't for the fur covering his skin. “It's no problem... You'll need to come back and find me in a couple days though so I can check it out again.” Liam told her as he wrapped the gauze around her leg, making sure it was wrapped up tight and secure, yet without disabling her from moving altogether. She would definitely be sore for a couple days but she would still be able to walk; maybe if she had some kind of support – like a stick or something. “You may want to use something to lean on while you heal – like a crutch. Also, I highly recommend that you don't shift from one form to another because A) it's highly painful and B) it can screw up your healing process and do more harm than good.” he told her. Especially since she wasn't as experienced with shifting as the rest of the pack here was.

Liam himself had had a hard time shifting following the war – it had been beyond painful, his already aching, wounded limbs cracking and molding – shifting into a different form. He was experienced, having learned at a young age and having shifted from his lupus form to his Optime one over and over for the last couple months. He had a lot of practice compared to Terra so of course he was going to advise her not to shift. It had hurt him like hell, it was bound to be worse for her.

ooc: (348 words)

Liam looked at her bandaged wound with a professional eye – like a doctor would look at his patient. A part of him was proud of the work he'd done, even if it wasn't stitches, but the biggest part of him was a little angry.

Angry at Terra for getting in trouble with another pack – with Inferni. The last thing anyone needed was reason for a war to start brewing again. Liam was mentally debating whether or not he should tell his dad – or at least Haven, since he was the highest ranked of the conclave tier. If he did it, it wouldn't be to put Terra in deep waters, but to protect her. Protect his pack. What if Inferni decided to attack tonight? They could be royally pissed at Terra and their irrational logic was telling them that they had to take their frustrations out on her entire pack!

Liam smiled back though, his anger pushed aside as the pride filled him up. He was quickly realizing that he had done it – Terra had been his first solo patient. He had been in charge and he had fixed her up. He hadn't needed his mother's help and hadn't even gone to his medical books to double-check that was he was doing was right. He'd been confident in his ability to fix her up and he had done a pretty good job. “It's no problem, really!” he said for a second time as she thanked him. But then she asked him what he wanted to do and Liam glanced around. The floor had blood on it and the towel was covered in the scarlet stuff. “I kind of need to clean up before my mother gets back...” he told her. It wasn't what he wanted to do, but it was what he had to do.

His job was to fix people, but it was also to clean up after his mess. Maybe cleaning wasn't an official duty for the Apothecary but it was the duty of a son when in his mother's house.

ooc: (312 words)

The brown-pelted Catori wolf shrugged, taking the remaining gauze in his right hand and inspecting it, although his mind was elsewhere, thoughts straying further from the Catori residence and up north to the foreign pack of coyotes and coyote hybrids. “I hope your right because no one wants a repeat of what's been happening with AniWaya these last couple months.” Liam finally said in all seriousness, giving Terra a cool, warning look before he straightened up from his crouching position and walked over to his makeshift work place. “Why did you go there in first place, anyway?” he asked, more out of curiosity than anything else. Liam himself had never traveled further north than Halifax, which really wasn't all that far from here. He'd met someone from Anathema a while back and had learned a bit about the packs up north – the conversation had steered to Inferni for a while – but otherwise his knowledge of the north was very limited.

Liam's padded feet made a soft sound against the wooden floor of the house as he returned to the spot where he had healed Terra, the gauze left behind near his suture dummy. He looked at the small pool of blood and then at Terra as she asked him what to do. “I have a cleaner cloth you can use –” he began, but then as he eyed Terra, he thought about how awkward it may be for her to handle the cloth in her Lupus form. “On second thought; if you're hungry you can always help yourself to the meat that's in the kitchen. It's not cooked and was supposed to be used as a practice dummy but feel free to feast on it anyway.” he said. “I'll take care of the mess.” he added in a 'don't worry about it' kind of tone.

ooc: (433 words)

Liam hadn't meant in any way to hurt her, far from it. To be honest he wasn't really thinking that his words could have hurt her – he had merely told her she didn't have to clean up.

