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She felt better now that she had a stable place to stay; lately she had been hanging around the house a lot, digging in the garden, planting a few seeds. The seeds were like a representation of their pack--small, for now, but with time and the right cirumstances...they would grow and blossom into something wonderful. She could see it already, with the little pups--their pack would be very strong.
Naniko had been puppysitting little Sirius and Apollo whenever she could, offering to take them from Deuce whenever the female needed a rest or wanted a run. Sometimes she wondered if she was a bit of a nuisance, always hanging around. Maybe she needed to get out a little more.
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She returned to the den where she had the pups sleeping. Her boys were sleeping, all four of them. She knew she was Sirius and Apollo's grandma, but she felt like their mother. She'd made a resolution, to be the mother to Dierdre's children that she never was for Dierdre. To be the mother she should have been for Shadow.
After the fire, she'd felt more liberated, instead of depressed. Yes, everything was gone. Everything that tied her to her past, her four years of living in the souls lands. It was all gone. her den was gone. Her herb garden was gone. The old Syemv house was gone. The graves of her stillborn children, and children who had died later were gone. Her bag of herbs was gone, her books were gone. All of it was gone. The church was gone. All gone. And she was making peace with that.
She approached her den and Naniko. She still walked on four legs, allowing the burns to finish healing. They were doing well. She'd found some aloe leaves and chewed them up, putting them on the larger burns. She wanted to help the others, but hadn't done much searching for herbs. It was okay. She wasn't going to stress about it. Stressing would make it harder for her to take care of her four pups. She set down a hare by Naniko. She'd eaten about half of it. It had been pure luck the hare had spooked and bolted right past her. hey naniko. Thanks for watching them. I brought you part of a hare i was lucky enough to catch. Silly thing ran right past me.
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She did like watching the pups. Naniko had been thinking about pups a lot lately, about having some of her own...but now wasn't the time. If things had stayed the same, and if they didn't already have four mouths to feed she would consider it. But now it would just be too much. And to have the leader out of commission as the pregnancy progressed? She'd seen what had happened to Dierdre. She'd be defenseless.
Naniko was stuck in her werewolf form while she was healing, a lucky thing. All that remained now were the bad ones on her arms...and even those were scabbing over. She saw Deuce and her tail flicked back and forth. She stood to await the mother's approach. "Before long they'll be able to eat the same things as we do" She said. "Thanks, definitely. And what a silly hare...I think the animals here aren't used to so many wolves"
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She nodded. It wouldn't take long before she or their father would be sharing their food. She looked forward to that day. And the day she could wean them. Their tiny milk teeth were sharp, sharper than she'd remembered. But that was okay. She took a moment to check on the boys. Taliesin's eyes opened a crack, looking at her sleepily. She murmured soflty in Irish to him, and his eyes closed again, already asleep.
She smiled at naniko. Probably not. Although we are a small pack for now, i imagine we'll grow as more from the old lands come over. I just wish i knew where Dierdre was.... She truelly hoped her daughter wasn't dead. She'd loved the girl with everything she had. She was a vibrant woman, so quick to grow up.
After a moment, she shrugged. Her burns pulled and she looked to naniko. You don't have any goldenseal do you? these burns are healing, but i don't want them to get infected.
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She'd read a lot out of the human books, had learned some of their medicine names. But so far, she had never found anything in the wolf world that could compare to the things that they'd had back then. She did admire them for some of the things they'd done, some of the technology they'd had...but at the same time she knew that that technology had been the same thing that had invited their downfall.
"I've never heard of that. I use a lot of things from willow trees--I had one right above my den in Clouded Tears. I have a healing balm that I made with some of the inner bark..." She reached back for her new pack, digging through it. "This one" She held out the jar. "You practiced medicine in Jaded Shadows?"
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She paused. Naniko didn't know that name, maybe. There's other names....I memorized them from one of the human books on herbs. Golden seal, Eye Balm, Ground Raspberry, Indian Dye, Jaundice Root, Orange Root, Yellowroot.... She paused, then described it. It's thick and yellow, and has a hairy stem. The branches have one leaf and one flower.
She shrugged, then sniffed at the balm. I didn't pratice medicine in any of the packs, really. she corrected with a smile. But I know a lot about herbs. I learned from my mentor, taliesin. He raised me after my mother died. She shrugged again, her movemnts begining to indicate the lithe gracefulness she once claimed as a yearling when she had fisrt joined the lands of Syemv.
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She didn't know a lot of the names of the actual herbs, that much was true. She was really more of a scientist/doctor than an herbalist; she mostly worked with mixing together different herbs to see if she could get better effects. Quicker healing time. There had been an abundance of injured animals in Clouded Tears, and she'd worked on them for nearly a year. "Strange. I just have them labelled by what they do--I didn't know that they had actual names"
She had only read one or two books about it, and they hadn't explained herbs, just treatment styles. "I got into herbs on a whim, really...but it's become something more serious now. I was bored, and my adopted mother Iskata had left me with my young brother Davinci...other than caring for him, I had nothing to do. Until Conri came to stay with us, anyway." For a while after that, she hadn't enjoyed the company of pups. She'd felt a little smothered, caring for Davinci. "How's Lucifer doing? I couldn't tell if he'd been burned or not"
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Lucifer has been fine. He works really hard to take care of all of us. She gave a crooked smile. After a moment, she had an idea. You know...we could plant a herb garden. I can teach you names and that, and maybe you can teach me more about what other herbs do. I'd bet between the two of us, we can do really well.
She felt good about the suggestion. It would be great for everyone involved.
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She was glad to hear that Lucifer was doing well. Naniko had been friends with him ever since the first day she'd met him, a time when she had been babysitting little Dhalia and Khaden. The pups were still missing, unfortunately...and she didn't think that they would return. Soran had left, too, or she had been lost in the fire...Naniko wasn't sure if she'd left before or after the blaze.
"That sounds great! We can help each other. Maybe we should talk to Conri about becoming healers for the pack--medics. There's a little store-room next to the house, by a plot that we could use for the garden. Maybe we could dry the herbs and ground them up in there. Make a shop"
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Deuce smiled, feeling enthusiastic about the idea. That's perfect! I've heard there's a city that we can go and probably find someplace that has herbs. She paused. Lucifer could watch the pups. He adores tem all so much.
Her tail wagged behind her as she spoke. This was a pleasnat idea, a fun ounding excursion. And while they were at the city, maybe they could find a new pack for Deuce. She'd lost all of her stuff in the fire.
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