While Terra was in the kitchen, Liam took the time to kneel down and wipe some of the blood off the floor. There really wasn't all that much and soon there was only a light pink stain that would only require a little more scrubbing before it was fully removed. He could clearly hear the female's footsteps and when she came back he was standing up again, assessing her words. “You know, you haven't been here long so it's not all that uncommon for you to not be used to the lifestyle yet. I mean I for one would probably go insane if I had to leave the pack behind and trade it for a more nomad lifestyle.” he told her.

Liam thought about ways for her to feel more at home within Cour des Miracles. He didn't want her feeling restless – there was a way that could be avoided and she'd end up helping the pack in the process. “You can always go talk about your restlessness to Strel. He's the Dauphin – kind of our tier's leader. You can ask him about co-ranks... maybe he can find you a job or something.” he suggested, a half-smile crossing his lips.

He went and soaked the cloth into the semi-clean warm water once more and started scrubbing again as the female spoke of her journey to Inferni. Liam felt a little more at ease after she'd told him her side of the story – so she hadn't gone there to cause havoc; just out of shear innocence and curiosity. “Yeah... no.” Liam said with a half-grunt, half-laugh. “You can't really stereotype them all as violent, there's probably a few that aren't so bad but... they have pretty strong beliefs and messin' with their skulls isn't exactly the best way to make friends with them.” Liam said as a joking smile crossed his lips.

He was definitely feeling better about the situation – he had probably overreacted anyway. If the situation called for it he'd tell his dad but otherwise he doubted Inferni would come launching an attack on them. Even if they treasured the skulls. “Luperci coyotes are different than your average coyote where you are from, though. Everything is pretty different. It's something you'll have to keep in mind in the future.” he told her with a shrug.

ooc: Brought the pups in since I think we were running out of things to say. =p (481 words)

Liam hadn't meant in any way to hurt her, far from it. To be honest he wasn't really thinking that his words could have hurt her – he had merely told her she didn't have to clean up.

After Liam finished cleaning the floor, he went and put a little order on the two tables he'd occupied earlier. He put the medical supplies back into his beaten rucksack and swiped the area with the padded palm of his furry hand. It was only after all of this that he turned to Terra again; the female was cleaning the area around her wound to remove the blood that had matted her fur. “Thanks.” he told her as she handed him the rest of the food. He hadn't really realized just how famished he'd gotten. “For raw meat that's one-day old, this isn't bad.” he chuckled as he bit down into the cool animal flesh, licking his lips.

Liam couldn't help but chuckle at her question. He smirked before replying. “I actually have no idea.” he said honestly. It wasn't much of a surprise though, considering he'd been born in the middle of the cold season and his earliest memories did not include the cold wind and fluffy white crystals on the frozen ground. He did remember a few things about his earliest days – like flashes of his mother or certain smells here and there, but not winter in general and certainly not what others did during that time. “It's going to be my first winter this year – I was born in late December last year.” he told Terra. But if she meant what they did to prepare for winter, then Liam could perhaps help her out a little more. “We'll probably end up hunting loads more this next month so that we have enough food for winter... Maybe make sure our homes are warm enough... collect fire wood...” he drifted off, running out of things to say. He was as new as Terra to this whole winter at Cour des Miracles situation.

To be honest, Liam kind of liked the fact that his siblings had been born in September – it meant they would remember the season. Although for them, summer would be the season where everything was new and exciting. As if on queue, the three little things sprinted into the house, Lottie in the lead, her two brothers following after her. “Liaaaaam!” Lottie whined but then paused in surprise when her eyes landed on Terra. “Who's that?!” Lottie and Skoll said in unison. Hati remained a pace back, observing from behind his two litter-mates.

Liam smiled at the three little ones. “That's my friend Terra – Terra, this is my sister Lottie and my two brothers Skoll and Hati.” he introduced, pointing to each of them as he named them.